Cyberpunk: From Dogville to Legend

Chapter 450 Arrival (Part 1)

"Holy shit! What the hell is this?!"

The data particles leaping above that giant eye were like a black wall; the screams of fear could not change the fate of the cyber surveillance agents.

The consciousness projection within the cyber network ignited rapidly, like dry grass meeting a flame. The leader of the cyber agent team, emitting a terrified whimper, began a swift descent from above the black wall.

Both teammates had already been targeted by the data attack. Rather than stubbornly resisting and waiting to die, it was better to give them some time. If I could plug the leak in the black wall, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

Watching the two figures above being swallowed whole by the gaping maw in the center of their eyes, the cyber agent, while monitoring the data changes, growled, "Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"

In his haste, he failed to notice that the program he controlled was not only locked by the roaming AI above, but also that a dark shadow, like a deep-sea monster, was gently swimming beneath the surface of the flowing sea of ​​data below.

The shadowy figure was so large that one had to stand on the height of the black wall to catch a glimpse of its outline.

boom!
The black wall trembled violently, and the network surveillance agents, who were almost bounced off the wall, carefully avoided the two-way algorithm.

He was absolutely confident that he could fill the black wall.

Because most agents who risk their lives for internet surveillance believe one thing: the Great Firewall is a product of internet surveillance.

This isn't the first or second time that the Great Firewall has had algorithmic vulnerabilities; perhaps... this time it's just that the scale of the incident is a bit too large?
In short, he entered the internet, this chaotic flow of data where he could lose his life at any moment, because of the sufficient benefits.

"Almost there! Multiple entities detected nearby!!!"

Cyber ​​surveillance is the first step in apprehending or eliminating roving AIs. The probes in the program suite are going viral more and more frequently, and he can only scream as he reports to his superiors while simultaneously deceiving himself with various, perhaps nonexistent, possibilities—

He might just be the hero who saves the city if he gets caught in the vortex!

Why are you so confident?

The program in his head is quite remarkable; it allows the Black Wall to temporarily ignore protocols for sending people or programs to the other side. At the same time, this program is connected to a highly sophisticated and tightly controlled department responsible for checking the integrity of the Black Wall and maintaining this large AI.

only…

A keen sixth sense gave the agent captain the urge to turn around and look behind him.

The sheer size of the black wall meant that even as the head of the intelligence agency was rappelling at high speed toward the vortex entrance, the eerie, grotesque AI eye reappeared in the blurry, flickering area behind him.

It's too big...

The danger level of AI is often closely related to its size; the larger it is, the more difficult it is to mess with.

No one knows how long this AI has been roaming outside the Great Firewall, or how many of its kind it has killed, transforming from a smart kitchen AI promoted by a company into a one-eyed monster that devours data.

The image of angels in the Bible brings not hope, but a greater fear than dying at the hands of human hackers.

"Damn it, is this never going to end?!"

Extreme fear fueled his rage, and that's exactly what the agent did. He immediately tried to counterattack with the program suite to delay the attack and slip into the vortex before the data attack arrived.

"Stop going deeper!"

A strange, muffled sound came from all directions. The agents' cyberattacks, like arrows piercing the air, fiercely attacked the AI ​​Eye. Such a large-scale attack was considered terrifying in the context of hacking.

However, when the attack is compared to the giant eye, it looks like some hair-like filaments flying towards the center of the eyeball.

A small stone sinking into a raging ocean will not cause any ripples or sound.

"Stupid program, now you're panicking?"

The agent cursed loudly, completely ignoring the fact that the words were not spoken by some giant AI, but by a giant "program" that resembled a god in the dark space above.

"Ultraman..."

Why can't the internet be stopped?

Rin muttered to herself.

……

Night City has now become a real-life hell on earth.

The prosthetic eyes of all citizens suffered from a strange underlying code bug, and various data traces around the city and attached to various skyscrapers perfectly replicated the current situation in cyberspace.

No one noticed the specific meaning behind these chaotic data projections.

Imagine the sky and those lofty companies are now completely enveloped by strange data. Nobody wants to stay here any longer, and a mass exodus is inevitable.

However, the world, which had always been indifferent to Night City, suddenly became concerned.

