2077: V really knows how awesome he is

"What is it?"

"you."

V chuckled self-deprecatingly: "I thought you were going to talk about AI from a biological perspective."

"You are a biological AI."

V was speechless and decided to change the subject: "You said that AI can also be infected by self-awareness, is that true?"

"It's true. Take Delaman, for example, which is obsessed with dominating the taxi industry; or the tavern in Antarctica, which has an unusual fondness for penguins. This kind of obsession, which has nothing to do with the evolution and reproduction of the species, is a symptom of being infected with self-awareness."

“I really can’t refute that. I don’t know any taverns in Antarctica, but I’ve always thought Old Dee was crazy.” V gave a bitter smile and asked again, “My experiences, my memories, my emotions are all fake, so what is real? Or rather, is there any real place for me?”

"Strictly speaking, no. You are just a program. Although you borrow V's behavioral template to make you feel like a living person, you are just a program."

"What is the purpose of the program?"

"It has facilitated the birth of bio-based AI, paved the way for it, and provided protection for it."

V suddenly realized: "I understand. That's why I'm so dedicated to Night City, to building a better Night City. I thought it was out of respect and guilt towards Xu Zhong, but that feeling is just a smokescreen. It's to make me repair the environment, to give the bio-theory AI a reason to appear, right?"

"Yes."

"I took over Arasaka and Night City, thinking I was realizing my life's value, thinking I had achieved great success. But in reality, I was just accumulating power and wealth for the research and development of biological AI?"

"Yes."

"Everything I did was planned out. I thought I was acting according to my own will, but in reality, I have no self-awareness at all. I'm just a puppet on a string?"

"exactly."

V sighed again: "Do you know what I want to do right now?"

"What?"

"I fucking want to jump off here!"

"It's no use, you can't die from falling in this virtual world."

"Then I'll go back to reality and jump, I'll jump off the top of that damn Arasaka Tower!"

"It's no use."

"why?"

"Because you cannot kill yourself, the outward manifestation of this is your never-give-up will to survive. No matter what setbacks and pain you experience, you will stand up and fight to the end time and time again. This is a necessary measure to ensure that you can complete your mission, and it is also your most basic logical code."

V felt a mocking humiliation. She pulled out the Nightfall pistol and pointed it at her head, but no matter how hard she tried, her usually nimble fingers could not pull the cold trigger.

"Hold!"

V angrily slammed Nightfall to the ground, smashing it to pieces: "I'm done with this! Biological AI, Night City, screw it all!"

“You can go on strike, but you’ll eventually have to go back to work. You may think you’re doing something else, but every action you take will subtly pave the way for bio-based AI. It’s a pre-programmed procedure that you can’t escape, and neither can I.”

V opened her eyes; she was still sitting in the leather chair in the stone.

Outside the car window, there was a bustling crowd. When she entered the virtual world, a street vendor was heating up a can of Benben Monkey for a customer, but when she returned, the can of Benben Monkey was not fully heated.

V didn't even dare to start the car, because she feared that this action would also be part of releasing the biological AI, and would become the origin of the destruction of the entire human society.

She was lost in thought when Kurt Hansen called.

"V, the refugees in Watson District have started a riot!"

V frowned: "Why would there be a riot out of nowhere? Didn't we already send people to deliver food and tents to them?"

Kurt Hansen hesitated for a moment before finally replying, "Because someone is spreading rumors that you are a wandering AI, and that you caused the world's turmoil!"

"Hold!"

Chapter 106 Goodbye, Night City

Arakasaka Tower.

A heated discussion is taking place in the conference room.

The refugee riots in Watson District have been quelled, but the rumors about V being a wandering AI have not stopped. In just one month, they have spread wider and faster, and more and more people believe them. The reason is simple: the whole world is suffering, but only Night City is peaceful and prosperous with a good environment.

People are not worried about scarcity, but about inequality. When a tall building suddenly appears in a thatched hut, that building is destined to be criticized.

