After the conversation, Leo hurried home, moving so quickly that Matt wondered if the kid was rushing to write his will. Since the system had already deducted an hour's worth of points, he decided to check on the progress of the Blume Security Company.
Upon arrival, he saw that the empty apartment had been filled with computers and hardware. Warehouse manager John was meticulously arranging items according to the zones Leo had designated, preventing the space from looking too cluttered, with Anthony helping on the side.
When Leo returned, he caught Skye tinkering with the main circuit breaker.
"Boss!" Skye snapped to attention. "All equipment is in place. Do you want to flip the switch yourself?"
"No need, I trust you—this is your first home, after all, go ahead and power it up."
Skye was momentarily stunned. "This is my home?"
"Of course," Leo waved it off, though he kept the rest to himself: If it wasn't your home, how could I trick you into working for me?
As an employee, Skye showed great potential and execution capability. While Leo was in the Cyberpunk world, this side could only handle simple tasks, but without a second-in-command, things could fall apart quickly.
But these words stirred something within young Skye, and she quickly pulled the switch down.
"You said it—John, Anthony, hang up the business sign!"
The three of them, with one at the circuit breaker and the other two hanging the sign, looked somewhat comical.
With a click, the electricity flowed.
[Detected that the host has established the first research institute]
[Name: Blume Company]
[Director: Skye (Daisy Johnson)]
[Specializes in: Information Engineering, Network Security]
[Potential Development Direction: Xenobiology]
[The research institute has been bound to the system. Please lock in the current research project.]
[Once locked, researchers' creativity will be highly focused on this direction. Technology Points can be consumed to inspire the director across dimensions.]
[Based on the status of the research institute, the current option available: ctOS system (from the Watch Dogs universe)]
[Allow the director to engage in more projects to unlock new options.]
Leo raised an eyebrow—his cheat had leveled up.
ctOS is an excellent company project, a highly integrated central operating system that smartens up a city, connecting to the system for overall planning and operational efficiency.
More importantly, this project isn't just a software endeavor; it also includes hardware upgrades.
If they could pull it off and get it up and running... money wouldn't be an issue for a while.
[Research project locked: ctOS]
[Upon completion, the research institute will lock into this type and provide cross-dimensional data transmission channels.]
Leo walked over to Skye, who was buzzing with excitement, and patted her on the shoulder: "Well then, from now on, you're the company's director. Do a good job—finish up the NYPD project first. I've got some tech for you to study."
After saying that, Leo moved to his personal computer.
The computer was equipped with multiple hard drives and a special interface—for quietly linking to a personal connection.
Leo was uploading data from 2077—an old chip design concept.
The teaching material came from Arasaka Academy, featuring an example of an old network access chip design flaw that allowed netrunners to fry the implant via the network, scorching the user's nerves.
But while this network access chip was obsolete in the 2077 world, in 2011, it was cutting-edge architecture.
In fact, if not for the chip being implanted in a human body, the flaw wouldn't even count as one.
To save time, Leo uploaded the design plans for the finished chip. Learning could happen slowly; making money needed to happen quickly.
"What is this, a central processor design based on a new architecture...?!"
Skye was intently watching what Leo was uploading to the server, her eyes wide with astonishment!
After a glance, she said tactfully, "Boss, I may not be as smart as you, but I'm not dumb either..."
"I know you're not. I'll write a business plan for you, and find someone—Anthony, do you want to be a company executive?"
A bewildered Anthony pointed at himself, "Me?"
"Yes, you. I need you to communicate with people based on what I write, just like before. Starting today, you're the executive assistant."
As Leo spoke, he kept an eye on the time: "In short, the company's next steps need everyone's effort. I'll spend a few days making a plan. Skye, study what's on your plate first. John, take people to work on-site—Skye will direct remotely. Anthony, you handle communication with the police and owners. Don't be shy, keep your logic clear. If you don't understand something—"
Skye raised her hand to interrupt: "Ask me—now I get it. You're planning to trap me in this little house, where this little house will forever be my home?"
Leo shrugged, "You can arrange your own vacation, but the tech you want to learn is right here, both hardware and software."
Skye muttered under her breath, "Fine, fine, at least it's all-inclusive..."
After arranging everything, Leo clapped his hands: "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, you are now employees of Blume Company. I look forward to your performance."
The three in the office felt like they were in a dream—a dropout girl and two unemployed workers.
