Bab 5: Chapter 5: Night City II
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Chapter 5: Night City II
...........
"Hmm, sure?" X was a bit baffled but still put it on, "Not like I am the one who has to deal with the smell... Time for a nap," X shrugged as he closed his eyes only to open them a second later though instead of his wild eyes, what appeared were two exquisite inquisitive eyes.
The inquisitive eyes only had an hour of rest that night. In fact, X rarely sleeps well, more often than not; sleeping only a few hours a night. Tonight, he only slept one hour, his eyes focused on knowledge that seemed like the most delicious of meals.
Y doesn't see the world the way X does despite having the same eyes. Y sees the world as numbers. He seeks to delve through those numbers, to know what they mean.
Just like now as he studied the language in which the system of the laptop was written, and a few other languages, only then did he redirect his attention to the source code of the laptop.
There were a lot of open-source operation systems on the net, so he naturally installed one instead of the one that came with the laptop which didn't allow much freedom.
The next step was to understand the open-source operation system thoroughly before cleaning it up, and only then did he go back to absorbing knowledge.
The more he read, the more he knew, the more he realized that the word privacy doesn't exist in Night City. Everything is programmed to watch you, to keep an eye on you... To program you.
The cyberspace of Night City was as much of a hellhole as the city itself, so Y preferred to stay away from it until he feels secure about browsing the dark space of the net.
For now, he could only provide some protection to himself before going back to work, it was morning after all, "Morning, Misty."
"Morning," Replied Misty with a bright smile, "Here, hand-made breakfast. by Misty the lovely."
"Let's see," X let out a smile as he took the breakfast box, "Pancakes and boiled eggs. Misty, you really are the loveliest of them all. The city doesn't deserve you."
"Oh, don't exaggerate," Misty shook her head, "Vik and a friend are waiting for you."
"First, how about you read my fate," X couldn't help but wonder, "Does this city deserve someone like me?"
Misty eyed him strangely before looking at his hand, showing an even stranger look, then a few flips of tarot cards and she had an even stranger look, and so, there were three cards before her, the Lover, a question mark, and the hateful.
"The City loves you just as much as you love it. The city... Wants to ask you questions just as much as you want to ask it questions. The city hates you just as much as you hate it. You have quite the strange reading," Misty pointed out.
"Huh," X nodded with narrow eyes, "You know Misty, you have quite the gift. Use it well."
X made his way to the clinic where he found Vik and the friend waiting for him, Vik's friend, "Vicky, good morning."
"Say what?" Vik raised a brow.
"What?" X said what?
"Hahahaha, Vik, your friend knows how to joke," The friend let out quite the loud laugh.
"Oh, you're Misty's boyfriend, right?" X asked.
"Huh? N-no? I mean, that's the hope, but... Not yet? Like, I want to but you know, am trying," Well, the friend turned into a rambling mess in a matter of seconds.
"Hahahaha, how the tables have turned," Even Vik couldn't but laugh aloud, "X, I introduce Jackie Welles, a good friend of mine. Jackie, this is X, he will take care of you if am not around."
"Ahem," Jackie coughed the embarrassment away, quickly getting his bearings back together, "So you're Vik's new student, heard a lot about you."
"Assistant, more like, but sure," X shrugged, "And I heard you're his former student, did well?"
"Graduated, actually," Jackie nodded, "With honors at that, you doing well. Like, I can count on you with maintenance?"
"Yeah yeah, you can count on him," Vik stood up, crossing his arms, "Now go on that table and let him have a look at you."
"Yeah?" Jackie glanced at Vik then at X, seeming nervous, "But like, are you sure? Didn't he start working here, like, a month ago?"
"Jackie, c'mon, trust me," Vik assured him.
X placed his laptop by the side before putting on sterilized gloves, "C'mon. Have a seat. Don't be a pussy, not like I will mess you up that much."
"That much?" Jackie was forced to go with the flow, following X's instructions.
"Jack in," X instructed, eyeing the screen before him, showing Jackie's past session history, and only after Jackie jacked in did he have a scan of his current condition, "A Bit broke, are you?"
"What?"
"Your cyberware, quite outdated," X remarked, "Not judging though. I'm quite broke myself."
"That supposed to be a code for something?" Jackie questioned, "Looking for side jobs?"
"Maybe," Said X, "I'm an upcoming Netrunner myself, so be on the lookout for me, will ya?"
"We'll see," Jackie made no promises.
"Hmm, everything seems fine," X noted, "You just need a firmware update, and you should be good to go." Vik nodded, and X got to work.
Updating the firmware was quite easy, taking only a few minutes, and Jackie was good to go, leaving X and Vik alone, "Quite ambitious, huh?" Vik remarked as he got back to his seat.
"Yeah," X nodded, taking a seat close by, opening his laptop as he continued, "You know, my therapist once said that I have delusions of grandeur... I feel like proving him wrong."