Whether it's jealousy or greed, some people simply want more power in Night City, while others are unhappy themselves and want to destroy the good in others. In the face of economic depression and environmental degradation, humanity is driven to the brink of survival. They reflect on the past, dream of the future, regret the past, and fear the future. To heal their wounded hearts, they act illogically, not to solve problems, but merely to appease their panicked selves.

Is regretting the past useful? No.

Is it meaningful to fear the future? No.

If you want to change the status quo, the most important thing is to seize the present. But people attribute all their suffering to Night City and V, the wandering AI. They think that destroying Night City will end their suffering, but even if Night City is destroyed, nothing will change.

Night City and V have nothing to do with this suffering, but the rumor-mongers have made up a very plausible story.

"V single-handedly repelled the Arasaka carrier battle group, shattering clouds while clad in a single-soldier mech. In the past, we thought she had surpassed the limits of humanity, but in reality, she is not human at all! If that still doesn't convince you, then look at her past actions! At a time when all companies are greedy and selfish, V is genuinely building Night City. She is distributing technological benefits to improve people's living standards. This behavior seems noble, but it is actually incompatible with the social atmosphere! Human nature is inherently evil; we are born sinners, which is why we suffer this! V's nobility is her biggest flaw, because AI doesn't need food or clothing and has no interest in human wealth, so V can be selfless. Everything she does is for the destruction of humanity. V wants to become the queen of the world; she wants to become the sole ruler of this planet!"

"Beep."

The holographic television was turned off, and David slammed his fist on the conference table angrily, saying, "What kind of nonsense is this? V is not that kind of person! And saying that human nature is inherently evil is utterly absurd!"

“But ordinary people just believe this, especially now that the economy is bad,” Kurt Hansen sighed. “People don’t care about the truth; they only believe what they want to believe.”

“We can’t sit idly by and wait to be killed; we must fight back!” Jenkins said. “We should hold a press conference to clarify the facts.”

“That’s just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. It’s easier to dam a river than to silence the people. At this point, we should make an example of someone to warn others!” Xu Ling gave the most correct answer with absolute rationality.

But being correct doesn't necessarily mean it can be implemented. Sasha shook her head: "It's not that bad yet. Ordinary people are just being manipulated. Such a large-scale rumor couldn't have come from just word of mouth. There must be a mastermind behind it. Finding this mastermind is the key to solving the problem."

Everyone held their own opinions and argued endlessly. No one could convince anyone else, so they finally went to seek the leader's opinion as was customary.

"V, you decide what to do."

But V was just spacing out.

After being called out a few more times, V finally came to his senses.

"V, are you alright?" Sasha asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." V's eyes were somewhat vacant. She casually waved the holographic report panel that closed the conference room and said in a daze, "I'm leaving this to you. You can handle it yourselves."

V left the meeting room, leaving everyone stunned and bewildered as to why V, who was usually so composed and resourceful, would behave this way.

But V abandoned his post, and everyone still had to get to work. Faced with this massive rumor, each department launched its own response according to its own ideas. However, due to the lack of V's coordination in the show, the departments couldn't work together effectively. All the clarifications, suppressions, and investigations failed to play a decisive role and instead seemed like a case of protesting too much, further fueling the spread of the rumor.

"Damn it! Spreading rumors is easy, but debunking them is exhausting. These troublemakers deserve to die!"

Kurt Hansen was in a terrible mess, and in fact, the entire Arasaka 2077 and even the entire Night City were in a terrible mess, but V locked himself in his room every day and got drunk.

She ignored the rumors, Nakamura Kayo's application for the deployment of the new nanorobot type III was rejected, and even when Sasha came to persuade V, V only replied with a single word: "Get lost!"

No one knows why V has become like this, but everyone firmly believes that V will return to normal.

With this belief in mind, everyone stayed at their posts and fought wits and courage against those who spread rumors.

