Cyberpunk: The Relentless

"Yo, David."

At the entrance of David's classroom, Gaius waved to him as he stepped out after class.

"Gaius?"

The moment David saw Gaius, flashes of the scenes he had witnessed in last night's braindance rushed through his mind. The impact of those images was undeniably strong.

"How's the stuff I asked for?"

"I can bring it to you tomorrow. But we need to set up a place in advance. Bringing it straight to school—"

"No worries, I get it."

Gaius glanced at the other students trickling out of the classroom and casually pointed to a quieter spot.

"Want to chat over there?"

"Yeah."

After following Gaius to the designated spot, David couldn't hold back any longer.

"Yesterday... did you take down a cyberpsycho?"

"A cyberpsycho? News sure spreads fast."

Gaius looked at David with mild surprise.

"I remember the official news report credited the NCPD with handling it. How did you know it was me?"

"Well..."

David hesitated, a bit embarrassed.

"That James Norris, the ex-lieutenant—he had military-grade recording software installed. A braindance editor managed to put together a related braindance within two hours of you guys taking him down. Since it was fresh content, I gave it a try."

"A braindance editor... within two hours..."

Gaius seemed to realize something.

"Don't tell me... it's part of the Cyberpsycho series?"

"Yeah, exactly. The editor's name is JK."

"Knew it... That bastard. I still have a score to settle with him."

"A score to settle?"

Seeing David's confusion, Gaius decided not to reveal that he had previously been recorded as part of a cyberpsycho braindance. Instead, he pointed at the educational device on the side of David's face, swiftly changing the subject:

"By the way, your device—it looks different from the one I saw yesterday. Did you get a new one?"

"I upgraded it this morning. Cost me a thousand eddies. Oh, don't worry—I made sure to buy the quantity of braindances you wanted first. The count and quality are spot on."

Noticing David's slight anxiety as he explained, Gaius just waved it off casually.

"No problem. I'm not too concerned about that. As long as you bought enough to help me build my reputation, that's all that matters. Like I said before, all the earnings from this sale are yours. If you didn't buy enough, it just means you'll make less profit. It's your money—how you spend it is your business."

After settling that, Gaius checked the time. There were still fifteen minutes left of the break. Since he had met someone interesting earlier, he had waited until the second break to find David. The morning only had three periods, and after the third, it would be lunchtime. Gaius had no intention of staying at Arasaka Academy during the lunch break.

He had to admit—Arasaka Academy's leniency towards students who didn't want to participate in the cutthroat competition was a rare kind of freedom. It was probably the most relaxed school experience he'd ever had. On the flip side, if you couldn't pay, it didn't matter how much you wanted to compete—you had no choice but to accept their "freedom."

"By the way, are your grades any good?"

Gaius had looked into David's family background. He knew David was the kind of kid who couldn't afford to pay for the extra competitive edge. He was genuinely curious—how did a kid from a struggling family do academically when he couldn't compete financially?

"Grades?"

David didn't really understand why Gaius was suddenly asking this, but he still answered honestly:

"The last time we had a test, I only ranked tenth in the school."

"..."

In a place where competition never stopped, where almost every privileged student had a private tutor, David had managed to rank tenth in the entire school relying solely on the sparse content from regular classes.

"Only ranked tenth?"

"Yeah."

David looked a bit puzzled, not understanding why Gaius was showing such a disbelieving expression. He continued, "I used to maintain seventh or eighth place, but my grades have dropped recently. Now I can only manage tenth."

"You..."

Staring at David with his punk hairstyle, Gaius suddenly realized that David was, in fact, a good student.

Just by attending classes and nothing more, he could secure a spot in the top ten. If he actually had the chance to compete like the others, Gaius couldn't even imagine where David might rank at Arasaka Academy.

"With grades like that, doesn't Arasaka Academy offer scholarships? I heard Night Corp's schools provide them."

"Some do, but those are mainly for the university level. We're in the middle school section, so the scholarships are more like incentives. They're usually awarded once per semester, about three hundred eddies each time. If I save carefully for emergencies, that can last me a month or two."

"Three hundred eddies, a month or two?"

"For the metro, my mom recharges my card. I eat at the cafeteria using a preloaded meal card. The academy provides subsidies, and while the cheaper meals don't taste great, you can still get a bread roll for one eddie. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can get a near-expiration meat floss bun for five eddies—enough for a meal. I have dinner at home."

"So that three hundred eddies really is just for emergencies... You don't buy snacks or drinks?"

"Once a week, I treat myself. I love getting 'Fatty Chicken Wings' from Fatty's Diner. Four eddies for a large, golden-brown, crispy wing dripping with oil. I eat the wingtip on the spot and save the drumette to reheat in the microwave at night. My mom loves the wing midsection, so I always leave one on the table for her."

Listening to David's story, which felt more like hardship than childhood, Gaius recalled the time he had sent Jack to fetch David. Jack had described how David had acted nonchalantly while buying a drink, using the opportunity to also purchase a five-eddie disposable handgun.

Back then, this kid must have been bleeding inside.

Looking at this young boy whose eyes seemed to sparkle when talking about a four-eddie synthetic chicken wing—something Gaius himself would turn his nose up at—he finally reached out and patted David's shoulder.

"Keep it up. Once we make every guy in this academy understand that if they want braindances, they come to us, we can start expanding to the girls too. The money we'll make will ensure you have all the chicken wings you can eat. Your mom won't have to work so hard anymore, and you'll be able to pay your own tuition."

Was this the classic 'boss selling a dream'?

Looking at the pure and hopeful expression on David's face, Gaius felt an indescribable sense of guilt in his heart.

Damn, why did everyone he met at this academy seem so genuinely innocent? Having lived in Night City for so long, he really wasn't used to this.

Fortunately, the impression that Arasaka Academy was full of pure-hearted people didn't last long.

Because trouble came knocking.

To be precise, trouble came looking for David. Gaius was just collateral.

"Figures. A poor kid and a street rat really do fit together. Don't you think so, David?"

Hearing the mocking voice of the approaching student, Gaius felt a strange sense of relief.

Thank goodness. It's better not to leave this academy with any kind of good impression.

Finally, the classic, privileged brat who looks down on the poor and those from the streets had arrived.

If they hadn't shown up, Gaius might have started doubting the true makeup of Arasaka Academy's student body.