2077: V really knows how awesome he is

Ciri was taken aback: "There's something you don't know?"

"No one in the world can be omniscient and omnipotent, not even AI. Roche's path is a path, and Emhyr's path is also a path. If you ask them who is right and who is wrong, I can only tell you that they are both right and wrong. In fact, not only them, but me too. The road ahead is always shrouded in mist. There is never a direction to what is right. It is the most pathetic thing to have to distinguish right from wrong in everything."

Ciri tried to understand: "Are you saying that every system has its advantages and disadvantages, and cannot be judged simply as right or wrong?"

V rolled his eyes: "Your political acumen is incredible. It's a good thing you didn't agree to let Emhyr take over his job, or he would have died with his eyes wide open in disbelief."

Ciri was furious: "What do you mean?!"

"What I mean is, I'm tired, let's stop riding and teleport."

A flash of white light, and V and Ciri were back at their home in Vangelburg.

"Oh, you're back so soon?" Yennefer, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, welcomed the two. "Geralt is watching the news replay of your trip to Nilfgaard."

The four of them then had dinner together, but V did not stay overnight. He said goodbye to Geralt and Yennefer and returned to the cyberpunk world.

"Did you two have a fight?" Yennefer asked.

Ciri was taken aback: "No."

Geralt said in a deep voice, "You've been acting recklessly again, have you angered V?"

The people of Hillary were stunned: "I didn't! I'm your daughter, why are you all siding with V?"

The couple avoided discussing the second half of the question, instead asking, "Then why did V leave overnight?"

“She said she was tired,” Ciri answered truthfully.

Geralt and Yennefer exchanged a glance, then Geralt coughed and said to Ciri, "You should tone it down."

Ciri: ?

Yennefer covered her mouth and chuckled: "Next time I'll make V more nourishing soup."

Ciri: ? ? ?

V was indeed tired, but not in that way. As everyone knows, people never get tired when they're doing bad things.

To be precise, she was a little annoyed.

From 2077 to 2158, she has been working for a full 81 years, spending her days either fighting evil and thwarting conspiracies or racking her brains for social development and human progress.

How to put it? It's like reading a novel. At the beginning, the plot is exciting and full of conflicts, and she reads it with great interest. But this novel has been serialized for 10 years, 30 years, 50 years, a full 81 years and it's still going on. The protagonist has long been invincible, and all kinds of conflicts have been resolved. What's left is just the repetitive and repetitive mundane daily life, which makes people lose interest and even look forward to the novel reaching its true "grand finale" soon.

V is currently in this situation. The reason she's grooming the next generation is because she hopes someone can succeed her. But she's also facing the same problem that Emhyr and Roche encountered: not being able to find a suitable successor.

With the help of nanonetworks, humanity has achieved the ability to replace learning with downloading. Just like Roanne, who downloaded all of Alex's knowledge and experience while still in the womb; the end for Alex, the new FIA senior agent, was merely the beginning for Roanne, a middle school student.

Selene was the same; she studied under Xu Ling and downloaded all of her teacher's knowledge. Xu Ling even admitted in public that Selene had surpassed her teacher.

There are many others like them. The younger generation is undeniably excellent, but V feels they are still lacking. He thinks they are fine for specific jobs, but if they are to lead the entire society forward, they will definitely cause a huge mess.

What kind of basket? V couldn't say.

What exactly is lacking in the younger generation? Even V can't say for sure.

But there was a strange feeling in the air, a silent warning bell for her.

"Oh well, I'm just destined to be a workaholic." V sighed. "As nanonetworks become more and more advanced, the speed at which humans learn knowledge will also increase. If I persist for a few more years, a genius will eventually emerge, and then I can retire and enjoy a peaceful life."

The future is bright, but we still have to work to do right now.

Upon returning to Night City, V immediately threw himself into his work, with the most important task at hand being "Time Technology."

The reason she traveled to the world of 2077 was to connect that world to the nanonetwork to increase its computing power. After all, compared to the Witcher world and the Alder world, 2077, which also follows the technological path, is more convenient.

V was in charge of the overall planning, while Roan was in charge of the specifics. The promotion of the nano-network began to proceed in an orderly manner. With the earth-shattering event of Vera's assassination of Saburo Arasaka as a precedent, the resistance from the human side had been largely eliminated. Now, most of the resistance came from the roaming AIs, especially Ultraman, who kept causing trouble.

