"They want to scam money out of Military Science, so they need to come up with an outrageous project, and this poisoning is just a demonstration!"
Emilia assumed Mercer came for this reason—what else could it be?
There was no slightest flicker in Mercer's eyes beneath the mask:
"Don't rush to defend yourself. Tell me the whole story, all involved personnel information, drug information."
Emilia was on the verge of despair, almost in tears, but she could only force a smile: "Alright, I'll tell you...
In short, to summarize this, it was Deputy Director Joanna Koch's doing, with technical support provided by Dr. Diana Kuno.
She wanted to collaborate with military tech—I mean, actually, it was my idea, my thought was to find a lengthy project, something to lure Military Science to invest, and then we could profit from it.
As a result... Joanna came up with the idea to poison the whole Sillan Town!
She used a chronic virus to drug the residents of Sillan Town, then under the guise of clinical trials, they experimented with developing an antidote.
This chronic virus is not lethal! It's just a project showpiece, you get it? We picked a few viruses that we were confident we could solve.
As long as we use this virus to demonstrate our capabilities to Military Science, our plan was to leverage this to launch an even bigger project.
The current idea is, we claim we can develop a biological agent, which once injected, can make soldiers permanently immune to most toxins, turning them into super warriors impervious to viral weapons!
Our current drug is actually quite effective, look, no one in Sillan Town has had an incident, right? Those folks there don't even know they've been repeatedly poisoned multiple times!
Sometimes we give them the antidote, sometimes the virus, just repeatedly testing whether these easily solvable viruses take effect on those injected with the 'super soldier' serum.
But I swear, everything with the project is fine now, Dr. Diana Kuno, though also a deputy director, is truly a doer, these drugs won't hurt anyone..."
Mercer hadn't spoken yet when Rebecca angrily raised the shotgun: "But you told the people in the town that you were testing cold medicine!
Damn it! You bunch of corporate dogs all deserve to die!"
"I... we just did it to save money... I was wrong, once I go back, I will withdraw from the project, I, I will pay compensation to the residents of Sillan Town, and I am willing to testify for you! I am willing to accuse Deputy Director Joanna and Dr. Kuno for you!"
Emilia hurriedly said.
But Mercer only looked indifferent: "What about the Red Ocher Tribe? Was that also for virus testing?"
"Red Ocher? No, no, no, that's not the same thing, poisoning Red Ocher's water source was for reclaiming land… during the war those bastards occupied a piece of land and claimed it as theirs.
We asked them to return the land, but they said it was land they've been cultivating for years, rented with their own money... that contract doesn't count!
They were tricked! Not a cent of that money reached us! They say they paid the city hall, but our company has land proofs from Night City!
There are so many of them, and the company wants to avoid forced demolition or shootouts, so we simply targeted the water source...
Once their crops die and the water's poisoned, those Red Ocher Tribe people will naturally leave, then we'll... I mean, we'll find them other jobs, they surely won't refuse."
After Emilia finished, Mercer chuckled coldly.
"Jobs? I guess it's work as test subjects, right?" Mercer said.
Emilia swallowed: "It's the company's standard procedure... I mean, to introduce genetic viruses into water or land, then when the original owners can't tolerate it anymore, we take over the land at low cost.
Or we ask them to plant crops that are immune to our company's toxins for which we charge seed fees...
These are all common company tactics, surely, a skilled hacker like you must've seen countless similar stories online.
I'm just a worker, defying the rules leads to a dead end for me, I can't resist unless I'm prepared to be kicked out!"
Emilia desperately pleaded: "I've told you everything I know, please, spare me."
Mercer pondered for a moment, while V's bad temper had long reached its limit: "Mercer, just get rid of her, this scum... damn well deserves to die!"
"Don't mess around! Don't you know what kind of person Mercer is?" Rebecca, after saying that, surprisingly didn't seem anxious—she knew Mercer would definitely make this woman pay.
Even she could tell this woman was full of lies, how could Mercer not know?
V sat back down in a huff, feeling that everything she had heard disgusted her.
All for money, they poisoned an entire town.
Over a land dispute, they poisoned the water source of a Wanderer family, planning to kill all their crops, all their hopes, then force them to become guinea pigs for the company.
The biotech company was truly rotten to the core.
And the thought that companies like this were everywhere in Night City made V feel terribly oppressed.
For the first time, she truly felt Mercer's madness made sense, destroy those damn idiotic companies!