Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 445 The Dike Breaks (Part 5)

Arakasaka Tower.

The counterintelligence department is operating at full speed, especially the hacker teams, almost all of whom are online. Their mission is singular: to protect Arasaka's data fortress.

Lai Xuan's declaration of war was undoubtedly very powerful, and given Kang Tao's ambiguous attitude, the spearhead of the corporate war ultimately did not point towards Arasaka.

Lucy couldn't tell whether she felt relieved or burdened.

Fortunately, the terrifying war did not come, but it was heartbreaking to realize in such a short time that the world was even more dangerous.

Everything she experienced in cyberspace was so clear that she even suspected it was a nightmare stemming from her fear of Rin. In fact, she had come to know about the extraordinary figure in cyberspace who was beyond her comprehension.

Even if you told people about this method, few people would believe it.

Are urban legends and the world-renowned hacker god Bartmouth the kind of beings they are?

Without a doubt... if Rin were to take action against Arasaka's data fortress, she could almost easily bring the entire counterintelligence department to a standstill.

Lucy is currently taking a short break. As the captain of a cyber hacker scout team, her main responsibility has become understanding the situation on the cyber battlefield, all because of a decision made by the cyber surveillance team.

They chose to turn a blind eye and expose Night City to the Black Wall in order to give the new America and its military technology an advantage in cyber warfare.

So Lucy and her group were in charge of this. With the help of the experienced hackers Arasaka, they managed to get close to the Black Wall, but they couldn't go too deep. They only learned that there was a large amount of traffic surging near the Black Wall...

After several difficult attempts, Lucy finally left behind a probe software that could measure the characteristics of data bursts near the Black Wall in an attempt to find some patterns.

Thanks to the sharing of intelligence, Arasaka has gained an excellent initiative and is now fully aware that Rin is eliminating a weapon transformed into the Black Wall right under the nose of New America near the Black Wall.

Arasaka only needs to worry about whether someone will use the Black Wall as an excuse to do something to him.

The absurd scenes that were even more unbelievable than hallucinations filled Lucy's mind, and she let out a long sigh of relief. She stood up, lit a cigarette, and walked out of the smoke-filled Arasaka hacker server center.

It wasn't until the sunlight fell on Lucy's face that she felt a moment of disorientation.

Dawn had broken, and the fierce battle on Taiping Island seemed to have ended overnight. The fourth corporate war was unfolding in an unexpected way...

Cyber ​​warfare.

Cyberattacks, which accounted for a small proportion in previous corporate wars, have now become mainstream, and the world has become inseparable from data in the cyber network.

The morning air in Night City carried a strange, inexplicable smell. Lucy readjusted the settings of the synthetic lungs, and the bio-controller reduced the harmful hormonal imbalance caused by continuous all-nighters to normal levels—

"Lucy?"

David also looked very tired. Recently, no one in Arasaka can leave easily. All holidays have been suspended, and everyone in Arasaka must stay at the company.

Lucy was curious and surprised to see Martinez outside the counterintelligence department's lobby at this time.

"Isn't this training?"

Lucy's expression was somewhat mocking. She grinned mischievously, cigarette between her fingers, and leaned closer to David. "You didn't make some mistake and copied the company rules again, did you?"

David, of course, wouldn't let Lucy tease him like that. "How could that be?! I just come to the company early, you know... just to see you."

Lucy nimbly jumped onto the railing and sat down, enjoying a sense of reality that felt even more substantial than in the virtual world.

She felt that she was probably not suited to be a hacker.

Because she never had the same greed for the virtual world as other hackers; she felt more helplessness and fear.

"Ha, then I'll take that as a sign that you like me."

Lucy's boldness made David's direct attack sound like a shy student's confession. David looked at his lover's seemingly relaxed expression and leaned forward, but only pursed his lips, as if he was hesitating whether to ask the question in his heart.

certainly…

Lucy saw through it but didn't say anything, taking a few puffs of her cigarette.

at last.

"Lucy, is there going to be a war between the companies? Like...like those wars I found online, the terrible wars that almost rebuilt Night City decades ago?"

