Chapter 43: Chapter 41 Arasaka Academy Station, Arrived

The next stop was Arasaka Academy.

According to the annual report provided by "Night City Perspective," Arasaka Academy had ranked first among Night City educational institutions for the fourth consecutive year.

The magazine’s education experts believed that Arasaka Academy’s infrastructure and education were unparalleled in Night City; from any perspective, this was universally acknowledged.

"Nonsense, other public schools might face school shootings any day now," snorted V mercilessly.

True, Night City was a free metropolis where adults had the freedom to fire their guns anywhere on the streets, and so did minors—plus, they had an additional battleground: schools.

The only reason this issue wasn’t singled out was that in Night City, minors and adults had the same rights, so there was no differential treatment in the statistics of shooting incidents.

Lille was holding a journal from an independent media outlet, clearly critical of Arasaka Academy’s approach.

The article then highlighted the persistent high dropout and depression rates at Arasaka Academy.

Next was an advertisement for a school sponsored by Military Science.

"This is not praising Arasaka, the latter part of the article criticizes the academy’s high dropout rates and persistent depression, even suicides.

Tsk tsk, seriously, if the administration just encouraged studying skills honestly instead of fostering a competitive grading atmosphere."

V didn’t really understand Lille’s actions, "I mean, wouldn’t it be better to spend this time getting more work done with us? What’s the use of throwing money in to get a diploma?

Maybe it could give us new clues?"

"Your level of education is too low, it’s really hard for me to explain..."

"Ha, and you talk about high educational levels, you don’t even have a record of it."

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have arrived at your destination: Arasaka Academy, which is located to your right,"

signaled Delamain, the autonomous taxi, as they reached the entrance of Arasaka Academy.

As an institution affiliated with one of the most influential corporations in Night City, its location was prime, right next to the city council office.

By 2077, education had become even more extreme, with intermediate institutions like Arasaka Academy being unaffordable for families without a high corporate salary, burdening them with lifetimes of debt just for their children’s schooling.

And this was merely for middle-level education. Higher degrees, like the renowned law degree from Ascaga-Berkeley University, could cost upwards of 270 million.

But was it worth it?

To those at the top, this piece of paper was crucial, but to those at the bottom, it was better to start working early.

Ascaga-Berkeley University’s law department churned out figures who mostly went on to serve as politicians in various forces, with some becoming legal specialists and consultants in corporations.

For instance, the current mayoral candidates for Night City, Mr. and Mrs. Perares, were alumni of its law department and knew how to leverage such networks.

Those from lower layers couldn’t afford it nor infiltrate those circles and thus couldn’t even imagine the advantages a higher education could offer.

Many poor parents sent their children to Arasaka Academy, merely... imagining that education alone could change their destinies.

Of course, Lille couldn’t afford that kind of degree either.

As for V, she was completely clueless about it. She said to Lille, "Alright, then you go take the exam. Jack and I will head to the Wild Wolf Bar for a drink. Call if you need anything."

"Alright—do you really think I’m some kind of helpless weakling?"

Lille pointed to his head—by this time, he had already equipped a Magic Doll prosthesis in his access chamber, which was heating up.

Obtaining a cheap item from the Geisha District, Lille planned to develop his own Magic Doll, just using this one in the meantime.

"Don’t get mugged by thugs again, crying for your sister V to fix the situation—We’re off, old Del, to the Wild Wolf Bar."

As V departed, Lille checked the time, took an immunosuppressive drug, and leisurely walked into Arasaka Academy.

Continuing education differed from full-time education; it was designed for dropouts, essentially adult education.

Legally, this institution of continuing education wasn’t part of Arasaka Academy but another investment by Arasaka in education, conveniently located near Arasaka Academy for better publicity.

Mainly focused on technical training, the program Lille chose involved teaching plus assessments. This type of education lacked thorough onsite training and AI-customized courses and was relatively rough.

But the advantage was its lower cost, and if Lille passed the post-education skill certification test, he could get a reduction in tuition fees—

Sounds miraculous, right? A corporation actually giving money back?

But this test was no easy feat; it was a legitimate social certification, like old Vee’s Grade-A prosthetic doctor license.

Actually, among ten thousand people who took the test, there might not be one who passed. For the corporation, having such talent in reserve was necessary.

Even if they didn’t need these talents, it was essential to attract them and deplete the talent pools of competitors, so it really was a strategic expenditure.

If one passed the test and agreed to abide by the work assignments from the academy, they could further reduce tuition fees.

Still, entry into continuing education itself required passing an entrance examination—no company had an interest in fools.

The continuing education institution was right next to the main entrance, much more ordinary compared to the distant academy center, and physically segregated from the inner parts of the academy.

