Mad Dog William's story is brief, so brief that the doctor summed it up within half a glass of liquor, then proceeded with supplements, recalling bits and pieces, the more he spoke, the more detailed it became...
A tale of a street kid rising to a city legend.
From a special mix called "Screw Bomb" in a mercenary bar to the crazy car chases ambushing corporate transport teams, their stories are filled with advanced firearms, sex, financial chips that are both similar and different, not to mention countless damned experiences.
Ryan recalled many names.
Faces that one only dares to remember when drunken to the brink of death, gradually becoming clear in the neon halo of the East District's underground market.
"Who hasn't dreamed of being the king of the city? But this is Eden City, dedicated to devouring such dreams."
William was quite a charismatic guy.
He was a bastard, a mad dog, yet everyone trusted him, everyone was willing to deal with him.
William would tap the table in the bar, and the whole place would raise their glasses, feeling the thrill of being a mercenary, daring to take any job, yet fate falls to the bottom at the best of times.
First, someone got hurt.
Then, someone died.
William stepped up to solve the problems, ambushed and gravely injured, to protect everyone he had to install the [Martyr GTX].
When speaking of this...
Ryan's mouth hung open, silent for a long time, until his lips went dry, and a sentence finally popped out.
"I installed it personally; I'm the doctor, I wielded the knife."
He raised his usual hand, his knuckles trembling.
"We thought it was a life-saving treasure, turned out to be the countdown to a death bomb, the Gaia Cells bastards tricked us; the big last deal to turn the tables simply didn't exist, they wanted William to test the limits of the prosthetic body's performance."
Ryan completely immersed himself in the memories.
His eye sockets sank inward, his prosthetic eyes enlarged and suddenly contracted, his cornea and humidity regulators slightly malfunctioning.
Yet he didn't care, just stared at that void.
William activated the Martyr, activated the military chip, maxed out all the overclocking prosthetic bodies, fought against the Gaia Cells army till the sky turned dark and earth shattered, using his life to send a few survivors out.
Until the explosion occurred, the East District's buildings collapsed.
John quietly listened, unable to think of any comforting words but opened his mouth.
"At least you and Raphael survived."
"No matter how well you fight, you're just a drop of blood added to the company gears, it will mercilessly crush over... no survivors, only scraps."
The doctor caressed the empty glass as if deciding firmly.
"I know this is against the rules, John, can you tell me, how did you survive? If the Martyr GTX could be removed... were we really having better options back then?"
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Conceal Neural Ark. (Optional)]
[Disclose Surgery Details. (Optional)]
"We shouldn't bother talking about these."
John didn't hide any details; matters of Black Light and cyber psychosis had already been explained to the doctor and Oulos.
Raphael knew about the Neural Ark, it wasn't a secret to Ryan either.
But what surprised John was—the doctor truly had never heard of Neural Ark, he kept asking for details.
Ultimately, Ryan Randall seemed relieved.
"You know, when I heard you came back alive, first I was happy, then scared, fearing I missed something, fearing there was a better choice ignored back then, letting William, Chavez, Brudo, and Pneumatic Hammer die for nothing..."
The doctor drunkenly asked after turning around. "Does the surgery require consuming a mature AI?"
John nodded.
"In that case, good, good," the doctor turned back, mumbling. "We didn't have such conditions back then, so... it's not my fault."
He painfully covered his head.
John was puzzled. "Didn't Raphael tell you? She knows about the Neural Ark better than I do."
"She knows?"
Ryan was shocked.
John nodded.
He initially thought the doctor would be angry; instead, the doctor showed a look of fear and worry, still muttering. "Damn, she must be the most miserable one, oh Lord... poor Raphael."
"Sorry, should I know something?"
John was full of confusion.
The doctor hesitated but finally shook his head. "When Raphael trusts you enough, she'll tell you on her own, she's... still a decent and reliable intermediary, of course, provided there's no trickery."
"Alright then."
John was unbothered.
Ryan felt somewhat guilty about his attitude toward himself. "You've cleaned out your public account and biological info in Eden City, right? The bounty account from ECPD is definitely gone too; we'll lend you ours."
Gang wars have already heated up, the city is full of opportunities to get rich and famous; if you kill someone notable and they're wanted in ECPD's system, you can trade death evidence for bounty money from the cops.
[Contact Created - Ryan Randall]
[Unread Message [with attachment]]
"Take the account to use, claiming bounties requires a commission, but this account's percentage is definitely more favorable than your previous one, but with me in this pathetic state, it's better left for you."
Once Ryan finished recounting memories, he became stern again.
"Vacuum Tube... uh, is that what it's called? Where did they get you a new body?"
"I don't know."
"There's a problem with your body."
Ryan picked up the metallic cups used by John and himself, using different levels of alcohol to represent different physical states.
The concept of the Neural Ark is to "clone" and "edit" the brain, allowing the surgical subject to inherit memory and personality, then transplant into a compatible prosthetic body.
The difficulty lies in overcoming the replication of the brain but easily overlooks—a brain can be customized, but what about the flesh?
Where does the surgical carrier come from?
John naturally thought of [cloning].
But the blind spot of thinking is here.
Ryan asked, "Did you ask anyone, all patients of Neural Ark surgery, are they clones of a body?"
"Uh, I don't get it."
"You said Vacuum Tube replicated your body."
The doctor frowned, slowing his speech. "Prosthetic can be installed back, damaged ones can be replaced with the same model, but the body's missing parts can't be restored!"
Cloning can ensure two people look alike.
But scars on the skin surface caused postnatally, the state of internal organs cannot be replicated through cloning.
Ryan's prosthetic eye flickered, sharing earlier test results.
John had left many reports in the clinic, including detailed data on internal organ damage.
Human organs can record a person's life experiences.
If it's a cloned body, it's a product of the experimental environment, unable to replicate organs that have undergone junk food, alcohol poisoning, drug abuse damages, and combat injuries.
But John's "new body" and the "old inspection report" internal organ examination were nearly identical.
"What does this mean?"
John vaguely guessed the answer, yet still wanted confirmation.
The doctor furrowed his brow, speaking in an absurd tone.
"It means you are not a clone, but a copy; this body might've been a mass-produced template in a mold."
The clinic's top floor fell into silence.
John described to the doctor in detail, including in the memory fragments seeing glass jars and flesh soaked in nutrient liquid.
Ryan scratched his bald head.
"If you get the chance, you'd better confirm with those who have undergone the Neural Ark surgery how their bodies are... Strictly speaking, your body isn't factory original, right?"
The doctor referred to the Tiebang Logistics transport incident.
Vacuum Tube transitioned "Chavez" to "John's" body, while in the Neural Ark surgery, transitioned "John" to another "John's" body.
Connecting the two events leads to a terrifying conclusion.
Vacuum Tube might have a batch of [Johns].