Scary, isn't it...?

People who haven't experienced war certainly know it's a bad thing, but they can't say they're afraid of it, unless they've seen something like Mewtwo with a battlefield theme.

"Pretty much... but that's not something a recruit should be thinking about, darling."

Lucy crossed her arms, carefully controlling her words and actions, after all, David wasn't one of those company employees who had access to secrets.

Given his relationship with Mr. Rin, it's not a problem for David to know certain things.

"Will you go to war, Lucy?"

David recalled the views of his peers from corporate families on this crisis; most of them believed that companies would have to invest a lot of people online, and that the sacrifices were just numbers to the company.

In any war, a company will do anything to win.

So Lucy, as a cyber hacker, seems to be in great danger... In cyber warfare, they are the only ones who can act as soldiers.

"Fool…"

Lucy laughed crisply, "Where did you hear all that from? No one. In fact, I'm not qualified to participate in any important operations."

David, being simple-minded, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"I was worried for a long time yesterday, and... did your and Mr. Rin's operation go smoothly?"

Lucy's expression stiffened slightly. "It went fairly smoothly, David—"

David grabbed Lucy's arm. "Is Mr. Rin's company under siege?"

So this guy was waiting for me to figure this out!
Lucy was both angry and helpless towards David. Even though she knew that David might have violated Arasaka's confidentiality regulations, she could only say softly, "Don't worry... I don't think anyone can do anything to him."

David was overjoyed to receive good news from his lover and someone he respected!

"Really, Lucy?"

"Can Mr. Rin really handle so many companies?"

Lucy nodded again, then tossed the cigarette butt, almost burned down to the sponge, onto the ground. "David, no matter what, this isn't something you should be concerned about; your most important task right now is to complete the training properly, promise me..."

David had his hands inside his casual training clothes for new employees in Arasaka, and his youthful energy was so strong that Lucy felt like she and David were two different people...

However, this is also one of the reasons why Lucy likes this guy.

"I know!" David waved his hand, leaning against the railing, his eyes full of excitement for the unknown. "I really hope the training ends soon. Remember? I did some good work in the counterintelligence department!"

Lucy couldn't bear to destroy the fervent hope in David's eyes.

She and her team bypassed the black wall and saw the cyber network image falling like fireworks, as well as the Arasaka employees who were accidentally swallowed up by the traffic explosion. Every world is incredibly real and cruel.

David, who is happy in this life, seems to need more time to understand these things.

Nothing bad.

Just as Lucy was watching her break time slip away, David also prepared to go to the training camp as scheduled.

The girl smiled at David, but as she turned away, a slight jolt seemed to run through her head, and Lucy's expression changed drastically...

She stood there, completely still. David, who had his head resting on his hands, turned around and saw Lucy standing there, motionless.

"Lucy?"

David sensed something was wrong.

Just as he was about to ask a question, Lucy turned around, her face deathly pale…

"David! Go to the tech department right now and tell them to shut down the servers, quick!"

"Follow the emergency plan, don't worry about your training."

what? !

David was immediately stunned. Seeing the terrifying expression that Lucy had never shown before, David realized the seriousness of the situation. He frowned, nodded heavily, and hurriedly ran to the next floor of the counterintelligence department.

At that moment, the two young men separated by the floorboards were running for their lives—

"Damn it, how could this be?"

Lucy's eyes widened, feeling like her lungs were about to explode. She dared not stop; compared to running herself to death, she felt that what was happening in cyberspace was far more serious!
because…

A gap has appeared in the black wall!!!
Lucy wasn't sure if her judgment was accurate, but Arasaka's probe program accurately reflected everything; the wandering AIs that shouldn't be on the Black Wall's side were now reacting more and more strongly—

If the connection is not quickly severed and the system is not taken offline, the company's critical data will be destroyed.

As for people…

If the black wall breaks down, then in the eyes of these programs outside the wall, human brains and computers will be like crawlers, and their slaughter will be indiscriminate.

I hope I'm wrong.

Lucy, however, did the opposite; she wanted to go online and see for herself if it was real, following the probe's instructions... There was no other way but to go online and verify.

