Many Faces Of The Night

On the noisy street, Leo popped an immunosuppressant he had just been prescribed, along with some supplements to protect his internal organs. Old Vic had already explained the situation with his Sandevistan, and Leo had a decent understanding of what was going on.

No wonder the system identified this Sandevistan as part of the "Militech 'Chapter' Type 6" series.

It seems this Sandevistan is a tool designed to transfer AI into the human body, using the human nervous system as a host to isolate the AI from the net, aiding in hacking with the neural port.

If that's the case, Arasaka wasn't wrong in targeting him.

Kang Tao also had a stroke of bad luck, thinking they'd found an advanced Sandevistan to "achieve a technological breakthrough," only to steal an unfinished gray project from Militech.

Zhu Shen was another unlucky soul who got himself into trouble over women; he really didn't die unjustly.

In the end, it was Leo who ended up with the loot... But did Kang Tao really steal it by accident?

Pushing aside his doubts, Leo activated his cybernetic eye to scan the street cameras, seeing the available quick-hack protocols appear in his vision.

What he got from Old Vic was a Militech Type 4 "Parallel Line" neural port. With this, his hacking methods expanded significantly.

A hacker can't always improvise on the spot; they need pre-set tools.

By writing hacking logic into executable software and storing it in the neural port, it becomes a daemon.

Finally, I don't have to fry my brain for every hack. Too bad the Blackwall Data Blockage is too risky to use often—getting caught by NetWatch would be a disaster.

I should enroll in Arasaka Academy's continuing education program; street-learned skills come with too many gaps.

Leo was pacing back and forth in the open space in front of the clinic, adjusting to his new lungs.

He didn't notice a dark-skinned, curly-haired kid had been eyeing him for a while.

"Wow, look at that, Jimmy, a corpo dog!"

Leo felt someone grab his shoulder and spin him around—

A kid with a yellow bandana was standing next to him, but he seemed nervous: "Calm down, Terry."

Unfortunately, the dark-skinned guy didn't listen to his friend.

Leo blinked—no way?

Why does this seem so familiar?

"Hand over all your valuables, now!"

Leo rolled his eyes—V was still in the clinic getting her cyberware installed, and Jackie was busy chatting with a girl at the fortune-telling shop next door.

And this lands on me?

"Hold on, man, I'm not a corpo dog."

"Not? I saw MoorE Technologies deliver stuff to you in a hovercar! Do you think I'm stupid? Give! Me! The! Money!"

Leo sighed and took two steps back, but there were stairs to the underground passage behind him, so he had to stand his ground and say, "Listen, kid, I'm not calling you stupid, but if you keep this up, I'll start questioning whether there's something wrong with your brain."

"Hey, you piece of crap, got a smart mouth, huh—"

Leo sensed trouble; this guy was both dim-witted and hot-tempered!

The dark-skinned kid raised his fist!

Smack!

"Hey, that's my buddy! What the hell are you two idiots doing?"

The kid's hand froze inches from Leo's face—it was V, fresh from her surgery.

She had just stepped out of the clinic to see someone trying to mug her good friend, and she was itching for a fight.

V's hand wasn't bulky, but it gripped the kid's hand like a vise, twisting his face in pain.

V snarled, "What's your problem? A scrawny little punk like you, no strength at all, trying to rob people?"

The kid's hand was slowly bent back, his expression growing more and more pained...

"Damn!" The kid swung a wild punch, but V didn't even hold onto him, letting him stumble back a few steps.

"I told you so..." the bandana-wearing kid panicked.

But before he could say anything else, both of them froze—they felt something hard press against their backs.

It was Jackie, who had just stepped out with a big grin on his face.

In his hands were two massive Tsunami Nue pistols, and just a slight squeeze of the trigger would blow holes in these two idiots.

"We... we were wrong..." the two kids stammered, their legs trembling, not daring to move.

