Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 191 Never Gone (Part Two)
Washington, D.C.

Miles has a group of hackers handpicked from among geniuses, and Lark is her sharpest sword. However, to avoid hurting herself, this sword always has some means of control.

Once the president's order was given, the hacker team assembled immediately.

In fact, there are no specific evaluation criteria for the hackers selected to work in Washington.

These guys might be seen by some as a bunch of rigid, inflexible individuals who only guard data fortresses, wear cryogenic suits to do dirty work for high-ranking politicians, or are executioners who can burn the brains of cybercriminals who infiltrate New America and its companies in a second…

While this is indeed the case, people would not associate these individuals representing official status with those dangerous individuals who had previously "disappeared" from the internet and gained notoriety.

Without exception, their growth trajectories are remarkably similar:
Even in elementary school, they were proficient in using C++ and Meta-Lingua to crack mainframes of schools and other organizations.

These young faces were able to independently invade others during their teenage years, and then grow wildly and unrestrainedly…

After making their first profit from hacking techniques in a TransAmerican Bank account, they recklessly built their reputation out of youthful arrogance, then turned their attention to companies, eventually leaving their declarations and online names on the websites of top ten international corporations…

The consequences of violating corporate law are severe, meaning that after becoming famous in the online world, they must keep a low profile, because there will always be corporate-hired assassins who will smash their heads open.

But the Joint Logistics Agency could find anyone, including them—the young ones underestimated the power of the tizhi.

The only way to break the deadlock is to become a part of them, as New America and the company have always done.

Sometimes, hackers don't see their high-profile online activities as criminal offenses because they see them as proof of their abilities.

Therefore, this hacking team is often described by another word: "genius".

The people here have all caused the company great losses, just like Song Zhaomei. New America only gives them two choices: either face trial and spend the rest of their lives in prison and pay huge fines, or live in anonymity as one of them and abide by the rules of the game.

The officer who had once been in charge of guarding Song Zhaomei now stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the young people standing around the hacker chair.

His uniform, displayed on it, showed his rank of Brigadier General, indicating that he was a professional soldier who had entered the new U.S. government through military technology.

"Everyone, according to the intelligence report, Chief Intelligence Analyst Song Zhaomei is currently connected to the black wall and unable to log out normally. The intelligence analysis department is now telling us that Song is currently conducting a cyberattack."

Immediately afterwards, a holographic image rose up behind him, which was a 3D model of a facility.

"This is a top-secret facility topographic map provided by the Night City Military Technology Division on the California coast—codenamed Little Beidou."

"The facility's primary objective is to capture roaming AI using adaptive neural network technology. Our enemy, Arasaka, used a disused network tunnel within this facility to connect to the Black Wall and completed an iteration—"

A girl with slightly curly hair and slender shoulders, standing in front, raised her hand while holding one arm.

"and many more!"

"Commander... do you mean we have to fight against roaming AI?"

The man stood with his hands behind his back for a moment in silence, offering no reply, and instead chose to continue his previous information presentation.

"His Excellency the President's request is simple: bring her back—as for the enemies of the new America, we need not worry about them; the loopholes or bugs in the Great Firewall will be handled by the Internet Surveillance."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Song Zhaomei is crucial to Shinmi's international and diplomatic standing. Her capture by the enemy would be a devastating loss to the nation. I urge you all to use your best skills and begin the operation immediately—"

His deep-set eyes, hidden beneath the brim of his military cap, gleamed with a sharp light. "You can ask me any questions you have."

It seems that the curly-haired girl is indeed the leader of this group of genius hackers.

"Which company's hacking team developed the roaming AI? Hmm... This is very important to us. The hacker's program has a personal style... Commander, as you can see, we have dealt with more than 70 percent of companies... so we need that."

Commander: "Arasaka."

Amidst a flurry of whispers—

A bald, thick-lipped African American boy standing at the very back raised his hand.

He has a great physique, long arms, and is not short. If he weren't a black-market customer service representative, he would look more like a confident track and field athlete.

“I am familiar with the style of these Japanese people.”

Another child said incredulously, "Those people from Arakawa are as rigid as bland sushi—how could they possibly get Miss Song stuck in that black wall?"

Clearly, the AI ​​roaming within the Great Firewall isn't powerful enough to completely shut down Song Zhaomei, because internet surveillance is no joke.

The man in military uniform said, "Arasaka obviously has his own technology. The situation is complicated. According to the investigation, it was completed by human neural consciousness and AI together. I don't know the specific technical process, but I never asked you to destroy him."

"I said, you do it, it's that simple."

"Song Zhaomei can keep only her brain; you don't need to worry about the rest."

