"Can you fall asleep with the Super Sensing Chip?"
"Not recomnded, you’ll miss out on sothing good..."
"What?"
John lay back and lifted his head, just in ti to see:
Angelica took off her jacket.
Sothing flashed past his face, then two hands cupped his cheeks.
Lips touched, becoming warm.
He slled the fragrance emanating from her neck.
Angelica’s hands were slightly cool.
The room was stuffy.
Her fingertips felt like a precise coordinate.
Even though John’s view was obscured by her soft body, he could still clearly feel— her hand gliding along the seams of his subdermal armor, stretching forward to the limit, then pressing down...
[Eden City - Dan Street Apartnt (Angelica)]
The sound of running water ca from the bathroom.
Through frosted glass, John could see a figure with curves holding up its hair.
This virtual scene had quite the flavor.
The process was enjoyable; afterward, though, there was a taste of retreat.
"Did you relax physically and ntally?"
Angelica didn’t ask him to stay.
She knew:
John had been genuinely running around outside for two days.
He had went to Bolago Club for a fighter qualifier match, strolled through Sakura Cross Street, hunted wild birds and groundhogs at Radiant Dust Farm, and even took an assignnt...
Still able to ss around for half a day, his body was certainly strong.
After all, as street dwellers, once their pants were up, they all had things to handle.
A few minutes later.
Bang.
John supported himself on the elevator panel.
His arms trembled, cold sweat dripping.
Though both lived at the Dan Street Apartnt, they were in different buildings.
The elevator stopped.
John passed through the skywalk, took another elevator, and returned to his place.
Swoosh—
The door opened and closed.
[..putation halted.]
John covered his mouth, kneeling on the ground, cheeks puffing, watching blood seep out from between his fingers.
He took out a Special Inhibitor and inserted it.
Angelica ntioned the player’s stability, and John sensed an oddity.
Black Light had hacked the equipnt at that ti, sharing the computation load during the chip load process.
John felt nothing in the Super Sensing Chip, only a combination of dizziness and slight weakness.
He thought it was a typical reaction to watching a scene and didn’t think much.
Once the player was removed...
All the familiar, damning side effects swept in.
Narrowly escaped f*cked.
John simply washed his face, looking at the newly fallen sun outside, feeling a sense of emptiness and relief.
Being sleepy felt good, and he slept deeply.
John lay at the Dan Street Apartnt for two days, completely clearing the fatigue from previous missions.
Having experienced the allure of the Super Sensing Chip, he planned to upgrade the outdated equipnt in his apartnt and pick out so exciting chips for occasional relaxation.
The cabinet indicated the headband was easy to find, but the large playback equipnt for ho use needed to be pre-ordered.
The prices were outrageously high.
John discreetly inquired about the cost of Angelica’s set of equipnt and consulted Tinfoil, realizing through expert comparisons and introductions:
That thing was a fortune!
Could even open a private cinema.
Angelica installed a new model from Raqi Industry in a room for personal enjoynt, and combined with the car in the basent, indeed, made a na in Eden City.
John’s consumption level hadn’t reached that yet, so he ordered a new model headband from the cabinet.
Prepared to try AR indoor fitness.
John took advantage of his free ti to understand chips, then beca aware that their functions went far beyond watching scenes.
Auxiliary chips could test Prosthetic Bodies, similar to Harbor’s combat simulator.
Even the profession of Cyber Zen Master.
Supposedly used to stabilize emotions for anxiety sufferers, claiming so aid for cyberpsychosis.
Two days passed leisurely and comfortably.
John scheduled fresh products via Angelica.
[Angelica: Fully cooked steak paired with red wine, delivered directly to your ho, via the elevator upstairs, with the plate still sizzling when sampled.]
[John: Care for a dinner together?]
[Angelica: Hmm? Savoring the taste, don’t get so addicted to the Super Sensing Chip that you leave yourself emptied. Plenty of girls in the West District streets want to et you; go make an acquaintance, babe, I’m not your regular fling.]
[Angelica: Don’t overthink, I don’t dislike you, but it’s not to the point of sothing long-term, you understand? The bar door is open for you; if you took on an interesting job, co share with everyone. Bye~]
John released the pull-up bar.
Angelica certainly was straightforward.
Everyone enjoyed the night, each eting their needs.
He sent the ssage, feeling inexplicably relieved.