But Leo didn't have time to give them a pep talk. He turned and left the room, leaving the three of them to exchange bewildered glances.
...
The 21st century was the century of biology.
But not all students graduating with a degree in bioengineering could land a good job. On the contrary, those with a biology degree who also understood programming were in high demand—very high demand.
If, on top of that, they were proficient in hardware development, by 2077, they'd be top-tier job candidates.
But by 2077, the cost of education for such a degree had exceeded 3 million Eurodollars.
Biotechnica possessed a DNA trimming instrument, the working principle of which was unknown, but they used it to cultivate crops that could be used to extract CHOOH2.
Biotechnica also had vast wheat farms in Night City and unknown human experimentation projects.
Leo reached up and pulled down the window blinds, creating a large blank space on the wall, then stepped onto a treadmill.
This was a method to enhance his physical training.
While running, Leo imagined a plan on the blank space of the blinds.
A large title appeared in his vision: The Bio-Era Heist.
First, the target was the DNA trimming instrument—but that thing was up in the orbital station.
By 2077, the vast majority of corporate industrial production was done on orbital stations—safe, boring giant factories.
As the apex of the corporate food chain, Biotechnica was a bit different—they had their own orbital space station for production.
A core device like the DNA trimmer wouldn't be in Night City.
He had to figure out a way to lure it down.
Leo drew a line between the orbital station and Night City on the blinds and then marked it with a question mark.
In one scenario, the company might risk bringing the device down—if work demanded it.
From a social engineering perspective, Leo needed to capture a Biotechnica executive born in Night City and make the situation so dire that bringing down the device was the best solution.
Leo remembered that Biotechnica's head in 2077 was a woman named Joanne Koch.
And as for a potential story to stir things up—they were conducting human experiments on nomad families in the Badlands.
This could be useful—Leo put a question mark after this line, noting that further investigation was needed.
Next was a contingency plan.
Stealing biotech isn't just about stealing biotech.
Because back in the early days of biotech development, to avoid being crushed by the two major energy companies—SovOil and Petrochem—they had voluntarily surrendered the CHOOH2 production process.
Now, this energy source was monopolized by the three conglomerates. While Leo only wanted to cure his condition, it would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar.
Therefore, Leo wrote down two more names next to Biotechnica: SovOil and Petrochem.
As he continued running and pondering, Leo thought: The situation is clear—without some cover-up, if the three giants team up, he wouldn't even know how he died.
Don't assume that because in Night City, street thugs can casually kill corporate employees, it means the corporations can't handle thugs.
2077's history was full of massacres and wars within cities—those were the times when corporations truly showed their fangs.
He needed a scapegoat, and after stealing the device and getting the data, he'd still have to return it, pretending nothing had happened.
Leo's mind landed on a name: Arasaka.
If those three companies were to track the device's whereabouts, they'd inevitably send troops to Night City—something Arasaka wouldn't want to see.
But Arasaka couldn't withstand the joint pressure from the Soviets and New Americans, giving Leo a gap—he could use Arasaka, who'd be in a hurry to resolve the issue, to return the stolen goods.
As for who takes the fall for stealing, it didn't matter—as long as it wasn't Leo.
Leo marked this spot with a red question mark, then drew a line out, cutting it off in the middle.
The staged location would be his security firewall, which had to isolate him from being traced both physically and online.
Secrecy and misdirection were a given, but in 2077, nearly every action would leave traces on the network.
So from a network perspective, he needed a data wall to hide as much of his cyber activity as possible.
Leo suddenly thought of his cheat.
A data wall was a fortress built by combining real-world network equipment layout with the structure of cyberspace data.
It could be used to protect privacy—wealthy people were all using it.
But fundamentally, as long as something exists on the network, it can never be 100% unbreakable.
Unless there's no data on the network to begin with.
What doesn't exist can't be broken into. Leo could take a step back and make the wall incomplete.
Leo's eyes shifted to his system—
[Upon completion, the research institute will lock into this type and provide cross-dimensional data transmission channels.]
He could try removing part of the wall and placing it in another dimension, then transmit the data when needed.
A cross-dimensional key—giving the Cyberpunk natives a little taste of a cheat.
So, the first step was to create a network data wall.
"Hoo—" Leo let out a long breath, stepping off the treadmill.
Just then, Padre sent a message:
"Leo, the client wants to thank you in person. She's bidding farewell to her daughter at El Coyote Cojo. If you have time, stop by."