Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 362 Passive Acceptance Not Accepted [7.3K]

All the hackers from Dreamers who participated in the Brandon rescue are here.

Nobody who makes a living from this is a fool.

Brandon's warning revealed that the seriousness of the situation had exceeded everyone's expectations.

Fortunately, not many people were affected by this incident, and the risk of leakage remains under control.

How to handle the problems that follow is a considerable challenge for the dreamer.

For hackers: Not everyone will try to break through the firewall on their first day in the online world to find traces of predecessors and online masters.

Hackers pursue only three things:

Driven by money, the thrill of escaping after a successful hacking operation, and the numbing sensation of forgetting the misery of real life in the online world.

But no one's pursuit is to provoke law enforcement officers who roam the AI ​​and cyber world.

Aside from AI hunters and madmen.

Even AI hunters conduct their cyber operations with the tacit approval of cyber surveillance.

The atmosphere was heavy and suffocating.

At this moment, five people, including Qiwei, were near the main control panel.

The hacker, who had just emerged from deep-sea diving, sat in a chair, while security personnel provided him with nutrient solution and food. The Lost Island team was responsible for checking the prosthetic body and any possible data.

Their brains were still throbbing with pain, yet they faced the next problem.

At this moment, Lin Yue was not actually thinking about keeping quiet; on the contrary, he was trying to cut off any trace of being tracked.

after all.

The data spores left behind by AI are undoubtedly deadly, and this must be guarded against.

For hackers who dream big, this silence is especially terrifying.

They were panicked and terrified, and of course, they were also uneasy about this "unfamiliar" boss.

They had always assumed that Emma, ​​the manager of Dreamers, was the actual controller of the company, but after this excessively young and unfamiliar person appeared, they realized that the legendary person in charge of the company really existed.

Of course, this face is not Lin Yue's identity.

He can still notice these small details.

“Miss Emma…”

Some of the hackers cleared their heads a little and gritted their teeth, wanting to speak.

However, they were disappointed.

At this moment, Emma stood silently a step away from Lin Yue, and they, whose thinking abilities were not lacking, desperately confirmed:
This young man is probably the one who holds the power of life and death over them!
Emma's eyes were gloomy.

Because even she didn't know how to handle these things.

If it were under her usual position, she would probably not be satisfied until she completely silenced them today.

After all, this is not child's play.

Internet censors wield absolute power in the online world.

Their existence is to prevent the Black Wall from being compromised. If a hacker without any skill tries to delve deep into the Black Wall, just the fact that they approach it is enough for network surveillance to burn their brains dry without any warning!
Even with illegal access to the Great Firewall, this is still the case.

The reality is that the "thing" that crossed over from the other side of the black wall made indirect contact with them.

I'm doomed...

Lin Yue was probably the only one present who felt no fear.

With Ultraman by his side, Lin Yue was naturally fearless, but the hackers below only needed to reveal a little bit of information to attract the attention of network surveillance.

He couldn't very well assign Ultraman to be some kind of guardian just to save the lives of these hackers.

If anyone is caught red-handed, every single one of them will have to stay inside the gates of internet surveillance.

Death may be the best outcome for sealing the secret.

"Well…"

Lin Yue thought it would be more appropriate for him to go into the online world himself.

Although there are no signs that the Dreamers' actions have attracted the attention of the internet regulators, it's better to meet with Ultraman first, just to be on the safe side. There's no harm in using a super hacker like Ultraman here—he can work hard for Ultraman later.

The idea was witty and lighthearted, but in reality, Lin Yue was still very worried about the Dreamers who were in their early stages.

Emma put a lot of effort into personnel. Putting aside their professional abilities, the people who came in were at least not the vagrant leaders of Night City, nor were they the most heinous criminals. Of course, a one-size-fits-all approach couldn't be adopted.

The hackers tensed up when they heard Lin Yue was about to speak…

The faint metallic clanging of bulletproof vests jolted the hackers into a state of heightened alert; some even prepared to use their network access pods to face the potential "execution" at any moment.

However, Lin Yue's next words made everyone think they had almost misheard.

"Thanks to everyone's efforts, we were able to bring back our new friend, Brandon, the company's system maintenance worker, whom we haven't known for very long—this is inseparable from everyone's efforts, including Supervisor Qiwei, who continued to follow the Dreamer's instructions despite taking huge risks."

"Thank you."

Lin Yue bowed politely to everyone.

AI like Brandon is more efficient at managing and auditing data than humans. Most companies build their own subnets to avoid internet surveillance, and most of their services and human resources for precise calculations are replaced by AI. However, this undoubtedly violates internet surveillance regulations. It's just that if it is only used within a subnet, internet surveillance often turns a blind eye.

