As one of the only two inhabitants of the Xu Estate, Lin Mo lived in a lavish bedroom on the second floor of the expansive mansion. His personal quarters were more like a small apartment, with a large balcony offering a breathtaking view of Night City and the distant hills that framed it.
The balcony was his retreat. Here, Lin Mo would sit in one of two chairs, a small table between them, and gaze at the chaotic beauty of the world. The sunlit skyline or the shimmering lights of the city at night offered a welcome distraction from the chaos of the streets below.
But it wasn't just a place for reflection. This was where Lin Mo would write in his journal.
In the age of cyberware, nearly everyone had a neural processor that kept their biological and cybernetic systems in check. Most people didn't even bother with writing anymore; they simply logged their thoughts into a blank chip. But Lin Mo preferred to do things the old way—writing by hand.
Writing grounded him. It forced him to slow down and truly process his thoughts, something that typing into a brain chip couldn't replicate. It was a habit he developed partly because of his simulation device. Every night, the device allowed him to glimpse into the possible events of the next day. This predictive ability gave Lin Mo a significant edge, but it also created a challenge.
You see, knowing what would happen gave him the chance to change it. His actions in response to the simulator's predictions would, of course, alter the course of events. To make sense of it all, Lin Mo began journaling to track how each day diverged from the one simulated.
His journal had a unique structure, too. Each day had three parts: an Initial Entry, capturing his thoughts before the day began, a Daily Log, which was recorded in real-time on a chip, and a Summary, where he reflected on what had happened.
The wind rustled through the pages of his journal, flipping to recent entries from the past week:
Initial Entry: March 19, 2075 – Tuesday
The simulator predicted a dull day today. I'm calling bullshit.
Simulation reward: Pocket change. Absolutely useless.
The future may be written, but it's not set in stone. Knowing what might happen means I can twist the script. No way I'm letting today go to waste.
Daily Log:
I didn't want to go to school today, but my sister Xu Wanxue made it clear. She's put so much into my future—can't let her down over something as trivial as showing up to class. I spent the day conserving energy, knowing that the real fun would happen after school.
The simulator said I'd end up alone at Lizzie's Bar tonight. I wasn't having it. I hit up David first—he shot me down, again. Whatever. Next, I tried Kitagawa, but he claimed he had to take care of his sister.
So, I called Pilar and Falco. Those two were down.
We hit Lizzie's, drank, and traded stories. Turns out, I'm getting better at reading people. We strengthened our bond, and I chalked it up as a win.
Summary: Not a bad day.
Initial Entry: March 20, 2075 – Wednesday
Today's forecast: Bad luck. Reward? A moon travel pass.
It's worth over 20,000 eurodollars, but seriously, who has time for that? Can't sell it, and I'm definitely not taking a trip to the moon. Maybe it's worth hanging onto for bragging rights.
Daily Log:
On my way to school, things got weird. A white-haired woman—tall, edgy, definitely exuding "don't mess with me" vibes—tried to jack my chip. I caught her before she even got close. With my reflexes? Come on, it wasn't even a contest.
Part of me thought about handing her over to NCPD, but something in her defiant look reminded me of my days in Kabuki. I let her go, knowing full well she'd be back for round two eventually.
The rest of the day was the usual classroom snoozefest. I invited David to Lizzie's again, even offered to cover everything, but the idiot turned me down. So, I called his mom, ratted him out for avoiding his friends. Guess who got forced to come out tonight?
David finally showed up, acting like he'd just discovered heaven on earth. Dude was way too into it.
Summary: Strengthened ties with David, but damn, that guy's hopeless.
Initial Entry: March 21, 2075 – Thursday
Today's prediction? Payday. The reward: Double my daily earnings.
It's allowance day, and Xu Wanxue didn't forget. Woke up to find 50,000 eurodollars in my account, and thanks to the simulator, that got doubled to 100,000.
The thing is, for a student, this is crazy money. But at this point? It's just pocket change. I've got more in hidden accounts than I know what to do with, all thanks to playing the stock market and my handy little simulator.
I'm rich, and it's... boring.
Daily Log:
School was the same grind, nothing worth noting. I brought David to Lizzie's again, and now he's hooked. I might've ruined him. To make up for it, I told him to chill for the next few days and not come back. He asked why. I told him my back hurt. He bought it.
Summary: Easy day, easy money.
Initial Entry: March 22, 2075 – Friday
Simulator forecast: Lucky day. Reward: Homework answers.
Today, I saw something interesting—a gang jacked a Dinara Corp convoy. They made off with some serious high-end cyberware, and I'm betting one of those crates has the Sandevistan Mk. 3 I've been after.
Time to get in touch with Wakako; she'll know when it hits the black market.
Daily Log:
Just like the simulator said, some gang took down Dinara's convoy. Whoever pulled it off knew what they were doing.
School was the usual drag until the principal called me in for a talk. Apparently, skipping class too much catches up to you. I had to attend the evening session today. No Lizzie's tonight—went straight home.
When I got there, Xu Wanxue was home early, said her project was wrapping up. We ate together, and later, we just... hung out. Watched the stars on the balcony until she fell asleep. Carried her to bed, tucked her in.
Summary: Some nights, home is better than Lizzie's.
Initial Entry: March 23, 2075 – Saturday
Today's prediction: Neutral day. Reward: A few hacker gear components.
No idea why, but these could come in handy later.
Daily Log:
Since Xu Wanxue was still home, I got up early to avoid suspicion. I made breakfast for her. Yeah, I know—shocking.
At school, things got interesting again. I ran into the same white-haired hacker from before. This time, she tried to breach my neural processor directly. Nice try, but I'm running top-tier ICE protection. She wasn't getting in.
Then, for reasons I still don't fully understand, I handed her the moon travel pass. The look on her face was priceless. Without a word, I told her my name and walked away.
David, on the other hand, was sulking. Turns out, someone stole his chip. I laughed at him for a solid minute before selling him my spare at a discount. Call it tough love.
Summary: Not bad. Could've been worse.
The sun crept over the horizon, and Lin Mo stretched as he stepped onto the balcony. Spotting his journal left out from the night before, he sighed.
"Almost forgot to put it away," he muttered, scooping it up.
The journal went back into its hidden compartment, tucked safely out of sight. Sure, most people used encrypted databases for this kind of stuff, but Lin Mo wasn't taking any chances. Hacking was always a threat, and physical records were harder to tamper with.
Besides, he made a habit of destroying his old entries once he no longer needed them. Memories were nice, but they didn't need to last forever.
Author's Note:
A more lighthearted and reflective chapter, meant to dive deeper into Lin Mo's mindset.