"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Where the hell am I!?"
When Silverhand's consciousness returned, all he could see were shimmering blue streams of data flashing around him, a look of bewilderment appearing in his eyes.
As his cognitive functions recovered, memories flooded back like a tidal wave. Soon, he realized his current situation and, almost without thinking, began to curse.
"Arasaka! Fuck you, let me the hell out of here!"
"I knew he'd start with the cursing, one hundred percent. Anyway, I win, you're making me Chinese food today." A strange male voice sounded from behind Silverhand. Johnny Silverhand spun around abruptly, only to see several virtual figures with different appearances.
Among them, only one person's image was the most distinct, featuring an exaggerated smiley-face mask. The others looked like low-quality pixelated figures, barely recognizable as humanoid shapes.
As the man with the smiley face finished speaking, a girl's voice came from behind him. "Damn, his first words really were a curse... but whatever, Chinese food it is."
"Who the fuck are you people?" Johnny Silverhand glared irritably at the group in front of him. He fumbled at his waist a few times but couldn't find the familiar feel of his heavy pistol.
"The people who saved you, Silverhand. For the sake of the fact that I zeroed Saburo to get your dumb ass out, how about you lay off the swearing, huh?"
As Mercer finished speaking, Johnny Silverhand froze for a moment, then burst into unapologetic laughter. "You killed Saburo Arasaka? Don't kid me, choom... The fuck!"
The words had barely left Silverhand's mouth when he turned his head and saw a dazed-looking Saburo Arasaka standing stiffly to the side. "What the hell is this old ghost!"
"You're not wrong, he is an old ghost... This is Saburo Arasaka's true engram. He looks so dumb because I extracted all his memory data earlier. He's basically got dementia now."
After Mercer spoke, Johnny Silverhand walked over without another word and threw two punches at Saburo Arasaka. But in the Net, his actions only made Saburo's figure turn illusory, having no real effect.
"Who are you, really?" Although Johnny Silverhand had a short temper and was often reckless, he wasn't an idiot. At this moment, he narrowed his eyes and turned to look warily at Mercer and the others.
Mercer shrugged and said directly, "Alex Mercer. Next to me are V, Jackie, Sasha, and Kyoko... They're the only ones interested in you. They made a special deep dive just to see the legendary Johnny Silverhand resurrected."
After Mercer finished, Jackie, standing behind him, said excitedly, "Holy shit, he looks exactly like the pictures! That metal arm, the big sunglasses... My God, when he's resurrected for real, I've gotta get him to sign my Samurai jacket!"
"...You're all my fans?"
Just as Johnny Silverhand was about to put on his rockstar swagger, he saw Mercer spread his hands. "You sure? Your fame right now is probably less than some Japanese idol singing about bobo chicken."
Bobo chicken? Johnny Silverhand's head was full of question marks.
"Alright, enough bullshit. To put it simply, Alt commissioned me to get you out of Arasaka's hands, and Rogue helped out. Alt couldn't care less if you live or die, but Rogue most likely wants to see you very much.
Since she helped me out a lot before, helping us get a foothold in Night City, I decided to pull you out of the Relic biochip, get you a body, and then hand you over to Rogue. Consider it repayment for her past help.
I know you've got a head full of questions and your memory's messed up, but that's not my fault. It's because you, you dumbass, stood up in Arasaka Tower and got instantly zeroed by Adam Smasher with one shot.
Luckily, Murphy plugged a chip into your head back then, otherwise you wouldn't even be an engram right now."
As soon as Mercer finished, Silverhand immediately retorted, "Don't give me that shit. What the hell do you know?"
"Ha, in your head, in your memories, you made a huge contribution, didn't you? Don't kid yourself, Silverhand. Go ask Rogue for the details. Don't get obsessed with the false memories in your head.
That's all just you glorifying your own memories before you died. To put it bluntly, it's because you were digitized right as you were about to kick the bucket, so your final memories got messed up."
After Mercer spoke, Silverhand said dismissively, "Hmph, so whatever you say goes, right?"
"Stubborn old bastard... Alright, enough crap. Right now, I'm giving you two choices."
Mercer held up two fingers. "You can choose to wait in the server for about a month until the body I'm cloning for you is ready. Then I'll transfer you directly into the new body and resurrect you.
If you don't have the patience, I can freeze your data. That way, it'll be like you took a nap, and when you wake up, you'll be in a human body."
