Chapter 309: Braindance Experience

Words : 1674 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

[TN:Two chapter for what i missed] Rory from the Maxtac appeared before them. When a Braindance is read, it recreates all the mental states of the recorder. This replication is done by directly stimulating the nerves. So an overly intense Braindance can even permanently alter the nervous system, causing damage nearly as severe as actually experiencing the trauma. Of course, such changes only occur if the user becomes deeply immersed in the state. Many young people have gotten addicted to intense Braindances, even to the point of hallucination. This time, what Leo needs to do is trace neural changes through the Braindance recording and reverse-engineer the condition of the cybernetic body. It's a brain-intensive process, so naturally, one can't be influenced by the emotions within the Braindance. A qualified Braindance editor has their own methods for filtering out irrelevant emotions and enhancing the necessary ones. Some do it by experiencing and editing simultaneously, while others analyze physiological data from the Braindance and make choices accordingly. For Leo, this isn't just another Braindance edit. So the latter method is the proper path. [V: You're in? How's it feel?] [Leo: No problem. I can handle this kind of impact.] V: ? That answer felt... off. [V: What do you mean?] [Leo: Damn, V. If Kang tao sees these details, they'll hire you into the R&D department on the spot.] The comparison of the data of the little octopus showed what was happening to V at that moment. Anyone else would probably have dropped dead. [Neural Tolerance Overload: Sandevistan stimulation current exceeds tolerance by 15–30%] [Frontal Cortex Damage: Local cell damage, possible minor personality changes and partial cognitive impairment] [Feedback Loop Malfunction: Neural enhancement device lost feedback and control function] [Autonomic Nervous System Disruption: Blood pressure, heart rate, respiration charts being generated] Truly beyond human limits. It made Leo start to suspect V might be a bioroid. [V: That's all you've got to say?!] [Warning! Your body is under external attack!] Huh? "I'm gonna make him pay for this, today." Next to the chair, Jackie quickly stepped in to stop V. "Calm down, girl! Let's talk this out!" [Leo: What are you guys doing?] [Jackie: It's fine. Just... bro, how come you feel nothing watching a Braindance clip like that?] [Leo: I guess I've got high neural tolerance.] Weird. Really weird. Jackie felt like Leo wasn't just an unusual guy anymore—he might actually be a bioroid too. Why did everything he said feel so off-kilter? Was there really such a thing as an emotionless killer in this world? But he seemed normal enough when they hung out, right? [Leo: Stop fussing. Sit in the diagnostics chair so I can run a comparison.] V's eyes widened, but unfortunately, Leo was still immersed in the Braindance and didn't notice her furious glare. She stared for a while, then begrudgingly sat in the diagnostics chair and plugged into the personal link. In the Braindance, the scene jumped to V charging Rory and then injuring a Maxtac trooper with a counterattack. That burst of combat, if experienced unedited at real speed, would require a full Sandevistan device to handle. Blades flew. With a stunning reaction, V used her magnet gloves to catch her blade midair, spun, and plunged it into the trooper's gut. The speed, the detail, the power—it was all a miracle according to the body data. [Little Octopus: Freaking awesome!] [V: Do you have to say that twice?!] Leo sensed that in cyberspace, the little octopus probably shrunk away from his head a bit. [Leo: That wasn't me.] [V: Then who?] [Leo: An AI. It's been handling the Sandevistan repairs both times.] Unlike normal AIs, the little octopus hated controlling ordinary machines or leaving its main code in them. Whether it was the OCT network or the ctOS system, it never stayed there permanently. It preferred to live inside Leo's spinal cybernetics—and had even stated it liked being in V's spine too. Since they'd be working together often, might as well introduce them. [Little Octopus: That's me! Mama-sis! ( ́▽`)/] Suddenly, a pixelated octopus popped up in V's cyber-eye HUD, waving its tentacles and hijacking all the HUD frames. Seeing the typo in "Mama-sis," V suddenly thought of the strange anonymous messages in recent gigs— So that's what it was. The AI. Disappointment. [Little Octopus: (⊙_⊙)?] [V: You're quite the little actor—wait, this thing's an AI? I thought network enforcement said it was like...] [Leo: Yeah, very dangerous—but this one's not.] V curiously looked at the little octopus, instinctively wanting to reach out and touch it. She didn't actually touch it, but the little octopus read her intent and its pixel form reacted like it was being petted. The reaction even transformed into real electrical signals that lightly stimulated V's hand—just like she'd actually touched it. [V: This feels... kinda wild. You can touch