Chapter 93: The Efficient Burgerking

MoorE Technologies is a company that's extremely hot in the cyberware market. This company has many overlapping business areas with Biotechnica, including pharmaceuticals, cloning animals, and deep customization of cybernetic implants. However, compared to Biotechnica, MoorE Technologies is smaller in scale. Because of their smaller profit margins and size, MoorE Technologies has had to pour all their resources into the areas they excel at to survive. Deep tissue integration, titanium alloy skulls, spinal replacements—these are all high-risk implants when it comes to cyberware. "...To reduce severe immune responses, one obvious method MoorE Technologies uses is to combine cloned tissue with cyberware to lower rejection rates. MoorE Technologies has conducted extensive research in this area, so they are also experts in DNA experimentation equipment." 700k eddies to buy second-hand equipment, but the attached course was definitely worth it—Arasaka's adult skills training doesn't cover this kind of content. Halfway through Martin's explanation, he noticed Leo constantly scratching his head and curiously asked, "Why have you been scratching your head since you got here?" "Nothing, just some network lag when borrowing money, gave me a bit of a headache. So, jailbreaking the functionality only requires overwriting these parts of the code?" "The last step is to change the wiring, connect a higher-spec power source, and burn out the safety valve in the device. However, doing this will alert the sales department. DNA experimentation is tightly controlled, so now you know why I won't do this." "Can't you use a jammer to block the signal?" "You can, but MoorE Technologies continuously tracks this signal. Devices that haven't been used for a while or haven't been scrapped are flagged, and an asset recovery team is dispatched to investigate. Of course, the asset recovery team isn't particularly strong, but I'd advise you to avoid them—once it's confirmed that controlled technology has leaked, the company can apply for NetWatch assistance." This example shows that the true nature of the cyberpunk world isn't unlimited chaos. It's actually a specialty of Night City—hence why it's promoted as the City of Freedom, a dreamer's paradise. However, even in Night City, which appears freer on the surface, once NetWatch gets involved, there are few secrets left. NetWatch doesn't intervene much because the actions of hackers and edgerunners usually involve corporate battles, which are tacitly allowed as part of the struggle. The same goes for high-tech equipment—once evidence shows that the device was hijacked without upper-level approval, the agents start enforcing their "security contracts" and fulfilling their duties. However, Leo naturally has some resistance to NetWatch's tracebacks, not to mention that as long as he does a clean job, MoorE Technologies won't have any leads. Because Martin had also been duped. Leo clapped his hands lightly, "No worries, that's not a problem." This attitude, however, gave Martin the wrong signal, "So you could just ask Biotechnica directly for the equipment; why come to me?" "Well, it's complicated." Martin's cybernetic eyes flickered with data, and he said, "Typically, they conduct equipment checks and verifications before Thursday, and then on Thursday afternoon, they scrap high-security-grade equipment in one go. The scrapping location is the Night City Waste Processing Plant. I have some information here that you can look at—burn after reading. Get ready to receive the goods, and I'll go schedule the scrapping. Any other questions?" Leo immediately used a cross-dimensional data channel to receive the information—this way, there's no receiver in the cyberpunk world, making it completely untraceable. "That's all—pleasure doing business, Doctor. Maybe we'll collaborate again in the future." "Oh, right," Martin suddenly remembered something and said, "That decay model you wrote earlier—I suggest you not show off your knowledge so much in the future. Just knowing the decay pattern allows someone to deduce your DNA information from the model. You don't want someone to target you genetically, do you?" Leo froze for a moment—he understood what was going on. Professor Connors' decay model was improved from the work of Richard and Mary Parker, who had started the experiment using Richard Parker's DNA as the blueprint. This is also why Connors' decay model could never enter a low-risk phase. Leo pondered, "So can you reverse-engineer the decay patterns from multiple instances where the decay model has already taken effect?" Martin shrugged, "Of course—how do you think companies acquired this technology in the first