Chapter 149: The Teacher Is Disappointed In You
The familiar scent of the Badlands bastion—a mix of dust and machine oil—filled David Martinez's nose, but right now, it carried an unspeakable bitterness.
The bumps of the Arasaka transport seemed to linger in his bones, but heavier still was the stone weighing on his heart.
He had returned safely. Maine's crew had forcibly snatched him back from the cold trap of the Arasaka Technical Division's lab. Aside from some residual weakness from the sedatives, his body was fine.
However, his confidence had been crushed. Like a glass tumbler thrown onto the badlands under the scorching sun, it lay shattered in a thousand pieces.
He lowered his head, following the towering figures of Maine and Dorio toward the silent manufactorum.
Every step felt exceptionally difficult.
Behind them, Rebecca and Pilar conversed in low tones. Their gazes occasionally swept over David, carrying emotions he couldn't quite decipher—perhaps sympathy, perhaps a helpless "told you so."
Lucy walked quietly at the very rear, her silence like a veil separating her from the surrounding noise.
The heavy metal doors of the manufactorum slid open, and the unique internal scent—a blend of ozone, coolant, and metal polish—surged out.
Joric's massive torso, encased in dark red Dragon Scale power armor, was turned away from them. He stood before the main control console, several dexterous mechadendrites operating rapidly across complex interface screens, emitting a barely audible hum.
The air was filled with a concentration so thick it felt solid.
Maine stopped. His rough voice sounded exceptionally clear in the spacious workshop. "Boss. We're back. We brought David back, too."
Joric's operations did not pause. His crimson optical lenses didn't even turn toward them. Only his steady synthesized voice echoed in the space. "Mission brief received. Redundant details are unnecessary."
David felt his throat tighten.
He took a step forward, trying hard to keep his voice from trembling. "Boss... I'm sorry. I... I was too stupid. I almost..."
He wanted to say 'almost didn't make it back,' and wanted to express his guilt for causing such huge trouble for the team, but the words clogged in his throat, fragmented and sentence-less.
Only then did Joric slowly turn around.
The shadow cast by that oppressive frame almost completely engulfed David.
Crimson optical lenses swept over David from top to bottom. There was no concern, no anger, not even a ripple of emotion. It was like scanning a component just sent for inspection, only to find a design flaw.
"Stupid?" Joric's synthesized voice remained steady, but every syllable hit the floor like a cold block of metal. "No. Your intelligence quotient, as tested, is not low. While you have not met my requirements, you cannot be classified as stupid.
"Your error does not lie in underestimating the corporation's malice; that is the norm in Night City. Your error lies in your mindset, which remains stuck at the level of a supplicant."
David froze. He had expected to be scolded for being reckless or inexperienced, but he hadn't anticipated this opening.
Maine and the others also showed looks of slight surprise.
"We are followers of the Omnissiah, seekers of the Motive Force and the glory of the Machine God," Joric's voice carried a solemnity like the recitation of scripture. "To pursue truth and knowledge, to parse the operational laws of all things, and thereby shape reality and resolve dilemmas—this is our sole mission."
His mechanical finger pointed silently at David, the sharp tip seeming to pierce the air. "Your mother, Gloria Martinez. Her chassis is damaged, her nervous system function is failing, requiring specific chemical substances for maintenance and repair.
"Essentially, this is a maintenance and repair issue of a bio-mechanical system."
"The knowledge system I permitted you to study includes basic biology, neuroanatomy, and principles of chemical synthesis. These are tools. They are the keys to the door of resolution." Joric's tone rose a fraction, carrying an unquestionable interrogation. "Tell me. When you learned that the agent known as 'Neuro-Synaptic Regenerator Type-IV' was difficult to acquire, what was your first reaction?
"Was it to immediately open the data packet I gave you to study its molecular formula? To analyze its synthesis pathway? To consider whether you could utilize raw materials and equipment available in the bastion to attempt reverse engineering or find an alternative solution?"
David opened his mouth, but not a word came out.
At that time, his mind was filled only with how to get the finished drug as quickly as possible to ease his mother's pain. He had never thought... that he could go and "make" it.
"You did not," Joric answered for him, the disappointment in his tone pouring out like cold liquid steel. "Your thinking skipped directly over the core steps of 'Inquiry' and 'Creation,' and slid straight to the most inefficient, passive 'Begging'—placing your hope in the charity of a 'foundation' of unknown origin.
"You entrusted the hope of solving the problem to the kindness of others—or rather, a trap disguised as kindness.
"This is not merely planless; it is a blasphemy against knowledge itself. It is a betrayal of your potential identity."
Joric's massive body leaned forward slightly, those crimson lenses locking dead onto David's panicked and self-reproachful eyes. "An apprentice of the Omnissiah, upon encountering the unknown or a dilemma, should first activate their Logic Core, their thirst for knowledge!
"To explore the principles behind the phenomenon, to master the knowledge to create a solution!
"Not to act like a beggar reaching out from the mud, hoping for the pity of a passerby!
"My disappointment in you lies precisely here—you do not yet possess the most basic mindset of a seeker: All problems, fundamentally, are problems of knowledge.
"Master knowledge, and you can master everything—including your mother's fate."
This rebuke struck David's heart like a warhammer.
It was unlike any criticism he had imagined. He wasn't being blamed for causing trouble; Joric was fundamentally negating his way of dealing with hardship.
A deeper confusion and shame, stemming from a cognitive level, welled up, making him almost unable to stand.
Having delivered his evaluation of David, Joric ignored him, turning back to immerse himself in his research once more.
Seeing this, Maine stepped forward and clapped a heavy hand on David's shoulder, trying to break the suffocating atmosphere. "Kid, don't look like that. Night City is just like this. Pits are everywhere. You stepped in one, just remember it. Next time, keep your eyes open and have a few backup plans ready."
His encouragement was street-style—rough but practical, emphasizing experience and vigilance.
Dorio spoke up too, her voice steady. "Coming back alive is what matters. Going through this will make you grow faster." Her words carried the open-mindedness of a veteran, yet they couldn't touch the root of the turmoil inside David right now.
Pilar rubbed his mechanical fingers together, chipping in, "Exactly. Next time someone uses that kind of bait, tell me directly. I'll find out what color their underwear is for you!" He tried to lighten the mood with a joke, but the effect was minimal.
Rebecca crossed her arms and huffed. "If you ask me, we just didn't hit them hard enough. Next time a Corp-dog dares to extend a claw, I'll blow up their car directly!" Her support was full of violent aesthetics, simple and direct.
Yet, none of them could answer the confusion David felt regarding "Inquiry" versus "Begging."
(End of Chapter)