As Valerie approached, Jackie immediately noticed her.
"Hey! V!" He waved excitedly, temporarily interrupting his grand pronouncements. "Come tell these two youngsters, wasn't it nova when you shattered that oni power armor with one punch in that red mech?"
Valerie shook her head gently, her mechanical prosthetics making a faint whirring sound: "Just completing a test mission, Jackie."
Her gaze first fell on David, looking at the complex mechanical blueprints in front of him, and she couldn't help but recall how she was when she first joined Arasaka.
This young man was so similar to her back then, both believing that with effort, they could climb the corporate ladder.
It was only after losing an arm and nearly dying that she saw the truth, but David... she hoped this young man would understand some things sooner.
"How is your learning progress?" Her voice unconsciously softened a little.
David looked up, giving a helpless smile: "It's alright... it's just too much knowledge. Lord Archmagos' technical system is truly too profound."
He looked at Valerie with clear admiration, and a hint of the unique longing of youth, "Miss Valerie, what does it truly feel like to pilot a power armor?"
Just as David asked, Valerie noticed a subtle change in Lucy's stance.
Although the silver-haired netrunner still maintained a languid posture, her center of gravity had quietly adjusted to a state where she could exert force at any moment.
Valerie's mechanical fingers unconsciously tightened—she was too familiar with this posture; it was an instinctive reaction trained by Arasaka.
"At first, the mech feels very heavy, and operating it has a sense of sluggishness," Valerie answered David's question, her gaze subtly sweeping over Lucy, "But once you adapt, that sense of power and security is very special."
She paused deliberately, observing Lucy's eyelashes tremble slightly, "Especially with some recent upgrades, it should perform even better."
Jackie leaned over, lowering his voice but unable to hide his pride: "My buddy and I also secretly learned a few tricks! Those 'fangs' of the Wraiths, I've seen them operate them several times.
If it weren't for not having that damned neural interface surgery, I would have gone up and tried my hand at it already!"
He patted his strong chest, "Pure reaction and instinct are enough!"
Valerie sighed helplessly and turned her attention to Jackie: "Don't be reckless, Jackie. Piloting military power armor isn't that simple."
Her peripheral vision was still locked on Lucy.
She had seen the file of this former Arasaka netrunner in the corporate system—codename "Lucy," a stealth operative specializing in high-risk data retrieval missions outside the Blackwall, who had disappeared during an operation three years ago and was marked as "defected."
Arasaka's Counter-Intelligence Department had launched a secret investigation into it.
"Don't worry, sis!" Jackie waved his hand carelessly, then became excited again, "I heard you're going for another test? This time, can you talk to Colonel Hansen and let me observe? Just watch, I promise not to cause any trouble!"
"We'll see." Valerie didn't agree immediately. She took one last look at David; the young man was listening intently to their conversation, his eyes sparkling with a longing for the future that she had once known all too well.
"Mr. Archmagos is waiting for me, I need to go to the workshop." She patted David's shoulder, "Focus on your studies; knowledge is the most important weapon."
When she turned to Lucy, their gazes briefly met.
Valerie nodded slightly, receiving an almost imperceptible nod in response.
Leaving the three young people, each with their own thoughts, Valerie walked alone back to the workshop, her inner turmoil still unsettled.
Jackie's unrestrained enthusiasm was like a strong drink on a winter day, always bringing a touch of warmth to her in the cold reality.
And the thirst for knowledge in David's eyes made her see her past self, struggling on the streets years ago, who eventually, through sheer grit and brains, squeezed into Arasaka Academy.
That similar trajectory made her feel an involuntary pity, even a sense of responsibility—she didn't want this young man to repeat her mistakes.
However, Lucy's presence was like a tiny ice shard, silently piercing deep into her consciousness.
That seemingly indifferent face, and the Arasaka secret training program it represented, constantly reminded Valerie of her own stained past, ultimately abandoned without mercy.
She chose to remain silent for now, not exposing Lucy's true identity to Maine or Mr. Archmagos.
This was partly out of a subtle empathy of shared suffering—in this damned world, traitors are often just survivors—and also to leave herself some leeway.
But years of counter-intelligence work had long etched vigilance into her bones.
Reason kept sending warnings: Lucy's defection process was too perfect, almost erasing all traceable trace, which no ordinary trainee could achieve.
Was there a deeper scheme hidden behind it?
Was it a long-term mole carefully planted by Arasaka, or did it involve a higher-level power struggle?
This uncertainty itself was the most dangerous signal.
She gently gripped her cold mechanical prosthetic, feeling the precise and reliable power transmit to her central nervous system.
Regardless of Lucy's intentions, Valerie was no longer the subordinate manager who sacrificed herself for the company.
Valerie tightened her mechanical right hand, feeling the precise feedback from the prosthetic.
Now, she had a new object of loyalty, a new mission.
As for the shadows of the past... let them remain, for now, in those unspoken glances.
"Time to work," she murmured to herself, striding with firm steps towards the workshop.
—
Stepping into the workshop again, Valerie's keen eyes immediately caught the changes in the test machine.
The dark red paint seemed a little more vibrant, the single horn antenna on its head still conspicuous, but the entire machine exuded a refined sense after meticulous polishing.
Previously exposed pipelines were cleverly rearranged and stored, and the protective armor at the joints also seemed to have been reinforced.
The most striking changes were concentrated in the weapon system.
The entire left arm was replaced with a complex heavy weapon platform, currently loaded with a formidable Storm Bolter.
Although the right arm retained that intimidating power fist, a small laser emitter was added to the outer side of the forearm, and a fully rotatable laser cannon mount was added to the shoulder.
"Get in," Osiris' voice directly sounded in her ear, without any extra pleasantries: "The piloting mode has been updated to neural direct connection, the interface is behind your seat and compatible with your prosthetic's neural port."
Valerie deftly climbed onto the power armor and squeezed herself into the cockpit.
The interior space had been re-planned, with a more compact and reasonable layout.
As she settled into the redesigned seat, she felt a slight pressure at the back of her neck as the neural interface automatically connected.
She took a deep breath and started the system according to procedure.
A low rumble instantly filled her senses, but unlike before, this time the sound seemed to resonate directly in her bones rather than through her ears.
The moment the helmet display lit up, a 360-degree panoramic view flooded her consciousness like a tide.
She no longer needed to deliberately "see"; all information about the surrounding environment, from the cold texture of the workshop wall behind her to the subtle vibrations of the metal grate beneath her feet, naturally became part of her perception.
This completely new experience left her momentarily dazed, as if this steel giant had become an extension of her body.