Chapter Two

The pay was among the best on offer in Night City, the equipment provided to their officers was some of the most modern pieces on the market, and the prestige; the face that came with being counted as a member of the biggest gang in NC, well, in certain circles, that you got laid very quickly.

All Arasaka asked of you, in return for being uplifted from among the detritus of society, was your soul; every waking minute of your life was spent either asleep or for the Company's benefit.

They had an entire department and numerous virtual intelligence explicitly dedicated to time management, ensuring that every Employee was being utilised to their maximum efficiency, as well as identifying and pink-slipping those who failed to live up to the extreme standards of the Arasaka Corporation.

It was exhausting, dehumanising and most of all, terrifying to work for the Arasaka Corporation, to wake up in the morning before your shift to a robotic voice warning you that roadworks will delay your usual commute to work and that the Company expects you to show up on time.

To take a short nap on a sixteen-hour back-to-back shift, only to be reprimanded by your supervisor because the Arasaka-owned cybernetics inside you reported that moment of lax attention to whatever soulless suit was in charge of your sector.

It controlled your world and dictated your actions not just during work hours but outside it; would you be able to have a good night's rest if you went out in the evening? What if you fell asleep on the job because of it?

You didn't want another reprimand, all those points adding up towards not just a pay deduction but outright termination; it was enough to inspire paranoia in the most laid-back employee.

No wonder such living and working conditions drove many of your co-workers to use their generous pay on drugs and other recreational means to escape their grim lives.

Not you, never you; you knew what you were getting in for; as ill-informed as you were, their demands were something you were willing to meet; with Amanda's decoupling, nothing was stopping you.