Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 32 10. Armor and Value

"ACPA?! Are you sure this is ACPA?"

Jack was quite surprised when he heard Oliver's words, because everyone knew what ACPA was.

ACPA, its full name is 'Assisted Combat Personnel Armor', which is the so-called combat auxiliary armor. If we want to give an exact description of this thing, it can be understood as an armor that has the firepower and protection of an armored vehicle or even a tank and can be worn by people.

To use the terminology in the current Mewtwo game, it can also be called "power armor".

"I'm sure, Jack, that the Sixth Street Gang has three small riot control ACPAs hidden in their possession. I never thought that after the armistice agreement between Arakawa and Militech was signed, ACPAs were no longer allowed to appear in Night City. I actually saw relevant information in the Scavenger's Lair. It's really strange."

"Don't we need to show up in the open with ACPA?"

Carl recalled the scene he seemed to have seen: "But I remember that when NCPD officers intercepted vehicles on the road, there would be a mecha with live ammunition next to the vehicle they intercepted. Isn't that ACPA?"

"At best, it's just an exoskeleton with the ACPA weapon platform installed."

Oliver explained: "The real ACPA is far superior in terms of firepower, armor thickness, and personnel safety. What we see is just an exoskeleton in the shape of an ACPA mecha. It moves like a tank, you know, it can plow through anything."

"Then I suddenly have a doubt."

Carl curled his hair and said, "Since power armor is so powerful, why do companies like to do research on prosthetics? Could it be that prosthetics will be more useful than power armor on the battlefield?"

“Karl, you really are a young master who doesn’t understand very well.”

Jack helped Oliver answer the question: "Prosthetics are related to the lives of the dogs in the company above. If they replace their hearts and lungs, they can still maintain their human appearance. If the whole person is put into power armor and the machine replaces their flesh, and they survive purely on nutrient solution, their entire appearance will be an iron shell. Wouldn't that make them like canned meat?"

I always feel that the Dreadnought veterans in some stories are dissed.

“And that’s not all.”

Oliver explained: "If you rely solely on your physical body to control the mecha in ACPA, the G-force during movement is too great, and the fragile human body may not be able to withstand such a force. It is not so much that ACPA attaches more importance to prosthesis, but rather that only the human body with a strong enough foundation can withstand ACPA."

"I see. But what does G-force mean?"

"Didn't you read the aviation guide Mewtwo that I recommended? Simply put, it's the gravitational acceleration you experience when moving at high speeds."

"Well, I haven't finished reading it yet, so I don't quite understand it."

Carl said this, but he also roughly understood the situation regarding prostheses and ACPA.

The two are not something that need to be distinguished, but rather they complement each other, just like a wooden stick and an iron spear tip on it; the two become stronger when combined.

After this doubt was answered, a new doubt arose. "But speaking of it, neither Military Technology nor the Wild Board allow ACPA to appear openly in Night City. Aren't they afraid that a company or a gang like the Sixth Street Gang will hide ACPA and launch a surprise attack on their important personnel in Night City?"

Oliver also explained this to Carl:

"That's because, although ACPA is powerful, it is not invincible against prosthetics. Do you know how much a good ACPA costs, Carl? Take the small ACPAs in the Six Street Gang for example. Those are relatively cheap, only about 1.4 million euros each. But do you know how much it would cost to defeat an ACPA like this on the battlefield?"

"money?"

"After all, for the company, human life is nothing, money is what's important, and it's definitely measured in money. I've heard from veterans of the Six Street Gang who participated in the war that on the battlefield, let alone a light ACPA worth 1.4 million, even medium and heavy ones, to get rid of them, you only need to send a few veterans with Sian Westin and technical weapons. And do you know how much those consumable veterans cost?"

[Sian Westin]: A prosthesis that can enhance human muscles and reflex nerves to the limit in a short period of time, and can slow down the external time perceived by the user.
To eliminate the high-value ACPA, only the prosthetic veterans have to fight hard.
Carl understood and said:
"So, the value is not equal."

"That's pretty much the same thing. Companies only care about money."

Carl, who understood the situation, was no longer stupid enough to ask a veteran who possessed Siavistan what would happen if he wore ACPA again, because according to Oliver, the driver who wanted to use ACPA had to install a considerable amount of prosthetics, and then install Siavistan, which few people could afford. It was likely that the driver would become a cyberpsychopath and indiscriminately kill teammates and enemies on the battlefield after the last battle or halfway through the battle.

Even street thugs know the consequences of wearing prosthetics.

The time for discussing the ACPA armor was almost up. Carl looked at the message sent by the client and saw that the vehicle would arrive downstairs in one minute. It was almost time to move the target downstairs. So he copied a picture of the ACPA armor from the scavenger's computer, raised his pistol and shot the computer to pieces.

"We can talk about this later while we're eating and drinking. Let's settle this bill first."

It is certainly surprising that information about ACPA armor appeared in the scavenger's lair, but Carl and others did not have any more information. Even if they knew, it was just knowledge, and there was nothing to explore more deeply.

"Okay, there's a topic we can talk about when we get back, but before that."

Jack took a look at the mess of prosthetics and said, "I have to call NCPD first. I should be thankful that there are not many bodies here. It's just that there are many prosthetics that have been stripped off. Otherwise, I will definitely have a nightmare today."

Of course Jack was joking. As a man who had once been helped by Valentino, he would not be scared by a few corpses.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at Jack's words about calling the NCPD.

"Call the NCPD. They might come and confiscate these prostheses and sell them to prosthesis doctors who buy second-hand prostheses."

Having said that, Oliver still called NCPD.

Because compared to scum like the scavengers, the NCPD at least has some bottom line.

Not much though.

(End of this chapter)