If I use [The Collector] for smuggling, it would be absolutely unstoppable!
Getting people through security checkpoints might be a significant hassle for mercenaries, but for Ryu, who possesses a personal dimension, it requires nothing more than a wave of his hand.
Just stow the goods in another dimension—let's see you try to scan that, no matter how badass you are!
It's just that Ryu isn't short on money; otherwise, he alone could support an entire smuggling channel.
As for putting Sasha inside like an object... if it were a normal human, Ryu wouldn't quite dare to do so. After all, although his personal space contains air, it lacks sunlight or heating, making it unsuitable for human survival—but a cyborg like Sasha is different!
Depending on the degree of modification, a cyborg's tolerance for the environment increases by varying magnitudes.
Take those modification maniacs who have gone full-body cyborg, leaving almost nothing but brain matter; they neither need to eat nor breathe, relying entirely on their cyberware to supply oxygen and blood to the brain. As long as the head is well-sealed, they could last quite a while even if thrown into the vacuum of space!
Sasha the cat isn't that extreme, but she is much tougher than a pure flesh-and-blood body. The journey inside the box was merely a period of hibernation for her.
Of course, Ryu wouldn't let others know the secret of [The Collector], so the cat wasn't aware of Ryu's method of switching boxes midway. She simply assumed she had been dragged out by Ryu the entire way.
—Dragging a box containing a beautiful girl through the city felt just like the premise of certain perverted games played by the Japanese.
"Mmm... Thank you so much, Doctor!"
Having escaped safely, Sasha curled up inside the box, grinning at Ryu with a mixture of surprise and joy.
For her, abandoning other methods to hide directly in Ryu's box and leave her fate to heaven was a very risky move. If Ryu didn't have such a good reputation and if everyone didn't trust him so much, Sasha would never have entrusted her life and death to another person's hands.
Since the gamble paid off, it was naturally time to celebrate properly!
"Doctor, later on, I'll treat you to a dance at the [Afterlife]~"
Sasha moved with difficulty, but she still couldn't extricate her body: "Um... could you give me a hand? Don't just stand there, you two!"
"Heh... You look like a piece of grotesque art right now, Sasha."
Lucy stood with her hands on her hips, speaking teasingly: "I bet perverted billionaires would love this."
"I'll pass on that. Spare me the rich old men... but someone like the Doctor would be acceptable."
Sasha's eyes darted around before settling on Ryu's face: "Even if he has some slightly peculiar hobbies, I could accept it for the sake of that natural, original face."
Good looks are a scarce resource in any era, but with the development of technology and the increase in artificial enhancements, they have depreciated quite a bit.
In Night City, swapping out an entire face is achievable, and there are plenty of handsome men and beautiful women on the streets.
But one look at Ryu's face tells you it isn't cybernetic skin; he is a genuine, pure-bred handsome guy.
As a Russian girl, Sasha's personality had always been bold and uninhibited. She always spoke her mind and didn't find it embarrassing at all.
"Carnivorous as always, huh~" Lucy smiled helplessly, ceasing the banter as she crouched down to remove Sasha's body parts one by one.
Sasha's current state was indeed quite hardcore. To fit the length and width of the box, her limb cyberware had been detached and placed parallel to her torso, making her look like a doll delivered by mail.
At the time, Ryu didn't have many tools at hand, so his method of dismantling the cyberware was a bit rough. Reattaching them now was just for show; they wouldn't even be able to unleash one-tenth of their performance, merely allowing her to move.
Lucy said while wiping off sweat: "Don't forget to find your Ripperdoc to get properly tuned up when you go back."
"I know~" Sasha glanced at Ryu but didn't speak up.
Firstly, she had already troubled him enough. Ryu wasn't a member of the Cyberpunk squad, and Sasha didn't know how much money she should pay in thanks, so it was better to just owe him this favor.
Secondly, it was better to go to her original Ripperdoc. After all, everyone's compatibility with their cyberware is different, and only one's own Ripperdoc has the most complete data.