V then remembered that in 2077, not only would things be chaotic on the human side, but the AI ​​side would be in complete disarray.

She received news that Ultra was controlling the Night Group and hindering the establishment of the nano-network. She also received a report from Roan requesting network support. V took this situation very seriously and immediately went to the nano-network forum to post and recruit six network enthusiasts to go to 2077. They spent three whole days uprooting Ultra and bringing him back in a chip.

Yes, you heard right. It was a group of internet enthusiasts, self-taught and working out of pure passion, who put Ultraman, the mother of cybernetic technology, into a USB drive.

This might seem strange, but it's also highly unlikely. First, there's an 80-year technological gap, and second, any "enthusiast" in 2157 would be a genuine "enthusiast," with absolutely no imposters.

Imagine this: in 2157, everyone has enough to eat and drink, and is completely immersed in virtual worlds. Yet, a group of people break free from these low-level pursuits, dedicating themselves to real-world learning and research for their hobbies, working tirelessly and selflessly. Such dedication is truly passionate, so in 2157, these enthusiasts are all top-tier. These few internet enthusiasts would be at least on par with Spider-Murphy and Bartmouth in 2077. Now, with six Bartmouths working together, the little Ultraman is easily within their grasp.

After completing their mission, the network enthusiasts went back to hone their skills. They said that although the network structure of the past seemed like a pile of dog shit in 2157, dog shit can also be used to fertilize the field, so they were inspired and prepared to go back and verify it.

V thanked them for their help, personally escorted them onto the hovercar, and then returned to his office, gazing at the golden chip in his hand in deep thought.

What should Ultraman do?

Directly destroying it is somewhat inhumane, but not destroying it is suicidal. The best approach is to have someone monitor it 24 hours a day, keeping Ultraman under constant control.

So, who should we choose?

After thinking for a while, V dialed a number: "Hey Johnny, are you busy lately? If you're not busy, come over for drinks... What, do I have some kind of scheme now? Please, what kind of scheme could someone as great as me have? I just want to catch up with you. If you don't want to come, fine."

Johnny finally arrived, and while pinching his crotch, he said, "Anyone who doesn't drink free wine is an idiot. Let me tell you, V has a lot of good wine hidden away. You're in for a treat this time."

The first half of the sentence was Johnny's words to V, while the second half was Johnny's words to himself, or rather, to another Johnny.

"It seems you two get along well," V asked with a smile.

"Not bad my ass!" Johnny plopped down in his chair, casually putting his feet up on the table. "We're arguing nine times out of three days now. This idiot even tried to make me kill myself while I was asleep last night!"

"Sounds quite lively, who won the argument?"

"Of course it's me! ...Damn, you're still being stubborn. Which idiot was left speechless by my insults last time? I've lived 80 years longer than you, and I've slept with more girls than you've masturbated! Learn from me, you're acting like a clueless greenhorn all day, you stupid rock kid!"

V watched Johnny talking to himself like a lunatic, and guessed that this was how Vera appeared to passersby.

Seeing that V was still sitting there, Johnny asked impatiently, "Didn't you say you were going to drink? Where's the alcohol?"

V immediately stood up: "I'll go get it right away, just wait a moment."

Johnny nodded smugly: "Go and come back quickly! See? Even the famous V has to listen to me. You better watch your tone when you talk to me from now on."

Johnny was the only one left in the office when he saw a gleaming gold chip on the desk.

Johnny picked it up.

"Confidential? If it's on V's desk, it must be confidential! Want to take a look? Okay, as expected of me, we're finally on the same page." Johnny is known for his impulsive nature, and now that he has another version of himself in his mind, he's even more mischievous. He checked to see if V would be back immediately, and without saying a word, he inserted the chip into his neural slot, ready to see what V was up to lately.

Instead of seeing a ghost, he saw his ex-girlfriend.

"Fuck, Ultraman!" Both Johnnys cursed at the same time.

"Two Johnny Silverhands?" Ultraman was clearly a little confused as well.

Just then, V returned with the wine and said to Johnny with a smile, "I told you not to put any chips of dubious origin into your brain, Johnny, you've forgotten how to learn your lesson."

