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Arthur stayed focused on his work, while Jack—fresh from surgery and still slightly dazed from the anesthesia—stood nearby, curiously watching him.
"Brother, what kind of new thing are you working on?" Jack asked, eyes locked on Arthur's precise movements.
Victor, who had just finished washing his hands, glanced over and squinted. "Is that a virus chip?"
In Night City, building a virus chip was practically routine. You'd find a hacker, grab a chip, add a few tweaks, and boom—you were ready to unleash chaos. Whether it was for theft, surveillance, or sabotage, it was just another tool in the city's underground arsenal.
Arthur rubbed his tired eyes under the dim light, then connected the chip to his laptop. He watched as the data slowly uploaded, the progress bar inching forward.
"Poetic, isn't it? Hiding brilliance behind shadows. But Lao, I gotta say—working under these conditions? It's a miracle you're not blind," Arthur quipped, shooting a glance at the cluttered workspace.
"I've got some new gear coming," he added. "I'm planning to open a small factory in Taipingzhou. This here is just a prototype—for a friend."
He paused, exhaling. "The idiot overloaded himself with mods. He's like a walking junkyard. Shaky hands, dazed half the time, suppressors barely holding him together. But he knows the area well. I'll get him out of the pit."
It was a win-win for Arthur. He needed a real subject to test the prototype—someone known, someone who'd add credibility to the product once it hit the market.
Mann, a seasoned merc in the cyberpunk world, was perfect. He'd worked for several top-tier corps, and Arthur knew his name carried weight.
Victor raised an eyebrow. "Wait a sec. Didn't you drop out before you even finished elementary school? And now you're telling me you built that chip?"
Arthur smirked. "Self-taught, baby. I'm a mechanical genius now. Forget this tiny toy—I could show you how to build a nuclear bomb if you're interested. You wanna bring back the Red Era?"
Victor recoiled. "Hell no. We do not need another Red Era."
The Red Era—a reference to Johnny Silverhand's legendary nuclear bombing of Arasaka Tower—was one of the most infamous moments in Night City history. A radioactive mushroom cloud and a corporate bloodbath. No one wanted to relive that mess.
Arthur unplugged the chip from his rig, inspected it, then casually tossed it to Jack.
"Give it a try," he said.
Jack looked over at Lao, who gave no objection. Shrugging, Jack slotted the chip into his neural interface.
As soon as it connected, a pale blue UI lit up across his vision, displaying paragraphs of instructions. He clicked "Accept," and instantly, a jolt of energy surged through him, racing to his cerebral cortex.
His eyes widened.
A strange calm blanketed his mind. His limbs felt weightless. It was as if his whole body had been lifted into the sky—like he had become lighter than air, free from gravity, stress, and strain.
Jack didn't have too many cybernetic mods, but even those few had always made his body feel off—sluggish, like he was dragging around dead weight. But now? He felt alive.
"Ahhh... I feel like I just crawled out of my mom's womb. Everything's new again," Jack whispered, eyes wide with awe.
Arthur chuckled, watching the reaction with amusement.
After savoring the sensation a moment longer, Jack disconnected the chip and handed it back to Arthur, despite clearly wanting to keep it.
It wasn't his. And in Night City, respect still meant something—at least to people like Jack.
Arthur raised an eyebrow, impressed. "You've got some principles, huh?"
Jack shrugged. "Can't just take what isn't mine. That chip's for someone else, right?"
Arthur nodded, storing the chip. "When the factory's up, I'll get one made for you. But you'll have to call me Uncle Arthur."
Jack groaned. "Seriously?"
Victor laughed. "Don't fall for it. If Mrs. Wells hears you're calling him 'Uncle,' she'll bury Arthur in a manure pit."
Arthur laughed but quickly returned to business. "Anyway, I'm gonna roll this out slow. Target the lower-end market first, make a quick profit before the corps get wind. Once we've got traction, I'll sell the patent off. What do you think about Kang Tao?"
Victor frowned. "You sure about selling it? The second a corp smells this, they'll hunt you down like a dog."
Arthur nodded. "That's why I'm staying ahead of them. I've got a plan. We'll take it one step at a time."
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