Just as Glenn was caught in an internal struggle, David took a deep breath, mustered his courage, and stepped forward, blocking Osiris' imposing, oppressive physique.
The boy's voice inevitably trembled with nervousness, but he tried his best to hold his head high, his eyes filled with a desperate resolve: "Boss… please… save my mother… I'm willing to do whatever it takes!"
Osiris' crimson optical lenses slightly adjusted their focus, completely locking onto the boy like a searchlight.
Perhaps it was a faint stir from a vague label in the fragmented memories before his transmigration, or perhaps it was the boy's burning, age-inappropriate will in his eyes that triggered an extremely tiny variable named "interest" in his logic core.
He did not directly respond to the request for treatment, nor did he even glance at David's pleading expression.
He merely tilted his head slightly, issuing a command as an invisible data stream.
The servo-skull, hovering by his side with its eye sockets glowing blue, immediately glided silently in front of David.
The eerie stillness of that construct, a combination of pale bone and cold metal, was more unsettling than a direct threat.
Before the boy could react, the skull's mandible opened and closed, projecting a faint green, precise scanning beam that enveloped David's entire body from top to bottom, outlining his somewhat slender figure. Simultaneously, another subtle red beam accurately aimed at his eyeball, performing iris and microvascular pattern recognition.
"Remain still," Osiris' voice was flat, like a machine's pre-startup prompt.
This inhuman detection method caused the onlookers to show various expressions.
Maine, arms crossed, watched silently with a furrowed brow. He had experienced more bizarre trans-dimensional transmissions, but each time he saw such a scene, where a person was scanned and analyzed like an object, he still felt a trace of instinctive resistance.
Dorio subconsciously moved half a step forward, as if wanting to offer some insignificant support, but ultimately stopped in place, her eyes filled with worry.
Rebecca pouted, seemingly wanting to make a sarcastic remark, but seeing David's tense profile and the eerily hovering skull, she swallowed her words, only restlessly flexing the fingers of her cybernetic arm.
Lucy's pupils slightly contracted. As a netrunner, she was accustomed to the invisible flow of data, but this kind of "scan" that directly acted on the flesh, with a strong sense of physical intrusion, made her feel a completely different kind of chill.
Doctor Glenn, on the other hand, was completely stunned. His crude tools and rough techniques, which he relied on for a living, were like primitive stone axes compared to the precise, efficient, and unknown technology before him. His face was etched with complex emotions, a mixture of fear and extreme longing.
The moment the scanning beam disappeared, an extremely thin Probe extended from the bottom of the servo-skull, lightly touching David's arm with lightning speed, collecting a trace amount of blood and tissue samples.
Immediately after, another sensor-equipped Probe gently but irresistibly pressed against David's temple, emitting an almost inaudible low-frequency pulse to perform deep neural response and cognitive potential assessment.
The entire detection process was quiet, fast, and efficient, imbued with an undeniable coldness that treated the human body as a precise machine.
David stood rigid, feeling the cold touch and slight prickling sensation on his skin, his heart pounding in his chest, almost able to hear the sound of his own blood flowing.
In the face of this absolute, inhuman technology, he felt like an animal being dissected on an experimental table, devoid of any secrets or dignity.
An indescribable oppressiveness filled the air, with only the faint hiss of the servo-skull's internal components and the almost inaudible friction sound of the Probe touching the skin clearly discernible.
The servo-skull transmitted all collected data in real-time to Osiris' processing core.
A comprehensive, thorough Adeptus Mechanicus standard biological screening and genetic sequence analysis were completed within seconds.
Massive data streams surged, compared, and evaluated in his consciousness.
The analysis results appeared: This individual named David Martinez, his genetic sequence stability exceeded the average level of local peers by approximately 17.3%, his neural synapse conduction efficiency showed considerable potential for optimization, and his potential bio-electric affinity for standardized mechanical interfaces actually reached the minimum baseline for Adeptus Mechanicus outer apprentice selection.
Although this talent was far from outstanding, even mediocre, among the many worlds Osiris had seen, finding a "raw material" that barely met the basic standards in this world with a severely skewed tech tree and generally "rough" gene pool was a small surprise.
This at least meant that this young body was not entirely incapable of undergoing deeper mechanical modifications.
This unexpected discovery caused Osiris' evaluation weight for this "variable" in his cold logical sequence to be objectively adjusted upwards by an insignificant one percentage point.
"I give you two choices," Osiris' voice sounded steadily, as if stating a perfectly ordinary fact, but the conditions he offered shocked everyone present. "First, capture a rogue AI entity with autonomous action logic for me. In return, I will completely heal your mother."
This condition instantly froze the air. Rogue AI – those were elusive, incomprehensible presences in the network's abyss, their danger and difficulty of capture far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
For a fledgling student who hadn't even fully grasped the rules of the street, this was simply an impossible task, tantamount to asking him to catch lightning with his bare hands.
It was unknown if anyone in the world could truly accomplish this, perhaps with the exception of this mysterious boss before them.
"Second," Osiris didn't give David much time to process his fear, continuing in his unfluctuating tone, "become my apprentice. You have one year to master the knowledge system I designate."
His crimson lens seemed to very slightly sweep over Glenn, whose expression was complex, referring precisely to the contents of the list that had deterred Glenn. "Then, you will personally cure your mother. As the price for acquiring this knowledge, you will serve me for two hundred years."
He paused, as if anticipating David's concerns about lifespan, adding: "There's no need to worry that your natural lifespan cannot sustain this contract. Growing old is no problem, I have methods to ensure you continue to fulfill the agreement until the two hundred years are complete."
Subsequently, as if to make the concept of "ensuring compliance" more concrete, he threw out an alternative plan in that cold voice that left everyone dumbfounded: "Of course, if you fail to meet the predetermined standard for mastering the knowledge when the one-year term arrives, the contract will deem you in breach.
At that time, you will need to pay 'tuition' double the value of the knowledge.
I also have the ability to ensure the recovery of this debt, execution methods include but are not limited to…"
As he spoke, the blue light in the eye sockets of the hovering servo-skull flashed, projecting a holographic image into the air.
The image showed "Steel Band," Night City's hottest rock stars, dressed in sparkling cyber-kimonos, energetically performing their hit song "Bobo Chicken" against a backdrop of dazzling holographic fireworks. The intense electronic sound waves and the frenzied cheers from the audience seemed to burst through the projection.
Osiris' massive, dark-red armored body stood unmoving before the slightly comical and bizarre projected background, only his voice clearly penetrating the music: "…transforming you into a specialized entertainment Servitor, debuting as a 'healing cyber-idol,' gradually repaying your debt through commercial performances, merchandise sales, and fan donations, etc.
Based on my calculations of various business models in Night City, this is the fastest way for you to repay your debt."
The sweet smiles and dynamic dance moves of the idols in the image, juxtaposed with the cold meaning in Osiris' words and David's instantly pale face, formed an incredibly absurd and chilling contrast.
Rebecca's mouth twitched, and she whispered to Pilar: "Holy hell… this is worse than just killing him…"
Glenn subconsciously took half a step back, completely extinguishing the last flicker of hope in his heart – the "tuition" for this being was indeed not something an ordinary person could afford, whether with money, freedom, or… dignity.