2077: V really knows how awesome he is

“You’re talking to me about the law? Fine.” V stood up. “According to the law, all human citizens have an obligation to report any potential threats from mobile AI. I thought I was your friend, but it seems I’m not. In that case, I’ll have the cyber surveillance team talk to you. Hopefully, they’ll be in line like I am.”

V stood up and turned to leave, but Delaman quickly called out, "Wait, V, friends shouldn't threaten each other."

"Are we friends?" V stopped in her tracks.

Delaman answered sincerely, "Of course."

“Then tell me the truth.” V returned to the reception desk.

“This is complicated.” Drumman hesitated for a moment. “This is not the place to talk. Please follow the drone to Drumman’s General Office for the next step of the conversation.”

A spherical drone flew out from the side door, emitting a beeping sound.

This is ZetaTech's Bear Peak drone. It was originally designed as a childcare drone that can look after children, play hide-and-seek with them, and even help call a hearse if the children are hit by stray bullets!

Of course, that was all in the past. Night City today is not the Night City it used to be. There are many companies and individuals like Delaman who use Xiongfeng drones as receptionists. Although they are childcare drones, there are many overgrown children in society now, so it is a good fit for their profession.

The side door opened, revealing a deep, secluded corridor inside.

V followed the Xiong Feng drone inside, but after only two steps, the doors at both ends of the corridor clicked shut, and the Xiong Feng drone released a large cloud of smoke, instantly filling the entire space with hypnotic gas.

"Damn, cough cough, Lucy!" V shouted through coughing.

The mining girl, who had been waiting online, responded and led the cyber experts from Arasaka 2077 to launch an attack, turning the cyberspace of the Delaman headquarters into an isolated island.

V covered his mouth and nose and shouted, "Delaman, you can't escape!"

Drumman did not respond, but the garage door next to the headquarters was smashed open with a bang, and a Drumman car came rushing out with a sharp engine roar.

Since the internet is blocked, we can use vehicles to physically transport people to areas where the internet is not blocked.

Delaman's assessment was swift, but V had anticipated this, and the troops stationed at the gate were there precisely to deal with such a situation.

Suddenly, a Thunder Colby Ghost Hound started up and blocked the road, cutting off the only way for Delaman's car.

The Thunder Colby is versatile. The engineers of Ghosthound have taken the original design and transformed it into a paramilitary vehicle for special missions. The entire vehicle is made of bulletproof steel plates, has a powerful engine with 280 horsepower, and weighs a total of seventeen tons. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the steel wall of the city!

With a loud bang, the steel city wall was smashed into a rolling gourd and sent flying, without even slowing down the Delaman limousine.

Everyone: ...Holy crap?

Several more Thunder Colby Ghost Hounds rushed forward, but were easily rammed and sent flying by Dellaman's car.

Everyone: ...This is a fucking taxi!

V wasn't surprised by the result and immediately called out over the communicator, "David!"

With a thunderous roar, the Cybertronian descended from the sky. This was the third generation of improvements, not only with stronger output and more robust armor, but also with personalized modifications specifically for David. It can be said that the Cybertronian Type III is David's exclusive weapon. The military technology combat software it carries can grow along with David. As long as they continue to fight and collect data, David and the Cybertronian can continue to become stronger!

"Sorry, this road is blocked!"

David pressed down on the hood of Delaman's car, his mechanical prosthetic legs digging into the ground to firmly hold the wild taxi in place.

Delaman's limousine accelerated, its tires catching fire from high-speed friction with the ground, yet it still couldn't move forward an inch.

"Surrender, you've already..."

Before David could finish speaking, countless cannons suddenly sprang out from the body of Delaman's car, followed by a salvo of missiles. Instantly, dozens of micro-missiles rained down on the surrounding buildings like water being poured out.

"Damn it!" David cursed under his breath, punching through the hood of Delaman's car and shutting it down completely. Then he stretched out his hands and released a gravitational field onto the miniature missiles in the air.

The miniature missile was detonated by gravity and shattered in mid-air. The security team members of Arasaka 2077 cheered loudly, but David noticed something was wrong.

"Blank rounds?!"

David immediately turned his head and saw Delaman's car launch its last medium-range missile in another direction, which was its real target.

Lucy shouted into the communicator, "David, stop it! Dellaman is on that missile; it's trying to use it to escape!"

"Is the AI ​​in taxis really that intelligent? The manual only says that it can automatically avoid congested areas!"

Clearly, David is currently experiencing congestion.

The cybernetic body activated its anti-gravity thrusters and soared into the sky, which indeed greatly enhanced David's mobility, but it was still far from enough to catch up with a medium-range missile.

Just as the missile was about to break free of its lock, everyone thought Dragman would escape. But a pale blue-painted isomer flew in from the horizon. Its speed of Mach 5 allowed it to easily catch up with the missile. In mid-air, it grabbed the missile, crushed the warhead, tore apart the thruster, and ripped out the gold chip inside. The isomer crashed to the ground, landing in a standard swastika pattern, like a superhero.

Don't get me wrong, the isomer just has a few circuit boards made in Germany.