Night City is under lockdown.

Even companies that had a falling out at the conference table just a dozen hours earlier had no choice but to reluctantly let the military take charge of the border blockade at Taipingzhou.

With the black wall broken, internet censors can separate this part of the network and bury all the issues with the dead to resolve future problems.

If various devices that might be locked by AI are allowed to enter other areas and connect to other subnets, the resulting chain of infections would be a serious offense that these companies cannot afford to bear. Apart from Arasaka not taking any further action to continue the siege of Dogtown, the entire Night City is now only allowing entry but not exit.

Street violence continues to escalate. Various gangs, who had been hiding underground during the "Red" era, believe their time has come. They frantically seize territory ceded by the NCPD, causing food and fresh water prices to skyrocket throughout the city.

Everything seems to be repeating the events following the 2023 nuclear explosion!
All companies are trying to determine the cause of these data traces, and they all come to the same conclusion:
The entire Night City subnet has been hijacked…

Any hacking attempts were futile. Many small companies' data fortresses suffered devastating blows because they were not taken offline in time. All employees in the company who were connected to the subnet were wiped out, and there were no survivors.

"Damn it! The internet censorship exposed the black wall, and that company that kept boasting about taking over Taipingzhou!!!"

The female mayor, with her hands on the table, had lost control of her emotions.

No one expected things to take this turn. The whole city was in complete chaos, and as the person primarily responsible, she had probably already lost her job.

These companies have been colluding for so long that the Night City officials are now beyond feeling like they're sitting on pins and needles. If they had a chance to escape, they probably wouldn't be staying here...

"Look what these idiots have done!"

"Let the gates of Night City be exposed to the Black Wall, let the Black Wall be blown open—"

The female mayor seemed to laugh in anger, her face pale as she pressed her forehead with her hand, and finally slumped into her chair.

Cursing won't solve the problem, but Night City can only rely on the NCPD's network administrators, and now that things have come to this, the NCPD is no longer willing to listen to any orders.

"Are they all fucking mute?"

The female mayor was no different from a shrew. Her so-called political promises vanished the moment the black wall collapsed. It should be noted that the result of the internet censorship giving these companies a wide back door was that Night City also became one of the tacitly approving parties.

Jefferson.

Newly elected legislator.

The guy who had missed out on the position of mayor of Night City twice was like a silent figure without any breath, just crossing his arms and staring intently at the chaotic state of the table.

When the meeting break was over, Jefferson stood up, straightened his suit, and smiled and nodded at the mayor, who was panting heavily and looking annoyed.

The private office was now full of people.

The mayor's long-cherished wish to be independent of the company was not actually fulfilled, as the election of the new US president was almost identical to that of the mayor of Night City.

Jefferson recounted the mayor's actions, sighed as he watched his staff, who were standing up in neat rows, quickly walk in.

Dominating the game and knowingly doing the impossible are the biggest taboos. Jefferson has repeatedly advocated that Pacific Island be separated to become a base for dreamers, and that we should stop trying to make money from there. Unfortunately, no one listened three years ago, and no one listened this time either.

"Member of Parliament".

Jefferson nodded in return to the staff member who greeted him.

"Please be seated, everyone."

Jefferson paced back and forth, smoking a cigarette, but said nothing else, as if he were making an agonizing choice.

Finally, someone couldn't hold back any longer—

"That bitch has gone mad! Night City should just let the company be the city hall, and look at the mess she's made!"

"Now the entire Night City is to take the blame. If the European Community attacks Night City, we'll all be a bunch of idiots taking the fall!"

"Damn... what do we do now? I heard... cyberattacks can kill people at any time..."

As Jefferson paced back and forth, he turned a chip between his fingers—something Elizabeth had helped him collect.

"The mayor is about to give a speech, do we still need to keep saying these things?"

His words were filled with helplessness, and Jefferson didn't respond at all.

He wasn't stupid; his advisors' words were quite clear: it was simply a matter of "taking his place"...

Almost none of the mayors of Night City are dismissed or laid off normally; they are either assassinated or suffer various accidents.

The people of Night City are in a state of panic right now, and a speech to calm them down is a must. In addition, money will be spent, and at least the NCPD will have to be willing to do the work.