"Huh?" Vik narrowed his eyes, eyeing X strangely before shaking his head, "Well, good luck."
X never wasted a single second of time, his eyes bright as he buried his face in his laptop, watching the numbers move and change, so much ever-changing code for him to absorb.
However, despite his or their gift, they knew that it would take them a while to catch up to decades of innovation. It's still early 2076, so X knew they still had plenty of time.
X's studies would only be interrupted by clients in which case, he either does the operation himself or helps Vik with it, only if he isn't yet proficient in the specific operation.
"Here, I have some material for you to study," Soon it was time to close though before that, Vik handed X a data shard, "We have a big client tomorrow, so prepare for it."
"I'll be ready," X nodded, and took the shard and his laptop, preparing to leave.
"Hey, I told you before, but you don't have to sleep outside," Vik stopped X as he said, "You can crash at my place if you have nowhere to go."
"Appreciate it, Vik," X shook his head, "But I like the roof much better, quite cozy up there."
"Well, Misty has a way of finding unique places," Vik shrugged, "The offer still stands if or when it rains."
"Thank you," X walked out. For now, he liked not having a roof over his head. Hell, even when it rains, he just takes cover by Garry's side or by the other homeless nearby.
Anyway, it wasn't the first time he lived the life of the homeless, "Quit waving that gun around, choom. Might hurt someone."
Even babies have guns in this godforsaken city, so it was no wonder that just as X walked off the set of stairs leading to the clinic, he found a kid sitting on the ground and playing with a gun.
"Worry not, choom! I'm a trained professional!!! Pcho pcho!!" The kid smirked as he responded, actually pulling the trigger multiple times. However, no sound of gunfire was heard.
"And that's why I always unload the gun," A girl who seemed to be in her early twenties remarked, seated near the kid, "Honestly, Don't know what to do with him. Wants to be a trained professional, he says."
"Oh? Looking for death, kiddo?" X crouched near the kid as he asked, "How can you call yourself a trained professional when you don't even know how to use a gun?"
"Knew it! Uncle X, you are a trained professional! Teach me please!" The kid begged.
"Maybe when you grow a pair," X shook his head as he stood up, "Look out for your sister first, then think about meeting death, alright?"
"What he said," The kid's sister was in full agreement, and so did the kid, seriously nodding.
"Marrie, good night," Said X as he started walking toward Misty's shop.
"Good night, X!" Said a smiling Marrie before instructing her little brother, "Say good night too!"
"Good night, Uncle X!"
"Aghh, I am not that old," X murmured to himself as he entered Misty's shop. In contrast to Vik's clinic, she doesn't close until midnight.
"Uncle X, huh?" Case closed by Misty's voice as she let out a giggle, handing him a plate of rice balls, "Well, I guess good night, Uncle X."
"Good night, Aunt Misty," X took his dinner and walked back, taking an elevator nearby to the roof, his new home.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
VQuintessence
VQuintessence Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence
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Bab 6: Chapter 6: Night City III
Make sure to check my Patre.on out if you want to support me and want to read advanced chapters: Patre.on.com/VQuintessence
[20 Chapters in Advance on Patre.on]
Chapter 6: Night City III
...........
Home, if it can even be called that, was on the roof of a building right by Vik's clinic. The view was lovely, allowing sight of a significant portion of the city, and its megabuildings as they pierced through the sky.
Right away, as he exited the elevator, he was faced with the tall skyscrapers of Fuyutsuki Electronics, linked together by two gigantic bridges, so tall they almost blocked sunlight, especially with the mega building to the right.
X could see clouds of smoke all over the place, and the smell, aghh. Just like most parts of Night City, the place was stained with traces of corps, leaving little to no specks of green anywhere to be seen.
The only specks of green to be seen were artificial palm trees, not nearly enough to bring life to this bleak city. However, there was a reason X chose this place as his home.
X sat on one of the chairs by the edge of the roof, placing his plate of rice balls and a bottle of water on a stool nearby. Then he ate dinner while enjoying what was in his mind a lovely view.
It looked like chaos as if X was seeing the smoke spewing from the factories as a mix of chaotic emotions, despair of the homeless, their hope, sadness, and desire for something more.
The glass windows of the skyscrapers spoke of something else entirely, reflecting the greed within those walls, the sound of wine glasses clashing together as those at the top laughed while looking down the windows at the mess beneath them, imagining it only getting worse, not better as they climbed upon the backs of their slaves.
Such was the state of Night City, at least from the outside. X knows that things go way deeper than that.
The people of Night City, their lives are worse than they even know for the word slaves have never been truer than in Night City where everything you do is under their watchful eyes.
"Holy fuck, I could cum just thinking about all the bullshit that goes on in this city," X munched on a rice ball as he muttered, letting out a sigh of satisfaction, "Can't wait till we dip our toe into it, so deep and sweet."
"Please just take a nap," X let out a sigh again as he murmured, throwing the last rice ball into his mouth and drinking a mouthful of water before going to a specific corner of the roof, hidden by the building's air filtration system. There in that corner was his home.
