Chapter 10 (Part 3)

Japan-Town, Two Days Later

Over the past year, Susan Mitchell had come to know her pupil well. She'd observed him long enough to form a rough sketch of Alex Volkov's personality. The first thing that comes to mind is his excessive eagerness to learn. She had never encountered such a trait in her life. Without a doubt, the boy was a prodigy, but his talents didn't stop there.

At nine years old, Alex was unusually mature. If not for his occasional childish outbursts, Susan might have concluded he was the result of some corporate experiment. Digging up information about his parents had proven fruitless, save for a few official records.

Mikhail Volkov, a former USSR military man who moved to Night City after a short stint back home, was fluent in four languages and had a confirmed IQ of over 130. Nine years ago, he married a Japanese woman living in the city, who later drew her future husband into working for the BioTechnica corporation.

Hirako Volkov - little is known about the woman's real surname, except for a few vague records hinting at her ties to the Arasaka imperial family. How closely Hirako was related to the main branch of the clan was unknown to Susan, and she preferred it that way. Information of that sort could be costly for a technician, and at twenty-five, Mitchell was very fond of living.

Susan knew that both had been working on something for three years and at one point, the husband and wife decided to flee, blowing up the lab where they worked, likely destroying all accessible data in the process. Logically, they were marked for elimination as soon as their work was completed. Mikhail and Hirako understood this and decided to make a bold move, but something went wrong.

On that fateful day, they managed to reach their home, but the corporation's special forces caught up with them. Mikhail decided to draw their attention, allowing his wife and son to escape. He died in a shootout with Adam Smasher, the Arasaka family's chief assassin. Arasaka troops collected what remained of his body, ostensibly to investigate the cause of Mikhail's 'cyberpsychosis.' No further information could be gleaned.

Meanwhile, Hirako managed to get to Japan-Town with her child, where she was later killed by the 'Tiger Claw' gang. Wakako shed some light on the matter, but even she didn't tell the whole truth, wisely fearing the implications of the incident. The customs of the East are still too radical and incomprehensible to Susan.

The child, somehow, managed to vanish at that moment, or something happened that made them want to dispose of him as well. But here's where it gets interesting. Alex could have 'died' briefly back then. His body underwent a special mutation that could induce a state of clinical death.

Unlike the scavengers, the Claws don't traffic children; they prefer to quietly eliminate them to avoid breeding future enemies. A careless word from the boy confirmed that his body had been discarded. The scavengers had densely populated the area near the flea market for a year, but after the events of May 23, 2058, they were abruptly cleansed. Someone was being hunted, and Susan knew exactly who.

For some unknown reason, the Claws needed the boy again, or more precisely, what remained of him by then. The Tigers searched all the dens of Japan-Town for the child but found no one. It was unlikely they'd look among the other street kids rummaging through trash for scraps of food. Due to his strange mutation, the boy's biochip was damaged, which subsequently helped him remain undetected by surveillance systems. BioTechnica's corporates were trying to find Alex, but fate was on his side.

Volkov managed to contact Susan, having rid himself of the implant that could theoretically expose him. Not every child has a personally tailored chrome at such a young age, one that integrates into the nervous system and grows with the user, eliminating the need for further replacements. Such a toy used cutting-edge nanorobot technology, harvesting building material directly from the user's fat tissue. On the market, it's worth about 30,000 eddies. At the time, Susan didn't disclose the full price of the device to avoid burdening the boy with additional worries, and admittedly, the desire to make a profit was there.

Mitchell distinctly remembered the day she heard the boy's request and his arguments. Even then, Alex had ambitions far beyond his years, which continued to drive him in the direction he chose for himself.

Initially, the woman decided to test the child's resolve, but he quickly proved his genius and an incredible work ethic, unattainable for most. The boy could work for hours a day while simultaneously studying two specialized courses. How he managed his time was beyond her.

Every time, Alex managed to surprise his mentor, and gradually, she didn't realize how much she began to sympathize with him. Much later, this sympathy evolved into a desire to care for the young prodigy, who himself was unaware of his genius.

With his character and outlook on life, the boy won Susan's heart. At some point, she didn't even notice how she started to see him as the younger brother she always dreamed of. Susan's parents were corporate workers and provided her with a good education, but like most suits in Night City, they saw their daughter only as a future investment, neglecting her desires and aspirations.

Militech Corporation had once played a nasty trick on the girl's parents, and seizing the opportunity, she fled from her family, taking refuge under the wing of the Maelstrom gang. At the time, she thought it was the last place anyone would look for her. It was a sound plan, but Mitchell overlooked one crucial detail: the Maelstrom was a gang obsessed with their own invented religion, imposing a dress code that required members to replace their noses and eyes with implants. Disliking this, Susan again fled after six months, this time finding shelter with the 'Claws'.

Wakako Okada proved to be a wise choice, helping Susan get back on her feet and quickly acquire the necessary clientele. Mitchell set up a small shop as a front, while the main jobs were delivered to her home by couriers. She lived this way for four years until Alex appeared, and then everything fell into place.

The boy significantly influenced his mentor, unaware that she would be willing to contact Wakako and ask for a favor. Favor for a favor, that's how this woman operates, as people of her stature no longer need money. They measure those around them by the benefits they can reap from assisting a person. Not the worst position, but there's little good in it.

To get documents and a rare cyberdeck, Susan had to agree to tamper with Militech goods, which had one unpleasant catch. Their trackers aren't easily removed, and one needs to know the sequence to avoid attracting the corporation's special forces, which would immediately swoop in at the first sign of a chip being tampered with.

Alex managed to surprise his mentor again by cracking the protection protocol and bypassing all traps on his first try, using only what his brunette had given him. Susan had deliberately disabled the support of her auxiliary icebreaker, which would have made the task much easier, but even that wasn't needed in the end. Alex managed it effortlessly.

The boy had enormous potential for the future, but for now, he was just a child who needed guidance and occasional nudging in the right direction. He absorbed new information incredibly quickly, faster than anyone else, which was his main advantage. If Susan could give him a good start, her 'little brother' would surely achieve great results. The main thing was to keep the boy away from cyberpunks (street mercenaries), as they would certainly teach him nothing good...