Chapter 208: Valerie Adapting to Her New Job
As Valerie approached, Jackie immediately noticed her.
"Hey! V!" He waved excitedly, temporarily pausing his grand speech. "Come over here and tell these little guys—wasn't it a total blast when you smashed that 'Onimusha' to pieces with one punch in that red mech?"
Valerie shook her head gently, her mechanical prosthetic emitting a faint whirring sound. "It was just completing a test mission, Jackie."
Her gaze first landed on David, looking at the complex mechanical blueprints in front of him. She couldn't help but be reminded of herself when she first joined Arasaka.
This boy was so similar to how she used to be; both had believed that hard work alone would allow them to climb the corporate ladder.
Only she had paid the price of a severed arm and a near-death experience to see the truth, whereas David... she hoped this young man would understand certain realities sooner rather than later.
"How is the study progress?" Her voice softened unconsciously.
David looked up, revealing a helpless smile. "It's okay... it's just the volume of knowledge is immense. Lord Sage's technological system is truly profound."
The look in his eyes when he looked at Valerie held obvious admiration, and a trace of yearning unique to the young. "Miss Valerie, what does it actually feel like to pilot power armor?"
Just as David asked the question, Valerie noticed a subtle change in Lucy's stance.
Although the silver-haired hacker maintained a lazy posture, her center of gravity had quietly shifted to a state ready for action at any moment.
Valerie's mechanical fingers tightened unconsciously—she was too familiar with this posture. It was an instinctive reaction trained by Arasaka.
"At first, the machine feels heavy, and the controls feel a bit sluggish," Valerie answered David's question, her gaze sweeping over Lucy seemingly unintentionally. "But once you adapt, the sense of power and security is very special."
She paused deliberately, observing Lucy's eyelashes tremble slightly. "Especially with the recent upgrades, the performance should be even better."
Jackie leaned in, lowering his voice but unable to hide his smugness. "Buddy, I stole a few moves too! I've watched those Barghest guys operate their 'Vargrs' plenty of times.
"If it weren't for not having that damn neural interface surgery, I would've gone up to try my hand long ago!"
He patted his solid chest. "Pure reaction and intuition are enough!"
Valerie sighed helplessly and turned her attention to Jackie. "Don't mess around, Jackie. Piloting military power armor isn't that simple."
Her peripheral vision remained locked on Lucy.
She had seen this former Arasaka hacker's file in the company system—codename "Lucy," a netrunner specialized in executing high-risk data salvage missions beyond the Blackwall. She went missing during an operation three years ago and was marked as "AWOL."
Arasaka Counter-Intel had launched a secret investigation into it.
"Don't worry, sister!" Jackie waved his hand nonchalantly, then got excited again. "Heard you're going for another test? Can you put in a word with Colonel Hansen this time and let me go watch? Just looking, absolutely no trouble!"
"We'll see." Valerie didn't agree immediately. She took a final look at David. The boy was listening intently to their conversation, his eyes shining with that hunger for the future she used to know so well.
"Mr. Sage is waiting for me. I have to go to the workshop." She patted David's shoulder. "Focus on your studies. Knowledge is the most important weapon."
When she turned to Lucy, their gazes met briefly.
Valerie nodded slightly and received an almost imperceptible nod in return.
Leaving the three young people, each with their own thoughts, Valerie walked alone on the path back to the workshop, the ripples in her heart yet to settle.
Jackie's unreserved enthusiasm was like a glass of strong liquor in winter; it always made her feel a trace of warmth in the cold reality.
And the thirst for knowledge in David's eyes allowed her to see the version of herself from years ago—struggling on the streets, eventually squeezing into Arasaka Academy through sheer grit and brains.
That similar trajectory made her involuntarily feel pity, and even a sense of responsibility—she didn't want this boy to repeat her mistakes.
However, Lucy's existence was like a tiny shard of ice, silently piercing deep into her consciousness.
That seemingly indifferent face, and the Arasaka secret training program it represented, constantly reminded Valerie of her own past—stained with blemishes and ultimately ruthlessly discarded.
She chose to remain silent for now, not exposing Lucy's background to Maine or the Sage.
This was partly out of a subtle empathy for a fellow sufferer—in this damned world, traitors were often just survivors—and partly to leave some room for maneuver for herself.
But years of counter-intelligence work had long carved vigilance into her marrow.
Reason constantly issued warnings: Lucy's escape was too perfect, wiping away almost all traceable tracks. This was definitely not something an ordinary trainee could achieve.
Was there a deeper plot hidden behind it?
Was it a long-term sleeper agent carefully planted by Arasaka, or did it involve a power game at a higher level?
This uncertainty itself was the most dangerous signal.
She gently clenched her cold mechanical prosthetic, feeling the precise and reliable power transmit into her nervous system.
Regardless of Lucy's purpose, Valerie was no longer the Deputy Director risking her life for the corporation.
Valerie tightened her mechanical right hand, feeling the precise feedback from the prosthetic.
Now, she had a new object of loyalty, a new mission.
As for the shadows of the past... let them remain in those tacit exchanges of glances for now.
"Time to work," she whispered to herself, walking toward the workshop with firm steps.
Stepping into the workshop again, Valerie's keen eyes immediately caught the changes in the experimental unit.
The dark red livery seemed slightly more vivid. The single horn antenna on the head was still conspicuous, but the entire machine exuded a refined sense of having been meticulously polished.
The previously exposed piping had been cleverly rerouted and tucked away, and the protective armor at the joints appeared to have been reinforced.
The most striking changes were concentrated on the weapon systems.
The entire left arm had been replaced by a complex heavy weapon platform, currently loaded with an imposing Storm Bolter.
Although the right arm retained that terrifying Power Fist, a small laser emitter had been added to the outside of the forearm, and a laser cannon mount capable of omnidirectional rotation was now on the shoulder.
"Get in." Joric's voice sounded directly in her ear, without any superfluous pleasantries. "The piloting mode has been updated to Neural Direct Link. The interface is behind your seat, compatible with the neural port on your prosthetic."
Valerie climbed nimbly onto the power armor and wedged herself into the cockpit.
The internal space had been replanned, the layout more compact and rational.
When she settled into the redesigned seat, she felt a slight pressure at the back of her neck as the neural interface completed the docking automatically.
She took a deep breath and activated the system according to procedure.
A low roar instantly filled her perception. But unlike before, this time the sound didn't seem to come through her ears, but resonated directly within her bones.
The moment the helmet display in front of her lit up, a 360-degree panoramic view flooded into her consciousness like a tide.
She no longer needed to deliberately "look"; all information about the surrounding environment—from the cold texture of the workshop walls behind her to the subtle vibrations of the metal grate beneath her feet—naturally became part of her perception.
This brand-new experience gave her a moment of trance, as if this steel giant had already become an extension of her own body.
(End of Chapter)