"Good morning, Kenichiro-san." "Inspection." With a grim face, Kenichiro waved a hand, signaling a female agent to scan Maki with a handheld
"Good morning, Kenichiro-san."
"Inspection."
With a grim face, Kenichiro waved a hand, signaling a female agent to scan Maki with a handheld device. Then, personally carrying another scanner, he walked straight toward Karl.
"Raise both hands. Higher. And don't make any sudden moves."
"That sounds a bit harsh, Kenichiro-san. I'm not a criminal, you know."
"No jokes!"
Fine, no jokes.
Karl obediently raised his hands. But instead of conducting a full-body sweep up close, Kenichiro stayed about a meter away and simply activated the scanner in his hand.
As the scanner's light passed over his body, Karl muttered, "This isn't even a close-range check. Did I really need to raise my hands for that, Kenichiro-san?"
"Scan complete. No dangerous items detected."
Kenichiro ignored the comment, checked the device, then held out his hand toward Karl. "Hand."
"Hand?"
Karl was confused. He'd only brought Night Edge and the small blade Hanako had given him—both had been pre-approved. Aside from those, he wasn't carrying anything.
"Oh, you mean my hand."
Karl lowered his arms and extended one hand forward. Kenichiro pulled out a familiar-looking device and pressed Karl's hand onto it.
"Identity confirmed: KK."
"…Damn."
Even though the authentication passed, Kenichiro looked visibly disappointed. He glanced at Karl, then at Maki—who had already cleared inspection and was watching curiously. With a heavy sigh, he turned and walked ahead.
"Follow me. I'll lead the rest of the way."
Hearing that, Karl and Maki exchanged a glance, then followed behind.
Once inside the estate grounds, Karl stepped up beside Kenichiro, curiosity in his voice.
"Kenichiro-san, why did you look so disappointed earlier, like you were hoping I'd fail the scan? Did something happen?"
"Have you heard of behavioral mimic masks?"
Karl's heart skipped a beat at the familiar name, but he nodded. "Yeah, I've used one before."
"When you snuck into Arasaka Academy, right?"
Kenichiro gave Maki a brief look. From his own investigation, he knew Karl had used the alias Gaius during that infiltration—where he and Maki had first met. But that wasn't today's concern. Today's issue was more serious, something that posed a real security threat.
"That tech was originally abandoned by Militech. But someone clearly saw its potential and resumed development. Now there's a second-generation version out there. It hasn't passed any official certification, and it puts even more strain on the user, but when it comes to identity masking, it's far superior to the original."
Kenichiro continued:
"Lately, several external organizations have been using this tech to probe Arasaka's internal systems. We managed to reverse-engineer it quickly and developed dedicated counter-scanning programs. But to eliminate all risk, confirming biometric data and cyberware manually has become mandatory."
His tone was all business—rigid, full of corporate jargon. Karl distilled it in his head: The mimic-mask tech was back and being used against Arasaka. So even though there's scanning software, Kenichiro insisted on manually confirming every high-clearance individual.
But what Karl found suspicious was the phrasing: "rapid reverse-engineering" and "immediate countermeasures." It made him wonder—had Arasaka really cracked it that fast, or had they just sent a spy to steal the data and reverse it themselves?
Still, that wasn't the most important point.
"So what's that got to do with you being disappointed when I passed?"
"You let your guard down."
Kenichiro said it calmly. "As someone working in a detective agency, you should have sharper instincts. If someone were planning to infiltrate, they wouldn't choose someone obviously suspicious. They'd pick someone no one would think to scan thoroughly. So tell me, today—who do you think that would be?"
"Someone like me or Maki," Karl answered slowly. "People with special clearance."
He was starting to get it. Then he looked at Kenichiro, frowning.
"But how do I know you're not the one faking it? If I were trying to infiltrate, I'd pick the guy in charge of security checks. The one no one questions. That'd be you, Kenichiro-san."
You're using my own trick against me!?
Kenichiro had only meant to throw Karl off balance a little—to keep him alert. But now Karl was on edge, eyes sharp, subtly creating space between them, clearly ready to act if needed.
Kenichiro nearly choked.
Again!? This wasn't the first time—it had happened in the elevator too. He'd tried to give the kid a little lecture, only to have it flipped on him. Was Karl always this good at getting under someone's skin?
He'd been in a decent mood, actually. Just a few days ago he'd seen Adam Smasher come back in a wrecked state, and it had lifted his spirits. He'd even planned to give Karl a bit of advice—cut the kid some slack.
That mood? Gone. Completely.
His face darkened considerably. Before, he'd just been serious. Now he looked genuinely pissed off.
Kenichiro no longer had a single doubt—this punk is definitely that same little bastard.
Looking at Karl, still wary and ready for action, Kenichiro could tell: the kid had actually learned something. He was ready to strike on mere suspicion.
To avoid alarming Lady Michiko, Kenichiro bit his lip and swallowed his anger.
Then, with a slight tremble in his voice—as if suppressing something—he muttered:
"Chiyome already scanned me this morning when I arrived."
"Oh, then it's fine. Sorry, Kenichiro-san. Guess I was being a little too tense."
Karl immediately relaxed, flashing that same carefree grin. But Kenichiro felt anything but relaxed.
Is this brat doing it on purpose?
Even someone as emotionally tone-deaf as Kenichiro started having doubts. He'd lived his whole life by the book, and this new generation? He just couldn't understand what the hell they were thinking.
He shot Karl a final glare and quickened his pace.
He made a decision right there and then—until he was done reporting to Lady Michiko and Miss Hanako, he wasn't going to speak another word to this damn kid. Or to that rebellious assistant who always ran extra scans between 4 and 6 just to screw with him.
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🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless
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