"And the second one?" Silverhand asked impatiently.
"I'll set you up with a bot body to use for now. It'll give you a chance to get familiar with the Night City of today and see how much the world has changed. You can wander around, and once your body is cloned, we'll transfer your consciousness into it."
The moment Mercer finished speaking, Silverhand made his choice without hesitation. "The second one! Dammit, how long have I been dead?"
"It's 2076 now... Johnny Silverhand, welcome back to Night City."
A smile played on Mercer's lips. Then, Johnny Silverhand felt his vision blur, and his thoughts came to a halt.
—--
When Johnny Silverhand regained consciousness again, what he saw was a cold, pure white place that looked like an operating room.
"What is this? Fuck, why does my voice sound like this crap..." The moment Silverhand spoke, all he could hear was a cold, male voice produced by a mechanical synthesizer.
"Go find the Auto-Tune and adjust it yourself later. Don't tell me a rockstar legend like you can't even handle something like adjusting a timbre."
Mercer's voice came through. Silverhand turned his head and saw a large circle of men and women surrounding him.
The members of the Kindling Squad, even Maine and Dorio, had come to watch the spectacle, this was resurrection from the dead, and the resurrection of an old Night City legend like Silverhand, no less!
"...This is fucking surreal." Johnny Silverhand sat up with a complicated expression, still finding his current situation hard to believe.
Only then did he see that he had been completely turned into a bot. There was even a logo of some kind printed on his chest. He struggled to read it, only to find the incomprehensible name "Titan" written on it.
"Mercer, this tech is really something... A dead man, just like that, gets up in a bot's body?"
Jackie marveled at the side.
V, on the other hand, tilted her chin up slightly, her features looking somewhat cold and stunning, putting on a preem act. "It's just okay, I guess."
Rebecca glanced at her, who are you trying to fool?
"Dammit, give me a smoke... Shit, I'm suddenly regretting this."
As Silverhand struggled to get used to his body and sat up, he irritably patted his steel frame. "What's the point of living like this? Can't even smoke or drink... Don't you have any androids or something?
It's 2076, how are bots still this shitty?"
"First, because that dumbass Bartmoss blew up the Old Net, causing technology to stagnate for a long time. And second... choom, you should be glad I could bring you back at all. Don't be picky. Or should I just shut off your power and you can wait until your body's ready?"
After Mercer spoke, Silverhand stood up and said without hesitation, "Forget it then... Where am I now? Night City? You still haven't said who you are. Mercs?
What's Rogue doing now?
And what about Alt, Murphy, and Blackhand?"
"Night City, Pacifica, Dogtown. A lawless zone, and we're the top dogs here now. We used to be in the merc business, but now, we've graduated from that line of work.
Rogue is now the famous queen of the Afterlife. Alt has become a well-known super AI. Blackhand had a showdown with Adam Smasher, so he's most likely dead. As for Murphy, she also uploaded her consciousness and is an AI on the Net."
Mercer paused, then said, "For the specifics, you can look it up online yourself. Don't tell me you've forgotten how to use the Net."
"...Pacifica, Dogtown?"
On Silverhand's current bot face, his cyberoptics revealed a mix of confusion and emotion, but Mercer just clapped his hands. "Alright, the great resurrection drama is temporarily over. Everyone's on their own for dinner tonight. How about we all meet up at the Afterlife at seven tonight?"
"Sounds good!" Rebecca immediately responded with excitement. "Mercer, don't even think about fobbing us off with NiCola today!"
"We'll drink. Let's just call it a celebration that all the previous troubles are finally dealt with."
Mercer agreed with a smile, while Jackie said eagerly, "It's been a while since we've been. I wonder if they still have drinks named after us there."
"Why the Afterlife all of a sudden? Wouldn't it be easier to celebrate at the Black Sapphire? Or just go to Mr. Hands's Heavy Hearts club," V asked, looking at Mercer curiously.
Mercer just smiled. "I've invited a lot of people. Panam, the old cowboy, and Saul..."
"You're just going there to talk business! You even invited Saul. What deal are you trying to make with the Aldecaldos this time?" V rolled her eyes. "I knew you wouldn't just go out for no reason."
"It's just something to do on the side. The most important thing..."
Mercer smiled, looking at V and then at everyone else, his tone gentle as he spoke with a soft sigh, "Let's just consider it officially putting a period on our past. The story that follows will be a whole new chapter."