As the words fell, the young hackers, their edge dulled by the new America, obediently climbed into their hacker chairs.

The indicators lit up one after another, and the room began to switch to a dim lighting mode.

Because the prosthetic eye switches perspective modes when it is submerged in the deep web, excessively bright light can cause malfunctions, which is why hackers like to stay in dark basements.

The virtual avatars of the young hackers who enter cyberspace all have a very obvious anime/manga style.

Following the Fourth Corporate War, with the influx of the bubble economy and Japanese moe culture, coupled with Michiko Arasaka's famous speech in front of the White House, her Japanese schoolgirl style of dress immediately became a cultural phenomenon.

The virtual avatars of these female hacker teams vaguely resemble the style of [Spider Murphy].

Cat ears, school uniforms, Lolita fashion… and strikingly vibrant hair color—all thanks to the Danger Gal Puma team featured in the Danger Girls promotional video.

"Moshi moshi~?"

The virtual image of the curly-haired girl is a bright red head of hair that grows to below her hips, a perfect example of a beautiful girl in the style of Japanese anime from around the 20s.

Everyone greeted each other and confirmed that communication was working properly.

"Ah... such rare freedom."

Someone was stretching, clearly showing that these young people's long-suppressed nature was being released in the online world.

"Oh my, all the data is flowing over there!"

A boy dressed like a Gundam pointed in a certain direction and shouted from behind.

They look like a school field trip group...

Just then, data emanating from the black wall rained down from above, instantly enveloping the five people who stared at the red, black, and ashen-like things as if watching fireworks.

Each piece of data is enough to kill an ordinary hacker.

They were all tightly protected along with the flowing light enabled by the program suite.

When data comes into contact with these people, it produces a burst of gibberish accompanied by distorted flashes; the data is redirected, almost as easily as moving a finger.

However, the largest piece of data, resembling a maple leaf, gently landed on the girl's outstretched fingertip.

Bang!
The data exploded instantly, sweeping up like a tornado!
Everyone stepped back until the girl's body appeared in the gradually calming vortex.

"Orion seems to have fallen into this guy's hands... Hmm, that's going to be tough."

The expressions of everyone in the team became serious.

"Did you bring the icebreaker program?"

The black Rubik's Cube in the boy's hand, holding the initial code, floated up and down—

“Perhaps we’ll have a chance to see what Orion’s programming is like!” Finally, the petite, bookish-looking girl with black-rimmed glasses said, “This isn’t good… the commander told us to just focus on rescuing people.”

Unexpectedly, the "boss" standing at the front stood with his hands on his hips, waving his slender hands, and said, "What does it matter? The Black Wall will definitely attack any AI that roams within the wall—I'm very curious how the human nervous system can support AI."

"And Orion isn't something you can just see anytime you want."

In no time, all the children accepted this rather unreliable plan. After all, in their view, as long as the task was completed, it didn't matter if they did more of what they wanted to do...?
……
-
Japan, Kyoto.

In the spacious but somewhat dimly lit Japanese-style living room, Hanako Arasaka knelt on the floor, the air filled with the scent of incense from the old house.

This was Hua Zi's habit before joining the network.

Although she once yearned for rebellion in her youth and possessed exceptional talent in hacking.

Why do you say that?

Because her brother, Yoriyuki, was a traitor whom Arasaka was keeping a close eye on, and half of Arasaka's hacker team was looking for the whereabouts of the main leader of the Steel Dragon, but even in the face of such tight surveillance, Hanako was still able to contact Yoriyuki through an old PC and express her longing.

She raised her chin, trying to find a moment of peace in the aromatherapy.

The wooden door behind me, which still required manual pushing and pulling, opened, and my older brother, whom I could only see once a year on Mother's Day, returned, dressed in a kimono.

Hua Zi turned her face slightly and lowered her head slightly. "You've come, brother."

Lai Xuan walked over and sat down without any regard for his image.

He stretched one leg out and rested his arm on the knee of his other arched thigh, looking completely nonchalant.

Hua Zi curled the corners of his mouth into a gentle smile.

"You've won, Hua Zi."

With her eyes lowered, Hua Zi's chin was lifted by Lai Xuan's grip. "I can't see through you... You know that Arasaka is on the wrong path, right? Young you... have the same thoughts as me."

Where did you go?

Hua Zi has always been like this, with tight defense, and he will never respond to Lai Xuan's words.

"Brother, what are you talking about?"

Lai Xuan sighed, "Father's calculations are spot on. No one can escape his control. If Nitta-san of Night City loses, Michiko can go back—and if Nitta He wins, it will still be Michiko's territory."

