Chapter 27: Lucy

"I could have borne the darkness, had I never seen the sun... Yet the sunlight has made my desolation a newer desolation..."

"Sister Lucy, are you leaving here?"

The little girl's tender voice interrupted the short-haired woman's low muttering to herself.

January 9, 2074; Lucy decided to leave this small town adjacent to Morro Bay and set out for that city where demons lurk—Night City.

"Where are you going?" the little girl asked, trotting over on her short legs and gently hugging Lucy's calves with both hands.

"Alice..." The short-haired woman bent down and pulled the landlord's young daughter into her embrace.

"Sister is going to Night City..." She gazed into Alice's flawless golden eyes and softly spoke her farewell.

"Why?" the little girl asked in a low voice, chirping like an oriole.

Four-year-old Alice did not know the weight contained within the three words "Night City."

All she knew was that the gentle big sister before her was about to leave.

"Because I have seen the sun..." Lucy pressed her face against the little girl's chubby, pale cheek and gently closed her eyes.

"But Mom says we see the sun every day..." came the girl's innocent confusion beside her ear.

"It's different, Alice..." Lucy held the figure in her arms tightly, whispering softly, "What you see is Earth's sun, not my sun..."

January 8, 2074, Night

As usual, Lucy jacked into Cyberspace, intending to mine some low-end data to sell at the Black Market for enough money to cover the rent.

Until someone came speeding from an extremely distant place and arrived here.

Right before her.

It was a human-shaped shadow, its face indistinguishable, its gender indiscernible.

The mere instant she attempted to look directly at It, she was nearly forced to disconnect from the network.

The mysterious figure paid no heed to her existence; with a wave of Its hand, It breached the core of the town's network node and seized the highest-level permissions.

"What is It doing?" Lucy pondered silently, halting her own actions to avoid being perceived as a threat by the other party.

The mysterious figure departed quickly.

Driven by curiosity, she could not resist following the traces that person had left unhidden, tracing them all the way to the border of Night City's network.

Lucy had heard of Night City.

For the Arasaka Corporation lurked at the heart of this city, wantonly unleashing roars from hell upon the entire world.

She could not forget the harm the Arasaka Corporation had inflicted upon her.

The painful violent implants, the day-after-day cruel training, the cries emitted when her companions died miserably...

She had once abandoned the partners she depended on for survival and fled hell alone.

But one day, she would return to hell, embracing fire and explosives, to perish together with those numb demons of hell.

The fire of revenge had always burned silently in her heart, never extinguished.

In her original plan, she would set foot in this city a year later, perhaps succeeding in her revenge, or perhaps disappearing into anonymity.

Now, involuntarily following the mysterious figure's traces, she had arrived early at this sleepless capital that seemed to lead straight to hell.

For on that mysterious figure, she smelled a scent from the old days.

More ancient, more pure, and more powerful than the combat AIs of the Old Net she had once encountered, like the ultimate end of the world.

She seemed to have discovered the "explosives" that could completely end everything.

The few seconds of combat that followed also confirmed her conjecture.

No, it could not even be called combat.

Like swatting away flies, the mysterious figure casually waved Its hand, crushing numerous renowned Independent Hackers into dregs; even the professional Hackers of Net Watch were not spared, perishing with both body and soul destroyed.

This vast expanse of Cyberspace was instantly cleared by more than half; she stood stunned in place, daring not to take a single step forward.

All surviving Hackers submitted, using their virtual bodies to bow and worship the sole deity standing in the infinite high sky.

She remained stunned in place.

Thus, It curiously cast a glance down upon her.

She raised her head and met that gaze.

In that moment, she seemed to see a blue sun, a sorrowful shining day.

Not the indifference of a deity as she had imagined.

Can gods also feel sorrow like humans?

Puzzled, she watched the god depart, returned alone to the small town, and disconnected from Cyberspace.

Lucy lay in the cold pool of water, thinking silently.

After a while, startled awake by the cold, she climbed out of the pool and dried her body with a towel she had prepared long ago.

Sitting by the bedside, facing the cold moon, she lit a cigarette.

She did not like smoking.

But the guilt of abandoning her companions and fleeing alone during her childhood always entangled her, forcing her to rely on nicotine to alleviate the torment from the depths of her soul.

She exhaled a long mist, silently feeling her lungs being gradually eroded by toxins.

She could hear the sound of her lungs withering, and she could also hear the wails of the wandering spirits surrounding her gradually subsiding.

She lay down gently on the bed and closed her eyes.

Yet before her eyes, that blue sun kept surfacing uncontrollably.

Not blinding, not violent, not cold, only sorrowful and... a trace of bewilderment.

If an existence from the old days, akin to God's Shadow, could harbor such emotions, then her own troubles seemed to amount to nothing.

She curled the corners of her mouth and, accompanied by the cold moon and the lonely wind, fell asleep together with the lingering spirits.

January 9, 2074, Morning

"Sister's sun?" The little girl's tender cry jolted Lucy awake.

"Nothing, sister just didn't sleep well yesterday, talking nonsense..." She gently stroked the little girl's smooth long hair, speaking in a soft whisper.

"Is that so? Alice heard Mom say yesterday that sister was leaving, so Alice couldn't sleep well either last night!" The little girl narrowed her pretty eyes, speaking in a coquettish tone.

"Alice..." A warm surge erupted in her heart; she gently embraced the little girl, her eyes curving into smiles.

"Sister..."

Beneath the warm morning light, the two girls, one tall and one small, remained embraced for a long time.

Until the long-agreed moment of parting finally arrived.

"Sister Lucy! Remember to come back and visit me often in the future!" The little girl, holding her mother's hand, spoke these final words of farewell to her.

"Okay!" She waved her hand, bidding farewell with a smile, yet the corners of her eyes turned red.

Year 2074, January 11th, Night.

Lucy chose to walk to Night City.

A pretty girl traveling alone must always pay attention to safety.

Thus, she was unwilling to hitch a ride with strangers toward her destination.

In Cyberspace, she was valiant and skilled in battle, worth ten men.

In the real world, lacking sufficient firearms, ammunition, and offensive cybernetics, she did not wish to stir up trouble.

And so she walked step by step through the wasteland, accompanied by the bright moon and clear breeze, like a pilgrim, walking until she reached the borders of Night City.

Even though she disliked Night City in countless ways, Lucy had to admit that beneath the veil of night, this city that never sleeps was breathtakingly beautiful.

Dragging her heavy steps, she walked through the suburbs of Night City.

She glanced at the time: "23:00".

She was tired; lazily stretching her body, she casually picked a high spot and collapsed onto the yellow earth.

God seemed moved by her ascetic behavior, akin to a pilgrimage.

Thus, He mercifully descended nine stars.

Lying on the hillside, her eyes fixed on the night sky, she saw the Nine Star Traces.

She was awestruck by the magnificence of those nine streaks slicing through the night.

And so, she gently curled the corners of her mouth upward.

"Found it..." Amidst the earth-shaking roar of explosions, she heard her own soft whisper, filled with joy.

Only when the sounds of explosion subsided did she slowly close her eyes, using the brilliant starry sky as a blanket, and fell asleep in her clothes.