{Apartment 0923, Megabuilding H10, Little China, Watson}
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[CDPR]
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I thought about opening the last option, but my vision turned red. A fricking loading screen appeared as the translucent screen took over my entire vision. I could still see some of the flickering lights of the skyline as I focused on the words.
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[Initiating Project Red]
[****...]
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The bar moved one star at a time. Thankfully, the entire process was quite quick, which didn't give me a lot of time to curse. As soon as the loading bar was complete, I immediately noticed the change. The soft, pulsating headache and nausea were gone. The screen changed, and new words appeared in front of me.
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[Project Red Initiated]
[Initiating Player HUD]
[Initiating Player Inventory]
[Initiating Player Map]
[Initiating Player Character]
[Initiating Player Cyberware]
...
The words appeared one after the other, and after the last line, the whole screen disappeared. When my vision returned back to normal, I was staring at the same UI interface of my cybernetic eye implants. The menu was the same, and even the [CDPR] option was there. But through the holographic screen, I could see the changes.
With a thought, the screen vanished, and I looked at my changed HUD. It was similar to the game with a few changes. First of all, the HP bar wasn't there. The blue icon at the top right indicated my level, which was set at 1. The amount of RAM my cyberdeck had started at 8, along with an orange bar that likely indicated stamina.
'Why do I have a stamina bar and not a health bar? It would have made taking care of myself in difficult situations so much easier.' The HP bar was an exploit that every gamer utilizes, and not having one was kind of shit.
This information was now placed at the top left corner of my vision, with a minimap of my surroundings that just showed my room. The bottom left corner was where things got interesting. There were buttons displayed like they did on the mirror. One of the more interesting ones was the phone button, and I instantly thought to bring it up.
A screen appeared in front of my eyes; I had two tabs, messages, and contacts. My eyes instantly snapped through the handful of names that were shown on the terminal. All of them glowed a soft blue, likely indicating an unread message.
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[Gus Deacon]
[Where are you?]
[Heard about your parents, you doing right?]
[Hollar, if you need anything, I'll talk to my Dad and make sure the corporation doesn't try to stiff you. But remember, you owe me one.]
...
The message left me with even more questions, but at least it answered one of the important ones. I'm an orphan in this world, which is both a curse and a blessing. Having some fallback option wouldn't have been good, and while most people would be disgusted at the thought of being associated with the soul-sucking corporations in this world, I don't mind them as much.
'Gus, I'll have to keep an eye on his messages.' I thought as I backed away. I'll type a reply when I have a little more information. With a mental command, the screen backed away from its previous iteration as I looked through the next message.
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[Wilder Cal]
[Hey, kid! I heard about your ma and pa; hope you're doing okay!]
[Your folks were holding a package for me. Can you find it?]
[It should be labeled in a secure Militech container!]
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'Well, I guess that answers the question about what corp I have been associated with. Militech wasn't mentioned that much in the games, but it was one of the American corps, I think, and one of the few who opposed the rise of Arasaka in the game.' Not that knowing that helped me in any case, I scrolled through the next few messages. They each involved some form of condolences and were personal messages.
'Though no one other than Gus extended a hand to help. I guess this is Night City, after all.' I thought that the last message that was now revealed seemed interesting, but it started off with someone introducing themselves as part of Militech.
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[Kizzie Marilla]
[Re: Regarding the Compensation Package]
[As discussed earlier today, you have decided not to continue with your classes at the Militech Academy and will instead take a much shorter course on Cybernet.]
[I have enrolled you into the shorter program with the Academy. It is a 6-month short course, and it should teach you the basic idea of what your options are moving forward. The link to the course and your timetable can be downloaded at ###########]
[Additionally, a new lease has been signed with Megabuilding Corp, and Apartment 0923, in Megabuilding H10, has been assigned to you. This option clears out your compensation Package.]
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[The remaining funds from your parent's accounts have been forwarded to you.]
[Regards- Militech]
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'Now it makes much more sense as to why this apartment is paid for in full for the full year. What am I going to do about this course, though? A 6-month course on a topic that I know nothing about would be a headache to deal with.' I thought as I tried to make some form of a plan to follow. I scrolled through more messages, but there wasn't much to look at. After reading through everything, I came back to Gus's message and started typing.
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[Hollar, if you need anything, I'll talk to my Dad and make sure the corporation doesn't try to stiff you. But remember, you owe me one.]
[Yeah, I'm okay.]
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The message was a little lame, but then again, I'm supposed to be sad after losing my parents, right?
'Though this is Cyberpunk, being an orphan is kind of normal here, right?' I closed the messages tab and looked at the other options. There was a vehicle option like in the game, but it just showed an empty list. The radio option wasn't there, which makes sense; this isn't a game, after all.
