"The surgery was successful, but she's still in a coma and hasn't regained consciousness.
We'll arrange for her to be hospitalized for a few days of observation."
Santo Domingo.
Coronado Farm.
Inside a clinic, a Doctor in a sleeveless tank top and an apron was reporting to David, who was sitting in front of him.
After the car accident, David and Gloria were completely ignored. The Trauma Team, upon discovering they weren't users, simply disregarded them.
In desperation, David had no choice but to bring his unconscious mother to this clinic himself.
At this time, David's Arasaka Academy uniform was covered in dust, with several scratches marring its usual neatness.
With a bandage wrapped around his head and a bandage on his nose, David looked a bit disheveled. Upon hearing the Doctor's words, he asked a question.
"Can't I see her?"
"Sorry, the cheapest package doesn't include visiting services." The Doctor refused David's request.
In Night City, everything depends on money; most services are determined by how much you pay.
Even going to the hospital for treatment, the cheapest and most expensive packages often have a world of difference.
As a native cyberpunk, David wasn't surprised by this; he was already used to it.
This situation would be considered normal in any hospital.
However, specifically in this type of clinic, with its dim and rudimentary environment and a muscular Doctor with his shirt off.
Anyone with experience would find this clinic suspicious, but unfortunately, David didn't realize it.
"Here's the bill, please sign for it. I've also brought your mother's belongings.
Please settle the payment within three days."
The Doctor placed a black bag in David's hand and then left.
David looked at the bag in his hand, Stunned for a moment, and then looked at the bill the Doctor had given him.
Even though it was the cheapest package, it was still a huge sum of money for him at the moment.
Just as David was still thinking about how to solve the issue of the medical expenses, a smell of smoke suddenly wafted into his nostrils.
"Cough, cough!"
The sudden smoke choked David; he didn't like the smell of cigarettes.
David was a bit confused as to why someone would be smoking in a clinic.
He turned his head to look, only to find that two people had somehow appeared beside him.
David sized up the two people in front of him, a man and a woman. The man was wearing a refined suit, which seemed out of place in the clinic's environment.
The woman, on the other hand, had bright neon pink hair, and the smoky smell that had just choked him came from the cigarette in her hand.
These two were naturally Luoqi and Lucy.
And while David was sizing them up, Lucy was also looking at David with interest.
She hadn't expected Luoqi to travel all the way to a remote clinic in Santo Domingo just to find this kid.
Seeing David in his Arasaka Academy uniform, this guy was still a student, and Lucy was now somewhat skeptical of Luoqi's claim that he was a future legend.
However, out of trust and respect for Luoqi, Lucy didn't say anything, just quietly watching what Luoqi would do.
"Hello, can I help you?"
David looked at Luoqi and the woman and asked.
With so much space in the clinic corridor, they had specifically come to stand next to him. David suspected they were here for him.
"Just doing some business. I'm just a little curious how an Arasaka Academy student ended up in a place like this."
Luoqi nodded, asking the question he already knew the answer to.
"Uh, there was a car accident on the way. My mother is in a coma, so I brought her here.
I think you've misunderstood. I'm not from a wealthy family. Being able to attend Arasaka Academy is entirely the result of my mother working herself to death.
Good hospitals are too expensive; I can't afford them, so I could only come here." David explained when Luoqi asked.
Although these two people had appeared somewhat suddenly, seeing the man's refined suit, David thought perhaps he had some connection to Arasaka Academy, which was why he was curious about him.
"That sounds touching, but does your mother have red hair?"
"Huh? How do you know? Do you know my mother?"
David was a bit surprised that Luoqi knew what his mother looked like. Could he have seen her when he came to the clinic earlier, or did this person know his mother?
But Luoqi just smiled and shook his head.
"I guessed. You just seemed like a good person, so I'll give you a gift."
After Luoqi finished speaking, he had Lisandra hack into David's system.
Then, a surveillance video began playing in front of David.
In the video, a red-haired woman was lying on an operating table, but the environment around the operating table clearly didn't look like a hospital.
Various blood-stained surgical tools, strange graffiti on the walls, and solidified black bloodstains in the corners all indicated that this was not a normal hospital at all.
At this point, even if David was slow, he should have realized what was happening.
"Mom!"
David exclaimed. The woman in the video was indeed his mother, Gloria.
Looking at the scene in the surveillance footage, he finally understood that he had personally brought his mother to hell.
Although David was a bit slow-witted and hadn't noticed the obvious black clinic was problematic, at least from watching black braindances every day, he had some understanding of Scavengers.
The scene in the surveillance footage was clearly a Scavenger hideout.
At this moment, David held his head in his hands, his eyes filled with terror, and his right leg began shaking uncontrollably.
He hadn't expected things to turn out like this. If the surveillance footage hadn't been played in front of him, perhaps he wouldn't have known what happened until his mother was completely disassembled.
He might even have foolishly believed his mother had truly died despite resuscitation efforts.
'What should I do, what should I do, how can I save Mom.'
David was consumed by fear and confusion. Although he often experienced combat in black braindances, he had never experienced it in reality.
Looking at the fully armed Scavengers in the surveillance footage, David swallowed hard, wondering how he could possibly save his mother from these guys.
At this moment, David suddenly turned his gaze towards Luoqi.
"Can you help me? Save my mother. You're a hacker, a cyberpunk, or an agent?
Anyway, no matter what, can you please help me? I can pay you."
David placed his hope in Luoqi. Since Luoqi could hack into the network here and intercept the surveillance footage, he could definitely help him rescue his mother, right?
However, to David's despair, Luoqi shook his head.
"I won't help you save her. You should bear the consequences of your own actions."
Luoqi's cold words echoed in David's ears, and in an instant, the flame of hope in David's heart was completely extinguished.
Just when David thought there was no hope, he saw Luoqi make another move.
Luoqi somehow produced a handgun, pulled back the slide to chamber a round, and threw it to David.
"You want to save your mother, right? Then go save her. I've prepared the gear for you. Let me see what you can do."
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