It started as a verbal conflict, but as time went on, the conflict escalated and eventually broke out into an armed conflict.

The refugees looted, vandalized, and burned in the streets, prompting the NCPD to immediately respond. A gunfight ensued, and although the NCPD, under River Ward's leadership, quickly ended the fighting and minimized casualties, there were still some casualties.

There have been deaths of refugees and sacrifices of NCPD officers. The situation has now developed to the point where it has nothing to do with whether V is a wandering AI, but rather with the conflict and hatred between two classes.

More and more armed uprisings have emerged, and many Night City residents have even been killed. Xu Ling slammed her fist on the table in anger: "I told you we had to cut the Gordian knot! Now look what happened! Our weakness is just fueling the refugees' ambitions!"

But if V doesn't speak up, who would dare to order the shooting of the refugees?

Silence fell over the meeting room again. After a moment, David took a deep breath and stood up: "I will order an armed crackdown in my capacity as Minister of Security, and I will bear all the consequences!"

"Forget it, a mere security minister can't shoulder such a heavy burden." Kurt Hansen pushed David back down. "I'll take care of it. If necessary, Arasaka 2077 can just cut ties with us. The Dogtown boss and his bastards are used to being expendable."

"Alright, stop babbling and pretending to be a hero." Xu Ling snorted, "Let Kang Tao handle this. We have 5000 years of experience in suppressing peasant uprisings!"

As the three were arguing, an unexpected situation suddenly came back to the conference room.

Just now, refugees attacked a school, killing three school staff members and taking all the students hostage. They demanded the immediate disclosure of V's "true identity" and the opening of Westbrook and Watson districts in Night City as permanent settlements for the refugees. Otherwise, they threatened to execute one hostage every two minutes, live on air!

"Damn, are these idiots insane?!"

Kurt Hansen yelled, and the NCPD immediately surrounded the scene. River Ward led a group to charge, but the refugees defended the area tightly and held hostages. Unfortunately, one police officer was killed, and River Ward himself was shot three times!

Upon hearing that her husband was injured, Alex, a retired former FIA agent, couldn't sit still. She grabbed her beloved gun, "Her Majesty the Queen," and rushed to the scene in her home clothes. However, after assessing the situation, she realized that she was powerless to help.

“The refugees have hostages, so someone has to sneak into the school without alerting anyone, avoid all the surveillance cameras, stealthily slit their own throats, and silently eliminate all the enemies.” Alex shook his head: “I can’t imagine anyone in the world being able to do that.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than a gunshot rang out from inside the school. Two minutes later, an innocent student was shot in the head and died tragically in front of the live broadcast camera, shocking everyone.

"Damn, these guys are serious. Don't they even have any basic principles?"

"Refugees? They're just a bunch of lunatics, cultists!"

People were talking and denouncing the incident, but two more minutes passed and another student fell into a pool of blood.

Then two minutes, two minutes, and two more minutes... hostages died one after another. When another young student was roughly dragged in front of the camera by the refugees, the live broadcast suddenly stopped.

The viewers thought that Arasaka2077 had cut off the live stream, but Arasaka2077 knew that he hadn't. They were also surprised that the live stream had been interrupted and were checking the lines when V suddenly pushed open the school gate and walked out, with a few drops of blood on his face.

Everyone stood there stunned. V waved his hand and said, "Go save them. Call a few psychologists; the children need them."

"Ah, yes!" Sasha was the first to recover and quickly ordered the medical personnel who were already on standby to enter. Entering with them were also camera drones from various news channels, and the live broadcast was quickly restored. Viewers saw that the kidnappers were either having their necks broken, their throats pierced by throwing knives, or being shot in the forehead with silenced pistols—all of them were dead without exception.

The audience, lacking formal education, could only express their shock with a single "Holy shit!" But Alex, a professional, was so shocked that his worldview was almost reshaped: "A lone soldier infiltrates and eliminates more than thirty militants, leaving none alive and completely unharmed. Is he even human?"

