Chapter 68

We did get out for shashliks, and a day later, closer to evening, we got a call from Misty informing us that some guy with disabled corporate implants had brought Vee, who had a bullet in her head...

"What do you want us to do?"

"Well, uh. can you come over?"

"Hmm?"

"Victor may need some help..."

I shrugged my shoulders, which my avatar had to repeat, and agreed to come. Fortunately, we had already finished with work that day, so there was no need to postpone or reschedule it. And within half an hour we reached Victor's clinic.

"Vic, hi..."

My sandy turned on when someone tried to point a gun in my direction. Two steps and I get right up to the Asian man and twist his arm, twisting it so that the muzzle of the gun was not pointed at anyone present, causing additional injuries to the man. Simply put, I just broke his wrist. I dropped him on the floor with his forehead on the floor.

"Ahem!"

"David!"

And it was at that moment that the gun I had intercepted in flight fell from his wrist.

"What?"

"Let him go!"

I looked at Vic in surprise.

"Vic, are you sure? This guy was pointing a gun in my direction."

I waved the gun I held by the muzzle defiantly in the air.

"Yes... on my own responsibility."

I shrugged and let the type go, then quickly disassembled the gun into parts, which I tossed precisely into his lap.

"So?"

"Vee..."

"I see, what do you want from me?"

"I don't know what to do. she has some kind of chip that restored her brain, or rather made alternative connections that allowed Vee not to go to the other world, but at the same time there is something written on the chip and it started to rewrite her..."

I frowned slightly. Even if I didn't know the canon, I'd probably come to the same conclusions Vic had come to and didn't want to believe.

"The only thing that comes to mind is that chip from Arasaki..."

"But you yourself."

"Vic, if that Compaqui hype is her..."

Vic nodded jerkily.

"...you have to realize that this is probably the chip she was kidnapping. And that it's not just any chip. it's probably either a prototype of a technology that's been scaled down for mass production or a prototype of a more advanced technology."

"Fuck..."

I nodded looking intently at Vic.

"So why'd you call me? I don't believe that you couldn't identify something like that yourself..."

"I could have... but... ah..."

Vic waved his hand.

"Anyway catch the data, maybe you can figure out how to stop the proliferation of nanites that rewrite V's identity?"

They sent me a file, which I immediately started to study. Vic, meanwhile, moved Vee to a separate couch and helped the quick-eyed man, whom he began to give first aid to, onto a chair, and then he swore.

"What else you got?"

"He's only alive because he's harmful! And foresight, he's got a couple of non-corporate implants that kept him alive.

I shrugged. I didn't give a shit about corporate life. I didn't like him back in canon... there was something about him. but he only seemed good if he died after kidnapping the girl from Arasaki. And if you save him and choose to storm Arasaki at the end...

I've been slagging you off like that.

I sighed and shook my head. It's none of my business, I'm not going to contact him, nor am I going to storm Arasaka. It's none of my business.

"Hmmm..."

What do you got there?

Vic kept his attention on the fact that I was up to something.

"Wait... Can I text the girls the info?"

"Hmm?"

"Ice..."

Vic looked up at me shocked.

"...and if you make a spacer..."

"A spacer?"

"Uh, yeah. extract the private port this chip is plugged into, then run a duplicate system through a small microcomputer with a strong ice on it. And then cut off the port's main communication channel, leaving only the new one..."

Wait till I'm done with the Corporant and see if it's realistic. But even if it is, you realize it's only a temporary solution...

"I understand, but the two or three weeks she has now and the two or three months she'll have after my plan is implemented... The difference, as far as I'm concerned, is tangible..."

"I won't argue here..."

I thought about it, and casting a suspicious glance at Vee, began to quickly calculate another option.

"Hmm... we could go up to a couple years..."

"Up to a couple years?"

Vic looked up at me in surprise again.

"Yeah. But I'll need Judy's help, I can do it myself, but it'll be faster with her..."

"You got something else in mind?"

"You could make a low-powered EMP generator. Not so powerful that it would knock out the chip, as it would most likely kill V, but powerful enough for the processes in the chip to become somewhat more inhibited.

"And you can do that?"

I shrugged.

"At the very least, I'll try... but I think I'd have to go to someone from Arasaki... except. Vee's just going to be zeroed out."

"It won't reset... if I can contact Mrs. Hanako... and I have proof that Vee didn't kill Mr. Saburo..."

I snorted.

"Vic, Vee, did you listen to me at least a little bit?"

"А?"

"Well, she's got a third-generation kyrosi. did she record what happened during the order? If she was recording what was happening during the order.

"When he wakes up, we'll check it out. And you, don't get nervous. I don't need you jerking me around to make me do something wrong."