it?] [Leo: Huh? Touch? New function?] [Little Octopus: New feature!] [Leo: You didn't let me touch it first? Let me touch it.] [Little Octopus: ( ̇) ̇)] The "feeling" of touching it was incredibly unique—soft beyond compare, full of elasticity, just like a real octopus. But unlike a real octopus, it wasn't overly sticky, nor did it have that slick, slimy feeling mixed with seawater. To Leo, it felt more like an upgraded version of touching an octopus. He immediately understood the principle behind this tactile simulation—technically, the little octopus could even fine-tune the sensations based on both users' preferences. It was actually quite a sophisticated piece of tech. Though... it definitely leaned heavily toward the technical side of things. [Leo: So... you analyzed the combat data from the Maelstrom Gang, and that's how you trained this new feature? Leo: You sure know how to put your computing power to use.] [Little Octopus: (′°〈°)] [V: I think it's great. I'm gonna touch it again.] On V's cyber-eye HUD, the little octopus affectionately twirled around her hand, its suction cups gently pressing down, giving her a strangely pleasant sensation. [V: This is really fun—HEY, get back to work!] Leo held back the comment he was about to make and returned to his task. With the overclocking analysis complete, in cyberspace, the little octopus began chewing through the compiled Sandevistan data and neural states, as if physically digesting it. Then, under Leo's gaze, it scratched its head with a tentacle. [Little Octopus: Boss, I think we're gonna need more data. The current set is too dangerous—direct testing carries a high risk of secondary neural damage.] This time, the kind of data they needed could only be found from a very specific group. They had to find someone who sold black-market braindances featuring cyberpsychos. [Leo: Alright. But we'll need to expand the dataset.] V unplugged from the personal link, curling her lip. [V: And how do you plan to expand it?] [Leo: We find some black-market cyberpsycho braindances. I heard there's a series called Edge Runners that specializes in this stuff let ask David and that unlicensed doc from before.] V raised her hand theatrically: "Yay! Great! I love cracking down on black braindance dealers!" [Leo: What's with the attitude? Wasn't your dream to become the most badass in Night City?] Okay, fair point. But her annoyance was obvious—even if hard to put into words. She just didn't feel like she and Leo were on the same wavelength. So she asked, "What about those pretty things you were talking about?" [Leo: I meant the other kind of braindance. I'm guessing you guys have never seen real forests, mountains, or wild animals, right?? I'll show you something different from all the violent stuff.] "You've got those?" V raised an eyebrow. "That kind of stuff's way more expensive than black braindances. And I heard it's not even exciting—what's the appeal?" By 2076, natural environments were nearly extinct. In Europe, relentless pursuit of profit had caused massive industrial expansion, even leading to a continent-wide "Great Smog" event, drastically reducing green areas. Asia and the Americas had suffered similarly, along with the added scars of large-scale warfare. Africa and Oceania were ravaged by global climate disasters, with violent storms becoming common even in the Americas. And the oceans, filled with globally dumped nuclear and industrial waste, had become deadly zones. Marine life had sharply declined, but AI-controlled nuclear subs and drone fleets prowled the waters. Elsewhere, any land suitable for growing plants was either covered in ethanol-wheat or absorbed by corporations waiting to exploit it. The rain was acidic. The air was thick with dust. The water was chemically contaminated and radioactive. Those "beautiful natural landscapes" were nearly extinct— Even if they existed, they were corporate-owned and monetized, so watching them in braindance form came with a licensing fee. Night City did have an ecological park, but it was crammed full of vagrants and gang members, smelly and chaotic. To those who'd never seen such sights, "nature's beauty" was just some expensive braindance no one had ever experienced firsthand—and from the sound of it, not even exciting. People would rather buy erotic or black-market BDs—cheap, intense, and the best bang-for-buck. A poor man's favorite. Leo logged out from the system, slowly unplugging the cables from his body. As he exited work mode, he said, "Well, you never know until you try. What if you end up liking it?" Seeing him gradually shift out of work mode, V crossed her arms. Jackie quietly stepped back, trying to sneak away. But then— As soon as Leo took off the braindance headset, both of them saw him slip back into that goofy, blank-eyed mode— That loveably dumb mode V usually enjoyed messing with. This time, though, she didn't immediately go mess with him. She held back. It was agonizing.

Chapter 309: Braindance Experience

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