It was a cozy place with a few ancient sofas and a parasol as well as a scrambled up table. Everything was screwed together but it was working, and that's all that matters.
X covered his little corner with a mattress he stitched up a while ago, all that he needed was his tin foil hat. For now though, he opened his laptop and got to work.
The world turned into numbers in his eyes, all flowing into his mind, transforming into invaluable knowledge that he saves in his mind palace before it gets organized to be used later.
And that's how his nights usually go, only sleeping for a few hours before he has to go to work. Today, he woke up a little early, so instead, he went to the food stalls nearby.
Little China is quite the nice place if you ignore all the trash, depression, and crime. It has a projection of these lovely floating red lanterns, and even a luminous sakura tree, also a projection.
And then there is Little China's market, a place always filled with people, food stalls, small-time shops, and of course, advertisements.
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"Sounds interesting," X murmured under his breath as he took a seat in one of the food booths. He only has pennies on him right now, so he could not afford something too expensive.
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"Yo, make me some nice fried egg and black coffee! No sugar," X instructed.
"Coming right away!" The stall owner shouted before getting to work.
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"That sounds even more interesting," X shook his head in exasperation. It seems that this world is getting weirder by the second.
"What? Want one?" The stall owner wondered, "Those things are hella expensive."
"And that's why I can only wish for one," X shrugged.
"Very popular, those things, even more than real girls," The stall owner pointed out, "Hell, they're even popular with girls."
"Feel like real people without the stress and anxiety that comes with interacting with real people, isn't that right?" X remarked.
"Exactly!" The stall owner nodded heavily, "Even fuck dolls aren't too in demand right now... They feel too real, and have you heard about the recent psychotic incidents that happen with fuck dolls? A friend of mine got his dick bit off by one. The bitch ate it."
"I heard," X nodded, "The corps said they're looking into it. I guess they ain't."
"They're looking into shit," The stall owner shook his head, "And who knows how many worse incidents they buried under the rug."
"Joi is the safe option, I guess," X muttered, "Especially in a place like Night City where all everyone knows is danger... Safe options seem like a rarity here."
"I really wish I had one instead of the wife nagging at me every day, aghh," The stall owner could only let out a sigh, "All we have is broken hopes. Hell, a long while ago, I found a Joi with a fucking emanator, can you believe it? But whad'ya know, it was fuckin' broken."
"Unfixable?" X wondered.
"It's from 2050 or something, shit like that costs more to fix than to buy new," The stall owner explained, "Plus, it's an ancient edition, probably buggy as hell. Don't want nothing to do with that."
"Do you by any chance still have it on you?" X couldn't help but ask.
"It's in one of these boxes of scraps," The stall owner pointed to the boxes beneath his stall, "Why?"
"Wanna try my hand at fixing it," Responded X.
"That thing is almost three decades old by this point. Can you really fix it?" The stall owner said before shaking his head, "Never mind, I have no use for it, so just take it, if you can find it amidst the garbage."
Without wasting any time, X started looking through the boxes while the stall owner prepared his breakfast for him. Well, there was a lot of garbage, but eventually, he found the broken emanator.
And as the stall owner said, the tech was decades old, way too old to be fixable, 'Maybe, just maybe, we can scrap some code out of this little thing.'
X put the thing in his pocket and had some breakfast, "Well, it was a pleasure talking to you."
"Hey! Come back here sometimes!" The stall owner waved him goodbye.
X went directly to Vik's clinic, only stopping by the clinic's stairs as he found Marrie sitting by the side with an obvious bruise on her face, quite recent by the looks of it.
She was hugging her little brother tightly, seemingly not allowing him to look at her face while he sniffled, trying hard to hold back his cry.
"What happened?" X asked.
"I..." Marrie's lips trembled but she still whispered as she glanced at a man not far away, standing right before Vik's clinic, seemingly guarding it, "I... I don't know why, but he took my gun when he saw my little brother waving it around, And..."
She didn't need to continue. The bruise on her face told him everything. The guard must've been sent here preemptively to secure the area.
"Take the elevator to the roof and stay there for the day," X instructed before heading to the clinic.
Ahh, Night City, a heaven for the strong, hell for the weak. Only the laws of the jungle seem to apply here with predators in every corner of its bleak alleys, "Vik's assistant, step aside."
"Assistant, huh?" The guard sized up X from top to bottom, obviously looking down on him, "Nah, let's wait for Vik."
"Wait, huh?" X let out a smile as he lightly tapped the man's right hand in a friendly manner, and then shook his hand, "I am X, pleasure to meet you."
"Jason," The guard responded reflexively, not really meaning to, but X simply controlled the conversation.
"Jason, huh? I will remember that," Said X in a gentle tone, "Unfortunately, I am supposed to be here early to sterilize the room so unless you wanna owe an explanation to your boss, step aside."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA
VQuintessence
VQuintessence
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