Chapter 13: Securicine (End) (Saving Sasha)

Hitata Castedei still remembered that night when she fled to Night City.

Exhausted, she collapsed onto the ground in the suburbs, limbs spread wide, gasping for air.

Her eyes were bloodshot, yet she gazed unblinkingly at that brilliantly lit city, like a gorgeous red spider lily blooming to its fullest under the moon.

It was too beautiful...

Thinking so, filled with longing, hope, and dreams, she plunged headlong into this city of dream-chasers.

Only after struggling to survive in this filthy city for several months did she come to despise and loathe everything about this city of sin.

It was like a vast spiderweb, luring lost souls step by step toward their predetermined death on the path of chasing dreams.

Truly nauseating.

Hitata lay in bed, tossing and turning, until finally she hid in the warm embrace of her quilt, curling up and staying still.

"Yahweh..."

"Mm?"

Hitata looked at the man beside her pillow; his profile was as illusory as a bubble in a dream.

She couldn't help but reach out to touch him, but her fingertips only brushed against the soft pillow.

"I want to understand..." She withdrew her hand and touched her hair, which still held a trace of coolness, "understand you a little better."

"Which aspect?" Whether it was an illusion or not, his voice seemed to hold a hint of a smile.

"Whatever..." She pressed the switch by the bed and slowly closed her eyes, "until I fall asleep..."

"Hitata is such a child, needing coaxing just to sleep." The smile became more obvious; he was doing it on purpose.

"Hmph..." It felt more like acting spoiled than being angry.

"... Ricky Batmos woke me from the deepest depths of the Old Net..." In her drowsiness, she heard his flat-toned statement in fragments.

"Ricky Batmos?" Mustering a little energy, Hitata asked the question.

"A legendary Hacker. According to your history, his death directly caused 'The Great Collapse'..."

"What... relationship does he have with you?" Hitata asked in her drowsy state.

"He woke me up and made a bet with me."

"Oh..." The man beside her always seemed to spit out legendary figures; Hitata was no longer surprised.

Sleepiness overtook her; she turned onto her side and clamped her legs tightly around the quilt.

On nights with him, Hitata always fell asleep very quickly.

Listening to his gradually slowing breathing, Yahweh also slowly closed his eyes.

Until the sun rose, until those beautiful violet eyes slowly opened, he gazed at the confused mist in her eyes and chuckled softly.

January 11, 2074, 9:00

Hitata had already finished washing up and was preparing to choose her clothes.

Since meeting Yahweh, waking up every morning had become a sweet memory that made her heart race.

"Today we should be able to resolve this commission..."

"You've already exceeded the quota," Yahweh replied helplessly to her nervous muttering.

"Have you calculated the success rate of the plan?"

"With me here, the success rate is one hundred percent."

"Tch, just a little Yahweh..." She made a face at the dressing mirror, but her mood relaxed.

Tonight, Night City has a grand celebration; executives from major Companies, the wealthy, Company employees, and commoners will all go to join the festivities.

This also means the target—the Biotechnica Building—has exposed a weakness in its defenses.

"But do you really intend to hijack a Floating Car?" Regina Jones on the other end of the phone gaped, her face full of shock.

"I've checked; this is a dedicated corporate sightseeing vehicle under Biotechnica. Security is lax, it's usually used for corporate promotion, and it has a fixed daily route." Hitata scrolled through the materials Yahweh had sent on her personal computer. "Tonight is a great opportunity to use it to infiltrate the Biotechnology Building."

"Isn't your partner a very skilled Hacker? You could infiltrate directly by temporarily hacking the security system," Regina Jones reminded her, worried that Hitata was deliberately taking the long way around just to show off.

"The data we are looking for is stored deep within the Company system; any unauthorized access will trigger alarms throughout the entire building," Hitata paused. "If we infiltrate directly, we won't be able to leave."

"You've temporarily convinced me, Miss Hitata Castedei," Regina Jones frowned tightly, finally able only to remind helplessly, "Stay safe, little girl..."

"Is everything ready?" Yahweh asked softly as he watched Hitata hang up the phone.

"Mm..." Hitata sat down and leaned her face toward him. "Without you, I would never have dared to do something like this."

"Hitata always underestimates herself."

"I never thought I was anything special... until I met you, Yahweh."

Yahweh smiled silently.

"Let's go; we need to get into position early." Walking out of the house side by side, she vaguely recalled the scene of their first return home.

May everything go smoothly.

She whispered it three times in her heart.

This small home cannot bear separation or death.

January 11, 2074, 22:00

It's truly lively; even several streets away, the noise and clamor of the celebration can be heard.

Hitata crouched, taking several deep breaths in a row to relax her slightly trembling body, confirming that her weapons, armor, and equipment were all in place.

Not far away was the Floating Car's docking point, just one stop away from the destination, the Biotechnology Building.

The roar of the Floating Car grew from distant to near, cutting through the night and slowly approaching.

She planted her fingertips on the ground, assuming a crouching start position.

"Three, two,..." She took one last deep breath.

"One!" Following Yahweh's command, she exerted all her strength and ran forward.

The Floating Car had just docked when the security system was instantly hacked by Yahweh.

By the time Xida sprinted to the front of the Floating Car, the door opened just in time.

Xida flipped inside, raised her pistol, and pulled the trigger, blowing the head off the sole junior security robot inside the floating car.

"Successfully taken control of the Floating Car system." Yahweh's voice was clear and reliable in her ear.

She smiled, sat down in the seat, and fastened her seatbelt.

The Floating Car started, slowly lifted into the air, and under Yahweh's control, flew toward the predetermined target.

January 11, 2074, 22:11

The Floating Car docked smoothly on the helipad of the Biotechnology Building without obstruction.

