Sasha Yakovleva is a member of the Cyberpunk squad, a close friend of Maine, Rebecca, and the others, living a pretty good life.
She is a mercenary specializing in intelligence gathering—commonly known as a "Netrunner." From corporations down to gangs, as long as the employer can pay the price, she can infiltrate and steal data. She hasn't failed once since her debut, making her a top-tier hacker and the tech specialist of the Cyberpunk squad.
Lucy's role is similar to hers, and her technical skills are even higher; she has been praised by a certain someone as a "natural genius" and is the kind of person with a special tactile sense for cyberspace.
However, Lucy feels a bit fed up with "stealth intrusion" and doesn't proactively take on missions of that nature, preferring instead to roam the streets freely and earn some pocket money.
So, far from competing, Sasha and Lucy have a quite harmonious relationship, often hanging out together when they don't have missions.
The Cyberpunk squad members are all quite capable, with no junkies or perverts among them. Although their personalities vary and mercenaries can hardly be called "good people," as companions, they are impeccable. In Night City, this counts as an excellent "home."
She naturally knows Kuse Ryu as well. After all, a client like him—long-term cooperation, stable transactions, few hassles, and high pay—is hard to find even in the real world, let alone Night City...
Ryu's current dealings with the Cyberpunk squad don't even require a Fixer—they wouldn't skip this step if both parties didn't feel the other was trustworthy.
Of course, not every client is as reliable as Ryu. Take the mission Sasha accepted this time, for instance:
Some unlucky guy was discovered by sentry robots while hacking into a corporate building. He tried to flee with the data chip but accidentally lost his footing, fell over thirty floors, and died on impact.
The chip he stole was recovered by the corporation, while his body was handed over to the police, eventually ending up at the Medical Center for "recycling."
This would normally be a mundane occurrence—almost a daily event in Night City—but this unlucky guy was a hacker who liked to keep an ace up his sleeve. Hidden inside one of his cybernetic implants was an inconspicuous chip. It looked like a terminal processor for the implant, but in reality, after being decoded by a dedicated program, it revealed a data backup used specifically to record information he deemed valuable.
The client found out about this somehow—probably leaked by the unlucky guy's Fixer—and, interested in the data the guy had stolen at the end, issued a new mission:
Find the hidden chip inside the implant and decrypt the data!
Judging solely by the mission requirements, there was a certain level of difficulty, but the crux lay in how to retrieve the implant; the danger level wasn't particularly high. Out of respect for the mission reward, Sasha accepted it without a second thought.
Of course, she isn't a lone wolf. For every operation, the Cyberpunk squad assigns at least two members to provide necessary support and backup during extraction.
She followed the clues to the Medical Center's gray market operations, then found the shipping and receiving records in the database, which guided her all the way here.
It was going smoothly at first. She handled the identity authentication, passed through access control, successfully found the Medical Center's container, and opened the corresponding safe without any issues.
Theoretically, all she had to do next was hack into the implant's hidden chip, crack the firewall and encryption, download a copy, and then turn around and leave as if nothing had happened—completely unnoticed.
—But as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat!
Perhaps it's a common failing of Netrunners; they always like to peek at things they shouldn't, either getting their brains fried by offensive firewalls or being hunted down because of some secret. If you aren't disciplined enough in this line of work, it's very easy to have a short life~
She originally didn't care about corporate secrets, but she hadn't expected the data to contain something that piqued her interest:
[Biotechnica] is an industry leader, and also the very corporation that unlucky guy had infiltrated.
This chip contained detailed records from over the years of Biotechnica using methods like "medical aid" to make patients take experimental drugs with unknown side effects.
There were even drugs already on the market where, after discovering major defects and adverse reactions, Biotechnica didn't recall the products but instead chose to cover up the facts and eliminate the evidence.
—The drug Sasha's mother used when she was sick was one of them!
Realizing the truth behind her mother's death, Sasha changed her mind and planned to make these materials public.
However, perhaps she was too engrossed in browsing the data. She unknowingly stayed there too long, and her fake identity was flagged by the system. Now, the transit point's security forces have realized a "non-client" has infiltrated, and even the sentry robots have been activated.
Now, escaping will take some effort.
Boss Maine is waiting nearby at the port for the extraction. With his methods, creating chaos to let her escape shouldn't be hard... but that would mean a direct firefight, instantly raising the risk and cost!
Should she put the captain in danger for her own private reasons?
It would be best to find a way to trick security. There are so many people in this transit point anyway. Making another fake ID... but is there enough time?
Sasha lay flat on top of a container, crouching quietly without making a sound as several robots slowly walked past.
If it were just these stupid things, there'd be nothing to fear; tricking them isn't hard. But those cyborg guards watching the transit point aren't so easy to fool~
There seem to be gang members moving cargo over there. Should she hide under their vehicle to leave?
