CYBERPUNK: Travel to 2075

Mewtwo

"Mewtwo? What is that?"

After dinner, as Karl, Oliver, and Jack explored the apartment, Karl couldn't help but be curious about the word they kept mentioning.

"Is it something like Bag X Meng?" Karl asked, mispronouncing a relic term from his past.

"What are you even talking about? Treasure?" Oliver chuckled. "Mewtwo is Mewtwo."

Seeing Karl's confusion, Oliver patiently explained. Under his explanation, Karl got a general idea of what Mewtwo referred to.

Simply put, Mewtwo was like an advanced VR experience. Using a special device, it transcribed the personal experiences of the recorder into a digital format. When viewed, the device transmitted the recorder's sensations directly to the viewer's nervous system. This made it possible for the viewer to feel everything the recorder experienced—whether it was pain or pleasure—fully and vividly, as if they were living through it themselves.

Mewtwo had become the most popular form of entertainment in this era. In 2075, Mewtwo monitors were as ubiquitous in households as smartphones were in the past.

"That sounds interesting. I'd like to try it," Karl said.

"Alright. Let's stop by a store and grab a head-mounted Mewtwo display for you to try when we get back," Jack offered.

Jack and Oliver, now used to Karl's curiosity about modern technology, changed direction and headed straight for a Mewtwo store.

The Store

The price of a personal head-mounted Mewtwo display wasn't prohibitive. A brand-new unit cost only 1,000 euros, and it came preloaded with several of the world's most popular Mewtwo recordings.

"Make My Heart Beat, Soul of Light, Gate of the Sword Coast… Why are they all games?" Oliver muttered as he browsed the selection of bundled recordings.

"I think they throw in games because they don't sell well," Jack remarked. "Honestly, walking through Night City might be more exciting than these."

"I think The Old Man and the Sea looks good," Jack added, pointing to a specific Mewtwo recording on the shelf.

"Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea?" Karl asked, intrigued.

Jack's face lit up. "You've read Hemingway?"

"Of course. It's a masterpiece."

"Masterpiece?" Oliver frowned, looking utterly lost. He was the only one among them unfamiliar with the story. "What's it about?"

"To put it simply, it's about an old man fishing," Karl replied.

"Fishing?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "The sea near Night City is so polluted now that fishing is practically a myth. I don't think I'd feel any connection to it."

"The theme is more profound than just fishing," Karl countered. He picked up the The Old Man and the Sea Mewtwo, which cost fifty euros. He was curious about how such a literary classic would translate into a Mewtwo experience.

The Black Shelf

Karl's attention shifted to a corner of the store where a shelf painted with ominous black-red streaks caught his eye.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Those are the more intense ones," Oliver explained. "You know, blood and… other adult stuff."

"How intense?" Karl asked, inspecting the shelf.

Oliver shrugged. "Since these are sold openly, they're probably not Black Market Mewtwo. Expect something like a bullet tearing through someone's chest."

Karl picked up one titled My Years in the Trauma Team. The description promised an intense experience of a Trauma Team operative's missions—gunfights, emergency rescues, and gang encounters.

Interesting.

Though this genre was more expensive, priced at seventy euros each, it was well within Karl's budget. With over 40,000 euros on hand, Karl decided to splurge. He bought all three episodes of My Years in the Trauma Team for a discounted price of 200 euros.

In addition, Karl picked up recordings like A Mercenary's Battle Record, The Fighting Champion's Journey, and The End of the Samurai. These cost 180 euros in total.

"Karl, are you really buying so much at once?" Oliver exclaimed, stunned as Karl casually spent over 1,400 euros.

"Didn't you say Mewtwo lets you feel everything? I have something I want to verify," Karl said cryptically.

Karl's curiosity wasn't just about experiencing this new form of entertainment. He wanted to test if these recordings could help him absorb skills—medical expertise, firearms handling, boxing, and swordsmanship. If the sensations could be internalized, this could be a valuable training tool.

Jack, though not fully understanding Karl's intent, shrugged and picked out a few recordings for himself. Meanwhile, Oliver hesitated but eventually caved, buying one of the racier Mewtwo recordings he'd been eyeing for a while.

Robbery

The mood in the store shifted suddenly when the door burst open, and three masked men armed with Lexington pistols stormed in.

"Don't move! This is a robbery!"

Karl raised his hands, keeping calm. While he was confident he could take out the robbers if needed, he decided to avoid unnecessary danger. Jack and Oliver, also accustomed to Night City's chaos, exchanged a look and raised their hands as well.

The robbers moved quickly, focusing on the cash register. The shopkeeper, trembling, handed over 700 euros. Fortunately for him, the robbers ignored the pricier head-mounted Mewtwo displays, likely because these devices required professional hacking to bypass their serial locks.

The robbery lasted less than two minutes. After grabbing cash and a few Mewtwo films, the robbers bolted out the door.

"Classic Night City," Karl muttered.

The shopkeeper let out a sigh of relief, grateful the damage hadn't been worse. But before he could recover, a series of gunshots rang out from outside. Moments later, the store door was smashed open again, and one of the robbers' lifeless bodies tumbled inside, blood pooling around it.

"It seems the fun isn't over yet," Karl remarked, pulling out his own Lexington in sync with Jack and Oliver.

This was Night City, after all.

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