After dealing with the new HUD, I pulled back the UI of my eyes once again and mentally clicked back to the [CDPR] option. The red translucent screen once again covered my eyes as I focused on the new options in front of me. The screen looked similar to the game.
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[Cyberware]
[Inventory]
[Map]
[Character]
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Curious about the very first option, I immediately thought about checking out as the screen flickered. A familiar-looking cyberware screen appeared in front of me, though it only showed two enhancements. My eyes and the Cyberdeck installed into my head. I immediately focused on the Operating system, and a detailed explanation appeared in front of me.
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[MiliTech Paraline Mk.1]
[It is not the most powerful cyberdeck on the market, but it is capable of performing multiple tasks – even if it requires a little patience.]
[Cyberwarev Capacity: 14]
[RAM Units:5]
[Quickhack Slots: 4]
[Buffer Size: 4]
[Intelligence Requirement: 4]
[Effects: Allows you to perform quickhacks on enemies and devices while scanning. +10% quickhack upload speed.
When uploading a quickhack to an enemy, shooting them with a Smart weapon will accelerate upload speed.
When Overclock is active:
-Smart weapons and Monowire deal bonus Electrical damage equal to 25% of normal attack damage.]
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'It has a base RAM of 5 and a buffer of 4. However, the buffer in the game was used for breaching. I wonder if it is the same here.' I thought as I closed the overlay and focused on the cybernetic eyes.
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[Basic MiliTech Cyberoptics Mk.1]
[A basic set of Cyberoptics that allows you to zoom up to 3x times and allows basic scanning and linking capabilities.]
[Cyberware Capacity: 1]
[Effect(s)− 3x optical zoom while scanning]
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'Hmm, the eyes are quite basic, and these two cyberware I'm using already take up 15 of my available 48 Cyberware capacity. I still have plenty of room to improve if I want to. Though that depends entirely on my bank balance.' I thought as I backed out of the cyberware window.
'I should check on Inventory next to see if I have a crafting system similar to that of the main game.'
I was half expecting to come face to face with my 3D model that was showing off my fit, but thankfully the Inventory was a little more traditional sort. It still involved a bunch of space magic fuckery since I can technically hold a lot of weight in this magical space.
'I have a Carrying capacity of 200. That's not bad, and it seems like I do have some funds to work with. Though I need to evaluate what the best use of this small fortune that I now have might be.'
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[Carrying Capacity: 8/200]
[€$: 52,131]
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'50000 wasn't some life-changing sum, but it wasn't chump change either. I might be able to get a better cyberdeck if I do decide to attend those lessons.'
The only other thing in my inventory was a white-tiered knife. It had the basic shape of a throwable weapon, and when I thought about taking it out, I felt the cold metal knife appear suddenly in my hand. I jerked back, leaving the inventory as the knife clanged onto the floor. I was kind of expecting it, but the change was too sudden and smooth.
'I need to get used to this too...' I grumbled as I bent down to pick it up. I brought it closer, and my eyes zoomed in on the blade edge. It was sharp, far sharper than any kitchen knife I had held. I stared at it for a moment before I focused on putting the knife back. The weapon vanished from my hand, causing me to clench my right hand into a fist.
'Not bad. The inventory system could be useful, though I don't see a crafting option, so I think it would be different from the game. I kind of wish I could disassemble junk and get free their 1 component, which could be turned into ammo and guns.' The loss of that option did hurt a little, but I quickly moved on to the next important menu.
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[Character ]
[Stats]
[Body: 3{0/3000}]
[Reflexes: 4{0/4000}]
[Technical Ability: 4{0/4000}]
[Intelligence: 6{0/6000}]
[Cool: 4{0/4000}]
[Skills]
[-]
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The character tab was the same. With the same 5 basic stats and the absence of the Relic tier, it was a godsend, though there was another interesting option of the added numbers in front of them, which meant that they could be improved. The skills tab was different. In the main game, there had been 5 fixed progression skill paths, but here, there was nothing.
'Do I have to perform actions to gain a skill?' I thought. With a bit of focus, the knife once again appeared in my hands as I took a wide stance. I slashed the knife in the air a couple of times. My lunges felt awkward though I could sense something telling me that my stance was a little off. It was an intuition that I followed as I adjusted my stance. My reach increased slightly as my balance improved, and after a couple of swipes, a notification appeared in front of me.
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[100 {Body} Exp gained]
[100 {Knives} EXP gained]
[{Knives} skill created at Level 0]
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'...Huh, can I level up my attributes and skills at the same time?'
Finally, something was going my way. I looked back at the skills tab and found the {Knives} skills listed there.
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[Knives Lv 0 {100/500} *Reflex attuned {Passive}]
[The ability to handle sharp blades like an extension of your arm.]
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'Now this is getting fun...'