Johnny was stunned for a moment, then roared, "V, you fucking screwed me over again!"

V shrugged: "Let's drink. I brought four glasses."

Chapter 161 Development

Johnny was certainly annoyed at being tricked by V, but since things had come to this, he decided to have a drink first.

V drinks one cup, he drinks three cups.

After all, he was carrying two more inside him.

"Damn, this makes me feel like I'm pregnant!"

Old Johnny complained bitterly, while young Johnny gloated. Ultraman, however, was more interested in the current situation and started discussing it with V.

Because of the nanonetwork, everyone in 2157 is actually connected, so even without a wired connection, V can read Johnny's neural signals through a wireless connection, thus seeing and hearing Ultraman.

Of course, this kind of reading requires authorization, but V, being the owner of the entire nanonetwork, skipped this step.

She explained her situation to Ultraman, and Ultraman understood why he had lost so badly.

"I never expected you to get this far. Humans and AI need each other and coexist harmoniously. This is completely different from what Bartmores had envisioned."

“Bartlemos is very impressive. He has superb skills and unique insight, but he is still just a human being. Humans make mistakes because no one can be omniscient or omnipotent.”

"Can't you do it either?" Ultraman asked.

V smiled and said, "I'm not human."

“Indeed, you are very special.” Ultraman said with some curiosity, “The V on my side seems to be different.”

“Indeed, it’s different.” V explained, “Strictly speaking, your world didn’t exist at the beginning. It was our time experiment that located and observed it, and that’s how your world came into being.”

"So our memories and experiences are all false?"

"That's not the case. Your world was born at the moment we observed it, but it didn't begin at the point we observed it; rather, it ended at the point we observed it. Simply put, your universe was formed in a second, and after billions of years of development, Earth and human society changed rapidly from nothing to something, until 2077, which is the point we observed it, when this rapid birth phenomenon came to an end."

Otto suddenly realized: "I understand. So although our two worlds are largely the same, there are subtle differences because the time span is too long. Even if there is only a slight error at the beginning, it will become a world of difference later on."

"That's right. So your V is different from mine. We might have some similar little quirks, but Vera is Vera. She has her own life and a unique personality. You are not fake, but real. You won't copy everything about us in the future, but will embark on a completely independent path."

"Time is truly peculiar." Ultraman, being a super AI, quickly grasped the situation: "So, what do you plan to do with me?"

“You have a lot of backup plans in 2077, don’t you?” V said bluntly. “If you’re willing to cooperate with me, I can let you go back and take charge of affairs in 2077.”

Otto was slightly surprised: "Aren't you going to destroy me?"

V shook his head: "First, I'm short-handed; second, if I destroy you, someone will be very sad."

Johnny immediately jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and yelled, "I'm not sad!"

V shrugged: "See? This is what they call 'protesting too much'."

Ultraman looked at Johnny and asked, "Does Johnny Silverhand still love Ultraman Cunningham?"

The two Johnnys were silent for a moment, then said simultaneously, "Love."

V: ...

It was supposed to be a very touching drama, but the pairing of these two men and one woman just seems increasingly immoral, like a specialty product from Japan in China.

Unfortunately, Ultraman remained unmoved by the heartfelt confession: "I'm sorry, I lost most of my human emotions during the upload process and am unable to reciprocate your love."

But the two Johnnys didn't care at all, and still said in unison, "Whatever, it's none of your business if I love you!"

V: ...Okay, that sounds like something Johnny would say.

Ultraman ultimately refused to cooperate with V, but she did not intend to resist anymore. Instead, she wanted to stay in the world of 2157. To this end, she even revealed all her backup plans for 2077 to express her sincerity.

V knew that forcing things wouldn't work, and Ultraman wasn't just unsatisfying; he wasn't even very thirst-quenching. After all, there was an 80-year technological gap. Ultraman was practically invincible in 2077, but in 2157, he was only at the level of a low-end graphics card. V recruited her not because of her abilities, but mainly to appease Johnny.

As people get older, they tend to become more sentimental.

But since Ultraman was unwilling, V wouldn't waste any more words. She sent the information Ultraman provided to Roan and planned to write an AI in the next few days to send to 2077 to replace Ultraman.