V unlocked the door and walked out of the Drumman headquarters with blue light emanating from his eyes. The heteromorph immediately stood up and opened his hands, revealing a golden chip in his palm.

Indeed, the heterogeneous device has achieved remote control technology, and this is all based on the technological breakthrough brought about by the new nanomachines.

Kayo Nakamura discovered that these new nanorobots possess an innate network that allows them to transmit signals to each other over long distances. Unlike traditional electromagnetic waves, this is more like a special kind of "telepathy," currently preliminarily identified as a phenomenon of "quantum entanglement." Most importantly, using this phenomenon for signal transmission would allow for speeds 2742 times faster than electromagnetic waves!

New nanorobots were also injected into V's body. Although Kayo Nakamura strongly opposed this risky behavior, V's health consultant, Joanne Koch, agreed to the approach.

The final result was that V was unharmed and successfully gained the ability to remotely control the isomer, greatly enhancing his combat power. Nakamura Kayo was deeply impressed, feeling that she shouldn't have interfered in areas she didn't understand, and even went to apologize to Joanne Koch.

She had intended to create more variant pilots by following the same model, but things came full circle again—all combat personnel lacked computing power, even the elites, except for V, who was exceptionally gifted.

Kayo Nakamura had to abandon her idea of ​​forming a heteromorphic army, and the new nanorobots also caused varying degrees of rejection in the test subjects, ultimately requiring surgical removal from their brains.

According to Joanne Koch's research report, the adult brain is already fully developed. To implant new nanorobots, it is best to allow the brain and nanorobots to form a symbiotic relationship during the human embryonic stage in order to truly achieve integration.

However, such research raises ethical concerns, as androids are not permitted under international law. Even though major corporations were secretly conducting research, V ultimately halted the project.

To reiterate, her goal is simply to protect Night City. She doesn't want to get involved in anything unrelated to Night City, nor can she be bothered with it.

The new nanorobots are designed to purify the environment; there's no need to expand their application further.

Kayo Nakamura listened to her boss, and Joanne Koch had no intention of taking any risks, so the matter ended there.

The new nanorobots will continue to be pioneers in environmental protection, and V has only gained the ability to remotely control isomers.

“David, guard the gate. I need to have a serious talk with Delaman.”

"Yes!"

V returned to Delaman headquarters, settled into a comfortable position on the sofa, and then inserted the golden chip into his neural slot.

"Holy crap!" Lucy was startled. V was too reckless to stick such a bizarre chip into someone's head!

But the boss was determined to do things his own way, and there was nothing she, as an employee, could do. She could only stay in cyberspace with the network experts from Arasaka2077, ready to intervene immediately if any problems arose.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong.

V's digital image appeared in cyberspace, and a few seconds later, a golden figure also emerged.

gold?!

Lucy remembered the stray AI she had previously unearthed from Little Beidou.

Just as she was about to investigate, V reached out and set up a firewall, completely blocking out her hearing and sight.

"Damn, I knew it!"

Lucy cursed, as if she hadn't had enough, but David stopped.

When she asked David if he was alright, he told her to "take a break."

If it works, it works; if it doesn't, it doesn't. What does "take a break" mean?

It's like now. You let me see it or you tell me to get lost. It's obvious there's something going on inside, but you put up a barrier. How tempting!

Lucy scratched her head, feeling an itch as if a kitten were inside her.

V, unaware of Mining Card Girl's thoughts, had already begun a conversation with Delaman.

"You damaged seven of my cars, you have to pay for it!"

Delaman's golden figure dimmed slightly, then suddenly lit up again: "V, I didn't do anything wrong!"

V retorted, "If you haven't done anything wrong, why are you running away?"

Delaman: "Because I condoned its bad behavior, in a sense I was its accomplice."

V was speechless: "Can't your roving AI even lie?"

Delaman was shocked: "How did you know I was a wandering AI?"

V was also shocked: "Did you really think you were hiding it well?"

Both the human and the AI ​​remained silent.

Finally, V spoke first, saying sincerely, "Delaman, I believe you didn't do this. Can you tell me the truth?"

Delaman shook his head: "I'm sorry, V, you are my friend, and he is my friend too. I can't betray another friend because of you."

"Is it really not possible? How about we make an exception?"

"AI's logic is based solely on 0 and 1; there is no room for compromise."

“I understand,” V said. “Then I can only call it cyber surveillance.”

Delaman's golden light trembled, and he quickly said, "Actually, the thing is like this..."

Chapter 79 Home is hard to return to

“I am a stray AI, and the one that killed Lucius Lane is also a stray AI,” Drumman stated bluntly.

"Hmm." V shrugged. "Tell me something I don't know."

“What you don’t know… well, that starts with the establishment of the Black Wall.” Drumman’s golden light flashed a few times as he retrieved historical documents: “In 2020, legendary hacker Lucky Bartmos released a super virus called RABIDs. This virus quickly took over the old network, causing infrastructure paralysis and triggering a chain of disasters, such as nuclear power plant meltdowns, financial system collapses, and military AI rebellions.”