But there seems to be a brainwave detector at the access control...
[You look very troubled.]
A private message suddenly popped up in the upper right corner of her "vision," causing Sasha to blink.
"This ID... Doctor?"
The girl hacker of Slavic descent thought of the Ripperdoc she had encountered earlier. Knowing she was in trouble and not wanting to drag an innocent bystander into it, she had simply walked past him. Why now...
Sasha sensed something, turned her head to the left, and found that Ryu had followed suit, arriving on top of the adjacent container. He was lying there, watching her like a scout.
'Doctor, don't mind me. This is simple stuff. Just pretend you didn't see anything and leave.'
[I've been observing for quite a while. If it were really that easy, you wouldn't be motionless right there.]
Ryu continued messaging, the smile on his face growing stronger.
Let me go?
You're kidding. I can almost see the yellow exclamation mark over your head, and you want me to leave?!
Even stepping back a bit, Sasha had contributed Destiny Coins to him. Based on that connection alone, Ryu couldn't just sit idly by.
'I really don't... okay, maybe a little trouble, but I can definitely solve it!'
[Oh, then I worried too much... However, if you just want to get out, I actually have a 100% safe method.]
'I don't have anything worth... hmm? What did you say?'
——
Ryu left carrying the suitcase containing cyberware as usual. Since he had been accumulating stock for over a month, the goods filled the large suitcase, and the sound of the wheels rolling on the ground was noticeably duller and heavier.
However, something was a bit off today. He was actually stopped by robots while passing through access control. Before he could frown and ask why, a staff member in uniform came up to explain.
"Apologies, dear guest... for everyone's privacy and security, we are currently tightening entry and exit management. Please show your pass."
Glancing at Ryu's large suitcase again, his eyes gleaming: "And then, please take your goods through the door on the left."
"I pay money to purchase a service, not to... you aren't going to inspect my suitcase, are you?"
"Of course not!" the staff member hurriedly denied.
Are you kidding? What kind of place is this?
Clients choose this place precisely because it's safe and hassle-free. If they forcibly inspected what goods clients were carrying... the blow to their reputation would be too great. A mere wage earner couldn't bear that responsibility.
"Alright then, you guys better know what you're doing." Ryu's expression remained normal. Aside from dissatisfaction with the service, nothing seemed amiss. Only when he walked to the diversion channel did he observe his surroundings.
The security force has obviously been strengthened!
Six robot hardpoints, plus five scattered security personnel... The cyberware and weapons on their bodies were clearly pre-activated, ready to enter combat status at any moment.
Given the terrain advantage, if they opened fire with everything they had, even a gang team of about twenty people would probably be wiped out here, right?
Ryu hasn't trained to the point of being invulnerable to guns and blades yet. If he were discovered...
Calmly walking under the door-frame-shaped robot that looked like a security scanner, Ryu reached out and swiped his pass, then openly walked in dragging his suitcase—
There were no abnormalities. He passed through the access control successfully.
The uniformed staff member withdrew his gaze from the suitcase and turned to size up the next client. The worker knew that was a device capable of detecting brainwaves. If there were another person's brainwaves inside the suitcase, it would definitely trigger an alarm.
That guy who sneaked in must still be inside the transit point!
——
Ryu dragged the box out of the port and stood under a crane. Looking toward the northwest, a large black man leaning against a heavy motorcycle was waiting there like a statue.
Seeing Ryu arrive at the agreed location, he wasn't surprised; obviously, he had already received a message.
The two exchanged a glance. The large man—Maine—grinned, then mounted his motorcycle and left directly.
At the same time, a message popped up in Ryu's inbox:
[Lucy will go to the clinic. Thanks.]
"...Didn't think to give me a ride?"
Ryu looked at the desolate surroundings and pursed his lips.
——
Walking, taking a cab, then walking again, Ryu successfully returned to his small house, where Lucy was already waiting downstairs.
"Hello~"
The man greeted her and led the punk girl up the stairs. Lucy couldn't help but look at the suitcase, while Ryu acted quite the gentleman after unlocking the door, gesturing for her to enter first.
Just as the girl walked into the room and turned on the lights, Ryu, standing behind her, unzipped a "zipper" with fluid grace and sent the suitcase inside.
Turning his body, his hand gripped something and pulled with the momentum, retrieving another completely identical suitcase.
By the time Lucy sat on the sofa as usual, Ryu had already dragged the suitcase to the center of the living room carpet.
Shua! He zipped it open!
Inside the box lay a pretty girl wearing a dark, tight bodysuit, her cybernetic limbs and torso folded up like an articulated doll.
"...Hng!"
Sasha suddenly opened her eyes and couldn't help but shiver.
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 50 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 20 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
👻 Join the crew by searching Ms. Medusa on (P). You know the spot! 😉