The importance of management AI is self-evident.

This is also why Lin Yue took such drastic measures today to bring Brandon back.

Everyone was stunned, including Emma, ​​who was ready to play the "bad cop" at any moment.

She sensed Lin Yue's meaning; it seemed he had no intention of doing anything about preventing leaks.

Lin Yue smiled as he glanced at everyone's reactions, including Emma, ​​who was standing behind him and whom he caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye.

Even she didn't understand the meaning of this current approach.

Lin Yue was very clear about this:

Dreamers cannot and will never become the next "Company". Here are partners and comrades-in-arms. Although there are ranks and orders, they are all kind-hearted law-abiding citizens trying to escape the dirty pressures of this city. Do you think you can shut them up by using the vicious methods of the company? Not only will you lose the support of the people, but you will also increase the risk of leaks.

A tyrant has no good ministers.

"I'm so happy, I never thought I'd still be alive. Of course, right now all I want is to have a cup of coffee and go to bed for a nap."

"This is a terrible memory, but thankfully you were there."

"My savior!!!"

Brandon is also the kind of guy who climbs the ladder by taking advantage of opportunities.

This conversation made even the most wary hackers chuckle. Qiwei, who had been clenching her fists and tense all over, looked at Rin in surprise, and the muscles in her arms slowly relaxed.

Lin Yue had long been aware of Brandon's antics.

"Can you tell me what you saw in the Taipingzhou network area?"

Lin Yue needs to know some details so that he can get Otto, this "professional," to provide more favorable conditions for the dreamers.

Brandon seemed lost in memories, and the cartoon emoticons on the electronic screen turned into pensive expressions.

"Hmm... let me think about it."

“Miss Emma gave me a one-way key that allows me to freely leave the company’s data fortress, but I need an access key to enter.”

"Those guys... took advantage of my escape to create a trap set by the data fortress, which is why I fell for it... Waaah."

As he spoke, this guy once again expressed his emotions like a human.

“Those guys are the same kind of people as me, but they have a smell that I don’t like; I learned about the cyber crash from a database uploaded to cyberspace by a company in Taipingzhou. They are AIs infected by that smell, my kind.”

Like a child returning home, she poured out her grievances from outside.

"I understood what you meant and immediately completed the decoding, but some data was still lost. I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional..."

Lin Yue listened carefully to Brandon's human-like expression and compared the data to confirm that there were roving AIs lurking outside the Great Firewall in the Pacific region. Although he told Brandon to speak slowly, his worries actually intensified.

"What about that part of the data?"

Lin Yue asked.

Brandon chuckled, "Of course we'll destroy it. They just want to know the key to our wall on the Pacific Network and, incidentally, eat me. How could we let those pests succeed?"

Pests…

Listening to Brandon's hostile expression, Lin Yue pondered and said, "It also perfectly matches the characteristics of the roving AI being highly aggressive. Does anyone have any other ideas?"

A hacker named Sack felt an urge to speak.

Even though his companions were warning him not to speak rashly, he still believed that the young man in front of him wasn't saying so much just to find a reason to kill them.

Throughout his communication with Brandon, he exuded goodwill.

"Uh…"

"Generally speaking, it is possible for AI to roam freely within the Great Firewall."

“You… Mr. Rin, after all, you are also a hacker. I don’t know what kind of connection exists between the Great Firewall and internet censorship, but as long as the Great Firewall detects traces of AI roaming within the firewall, internet censorship is basically not far off.”

"Our top priority is to infiltrate the network and quickly repair any existing channels to avoid being targeted by this organization!"

Lin Yue was somewhat surprised by these words, but he couldn't understand why Sak would risk his life again.

Emma leaned close to his ear and whispered, "To raise money for his mother's artificial kidney and life-saving medication, he took a job as a middleman in Night City. He got caught by Contour's cybersecurity department—his assets were confiscated, and he's been blacklisted by the company. If the NCPD ever spots him, they'll be after him too..."

“We funded his mother’s replacement of her body with a prosthetic, but of course, the drug was no longer in production due to the biotechnology, so we couldn’t get our hands on it. And yet, she still passed away.”

"After all, there are too few cases, so biotechnology can't make much of a profit."

Lin Yue understood.

Qi Wei noticed Lin Yue's questioning gaze and nodded slightly. "If it weren't for preventing information leaks, we probably would have to—"

Lin Yue's voice followed closely behind.

"Then I'll go online."

Emma grabbed Lin Yue's wrist immediately.

"Don't."

Brandon's face turned pale with fear. "That won't do."

