"Is this report real?"
Hanako was holding a datapad containing the lab results from their attempts to break down the C-65 and X-27 formulas that Motoko's son had sent her, as well as the results of already having used part of the batch in a controlled zone to observe its effects.
It wasn't that she intended to go back on her deal with Faelan, but she was curious about how he could be so sure his formula couldn't be broken. In a way, she had only done this to gauge the research level of Motoko's son or his team.
The fact that Galina had laughed along with the others at the time gave at least some credibility to it.
"I assure you, Hanako-sama, I wouldn't dare joke about something like this." The woman speaking looked slightly dazed, dark circles under her eyes betraying the fatigue of the past few days of frenzied research, despite her youthful artificial face and the cutting-edge experimental optics she wore. No one on her team had slept; they'd survived on nothing but special energy drinks. "When we analyzed the samples, we easily identified the plants and proportions used. Even a fresh graduate in chemistry or biology would say it looked like a random blend of plants that shouldn't possibly have the described effects. But the results…" She shook her head. "There must be one or more components we couldn't isolate, detect, or identify. That's the real core of this technology."
As for the mixtures they received?
They concluded they were like machine oil: useless on their own, but essential to making the technology run at full capacity.
No matter how much they could produce, it was worthless without the central reagent.
"That bad?" Hanako averted her gaze from the datapad.
The woman standing before her wasn't her very best researcher, but she was among the eight most important ones—at least, outside the Arasaka group.
To avoid certain complications, Hanako was handling this privately instead of relying on her family's company.
"Researcher Kitaka's CPU literally exploded during test number three hundred and four. Caffeine overdose, stress, and mental shock," the lab-coated woman stated flatly. "His funeral is next Tuesday."
Hanako made a note to attend.
"In your opinion, what level is the person who created this?" She lowered her gaze back to the datapad, playing a recording of land and water being purified by unknown forces the instant Faelan's products were used.
A field of poisonous, oily sludge became a lush green meadow, tall grass rippling in the wind and creating visible waves.
A large pond full of filth and bubbling acidic vapors turned into crystal-clear water, with no trace of muck even at the bottom, where small plants had already begun to sprout—as if it had never been touched by human hands.
Frankly, it looked like special effects made for a movie.
As for Hanako's question, the truth was that aside from a very limited circle, no one knew Faelan's identity or that the products purchased for his nature reserve were his creations.
She didn't doubt that something would leak sooner or later, since the purchase volume was substantial, but information could always be tweaked.
"Hanako-sama, with complete honesty, even if you gave us unlimited resources, we wouldn't be able to replicate this in five hundred years." The woman let out a self-deprecating laugh. The very existence of such a thing was a devastating blow to her pride as a recognized scientist in her field. "The person who did this? Practically a wizard. In biological terms, if he claims to be second in the world, no one would dare say they're first."
Hanako pursed her lips. Such high praise wasn't necessarily a good thing.
"The truth is we also compared soil and water samples before and after application of both substances, and the results left us just as baffled." The woman scratched her synthetic scalp in frustration, the irritation marks showing she'd done that gesture countless times in the past hours. "Even now, my team is trying to make sense of it."
And she hated to admit she doubted they'd achieve anything.
"In what sense?" Hanako looked at her again. "It's not as effective as it seems?"
"Quite the opposite! Just look at the soil sample results. Logically, when you remove harmful residues, there should still be small traces left behind as proof they were once there. But there's nothing! If that were the only effect, it would already be an incredibly efficient, specialized, and meticulous product." The woman looked on the verge of tears. "The decades of work it would take to achieve that alone are frightening to imagine."
"And?"
"The state of the soil isn't right." She sighed as if her soul wanted to escape. "Even with such perfectly thorough cleansing, the land would still need work to be restored to acceptable condition. Aerating, fertilizing, tilling, replanting—you understand. Work and time." She spun her hand in a wheel motion. "But that soil, which should be in terrible shape (and that's putting it mildly), has turned into rich, black, spongy earth. Even if the soil could absorb every last nutrient in the mixture, it wouldn't be nearly enough to create fertility like this—not even if you multiplied it by ten! Much less transform the land to this degree."
Where did it all come from? That was one of the things that baffled them most.
"But that's good."
"Of course! Even the farms on VIGO station, specialized in organic production, don't have soil this good."
The woman half-suspected that if they used the substance on lunar soil, they could set up greenhouses and grow crops there.
"So both substances work wonders, and the 'problem' is that you don't understand how?" Hanako already grasped the gist of the situation, and that was enough for her.
The woman's frustrated silence was all the confirmation she needed.
"How long will it take to transform the entire reserve?"
"With enough drones equipped with dispensers and tanker trucks, we'll need less than a week to clean the area." The woman had already calculated beforehand, anticipating the question. "As for the facilities, five days will be enough."
That made Hanako raise her brow slightly.
"That's much faster than I estimated."
Her most conservative calculations said it would take at least two months of steady work. Cutting it down this much was more than impressive.
"With products this ridiculously good, we'd be grossly negligent if it took us longer. Besides, most facilities can be prebuilt and assembled on-site."
That was how most construction was handled these days anyway.
"Good." Hanako nodded and began contacting people through her optics. "I'll notify the zoo to prepare the animals for transport. You may go now—get some sleep."
Only after the woman had left the room did Hanako speak again.