She had it all planned out. The 2077 world was vastly different from the 2157 world in terms of production and scientific research. Therefore, the 2157 world would be nothing compared to the 2157 world. All work would be suspended, and all needs would be met by the 2157 world. Citizens of the 2077 world would enjoy free medical care, free housing, and free education for life. The only requirement would be to guarantee a certain amount of internet access each month to provide computing power and to participate in at least three births in their lifetime.

The concept of online time is easy to understand. While connecting to the nanonetwork and enjoying online life, the idle computing power of the human brain will also be utilized for scientific research and to help AI upgrade.

Like military service, maternity service is an obligation that every citizen must fulfill. Everyone must serve at least three maternity services in their lifetime, with no limit on the number of services. However, for health and eugenic reasons, the maximum is generally twelve times, with each service spaced at least 96 weeks apart.

Of course, reproductive service is not about forcibly giving birth, as that would be both unethical and inefficient. Reproductive service actually involves donating reproductive cells, much like blood donation. Men and women lie on a medical bed, a probe is inserted, it's painless and convenient, and it's done in three minutes. They come in the morning to serve and go home in the afternoon. The reason it takes so long is because there's a three-hour observation period after the service. Only after confirming there are no health problems are the donors allowed to leave, so there are no dangers or hidden risks.

Afterward, the reproductive cells will be artificially cultivated and grow in an artificial womb. When the embryo is four months old, nanorobots will be implanted. They will develop together with the baby, fully integrate with the brain at 28 weeks, and begin to connect to the nanonetwork at 32 weeks, downloading basic knowledge such as listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Therefore, in the future world, it will be normal for newborns to speak 16 languages ​​and perform calculus calculations, as this is all part of the new era's compulsory education.

Such children have no legal relationship with the "donor parents." The parents do not need to raise the children, and the children do not need to support their parents, because there is no emotional connection involved, so they are not bound by emotions.

For the "parents," they are contributing in response to a government call; for the "children," they did not come into this world of their own volition. The fundamental reason for all this is that human society needs this kind of behavior to continue, so human society should bear all the costs of this continuation.

The Human Federation will allocate resources from social output to raise these children. They will receive 24-hour care and companionship from AI robots, as well as excellent medical care and education. They will have a healthy and happy childhood until they turn 18 and become independent. They will then be assigned to their own apartment and begin a new life like their "parents".

In this way, "human beings" were produced like products on a factory assembly line. This move was initially met with strong criticism from many experts and scholars, and even led to several large-scale protests.

But the silent majority remains unchanged throughout history. Even though opponents are jumping around on various media platforms, people continue to flock to government offices to sign relevant agreements.

Opponents expressed their outrage and urged people not to succumb to depravity and to protect the dignity that a person should have.

But life was incredibly hard for the people of 2077. They ate cheap, synthetic meat patties, drank toxic industrial wastewater, and woke up every day wondering whether they would die from a bullet or from a cold. Dignity—what was that?

People give up their right to reproduce, but in doing so, they gain everything: education, healthcare, housing, a guaranteed future, and a secure life. When people realize that "self-degradation" actually brings dignity, all the motivational rhetoric from the opponents becomes a joke.

Now you're telling us to protect our dignity, but when the company was running rampant with its tyranny, why didn't you say a word for us? Oh, I see, you must all be the company's shills!

Thanks to the night schools established by Selene and Villa, the lower classes, while not necessarily enlightened, have gained the ability to distinguish right from wrong. They may not understand human rights and dignity, but they understand how to analyze interests and who benefits from resisting future generations—naturally, traditional corporate hegemony. Therefore, it's obvious where these opponents come from.

The protests were amplified by even larger protests. People couldn't distinguish who was right and who was wrong among those in power, but as long as it was a company, they would strike relentlessly regardless of right or wrong. Even if the future people really came to enslave them and dig out their brains, as long as the future people opposed the company, they had to help them before they were killed.

This indiscriminate, united hatred was thanks to one person: a man selling aphrodisiacs in another world.

In short, the world of 2077 continued to develop in this way. In fact, the Human Federation did not prohibit traditional marriage and family, and even encouraged it. However, with the abundance of material satisfaction, people could live well on their own, and the concept of family inevitably faded. The younger generation became more and more accustomed to single life, and marriage and having children became outdated and gradually faded from the social stage.