"Hahaha..."
V seemed to sense Arthur's movement and let out a soft chuckle of agreement.
"Simply put, that's how it is.
I might suddenly pop into your head one day—so don't be too startled when it happens."
After exchanging the essentials, they hung up together.
Arthur needed to go through the intel V had sent him. The sooner the better. As for V—well, she was always busy.
Maybe it was just habit from her line of work, but V's efficiency was astonishing. No one would have guessed that her casual "I'll look into it" would yield results so quickly.
"Is it... that friend from Arasaka?"
Vik asked.
"Yeah, it's V. She said she found some leads and sent me an email."
Arthur opened the message right away.
It wasn't complicated. It explained the situation with the Cyberware Titan and why David had been captured.
"What...! They took him... to use as a test subject..."
Lucy's normally quiet voice rasped in shock.
Human experimentation—hated and condemned worldwide—yet nearly every corporation had dabbled in it.
And when it came to human experimentation, one place always came to mind: Crystal Palace, a lawless zone floating in space.
Its clinics were world-famous, and corporations competed to build labs there. Inside, they could conduct experiments banned by global law without restraint. That was why cyberware development there had become so advanced.
Anything branded with the Crystal Palace name was synonymous with cutting-edge innovation.
Even the piece of cyberware V had given Arthur—so advanced that even Vik, a veteran ripperdoc, had never seen its like.
Though the mention of human experimentation unsettled everyone, as V's intel unfolded, those at the clinic managed to breathe a little easier.
This experiment wasn't urgent—the cyberware in question wasn't even in Night City yet. That meant they still had a little time to prepare.
"This thing probably won't even make it into Night City..."
The last ceasefire agreement had explicitly forbidden the presence of weapons of mass destruction anywhere in the city.
But did this bizarre cyberware—this Cyberware Titan—even count as a weapon?
Or maybe turning such a strange weapon into cyberware was just a loophole to get around the weapons ban.
Arthur shared the intel with Vik. He didn't say much, only turned and projected the data onto the terminal screen behind him.
While the others searched for anything related to David, Vik narrowed his eyes at the cyberware itself.
"What is it?
You see something wrong?"
Arthur pressed.
On the screen, a red page hovered in the corner, showing the Cyberware Titan. Rough specs were annotated around it, and Vik's trained eye caught something important.
As an experienced ripperdoc, his intuition in these matters was sharper than most.
The cyberware before him, though stamped with Arasaka's brand and decent at first glance, brought to mind what would happen if someone actually used it.
Even setting aside Cyberpsychosis, today's cyberware was built to be "compatible," powered by the host's own energy.
At worst, it shouldn't cripple the user once the energy ran out.
But this thing? Without power, it would completely disable the host. Designs like that were relics—decades old, left behind with clunky industrial cyberware.
It made no sense for Arasaka to treat such a flawed piece of tech like a treasure.
"Things might not be as simple as they seem..."
Arthur's question cut through Vik's thoughts. His brows stayed tightly furrowed, his voice unusually heavy.
"This piece of cyberware... it's not worth Arasaka pulling out all the stops."
He swept his gaze around the room before finally locking onto Arthur.
"You need to stay sharp. Arasaka's real target might not be David."
The implication was clear—their sights were likely set on Arthur.
Arthur's unusual nature was obvious, and Vik knew it better than anyone.
By Arthur's own account, he was just a kid from Watson. It didn't make sense for someone like that to suddenly rise to the level of a top mercenary.
And though the anomaly in his head had never acted up, the unknown itself was exactly what corporations valued most.
As for the weapon's destructive power? Sure, a corporation might take notice, but it wouldn't be their focus.
This was a nuclear age—even Biotechnica could manufacture nukes on its own.
What truly consumed the megacorps was the human body, life itself, and theories that went even deeper.
But the corporate system wasn't built to explore those fields. That was why progress had stalled for nearly a century, even showing signs of regression.
Vik clasped his hands together, looking at Arthur with concern.
"What do you plan to do..."
"Uh... just bring the kid back. That's it."
Arthur didn't hesitate. He understood what Vik was getting at, but the situation was already here—someone had to step up.
He couldn't just leave David to be experimented on by Arasaka.
Vik didn't argue. He knew this friend, though they hadn't known each other long. If Arthur would risk himself interfering in Biotechnica's labs for strangers, then of course he'd act for someone he actually cared about.
"Still... you need to be careful."
In truth, while Vik had noticed something off, his suspicions weren't entirely certain.
From his perspective, his main worry was simply for his friend.
But the web beginning to reveal itself—its center clearly lay with that friend now caught in Arasaka's grip.
"You... you're getting involved with those two punks?
Goddamn it, things are chaotic enough already, and now you're messing around with those rednecks?
They're obviously trying to drag you down! Can't you see that?"
In the empty, dimly lit office, Jenkins slammed his palm against the massive desk, the sound echoing as he roared in fury.
"Japan's eyes are on us right now. Didn't I warn you?
It's far more dangerous now than it was years ago. Those Japanese... they're cold-blooded bastards..."