Chapter 8: Netrunner II

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Chapter 8: Netrunner II

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However, X never installed it. No matter how he thought about it, it sounded like a bad idea. Many folks don't trust the neural connection being so open to the net, a recipe for disaster, "Thanks."

"Jackie's number is on it... Call him," Vik said, "And be careful, alright?"

"I will," X nodded before walking out, heading directly to the roof. Today is a day of work, that must be why Jackie is looking for him.

Marrie and her little brother were there, sleeping on the couch. It's been several hours after all. He left them alone, sitting by the side with his laptop in hands.

Only then did X call Jackie, "I heard you wanna talk to me?"

"Heard right," Jackie responded, "So, how good are you when it comes to Netrunning?"

"Average," X answered honestly, "I do not deep dive nor do I link to my computer. All my operations are ran with keyboards."

"Huh?" To say that Jackie was perplexed would be an understatement, "That... That's ancient tech? You sure you a Netrunner?"

"I said it before, as far as Netrunners go, I am average," X replied, "And as far as mercenaries go, you're quite average, so I don't suppose you have a gig I can not handle or one that requires deep dive, am I right?"

"..." There was a long awkward silence before Jackie responded, "It's a small gig, just need you to investigate someone, and see if you can dig some dirt on them."

"Give me all the info you have on the target," X asked.

"Antonio Savio," Jackie responded and there was silence.

"Continue?" X muttered.

"Continue what?" Jackie was confused, "That's all I have."

"Are you aware of how many individuals there are in Night City named Antonio Savio? I need to know which one of them you want me to investigate."

"Oh, makes sense... Give me a minute," The line was silent for a minute or so before Jackie spoke again, "Antonio Savio, works in Arasaka as a PR executive."

X hung up, shaking his head in exasperation before getting to work, 'Antonio Savio, head of the Public relations side of Arasaka in Night City, thirty seven years old, managed to take the position two years ago.'

That's of course not the kind of information a client would need, not when all it requires is typing a few words in a search engine.

Night City doesn't have the old internet as X knew it. No city has the old internet.

Everything changed after the DataKrash, necessitating the creation of the new Net which is analogous to the Internet except that it's localized to Night City or their respective city.

In this case, the CitiNet is similar to the internet while the DataPool is the vault of knowledge of Night City.

Access to the Net is free, really, everyone can access the Net as long as they have a computer, a data terminal, or an internal agent, 'Yeah, free my ass,' X mused in his mind.

The Net is certainly not free to access, never have been and never will be. The cost is only getting heftier and heftier, it just requires you to sacrifice your privacy, every part of your personal life will no longer be personal.

It used to be that you could make most things about yourself private if you really wished to, it's now more difficult than ever. The corps made sure of it.

That's why the Net is supposedly free. The corps wants you to use it for that's the first step to gaining control over you.

However, if you look really hard, you can find them, the method to cover your tracks, to be somewhat anonymous on the Net. Netrunners need anonymity lest they get caught, so they naturally write codes or make stuff that can help with that and share it amongst themselves.

Every method available that X verified to be legit, he used. Most anonymous of all was not linking with the DataPool at all as that allows for near instant surfing of the net, writing codes with simple thoughts.

That's why the majority of Netrunners choose to link with their machines, way more efficient than ancient techs like keyboards. X's laptop naturally has a neural port, one which he rarely uses.

And now it was time to really investigate as X murmured under his breath, 'Seems young for an executive role at Arasake. He must have connections... Yup, his uncle is an executive. Let's see... He had several competitors for the role, the biggest of which died due to a heart attack, the rest gave up right after, interesting.'

All through public search engines, X compiled a list of the target's family members, properties, and all the apps he's subscribed to, 'He's filing for divorce? The previous time, it was his ex-wives who filed for divorce, what changed now?'

X grew suspicious, the man's list of subscriptions was too clean. He must have a second account, 'Antonio and his uncle are quite close... Maybe?'

X turned his attention to the uncle's social media as well as subscriptions, trying to find something naughty. The uncle regularly visits several clubs, two of which he shares with someone in his friend list.

That someone is named Narcov Sarcov, obviously an alias. Narcov rarely posts and little is known about him, obviously because he wants it that way.

X just needed proof that Antonio is Narcov before he can proceed forward. To do that, he looked through Narvoc's friend list, few as he expected, only two of which work in one of the clubs.

However, one of them is a male, so unless Narcov changed his sexual preference overnight, he shouldn't be the one, so X turned his attention to the other individual, Olivia, a stripper.

'Is he leaving his wife for her?' That's the question to answer, so X started looking through her posting history. She apparently has a boyfriend, one she rarely posts about despite her habit with her ex-boyfriends being posting pictures with them all the time.

The new mysterious boyfriend appeared in her life seven months ago, only one month after Narcov started visiting the Pink Star club.

'This should be proof enough,' X mused as he looked at a post she made only two months ago, a post with her hand in it, an exquisite diamond ring on her fingers. She was engaged.

Only a few days before that post, Antonio had filed for divorce. Around that same that, Olivia posted expressing happiness about something.

Olivia is subscribed to... Well, too many things, several newspapers, makeup and fashion magazines as well as cosmetic implant companies. She posts a lot about their new products.

'It likely won't work, but it wouldn't hurt to try,' X mused before sending her an email, disguised as one of the makeup companies she mentions often. In that email was a link that would eventually redirect to the legit website, but only after installing malware on her device.

For now, though, X redirected his attention to the uncle who seems to be the most vital piece of the puzzle. He's responsible for leading offensive operations against opposing forces... The latest offensive operations failed completely, resulting in heavy casualties.

However, the failed operation wasn't led by the uncle. No, it was led by another high-ranking counterintelligence operative agent, someone by the name of Valerie, and there it was, the client.

X didn't prey further. Instead, he continued to collect information only on Antonio, all the places he visits, his schedule, relations, past, and even likes and dislikes. All of these were neatly compiled into different folders, forming Antonio's entire public life and a little bit of his secret life.

And all it took was two hours. X had a habit of invading other people's privacy even before arriving here, and the method of doing so didn't change much even decades later.

Search engines are just too powerful, a hacker's best friend. However, search engines aren't as vital anymore against corps, not with the way the Net Architecture works now. They require deep dives.

"I'm done," X called Jackie right after, "I've sent you the file. If the client is satisfied, I've also sent you my account number."

"Already?" Questioned Jackie in surprise.

"And Jackie, don't tell the client anything about me," X said before hanging up, getting to work on something else right away, "Let's hope there is some data left in you."

In his hand was the emanator he got from the stall owner, the one which supposedly holds a Joi in it. The only problem was that it was more than two decades old.

X slowly dismantled the broken thing, taking out the only relatively intact object within, an old chip. X closed the virtual machine he used to investigate Antonio and erased it before opening another virtual machine.

Only then did he put in the chip in a device he previously brought, specifically for old-gen chips like that one, "Oh... What a joy to see a living Joi."