The falling fireworks eventually extinguished. The fire and rain mixed, but in the end, the heavy rain put out the rootless flames.
The rain continued to fall relentlessly. The deafening thunder rumbled across the sky of Night City, and the cold wind from the shattered window blew into the office. The fine raindrops, accompanied by the wind, brushed across the boy's cheek. His hair, which had barely dried, was soaked once more with the rain.
"The fireworks still weren't pretty enough. Next time, let's use a bigger one. What do you think, stupid girl?"
The boy's voice was clean and clear, but his tone carried a sense of maturity. He gazed at the gradually fading fireworks outside, as if feeling somewhat nostalgic.
If it weren't for his face still bearing the remnants of youth, no one would think he was an underage boy.
He looked out at the unending rain, listening to the sound of wind and rain, standing perfectly straight, but soon, his body began to wobble. He staggered back a few steps and finally leaned against the desk.
Having just come out of the relaxed state induced by the Stanis drug, some fatigue was inevitable.
Moreover, running all the way from the lower floors, his physical stamina had almost reached its limit. He had been pushing through with the help of stimulants.
After a long silence without hearing Sasha's response, Lin Mo turned to look toward her in the office.
Sasha, who had been lying on the floor earlier, had now sat up. Her legs were slightly bent to one side, her body coiled like a snake, drawing an alluring curve. Her delicate figure always exuded an irresistible charm whenever glanced at.
However, her expression was not as sharp as a snake's, but rather blank, staring directly at him, seemingly still lost in the embrace they had just shared.
Only when Lin Mo turned his gaze toward her did her eyes blink, as if awakening from a deep sleep, the lively color returning to her gaze.
Lin Mo couldn't help but find it a bit amusing. This was the first time he had seen the usually calm and collected hacker display such a dazed expression.
"What are you doing here?" Sasha asked softly.
She tried to rise, but with this slight movement, the gunshot wound in her abdomen opened up again, and fresh blood soaked her tight black outfit.
She didn't know where her pink and white shawl had gone, perhaps she had put it back in her equipment bag so it wouldn't hinder her movements.
And that equipment bag had already disintegrated into ashes in the rain, along with the burst of fireworks.
"You're injured?"
Lin Mo walked over, opened his waist pouch, took out a syringe and pneumatic injector, and was about to treat Sasha when suddenly he stopped in his tracks.
"Really? It's never-ending. You do it yourself. I'll go deal with these annoying flies first!"
He threw the injector over, and Sasha reached out with both hands to catch it. Just as she was about to look up at the boy, she felt a gust of wind pass her, and Lin Mo had already vanished from her sight.
Outside the office, several sharp explosions echoed, the sound of metal clashing was excruciating to the ears. There was a dull vibration as metal pieces fell to the ground, and occasionally, the sound of electric arcs crackling.
It seemed that the boy was still carrying out his duty, slaying any intruders attempting to step into the office, leaving it completely quiet.
Sasha held the pneumatic injector, stabbing it into her abdomen. The medication flowed into her veins, and within moments, it began to take effect. Nano-robots quickly stopped the bleeding at her wound.
Though the wound had been treated, Sasha's expression still seemed blank, her hands tightly clutching the injector, showing no sign of releasing it, abandoning her usual calm and competence.
She knew very well that this was not the time to get distracted. With the rain relentlessly falling outside and the boy killing robots outside, how could she, as the older one, stay behind and drag him down?
But Sasha still hadn't recovered from what had just happened. She clearly realized that at that moment, she had already made peace with the idea of falling into hell, jumping from the high-rise, letting the rain soak her, and once her revenge was completed, she would have no more attachments to this disappointing city.
If there was anything left to feel guilty for, it was probably for Maine and Lin Mo, who had been waiting for her outside. Her reckless actions had completely disrupted the plan.
But the mission was complete, the reward would still be substantial, and even if she was gone, they wouldn't have to split one less share.
This had been a story long fated to unfold this way. Everything seemed like a coincidence arranged by fate: the task assignment, the discovery of BioTech's secrets, the truth of the past...
A series of clever arrangements had eventually led her to the tragic ending.
But fate had played a trick on her and had her cross paths with him.