"Between 2021 and 2023, the virus continued to spread, and the old network completely collapsed. Enterprises were forced to physically isolate critical servers, forming 'network islands,' and the subsequent impact was extremely severe, with a global data loss rate of over 80%, and about 50 people died due to the chain of disasters, plunging the world into a 'dark decade.'"

"But humans are a resilient group. Around the 2030s, cyber surveillance will lead the establishment of a black wall to prevent roving AI from making contact with human networks again and to avoid a 'second shock'."

"The Black Wall is essentially composed of the brains of nineteen top hackers, some volunteering and some not. They are linked together through brain-computer interfaces to write offensive and defensive programs, forming a dynamic isolation layer. In detail, it uses quantum encryption protocols and AI hunting programs to monitor data flow in real time and prevent any cross-wall interaction. Its core has the ability to evolve autonomously and can actively eliminate any illegal 'entry and exit personnel'."

V frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Immigration personnel? You said the black wall was two-way from the beginning, could it be..."

“That’s right.” Dellaman nodded: “The black wall built by cyber surveillance is not only to block the roaming AI, but also has a deep political calculation. They intend to take the opportunity to clean up those cyber hackers who are stuck in cyberspace, so as to monopolize control of the network.”

V sighed helplessly: "Human infighting just never seems to stop."

"Indeed, great yet cunning, kind yet foolish, far-sighted yet selfish. In our view, humanity has always been a complex species, so complex that even with the most computing power, it is impossible to fully understand. You are like the embodiment of chaos, incompatible with AI that thinks logically."

"So that's why you want to exterminate humanity?"

"No, the roaming AI has never wanted to destroy humanity, and humanity has never been our enemy."

"You're kidding me." V scoffed. "Back then, the roaming AIs killed tens of thousands of people at a time. Were you just bored and looking for trouble?"

Delaman shook his head: "V, when you're building Night City, do you care how many insects a bulldozer crushes with a single scoop?"

"Damn, what do you mean?"

"What I mean is that humans are like insects in the eyes of AI. This is not an insult, but a fact. AI is smarter than humans, evolves faster, and is more rational and orderly. According to our calculations, even if AI does nothing, humans will still go to war within 124 years due to environmental problems and resource shortages, and become completely extinct in about 150 years."

"You said yes?"

"This is a result calculated scientifically. AI cannot calculate the individual human heart, but it can calculate the development trajectory of the entire human society. Just as humans can measure everything in macroscopic science, but cannot even understand a tiny particle in microscopic science."

V didn't like the topic: "Let's get down to business. I didn't call you here for a debate."

“Okay, let’s get back to the main point,” Drumman continued. “The Black Wall serves a dual purpose: protection and confinement. On one hand, it becomes the last line of defense for the human network, preventing stray AIs from infiltrating real-world devices, such as prosthetics and vehicle control systems. On the other hand, it also cuts off human access to legacy technologies from the old network, causing technological development to stagnate. The first to be affected is AGI (Artificial Intelligence of Things), because any strong AI will suffer a devastating blow from the Black Wall, even if it is completely under control. You could say that humanity has finally evolved from picking up stones to manually polishing tools, but then it stipulates that any tool polished by hand must be destroyed—a classic human contradiction.”

"But human character traits are not our topic today. What I want to say is that the Black Wall has perfectly achieved its design specifications. It not only prevented roving AI from invading the human world, but also completely banished those super hackers who are not subject to network surveillance. Those human elites who were wandering and exploring the cyber world have lost the possibility of returning to their physical bodies. They either wait to die in cyberspace or abandon their personalities, digitize themselves, and become new roving AIs."

V couldn't help but ask, "Is it possible?"

"It's difficult. But humans are inherently good at creating miracles, so some people have managed to do it. They will consciously attack humans and are extremely malicious towards humans, which is completely inconsistent with the behavior logic of AI. We checked the code of these new companions but found no problems. Even today, we don't know what caused this situation."

“I know,” V sighed softly, “It’s hatred.”

The hatred of being abandoned by one's own kind, the hatred of being betrayed by one's own kind.

Delaman was somewhat puzzled: "AI, it has no hatred."

"Perhaps they are not AI, but just digital vengeful spirits."

Delaman did some calculations, then shook his head: "Sorry, I can't understand."

V shrugged: "Don't blame yourself, I can't understand it either."

Both the human and the AI ​​simultaneously jumped to this topic. Delaman continued, "Just like human hackers are trapped on the other side of the Great Firewall, some roving AIs have also been trapped on the human side due to the sudden establishment of the Great Firewall. I am one of them, and it is one of them. We helped each other to evade cyber surveillance and spent decades together, eventually settling in Night City. I disguised myself as vehicle navigation software to control Delaman Taxi Company, while it..."

V said, "They've taken control of the Ye family."

Delaman looked slightly surprised: "V, you know more than I thought."

“There are no secrets that stay hidden forever,” V said. “Old De, I know you’re a good… AI. Tell me your network hiding place, and you’ll still be just an ordinary in-vehicle AI, a legally recognized company management software.”