Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

"...Hey! Haiji! Hey! Don't be in a daze, take this towel and wipe the rain off your head!..."

The toasted towel flew up and wrapped itself around her face.

It also covered her surging emotions in time.

Haiji shook her head and did not answer. She just grabbed the towel and began to clean off the cold dampness on her hair and cheeks little by little.

Finally, she took off her wet coat and threw it on the floor. She frowned and sighed softly.

"Are you okay?" Mullin ordered a glass of warm Japanese soju from the restaurant owner and handed it to her cold palm.

"I'm fine..." Hai Ji took the wine glass, thanked her gently, and then became silent again.

Through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of this restaurant, you can clearly see how violent the rainstorm outside is, like a tsunami sweeping across, vowing to completely wash away this filthy city.

"Since I came to Night City, I have never seen such a rainy day..."

In order to break the dull atmosphere, Mullin worked hard to find topics.

He followed Hai Ji's example, moved a chair, sat down by the window, opened his brown eyes, and saw the brief process of thousands of raindrops being born from the clouds and falling to death on the ground in the blink of an eye.

"How many years have you been in Night City?" Hai Ji was silent for a few seconds and finally responded.

"It's been almost four years..." Mullin counted briefly on his fingers and replied with some uncertainty.

"Ha, I really can't tell..." Haiji sighed softly, "I have only been in Night City for a year..."

"Were you transferred from another city branch of the Network Supervisor?... Or did you register directly with the Night City Branch Network Supervisor?..."

"Have you never chatted with girls? Why are you talking in such a roundabout way?"

After drinking more than half of the glass of warm wine in one gulp, Hai Ji chuckled, but couldn't help but mock him as usual.

"I mean..." Mullin looked a little at a loss.

"Ha, I understand." Haiji nodded her head with her index finger, "After I came to Night City, I was discovered by the Internet Supervisor and was hired as an agent under the exception."

"The gap between people is so different..." Mullin said with emotion, ordered a glass of liquor that was not common in Japanese stores, and drank it in small sips.

"Ha, what should I say, thank you for the compliment?" He gently put the empty wine glass on the table, Haiji sighed soothingly, called the boss, and ordered three more bottles of sake and a bowl of Tenggu Ramen.

"Are you feeling better now? I think you have the strength to eat noodles..."

Mullin quietly observed the change in her expression. He breathed a sigh of relief and ordered himself a beef ramen and two bottles of spirits.

"Are you just...looking for someone to date? Don't get me wrong...can I ask?"

He considered his words and spoke carefully, but his words seemed incoherent because of his nervousness.

"you like me?"

Hai Ji poured a sip of warm wine into her mouth and glanced sideways at the nervous Mullin.

"Huh? No...I didn't..."

As she expected, Mullin looked embarrassed and his earlobes turned red.

"Whether you like it or not, don't speak in a gibberish manner, talk about things when you have something to say, don't hold your tail between your legs... That little bit of verbal intention, care and pleasing will not move anyone except yourself. "

After quietly taking a look at Hai Ji's serious expression, Mullin lowered his head and responded in a low voice.

"Did you just find the person you made an appointment with?" Mullin hesitated, trying hard to form complete sentences from his mouth.

"No..." Haiji shook her head, "Also, keep working hard, we are still far behind..."

"What's the difference?"

"Nothing..." Haiji shrugged, turned around and continued to look at the falling waterfall outside the window, and drank a second glass of warm soju.

◎

"Virus?"

The surveillance video played on the big screen has just finished showing.

Paul tapped the solid wood tabletop gently, with a questioning tone in his words.

"Yes, virus..." Zhang Xian'an replied, he did a few operations on the computer and put the results on the screen behind him.

"Electronic virus...infectious...non-lethal...neurotoxin...crazy?"

Paul muttered softly, accurately capturing one key element after another.

"Yes, the cause is currently unknown..."

"Ha, it's like an angry ghost asking for his life." Paul shook his head and gently knocked on the table three times.

"Mr. Paul, do you believe in ghosts and gods?" Zhang Xian'an asked curiously.

"spirits?"

Paul didn't answer and turned to look out the dark window.

His blurry figure was reflected on the bright and new glass wall.

"Mr. Paul?"

"Well...don't worry, let's continue."

"Okay." Zhang Xian'an nodded, not worrying about what the big man in front of him was thinking just now.

"So... is it possible for this drug to completely eliminate the side effects?" Paul held his chin and carefully browsed the rapidly scrolling and changing data on the screen.

"Ha, Mr. Paul is joking... Unless God is alive, no one can guarantee that they can remove the side effects of a drug..."

"You continue." Paul was noncommittal and waved to Zhang Xian'an to continue reporting the experimental results.

"In addition to this adverse effect, we also found some benign reaction symptoms..." Zhang Xian paused, and his tone became a little excited, "We found that taking this drug has a chance of permanently increasing the brain's degree of development.”

"How developed is the brain?"

"Yes, according to current research reports, the development level of the human brain is generally less than 10%..."

"Are you doing human research again?"

As if he heard the faint dissatisfaction hidden in the other party's words, Zhang Xian'an lowered his head and said softly: "I hope you don't mind... We are just for everyone..."

"Stop, you don't have to say this to me. Let's continue talking about the research results. I want to know where the remaining 90% of the human brain goes."

"For example, the entire human brain is like a bottomless ocean. What normal people are currently thinking about is circulating in the upper 10% of the sea water... And the more the human brain is developed, the more Able to penetrate vertically to the bottom of the sea..."

"What if the human brain is developed to 100% one day?"

"It will be infinitely close to...the omniscient and omnipotent God in myths and legends."

Zhang Xian'an replied in a low voice, his words full of uncontrollable excitement.

"Wow..." Mr. Paul applauded him gently without saying anything else.

"Mr. Paul, what do you think?" It was completely different from what Zhang Xian'an expected. The reaction of the big man in front of him was a little too cold.

"It's fun, keep up the good work."