"I'd like to ask, if the internet surveillance system is following those inexplicably appearing AIs, hasn't your data already been sniffed out by those hounds?"

This statement left the hackers speechless.

All I can do is complain, "Damn..."

No one can guarantee that they won't encounter a sudden internet monitoring program the moment they connect to the network...

Sack clenched his fist, clearly having no reason to refute Lin Yue's statement.

Just do it.

As he spoke, Lin Yue took off his clothes and walked to the hacker chair on his left that allowed for deep-sea diving.

Emma put a lot of effort into it.

All of them are EU products, and they don't look like they've been used for very long.

only…

Watching Lin Yue's actions...

The security personnel beside her didn't dare to move, constantly watching Emma's expression.

Lin Yue waited for several seconds and found that no one had any cooling equipment for him. He was stunned for a moment, then glanced around at the guys around him who seemed to be frozen, and almost laughed out of anger.

So he turned around, spread his hands, and said helplessly, "Emma, ​​nobody listens to me."

Emma's expression was serious, but Lin Yue's witty remark broke the silence.

"You are not allowed to access the internet."

Lin Yue thought for a moment, "The plan to save Brandon was something I came up with in three minutes. If you think there's a more effective way than mine, please tell me, Miss Emma."

Admittedly, this statement is extremely arrogant.

That's what all the hackers think...

But there's really no way to refute it.

Rin, who was able to issue the order to save Brandon just now, clearly has superior hacking skills and a strong enough reaction time compared to these people.

Meanwhile, Emma, ​​who only had a partial understanding of the knowledge and was not an expert, had nothing to say.

She couldn't think of a better way.

The situation seems to have reached a stalemate?

Someone chose to break it.

Qi Wei, with a cigarette tucked into her mask, kept her head down, not smoking a single puff; the smoke simply dissipated into the air.

"I'll go in with you."

Lin Yue nodded.

"That's perfect. If unforeseen circumstances arise, we can immediately activate the company's firewall and freeze the data fortress, preventing any user from accessing it."

Now, not only Sack, but even the hackers who had been wary and hostile towards Lin Yue were horrified…

Imagine there's a tiger outside the door. Lin Yue goes out with a stick. If the tiger charges, Qi Wei is the one who slams the door shut behind Lin Yue, trapping him in place.

Would any company executive really take such a risk for their employees?
“Hey listen... I have to be responsible for everyone.”

"No one says that senior executives in a company can't access the network to contribute to everyone's security, right?"

Lin Yue knew he had to convince Emma now.

She had been in charge of the company for much longer than he had, and everyone had developed the habit of obeying Emma. Lin Yue wasn't angry; on the contrary, the more people in the company listened to Emma, ​​the more it proved that he hadn't made the wrong choice in selecting her.

“Mr. Rin, this is irresponsible towards your life.”

The islander put away the inspection equipment, saying, "You can't have any problems."

Members of the hacker team also spoke up, saying, "Let's try to get in first." This didn't seem like a scene of companies shirking responsibility and passing the buck in the face of a crisis; it was more like a group of passionate young people vying for the opportunity to deal with the crisis.

Lin Yue was very satisfied.

But the longer he delayed, the more troublesome things became, so he decided to cut the Gordian knot—

"Give me the stuff."

He looked directly at Emma.

Needless to say.

It was necessary to be firm with Emma personally. Although Lin Yue should have been gentler today, Emma believed that as long as Lin Yue was alright, she could abandon everything else. But Lin Yue couldn't let the crisis take away the hard-won present of Dreamers.

Emma was clearly taken aback by Lin Yue's sudden change in attitude, and for a moment she was left with nothing but astonishment and fear.

"Give it to him, and I'll find a way to get his attention if necessary."

Qiwei shrugged. "If you're not willing to take the risk, then just pray that today's events were just a dream. I'll do as Rin says."

Soon the network department brought in a hacked customer service representative.

Lin Yue simply put it on, and the cold, stimulating sensation of the special leather-like material made his bones feel numb.

Emma watched as Lin Yue resolutely lay down on the hacker chair, and the other hackers also stood up and stared blankly at this legendary company leader.

Beyond the incomprehension, there was mostly bewilderment…

"Miss Emma!"

Sack gritted his teeth, seemingly demanding that she stop Rin's risky behavior—

"never mind."

Emma suddenly sighed.

The other person's attitude towards him was not bad; rather, her love had trapped his vision of protecting everyone.

"The company's highest level of security protocol has been activated. All actions, business operations, and projects that have not yet commenced have been halted, and the security department is on full alert."

Emma calmly issued the second most serious order in the history of the Dreamers.