Walking through the towering buildings close to the academy zone, one could even more appreciate the grandeur of those corporate buildings and the vast expanses of greenery that underscored their uniqueness—

Yes, the buildings here weren’t tall, but such lavish use of space definitely aligned them with the surrounding corporations.

This spawned an illusion: the corporate buildings and Arasaka Academy, like adults and children standing together.

And when you looked at this pair of adult and child, you always felt, the child was bound to grow up just like the adult.

When adults and children stand together, no one cares what the children are really like.

Some kids actually enjoy this sensation, just like those strutting out of Arasaka Academy at this very moment... Little brats, noses in the air as if they owned the sky.

Uninformed onlookers might think they’d already graduated, earning millions a year.

Watching several kids who wouldn’t deign to give him a straight look, Lille thought: Hum, whether it’s a corporate executive at Arasaka or screwing bolts in an Arasaka factory, it’s all just a job.

"Don’t let me see you when I’m robbing Arasaka"—Lille thought again: Oh, actually, it’s best not to see yourself even when you’re an executive.

But suddenly, he felt that when he was a good student, he probably looked at those social beings with the same expression...

How could students know which part of society they would belong to later on?

Top of Arasaka Tower? A biotechnology farm? Or a prosthetic worker on the assembly line in Orbital City?

But now—they are enjoying the top education, indeed the children under the corporate umbrella.

"Mr. Dennis Burger King, please enter testing room number 3."

The announcement called out Lille’s alias.

...

Soon, Lille also felt the gap between ideals and reality.

[Some claim that Si Anweisitan is actually an ancient magic that uses energy fields to create time distortion areas—is this claim true or false? Please briefly explain your reason and describe how Si Anweisitan works.]

Who would believe such a thing?

Lille thought to himself: Indeed, technologies from different worlds appear incredibly unbelievable to each other.

But... in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, the speed of light is still the limit, and time isn’t so easily twisted.

Given that he had such a device on his spine, Lille naturally proceeded with the answer.

What came next were more normal, mostly simple technical tidbits found online, such as the two types of signal transmission mechanisms in the human body—electrical signals and biological signals.

The harder questions involved the theoretical model of bioelectric signals, a detailed explaination on the conversion mechanisms between digital signals and biological signals, and so on.

Lille was enrolled for a Grade-A medical license and a Grade-A technical specialist training course, so there was also stuff like the synthetic chemical formula of alcohol-2 and designs for functional alcohol-2 generators.

All fairly basic—if one aimed to achieve these two types of Grade-A licenses.

Before coming here, Lille had crammed this knowledge with Old Wei, and with the help of prosthetic memory enhancement plus his two lifetimes of accrued intellectual capacity, he didn’t pause during the answering process.

However, as he finished all the technical assessment questions, the questioner paused for a moment.

Then it posed a more intriguing question.

[Arasaka Company is the world’s top conglomerate; do you wish to join the Arasaka Company?]

Lille’s answer was "No, I have other plans for my life, but living in Night City, learning to deal with Arasaka is essential."

It sounded rather flattering but was indeed the case.

[Do you resist choosing Arasaka’s services?]

After thinking it over, Lille filled in: "On the contrary, if Arasaka can offer the services I need, I would be happy to purchase them, just like this educational product."

[Suppose you want to become an external worker for the Arasaka Company, how would you plan your career and live a good life?]

"External worker," huh...

This probably operates like a psychological profiling question, aiming to paint a psychological portrait through inquiry about certain matters.

First off, the term itself isn’t well-defined.

The electrician in Westbrook District, hanging wires all day could qualify, so could hackers in Taiping State who occasionally do the company’s dirty work, mercenaries, assassins...

The choice of the subject naturally reveals his subconscious leanings.

And his first thought was actually about being a middleman—

If it comes to that, the answer is: maintain good relations with Arasaka, clear funding channels, use money and resources to control locals, and ruthlessly suppress all competition.

This is to become the only channel of communication between local people and the upper class.

Secondly, creating opposition between the two is necessary, as this is the basis for the middleman’s existence, find people for the company, do the company’s bidding, even lick NCPD... all according to the situation.

At the same time, maintain a distance with Arasaka.

When necessary, suggest the risk of switching jobs to keep Arasaka management from entrusting high confidentiality tasks to yourself.

This way, you’re less likely to face cruel choices like death or recruitment, keeping your life in your own hands as much as possible.

Companies may change, people at the bottom might die, but... the only constant is the barrier between the two classes.

Operating smoothly in sharp confrontations, stay calm and independent, unentangled by either side, yet simultaneously profiting from both.

In conflicts, for the company you are the roach that’s hard to squash; for the common folk, a powerful figure with reach and influence.

This is the fence-sitter of Night City—the middleman.

With this in mind, Lille began to answer:

"Only an idiot would take this job."