Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

"There is a slanting sunbeam

In the winter afternoon, suppressed

Heavy, like church music

The pain of that kingdom

Follow him religiously

Trauma is nowhere to be found

But it’s different inside

In the true retreat

Feel the mark of despair that no one can understand

king's agony

Come to the surrounding world

When it comes, the mountains and rivers listen quietly

Shadows also have to hold their breath

When it leaves, far away

Like the face under the hood of death

vague"

Note①

January 21, 2074

Lucy's tenth day in Night City.

It was obviously only a short period of ten days, but it lasted much longer than the long years of running away alone in the past.

Maybe it’s because I’ve made interesting friends and stopped being homeless.

Lowering her head, she was now more accustomed to observing the silver-haired girl and handsome man around her with her peripheral vision.

Thanks to them, the dozens of entangled ghosts of the past have not disturbed her dreams for some time.

Cigarettes that never left my hand in the past have now been left in my pocket for a long time.

"That's enough..." Lucy whispered to herself in her heart.

At some point, her footsteps slowly stopped, and there was a short distance between Sheda and Yahweh.

"Lucy? Come on!"

A crisp voice rang in her ears, and the silver-haired elf jumped up and down, tightly holding her cold palms.

Before the wandering consciousness returns, the body has already responded.

"You're still so lively in high heels, aren't you afraid of sprained feet?" She subconsciously complained in a cold voice, successfully seeing the slight shame on Xi Da's face.

Yahweh stood aside, watching their interaction with a smile, and seemed to have cleared up his mood.

Lucy looked at them both with a smile on her lips.

It is shallow, like the sunset above the head that is disappearing little by little.

"What makes you so happy?" While Yahweh was driving over, Xida slowly approached Lucy with agile steps, suddenly stretched out his hand and hugged her arm.

"I think you are very interesting, you have always been very interesting..." Lucy gently rubbed the girl's enviable bright silver hair and whispered.

It was just like meeting them at the bar of Afterlife Nightclub five days ago.

The audience in the audience took the initiative to accept the invitation of the protagonist on the stage, stood under the spotlight, and performed the joyful colored glaze together.

"So are all literary and artistic young people like this?" Xi Ta poked Lucy's waist with his finger.

"What are they like?" Lucy glanced at the gradually darkening sky, and continued to speak, while replying nimbly with her fingers.

"Sentimental...ah! Don't tickle me...I'm ticklish..." Halfway through Xi Da's words, Lucy's counterattack hit her weak point.

"Get in the car first. The sun has set and the temperature has dropped quickly..." Yahweh skillfully parked the car in front of them, lightly and without raising a trace of dust.

"Here it comes~" Xi Da responded, pulling Lucy and sitting in the back seat of the car.

"Where did your friend say you could eat at night?" Lucy asked.

"Downtown..." Xi Da threw her high heels at her feet and lay lazily in the package of the seat.

Lucy nodded, followed Xi's example, took off her high heels, put down the car seat, and lay down comfortably.

◎

"Jill, have you ever had hot pot before?" V put down the phone and then remembered this.

"Huh, you just remembered it now?" Jill shook her head helplessly, "Don't worry, I occasionally went out to eat with friends when I was in college, although it was definitely not the kind of hot pot restaurant in the center of Night City. It’s just high-end…”

V touched her nose awkwardly. It seemed that excessive drinking had not completely affected her.

"Hey, do you have any suitable clothes?" Gil tilted his toes, sat on the chair, and lightly kicked V's calf, "I accidentally vomited on myself yesterday... The weather was gloomy this morning too, I guess it will My clothes haven’t dried yet…”

"What size are you?" V nodded, turned and walked to the closet not far away.

"I'm younger than you anyway..." Jill said resentfully, picked up most of the cigarette that was burning silently on the ashtray, and held it in his mouth.

"Since you honestly admit that you are not as good as me, I won't care about you stealing my cigarettes..." V held up a load of clothes and threw them on the bed, "Well, do you need me to avoid it?"

"I don't care anyway..." Jill shook her head, looking indifferent.

"By the way, put down the cigarette first, don't light up my house later..." V snatched the cigarette from Jill's mouth when she wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah..." Jill nodded perfunctorily and threw the clothes at her feet neatly.

◎

"Isn't this the same Chinese restaurant we went to last time? It looks brand new. There are no traces of the explosion..." Xi Ta got out of the car and realized that he had been there with Yawei before. .

"Explosion?" Lucy got out of the car behind her.

"Oh...it was the day of the 18th. A few robot robbers came in during the meal..." Yawei responded to Lucy's confusion while lazily directing the vehicle to find a parking space with a random program.

Anyway, it was completely dark, and passers-by didn’t notice that this old, broken-down car was driving without a driver.

"Are you okay?" Lucy asked subconsciously.

"With Yahweh here...of course it'll be fine..." Xida replied with a smile, holding Lucy's hand and walking towards the restaurant.

Tonight's moon disappeared into the darkness and did not appear.

The howling cold wind became more and more biting.

The people on the street shrank their heads and wrapped their bodies in thick or light clothes, for fear of being playfully scraped off layers of flesh and blood by those cruel wind fairies.

Yahweh looked at their backs and sighed softly.

The white mist had just emerged and was diluted by the strong wind.

"Yahweh?" Heda turned around and waved his hand stupidly at him.

"Coming, coming..." He took a few strides, and the distance between them returned to zero again.

Following the waiter's guidance, Lucy chose a seat by the window. Lucy pulled up a chair and sat with Xi Da.

"It's about to cool down again." After Yahweh shook his clothes, he slowly sat down.

"I really hope it snows..." Lucy turned to look at the dim night outside the window and said softly.

"Does Lucy like snow?" Xi Da took the two cups of hot tea from her boyfriend and asked curiously while handing one of them to Lucy.

"I never had time to enjoy the snow scenery before..." Lucy thanked her, took the steaming tea, and took a sip.

In the past, I had been immersed in running away for so long that I ignored the scenery of the four seasons that passed by.

"So you have to enjoy it now, right?" Xi Ta lowered his eyes with a gentle curve at the corner of his mouth.

"Um……"

Note①Original poem “There’s a certain Slant of light” By Emily Dickinson