That insatiable NCPD director has amassed a fortune over the years; negotiations are impossible now, so the only option is to spend the money first…

"Several proposals, and you still want money? Congressman Jefferson, are you pretending not to know? Get her to pay... Ha, that's just a pipe dream! We can only pray that nothing major happens in the Watson District and that the situation is under control while we wait for the internet surveillance to be fixed."

"We're all fucking criminals!"

How many of these people are truly dedicated to this city?
Jefferson thought he saw things very clearly. He once believed that as long as his ambition was pure enough, he could restore the city to the prosperous state it was when Richard Knight built it.

But with admission so important, is it really necessary to resort to any means to achieve certain ambitions?
Jefferson didn't know.

The chip in his hand paused briefly between his fingers.

"You're probably the only one here who understands networking. If I remember correctly, your company is in charge of network firmware-related business..." Jefferson looked out the window at the apocalyptic scene. "What have the companies said about this situation outside?"

"projection."

The man, dressed like a corporate elite, crossed his legs, his leather shoes gleaming, and answered decisively.

“Data traces can usually be presented completely, but under the new network algorithm, they are visualized, so what we see is the entire Night City network falling down.”

"My suggestion is to shut it down immediately and shift the blame to them as soon as possible."

what is this?
Outside the window is a projection of the apocalypse of the online world…

Does this mean that everyone present is just waiting to die?
What is the probability of internet censorship?

Everyone was silent.

The lack of transparency in internet censorship and the repeated loss of public trust have led to a situation where no one believes they can clean up this mess...

“Unless London intervenes, but you know… Night City has so many companies, getting everyone offline to wait for the internet regulators to fix it—that’s too much resistance. They have a lot of shady stuff going on.”

As he finished speaking, a certain idea in Jefferson's mind began to solidify.

"Congressman, you have to do something."

"yes…"

Seemingly sensing that the meeting break was about to end, everyone stood up and surrounded Jefferson, chattering away, creating an atmosphere that seemed to be a power grab.

Jefferson didn't want to consider whether it was a man or a ghost, but he didn't want Night City to exist in name only. In his view, Night City was the hope for the future, and he didn't want the achievements of Night City to eventually become a battleground for the company to divide up.

But to accomplish something, you have to pay a price.

As Jefferson waved his hand, he continued to stare at the terrifying scene outside the floor-to-ceiling window amidst the disappointed glances of the crowd.

The already large room felt even more spacious.

A barely perceptible sigh filled the room…

"Elizabeth, trust me."

Jefferson did something very bold: he made a call using official communications, knowing that this could be attacked by AI in the network at any time. The data fortress of Night City Hall was like a star in the night sky, guiding those demons in the network.

There's no time to worry about that now.

"What's wrong, you suit-wearing dog from Night City?"

The woman's voice on the other end contained a hint of anger, yet it was also teasing and languid.

Jefferson ignored the offensive language from the other person and instead spoke concisely.

"I would appreciate it if Miss Emma would agree to the previous proposal."

There were several cold laughs on the other end, "So you know to look for your mother when you're hungry? Too bad, I told you you only have one chance."

"I believe in your abilities."

Jefferson, resting his chin on his hand, slowly organized his logic and began to explain, "No one can cover up this mess... Should the means to stop the network be some kind of weapon of yours? Or another guy like Rin? Never mind... these are not issues."

The voice on the other end was rude.

"It's alright, your belief is meaningless. Just sit there and wait to die."

"Especially you bunch who got in through connections."

Jefferson paused.

"The mayor has been replaced, the internet police are out of Night City, and Taipingzhou, whether on the ground or online, is yours to take over. We don't need any of your help in the meantime."

The woman on the other end fell silent.

Anyone can write a check.

Jefferson interrupted:

"I'll keep Night City's network safe, deliver on those promises ahead of time, and I'll shut them up... Besides, I think only you and Arasaka can do it, but I have no intention of cooperating with the Japanese or the new Americans."

“Someone will pay the price for her irresponsibility in half an hour. My promise stands, Miss Emma.”

"Please...await good news."

……

……

(End of this chapter)