Chaos is the underlying color of Night City, but during the day, this city—especially the prosperous districts—appears orderly, tidy, and comfortable. Beautiful works of art and holographic projections are visible everywhere; sci-fi-esque motorcycles and cars speed along the highways, while trains suspended beneath bridges glide past swiftly and smoothly like silver dragons.
Decently dressed people hurry about their business, while unrestrained eccentrics dance passionately and perform parkour on the streets. People of different professions display their specific cyberware preferences, showcasing their unique characteristics and vitality within this city brimming with passion.
—Compared to the civilian residential zones, it is simply two different worlds.
Ryu has lived in Night City for quite some time, yet mentally he still feels like a tourist. He dislikes taking enclosed transportation; unless the distance is truly too great, necessitating the use of inter-city trains with wide views, he mostly chooses to walk.
In Night City, one type of person is particularly easy to distinguish: the corporate "employees." This is not merely an identity; in the post-Corporate War era, it is a social class, a step above the ordinary sense of the middle class.
They appear high-spirited with serious countenances, walking with a strong sense of rhythm. Whatever they do, there is a clear sense of purpose, making them appear more confident and composed than ordinary people.
Yet, on the other side of the very same street, one might find slums filled with various graffiti and scattered with beer bottles and syringes. The people inside lack a unified mental outlook; some are even prouder than the "employees," while others seem humbled into the dust, wishing not to be noticed by anyone.
Gang members are not at all conspicuous here, for they are not the tumors of Night City, but rather the excretory system it nourishes, releasing the chaotic, disorderly gray and black businesses through relatively fixed channels.
Every time he wanders through this city of stark contrasts that somehow blend into one, Ryu cannot help but think of a certain country—
India!
Funny to say, Ryu was once taken to India for a trip by his father.
This was naturally not because his old man was tired of living a comfortable life and insisted on increasing the difficulty of his own existence, but because Kuse Junpei believed it would be meaningful for Ryu's growth.
Unlike Ryu, who is the undisputed number one among his peers, Junpei was not a figure whose word was law in his own generation. Although he was from the direct lineage, there were quite a few cousins capable of competing with him.
He only successfully secured the family's power after experiencing a series of struggles... and then Ryu grew up and began to reveal his sharp edge.
When Junpei was young, he was very driven. Just after graduating from university, he couldn't wait to make his mark, visiting many countries for inspection and travel. India was one of the stops, and the one that left the deepest impression on him.
He wasn't just a backpacker skimming through Mumbai and New Delhi; he once steeled himself to visit the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, as well as several wealthy southern states, gaining a fairly profound understanding of that country overall.
No one knows what he saw or what ideological struggles occurred within him in India, but after returning, Junpei completely lost his innocence, completing the transformation from a university student to a capitalist overnight.
[The barbarism and terror of this country are masked by its comical appearance; it is the world's only large-scale open-air laboratory, the ultimate state of malignant social development]
—Junpei's evaluation was not condescending, but completely objective.
Taking Ryu to India carried a bit of the intention to let his excellent son know what "awe" means, and Ryu indeed "benefited greatly."
And looking at Night City, it was like seeing a sci-fi version of Mumbai...
Slums adjacent to skyscrapers? Gangs running rampant? Pharmaceutical companies using people for drug trials? Capitalist enterprises regarding human life as grass? Politicians and businessmen colluding?
How fresh!
This is also why he has maintained a peaceful mindset since coming to Night City, never breaking down or "blackening" upon seeing human ugliness—the real world is no different, not worth making a fuss about.
At the same time, he has no thought of changing anything:
Even if Arasaka Tower were blown up, a new one would just appear. Without the power for one person to suppress the entire globe, this society, which has been completely alienated, cannot be changed.
People with a strong sense of morality might have the idea that "with great power comes great responsibility," but clearly, Ryu is not one of them.
"Hmph hmph~"
Stepping off the train and wandering leisurely for a while, Ryu arrived at a certain "transfer station" along the coast of Coronado Bay.
This was a piece of open wasteland surrounded by high walls, barbed wire, and sentry posts. Inside, shipping containers were arranged neatly, ordered just like houses.
It was like an underground port. Gangs, mercenaries, corporations, and some people of unclear origin—they would sometimes receive "bulky goods" that were inconvenient to show on the open market. If an immediate transaction wasn't possible—say, if data needed clearing or encoding needed changing—they would be stored here, and the trading partner would come to collect them with the container number and password.
For example, motorcycles, robots, cyberware, walking tank parts, certain medium-to-large devices...
A certain mid-level manager from the Medical Center rented several small containers here, specifically to store "laundered" cyberware.
Gloria would put the cyberware Ryu ordered in here every time, and he would come to collect it at intervals to complete the transaction.
This procedure was safer than a direct private transaction, but required paying that manager a certain commission... even though this was his business too, he still haggled over every penny.
As a client, Ryu naturally passed the robot check at the entrance with ease. Once inside, his gaze swept around and saw several people hurrying between the containers. There was also a team wearing distinctive leather jackets, looking like members of some gang, moving things out of a container—in Night City, even gangs have to work hard to survive.
In a place like this, pretending not to see one another is a virtue. Ryu walked toward his destination without looking sideways.
Perhaps Night City had been lively these past few days, with many people rushing to change into cheap cyberware; as Ryu walked to the door of his container, he happened to run into a young girl hurriedly walking out of the adjacent small container—likely another customer of the Medical Center.
He intended to ignore her and go straight in to find his own safe, but unexpectedly, the other party subconsciously called out: "Doctor?"
"Hmm?"
Ryu was surprised. Looking closely, he saw a pretty girl with a bob cut, a tall and fit figure, and eyes as lively as a wild cat's.
He was just thinking about this yesterday, but he didn't expect to meet her today—Ryu smiled as well.
"Long time no see, Sasha. You look quite energetic~"
"Dr. Ryu..."
The girl called Sasha was originally quite happy, but soon thought of something. Her expression changed hurriedly, and she walked straight past Ryu.
"Sorry, just pretend you don't know me."
Ryu didn't try to make her stay, simply watching Sasha's retreating figure with a slightly strange look, his eyes narrowing slightly.
He had a premonition:
His [Unfortunate Constitution] was about to prove its gold content again!
—Sure enough, not long after, the sentry robots at the transfer point suddenly became restless.
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