CYBERPUNK: Travel to 2075

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..Intelligent Weapons..

The entire floor of the apartment building that Karl entered was completely cleared. All obstacles, except for the load-bearing walls, were smashed to pieces, making the staircase visible at a glance.

An RPG had been fired from the fifth floor, but Karl had no intention of taking the stairs like a normal person.

If the attackers had any intelligence, they would have rigged the stairs and other obvious routes with mines or traps. Karl didn't have the luxury of time to disarm them one by one.

Glancing up at the ceiling, Karl spotted an embedded ceiling light. He quickly calculated his jumping ability in his mind and took decisive action.

With a flick of his wrist, the single-molecule wire deployed, slicing a neat square opening in the ceiling above, each side measuring one meter. The concrete and steel debris clattered to the floor. Karl stepped onto the fallen rubble and prepared to jump.

The height from the floor to the ceiling of the apartment was 2.8 meters, plus the 20 cm thickness of the floor itself. This meant the distance between floors was 3 meters. At 1.8 meters tall, with a jumping height of 50 cm and the reach of his extended arms, Karl could barely touch the next floor.

(It's like trying to dunk a basketball on a 3.05-meter hoop—but far less glamorous.)

Karl jumped, managing to plant his hand on the edge of the second floor. However, climbing up with just the strength of his fingers wasn't feasible, so the single-molecule wire came into play again.

Though razor-sharp at the blade, the rest of the single-molecule wire functioned as a flexible, rechargeable whip. It could double as a climbing rope.

Karl flicked the wire, sending it toward the ceiling light on the third floor. The tip pierced the lampshade, anchoring itself securely to the metal chassis. Just as Karl had predicted, the apartment's design was consistent—each floor had identical embedded lights.

Using the wire as a rope, Karl pulled hard. The mechanical structure in his wrist emitted a crisp sound as it absorbed the tension, lifting him a little higher. With half his body on the second floor, he used his elbows for support, engaged his core, and flipped himself up. As he recovered the wire, the damaged ceiling light tumbled down behind him.

"Cool," Karl muttered. "It actually worked."

The technique wasn't his own invention. Karl had once studied a BD recording of someone pulling off a similar stunt during an intense escape scene. In the recording, the protagonist had flung a rope toward a tree by a cliff and used it to save himself.

Although several attempts had ended in failure during the recording, the single successful attempt had been enough for Karl to absorb the technique. He hadn't been entirely sure it would work in practice, but his worst-case scenario was falling back to the first floor.

The single-molecule wire retracted with a faint swish, though the process seemed slightly sluggish.

"Guess it paid the price," Karl remarked.

The wire was designed for retrieval, but typically under much lighter tension. Pulling a person up wasn't its intended use. Most prosthetic doctors would advise against such reckless improvisation, and Karl was lucky Victor's craftsmanship was top-notch.

"At times like this, I envy those mantis blades," Karl mused. "If I had those, I could just stab the walls and climb my way up."

Outside, the gunfire continued to mask the sound of Karl's movements. Taking advantage of the noise, he repeated the maneuver, scaling to the third floor.

Swish. Crack.

This time, the single-molecule wire protested audibly, the mechanical structure showing signs of wear.

Reaching the third floor, Karl decided not to push his luck by cutting another ceiling. Any higher, and he risked being overheard by the attackers on the fifth floor.

It was time to take the stairs.

When Karl reached the staircase, he noticed the attackers hadn't set any traps on the steps between the third and fourth floors. Apparently, they assumed the traps on the lower floors were sufficient deterrents.

Karl knew some types of mines could transmit data, alerting their users when triggered. For the attackers, traps on the third floor were likely considered a sufficient safeguard.

Too bad Karl's hacking skills weren't sharp enough yet. Otherwise, he could've disabled the connections and turned the mines to his advantage.

Crouching low, Karl ascended the stairs cautiously toward the fourth floor.

There, he spotted a man standing at the edge of the floor, his back turned, firing continuously downward. In his hands was a weapon Karl had never seen in real life before.

An intelligent weapon.

[Arasaka TKI-20 Shingen]:

A cutting-edge submachine gun by Arasaka, the TKI-20 Shingen boasts advanced technology capable of automatically tracking targets. Compact and precise, it's a dream weapon for soldiers and mercenaries alike. Even if your shooting skills are subpar, this weapon will make up for it. The only prerequisite is an intelligent connection module.

Seeing such advanced tech in the hands of an attacker hardly surprised Karl.

Seven meters away, with no cover, Karl knew he couldn't risk sneaking closer. If the man turned around even for a second, the Shingen would turn Karl into Swiss cheese.

Time for stealth was over.

Raising his Kenshin pistol, Karl aimed.

Bang.

Blood sprayed as Karl landed a perfect shot.

"Nice gun," Karl muttered with a smirk. "I'll take it."

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