[Name: Kushinada Lucyna]
[Age: 14]
[Place of Origin: Warsaw, Poland]
[Family Background Check: Father- Kushinada Takeshi (highlighted in red) is head of security at Arasaka's Warsaw branch.
Mother- Shimmer (highlighted in red) is a former core member of the Polish netrunner group "Squadron 404".
This employee was voluntarily enrolled by her father into a juvenile netrunner training facility for special training. Due to her father's assessment describing her as "unstable", "rebellious", and "not aligned with the Arasaka spirit", close observation is recommended.]
[Ability Assessment: Juvenile Netrunner Training Facility Score: 92 (Exceptional).
Arasaka Spirit Rating: 51 (Loyalty re-education within the facility advised).
Psychological Resilience: 72
(Average)Overall Evaluation: Highly talented, but due to personality flaws and ideological instability, lacks potential for critical responsibilities.]
[Training Facility Post-Graduation Assessment: Meets requirements for high-risk netrunner operations.]
[Assigned to Vancouver Experimental Base in July 2070 for the Star Project.]
Mercer reviewed the highlighted data.
[Kushinada Takeshi: Outstanding employee during the Fourth Corporate War. Excelled in cleanup operations in Poland and long-term suppression of opposition forces. Demonstrates high loyalty to the company and is trustworthy.
Specific operational records are classified as Level 2 encrypted files; access prohibited without authorization.]
[Shimmer: This individual was never employed by Arasaka. Investigation aligns with the image of a family-devoted homemaker. Listed as a specially noted talent. Involves keyword "Squadron 404", no information available on this server.]
Mercer closed the file, deleted it, and then looked at his own record.
It was no different from what he remembered: mediocre evaluations, cold demeanor, and an orphan background, sold to Arasaka by foster parents for 50 000 eurodollars.
After half a second of thought, he spent two more seconds reviewing all novice netrunner and key employee files, memorized the crucial information, and deleted all necessary data.
After a final check of the server's preset programs, he quickly scanned the surroundings with the cameras and noticed something that made him frown.
Sakata, who had once chosen to inform on others, was vigorously knocking on the door of another novice netrunner in the basement level.
Mercer watched him silently through the camera for a moment, first unlocked the door of the reclusive novice netrunner on sub-level one, then disconnected from the server and exited the deep dive.
—--
As soon as he returned to reality and opened his eyes, a sudden wave of nausea hit him.
Damn.
He felt dizzy, his head throbbing with pain, almost as unbearable as when he first crossed over.
And it wasn't just physical discomfort, mentally, he felt a stifling emptiness.
The sensation of omnipotence while connected to the server faded rapidly, like a god suddenly stripped of divine power and reduced to a mortal.
This drastic contrast between mind and body left him feeling weak all over. Staggering to his feet as if drunk, Mercer gasped for breath and stumbled forward unsteadily.
A robot waited for him at the door, holding the specially crafted Kenshin pistol made by the Director.
Mercer took the gun, racked the slide, then let the robot support him into the elevator. Leaning against the wall, he paused briefly in thought before pressing the button for the basement level, all while panting heavily, trying to recover.
Deep diving was truly dangerous. For ordinary netrunners, even when connected to servers in Cyberspace, their capabilities were limited, essentially maxing out at their brain's natural limits.
But Mercer was certain, he had just performed far beyond his usual level.
That kind of performance definitely exceeded his brain's current capacity, damn it, he was sure more of his brain had been fried.
He could even smell a faint burning odor coming from his neural link.
The self-check program from his bio-monitor sent over the data, confirming that shortly after entering the server, he had entered a state equivalent to Overclock.
Thankfully, the excellent server-grade cooling had saved him; otherwise, he wouldn't have lasted. Not many netrunners could push themselves to this extreme.
Most only reached this state when passively overloaded with data, but he had actively manipulated too much, too intensely, pushing his brain to its absolute limit.
And in that detached, strangely exhilarated state of Cyberspace, he hadn't thought such minor damage was worth attention, and rightly so. He could still walk, still think. It was just…
Uncomfortable.
The elevator quickly arrived at the basement level. As the doors opened, he was met by Sakata, who had nervously drawn his monowire and was staring at him intently.
"What... what did you do?! Why are all the rooms locked? Where are Lucy and the others? You're trying to escape, aren't you? You're running away!"
Sakata's hands trembled, and finally, in a sharp, tearful voice, he cried out, "Why didn't you take me with you… If you knew you could escape, why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
"And wait for you to betray me? Save it, kid. Please step aside, I'm not here for you. Security's cleared out now. If you want to run, just go. Arasaka will mainly be after us; you might survive wherever you go."
Mercer spoke weakly, and seeing that he needed support from an unarmed robot and could barely keep a firm grip on his gun…
Sakata's breathing grew heavy.
In just a blink, Sakata made his decision. Run? And wait for Arasaka to hunt him down? No, he would rise within Arasaka, no matter the cost!
If he could capture Mercer, he would surely... He tried to swing his monowire fiercely, but it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds in his hand.
His eyes widened abruptly, his cybereye flooded with red warnings that nearly overwhelmed his entire vision.
"No... no!"
He stammered out two sounds, part gasp, part scream, then stiffened and collapsed to the floor. As Mercer passed by the man kneeling on the ground, his brain was already engulfed in flames, like a human torch frozen in a kneeling position.
"I gave you chances, more than once, kid."
Mercer's voice made him let out a piercing scream even in his final moments.
But Mercer simply walked to the door of the last person remaining in the room, the young girl netrunner.
He recalled her name clearly from his memory, and from the files he had scavenged from the server, he remembered her background.
"Li Yi, shall we go? Let's leave together."
After a brief silence in the room, the child's voice rang out.
"Where can we go?" Her voice trembled in the room.
