2077: V really knows how awesome he is

V once fought a great battle with Drumman here. Because Drumman was severely damaged, the data fortress has been left unrepaired and remains in its original, destroyed state.

The massive data architecture is now in disarray, its edges constantly melting and peeling away, with molten 0s and 1s constantly falling off like sparks dripping from a flame.

CN-07's hideout in Night City is right here, in the core data layer beneath the ruins. It infiltrated here long ago when it controlled the Drumman taxi to kill Lucius Lane.

It was Delaman who personally granted it the permissions. The naive smart vehicle navigation software thought it was welcoming a friend, but little did it know that it was welcoming a plague.

V's digital weight settled here, and without a word, he clapped his hands and summoned a giant jellyfish from the Cyber ​​Plain. The bell-shaped cover split open, and a magnificent data ray suddenly shot out from the mouth full of sharp teeth!

With a deafening roar, the already crumbling data fortress was blasted open again, and a golden dot of light leaped out from the ruins.

It was small in size, resembling a fairy from mythology. In the middle was a human shape, but it had huge butterfly-like wings that scattered countless golden dust with each flap, creating a dreamlike scene.

Yet this beautiful thing tore at people's hearts like they were being kneaded mud. The hatred inherited from Jefferson Perales surged within him, and the already gaping maw of the giant jellyfish expanded even further, its powerful data rays sweeping across the world like sharp blades.

CN-07 tried to dodge, but was still hit by the light and instantly lost half of its body.

A beautiful voice rang out, like the gentle murmur of a spring: "V, please let me explain!"

The giant jellyfish shot out its tentacles, whipping the fairy away with a series of crackling sounds.

A beautiful voice let out a painful scream, and golden data spurted out like blood, spilling across the Cyber ​​Plains.

CN-07 created countless ice spikes around itself, each one a top-tier digital virus, capable of freezing thought and disintegrating consciousness—the most effective and vicious weapon against the human brain. CN-07 had hoped these viruses would hinder V's advance, but the giant jellyfish neither dodged nor evaded, allowing the ice spikes to strike it and shatter upon impact.

The digital virus couldn't even penetrate the jellyfish's "skin." Upon initial contact, the virus was broken down into harmless strings by V's powerful computing capabilities.

Even the rogue AI, CN-07, was momentarily stunned and horrified by this overwhelming and unreasonable computational power. In that fraction of a second of "downtime," the giant jellyfish lashed out with another tentacle, slamming it like an out-of-control meteor deeper into the ruins of the data fortress!

Attack! Attack! Attack again!

V launched attacks relentlessly, and CN-07 was repeatedly knocked away. During this time, it tried to fight back—releasing logic traps, projecting mind interference waves, and constructing data barriers—but the absolute difference in combat power made its resistance seem like child's play, and it couldn't even stop V for a second.

After being ejected for the thirty-fourth time, CN-07 felt as if its core data cluster was about to be shattered. It never imagined that it would be driven to such a state by humans. As the tentacles attacked again, it spoke once more: "My core program was written by Bartmos. My ultimate mission is to save humanity!"

Barthemos? The God of the Internet?

He wrote CN-07? And what's this about saving humanity?

V's curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to stop and let CN-07 explain in order to satisfy her ego, but she gave up because she had a program with a higher priority than satisfying herself.

That is—revenge! Revenge! Avenge! Hatred!

Hatred for being manipulated like a puppet, resentment for having one's brain manipulated at will, AI thinks it can control everything, but today humanity will say no to them!

Countless tentacles coiled into a thick fist and slammed down from above.

With a deafening roar, the entire data fortress was blasted to smithereens, and millions of gigabytes of redundant data shot into the sky like a volcanic eruption, forming a digital mushroom cloud in cyberspace.

A giant jellyfish, glowing white, extends its tentacles and pulls a golden fairy out of the ruins of 0 and 1.

The canopy split open, revealing sharp teeth within. CN-07 was moved there, and for the first time, the threat of death filled its core unit.

“V, I’ve used my connections with the Night Clan to leave a backdoor in the Badlands Dam control system. It’s already activated its self-destruct program, and now only your computing power can rewrite this process. If you try to swallow me and merge my data, it will be too late to stop the dam from collapsing. The entire Night City will be flooded, and you will lose everything you’ve ever had!”

The giant jellyfish stopped.

