Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

The sun shines through the car window, wrapping the woman's long blue-green hair like golden silk.

Joel quietly stared at her side face. In the bright light, countless particles of dust were dancing up and down happily, just like her with a smile on her face and a happy mood.

It's rare for Night City to have such good weather...

"It's a nice day today, isn't it?" Clementine said excitedly, standing close to Joel, pointing out the window.

"Well..." Joel followed her finger and looked out the window, while slowing down his breathing rate.

Too close, too close.

Within a few breaths, the woman's faint fragrance had already entered his nasal cavity and was heading towards his lungs.

"The weather is very good today, Yahweh..." Xida allowed Yahweh to hold his arms around his waist, leaning lazily in his arms, squinting his eyes slightly.

"It would be better if there weren't those flies..." Yahweh took off the little hat on her head and held it in his hand.

Night City has no shortage of chaos, even on a nice day like this.

A high-rise building not far away seemed to be on fire, and two trauma team float vehicles were rushing to the scene.

A huge roar passed over the head of the train, shattering the tranquility of the early morning.

But it cannot wake up people who are addicted to dreams.

Clementine still had a lively chat with Joel. Her initiative, enthusiasm, and generosity were like fire, easily melting a hole in the ice in the gloomy man's heart.

“I can’t wait to see the sun shining on the ocean!”

"I...I seem to have never seen the sea before..." Joel frowned and searched for memories. For some reason, he felt inexplicably familiar with the sea.

He thought of the diary in his briefcase, and the incomplete pages seemed to remind him that he had indeed forgotten something.

"Have you ever seen the sea? Yahweh?" the silver-haired girl in her arms asked softly.

"The sea..." Yahweh touched his nose, "I have seen something like the sea...Beyond the black wall, in the forbidden area of ​​​​humanity, is the boundless sea composed of billions of AIs..."

"That's probably a kind of glorious and terrifying beauty..." Xi Da closed his eyes, imagining the grand scenery of the boundless sea in his mind.

"It's indeed beautiful..." He gently stroked the girl's closed eyes with his index finger, smiling with a smile on his lips.

He recalled that many years ago, when he first rose from the depths of the violent and turbulent sea, he saw the ultimate appearance of the entire world...

"We've arrived at the station, Xida..." The mechanical prompting sound coming from his ears brought Yahweh back to reality, and he woke up the girl who was half asleep in the grand sunshine.

"Oh..." Heda responded in a low voice, wiped his eyes, took back his little hat from Yahweh's hand, and put it on his head.

Turning around, she saw that the gloomy man and the woman with long blue-green hair had already gotten out of the car. She quickly pulled Yahweh and chased them.

"Joel?" The woman's friendly call made him a little uncomfortable.

He scratched his neck, but couldn't stop the bone-deep itch.

"What's wrong?" Joel asked in a muffled voice, lowering his head, not daring to look into the woman's blue eyes.

"I feel like you're a little absent-minded..." Clementine frowned and gently patted the man's thin back.

"I feel...someone seems to be staring at me...I don't like this feeling..."

"Huh?" Clementine turned back and looked around at the crowd surging behind her, "No... maybe it's your imagination."

"Probably..." The long hair that the woman raised when she turned back brushed his face, and Joel felt that his face was hot, red and itchy.

"Oh! Don't worry about it! Come with me to the Schönbrunn area and let's go see the sea together!" Clementine took the man's arm into her arms and dragged him toward the Schönbrunn area.

"I thought they discovered us..." Xi Da patted his chest, which was beginning to take shape, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you don't leave, you will be lost, you stupid detective lady." Yahweh held her soft little hand, walked side by side, and blended into the crowd.

2074, January 13, 11:00

"What are they doing? Assistant Mr. Yahweh?" Xiza leaned on the guardrail on the street with his hands, looking at the two fuzzy dots in the distance.

"The woman with long blue-green hair suggested that the target go to eat first..." Yawei held four plastic bags of different sizes in his hands and shook his head helplessly.

They were obviously here to keep tabs on him, but in the end they followed their target into the mall, where he was dragged by Xi Da to buy a bunch of things in a daze.

"Then what are you waiting for? I happen to be hungry too!" Xi Ta put his arm around him and dragged him towards the target.

