Vela and Her Juniors

"Excellence award...? That's a thing?"

David blinked in shock.

He'd been at Arasaka Academy for over half a year now. Wasn't their whole vibe: once you're in, don't expect anything back?

"Student ID."

One of the Arasaka security agents, clearly not in the mood to explain, extended a hand.

"Oh, right—please wait..." David dashed into the apartment, rifling through the drawers near the computer desk by the door. While he searched, the two agents took the time to survey the humble Martinez residence.

Much like Santo Domingo itself—neglected, old.

The room was compact, everything visible at a glance. No hallway, the living room was also the bedroom. Two adjacent small spaces—on the left, a slightly larger bathroom, and on the right, a likely converted storage room. The sunken sofa area was stacked with unused tools and worn furniture.

Still, for the neighborhood, the place was relatively clean.

A red-haired woman slumped wearily on the couch, wrapped in a yellow jacket, watching the agents with a distant, dazed look.

The two agents did a routine scan, orange-red glints flashing in their eyes as they accessed her ID.

David's single mother: Gloria. Employed at Night City Medical Center.

"Kid lives in a dump. Probably never had access to proper early education."

"Still, his grades aren't bad—and he got noticed by someone upstairs... who knows, he might end up like us."

As the two Arasaka field agents quietly chatted—

"Found it, found it! Sorry, sorry—" David, flustered, waved his student ID as he ran back over.

Beep.

[Target confirmed. Retrieving package.]

With glowing red eyes, one of the agents scanned the ID and handed both the ID and a briefcase to David.

Click.

And just like that, they left.

"David?"

Gloria exhaled deeply, then looked puzzled.

"It's the excellence award from the academy's field exercise..."

David shut the door, shielding them from the prying eyes of nosy neighbors. He placed the Arasaka clover-emblazoned briefcase in front of his mother, turning his head away, voice slightly nasally.

"I'll work hard. You shouldn't keep exhausting yourself like this."

"Didn't that Arasaka exec say during orientation—family, duty, responsibility? I don't want to finally climb my way up to Arasaka Tower only to find you collapsed from overwork..."

Still a teenager at heart, part of him just wanted to show off in front of his mom.

"David." Gloria suddenly smiled warmly, stood up, and pulled him into a hug. "I'm proud of you."

"Alright, Mom... let's see what's inside."

Click.

David opened the briefcase.

Inside:

—A commemorative card bearing the Arasaka Security Division and Arasaka Academy Class of 2074 Field Program seal.

—A finely crafted shield-shaped metal badge.

—Three detachable data chips.

—A rectangular access card.

—And a sleek pistol.

Dark frame, light slide, red grip.

"Kenshin."

"Security Division, huh..." Gloria's expression grew complicated. The JKE-X2 Kenshin was one of Arasaka's signature submachine pistols.

Sure, gifting a pistol as a student award might seem odd—but this was Night City, the place with the loosest firearm regulations on Earth. And if the field program was coordinated with the Security Division, a sidearm was entirely reasonable.

The good news? David had clearly earned the favor of Arasaka's most powerful department.

The bad news? That very same department was also the one with the most field missions... and the highest mortality rate.

Would David become an Arasaka security officer or agent?

A mother's worry quickly dulled Gloria's fleeting joy.

"Whoa, Mom! We're rich!"

David's excited yell snapped Gloria out of her thoughts. He had just slotted one of the data chips into his neural socket behind his ear. His eyes glowed orange with system feedback, and his face lit up with glee.

Personal Account: [5000€ Received]

Sender: Arasaka Security Division, Night City

"Five thousand eurodollars—it's a scholarship!"

It wasn't a large sum. For someone like Vela, it might not even cover a day's worth of indulgence in fine dining, booze, and cigars. But for the Martinez family, it was a lot—it could mean the difference between survival and desperation.

With that five thousand, Gloria could finally breathe. No more juggling bills in a panic. At least half a year of financial stability. A massive relief.

"Here."

With the transfer protocol complete, the chip was useless. David casually pulled it out and handed it to his mother without a second thought. Then he pulled out the second chip—

"Uhh..." His interest waned as he inspected it. Tossed it aside.

He moved on to the third chip.

Gloria, meanwhile, had inserted the second chip. It contained a formal commendation—recognition of David's performance and a generic message of encouragement.

"Mom, I think you should take a look at this one." David passed her the third chip with a more serious expression.

Gloria took it, slotted it in.

Onscreen: [Arasaka Academy Low-Interest Education Loan Offer]

"Student loan..." Gloria murmured, falling silent.

David, meanwhile, picked up the long rectangular card and read aloud the words beneath the Arasaka clover logo. "Library Card? Huh... looks like a university-level borrowing pass."

His interest sparked.

Not fitting in didn't mean he didn't crave knowledge. He just lacked money, access, and privilege. Arasaka Academy's paywalled library—home to countless neural learning chips—had always been out of reach for him.

Now, he was tempted.

"I heard those big university libraries with AI assistance are open 24/7—as long as you're authorized," Gloria added, leaning closer with a smile. "If you want to go, put on your uniform. I'll order you another set for laundry rotation."

"Then I'm off."

David was quick to act. After a short prep and a change into his uniform, he pocketed the library card and happily left the apartment.

During breaks, he usually stayed home watching TV or hung out with that weirdo ripperdoc watching shady braindance vids—or went to the nearby court with a secondhand basketball chip for a pickup game.

Gloria never let him wander far—especially not past the City Center—this was Night City, after all.

