After fiddling for a few minutes, Mercer's mind finally started to cool down, and he continued:
"There, my optimized operating system is at least 10% better than before. Although the power increase might be limited, the reduction in neural load is definitely noticeable."
Old Wei, also a tech enthusiast, couldn't resist coming over: "Let me run a test."
Mercer unplugged his connection and let Old Wei try for himself. Old Wei connected the Sianwistan to a dedicated test computer and ran a test.
"Amazing... Now the neural load is reduced by at least 6%, and the power increase is optimized by 3%! Your skills are truly impressive."
Unlike those who've never seen the world, Victor knew very well that for operating system software for prosthetics like these, it takes dozens of programmers months, if not a year or two, to develop and optimize them.
They would have tried all possible optimizations already.
Although this Arasaka's Sianwistan lagged behind Mercer's hacker prosthetic, technically, Arasaka was also behind compared to similar prosthetics from Military Science or Qiantai.
But since it was a laboratory-grade product, there were definitely no program limitations remaining.
This meant Mercer single-handedly achieved in a few minutes what dozens of Arasaka programmers might not accomplish in months.
Victor considered himself a genius in the cybernetic surgery field, but if he matched it against Mercer's talent in computing...
"There's always someone better, Mercer, you gave me a lesson."
Victor sighed, "I still underestimated you."
Mercer laughed heartily, "I even upgraded the internal defense program!
If a hacker breaks in and triggers an abnormal signal, this prosthetic will automatically enter protection mode to avoid overload or malfunction errors twisting it into a pretzel.
The last owner was taken down by me doing exactly that."
Old Wei put down the Sianwistan, stretched his shoulders, then turned to Mercer: "What do you plan to install for your friend this time?"
"First this Sianwistan, then I need to replace her brain-computer interface with the latest one, and swap out the prosthetic eye. I'm thinking of adding subdermal armor too."
Mercer finished, noticing Old Wei's disapproving look.
"Come on, Old Wei, it's not that much."
"You think everyone else has the same highly tolerant genius body like you?"
Victor shook his head and said, "Subdermal armor, Sianwistan, and the new brain-computer interface are fine, but for the prosthetic eye, I'll have to see the data first."
"Install my military-grade ICE allocation on her too. I'm not too worried about electronic warfare against me, but she's a bit of an idiot and needs to be cautious."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Mercer heard hurried footsteps approaching from the door, and Old Wei's only cybernetic, his prosthetic eyes, flashed:
"A pretty white-haired girl and a tall short-haired girl, they're your friends?"
"Yep, the white-haired one is V, and the other is Qiwei."
Mercer nodded, and Old Wei then opened the automatic door switch.
With a swish, the automatic door opened, and V peeked in excitedly, greeting both Mercer and Old Wei energetically, "Hey! Mercer, Dr. Victor, I'm here!"
Qiwei walked in slowly behind her, just nodding to Mercer while showing a somewhat complex expression as she looked around the prosthetic clinic.
Victor chuckled lightly seeing this, "Your friend and you really seem like you're cut from the same cloth."
Mercer was puzzled, "Me? Like her?"
V heard this too and was immediately miffed, "Huh? Dr. Victor, what makes you say I'm like him?"
"Yeah, look at her, maybe max eight intelligence, don't kid yourself, Old Wei."
After Mercer spoke, V showed a confident expression, "Intelligence of eight? No way! Absolutely not! I've been smart since I was a kid!"
"Well... Why not test it and find out?"
Victor smiled, pointing to the surgical chair, "Who wants to go first?"
Qiwei wasn't all that keen on the cybernetic installation, so finally V stuck out her neck, "Of course it's me!"
She sat boldly in the chair, reclining back with a carefree demeanor, "Whenever I used to get implants, which doctors didn't say I was extraordinarily gifted?
They just didn't have specific testing programs then.
This time... let me show you my stats!"
Old Wei, also intrigued by Mercer's talk of Adam's Hammer's 'Cow and Horse Saint Body,' wasted no words, enthusiastically wiring V up and starting to scan with the instruments.
And when the scan results came back, Old Wei couldn't help but widen his eyes slightly.
Damn...
You two...
Are both for real?