Then, using his hands to type on the keyboard, he searched and checked the programs in his brain.
After about three minutes, Mercer stopped his actions: "Found it. Ha, as expected, it's a surveillance program. So, actually, we might have already been discovered, or... are you watching me right now, Mr. Blue Eyes?"
As Mercer asked, Bruce suddenly froze in place, his body trembling slightly, and after a few breaths, he rolled his eyes and crashed into the table behind him.
However, before he fell, his eyes returned to normal, but as his eyeballs turned, his prosthetic eye began to emit a blue glow. Soon, Bruce's eyes turned into a striking blue color.
Bruce's expression became very calm, his blue-glowing eyes locking with Mercer's as he smiled: "You seem to recognize me? Mr. A."
"I've heard of you... so, is he your experiment?" Mercer's words made V instinctively raise his pistol, and Rebecca hugged Iron Gall tightly.
The two girls showed a slightly astonished expression at the moment—Bruce, in front of their eyes, had changed in the blink of an eye, as if he became a different person!
No, not as if, he seemed truly possessed or manipulated by someone else?
Damn, what the hell is this!?
"Sort of. To be precise, we're the ones who kept him alive."
Blue Eyes looked at Mercer, then laughed: "Don't turn on the recording of the prosthetic eye, otherwise we can't talk properly. I don't want to see the news about stock price crashes being sent to the media.
You wanted to see me, so I'm here. I thought you wanted to have a nice chat with me."
Blue Eyes grabbed a chair, sat down, crossed his legs, and elegantly reached for a cigar: "Can you help me cut it? I'm not quite used to this one-handed thing."
Mercer remained unmoved, prompting Blue Eyes to sigh as he slowly sliced the cigar head himself, stuffed it into his mouth, and lit it.
"Let's be fair. I'll ask a question, and you ask a question. If anyone doesn't want to answer, our conversation ends here. How about that?"
Blue Eyes proposed.
Mercer nodded and asked first: "You're using him to test your cognitive reshaping program, turning him into the current Night Shadow Hero?"
Blue Eyes smiled: "You're using one question to confirm many answers, but yes, you're right."
He exhaled a plume of cigar smoke, then said slowly: "Next, you answer my question, what's your real identity?"
"Currently the leader of an Edgerunners team. You can call me A." Mercer replied calmly.
Blue Eyes shook his head: "I'm not asking that. I want to know... hmm... your true identity."
"...You're not asking if I'm human, right? Well, I can tell you, buddy, I'm a hundred percent true man of iron and blood."
After Mercer spoke, Blue Eyes nodded and scrutinized him: "You're strange... well, but you probably aren't lying to me."
Then, after a brief moment of silent reflection, Mercer boldly asked: "Are you related to Ultraman or those rogue AIs?"
"You have to tell me, which 'rogue AIs' are you referring to?"
Blue Eyes looked at him with some surprise: "It seems you're not just recognizing me, but very familiar with me..."
"Have you struck some deal with Ultraman?" Mercer switched the question.
Blue Eyes laughed: "No, just acquaintances. What are you worrying about? Have you met Ultraman? That's quite rare. She generally doesn't like to deal with people."
V muttered: "Another woman, Ultraman... who is that?"
"How should I know?" Rebecca also muttered in reply.
The two non-intellectuals had no understanding of hacker-related things. Even if they had heard something before, they usually forgot. Naturally, they were unaware of the name 'Ultraman', which could make the Voodoo Gang jump in excitement if mentioned.
"Is that your question?" Mercer didn't directly answer.
"Alright, then I'd like to ask you... what's your purpose in coming to Night City?" Blue Eyes' eyes looked at Mercer, seemingly trying to see through his psyche from the eyes exposed through his mask.
"Make money first, then accomplish something big." Mercer stated.
Blue Eyes shook his head again: "Simply wanting fame and fortune? What is 'something big'?"
"I want to make this world better, so I need to make this city better first, and to achieve that, I need to do something big. Does this answer satisfy you?"
Mercer's statement made Blue Eyes smile: "Hmm, I'm satisfied."
His eyes flickered with faint blue light, then tilted his head, squinting his eyes, and finally said: "I see. Alright, then Bruce, you can handle him however you want. He has no test value left.
His assets will be frozen, but that car he gave you is yours. I won't take it back."
"Ha, using a poor innocent guy as an experiment, letting him die after the experiment ends, and even taking his assets." Mercer said with a tone of mockery, while Blue Eyes, unfazed, shook his head: "If we didn't need him, he would've died in that alley back then. We gave him the chance to live an extra decade or so."
"So, for Ye Corporation to acquire his parents' company, they first killed his parents, then saved him for an experiment. That's what you call 'giving him a chance to live'?" Mercer's continued mockery was met with:
"No, we didn't plan that murder—Ye Corporation prefers normal business competition and cooperation. Night City was established for that goal. We don't like acquiring assets through murder.
We just, upon confirming his parents' death, used a legal and legitimate contract to purchase their company with a reasonable amount.
If it wasn't for us, do you think a twelve-year-old could've survived on his own and kept his family assets?"
After Blue Eyes finished, looking into Mercer's eyes, he just smiled: "It seems you don't really want to continue this conversation with me."
"Indeed, because the feeling of being used is unpleasant. Off you go." Mercer's tone was icy.
Mr. Blue Eyes shook his head and sighed: "I didn't expect to encounter such a thing... well, then. I think we'll meet again in the future."
After saying that, Blue Eyes, or rather Bruce's eyes, suddenly trembled, returning to their original color. After staggering a few steps, he dazedly looked at Mercer and the others, and after a few seconds, suddenly said: "What just happened?"
V and Rebecca didn't reply but looked at Mercer.
"Mercer, are you... okay?" Rebecca was the first to ask.
Mercer shook his head: "I'm okay, hold on, I'm chatting with someone online."
His prosthetic eye flickered with a faint glow, and what he was focusing on was the spider program's chat panel displayed in front of him.
On the chat panel, the message Mercer sent has yet to be replied.
[Mercer: I thought we could be friends, Murphy.]