Ha...
Mercer suddenly thought of that small program that Old Wei installed when the game started to update the Qilu Company's prosthetic eye for V in the game.
With that program, V could have the same permissions as the NCPD, able to scan the other person's biometrics through the prosthetic eye and directly access their personal file stored at the NCPD.
It seems like this time, this business deal is coming his way.
Feeling cheerful, Mercer logged out of the network, ending the deep dive, and took a deep breath as he awoke from the hacker chair.
"Not bad, didn't smell like burnt brain this time." Lucy said without looking up, her fingers clacking away on the laptop, her head still plugged in with wires.
Most hackers, aside from deep diving, can't completely control all the computer data by brainwaves like Mercer, they still need a bit of manual programming.
"Does my brain smell nice?" Mercer joked as he sat up.
"Not really." Lucy, not as good at multitasking as Mercer, gave a simple reply.
Mercer chuckled a couple of times and didn't rush to interrupt her; instead, he first checked his email.
The Old Captain's reply and transfer had already arrived while he was busy preparing his work.
[Old Captain: Woah! A, this program of yours is invincible! I tested it on six car machine systems, the longest only took a second to open! Awesome!
I had an expert look at the hijacking system, completely no problem!
No need to say more, I transferred the money to you, 180,000 Euros, also, I plan to start tomorrow using your cracking program to bring home a batch of second-hand cars yearning for a home.
If you're interested, you can send someone over to me in the morning to earn some extra cash. I guarantee you won't lose out, I'll pay you 60% of my selling price for each car.
Also, I'll give you a discount coupon, if you fancy any of the cars I'm selling, I'll give you a discount!
In the future, if any hacker tech requirements arise, I'll find you! Your speed and skills, there's nothing like it, truly top-notch!]
Mercer replied to the Old Captain with a smiling face emoji.
[Mercer: Alright, let me see if any of my people are interested, and have them go to you in the morning to make some extra cash.]
After replying to the Old Captain, Mercer moved behind Lucy to watch her code.
Mercer didn't disturb her, just calmly watched behind her for a while before speaking up: "You can't write it this way, there'll be a bug, and the program will get stuck in an infinite loop here, change this part...
Simplify over here too, it's best not to stack too many complex codes, look, clearly, one line of code can finish this..."
Mercer leaned down, gently pointing at the screen as he taught Lucy.
Lucy learned patiently, never talking back.
Mercer taught her for an hour, and Lucy stayed highly focused for the whole hour, their pace was swift, mainly because Lucy's talent was indeed quite impressive, understanding many things at a glance.
Seeing Lucy starting to rub her temples, Mercer stopped and suddenly looked at the Super Dream Headband behind him.
"Alright, take a break...how about we take a look at the Super Dream together?"
He raised the Super Dream Headband, saying: "Bought it for Kyoko, let's try it first..."
Lucy exhaled deeply, took a sip of her now cold coffee, and rubbed her face: "Alright then, what are we watching, Sailor Moon?"
Mercer gently tapped her head, then smilingly took out a Super Dream Chip:
"Moon Explorer...an interactive Super Dream, though it can't fully simulate the Moon environment, it allows you to freely explore the Moon like playing a game.
Though it can't offer the no-oxygen environment feeling, it can simulate environmental gravity, temperature, and humidity.
With the two of us sharing one headband, we can interact in the Super Dream, just like when Daichi and their friends play the soccer game."
Lucy looked puzzled, tilted her head at him: "What made you think of buying this...are you interested in the Moon?"
"Uh, I thought you might like it."
Mercer was a bit surprised too, but thinking it over, in the anime, her yearning for the Moon and desire to escape there was because, after escaping from the Arasaka Base in the anime, what she saw was a bright full moon.
Thus, she regarded that distant moon as an 'ideal place' to forever escape Arasaka's pursuit.
But now, having not undergone that ordeal, naturally, she wouldn't have any strong feelings for the Moon.
Lucy gazed at Mercer and, after a moment, laughed: "Then let's take a look at the Moon...maybe I'll like it too?"
She stood up from the small stool, sat on the mattress: "Come on, besides Kyoko's Sailor Moon, I've never tried another type of Super Dream."
Mercer also sat beside her; though the mattress was small, just a single bed configuration, fortunately, both of them were quite small now.
Sitting shoulder to shoulder on the mattress, squeezing in together, Mercer and Lucy simultaneously connected their data lines into the Super Dream.
Unlike the headbands in anime where putting them on separately would allow two people to log into the Super Dream together, the Super Dream Headband Mercer bought wasn't that advanced and required a cable connection to use.
But when the lights flashed, entering the Super Dream, what Mercer saw was a scene almost identical to what he'd seen in anime.
...
"So...beautiful."
The blistering sunlight shone directly on their faces, with the universe and the galaxy right in front of them.
The azure Earth at the Moon's horizon end, and Mercer could even feel a faint breeze on his face, with the fresh air making one instinctively take a deep breath.
This Super Dream, aimed for leisurely relaxation, wasn't about realistic hardcore experiences; everything was designed to provide a more pleasant lunar experience.