The world is Cyberpunk and in order to survive in this terrible world, you need to have a hopeful friend, or have a whole group. You have stumbled upon the Maelstrom group. Cruel sadists, but they treat each other well and that's the main thing. With Royce, the rite of joining the group has become softer and you don't have to cut out your eyes and you just wear special glasses. Since you also love music, Royce liked you right away and you can talk about music for hours.