(Every street ronin who wants to survive in Night City needs to find a reliable foster fath—ah, no, a reliable Ripperdoc, not the kind who would dismantle you at the first opportunity.)
"By the way, what exactly happened? How did you end up in such a sorry state?" Lucy asked, tilting her head. "Didn't you say it was a simple mission?"
"The mission was simple, but I found something..."
Sasha paused, then concisely explained the inside story regarding the Biotechnica corporation and the matter concerning her mother.
She couldn't hide it; otherwise, it would be irresponsible to the entire squad.
"This is my personal affair. I will solve it myself." Sasha stared seriously into Lucy's eyes. "You cannot and must not intervene, understood?"
"Sasha..." Lucy clearly disagreed with Sasha's decision.
Biotechnica was a behemoth. Although its influence in Night City couldn't compare to Arasaka, looking at the whole world, it was still a top-tier corporation. Let alone 'insignificant people' like Sasha, even the government was nothing more than a puppet of the mega-corporations, completely unable to shake them.
If Sasha insisted on leaking the data, it would be no different from a moth flying into a flame!
If the Cyberpunk squad got dragged into it, the result wouldn't be any different, so the cat was making things clear in advance.
She even intended to quit the squad and go her separate way from then on!
"According to the rules, this is only natural, isn't it?" Sasha laughed optimistically. "Don't worry, I'm not that easy to catch. As long as I leave Night City and change my identity after the leak, I'll be fine—who knows, maybe I'll even become a legend of this city!"
Lucy pursed her lips, watching her silently, but she couldn't think of a reason to stop her.
Because Sasha had clearly made up her mind. In this city, people whose eyes became that determined, who decided to do a certain thing... were destined not to live long.
"Then congratulations in advance." Lucy suddenly wanted to smoke, but she only had the lollipops she used as a substitute on her.
After a thought, she pulled one out and put it in her mouth, her gaze drifting away: "It's been quite a ride knowing y—"
"Um, I might be interrupting you two, but pardon my bluntness... you've been set up, haven't you?"
Ryu suddenly spoke up, causing both women to turn their gaze toward him in unison.
"Set up?"
"What do you mean?"
"Isn't it obvious? Sasha, you pick up a random mission and just happen to encounter Biotechnica's insider secrets. That company has countless products and endless dirt, and that drug is from many years ago... Out of all that data, you take one casual look and find it, and it just happens to be related to you!
While I can't say the probability is zero, it's not exactly high, is it?
And getting back to that unlucky bastard who fell to his death—if a hacker left a hidden chip, why would this contingency be known? He had no reason to actively tell the Fixer his secret, right?
Neither Biotechnica nor the Medical Center discovered it, yet the Fixer and the client knew everything clearly. Isn't that strange?"
"..."
"Hearing you put it that way..." Lucy asked on behalf of the somewhat stunned Sasha, "Is this a Biotechnica conspiracy? Just to entrap Sasha?"
"No, anyone could have set this up, but it absolutely cannot be Biotechnica."
Ryu extended his index finger and shook it slightly: "Think about it. If Sasha successfully exposes the truth, will Biotechnica go bankrupt?"
The two women looked at each other. No matter how optimistic they were, they didn't think they could topple a mega-corporation. They shook their heads.
"Exactly. Biotechnica cannot be shaken, and the impact they receive will be negligible. However, the sales of those specific products under their banner will definitely be heavily discounted, directly harming their profits. It would be impossible for them not to retaliate against the instigator."
"Then Sasha is in danger..."
"That's the problem!"
Ryu said sharply: "A teenage hacker accidentally learns the truth of her mother's death and pays the price of her life to take revenge on Biotechnica—this script is too perfect!
Night City doesn't have such 'beautiful' endings!"
"...Someone used me?" Sasha realized something, her expression becoming complex, her voice hiding suppressed anger.