The boy had fought his way through, using his blade to hack through the broken script, trampling the so-called tragedy into pieces. He had dragged her back from the edge of the cliff when she was about to end her life.
This sudden turn of events, the exhilaration of being pulled from the abyss back into the world... Sasha only felt her heart was in turmoil now, her hands pressing against her chest, her heartbeat so fast it was hard to tell if it was from the shock of surviving or the emotion of being saved.
Another round of heavy footsteps came from the doorway. Sasha quickly looked up, only to see Lin Mo rush in, his cold blade already sheathed.
Under Sasha's surprised and slightly embarrassed gaze, the boy lifted her effortlessly, holding her in a princess carry and walked toward the shattered glass window.
The wind and rain outside still raged. The cold, damp air brushed against his forehead through the window.
It seemed that the BioTech staff in the floating car had been stunned by Lin Mo's reckless actions. A single person, charging to the top of the building alone, was certainly not an act that could be ignored, and they must have been worried about his next move.
So the hovering vulture, which had been circling nearby, flew away temporarily, fearing Lin Mo might throw another grenade at them.
"Sorry, though it's a bit abrupt, there were too many robots. I hacked through one batch, and then another came. There were more than cockroaches. I couldn't fight them all off, so it's time to leave."
Lin Mo explained straightforwardly.
But Sasha didn't respond. Her face flushed slightly, lowering her head. Lin Mo furrowed his brows and looked down at her abdomen.
The bleeding had stopped, but the posture of carrying her might put strain on the freshly healed wound and cause pain.
Even the most advanced nano-medical technology couldn't completely heal wounds instantly like in video games.
No wonder Sasha hadn't spoken. He must have hurt her.
"Are you still able to walk? If not, I can carry you. Time's running out. I've placed a few sensor grenades at the entrances, but they won't last long." Lin Mo quickly said.
"I still have some strength left to walk. You don't need to carry me," Sasha said, slightly out of breath, feeling her face heat up.
"We'll escape together!"
She looked up, meeting Lin Mo's gaze. The strange light in her eyes returned.
However, Lin Mo didn't answer. He just calmly stared at her for a while, his expression as if looking at a fool.
"Do you think we can still run out through the front door now? Your hacking skills are impressive, but the building's security system has already been activated. Can you take control of the elevator in such a short time?" He smiled bitterly.
Sasha lowered her head, thinking, and the light in her eyes dimmed again. She shook her head helplessly, "No."
"Right. I don't want to run another marathon. Do you know how tired I was running up from the bottom?" Lin Mo sighed.
"You shouldn't have run up to save me," Sasha answered dejectedly.
Once she said that, Sasha felt a wave of guilt fill her heart again. Her reckless actions had dragged someone who had risked their life to save her into this.
The boy had disregarded the danger and climbed the entire building to rescue her. Even someone as cold as she was couldn't help but feel moved by that.
At the same time, Sasha couldn't help but wonder—what was it about her that made him risk his life to save her?
"Now that I'm here, why say all this?"
Lin Mo frowned, feeling a little strange. How had this usually calm and mature hacker turned into such a melancholic mess?
He assessed the weight in his arms. Sasha's entire weight was now resting in his arms. He could clearly feel her delicate form.
He had definitely not picked the wrong person.
Although he had no clue, Lin Mo didn't want to waste time on these things. He continued, "Time's running out. We can't escape through the front door now, so you need to hold on tight to me. Don't let go!"
Sasha widened her eyes, looking at the shattered window. Suddenly, she thought of a crazy possibility.
"You want to jump out from here?!"
"That's right," Lin Mo replied indifferently. Without giving Sasha time to react, he kicked the remaining glass shards out of the way, expanding the gap.
"You don't have to do this for me... Lin Mo, you're so rich. You must have the platinum membership for the trauma team. Let me down, and you can have the trauma team pick you up. I'll try to cover you as much as I can."
Sasha's tone was almost pleading, her voice tinged with a whimper.
"There's no need to do something so foolish for me."
However, Lin Mo didn't respond. He just hugged her tighter in his arms because Sasha started squirming, trying to stop him from doing such a suicidal act.
This was really foolish and not cool at all, Sasha knew that deep down.