"Hey, David! What were those corpo dogs from Arasaka doing at your door? You screw up at school or something?"

A slouched middle-aged neighbor called out, leaning over the railing.

Everyone in the complex knew Gloria was working hard to send her son to Arasaka Academy. David wore the uniform every day—none of them were blind. Many just watched out of morbid curiosity.

"All good."

David waved it off and jogged down the stairs, heading toward Arasaka Academy in City Center.

"Welcome, Student David Martinez."

The entry scanner chirped as he passed through the gate. He mentally retraced the path to the university library.

"Yo, isn't that... David Martinez?"

A mocking voice called out.

"What's a broke kid like you doing here? You think this place is for people like you?"

The words sounded like stock dialogue from one of those cringy early-21st-century anime he'd dug up from his ripperdoc's archives.

Hands in pockets, David gave a lazy glance toward the classmate standing just outside the library doors.

Lean frame. Smug look. Dyed yellow hair. Cocky like he owned the place.

Name? Forgotten... he was the son of some minor bureaucrat in the Arasaka administrative division. The kind of guy who screamed spoiled trust fund brat. Ever since he hadn't been selected for the Security Division's field program, he'd been salty—especially seeing David, the poorest and easiest to bully on the list, win a spot by sheer dumb luck.

Toward the end of the semester, before break, the guy had taken every opportunity to mock David. No fists were thrown, but tension brewed—David's casual indifference seemed to infuriate the guy more each time.

"Sorry, I've got a library card..."

David, still not in the mood, leaned aside and lazily waved his freshly issued pass. "Out of the way. I've got studying to do."

Thud!

A sharp shoulder check slammed into David. The blonde kid scowled.

"You know what I hate most? That attitude. You're just a broke piece of trash trying to worm your way into our world—and you act like you belong."

Stumbling back, David clutched his aching shoulder, brows furrowed.

The other boy kept towering over him.

"How does someone from a single-parent household like yours get a library card, huh? Let me guess—your mom's out doing favors for some sponsor..."

Red.

David's vision swam in red. Something snapped. His legs tensed.

"AH—!"

He surged forward, fist arcing straight toward the smug face.

Smack.

"Trash fights like trash. Freebie combat chip, unmodded arms, no real implants..."

The blonde caught his punch effortlessly with one glowing, reinforced hand. A cybernetic arm. Red lights flickered along the synthetic tendons.

"Let me teach you what real fighting looks like."

Wham!

A gut-wrenching blow knocked David off balance. His cheek scraped the ground. Blood dripped onto the pavement. Still, he pushed up, crimson eyes locked on his opponent.

"Underground boxer chip, huh? That packed a punch... But yeah, your face? Still pisses me off."

The blonde shifted into stance, preparing another hit—

Thud!

"Aren't you embarrassed?"

A blur of motion.

A scream.

A crash.

The blonde went flying, slamming into the ground.

"Tanaka, you—"

"Shut it, idiot."

David looked up, dazed. A figure stood between him and the attacker.

Blue-black mushroom cut. One hand in his pocket.

Tanaka Katsuo.

David remembered now—classmate, participated in the same field program. Rumor had it his father was a board member. He'd met someone high up in Security. Word was, he was already semi-confirmed for a position—his father enforced brutal training to prep him. It showed.

"Tanaka! I'm telling the dean—"

"You never learn."

Tanaka moved.

One step, and he pinned the blond's arm in place. Then—a solid, clean punch to the gut.

The guy folded, dropping to his knees and coughing bile.

"Still clinging to flashy junk, huh?"

Tanaka had long since ditched his 400-series cyberarms and kung fu chips. Too theatrical, too inefficient. What Security needed was direct, lethal, no-nonsense power.

"Hey, can you stand?"

Tanaka turned toward David, who was now rising, hand still pressed to his bleeding face.

"Why... why did you help me?"

"I didn't help you. I stood up for us. People like you. Like me."

Tanaka Katsuo bent to retrieve David's library card.

"Idiots, all of them."

He looked toward the blonde still hunched over, being helped up by a crony.

"Did you not see the field program results? That library card—Arasaka gave it to him. Your behavior is an insult to the Security Division's evaluators. I'm ashamed to share a class with you."

With that, the lackeys beat a hasty retreat.

Tanaka handed the card back to David.

"We both got the top performer award. You're too soft. Too much of a disgrace to the 2074 field cohort. Being poor isn't your fault. But I expect you to prove yourself. I read the evaluation. They said you've got physical potential. It's your circumstances holding you back."

"Keep your grades up. You might qualify to join me in the Security Division, under Supervisor Vela Adelheid. I need a team. You're on my list."

With that cryptic statement, Tanaka turned and strode into the library.

David wiped the blood from his nose, glanced at the library card in his hand, and shrugged.

Well, he'd come all this way—he might as well go in.

Beep.

AI: "Special clearance granted by Arasaka Security Division, Night City. Restricted academic access approved: Security and Protection, Counter-Terror Policing, Criminology, Guard Operations, Criminal Investigation..."

His card was valid.

"So... I'm really in the Security Division now, huh? Fine. Let's do this."

Shaking away lingering thoughts, David stuffed tissue into his nostrils and followed the AI's guidance.

First stop: Hand-to-Hand Combat Chip Archive.

...

Arasaka Tower, Corporate Plaza.

Vela had no idea how her small gesture had already set off a ripple of unexpected changes among the younger generation.

Today, after the routine Security Bureau meeting, she was studying on the BioTech R&D floor.

Studying how to make the emergence of the T-virus seem logical. Natural. Like something she just happened to discover.