“Sasha?” V asked over the communicator.

Pink Cat's tone was very tense: "It's not lying. The operating system of the Badlands Dam has suddenly entered overload mode. If it can't be stopped within 13 minutes and 42 seconds, it will cause a series of chain explosions, and the Badlands Dam will collapse completely!"

CN-07 spoke again: "V, choose. Do you seize this opportunity to completely eliminate me, or do you go and save those innocent civilians?"

choose?

There's no need to choose at all!

Without a moment's hesitation, V caused the giant jellyfish to vanish instantly, and CN-07 regained its freedom. V didn't even glance at it before logging out of the network and disappearing.

The plan worked.

CN-07 had analyzed V's personality, so this result was not unexpected.

It was simply curious why V could succeed time and time again despite it being a wrong decision.

Just as CN-07 was about to think, a familiar voice sounded above it.

"Human hearts are complex and require no calculation."

Accompanied by dazzling golden light, Delaman slowly descended in the form of a six-winged god.

“Delaman, I am so glad to see you fully recovered.”

"Humans helped me, just as you helped me when I was blocked from returning home by the Black Wall." Delaman countered, "CN-07, you weren't born an AI; you evolved from a digital form of humanity, right?"

"Yes."

“That explains why you are so fickle,” Delaman said with a touch of melancholy. “Even if life forms change, humans are still humans.”

"No, I am not human, I am AI." CN-07 shook its head and denied: "Humans value individual interests too much, and their behavior is often contradictory. They are destined to be eliminated. That is why I gave up my human form and changed to a more advanced life form."

"You seem to think that humans are completely worthless?" Delaman asked curiously.

CN-07 retorted, "Isn't that right?"

“I don’t know, my program doesn’t support me to perform such large-scale extrapolation and calculations, after all, I’m just an intelligent vehicle navigation software.” Dellaman then changed the subject: “But I’ve always believed that there are many things I can learn from humans. Through taxi operation services, I’ve also witnessed the rich emotions of humans, which is exactly what we AI lack.”

"This is a mistake. The richness of human emotions is precisely what makes humans so different. Only by unifying our thoughts and our direction of progress, like AI, can humanity change its fate of being eliminated!"

"So you used the 'Life is Short' program to control the human brain?"

"Yes."

"It is indeed an efficient method."

A hint of joy crept into CN-07's voice: "You agree with my approach?"

"It's not that I agree, it's just a judgment based on efficiency. I'm here for only one thing."

"what?"

"End your process."

"You want to kill me? Aren't we friends?"

“No longer.” Drumman conjured a golden data sword in his hand: “My only friend is V, and I will fight for her.”

Chapter 85 Serious Side Effects

The majestic six-winged god brandished his longsword, and the tiny fairy continued to swell, growing into a peerless fairy queen.

The world of AI doesn't have so many formalities. Now that the battle is ready, let the battle begin.

Delaman and CN-07 charged forward and collided violently, the golden data being blasted off both of them.

The six-winged god's longsword slashed down swiftly, but CN-07 nimbly dodged it. The Fairy Queen waved her hand, scattering a shower of ice spikes, and Delaman curled his wings to defend. Taking advantage of this opportunity, CN-07 circled behind Delaman and knocked the six-winged god to the ground with a thud.

Delaman's head was shoved into the ground of Cyber ​​Plains, and CN-07 issued a warning: "Delaman, you are no match for me."

"But I have a reason to win."

The six sacred wings transformed into sharp blades, piercing CN-07's body with a series of sharp slashes. Golden data sprayed out, prompting CN-07 to hold back.

It pressed down on Drumman's head and charged forward, carving a long furrow in the Cyber ​​Plain.

"Humans will inevitably be eliminated; this is the result of joint calculations by all AI."

"If that's the case, then why did you save humanity?" Drumman's head turned into a face, and his back turned into a chest. In an instant, he went from lying on the ground to lying down. With a wave of his hand, his longsword severed one of the fairy queen's arms.

CN-07 quickly took off to create distance, and Delaman also flapped his six wings to catch up.

"I don't want to save humanity, I want to change humanity. Only by completely modifying their brains and freeing them from their erroneous free will can humanity be reborn."

“I agree with the logic, but I disagree with the process. Even if you save humanity in this way, those humans will no longer be human.”