place?" Martin's casual tone held a brutal truth: companies perfected the theory of cross-species DNA modification through large-scale human experimentation. How many people became test subjects in the process? "This time, there's really no problem." Leo sighed inwardly as he left the clinic. The truck from Revere Courier Services was still parked outside, waiting for Martin to let them unload the remaining goods. Leo's sharp eyes noticed a lot of medical boxes inside. From the electronic tags on them, he could tell—they contained the same type of alpha neuro-inhibitors. So this kid who claimed he was too oppressed working at MoorE Technologies probably saw a business opportunity that made him decide to go solo. The three of them carried Murphy straight onto the Mackinaw. The guy even fell asleep staring at the moon—he must have been feeling much better. The engine started, and the three began their face-to-face online chat. V: "So, where's our money-making gig? What did you borrow all that money for?" Leo: "Enrolled in a small class, bought a treasure map." Leo: "MoorE Technologies will be scrapping a batch of high-tech controlled equipment on Thursday afternoon. We'll find a buyer to take those things off our hands." Jackie: "Robbing corporate goods? That's a tough job, and it's controlled equipment, no less." Leo: "Yeah, but it'll pay off big. I've got the transport route mapped out. But doing this in the city is too risky; we'll hit it when the opportunity is right." That's a backup plan. Actually, old Vic had already bought Leo the pet equipment needed to observe DNA, and Leo just needed to jailbreak it. Simple functional jailbreaking isn't a very complex technical task. But it's a good thing Leo was cautious—if he hadn't spent that 700k, they all might've been killed. This job could only be done with soon-to-be-scrapped equipment. Otherwise, neither old Vic nor Martin would be able to explain it away. V: "So what now? Do we wait for Murphy to find the reporter tomorrow and make a big exposé?" Leo: "No, we're going straight to kidnap his boss, Diana Kuno. If she's smart, she should be losing her mind with worry by now." Jackie: "Guys, working with you is always a thrill. If it's not robbing corporate high-tech, it's kidnapping corporate management." V: "Trust me, this isn't even the most exciting part." V: "What about poor Murphy?" Leo: "Don't we have the best fixer in Santo Domingo? He wants intel, and Murphy has it, so let him deal with Faraday." V: "So we're selling him out." Leo: "Technically, we're giving him a good way out. After all, we're mercs, and he hasn't paid us." Leo: "If no one objects, I'll call Faraday to pick him up." Jackie, V: "No objections." Faraday, the big shot in Santo Domingo, had been having a headache lately. If only Maine's team had stuck to the investigation, Biotechnica wouldn't have caught the hacker, and everything would still be in the shadows. Arasaka sent him the contract, and he could still investigate the matter quietly—everything would have been much simpler. Investigating Project Nightingale was a tough job, and he even considered giving up. As for inviting Burgerking's team, that was because he had received another tip—Kang Tao wanted him to test and observe Burgerking's hacker. Now, with Burgerking going solo, he had no idea what the kid was planning. Abandoning the contract seemed like a loss; maybe Burgerking could pull it off. As for continuing to use Maine's team to investigate Project Nightingale... Let's just say, if Burgerking's team didn't exist, he would have already decided to drop the contract. Faraday was a proud man and didn't realize he was already getting strung along. Ding-Ding— Incoming call: Burgerking. Faraday immediately picked up. Leo: "Faraday, there's been progress. I have a guy named Brandon Murphy from Biotechnica." Leo: "He was in charge of dealing with a nomad tribe—seems like Biotechnica was running an experiment, and people died horribly." Leo: "This might be related to what you're investigating—he wants to meet with a reporter who's been investigating Biotechnica. They might be able to cross-reference intel and get new leads." Faraday was quite surprised. This... the contract had only been out for less than a day? Faraday: "I expected no less from Burgerking. Does Biotechnica know about this?" Leo: "They know he's missing—that's certain. I can't guarantee anything else, but if Biotechnica killed someone, they probably won't call the cops, you know how it is." But in reality, Biotechnica's reaction would greatly reflect whether Murphy had any real value. Faraday made a swift decision, "Where is he? Name the place." "Brandon Street's All Foods Burger. Maine will be there to pick him up."