“Sister… I couldn’t change anything, I couldn’t do anything.”

Hua Zi reached out and carefully brushed the stray hairs from Lai Xuan's ear.

"Arasaka doesn't need to change."

Lai Xuan grabbed Hua Zi's wrist. "So... this operation against that out-of-control weapon in Night City, you were the one leading the team, right?"

Hua Zi's expression darkened slightly.

a long time.

"Brother... I need to infiltrate the network."

Lai Xuan seemed very agitated. "Why?! Why do you never ask why Father gives orders—you know perfectly well that the Guardian Soul series isn't the path we should take... what are you trying to do?"

The warmth in Hua Zi's eyes was replaced by a layer of indifference.

"Night City... Corporation, New America."

"With so many people watching, what we created unintentionally has caused a lot of trouble under your management. Brother, please stop being so willful."

Lai Xuan knew that Sanlang had gone mad, but he never expected that it was Hua Zi who went to rescue Lin!

Based on her deep-seated suspicions, coupled with the information reported by her subordinates, the chances of Rin being able to be brought back were ridiculously low.

Hua Zi knew very well why his brother was "acting up" here.

He valued Rin highly, the subordinate who had dealt with the Night City's obstacle (Abernathy) for him—but he also distrusted himself, always feeling that he might secretly do things that were detrimental to his father.

Hua Zi broke free from Lai Xuan's grip on her wrist and placed her hands flat on her lap.

“We have studied the application of AI to the human nervous system, which cost us a lot of money… You may not know how lucky your subordinate is, with a whole set of mobile AI residing in his body, inseparable from him.”

“I can tell you that Lai Xuan… Rin and AI are almost impossible to separate perfectly, not even in a near-Earth orbit laboratory.”

Lai Xuan's expression turned ugly.

Is Father going back on his word?!

Hua Zi stared at the pool in front of him, where a chill still lingered.

"The Soul Killer, this is the only chance of survival. His nervous system is projected into the network, and our technology is not yet capable of separating him in a chaotic situation."

"Only once Rin's consciousness has been transformed can the data be separated."

Lai Xuan gritted his teeth, "That's just a disgusting AI, not a living person!"

Two maids dressed in black kimonos, with indifferent expressions, appeared behind Hua Zi; they were almost identical.

"Father has been very kind to you... Soul Killer can save Rin. Listen to Father and complete the task he assigned."

As Lai Xuan was asked to leave, Hua Zi's taut back gradually relaxed.

"Miss Hua, it's time."

Her kimono fell to the ground, and Hanako walked step by step into the pool of liquid that was so deep it seemed to swallow her very soul.

Blacklisted customer service might protect her, but Hanako hates dying in an ugly state, so whenever there's something important that requires her to solve Arasaka's problems online, she comes here.

AI: "The Asia network region access has been opened. Requesting authorization, Falcon level, has been granted."

A group of cybersecurity experts dressed in black customer service uniforms appeared around them, and they lay down one by one on the hacker chairs that rose from the floor.

The AI's hollow voice continued to echo.

"The Soul Killer main program has been located in the Divine Carriage, and preparations are complete."

……

　[Using Adaptive Neural Network Technology to Capture Roaming AI]: In order to create a competitor to Soul Killer, military technology attempts to control roaming AI outside the walls to create new military weapons. The neural matrix that can save Rin, Nightingale, and Sasha is a byproduct of this process. In short, it is to capture the roaming AI that enters the nervous system, stop its iteration, and free it from its physical body.

　　[A famous speech was given in front of Shirahoshi's door]: After Arasaka Kei died, Arasaka Michiko had a closed-door conversation with the then-new US president. Afterwards, Arasaka Michiko was given a chance to catch her breath and develop in the new United States. She contacted her father's former subordinates and secret service organizations, and thus took over Arasaka Industries in North America. This is also the historical root of Michiko's alliance with the new United States.

　　【Murphy the Spider】: According to the cyberpunk board game description, before attacking Arasaka Tower, Murphy the Spider had charming and beautiful long hair, and her image in cyberspace was also that of a strong anime girl.

　　【Puma Squad】: In the cyberpunk red board game background, this special squad under Michiko Arasaka, dressed in a sweet and anime style, is located on the 11th to 14th floors of the Dangerous Girls headquarters building. They are not only the image representatives, but also Michiko's most useful weapon.

　　【(Hua Zi) Exceptional Hacking Skills】: In 2077, this descendant of Arasaka doesn't have many appearances, but according to the background description, "she is proficient in network operations and eventually plays an important role," making her a high-level hacker.

　　The author says there's not enough space, so please feel free to add any other unexplained content.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)