Chapter 42: Mistake

"Uncle, what are you doing?"

"Executing a mission."

"Executing a mission?"

"Agent, a secret mission."

"Sounds super cool, Uncle, can you send me a selfie? I love guns so much!"

The roaring gunfire interrupted their rare exchange.

He was somewhat annoyed, so he retaliated with furious cannon fire.

The resistance quickly waned, as simple as crushing a tiny spark with a foot.

"I really am an Agent." He casually tossed the steaming barrel from his hand and pulled a massive heavy machine gun from his back.

"Tch! The Agent routine isn't popular anymore! Old-fashioned Uncle!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The remaining scattered enemies, taking advantage of his distraction, poured out their final firepower.

He walked leisurely against the endless hail of bullets; special armor-piercing rounds capable of penetrating tanks only left a few light scratches on his body.

He held the heavy Defender heavy machine gun level with one hand, lightly pulled the trigger, and swept the battlefield back and forth as if cleaning up trash.

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Finished!"

"Study hard."

"When will Uncle come play with me?"

He hesitated to speak as a massive amount of explosives buried beneath the ground detonated under his feet, blasting his entire body into the air with a powerful shockwave.

"We'll talk next time." He spoke calmly, falling rapidly from the sky under the pull of gravity.

"Hello? Hello? Uncle, are you setting off firecrackers over there? It's so noisy! Hello..."

He drew the intact Dynamite Pistol from his waist, raised his hand, and blew the last enemy's head off; the ejected casing hit the ground at the same time as him, kicking up dust and sound.

January 18, 2074, 9:00

"Unit 003, report the situation." A glaring red light cut through the sky full of smoke; cold iron boots constructed of steel trampled the ground, crushing several rolling bullet casings into powder.

"Enemy, executed." He answered mechanically, as always.

"Judgment result—mission complete, permission to return to the team, return to Night City Branch."

He gently stroked his own cold body, standing quietly in place.

A giant beast approached from the sky, emitting a silent mockery as it descended slowly, wrapped in wild winds.

Kang Tao Corporation specialized armored Floating Car—Zeta Technology Surveyor. Designed specifically for personnel transport, it can silently carry a fully armed Agent squad to and from enemy rear battlefields.

However, he preferred to call these aerial giants "Ghosts."

"Hey, big iron block, are you okay?" The Kang Tao pilot, wearing a gray camouflage uniform and a flight helmet, stepped out of the Floating Car and waved to greet him.

He nodded, and scarlet lights flickered in response.

"Go this way."

The pilot was a young blonde guy who seemed very dedicated to his work.

He remained silent and, following the pilot's guidance, walked step by step into the open rear cargo door of the Floating Car.

"Wow, truly terrifying." The blonde man worked his somewhat stiff joints back and forth, removed his helmet, and breathed in fresh air in large gasps.

The latest secret product developed by Kang Tao Corporation, an intelligent weapon that kills without mercy.

The pilot took one last look at the scarred, cratered ground, turned around, and walked into the armored Floating Car waiting to depart.

Inside the Floating Car, all passenger seats had been removed, leaving only an empty, silver-white space.

Sunlight streamed through the cockpit windows, passing through layers of isolation connecting to this space, nailing several straight shadows firmly onto the silver floor.

Agent 003 sat in the center of this cage, head bowed, quietly waiting for this aerial giant to carry him back to Night City.

He felt a bit bored and tried to dial the single private number in the communication channel.

"Hello? Uncle! I have to go to class now, talk later!"

Before he could answer, the voice message ended.

Since meeting her, Agent 003 often hid behind the cage, secretly learning fresh human knowledge from the outside world.

He was certain what he had just heard was her voice message.

He sighed; although he didn't know if he even had a "sigh" function, he did it anyway.

He had realized long ago that he was completely different from his few counterparts.

Compared to cold-blooded killing weapons, he was closer to a human.

Like this single number on the list.

He didn't even know the girl on the other end of the phone.

On a night when he was executing an experimental mission, this number intruded into his channel with a one-in-a-billion probability and started chatting with him on its own.

Before that, he didn't even know he had a chatting function.

At least Units 001 and 002 were not equipped with this function; they were always silent stones.

Unintentionally, he would reveal a bit of his story to the girl on the other end of the phone, laying it all out in a vague manner.

He didn't know whether to be happy or sad; she seemed not to believe him much, greatly mocking his storytelling abilities as clichéd and old-fashioned, and playfully calling him "Uncle."

Fortunately, she was still willing to keep in touch with him.

Sometimes it took several days before they exchanged a single sentence, mostly meaningless short phrases like "Good morning, good night," or "Have you eaten?" with one asking and the other forgetting to reply.

Sometimes, however, she would chat with him enthusiastically for a whole day, mostly on weekends, from morning until night.

He guessed she was still a student and didn't have many friends.

A lonely little girl, yearning for friendship, would speak freely with strangers without any guard, discussing everything from trivial matters to life-altering events.

He always tried hard not to betray her unreserved trust.

He would fill ammunition while telling her to stay calm, to restrain her youthful impulses, to study hard, not to rush into dating, and not to let some acne-covered boy ruin her life.

She would laugh and call him a lecherous, rigid uncle who always liked talking about such nonsense, saying she'd never speak to him again and such things.

But she truly listened; she never dated anyone, and her grades steadily improved under his occasional tutoring.

Even though he didn't know her name and she didn't know he was the blood-soaked "003," they unexpectedly got along well.

Sometimes he wondered if he had fallen in love with this girl he'd never met, but his cold body constantly warned him not to think too much.

At least, he thought.

His several companions seemed to have no minds, merely mechanically raising their guns, squeezing the triggers hard, and indiscriminately spewing bullets and violence.

For them, that seemed enough.

003 sat silently on the only seat, motionless.

Sunlight crawled across his cold face, crimson lights flickered, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Should he call her again tonight?

Perhaps that was what he thought.

No one cared.

The armored Floating Car powered up, slicing smoothly through the drifting wind, piercing the clouds, and flying straight toward Night City.