13: Chapter 13 Old Friends and New Acquaintances
Life after getting the "galena" seemed to open up quite a bit.
The roar of the engine could take one anywhere; it didn't necessarily have to be toward some specific destination.
Lin Yi enjoyed this brief, almost luxurious freedom.
During the day, he would occasionally drive around Night City aimlessly, provided he wouldn't run into any cyberpsychos on the street—going to Japantown to check out the latest cyberware ads, or buying a suspicious-tasting synthetic kebab at the open-air market in northern Watson.
Once, he even drove to the edge of the Badlands, staring blankly at the endless yellow wasteland and the distant isolation wall of the Colorado Federation, only turning back when the sandstorm warning sounded.
Most of the time, he just stayed in his apartment in Charter Hill.
Looking down through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the streets were crowded with people, and the headlights flowed like a river.
In the distance, Arasaka Tower stood like a black sword, eternally piercing the heart of Night City.
He organized the fragmented data dug out from the Old Net in the "Bai Ze" logs, trying to piece together something of value, but most of it was useless and bizarre garbled code.
Occasionally, he would recall that brief and eerie "gaze" when crossing the Blackwall, and that self-deleting distress message.
An indescribable premonition lingered in his heart—Pacifica, Dogtown, it seemed like there was more hidden there.
He also kept an eye on the news, especially Arasaka's.
When he saw the news that Arasaka's lunar base development had hit a setback and the European Space Council was holding a joint hearing to decide on the redistribution of lunar resources, the string in his brain tightened immediately.
The conclusion deduced by [Insight] based on public information had a high probability: Arasaka would never easily let go of the fat piece of meat that was the moon.
Such a straightforward commercial and political failure would likely trigger the most extreme, darkest kind of retaliation within the corporation.
And given the typical nature of big corporations, once the retaliation went sideways, or if they needed a scapegoat for the outside world—the first ones pushed out to take the fall would be the blades executing the orders.
He thought of V, that neighbor who lived in the same building and worked in Arasaka Counterintelligence.
If his memory served him right, the Corpo V path started when her boss, Jenkins, wanted to climb the ladder.
In the end, she became a victim of the internal factional struggle within the corporation.
That man named Jenkins was probably paving his way right now—a one-way street leading to the top of power, and also to hell.
And V was likely the driver he had chosen.
It was just that she had already been secretly marked by the corporation for disposal.
A few evenings later, Lin Yi had a quick bite for dinner outside and went for a walk to digest, strolling along the relatively quiet street below his apartment building.
The night neon of Westbrook was dazzling, but the air was always filled with a cold sense of alienation, and he unknowingly wandered over to Lili Park.
Then he saw V.
She was leaning alone against the roadside railing, staring blankly at the pitch-black water of the canal in the distance.
She was still wearing that well-tailored corporate suit, with her jacket draped over her arm, her collar slightly loosened, and she looked exhausted and disheveled.
A slender cigarette was tucked between her fingers, its orange-red ember flickering in the cool night breeze.
Lin Yi hesitated for a moment, but then walked over.
After all, they were neighbors.
And her current state really looked like she needed some—non-corporate interaction.
"Hey." He greeted her, stopped at a distance neither too far nor too close, and also leaned against the railing.
"Looks like the life of a Corpo dog isn't always glamorous."
V seemed startled, turning her head abruptly, a flash of the vigilance typical of corporate elites in her eyes.
But upon seeing it was Lin Yi—that neighbor she had met a few times who seemed to pose no threat—that vigilance slowly dissipated, replaced by an irrepressible weariness.
"Oh, it's you." She exhaled a puff of smoke, her voice a bit raspy.
"Glamorous? That's just for outsiders to see. It's rotten to the core inside."
Her words carried undisguised sarcasm and exhaustion.
"If it's rotten, why stay?" Lin Yi asked casually, looking at the huge holographic billboard across the canal.
"What else could I do?" V scoffed, flicking the ash.
"Where could I go if I left Arasaka? Start over?"
"In Night City, without a corporation covering you, people like us either die in a gutter or become a piece of meat on a Scavenger's shelf."
It was realistic, and cruel.
The two were silent for a while.
There was only the sound of the night breeze brushing by and vehicles passing in the distance.
Suddenly, V seemed to have made up her mind, or perhaps she just wanted to vent to someone.
She turned her head to look at Lin Yi, her voice lowering further, almost whispering: "Hey... ask you something."
"I have a friend whose boss asked him to... 'take care' of another competitor."
"The requirement is to do it cleanly, without using internal resources."
"What would you do?"
The question was very cryptic.
Lin Yi understood instantly.
That whole affair was rolling forward exactly in the direction he had anticipated.
He didn't answer directly, but countered: "Did that supervisor block your boss's path?"
"Heh." V revealed a complex smile.
"More than just blocking the path... It's like sitting in the seat he wants, and waving at him."
V didn't deny that this "friend" was herself.
Lin Yi looked at V's side profile in the night, filled with confusion and pressure, and said slowly: "Night City has its own rules."
"Not everything has to be done by your own hands."
"Sometimes borrowing someone else's blade to do your own business, or... simply letting things 'happen naturally', is the smarter path."
He paused, then added: "Just do your best, and then let nature take its course."
"Don't get yourself completely dragged into it."
V was stunned.
She carefully ruminated on Lin Yi's words.
These words were completely different from the education she received when entering the corporation—efficiency, loyalty, completing tasks by any means necessary—yet they exuded a cold wisdom of street survival.
Jenkins asking her to kill Abernathy, wasn't that just wanting to "borrow" her as his blade?
Then why couldn't she...
She took a deep drag of her cigarette, threw the butt on the ground, and crushed it with the tip of her shoe.
"Ha..." She suddenly laughed, with self-mockery.
"Thanks."
"Does what you said sound like you're treating me like a fool?"
"I also came from the streets."
"But..." Her tone softened a bit, "Still, thank you for chatting and keeping me company."
"The stuff clogging up my heart seems to have loosened a bit."
She turned to face Lin Yi directly, extending the hand that wasn't holding her jacket: "Let's officially get to know each other?"
"Calling each other 'neighbor' all the time is weird."
"My name is Valerie, just call me V."
Lin Yi looked at her hand and reached out to shake it.
The touch was slightly cool, but firm.
"Lin Yi." He stated his name.
"Lin Yi..." V repeated it, nodding.
"I think I've heard of you."
"Recently in Watson and Heywood, you're that guy called 'Ghost'?"
"Hanging out with that guy Jackie, getting things done efficiently."
"So it was you."
"Looks like this little bit of fame has even reached Arasaka Tower?" Lin Yi smiled.
"Night City has no secrets."
V also smiled, with a bit more genuine warmth in her smile, "Especially for people like us."
"Alright, thanks for your... advice, 'Ghost'."
"I should head back; I have a pile of messes to clean up tomorrow."
"Give my regards to Jackie."
She waved at Lin Yi and turned to walk towards the apartment building.
Her back was still straight, but it felt a bit lighter than before.
Lin Yi watched her figure disappear behind that glass door, his gaze turning back to the massive black tower in the distance.
The seed was planted.
It was just unclear what choice V would eventually make.
And where her choice would take her—as well as them, who were about to be dragged into the center of the storm.
The night breeze was still cold, wrapped in the unique scent of this city.
Half hope, half despair, overall, it was just the faint smell of death.