Meanwhile, the girls came in with Misty, and I have to say, Misty was clearly being led here by my girls. And the looks she was giving Vic. Uhh! There was a lot of embarrassment. and shame. And...

So my plan did get their relationship off the ground a little bit. Of course nothing's gonna happen between them now, neither of them are the type to start a relationship right after the death of a friend and boyfriend... but at least now they have a chance.

Lucy, Kiwi, see what kind of ice you can put on the intermediate calculator, so that the sliver doesn't rewrite V's mind so quickly...

"Uh-huh...

Kivi and Lucy said this in sync and nodded, then clearly immersed themselves in their work.

"What about me?"

"And you, Judy, will be working with me on a low-power EMP emitter, catch a sample assignment...

And I threw her the task now.

"Hmmm..."

We loaded up a bit and went to the corners of Vic's clinic, but not for long. Because if Kiwi and Lucy could work there too, Vic had a calculator, and it was only necessary to put ice on it. Though it only sounds simple...

Record Ice...

In fact, there is not only recording ice, but also its optimization, strengthening, yes a lot of things that the usual runners could not cope with, but in my girls I believe.

Judy and I had to drive home. Panam was driving, but I left Becca with Lucy and Kiwi, because I didn't trust that Jap of Chinese descent. He's a corporatist to the core. Oh, and V--

Now she's in a situation where she's going to cling to opportunities tooth and nail, she hasn't had much time to get out of her corporate skin as it is... and now she's gonna have to make some bad decisions. and she's gonna have to make some bad decisions.

To my surprise, Misty, who had closed her store for the sake of it, decided to come along with us.

"David. you did this on purpose, didn't you?"

That's the question Misty asked once we were in the apartment.

"Hmm?"

"Don't play dumb..."

She looked at me sadly.

"Yeah, Misty, I did that on purpose."

"Why?"

There was sadness and disappointment in her voice.

"Misty, you know exactly why. I always thought you were too good for a guy like Jackie."

"David!"

"Misty..."

I squinted at her slightly.

"you're the one who brought this up. And I know that what I'm saying is uncomfortable for you. But you knew I was gonna say it, didn't you?"

She flinched slightly and was immediately covered by Panam with her breasts.

"David..."

"Panam... if she didn't want to hear it, she wouldn't have started this conversation."

"Panam..."

Misty put a hand on her shoulder.

"...thanks, but, uh. I really need this."

Panam looked back at Misty confusedly and stepped aside.

"David..."

"Yeah, Misty, like I started to say, I always thought Jackie wasn't worthy of you."

I shook my head.

"From the moment I met Vic, or rather from the moment I realized that he was in love with you, I thought that you would be a good couple. How many times I tried to influence him to decide to flirt with you at least... But that idiot just kept refusing. He loved you too much and respected Jackie too much, he didn't want to ruin your relationship..."

"It's, uh. I've seen his feelings, but, uh. why now?"

"Misty, when? Later?"

"Yeah..."

"Misty, as disgusting as it sounds, now is the best time. Yes, you're not going to get back together as a couple, but at least you'll be moving forward. And in time, you'll probably find happiness with each other."

"I..."

Misty bit her lower lip.

"Misty, no one's asking you to jump into bed with Vic right now. just give him a chance to be there for you. He's friends with Jackie himself, and he's not gonna take undue attention..."

"Okay..."

She nodded.

After the end of the conversation, Judy and I finally got to work. And we worked very quickly, but at the same time with high quality. Realizing that every minute of delay takes time away from Vee helped us not to waste time.

Maybe I should have started building a device like this before Vee got into circulation. Or rather when she was in it, but before she was in this situation. But, uh. there were too many unknowns to create a device that only needed a few tweaks.

It took us about five hours to assemble the right device, which essentially began to look like a collar with some sort of attachment on the side.

And with that, we went back to Vic's place.

The Chinese Japanese was no longer in the clinic, but Vee was conscious.

"Came..."

There was no judgment in her voice, just a statement of fact.

"Yeah, did you get it all installed yet?"

"Yeah. according to Vic, in this condition, I'll last even longer than you thought. Your girls did their best. I got six months."

She grinned sadly.

"Uh-huh. let's try something else. Vic, you ready to track her vitals?

"Uh-huh...

And after saying that, I clasped the collar around V's neck. So that the protruding mechanism was exactly opposite the connector with the splinter.

"Turning it on..."

"Come on..."

"Ouch!"

Vee jerked as if she'd been electrocuted.

"What's wrong?"

"The optics are malfunctioning and there's a noise in my head ..."

"Well, we'll adjust the power now. the main thing to remember is that this EMI will interfere with your work as before, so go to work, turn it off, finish the job, turn it back on."

"You think I'm gonna turn it off?"

Vee grinned sadly.

"Well..."

I shrugged.

"Who knows you..."