The probe program is attached to the black wall and is theoretically a low-response, non-intelligent program for continuous detection. However, this program has broken down, which means that the main program has changed.

There is only one possible explanation—a gap has appeared in the black wall.

Lucy would rather be wrong than let David carry out the counterintelligence orders.

Lucy rushed into the hacker room, head down, panting heavily. A group of hackers who had just logged off were talking to their replacements in the tightly packed hacker chairs. Hearing the sudden thud at the door, they all turned to look at Lucy…

Lucy looked at the cables plugged into the back of most hackers' brains—bare network cables without any corporate data fortress protection…

"Depend on…"

Some hackers chose this simple method to avoid being investigated by Arasaka's internal staff for operational errors, but now, in Lucy's eyes, all of this is like the Grim Reaper's scythe held to the throats of these hackers...

"Hot-swap, don't leave the network cable on!"

A moment of silence fell over the scene…

Almost without hesitation, all the hackers who hadn't yet gained access to the network quickly reached behind them and unplugged the network cable after hearing Lucy's shout.

Lucy looked at the hackers still online, knocked over several chairs, and rushed to the main PC. Looking at the data on the server, her fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to use commands to quickly disconnect the hackers.

"what happens?"

Harry, who had been reporting to his superiors from his cubicle, sensed something was wrong and quickly came out, only to find that everyone in the entire hacker room had stopped working.

Harry quickly pushed aside the hackers surrounding the main PC.

The arrival of superiors brought the chaotic situation under some control.

"Lucy, you better give me an explanation..."

Harry was talking while glancing at the PC screen out of professional instinct, and he almost jumped in fright when he saw the data Lucy was working on.

This girl is trying to lock down the entire Arasaka Data Fortress?!
"asshole!"

Harry, without any hesitation, prepared to drag Lucy away from the PC, setting aside the fact that this approach involves some common beginner mistakes…

Furthermore, a data fortress requires a directive from a V director level!
Just as Harry grabbed Lucy's arm, the lighting inside the Arasaka Tower suddenly dimmed, and streaks of blinding red light illuminated the entire room.

"It's over!"

Lucy looked dejectedly at the group of hackers who hadn't yet logged off the network, even though their colleagues were ready to hot-swap...

late.

"Sir, the data fortress has been attacked!"

Harry's stunned expression shifted instantly as he looked at the data administrator who was frantically working on the task at hand. "The company?"

The data administrator looked grim. "I don't know, but... but it's AI!"

AI?!
Lucy immediately yelled, "Get away from those network devices!"

As she spoke, she rushed towards the main power valve. Those hackers who hadn't lost contact were obviously doomed, but Lucy didn't want the casualties to increase...

She didn't even know what she was thinking, but she just rushed forward instinctively.

The organizations and groups she hated most accepted her, and the people and things she disliked most gave her stability. She only knew what she had to do.

boom!
Lucy seemed to lose all her senses for a moment.

The colorful fragments scattered across the sky reminded Lucy of the data fortress she encountered during her first deep dive, where she, like all the other children, gazed upon a breathtakingly beautiful world…

However, things that are beautiful and vibrant often have a deadly effect.

Lucy's body was thrown into the air by the explosion of the overloaded server, the virtual image in her prosthetic eye was torn apart, and she crashed heavily to the ground.

Some floor below.

David rushed into the server control room and found the floor unusually quiet.

The air was filled with a strange, burnt smell. David had barely taken a step when the entire building was plunged into darkness…

Without any hesitation, he placed his hand on the gun at his waist.

David felt the heavy weight of the weapon in his hand. Although he had long since become numb to the use of firearms during training, using a weapon inside the Arasaka Tower—

wrong!

David noticed that the restrictions on combat cybernetic implants and weapons had been lifted…

He quickened his pace. The automatic door to the large, opaque room in front of him slowly opened. David, who had raised his gun and was pointing it at him, stared intently at the slowly opening door.

until…

He saw those charred remains, hands like withered vines reaching upwards with all their might, and a surge of emotion rose in his throat as he looked up—

That's more death.

……

……

(End of this chapter)