"Wherever it is, as long as we keep moving forward, we're heading toward freedom," Mercer said gently.
"Does freedom still exist in this world?" Li Yi's voice carried a faint sob.
"Freedom isn't in this world; it's in your heart, child." Mercer's tone grew even softer. "Let's go. The world outside is vast, and everyone can find a place to belong."
"...Freedom."
Li Yi's voice inexplicably calmed. Then, a soft inhale was heard from inside the room. "Mercer, thank you... really, thank you."
After that, faint, scattered sounds of a monowire being pulled out suddenly came from within.
Mercer frowned slightly and instinctively placed his hand on the door handle. He had already unlocked it from the server.
In truth, he could have opened it with just a little force, but after a moment's hesitation, he chose to wait quietly instead.
A few seconds later, the door opened. A small, pale hand held out a tiny wind chime.
"Send it into the free wind. It was Kuma's dream... As for my dream, my freedom..."
Mercer took the wind chime from her hand.
Then, a sound of something slicing through the air came from the room, followed by the thud of a heavy object falling. Something hit the door, accompanied by a noise like flowing water and the girl's muffled, air-leaking murmur.
"I finally feel... free."
Her faint voice was eventually drowned out by the room's incessant, annoying ventilation fan.
"May your soul rest in peace."
Mercer clenched the wind chime in his hand, turned, and walked away. The robot assisted him into the elevator, and he calmly pressed the button for the first floor.
In this despairing world, the right to choose how to die is also an expression of one's freedom.
He could have saved her. He could have counseled her. But would that have robbed her of the freedom to choose?
Encouraging her to overcome all these hardships and endure all this torment, wasn't that, too, imposing his own ideas on her life, a self-satisfying act of charity?
Mercer felt as though he had pondered for a long time in that moment, feeling lost for the first time about whether what he had done was right or wrong.
—--
When the elevator reached the first floor, Mercer immediately stepped out and sent a command for the robots originally in Director Tano and Secretary Inoue's rooms to return to their original positions. Then he made all the security devices in Director Tano's room automatically execute the Short Circuit program.
He wanted to create the false impression that Secretary Inoue had disabled the robotic security, killed Director Tano, and fled.
Once again, he heard the concerned inquiries from those novice netrunners in his ear. He simply replied with a group message saying "on my way" and immediately headed toward the freight hangar where the aerodyne vehicle was parked.
But the corpses he saw along the way once again made him feel nauseous.
Especially that charred smell, he probably wouldn't be able to eat grilled meat for a while.
In Cyberspace, seeing these bodies felt as insignificant as NPCs in a game; killing was just like tapping a keyboard.
But back in reality, looking at the corpses scattered across the ground, a sense of guilt and horror welled up uncontrollably in his heart.
He laughed at himself mockingly. Earlier, when he saw how pale Kyoko and Lucy looked, he thought they were overreacting. But when it was his turn... honestly, he was about to vomit.
What kind of ruthless people were those decisive protagonists in novels? He considered himself highly adaptable, thick-skinned, and easygoing.
But now he realized he still had a long way to go before fully adapting to the cyberpunk world.
Regarding life and death, justice, and the path he must take, he actually needed some stable time to digest and reflect before he could find the answers.
For now, though, he had to endure all this and stand strong for these kids. As the big brother, he had to act the part.
—--
"Mercer... Mercer!?" In the distance, Lucy, who had been standing by the aerodyne vehicle with her pistol in both hands on high alert, spotted Mercer staggering toward her from afar.
Her expression instantly turned tense, and without a second thought, she rushed over to him.
Daichi held back Leon and Kyoko, who also wanted to approach, giving them a look that said "be sensible," though his own eyes were filled with concern for Mercer.
Instinctively, Lucy supported Mercer, looking at his pale face. "Are you okay?"
"My mind's a bit hazy... Get me a Relic. I haven't told you yet, I've already cracked the program inside. I'll flash it for you later. After that, you can keep the chip inserted. It actively repairs neural pathways and can also activate passively after the host's death to save your life."
Mercer smiled, not refusing her help. With her support, he could walk a bit faster.
She was quite petite, but her strength was nothing to scoff at.
"Don't talk about that now. We can deal with flashing later, just rest first," Lucy insisted.
But Mercer shook his head.
"No, I still have to drive. It's fine, I'm just feeling a bit unwell, but I'm not an invalid. I'll be back to my old self after a couple days of rest."
As he spoke, Mercer declined Lucy's suggestion to let him rest in the back. Kyoko, quick to react, had already opened the case storing the Relic chips and handed one to him the moment she heard his request.
He then inserted the chip directly into his head and used the program Alt provided to quickly purge the Soulkiller inside. Then he activated the chip's built-in neural repair function, opened the aerodyne vehicle's cockpit door, crawled inside, and plugged his personal link into the vehicle's system.
Only then did he let out a long sigh, leaning back in the seat as he watched the entire vehicle pass authentication.
"Hurry back and sit down. We're about to depart. Keep an eye on our guest and make sure he doesn't wake up mid-journey. She needs to sleep straight through to the final destination."
Lucy pressed her lips together tightly as she looked at him, but ultimately nodded firmly and returned to the passenger cabin.
After closing the door, she casually kicked the somewhat obstructive, unconscious Secretary Inoue lying on the floor out of the way.
Soon after, the sound of the aerodyne vehicle's engine starting up echoed through the cabin.
Due to the aerodyne vehicle's design, the passenger cabin only allowed occupants to face each other in pairs, with the cockpit concealed behind metal panels. They could only hear Mercer's voice through the vehicle's intercom.
"Stop looking so gloomy, this is the taste of freedom so many people dream of! Get ready, fasten your seatbelts! We're setting off now!"
"Off to Night City!"