"It hurts!"
"It doesn't hurt; it's a hallucination."
Ryu returned the artificial skin to its original position, wiped away the lubricant and electrolyte solution from the socket's surface with an alcohol cotton ball, and casually turned off the shadowless lamp, letting David check it himself.
"Connection... Pre-boot... Datalink transmission... Calibration... Ugh! It hurts!"
"Hmm?"
Ryu glanced back while peeling off his rubber gloves. "Your nervous system is quite sensitive. What suppressants do you usually use?"
"Suppressants?" David looked up blankly. "I never take medicine."
"..."
Ryu let out an "Oh," recalling a setting he had nearly forgotten.
As the "protagonist," although David wasn't as ridiculous as a certain overpowered V, his cybernetic adaptability was still exceptionally excellent. He didn't need to take medication at all before installing military-grade cyberware.
"Even if there are no rejection symptoms, it's best to keep suppressants at home. After all, accidents always arrive unexpectedly."
Cybernetic modification was a surgery that was both convenient and dangerous. The convenience lay in the "hot-swappable" technology comparable to the [Sharingan]; it didn't require much transition or recovery time. One would wish they could be modified yesterday and go on a killing spree today.
The danger, however, lay in "immune rejection."
The human body's immune system is actually extremely exclusive. When a foreign organ is transplanted into the body, the immune system perceives it as an alien invasion and launches an attack against it—mechanical cyberware is no exception.
Therefore, cyborgs need "suppressants" to make their own immune systems ignore the newly implanted cyberware!
Light modification is manageable; as long as the cyberware compatibility is high, there isn't much need for medication. But in cases of excessive modification, not only are massive injections of suppressants required, but mental pressure will also emerge in the later stages.
(Because cyberware basically has to connect to the nervous system, placing a burden on the brain.)
"...I understand, Doctor."
David was in a period of puberty where his self-awareness was very strong. He wasn't an obedient child, but today he owed Ryu a favor, so he couldn't act tough in front of him no matter what.
"Please, Doctor, help me hide this incident. Don't tell my mom."
"That's fine. Gloria and I only discuss business matters. Since you are my patient, I naturally have an obligation to protect your personal information."
Ryu sat leisurely on the high stool, looking at the dejected David, and smiled. "However, as an acquaintance, I'm personally quite curious about what happened to you... Network ports usually don't get burned out like this."
"You're managing a bit too much, aren't you?" David looked away, slightly annoyed.
"True enough. After all, we just know each other—that'll be one hundred Eurodollars. I'll waive the service fee."
"...Actually, it's nothing much."
David's face twitched. He scratched the back of his neck and said with a curl of his lips, "I lost a competition against someone."
"A competition?"
"I was a bit reckless... If my software had been the latest version, the winner definitely would have been me!"
David looked up with regret. "Ah~ In that case, paying the medical fee would have been a breeze."
A competition with prize money? Intense enough to burn out a cybernetic port?
Young people really don't fear death~
"Do you need money badly? What Gloria earns now should be quite a lot."
"...Mom tries too hard." David stared unfocused at the ceiling. "She clearly doesn't need to work that hard."
"Is it a problem with the school?"
"Yeah."
"I see... No wonder." Ryu nodded, a flash of understanding crossing his face.
No wonder he received gold coins from Gloria, but David's had been slow to drop—some things are determined by personality.
Gloria had placed high hopes on David, wishing for her talented son to escape the bottom-rung life and become part of Night City's middle class—that is, a corporate "employee."
As a single mother, to pave the road for David, she supported his attendance at Arasaka Academy, a higher learning institution specifically for corporate heirs.
Although Gloria's financial situation was much better than in the original work thanks to Ryu's support, she didn't dare to spend money lavishly. Theoretically speaking, as an ordinary worker at a Medical Center, she couldn't possibly have much left after paying for her child's schooling.
In David's eyes, his mom was still desperately making money, exchanging her time and health for numbers, most of which were thrown into that school devoid of any human touch—this made him quite unhappy, even angry.
David didn't care about Arasaka Academy at all!
He didn't have Gloria's "ambition." He would be very happy just earning enough money to let his mom retire early; he had absolutely no desire to climb Arasaka Tower.
He was hostile and contemptuous toward those sanctimonious rich people. From what he had seen with his own eyes, the corporate heirs were a bunch of snobs who looked down on bottom-rung commoners like him from the bottom of their hearts. They had insulted his background more than once, and their words often offended his mother.
If he wasn't afraid of making Gloria sad, he would have started swinging punches long ago!
Whether he could win or not was another matter!
David saw himself very clearly. He was a country mouse from the slums, not on the same path as those large rats living in the glittering toilets of the mega-corporations~
—The current David was no different from the one in the "original work."
