Maybe the future held a basketful of trouble, but at least they needed a good night's sleep before dealing with it.
At least that's what the exhausted Berry thought.
"We've got the flathead. What are we doing now?"
"Now, you do what I hired you to do—go get that biochip. Tomorrow, come to the Afterlife nightclub, and we'll talk then. See you."
"Alright, I'll be there."
"See you, Ms. V."
V ended the call with the Fixer Dexter DeShawn.
Meanwhile, Berry was sitting at a table, dismantling the flathead into pieces.
Berry's hands were covered in machine oil. She was visually inspecting the flathead's structure while sketching on a PDA, noting down various structural designs.
"Hmm, this part can be replaced with silicon alloy..."
"Not bad, a clever choice. This stealth design is excellent..."
Since the flathead was going to be taken to Dexter DeShawn tomorrow, Berry quickly seized the time, preparing to study its structure overnight.
After roughly disassembling it, Berry was stunned by the flathead's capabilities.
A large corporation is indeed a large corporation; integrating so many functions, yet all the designs were so seamless and without any redundancy, as if this thing was meant to exist exactly this way.
It possessed an industrial beauty akin to the saying, 'A masterpiece is naturally formed, only stumbled upon by a master's hand.'
Thinking this, Berry, wearing her Multi-functional Goggles, was completely engrossed in the flathead's structure, failing to notice even when V approached.
V crossed her arms, frowning as she watched Berry work for a while, only to realize she couldn't understand any of it.
"Hi, V." It wasn't until she pressed the save button on the PDA Terminal and took off her goggles that Berry noticed V standing beside her. "Sorry, I was too absorbed just now and didn't see you."
"It's fine, I was just watching." V smiled and patted Berry, then looked at the flathead on the table with a complicated expression. "Honestly, Berry, you're the strongest engineer I've ever seen, better than anyone at the corporation."
Stroking Berry's soft hair and looking at her cute smiling face, V felt melancholic.
Berry probably didn't need to live this Mercenary life of licking blood with her. If Berry had a chance to go to school, with her skills, she could definitely work for a corporation and live a comfortable life, instead of rolling around in the mud pits of the streets with V.
But it would be soon. Thinking of this mission, hope surged in V's heart.
As long as they completed this mission, they would get a large sum of money. Then they wouldn't have to worry about water bills and rent, and V would have more money to support Berry's dreams.
V was lost in her thoughts, unaware that Berry, who was currently involved in the counterfeit cyberware industry, was already quite wealthy—enough to support a few V's, at least.
Not knowing why V was suddenly down, Berry smiled and rubbed her head against V's hand. "V, once I put the flathead back together, I have some good news to tell you."
"Alright." Snapping out of it, and seemingly infected by Berry's smile, V chuckled and retreated to the windowsill.
Berry reassembled the flathead. As someone whose system-recognized technical ability reached Level 18, she wouldn't have a screw-up where there were extra screws left over after installation.
Soon, the flathead was reassembled exactly as it was, looking brand new and unused, except for the lack of a plastic protective film—genuine, nine-tenths new, used by a girl.
Berry washed her hands and walked out of the bathroom toward V, who was leaning against the windowsill smoking a ladies' cigarette.
"Want a puff?" V leaned against the windowsill, watching the neon-lit night view of Night City, exhaling a plume of white smoke.
What age was this? Still smoking traditional cigarettes.
Berry shook her head. If it wasn't a Rikku Five, she wouldn't smoke it.
Taking V's hand, Berry made V turn around to face her.
"V, we're rich." Berry looked sincerely into V's beautiful blue eyes and said seriously.
What?
Question marks were still popping up in V's head, but Berry had already taken out her smart terminal and transferred a sum of money to V.
A yellow light flashed in V's eyes, and she instantly widened them.
Fifty thousand credited?!
V thought she had miscounted the zeros, so she counted again. It was indeed four zeros next to a solitary five—fifty thousand, no mistake.