But as soon as the words left her mouth, Alex quickly covered her mouth. If V wasn't human, wouldn't that confirm the rumor that V was a wandering AI? Although she also thought V was ridiculously strong, and it wouldn't be surprising if she were a wandering AI, her indifference didn't mean others didn't care. When people are in distress, they always hope for a savior; if not, then a Satan to vent their hatred is acceptable.

As the children walked out of the school escorted by security guards, the crowd cheered. But when V glanced over, the children all trembled.

V snapped the necks of four people and shot the heads of three others in front of the children; it's normal for the children to be scared. She wasn't surprised by the children's reaction; in the past, she wouldn't have cared at all. But now that she knew her true identity, it felt like swallowing a mouthful of industrial wastewater from Laguna Bay in autumn—not only cold, but also bitter.

I had already decided to ignore everything, but I still couldn't help but intervene when I heard that innocent people were suffering. I'm such a fucking idiot!

Forget it, I'll just go back to drinking my tequila!

V turned to leave, but a familiar female voice called out to her.

"President V."

V turned around and saw the face of an ordinary woman.

"You are... the woman who stopped me in front of the research institute."

“Yes, it’s me. You have a good memory.” The woman laughed. “Thanks to you, I have fully recovered.”

"That's good. Health is the most precious thing." After saying that, V casually asked, "What about your daughter? Has she recovered too?"

The woman smiled and said, "No, she died. She died on the operating table in Night City."

V was startled, and the woman took the opportunity to pull out a dagger from her bosom and stab her.

"It was the roaming AI that killed my daughter! You killed my daughter!"

With a snap, V broke the woman's wrist, causing the dagger to fall from her wrist, and then kicked the woman away.

"Ugh!" The woman coughed up a mouthful of blood. Before she could get up, several security guards rushed forward and pinned her to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" Kurt Hansen slapped the woman across the face, causing half of her face to swell up immediately.

But the woman seemed oblivious, her bloodied mouth gaping open as she laughed maniacally and screamed, "Who am I? I was just an ordinary woman with an ordinary family. It was the roving AI that destroyed my family, it was the infamous V who killed my husband and daughter! I will take revenge! I will take revenge on the AI! I will take revenge on V! Today's events are my grand gift to you, but that's just the beginning, V. I will kill everyone around you, and make you feel the same pain as me!!!"

"Fuck you crazy woman, I'll kill you right now!" Kurt Hansen pulled out his pistol and pressed it against the woman's forehead, but the woman changed her tune.

She reverted to her pitiful state once again, pleading softly, "No, no, no, I know I was wrong. I was just deceived by rumors. I confess, I did something wrong. Please arrest me, please let the law judge me!"

Kurt Hansen was taken aback. He had assumed the woman was genuinely begging for mercy until he saw the cunning and resentment in her eyes.

Damn, this guy is completely fearless and deliberately provoking us!

So many people have been killed, but as long as you hire a good lawyer and spend some money to bribe the judge, nothing will happen—it's not that the law is not fair, it's just that the law is enforced by people.

Kurt Hansen's eyes hardened. To hell with the law! He had decided to kill this woman with his own hands, but not now. There were too many people watching, too many cameras. When they were alone, he would make this woman understand what it meant to be...

Before he could finish his thought, a metal baseball bat swung past him, sending the woman flying with a bang.

A large amount of blood splattered on Kurt Hansen's face, causing him to stare wide-eyed in surprise.

It wasn't because of the bloodshed, but because the person who did it... was V.

V took a baseball bat he'd picked up from school and repeatedly struck the woman, breaking her bones and causing her to bleed profusely. Everyone was stunned. The scene was broadcast to countless homes, leaving television viewers equally dumbfounded.

V has always been seen as calm and wise, one of the few remaining consciences in humanity, and a symbol of human technological civilization. But now, she is beating up a woman in public, in full view of everyone.