Chapter 85: Net Watch

She stood in a void of pure black background, countless grids spinning and rushing past her, like meteors streaking across the night sky.

Unpredictable neon patterns swirled before her eyes, constantly changing shape with her gestures, transmitting the torrent of retrieved data in this way.

"What are you looking at, Haiji?"

The man's voice sounded behind her, yet its grand echo reverberated from all directions in this space.

"Although I am a newcomer... we are on the same level, Mu Lin. You have no right to question what I do."

Haiji frowned, and the colorful neon patterns before her stopped changing as well.

"Do you know him?"

Mu Lin paid no heed to her threatening tone; he simply waved a hand at the void, and a triangular neon pattern obediently flew into his palm.

"Is... aac?" he murmured the data information of the pattern's owner, "Just a beggar struggling to survive... Do you have some unspeakable special fetish?"

"*You*," Haiji muttered a curse under her breath, turned back, and glared fiercely at the man, "Final warning: don't mess with me!"

"OK OK," Mu Lin spread his hands, "If you're unsatisfied, you can come find me anytime... I've installed the latest Big Steel Cannon... Guaranteed to make you..."

Before he could finish, his head was punched into crimson shreds by the furious Haiji.

"***!" She stared at the corpse collapsed in the void, her anger still surging unquenched in her heart.

After a final glance around this boundless black space, she closed her eyes, held her hands suspended above her head, and made a motion of "taking off a helmet."

Thus, the endless darkness rapidly faded from her sight, and cold white light filled the void before her.

She slowly opened her eyes.

She woke up.

Ignoring the lingering dizziness and the scorching pain in her mind, she gritted her teeth, stood up, clenched her fist tightly, and swung it toward the man in the adjacent cabin who had just sat up.

"Unit 174, Unit 175, cease your inappropriate behavior immediately! Repeat! Cease your inappropriate behavior immediately!"

The cold mechanical voice sounded particularly deafening in this small room.

"*! You're lucky this time!" Haiji forcibly halted her forward charge and punched the hard black wall, producing a dull, heavy thud.

Compared to venting anger on her own, being flooded with excessive electric current was far more terrifying.

"Calm down, Haiji." Mu Lin touched his neck, still shaken, "Didn't you already kill me once? Now we're even."

"*!" Haiji flipped the middle finger at the man who was grinning lecherously.

It only looked scary; Night City Net Watch's advanced equipment was sufficient to protect them from any harm within limits.

It didn't matter how many times those Virtual Bodies died in Cyberspace.

"Alright, alright, big sister, calm down..." Seeing Haiji panting heavily, Mu Lin bowed and scraped, running to her front and constantly fawning, "I'll treat you to Japanese cuisine later!"

"The one on Japan Street!"

"Japan Street?" Mu Lin scratched the back of his head, "Isn't the authentic high-end Japanese restaurant in Downtown better?"

"Japan Street, no discussion." Haiji injected a dose of Neuro-Drug into her temple while speaking decisively.

"Fine, fine, fine... You're in charge tonight..." Mu Lin stroked his chin and stopped arguing.

Although the restaurant on Japan Street didn't match their status as High-Level Cyber Surveillance Agents, who could argue when a certain barbarian woman's fist was harder?

He didn't want his head punched off in reality as well.

◎

"Sophia?"

In the silent darkness, someone seemed to be softly calling her name.

Dense, slender eyelashes fluttered slightly, and a pair of beautiful light-blue twin flowers bloomed proudly into the night.

What came into view was still that familiar pure white ceiling.

She was still in her own home.

Rubbing her throbbing head, Sophia looked around in confusion, searching for the source of that strange call.

"Sophia..."

This time she heard clearly; a voice cold as steel was repeatedly calling from under the bed.

Like a vengeful ghost trampling through the Underworld, returning from the abyss, it lingered around her like a haunting spirit.

Sophia trembled, wrapped the thick quilt around herself, stood on tiptoe on the cold floor, squatted down carefully, and cast a curious yet fearful gaze into the dark space under the bed.

Fortunately, it wasn't some terrifying soul come to claim a life.

Just a hideous little Robot.

Sophia sighed in relief, collapsed unceremoniously onto the floor, rested her weak body for a while, then extended her agile foot to hook the Little Robot out from under the bed.

"What just happened, Little Robot?" She lifted the Little Robot, holding it under its small mechanical arms, and swayed it left and right in the air.

Like an ugly-cute silly goose.

"Sophia..." The Little Robot spoke word by word, its cold mechanical voice echoing in the dark room.

Sophia stood up, holding the Little Robot in her arms, listened patiently, and quickly ran to the wall to press the light switch.

Warm light enveloped the room.

The Little Robot's body reflected a soft glow, making it look even cuter.

"Sophia... just fainted."

"Fainted? I have no memory of it at all?"

Sophia plopped back onto the soft bed, placing the Little Robot between her legs. She frowned, carefully recalling her previous memories.

"I only remember promising Bonnie to go to school... then I found you... and then..."

She clapped her hands, as if she had remembered everything that had happened.

"In that case, you'll follow me from now on!"

The Little Robot slowly tapped its head with its mechanical arm, making a "bang bang" sound.

"What? Isn't what I said right?" The girl tilted her head, holding it before her face.

Golden, silky strands of hair brushed against its stitched, ugly body; a faint, sweet scent lingered, within reach.

"No, Sophia."

The Little Robot merely stared with its round blue eyes, turning its head slightly.

At least, it was enough for now.

"By the way, modern Robots are so advanced... they can even talk normally with people..." Sophia sighed softly, her slender fingers tapping skillfully over its body, trying to make music from its worn steel.

"Robots come in many different types..."

"Ha, I know! I've seen them in movies... Household Type, Combat Type, and stuff like that..." Sophia hugged the Little Robot back to her chest, "With your tiny size, you clearly can't fight, right?"

The Little Robot merely turned its head silently, without answering.