Because just a moment ago, she had almost gone through the same thing, being forced to fall from the top of the building. No matter how beautiful a person was, the result would be the same—smashed into a bloody pulp. Humans didn't have wings. The sky was never their domain.
With that thought, Sasha glanced at the boy's face.
Such a beautiful face—how tragic would it be if it hit the ground and got ruined?
But the boy looked at the rain outside, suddenly smiling for no reason. He didn't pay attention to Sasha's words. His expression seemed to appreciate the rain, and suddenly, he asked:
"Have you read Tagore's poetry?"
Sasha still looked at him with wide, confused eyes. This hacker, who was usually so sharp and capable, had never expected to feel this helpless today, unable to keep up with another person's pace, becoming the one holding others back.
"Really silly, you..." Lin Mo sighed, seemingly regretful, and added:
"Although I just learned it, there's one line I don't know if you'll understand..."
"The sky never left the traces of the bird, but I have already flown."
Sasha shook her head in confusion.
"You'll understand next," Lin Mo smiled.
"Though the original meaning of this line isn't quite like this."
Before Sasha could understand what he was saying, the boy didn't hesitate and took a step forward.
Both of them fell out of the window, like birds without wings, plummeting rapidly.
Sasha couldn't help but scream, the chaotic rain soaking her body. The biting cold wind swept past, and they fell into the icy rain, like accomplices heading to their death. The only warmth was the shared body heat between them.
All she could hear was the boy's laughter and the howling wind, and the world seemed to become monochrome. She could only see the flowing light and hazy rain. The only person in her view was him, and the only sounds were his voice and the wind.
Her heart raced, almost leaping out of her chest. Amid the excitement, there was a hint of peace, as if she had been infected by the boy's wild laughter, and they fell together from a great height, disregarding the world.
Had it ended?
Sasha felt herself falling rapidly with Lin Mo, her eyes wide open, the rain sliding down her face. She looked up at his face in his arms, as if engraving it into her heart.
A small smile appeared on her lips, and she smiled along with him.
The yellow jacket billowed in the wind, and the boy in front of her had never smiled so freely as today. Even with the mask on, the smile on the lower half of his face was wild, full of mischief.
The distance between them and the ground rapidly decreased. Lin Mo had spent a lot of time climbing to the top, and now they were falling quickly to the ground.
But the expected death didn't come. A sudden strong counterforce canceled out their falling acceleration. Warmth rose from below, evaporating the rain into mist.
Sasha looked down and was stunned to see that Lin Mo's feet were now wearing special boots, with flame-throwing devices attached to the sides, providing enough buoyancy to keep them floating in the torrential rain.
At this point, they were just a few meters from the ground.
"The flight journey ends here, miss. It's time to get off the bus."
A gentle voice came from beside her ear, and Lin Mo's smile became warmer, as if they had just weathered the storm, and only the warmth of the sun remained.
The sensation of falling from the sky was indeed exhilarating, a blend of fear and excitement.
Without hesitation, Lin Mo let go, and Sasha plummeted toward the ground. But she reacted just in time, twisting her body mid-air and landing softly, as agile as a cat.
At this point, everything was going smoothly.
Lin Mo silently looked up at the top of the BioTech building. A floating car hovered nearby. He was sure the BioTech employees inside must have seen the two of them fall from the high-rise.
But they must never have expected that they would survive a fall from such a height.
Lin Mo knew well the cunning of these employees. Their leap from the building would surely be captured by the cameras in the office. Even if it wasn't, the employees left in the floating car definitely filmed it.
As for whether he lived or died, that wasn't for him to decide. At least in the minds of those employees, he was already dead.
The company had suffered a huge loss. Over twenty robots had been destroyed, and data was stolen.
To cover up their incompetence, the employees would definitely embellish the report. Even if he hadn't died, and his body was never found, it wouldn't stop them from claiming that their colleagues had retrieved their bodies.
"However, the anti-gravity thrusters provided by the simulator are truly amazing. They can support both of us. As expected from a simulator product—top quality."
Lin Mo looked down at the thrusters beneath his feet, his expression suddenly frozen.
Because he saw the thrusters' flame output had been blocked, like a smoker choking on smoke, spewing out black mist. The flames were nearly depleted.
"Damn."
Newton's gravity took effect once again, and they fell from mid-air.
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