"Can you explain to me why Kitaka died so soon? He wasn't supposed to have an 'accident' for another four months."
"The old researcher was going to contact your father once the test ended. If I hadn't intervened, that teenager would now have Arasaka's boss breathing down his neck," said a young female voice with a tone far from respectful.
"Cynta, the timing of that man's death was planned half a year in advance." Hanako sighed in exasperation. "Besides, while the products are interesting, you know that old man has other obsessions."
Hanako was certain that revitalizing land held little appeal for her father.
"Buuuu, you're no fun." Cynta whined through the encrypted call. "I think you're forgetting Motoko's son's little local reputation. If Saburo pulls the thread and discovers the supposed 'immortality' he has, what do you think will happen?"
Hanako wisely kept silent. She wouldn't admit she'd overlooked that detail.
Immortality.
Saburo Arasaka's current obsession. A man nearing one hundred and fifty years old.
One single rumor was enough for the death-fearing man to dispatch "ninjas" to dig up details and confirm information, casually eliminating anyone involved if the results weren't satisfactory.
"You know, when you asked me to investigate another person like me, a child of someone from Tasogare, I was a bit perplexed." Cynta commented while chewing on another sweet. "Not that many people from back then are still alive. But wow, what a record this guy's got. Forget his monstrous talent in biology—he's taken down two of Night City's major gangs (no small feat), he's got the scavengers terrified, and there are already people on forums saying he's not even human. Especially since, just a few days ago, he stopped hiding his antlers—the very same that caused that idiot's confusion and led us to meet him." She licked the sugar off her lip. "By the way, why the hell does the kid have deer horns?"
"You can ask him yourself," Hanako replied, reclining in her chair and setting the datapad on the table.
"Oh, so I can—wait, what?"
For a moment, Cynta thought the call had glitched.
"I'm giving you another task. Evaluate and train both netrunners alongside Faelan. Give them, as you'd say, at least a couple of level-ups," she ordered. "And in the process, you can ask whatever questions you like."
"Are you kidding me? I get teaching Sasha—she's also the child of a former Tasogare member—but what does the blonde have going for her that you want me to teach her?" Cynta asked irritably. "You know I hate babysitting. Even teaching one is too much in my opinion. And from the info I have, this Kiwi relied on some pretty dubious self-study."
"Aside from being Faelan's partner?"
"Yes, aside from that."
That was a weighty enough reason in itself.
Definitely not something Hanako had overlooked. Absolutely not.
"Perhaps you could ask her how she 'dives' without ice baths?" Hanako dangled bait she knew Cynta couldn't resist.
Nowadays, if a netrunner didn't have expenses for ice, it meant either they were a clueless novice or they had another way of cooling their implants to avoid overheating.
Even the Voodoo Boys, despite claiming to be the city's top netrunners and all the tech they'd gathered for their hideout, still relied on ice baths.
During her research, Cynta had naturally noticed Kiwi spending long stretches submerged in the Net, yet there were no records of her buying ice, and her rigs weren't anywhere near a bath setup.
Not even a substitute like coolant fluid.
She'd even hacked a few city cameras and, judging by buffered footage, Kiwi looked perfectly fine immediately after long dives—which made no sense, since long sessions always took a toll.
Many hackers couldn't even get up from their chair or bath afterward, needing time to recover before moving.
There was only one answer: Kiwi had access to something that solved the heat problem, one way or another.
But Cynta doubted she could get that info out of her easily.
As for where that new temperature-regulation method came from, Cynta didn't need to lift even her pinky toe to know Faelan had a hand in it.
"I suppose I could give them a little test and see how they react…"
…
Faelan was at Viktor's clinic. Now that he'd freed up some space in his schedule after finishing Hanako's commission and was waiting for her reply, he wanted to ask the ripperdoc for Galina's biometric data to begin preparing her custom bioimplants. He already had the DNA samples—he just needed to know what upgrades were most urgent for her and could start working from there.
He walked in with the natural ease of someone who had been coming there for years. But instead of Vik, he was met by a twelve-year-old girl staring at him like a deer caught in headlights, trembling as if she couldn't decide whether to faint, scream, or freeze.
"Vik?" he called.
There was something familiar about the girl, though he couldn't quite place her.
Maybe a character from some side quest or DLC?
If he could half-remember her, she had to at least have had some minor role.
"Well, finally I got you two in the same place," Vik appeared from behind a shelf with a towel in his hand, apparently cleaning up after surgery. He was about to say more, but stopped short when he saw the girl's state. "Did you drop your glasses?"
Okay, Faelan could see why Viktor thought that.
"No," he quickly denied. "Is that normal for her?" he asked, pointing at the girl. "And who is she, anyway?"
"I see." Viktor frowned, looking at the girl with concern. "She's my new assistant. Her name's Misty."
Oh. Ohhh…
Yeah, she definitely looked like her—just less… gothic and scruffy.
Honestly, Faelan preferred this less depressing version. No ridiculous spiked choker, no dark makeup, ugly clothes, or mushroom haircut. He had never liked Misty's physical design in the game; it practically screamed at you: Misty and Jackie don't fit at all, and something bad will definitely happen.
But why was Misty staring at him like—?
Wait.
"Tell me, Misty, what is it you see?"
Viktor looked like he wanted to ask something, but Faelan raised a hand to stop him.
"It's fluctuating…"