It seemed the Company security personnel had never imagined anyone so audacious would infiltrate the Company Building by hijacking a Floating Car.

"Successfully set all building cameras to friendly mode." Only after hearing Yahweh's response a few seconds later did Xida pack up her gear, leave the Floating Car, and walk toward the Company Building.

Progress was smooth.

She exhaled a cloud of turbid air and calmed her racing heart.

Come on, Xida, you are special, you can do it!

She encouraged herself one last time, kicked the main door open with her foot, and rushed into the building's interior.

"Attention, Xida, someone is approaching from the front; they don't look like Company personnel. I'm sending you the image." Yahweh operated all the building's cameras and noticed a ghostly figure at the main entrance.

"Seems to be a Mercenary too; I've seen her at the Afterlife nightclub." Xida frowned, checking the image transmitted to her cyber-eye while leaping down from the stairwell on the 30th floor, pushing off the railing with her foot during the rapid descent to use the reaction force to land on the destination floor, the 20th.

"Unknown target is taking the elevator; the destination is also the 20th floor."

"Damn it, Yahweh, let's just wait and see for now." Xida hid behind the stairwell door, gripping her kinetic pistol tightly; if necessary, she would personally clear the obstacles to the mission.

"She has reached the destination, same as ours..." Yahweh, pretending the cameras were offline, quietly monitored every move of the other party, "but she is stealing the Company's financial data."

"Looks like our mission objectives don't match; we can cooperate." Xida had already remembered who the other person was.

Sasha Galina, a somewhat famous cyber-Hacker at Afterlife, known for her superb hacking skills and sweet cat-like appearance.

"Damn it, after stealing the financial data, she checked the secrets regarding Securicine! This stupid woman, she still wants to expose Biotechnica using News Channel 54!"

In an instant, alarms blared, and the previously silent building instantly woke up.

"Drive the Floating Car over and park it outside the window, and intercept the data! Yahweh!" Xida, looking at the scene transmitted to her cyber-eye, instantly understood the purpose behind Sasha's act of placing explosives.

Unfortunately, News Channel 54's backer, Militech, had close ties with Biotechnica; reporting to them would be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth.

In the footage, Sasha dodged and wove, dancing brilliantly amidst the hail of bullets from a host of Robot security guards; she wanted to delay time until the data transfer was complete before leaving.

Her goal ultimately could not be fulfilled.

This world is just so **! The Corporos conspire with each other behind the scenes, all in the same boat.

Rogue once said she couldn't stand seeing good people die for nothing because of stupidity.

Xida is essentially the same kind of person as Rogue; they are always strong, brave, yet gentle and kind.

So she chose to intervene without hesitation.

Sasha still wanted to continue delaying time when she unexpectedly discovered the progress bar of the transfer had stopped moving at some point.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, ******!" She jumped backward in anger and unwillingness, shooting the head of a security Robot with her last bullet.

Time was up; the infinite fire and light generated by the explosion rushed toward her, blurring her vision along with her tears; Sasha simply closed her eyes as the shockwave threw her even further away.

I'm sorry, Mann, I betrayed your trust and acted on my own.

I'm sorry, sister; your useless younger sister only found out who killed you at the very end, burning her body to ash but failing to achieve revenge...

I'm sorry...

I'm really useless...

Her body leaped out the window as if weightless; her internal organs were injured by the shockwave, and her skin was cut by shattered glass until she struck the cockpit of the Floating Car, barely coming to a stop.

I survived? Why?

Blood flowed freely from the corner of her mouth as Sasha looked around in confusion, letting the unmanned Floating Car take her back to the ground.

In a daze, she seemed to see the back of a familiar short-haired girl turning and leaving.

"Did she get saved? Yahweh?" Xida ran desperately toward the bottom of the building; the elevator had been damaged by the explosion and was unusable.

"Mm." Yahweh was silent for a moment before responding with a single sound.

"I'm sorry, I let you down," Xida moved through the stairwell as security Robots along the way stopped operating one by one.

"It's okay..." He paused, "Only such a kind person is Xida, and only Xida."

"Mm..." She responded softly; now her retreat had been cut off by her own hand; although she had obtained the data, could she survive to get out?

In the end, I was just a stupid, good-hearted fool too, and I dragged Yahweh down with me...

"Don't cry, Xida..." He reached out his hand to wipe the tears from the corner of her eyes, but it was in vain.

"Follow my instructions; there's a motorcycle at the back door." He came to his senses, remotely controlled a motorcycle to park behind the door, and simultaneously distracted himself to block all security systems.

"Okay." She successfully got on the motorcycle and sped toward the location marked in her cyber-eye.

The building's alarms echoed to the clouds, and the security forces of Biotechnica and Militech stationed there poured out in full force.

"I told you, Xida, just keep running forward... I'm here!" He detached himself from Xida's side, his ethereal figure floating in the air; with a slight wave of his hand, the traffic system of Night City was now under his control.

"Faster, faster!" She had never heard him laugh so wildly before; his words were irresistible, like the King of the World standing at the highest peak, issuing orders to the entire world.

He waved his hand lightly, and all the cars along the road moved aside to clear her path.

She only needed to keep accelerating.

The roar of the modified engine roaring in fury echoed in her ears.

The street scenery around her was already blurred; she only saw neon lights trailing light like raindrops sweeping past her.

Faster, faster!

The engine roared, and she roared with it!

Countless drones, armored vehicles, Floating Cars, and more were all left behind by her.

With his back to her, Yahweh merely raised a hand, freezing all bullets and artillery shells in mid-air.

Faster.

He murmured silently.

Through Santo Domingo, through the Badlands, to the suburbs...

Until the destination.

These relentless hyenas trailing behind would soon offer their lives as the loudest salute to his arrival.

Divine punishment would descend from the heavens.