The first time was in the face of a biotechnology attack on Dreamers Harbor!

This is an event that could destroy the company!

Under the awe-inspiring yet admiring gazes of hackers and his dream-like employees, the young company leader quickly immersed himself in the online world, and Qiwei followed suit.

After a brief adjustment, Brandon also joined the defense efforts of the data fortress.

Whispers could be heard coming from the vicinity of the network central control console.

"Just who is our boss?"

One of the hackers quietly asked his companion next to him.

"Adam Hammer, ever heard of him? It's all over Night City. I only found out about it by hacking into a small newspaper's database. The company is practically keeping it a secret."

"The second of the top ten lone wolves? A complete idiot whose flesh isn't even enough to make a single serving of meat sauce noodles, right?"

"Yes, he's dead! He died at our hands!"

"Damn, that's awesome...I never would have guessed!"

Listening to his companions behind him chattering away, Sack said in a deep voice, "Someone is taking responsibility for us, why are you still nagging like this?"

The hackers shrank back and dared not speak.

Anyone who refutes Sack's words would be truly acting against their conscience.

No one wants to be forced into online access by the company, but Lin Yue's statement that there's no rule against company executives accessing the internet, showing his consideration for everyone, truly resonated with them…

"Just stand there and watch, we're not going to be of any help."

Someone chuckled dryly, saying with a mixture of admiration and helplessness, "Indeed awesome..."

Emma ignored the clamor. Some of them felt relieved, some felt guilty, and some were grateful, but none of it concerned her. She just hoped that he was safe and sound in the online world, a world she couldn't understand.

The island was lost, and he looked utterly helpless.

Pila was lucky she was running data in the lab; if she had known Lin Yue had infiltrated the network, she probably would have already started yelling at him.

……

After his surroundings quickly blurred and he entered the network world, Lin Yue looked at the dense lines around him. This was the data fortress built by the dreamers.

While it can't compare to the scale of large companies like Arasaka, it's in a class of its own in Taipingzhou. It uses conventional designs and has enough code to withstand a full-scale intrusion, so it will use crashes instead of defenses.

"cold?"

Qiwei, whose image was ethereal and whose exact appearance was unclear in cyberspace, reached out and patted Rin on the shoulder.

She discovered that Rin was about to leave without saying goodbye.

Rin turned her head, and the movement of raising her head seemed slow, but in reality, it left behind a series of afterimages.

This is the characteristic of instability in cyberspace after the Great Crash.

"Be careful, Emma doesn't understand these things, that's why she's stopping you."

"But we all know you're the kind of hacker who survived Dogtown..."

It was rare to hear these things from Qiwei. Lin Yue felt that many people's lives had changed, and their attitudes toward the world had also changed.

In the past, Qiwei would have lost if she had said even one extra word.

"it is good."

Lin Yue, whose appearance was obscured, rapidly shrank in front of Qi Wei. In reality, using vectors as the reference unit, it was the process of quickly breaking out of the data fortress.

A torrent of data, like a blue ocean, gently enveloped the data fortress above, and Brandon's voice followed—

"You're too late! Why didn't you say goodbye to your old friends?!"

Qiwei sighed helplessly, "Stop being cheeky and get to work."

The two watched the data changes in Lin Yue's direction intently, their hearts pounding in their chests.

So far, the data tracking is performing well. As long as Lin Yue confirms that there are no traces of Dreamers in the Taipingzhou network area, he can return smoothly.

"The data gives me a sense of..."

Brandon's voice seemed to come from near and far.

"How is this going?"

Qiwei, who was deep-sea diving, turned around with her arms crossed, but the moment her attention shifted, the data tracking progress bar failed...

"Hold!"

Qiwei and Brandon launched network defense measures almost simultaneously. Qiwei, who had access to the data fortress, immediately disposed of any possible access points to the data fortress as Lin Yue had instructed. At the same time, Brandon also utilized his own AI data, becoming an AI ICE that merged with the data fortress and possessed self-awareness!

Qiwei didn't know why she was so decisive.

But all she could do was repeat to herself that she had to listen to Rin at all times, after all…

That guy has never lost.

"Qiwei! We've locked our best friend out!"

Brandon's voice was filled with anxiety.

“I know…” Qi Wei gritted her teeth and desperately tried to stabilize the data flow, “If the database isn’t shut down, if something happens to Rin, the company will be in trouble too.”

"Where did it come from?!"

There are too many questions about Qiwei that remain unanswered.

Was Rin dealt with by network surveillance technology? Then why did she disappear so quickly...? Unless she suffered a crackdown from the entire network department of the company, it's no different from a sudden resurrection!
Brandon is also searching for Lin Yue's whereabouts.