"Perhaps. But compared to a 'Princess's Tale of Revenge', a script where capital calculates against capital using mercenaries as cannon fodder fits my impression of this city much better."
Ryu sat on the sofa, analyzing calmly: "The pharmaceutical market won't shrink. Even if a certain product has problems, patients still need to buy similar types of drugs for treatment.
So the competition in this industry is extremely fierce:
There are only so many patients, and everyone is fighting for the basic market share."
(Actually, some pharmaceutical companies are dedicated to 'discovering new diseases', especially those targeting adolescents, because during development, both the body and mind are prone to fluctuations... If they define these as diseases, they have another excuse to prescribe medication.
The transgender issues making a fuss in the West? At least eighty percent of the credit goes to the relevant pharmaceutical companies—adolescent gender transition requires taking medication for a lifetime.)
Ryu organized his thoughts: "I'm just stating a hypothesis. You see if it sounds reasonable.
For example, say a smaller-scale pharmaceutical company developed a new drug but couldn't compete with Biotechnica. So, they started with the drug's side effects, searching through the list of relatives of the experimental subjects who took the medicine, and found Sasha—maybe not just you, maybe others too.
They designed a script to let a hacker with a grudge against Biotechnica 'accidentally' discover the inside scoop. Once you expose it, they push public opinion and take the opportunity to seize market share for that product type.
In this way, Biotechnica will only think it's a lone wolf action by you 'Avengers', and that competitors simply seized the opportunity."
"..."
"..."
After Ryu finished speaking, the room fell into a dead silence.
After a long while, Sasha slammed her fist hard onto the table. The newly attached cybernetic arm dislocated immediately, and the metal tabletop dented downward.
"Hateful! Dammit! F**K!!!"
Lucy was relatively calmer. She also instinctively felt that Ryu's judgment was more likely the truth—because it was simply too logical.
"You really understand this stuff... The way these big companies think, it's like you're speaking from experience. Sasha and I couldn't think of that immediately."
Of course, could you possibly understand capitalists better than I do?!
But don't slander me! I'm a conscientious capitalist~
"Capital is just too evil!"
Ryu put on an indignant appearance: "Even if this data is exposed, it's just clearing obstacles for another company. Their drugs aren't necessarily any safer!"
"...I'll think it over carefully."
Sasha swayed as she walked to the other end of the sofa, curling up in the corner hugging her legs, looking somewhat helpless.
She no longer had the thought of directly blowing herself up against Biotechnica. Instead, a sense of confusion and powerlessness surged in her heart.
[Destiny Coins +1 (Sasha Yakovleva)]
"!"
Ryu's mood instantly improved.
Unlike him, Lucy leaned against the edge of the table, looking quite melancholy. Her gaze glanced seemingly unintentionally at the helmet and server placed in the corner.
Ryu noticed this scene: "Want to experience it again?"
"...This world is truly rotten to the core."
Lucy smiled sorrowfully, raising her head to look at the ceiling: "That's why I've always wanted to go to the Moon... Did you know? There are travel lines now. As long as you have the money, anyone can go to that place free of filth, free of noise, far away from this dirty world..."
"But the space stations and lunar orbit are also controlled by capital and the military, right?" Ryu shook his head.
"...Yeah, so I'm just holding onto an unrealistic fantasy."
A trace of desperate desolation revealed itself in Lucy's smile as she looked at Ryu: "It can't be helped. The Moon is already the farthest place I know."
"...Then I'll take you there."
Gazing at the girl who seemed as fragile as a glass flower, looking like she might disappear or shatter at any moment, Ryu suddenly spoke: "I will take you there!"
"..."
Lucy opened her mouth, her expression softening, and she laughed as if she had given up.
"You're going to take me to the Moon?"
"No, farther than that."
Ryu spoke seriously and with a tone that brooked no refusal: "I will take you far away from this world, to a place even farther than the Moon!"
"Thank you... If it really exists, that would be wonderful."
[Destiny Coins +1]!
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