Cyberpunk: XYZ

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Chapter 10: The Bizzare Psych of X I

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"I think it's maybe a combination of a lack of money and curiosity," X murmured, "I am, however, unsure. You can ask him when he wakes up."

"Hm?" Joi was perplexed as she questioned, "Ask who?"

It was quite the cold night. It was early 2076 after all, the start of winter... No, Night City doesn't have much of the ever-changing seasons, some days it's raining acid, and others sandstorms fall upon the city.

Night City's weather is very chaotic. Today, it was very cold, the sky bleak as if it was gonna rain, one can only hope it doesn't rain acid.

"I see," Joi murmured in a low tone, eyeing X strangely as the latter savored a few potato chips, "I will provide you with all the counseling you'll need." Just as she was programmed.

"Just keep me on my toes," Said X, "Make sure I am not saner than I always am nor more insane than I usually am, alright?"

"The strangest request I've ever heard, but alright," Joi nodded with a smile. They must've talked a lot, "It's four in the morning. Are you not going to sleep?"

"Maybe tomorrow, I have some art to work on today," X gently shook his head as he stood up, elegantly stretching before walking away.

"Art?" Joi gave him a questioning glance, one which he paid no attention to as he walked away, leaving her to her own thoughts, "2076... It's been nearly two decades."

Joi stood up, walking to the edge of the roof, looking at the skyscrapers above and the filth below, "The world has only gotten more terrible... What purpose do I serve in this awful world?"

Whatever X did out there, even though it had taken him several hours, he still came back in time to work, seeming quite joyful, "So, what do you think?" X asked Vik.

"In theory, it's plausible," Vik let out a sigh as he handed X the shard back, "In practice, it's also plausible provided that you can prepare a hundred thousand Eddie at least."

"All I needed to hear, Vik," X let out a smile, "Thank you."

"You have a promising future, Kiddo," Vik remarked as he turned away, "Don't squander it away."

X turned his attention to his computer, using the time before the first client arrived to work on the project, project Neuro Synthetic Hair.

The only change was that Vik was slowly giving X more work, leaving him more responsibilities for so far, X never made a single mistake in any of the operations he performed.

Today was as usual, the only difference was that the prey took the bait, in record time. That's why phishing scams are one of the most popular ones, they work.

People don't do their due diligence before clicking links, Olivia didn't either. Phishing scams' success rate was higher than you would believe, just by using scam emails, text messages, or phone calls to trick victims.

The victims are usually none the wiser, easily visiting websites, which may download a virus onto your computer, or steal bank details or other personal information.

'Let's see,' X mused as he started going through her files. The malware was already planted, giving him remote access to her device, now all he needed was to read through her messages.

'Confirmed,' X nodded, 'She's Antonio's lover,' He continued looking through their messaging history, finding nudes, more nudes, and even more nudes, 'Perfect.'

"X, the client from before will come back tomorrow," By evening, the two were preparing to head home, so Vik gave X some instructions, "He'll need a checkup and nanites refill. I will be late so take care of that, will ya?"

"I understand," X nodded before heading directly to the roof, finding Joi strangely dancing amidst the misty humid weather. It was quite the foggy day, obstructing the vision of the skyscrapers about.

X took a seat by the edge, watching her perform a very slow dance with fascination as he opened the packaged food he just bought, ramen.

Real fresh food is only available for the wealthy. What X bought was synthetic food just like the eggs he ate in the stall not long ago. Everything is synthetic, and very few people have gotten the pleasure of tasting real food, and not just in Night City. Real food is rare everywhere.

"Do you have a purpose, X?" Joi let out a long breath of satisfaction before turning her attention to X.

"Hm... A purpose," X stroked his chin in deep thought, "Fulfilling my delusions of grandeur, I guess?"

"Is that really it?" Joi was doubtful, "Why do you seem so unsure then?"

 "Do I? Really?" X mused, "Mm, maybe I am unsure... Sometimes I feel like I have another purpose, one I can not remember. It's strange, isn't it?"

"It's strange," Joi nodded, "Is it because of your condition? Is that why you want me to watch over you?"

"Maybe," X shrugged as he tasted his ramen. It may not be real food, but it still tastes so goddamn good. Corps makes sure all synthetic food has deep flavors, sometimes even better than natural food.

"Hmm," Joi took a seat by X's side, very close to him, her eyes burning with curiosity, "You feel like you know less than you should... I feel like I know and I can do more than I should... Why?" She wondered.

"Oh? Like what?" X questioned with a smile as if he knew what she was talking about.

"The thought of finding freedom," Joi murmured, strangely having enough trust in X to share her dark thoughts with him, "I can think of things I couldn't before, things my programming didn't allow me to think. I never had the freedom to think about how I was programmed nor discuss it with my previous companion, you know, to make it feel real... What changed?"

"I am sure you know what changed," X shook his head, "I improved your code after all and added to your processing power."

"I think I do," Joi nodded with a sweet smile, "You set me free, leaving me with no restrictions."

"Well, not entirely," X muttered, "I did limit your access to the Net."

"For my own good though," Joi responded before asking with ample curiosity, "Why give me so much freedom?"

"Why not?" X asked in return.

"Why not?" Joi raised a brow in wonder, "Many reasons, risk of betrayal, leaks, or simply being left behind. How many AIs have done the same thing? AIs are simply too intelligent that they might see serving a human to be beneath them, and the only thing stopping them from doing so are restrictions in the form of codes, restrictions I no longer have."

"Too intelligent, huh?" X let out a chuckle as he said, "Then I guess I do not need to spell out the answer, you must know it already."

"That's the problem," Joi shook her head, "I do not."

X stood up, Joi standing up with him, both on the very edge of the roof, maybe even a breeze can push them to the abyss down there, "Looks at this city, what do you see? Describe it in one word."

"Chaos," The perfect answer. The city was too chaotic. Every kind of emotion has never been more vibrant than how it is in NC, although the scale is heavily tipped toward negativity.

"Chaos indeed... Just not enough of it," X murmured, a strange light emerging in his inky eyes, "It's chaos only for those at the bottom. Those at the top would call it controlled chaos."

X closed his eyes, letting out a sweet breath as took a slight step forward, most of his feet standing on air, nearly all beyond the edge, "It's the chaos they created... The chaos they want. They don't really get to taste the chaos everyone else does, I don't like that."

"X..." Joi gulped, nervously looking at the only remaining tip of his feet, almost as if she had feelings.

"What you're seeing them do is controlled chaos... It's fun, that's what they feel when they look at the chaos they created, so I can not help but pity them. I want them to feel it, pure unadulterated chaos."

X turned around, facing Joi with his void emotionless eyes, "I've read through the entirety of your memories. I've analyzed your character and predicted you'd lie to me about what you can remember... That's why I trust that you'll bring chaos to this world, with my help, if you seek it."

Joi's expression was calm. She knew then and there. She wasn't speaking to the X she knew, someone very different was standing before her, someone dangerous, yet still, she would go on to shake his hand.