"Hello?"
The holo-call connected, and the upper half of the other person's body appeared in a small frame in the upper left of Lin Mo's retinal display. Through this setup, both parties could observe each other's expressions and gestures.
While this type of communication seemed futuristic, Lin Mo didn't find it particularly novel. It was essentially just a video call projected onto your retina instead of a smartphone.
Still, this particular experience was slightly more interesting than usual.
The netrunner's face appeared blurred—like it had been pixelated or masked with mosaic, making it difficult to discern her features.
Fortunately, the blurring was limited to her face. Lin Mo could still get a general sense of her figure.
Chin-length black hair, with the sides a bit fluffier. Though her face remained obscured, her blue eyes stood out—vivid and beautiful. Her figure was elegant, and she wore a black skintight suit with a pink short jacket slung casually over her shoulders…
Even without seeing her face, Lin Mo could feel her unique aura and charm.
From her figure and outfit alone, she felt like an anime waifu come to life. The small patches of skin exposed were smooth and luminous.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Sasha. Did Okako send you?"
Her voice was crisp—soft, yet cool and detached. It matched her avatar: a slightly fluffed-up cartoon cat, mid-fuss.
"I'm Lin Mo. I need your help with something."
Lin Mo got straight to the point, skipping the pleasantries.
"You mean the signal-jamming software? That's easy—I already made it. Once you pay, I'll send it over," Sasha said, smiling faintly.
"How much?" Lin Mo asked, finding a nearby pachinko machine to sit beside and rest.
"3,000 eurodollars. Non-negotiable."
Lin Mo didn't even blink—he wired over the payment instantly.
He wasn't worried about getting scammed. In Night City, edgerunners lived and died by their rep—and for fixers like Okako, credibility was everything.
If something went wrong, even if Lin Mo let it slide, Okako wouldn't.
"5,000? Was that a mistake?" Sasha's surprised voice came through the call, her tone rising slightly.
She stared in disbelief at her balance—he had just sent her two grand more than agreed. It was almost the payout of a full gig.
"I also need a small favor. Help me integrate this data component," Lin Mo said calmly.
He extracted the hacker upgrade module from his database.
As expected, it wasn't a physical object, but a stream of incomprehensible code stored in his neural processor.
Unfortunately, with just 4 Intelligence, Lin Mo was completely out of his depth.
He transmitted the module to Sasha.
"What is this? You can't just toss random data into a program. Not all software is compatible," Sasha muttered, confused.
It was obvious she wasn't against the bonus, but she couldn't understand what he wanted.
Still, that extra 2,000 eurodollars was suspiciously generous. No way this kid tossed it out unless he was confident.
"Just add it. Trust me," Lin Mo said, calm and sure.
Sasha sighed, clearly skeptical. "Fine—but if this breaks the software, it's on you."
From the base of her palm, she extended a personal link cable—an advanced neural interface built into netrunners, letting them directly control software and systems.
She plugged into her terminal and began merging the upgrade module with the jamming program.
"…Weird… It actually integrated?" she murmured, her expression darkening with focus.
Technically, her code was locked—only she could modify it. Anyone else would need to reverse-engineer the entire thing to apply changes.
Yet this kid had provided a fully compatible upgrade module—in seconds.
Unheard of.
To her surprise, the simple signal-jammer had now become a spoofing program—capable of faking location signals entirely.
After a moment of silence, she finished the process and sent the software back to Lin Mo via the city's Net.
"Pleasure doing business," Lin Mo said, clearly satisfied. The job had gone even smoother than expected.
He was about to hang up when Sasha suddenly stopped him.
"This might sound forward, but… can you tell me how you did that?"
Huh?
Did what?
Lin Mo was completely lost. He was a total rookie when it came to netrunning—he had no clue what she meant.
Maybe the simulator's freebie was even more overpowered than it looked?
Even though he didn't understand it, he could tell Sasha was genuinely curious.
After a moment of thought, he gave a sly, almost philosophical smile.
"Maybe it's all about perspective. Like how—even with your face hidden—your unique presence still shines through. Maybe I'm the same. What seems ordinary to me might look mysterious to you."
"If we ever get the chance to sit down and talk, maybe we'll both find our answers."
Sasha giggled, hand covering her mouth. Even through the pixelation, Lin Mo could see her wink mischievously, like a clever cat. "Looking forward to our next job."
The call ended.
Sasha leaned back into her battered couch, lifting a tall glass filled with golden liquor and a few pristine ice cubes.
Under the bar's white neon lights, the liquid shimmered in rainbow hues.
She took a sip, smiling to herself.
A burly man with bronze-toned skin beside her raised an eyebrow.
"What's got you smiling like that, Sasha? Did that kiddo say something funny?"
His arms were covered in synthetic skin, with visible seams and faint cracks—beneath which lay powerful mechanical servos.
"A mysterious little boy," Sasha murmured, narrowing her eyes like a content cat. The red cooling vents near her cheeks flared slightly, making her look even cuter.
"That's it?" Maine looked confused. Who was this kid?
"That's it," Sasha replied serenely.
"Lame! You never keep secrets from us!" complained the girl next to her.
She was pale, with twin green ponytails, wearing nothing but an oversized black jacket that completely engulfed her petite frame. Straight-up loli vibes.
A closer look revealed her eyes—custom cyberoptics, one red, one yellow.
"Probably some rich kid. Looked like he had cash to burn. I did him a tiny favor, and he gave me an extra two thousand," Sasha admitted, glancing at her teammates.
"Tch. Corpo brat," Rebecca snorted, grabbing her glass and downing it in one gulp.
"Damn, it's great that bastard brother isn't around."
"Easy, Rebecca. If you get hammered again, we're gonna have to carry you back," Dorio sighed.
She sat beside Maine, matching his build with her own broad-shouldered frame. A leather jacket hung loosely over her, barely covering a minimalist outfit. Short blonde hair and sharp features completed her look.
"Not the worst outcome," Maine smirked, sliding a hand toward her.
WHAM!
Dorio's massive fist clocked him across the face before he could react. His nose started bleeding immediately.
He froze, stunned.
"In front of everyone? You really want your ass kicked, Maine?" Dorio growled.
"Babe, I—" he stammered, not sure how to calm her down.
Sasha chuckled behind her hand, amused by the usual chaos.
"I've got a feeling that kid's going to cross paths with us again someday," she said, half to herself.
"Tch. Corpo brat," Rebecca repeated, eyes unfocused.
She flipped her empty glass upside down, found it dry, and grabbed the bottle straight off the table, drinking from it like a pro.
"Hell yeah!"
"Hey! Cut it out!" Maine shouted.
.
.
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