"What do you want to eat?" Joel rarely asked proactively.

After a morning of fierce offensive, he was greatly affected by Clementine's enthusiasm and initiative.

"How about that old German barbecue restaurant?" Clementine thought for a few seconds, pointed to the very busy barbecue restaurant not far away, and shouted excitedly.

"Okay." Joel raised his eyebrows, surprised that the two of them had similar tastes, and readily agreed.

Clementine smiled playfully at him, then naturally held his hand and walked into the barbecue restaurant together.

“Yahweh, have you ever had barbecue?”

The idiot detective Miss and Mr. witty assistant who were starring in the sitcom arrived late.

"To be honest, I have never eaten it..." Yahweh touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.

"So...the first meal you had after you materialized was at Martinez's house?" Xida touched his smooth chin and asked softly.

"This is the second meal..."

"That sounds pitiful..." Xi Ta rolled his eyes, stretched out his little hand and poked the man's abdominal muscles a few times, "I'll never be without you in the future!"

"What is the title of the play this time?" Yahweh teased with a smile.

"Well... "The Hardworking Sister and the Dumb Brother" Xi Da clapped her hands, "How about it? Isn't it interesting?"

"It's a bit difficult. If we want to perform in reverse..." He said evilly, and found that Xi Da didn't react for a moment, so he couldn't help laughing.

"Why are you laughing? Ah! I'm not a stupid brother! I'll beat you up, sister!" Xi Da's face turned red, she rolled up her sleeves and stretched out her little fist, pretending to be fierce and threatening a certain bratty brother.

"Okay, okay, come in quickly..." Yawei had laughed enough and walked into the barbecue restaurant with large and small bags.

"Wait for me, sister!" Xi Ta grabbed the corner of his clothes and followed him into the store swaying left and right.

"The environment here is not bad..." Joel looked around. This barbecue restaurant was surprisingly clean, without any greasy feeling.

"My taste is pretty good, right?" Clementine sat across from him, proudly akimbo.

"If you want to eat it yourself, I'll treat you today!" Xi Da said proudly, patting his chest.

Yawei rolled his eyes, folded the coats that the two had taken off, put them into a plastic bag, and tied them into a knot to prevent the smell of the barbecue restaurant from infecting the coats, making it inconvenient to clean.

"It's so embarrassing to ask you to treat..." Joel scratched his head in embarrassment when faced with Clementine's initiative to treat.

"Don't worry, mother-in-law, bring me a box of wine first." Clementine made a face at him.

"Drink less, drinking is harmful to your health..." Joel advised helplessly. He always felt as if he had said this sentence countless times. When he saw that she wanted to drink, he couldn't help blurting it out.

Clementine was stunned. She felt that these words sounded familiar to her.

"By the way, did you hear the name of that woman? Yahweh?" Sheeda asked the man next to her while eating skewers.

"Clementine Crosky, that's the name, I can't tell you how to spell it specifically..." Yahweh savored the barbecue in his hand and looked sideways at Xida.

"Is there any problem?" He looked at Xi Da who was stunned and asked in confusion.

"Our target, Joel Carey, his ex-girlfriend's name is Clementine Crosky!" Xi Da threw the kebab aside and quickly flipped through the information sent by Rogge, "Except for the hair color, Same...look exactly the same!"

"Wow, it seems that it's not just Joel Carey who lost his memory, but his ex-girlfriend also lost her memory?" Yawei raised his eyebrows, and things became interesting.

"Then the two of them met again as strangers? Wow!" Xi Da picked up a new skewer and started eating it.

"Are you still eating?" Joel looked at Clementine with a round belly and shook his head helplessly, "I can't hold it anymore..."

"I can do another hundred skewers!"

The neon lights in the barbecue shop flashed, and the gloomy man and the woman with long blue and green hair were laughing and sleeping together in a dream, unable to wake up.

"Do you know the story of Sisyphus? Heda?" Yahweh looked at the laughing two people and whispered to Heda softly.

"Who? Is it important?" Xi Da was engrossed in eating kebabs.

"Nothing...just a poor man in reincarnation..." Yahweh chuckled and took a sip of beer.

Neon flashes, reflecting on the foam in the cup, like a dream.

There will be two or three updates tomorrow