"Tsk... Fine. If you want to go, then we'll all go again." V didn't quite understand where Mercer's sentiment was coming from, but she was considerate enough not to press further.
But Lucy, more or less, understood Mercer's thoughts. She looked at him and, after a moment, smiled faintly. "That's true... Let's just call it a celebration that all the past troubles have finally been zeroed."
Rescuing Silverhand and dealing with the potential threat from Arasaka had been a heavy burden on their shoulders ever since they escaped the Arasaka Base.
But now, Saburo Arasaka was dead, with only the possibility of an engram backup remaining. Arasaka, under Yorinobu's leadership, had quickly rescinded the warrants for Mercer and his crew.
And Silverhand's resurrection meant that Mercer had also fulfilled his promise to Rogue and Alt.
Next, the focus of Mercer's work would shift from the small confines of Dogtown to a larger, yet more brutal world, as he stepped into the realm of true corporate warfare.
"Alright, the show's over. The famous Johnny Silverhand can decide his own path now. But before you get a complete body replacement, I suggest you don't just leave Dogtown.
Otherwise, if you get captured as some rogue AI bot, you'll have nowhere to cry. I don't plan on saving you a second time."
After Mercer finished, Johnny Silverhand snorted dismissively. "I never asked anyone to save me."
As he spoke, he familiarized himself with his new limbs and said, "You're going to the Afterlife? Then give me a ride. I need to meet with Rogue and see what the situation is now."
Mercer just nodded nonchalantly. "Then you can kill some time on your own. After we have dinner, we'll take you to the Afterlife.
This bot is equipped with basic neural link functions. Get used to it. Agent calls, video, and internet access are all fine. For everything else, you're on your own."
After saying that, Mercer actually turned and walked away. Everyone else, except for Jackie who enthusiastically stayed behind to show Silverhand around Dogtown and fill him in on the current state of Night City, hurried off to get ready for dinner, change clothes, and prepare for a night out at the Afterlife.
—--
Dinner at Mercer's place was still a four-person affair. Rebecca, Lucy, and V had been together for so long that they were used to living like family.
Even though the nature of their relationships with Mercer had changed, leading to a certain awkwardness and complexity in their hearts, the affection between them wouldn't suddenly vanish.
V had prepared a sumptuous Chinese meal today. At the dinner table, Rebecca, while eating heartily, asked curiously, "What are you going to do about the corporation? If it's running a gang like in Dogtown, we can still help out, but if we're really transitioning into a corporation..."
She thought for a moment, then just said with a grin, "Then I guess I'll just have to live off you!"
"Not much will change. Barghest will be directly integrated into the corporate structure. You'll probably be given a position like Director of Operations or head of special agents. Same as now, go to work if you want, slack off if you don't."
Mercer said as he ate, turning to look at V and Lucy. "As for V, my idea is for her to continue as my bodyguard, like Takemura's role for Saburo Arasaka, handling important field missions."
V had no objections to this, saying nonchalantly, "I'm not interested in doing anything else anyway. Just pay me well."
"Of course... As for Lucy, she can be the head of the network technology department. Most of the netrunning work will be handled by Morning Star anyway, so the workload won't be too heavy."
After Mercer spoke, Lucy had no objections either. She just nodded and said softly, "So it's pretty much the same as my current job, mainly responsible for debugging servers and other hardware and software?"
"Right. Later on, it might involve monitoring things like the operational status of the Skynet system."
At this point, Mercer's interest was piqued, and he began sharing his vision for the company with them. "In the future, the company will prioritize unmanned devices, network services, and intelligence data analysis as its primary business objectives.
We will expand our technological advantage in unmanned equipment as much as possible to capture the market.
Secondly, we also need our own cyberware development department and weapons development department. These will also become one of the main pillars of our company's revenue..."
"Alright, let's not talk about this while we're eating..." V interrupted Mercer, giving him a dissatisfied look. "Don't bring work to the dinner table."
"Okay~" Mercer drew out the word, then, under V's gaze, winked at her and changed the subject. "Anyway, the plan is to make money first, expand our market share, build up our strength, and prepare for the corporate wars to come...
Besides company matters, what I actually want to change most of all is this city."
Sitting at the dinner table, Mercer could see the scenery of Dogtown and Pacifica through the window.
The view outside was still somewhat dilapidated, even though this was already the most luxurious part of Dogtown.
He had never forgotten why he had named his small team "Kindling" in the first place.
Before, he was just trying to s