For instance, at ERO where Gloria is, she knows that ERO collaborates with biotechnology and military technology companies on drugs and prosthetics and is also one of their shareholders. These companies often come to ERO to find patients to test new drugs or new prosthetics.
After all, in a hospital, it’s not unusual for a person or two to die, and once the body is cremated, there’s nothing left.
Below that are black-market doctors without medical licenses and black markets selling prosthetics from unknown sources. These are places mercenaries and thugs often visit. If you don’t want to be sold by weight by the doctors here or have your brain fried by viruses hidden in prosthetics, you must find a trusted acquaintance.
Of course, this kind of security is only relative, as this is Night City. Even the most familiar faces might stab you in the back, so you often have to bring people with you.
Wildman and his crew naturally go to those regular prosthetic shops.
As for the corporate internal prosthetic market, that’s another story.
Before coming, the players asked Lucy for directions. Although she isn’t particularly familiar with Santo Domingo, mercenaries are well aware of which prosthetics doctors are reputable.
The four of them, following the principle of proximity, chose to come to the prosthetic clinic nearest to their office.
The prosthetic clinic was even easier to find than the players anticipated, just on the second floor of a roadside staircase, with a glaringly bright sign as if afraid no one would see it.
Every legitimate prosthetic doctor has a vast network of contacts—mercenaries, gangs, and even corporations and the NCPD, so usually no one dares to mess with them in the city.
The mechanical door swung open, and a strong smell of disinfectant hit their noses. It was somewhat pungent but far better than the urine stench on the roadside.
Once inside, the four players curiously examined the display cabinets on either side, which contained various prosthetic limbs, prosthetics, and even a few hacker-type ones.
Various detachable, compatible mechanical fingers
Detachable Heart (Secondary Heart)
Runner’s Athletic Heart
A whole bunch of random items dazzling to the eyes, with all kinds of company brands on them, like Qiantian, Canary Biotech, Bogen Tech...
Giving the players a rustic feeling of entering a city, though none of the company names the players often heard were here; they seemed to be prosthetics produced by small and medium-sized companies.
But even so, the sheer number and variety still secretly amazed the players.
Wildman: "Wow, it feels like the variety and level of prosthetics here are much richer than at our office."
Even without picking them up, they could clearly see that the items here started from white-grade, possibly even blue-grade ones.
The female receptionist at the front desk noticed four guests entering the shop, all intently examining the prosthetics in the counters, and quickly approached to greet the players, asking respectfully:
"Are the gentlemen looking to install prosthetics?"
"Are you bringing your own or purchasing here?"
"If you have any functional requirements for the prosthetics, you can filter in our recommendation section."
"Before surgery, we need to conduct a pre-operative physical assessment to avoid software version mismatches..."
"What brand of inhibitors do you typically use, and have there been any recent physical discomforts?"
A rapid-fire barrage of questions left the players stunned.
Bighead: "Holy... Is installing prosthetics this complicated? Don’t we usually just take and install them? And what’s this inhibitor stuff?"
Brother Ni: "Well, this is called professionalism. Inhibitors... might be something used in surgery."
Potato: "The expensive have their reasons; look at the stuff here, nothing under two thousand, even a pair of artificial lungs costs four thousand five hundred..."
"If I hadn’t spent all my money, I might really want to buy that T-MAX liver. Hey, Wildman, don’t you still have money? See anything you like?"
Seeing that the players were totally ignoring her and talking among themselves, the receptionist awkwardly stood by, waiting for them to finish their discussion.
This was quite good; at least this group seemed easy to talk to, unlike some gangsters who come in cursing, acting like everyone owes them fifty grand.
Making money is tough, and eating shit is hard.
But why does this group seem like they’ve never even heard of inhibitors, and just install them outright? Are they not afraid of dying, or just poor posers?
Brother Ni, who was still observing the clinic’s environment, suddenly noticed a label on the cashier’s counter:
[Surgery Fee Standard: 1000 Euro per session, free surgery fee with 20K consumption, and a bonus of 500 Euro value of Canary Biotech inhibitors with 30K consumption]
[Self-supplied prosthetic installation fee 2000 Euro]
Does installing prosthetics also need money?
A thousand Euros, why not just rob?
If I had twenty grand, would I be here buying prosthetics?
I’d have bought exoskeletons already, wouldn’t I?
Previously, at the office, installing prosthetics only cost 100 GP points, and before the 0.4 update, GP points could also be used for treatment and surgery, with nowhere to spend the excess.
Just then, a side door by the clinic counter opened, and a tall, burly man walked out. His steps were unsteady, and his face pallid, clearly still under the effects of anesthesia.
The most absurd thing was that his shirt was stained with blood, indicating that he lost quite a bit of blood in the surgery just now.
Bighead murmured, "Damn... Is this doctor any good? How come it feels worse than our own?"
Players never felt any abnormality post-surgery, like waking up refreshed after a nap.
They craned their necks to peek inside the surgery room behind the door, which looked like a massacre site, with blood all over the operating chair, and an assistant by the side cleaning the floor with disinfectant.
They seemed like a bunch of quacks, incomparable to the machines at their office.
Wildman: "Maybe we should just buy and install them ourselves next time..."
He liked a deeply customized mechanical arm; though not the gorilla-type hydraulic high-force one, its performance was decent, priced at around eight thousand, something Wildman could afford.
As for exoskeletons, maybe he’ll wait for now.
Just as he was about to ask the receptionist to introduce that prosthetic, Brother Dao suddenly called.
The background was filled with the crackling sound of gunfire, sounding like an intense fight.
"Hey! Where are you guys? I’m in a shootout here, need support!"