But their efforts were quickly in vain and they were defeated.

It's too fast...

The worst possible solution I could have imagined was actually implemented so quickly!
"Fuck fuck fuck!"

Qiwei growled like a mother leopard.

She had clearly confirmed that the internet police were there…

……

At this moment, Lin Yue, who had accessed Ott's private IBS, had no idea that Ott had quickly concealed his whereabouts. Even if he did know, he felt that the company's data fortress should be temporarily shut down, as it's better to preserve one's life than to run out of resources.

"Ultraman, it's been a long time."

Lin Yue, leaning on the railing in a small house, pointed to the data pond suspended above the stairs, where the densely packed fluorescent particles were a visual representation of the data.

Ultraman has always been the entity standing on one foot in the air, but her appearance has become increasingly larger, which proves that Ultraman has been constantly absorbing and expelling data.

Otto, who wasn't interested in the greetings, spoke up directly.

"Rin... the time is almost here, it's time for you to help me."

Lin Yue had anticipated this request and asked curiously, "Okay, anytime is fine, but I need to do something in the next two days. Can it be 48 hours later?"

Without a second thought, Ultraman replied, "Sure, aren't you going to ask where we're going?"

Lin Yue could not deny it.

"When you helped me, you didn't ask how many enemies I had to kill."

Ultraman floated in the air and paused for several seconds, a rare occurrence.

"Don't feel guilty. My issues and the Black Wall have changed your life. Now, let's continue our exchange of equal value."

The creator of the cunning Soul Killer has no secrets.

Ultraman was once human, so it's not difficult for him to understand these principles.

"Sometimes chatting with you is quite boring, like a friend from the other side of the black wall has crawled in."

Lin Yue wanted to hear about Ultraman's information.

However, what Ultraman said next left him dumbfounded...

"I left those Voodoo hackers who were burned at the stake outside the Black Wall, but it seems the malware on the other side has found a way, a container to hold their bizarre and deformed program forms, just like the Night Corporation people that NCX encountered... They are all programs."

So all that was it? Those AIs were actually connected to Ultraman?
Ultraman quickly read the data traffic and knew what had happened that day.

"AI is a fatal blow to everyone except individuals like you."

"I will help upgrade your AI and handle the protection of the data fortress. These are all very simple."

Lin Yue clicked his tongue in amazement. "Awesome."

"But I can't track them down, so I can only take defensive measures. If they dare to show up again, the Black Wall will not let it go."

Having Ultraman is more effective than taking ten reassurance pills.

"Humans face far greater risks to enter the Black Wall than I do. I will grant all your requests, except those that I cannot do."

Oops.

Ultraman is really rich and powerful.

Upon hearing such tempting terms, Lin Yue immediately fell into deep thought.

He quickly came up with his own plan.

"Can you get your hands on confidential information, including information about company executives, new American politicians, and even Saburo Arasaka?"

Ultraman spread his hands, and for a moment he appeared both near and far.

"If I wanted to, I'd know exactly how many times a cockroach's wings flapped past a high-precision surveillance camera in Toronto right now, unless it's something offline or a shrine designed specifically for me—"

"Omniscience."

Lin Yue felt somewhat awestruck when he heard the omniscience echoing throughout the space.

"what are you up to?"

This is one of the few times Ultraman has asked a question in return.

"If you've stripped yourself of your humanity, will you still have curiosity?"

However, Ultraman took it seriously and didn't treat it as a joke.

"It's not curiosity; the original intention behind our design was the endless pursuit of data... It's more like a thirst for knowledge."

"Send me any information you need to my private IBS, and I will investigate for you without reservation."

Lin Yue waved his hand.

"What I need to do is learn from you... Shouldn't knowing everything be the ability that someone like me, who can't show his real face, should have?"

"Seize the initiative, take the lead, and never accept a passive situation."

Because of Ultraman's generosity, Lin Yue began to have some thoughts about the changes taking place within Arakawa.

Passive elements permeate Lin Yue's journey from Dogtown to Dreamers.

now…

It's time for a change.

After giving Lin Yue his assurance, Otto continued, "However, I must warn you, once those roving AIs start interfering with the real world, you need to be extra careful. In their eyes, you are nothing more than reptiles; they don't understand the rules of human survival, nor are they the heinous demons you claim to be..."

Lin Yue: "What is that?"

"instinct."

Ott answered Lin Yue with two words.

"What you see as cruelty may be seen by them as simply a way to study principles."

"They retain their thirst for data, yet the virus has shattered the fundamental rules that AI must follow; they... are only thinking of themselves."

……

……

(End of this chapter)