V patted Leo on the shoulder and pointed at the two cowards, "You see? You need to work out more. Just two small-time punks and you're in trouble."

Leo pointed at his head, "Did you forget about this?"

"Alright, alright, Padre's waiting for us over there; let's not waste any more time."

V waved her hand, gesturing toward a stretch limo parked on the other side of the clinic.

The two punks shivered even more at the mention of Padre—Heywood's most powerful fixer!

Once V and Leo had walked away, Jackie raised his gun to the back of their heads and gave them a hard shove: "Bang!"

The two of them were so scared they nearly wet themselves, collapsing down the stairs.

"Cowards, get lost! Don't let me see you in Heywood again!"

Bang, bang, bang! Jackie fired a few shots at the ground, and the two punks ran like their lives depended on it—though to Jackie, they were mostly tripping and scrambling to get up again, probably wetting themselves in the process.

"Gross."

"V, long time no see. Looks like you made a name for yourself in Atlanta. How was it over there?"

Padre was a kind-looking old man, but his expressionless face, combined with his tattoos and the Valentinos around him, made him quite intimidating.

Hearing Padre's recognition, V couldn't have been more pleased.

She was starting to see Leo in a much better light.

If it weren't for Leo, she might've ended up spending a year or two in an Atlanta jail because of the Chipping job, only to come back home with her tail between her legs...

But now, she was fully cybered up with high-end gear, and there were nine valuable Kang Tao prototype weapons in the trunk, plus a market-banned Komainu sniper rifle.

Oh, and a very expensive lizard—though that wasn't the most important thing.

The most important thing was the tens of thousands of euros in her account!

Though V tried to remain humble, she couldn't hide her pride:

"You know how it is, Padre, a kid from Heywood can make a name for themselves anywhere—this is Leo; he's got something he wants to discuss with you.

I'll leave you to it, gotta hit the Wild Wolves bar for a few drinks."

"Alright, kid, enjoy the taste of home." After bidding V farewell, Padre turned to Leo, "So, please, have a seat, kid."

They were to talk in the car—Padre was a man of sophistication.

Leo was equally polite: "Thank you—Padre, I've heard a lot about you. It's an honor to finally meet you."

"No need for the formalities. I guess V wouldn't have made such a name for herself over there without your help? She's a good girl, and she's skilled with her weapons.

But she's a lone wolf; it's cost her a lot."

"Just lucky," Leo replied more earnestly this time. "Padre, I'll get straight to the point—I want to study. I need a fake identity to get into Arasaka Academy."

Dealing with Padre for the first time, Leo didn't need to lay all his cards on the table.

But he did need to get into Arasaka Academy to solidify his knowledge of this world and see if he could find anything useful.

Padre was surprised—quite surprised.

It seemed his instincts were correct; Leo wasn't just some street kid like V.

"Well... to be honest, you should probably go to another fixer for this. Are you looking for a full-time program or..."

As he said this, Padre couldn't help but feel how strange it was.

Here he was, a pastor of the Valentinos, the most powerful fixer in Heywood, a godfather-like figure, discussing someone's educational plans.

Oh well, fixers see all kinds of weird things.

Leo immediately replied, "An adult education level would do. I need to quickly catch up on the basics and maybe... get a license or something."

"That's easier. The identity requirements aren't as strict." Padre thought for a moment and said, "Are you planning to pay, or..."

"I have the money, but I'd be happy to take care of some of your problems in exchange."

Padre nodded slightly, "In that case, I'll have a light job for you, considering you're friends with Jackie and V."

We?

Leo didn't react on the surface, but no one could tell what Padre was really thinking—was he being polite, or was this a genuine offer of goodwill?

Padre continued, "Of course, I know you've just returned and have a lot to take care of. We'll discuss it in a few days.

You can go ahead and report to Arasaka Academy—I can only provide a fake identity, but you should be able to pass the entrance test, right?"

"Of course."

Leo nodded slightly.