"Berry, where did this money come from?" V was shocked and uncertain, immediately asking about the source of the funds.
It was then that she suddenly remembered that the money she previously owed Viktor and the Kiroshi Optical Cyberware were also paid for by Berry. This doubt immediately magnified, almost consuming V's thoughts. She urgently wanted to know where Berry got so much money.
In Night City, everyone had to fight hard to make a living. V didn't believe Berry earned this much money without taking risks.
Seeing V's anxious look, Berry crossed her arms and smiled proudly, pointing a finger at the flathead on the table.
"I earned it with my skills, of course. This is a high-tech, cutting-edge product, and I can replicate its chip using two circuit boards, a soldering iron, and a screwdriver. With this skill, I'll never worry about money."
Hearing Berry say this, V instinctively believed her.
Because Berry wasn't wrong. Her skill was truly formidable. There wasn't a single engineer in Night City who could match Berry, and Viktor had told V more than once that if Berry became a Cyberware Doctor, she would definitely rake in huge profits.
With her doubts resolved, V awkwardly touched her nose.
She had originally planned to rely on this big gig to earn money, but Berry suddenly pulled out such a large sum, leaving V somewhat flustered.
She couldn't take this money. Just as V was about to say so, Berry's finger was already pressed against her mouth.
"Use this money to pay off the rent, and then go buy a new car, or maybe we can go buy some nice clothes together, or anything else, whatever you want. But you absolutely cannot refuse, okay, V?"
After saying that, Berry winked at V.
Seeing this, a wry smile appeared on V's lips.
Berry was cute, but sometimes she was incredibly stubborn. V guaranteed that if she refused the money, Berry would torment her until she accepted it. Given that, it was better to just take it honestly now.
Love is the process of two people taming each other. V could kiss Berry, but she was also worn down by Berry's persistence. Perhaps this was a case of one thing conquering another.
"But doesn't this feel like being kept by you, Berry?"
V rubbed her nose, still feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Kept?" Hearing that word, Berry raised an eyebrow, having heard something interesting. "That's right, kept!"
Berry said excitedly, immediately tossing her head proudly, narrowing her eyes and putting on a frivolous look.
"Little sister, older sister will give you pocket money. How about older sister takes you to play some fun games?"
Berry wasn't satisfied with just being glib; she reached out, lightly lifted V's chin with her finger, and flirtatiously blew a puff of air toward V.
"Oh yeah~" Seeing Berry's appearance, V paused, then reacted with a disdainful snort.
This girl, she's trying to play games.
If V didn't show her who's boss, wouldn't Berry look down on her?
Reversing her grip on Berry's hand, V pulled the surprised Berry into her arms with a strong tug, wrapping her other arm around Berry's waist to prevent her escape.
"Little sister, don't be scared, it won't hurt. Just leave everything to older sister, and you'll feel comfortable soon~"
Speaking gooey sweet nothings in a voice filled with desire, V leaned in and lightly bit Berry's small earlobe, making Berry's body instinctively tremble.
"Wait, wait, I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore." Berry's face was pale, and she quickly used all her limbs to push V away.
Damn, damn.
Leaving V's embrace, Berry's little heart was still pounding. V, the short-haired older sister, was too lethal. Berry couldn't handle such a sudden move.
"Hmph hmph~" V, leaning against the windowsill, chuckled softly and reached up to brush her short hair behind her ear.
Trying to play this game with her was still too naive.
Now that was high-level play.
V held her head high like a victor. Berry looked at the mocking smile on V's lips, filled with shame and anger, gritting her teeth in indignation.
This V really doesn't know what's good for her.
V is clearly the bottom; only the bottom would tease the top.
If V angered her, she would build a massive steel cannon and fiercely pound this unruly V.
Berry fully utilized the Ah Q Spirit, indulging in her indignant fantasies there.
And as if she imagined V's desperate pleading, Berry felt like laughing, and the anger from being teased dissipated considerably. She quickly cheered up again.
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