"Are you short on money?"
"There aren't many people in this city who aren't short on money, right?" David rolled his eyes. "But no matter how I look for ways, I just get poorer and poorer."
"That's because you've got the wrong direction," Ryu chuckled lightly. "Although I don't know what the 'ways' you speak of are, given your age, knowledge, and social class, it is impossible to find a 'Positive Cycle job' in Night City."
"Pos... Positive Cycle? Huh?" David looked clueless. "What are you talking about?"
"Work, receive payment, save what remains after expenses, then continue working. Accumulate to a certain point to improve living standards, and continue working hard to strive for more payment—
"This is a 'Positive Cycle,' and it is the life most people yearn for."
"...Then you mean there's also a 'Negative Cycle'?"
"Work, receive payment, have almost nothing left after necessary expenses, have no time or resources to improve living standards, and thus accumulate no savings no matter how long it takes. Risk resistance remains strictly zero.
"An accident, a moment of negligence, taking the blame for someone else—any of these can cause debt. Because one lacks the capacity for surplus, the debt is difficult to clear, affecting credit... Then things like medical insurance blow up, with almost no possibility of salvation.
"—This is the 'Negative Cycle.'"
"I think I kind of get it..."
"In Night City, most people have been 'adjusted' by the corporations to the critical point between the positive and negative cycles. One step is heaven, one step is hell.
"To improve efficiency, corporations prioritize hiring people with a high degree of cybernetization. This creates vicious competition between people. To get a job, they replace parts with better cyberware; to repay the cost of the cyberware, they work overtime..."
Ryu smiled suddenly. "It's quite incredible, isn't it? Everyone is very industrious, and everyone wants to step on others' heads, but in the end, no one manages to climb out of the cesspit~"
"..."
David cleared his throat uncomfortably, pulling at the collar of his T-shirt as if to get some air. He hadn't done anything, yet he felt like he was suffocating.
Immediately after, a surge of anger rose in his chest... followed by helplessness.
He didn't even know what he was angry at, nor who to vent it on... perhaps it was meaningless anyway.
"Will I... also enter the 'Negative Cycle' in the future?"
"Do you have medical insurance?"
"Mom said she had some leeway recently and wanted to buy me a policy."
"That's really nice! It's already hard to see normal 'familial love' in this era. But you have a mother who loves you so much; you must cherish her, David~"
"I-I don't need you to tell me that!"
David clenched his fist and then loosened it in frustration. "But... according to what you said, all this time, have I just been causing trouble for Mom?"
"Yes," Ryu stated bluntly.
David became visibly more depressed.
Now he seriously examined his own little clever tricks, such as participating in some "prize competitions" or buying pirated software... They looked like earning extra cash or saving money, but often in the end, good things turned into bad things. Not only did he save nothing, but he also created an extra burden for the family.
He had always thought it was just bad luck, but listening to Ryu, he felt there was some deeper reason... Was he also trapped in some kind of vicious cycle?
"It won't work if this goes on, right?"
David's words were full of doubt, but he wasn't asking Ryu; it seemed more like he was asking himself.
"But what on earth should I do..."
"Sometimes, doing nothing is also a method."
"..."
"Are you just that unwilling to accept it?"
Ryu hummed thoughtfully for a moment, as if considering something. Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly awkward, David and he spoke at the same time.
"Doctor, can you tell me what I should do?!"
"I have an idea."
—The two froze simultaneously, then laughed in unison.
"Phew... Since you've asked, I'll give you a job."
Ryu pointed upwards. "The second floor of this building is my private apartment; I can't let you enter. The first-floor garage and the basement are the clinic, where I usually receive patients.
"I travel for business often, spending about half my time away. Patients have to pick times to come in bunches... Honestly, this is very inefficient and increases my workload.
"So I need a substitute who can receive these patients on the days I'm away on business."
"You mean a Ripperdoc?" David was startled. "I can't do that!"
"Actually, most of them don't need surgery. They just need daily checkups, maintenance, and replenishment of suppressants. Antibiotics are the most used drugs here. All you have to do is update the medical records and 'fill prescriptions' for them."
"That sounds..."
"Also, you can usually come here to learn techniques. Consider it an employment internship."
Ryu finished speaking and looked calmly at David. His clear but authoritative gaze made the boy subconsciously straighten his back.
"The wages won't be very high, possibly not as much as your side hustles. How about it?"
"Okay!"
If it were before, David might have rejected such a rigid job and hated being ordered around, but today he made a different choice.
"Doctor, please... please teach me the knowledge to survive in this society!"
[Destiny Coins (David Martinez) +2!]
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