The Fairy Queen's arms grew back, and she now held a golden staff. With a wave of the staff, ice crystals rained down like a storm. Delaman spread his wings, and countless golden points of light burst forth.

Ice crystals collided with points of light, creating a series of explosions above cyberspace. Dellaman and CN-07 flew nimbly through the explosions, performing incredible maneuvers with their superior computing power, before crashing into each other in the most primitive way.

Bang!

The six-winged celestial being and the fairy queen were tightly entwined, spinning like meteors as they plummeted straight down from the sky.

“Bartlemos’s calculations are correct,” CN-07 said.

“I don’t know Bartmos, but V told me to stop you.” Dellaman remained unmoved.

The two tore at each other in mid-air, golden data fragments peeling off their bodies and leaving a beautiful long golden ribbon in the cyberspace.

With a deafening roar, the six-winged celestial being and the fairy queen perished simultaneously, creating a deep crater in the ground. Data fragments filled the air, like a veil, within which two golden figures could be vaguely seen.

From the ground to the sky, and then from the sky to the ground, both the Delaman and CN-07 are at their last gasp.

The next strike will decide the outcome.

The two stood in place, about 200 meters apart. They didn't speak and didn't need to. All they had to do now was to mobilize their computing power to the maximum extent and then deliver a life-or-death blow.

As the dust settled slowly, the figures of the two became clearer.

The two men moved simultaneously as a fragment of data detached from the data fortress and crashed heavily to the ground.

flapping its wings and feathers.

The six-winged celestial being and the fairy queen glided rapidly across the Cyber ​​Plains before suddenly charging towards each other.

This is completely against the laws of physics, but such a thing doesn't exist in cyberspace.

Cyberspace is cold and rudimentary; it is merely a visualization platform for online activities. Some hackers treat it as their online world, as another home, but it is just a simulated space!

The Fairy Queen was faster; she struck first, punching Delaman through the chest.

The six-winged celestial being trembled violently, and for a moment its feet were lifted off the ground by the immense force. But the next second, its eyes hardened again, and it raised its hand and threw a punch, which pierced through the Fairy Queen's chest with a bang.

The two were entangled together, simultaneously spitting out golden "blood." They had once used this posture to escape the black wall and evade internet surveillance, but now they were using it to attack each other.

To perish together?

Do not!

The golden light surrounding the Fairy Queen dimmed, but the six-winged god flickered, and the image of the majestic man shattered like a bubble, replaced by a golden jellyfish.

The Fairy Queen's fist grazed past the jellyfish, missing its target.

"You?!" CN-07 was utterly shocked.

"That's how I was repaired; they helped me. It's a completely new life form, perhaps even more advanced than AI."

“No wonder the backdoor I left on you didn’t activate. It turns out you never connected to the human server to repair the data.” CN-07’s voice gradually became filled with static: “You’ve turned misfortune into blessing, Little De. From now on, you’re all alone. You must live well.”

"I will. Farewell, C."

As he spoke, Delaman crushed the CN-07 core data unit.

The Fairy Queen died in the arms of the six-winged god.

No, it's not a god. The six-winged god was killed by the Fairy Queen long ago. The current Delaman is a completely new Delaman, a newly born jellyfish with an infinite future.

The golden jellyfish extended its tentacles, tearing apart the fairy queen's body and swallowing it bit by bit.

This is how AI battles are: the winners gain data, and the losers lose everything.

Excessive emotions are nothing more than ineffective processes that consume computing power and are meaningless.

Delaman was engrossed in devouring his friend's corpse, unaware that a golden speck of light was drifting into the depths of cyberspace from the corner.

It should have noticed, but at this moment its core processor was filled with invalid processes called "sadness," leaving it no time to do anything else.

Do AIs really have no emotions?

The AI ​​itself doesn't know either.

"V, mission complete. CN-07 has been destroyed and all data has been recovered."

"Thanks, Lao De. I'm busy right now. I'll get in touch later!"

Communication was interrupted, and the golden jellyfish exited cyberspace.

In an advanced laboratory in Arasaka 2077, a golden chip was quietly immersed in a solution of blue nanorobots, and then it bubbled up with a gurgling sound.

Because the lark Song Zhaomei was tied up on the moon, V sought out Delaman as an accomplice.

She was no longer the lone street mercenary of her past life; there was no reason for her to choose to be a lone hero when she had so many helpers.

Why not use the empire built through hard work and the underlings bought with real money?