[Contact - Tinfoil [Video Call]]
[Hey, John, first a reminder, don’t forget you promised Eden to co to the company weekly for training and clock-in.]
"Got it, I’ve been waiting for a middleman call these past two days, not sure where they’ve disappeared to, I’ll pack up and head to the company now."
John wiped the sweat from his workout.
He pulled a gray shirt from the dryer and donned the bulletproof vest.
He contemplated:
It’s ti to buy two sets of clothes for changing along the way.
"Anything else?"
[The serum left clues in the host, the password is pretty simple for mbers of the Wanderer Alliance.]
"Unlocked the treasure, and then?"
[Nothing important inside, just so dication records for cyber psychosis and unintelligible garbled text. I’ve already published it in cyberspace, a lot of hackers who follow Pandora are intrigued. Let’s see how they react.]
"I think it’s great, throw the bomb out there, whoever’s interested can pick it up, and we just watch the fun."
[Delivery request [unread]]
A buzzing sound ca from outside the window.
It seed there was a flying device looking for a landing spot.
"The takeaway I ordered has arrived, it’s sothing good, I’ll bring it to the office later for you all to try."
[The signal is a bit weak, what are you doing?]
"Hold on while I pick sothing up."
John had already walked to the center of the living room.
ZZZ~
The electromagnetic doorbell suddenly rang.
John stopped in his tracks, turning to look at the door—Angelica ntioned it seed like the elevator was used for delivery.
Then what was outside the window?
Was the headband ordered from the cabinet delivered?
Buzz buzz—
The vehicle finished hovering.
The wind blew the clutter on the balcony all over, it had to be sothing big at least.
This didn’t seem like a delivery drone, more like a...
Hovercar?
"Tinfoil, are you still there?"
[Giving a bad review for the takeaway? I’m busy.]
"I think I’m in trouble."
[What?]
BANG!
The window glass shattered.
John’s prosthetic eye briefly unfocused due to the strong light, his chest took a heavy hit.
He uncontrollably fell backward.
[Contact - Tinfoil [disconnected]]
[Communication signal poor, reconnect attempt.]
His chest felt heavily blocked; the combination of high-grade subdermal armor and bulletproof vest insert plate prevented him from losing consciousness.
Bang, bang bang.
John drew his revolver to counterattack.
All he could see were yellow, green, and blue mixed garbled texts, flashing a few tis, still wobbling.
ssiah’s Eye activated combat mode, rapidly restarted focusing, he saw two ard n jumping into the room.
Bang, bang bang.
John rolled and ran into the workspace.
He took a few grenades and threw them back into the living room.
BOOM—
The entire room was shaking, half-shattered window debris enveloped in dust displayed a jet-like effect.
The remnant ruins fell down.
The citizens below the apartnt building scread.
John leaned inside the workspace, panting.
He wanted to switch to indoor surveillance, but found the connection had been cut.
The balcony was blasted.
The other party seemingly used an EMP weapon, physically shutting down the nearby electronic devices.
"F*ck!"
John gritted his teeth, reached into his clothes, and dug out a blood-covered bullet from between the layers of skin.
A non-lethal weapon, trying to capture him alive?
[Detected hacking intrusion.]
John felt sothing drilling into his brain.
[Prosthetic eye reboot: 33%↑]
[Obstructing movent: 47%↑]
A red filter covered his vision.
Two data streams extended outside the living room.
The intruders guarded at the workspace door, the person on the hovercar was hacking John’s prosthetic body.
The progress bar soared rapidly!
The attackers were professionals.
John fortified himself with a burst of combat agents, picked up a kinetic energy rifle from the workspace, and loaded it.
[Weapon: Rongju Short-Nosed Crocodile K-1]
Didn’t dare use smart firearms.
If the other side could hack in, a jam during mid-fight would an death.
John rushed out, taking a few bullets.
The other side wanted a live capture, no aiming for the head.
John used positioning to protect his joints, the strength of his armor exceeded the other side’s expectations.
He also fired, aiming for the head, first taking down the nearest one, then engaged in a shootout with the other in the room.
Bullets flew in the narrow space.
This group wore black tight combat suits, orange-red light strips on their limbs, seed like cooling devices.
Fully enclosed helts.
High penetration smart rifles.
John saw a badge-shaped emblem, initiating a scan confird the other side’s identity.
[Faction: Internet Surveillance]
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