Progress from Arasaka Begins in Infinity Chapter 9

Compared to the "Black Wall" and the Old Net it sealed off, the local network Arasaka had spent decades building in Night City was a mere drop in the bucket.

Cyberware was the external manifestation; cyberspace was the true interior of the cyber world.

"Hmph, Rachie Batmos, you're a real kind-hearted son of a bitch."

After cursing the instigator of the "Great Network Collapse" over fifty years ago as a daily ritual, Vera skillfully lowered her own mental data processing speed, letting her data stream settle from chaos to calm.

Rachie Batmos.

Over fifty years ago, a legendary figure in the networking field, the most badass hacker, the cream of the crop, hailed by some deep-hacker enthusiasts as the God of Hackers who had never been defeated online.

Before he died, he unleashed the Data Collapse (Rabids) virus, a super virus that destroyed the internet, already riddled with holes from the Fourth Corporate War.

The old network crumbled, dissolving like ice cream placed on a fire.

History called it the "Great Network Collapse."

The Dow Jones dropped hundreds of points in a single hour, the stock market crashed in an instant, wails echoed across the globe, CEOs of megacorporations committed suicide, and Network Surveillance, along with megacorps like Arasaka, could only salvage a few scattered fragments with all their might.

At the same time, a massive number of AIs went rogue, malicious AIs proliferated and ran rampant. To prevent everyone from getting their brains fried the moment they connected, Network Surveillance created the "Black Wall" to isolate and completely cut off the internet.

Nowadays, Night City runs on a local network, and Arasaka and Militech both use their own local networks.

Before Batmos caused the "Great Network Collapse," the global network still covered the world, from unencrypted public files to the most intricately encrypted corporate secrets, all could be sent and stored online.

After the "Great Network Collapse," the network became isolated islands of algorithms and code, divided and controlled by different corporations, governments, and gangs.

'Batmos, you motherfucking bastard!'

Maybe at first, the public was happy about the network collapse, because they could see the rich and powerful suffer and struggle, with most praising the God of Hackers.

But once the initial chaos passed, the consequences of the internet's disappearance made the public realize that if they wanted to connect now, they had to rely on corporations, walking right into their control with no choice or ability to refuse.

Naturally, voices cursing Batmos grew louder. Except for the most veteran Edgerunners.

As for Vera, from the standpoint of a Corporate Dog, she cursed!

Soon, a tall, well-proportioned woman's data-simulated form stabilized and projected itself into Arasaka's cyberspace.

It looked very much like the state of a specialist-level netrunner using deep-dive equipment to transform into a supercomputer, then accessing cyberspace like data projected from a computer.

Deep-dive equipment refers to cyberware implants and a series of support devices designed to achieve the deepest possible network access and higher data transmission rates.

The biggest difference? Vera valued her life and didn't connect directly; she accessed through a relay.

The kind most looked down upon by old-school netrunners and street hackers.

Also, because of the 'outsourcing,' Vera's data transmission efficiency was on the low side, but that didn't matter—efficiency lacking, top-tier gear made up for it.

As long as the gear was good enough, overpowering those poor street rats with raw power wasn't hard.

Backed by Arasaka's nearly top-tier supporting facilities, supplemented by countless specialized channels stabilized over years of data collection from the Deep Net by Arasaka's many skilled netrunners, Vera easily reached the deepest part of cyberspace that normal humans could safely access.

In other words, the cutting edge of corporate-safe cyberspace exploration.

Swimming out of Arasaka's built network security zone, Vera continued her dive. The "Black Wall" did not react.

As she approached the "Black Wall," she could already see the wasteland of digital post-nuclear war data ruins beyond it.

A place buried with many precious relics and secrets of the old network world.

Arasaka and every corporation in the world had suffered heavy losses in the collapse of the Old Net, with countless precious data lost and technology regressed massively. For dives like this, lone-wolf hackers from street gangs did it for the thrill, while corporate hackers infiltrated to excavate and salvage assets.

And to swipe competitors' assets on the side.

Cyber-archaeology.

As far as Vera knew, Arasaka had many institutions that screened orphans and trained them as disposable hacker assets.

Once the orphans reached a certain hacking level, they were forcibly ordered to excavate valuable data from the Old Net. It wasn't uncommon for them to be attacked and killed by rampaging rogue AIs in the process.

Vera had reviewed many sealed corporate case files. One of them involved a training institution where lax management led to the trained 'disposable hackers' turning on their handlers. The incident was studied as a classic case of management failure, a lesson to be heeded.

Following the route from her last 'training' session, Vera dove deeper. Soon, she spotted a stream of scarlet, flowing data turbulence.

A rampaging rogue AI.

[Warning: Uncontrolled artificial intelligence approaching. Hostility level maximum. Evasion recommended immediately.]

"Oh, here it comes."

Vera's expression lit up like she'd spotted a treasure.

"Zzzzzt..."

The moment that scarlet data mass detected Vera, its entire body began to writhe violently like a thick, flowing watercolor painting—shifting from a robot, to a mishmash of animals, to a sex doll, to indescribable malformed tentacles...

It seemed to roar silently in its contortion, and the next instant, it transformed into a colossal black-and-red wave of chaotic data, crashing down toward Vera's data-simulated form.

Damaged data streams and network viruses poured in.

"Zzzzzt..."

Within the rogue AI's chaotic data storage chains, it vaguely remembered doing this many times before.

Every time, these non-similar humans... Huh? Why do I know they're called humans? Whatever, not important. At times like this, they either screamed, melted, exploded, or vanished and fled in the blink of an eye...

Huh? Why isn't this person running or exploding?

The unstable intelligence of the Rogue AI was puzzled.

"Pathetic intensity. The force isn't enough yet."

Amid the red-and-black storm of 0s and 1s, Vera smiled faintly and gently beckoned to the Rogue AI.

The Rogue AI instinctively continued its rampage, seeking to destroy, crush, and assimilate the human data simulacrum before it—but—

"Zzzz—"

A violent wave of incapacitation struck it.

It found itself unable to manipulate the data before it. Deep within that human data simulacrum, a pitch-black abyss flickered. Though it knew nothing of heat or cold, it felt an utterly frigid entity pulling at its intelligence, eroding, devouring, crushing and assimilating everything that constituted its being.

The Rogue AI disintegrated.

Vera opened her eyes. An indescribable emotion surged within her—a swelling pleasure, an exhilaration from the mind, a delight from the soul, a mix of fear or excitement from her consciousness.

"I should still count as human, right?"

Vera murmured.

I should still count.

People die when they are killed. In reality, if someone blew her head off, she'd be dead for sure. So, she was still human.

Vera knew very well that she was lucky, not invincible.

Beyond the "Black Wall," where ordinary people could barely survive and had to sneak in cautiously, was a treasure trove for her.

But that didn't mean it couldn't affect her.

She merely had far higher intensity and resistance in abstract concepts like thought, consciousness, and soul compared to ordinary flesh and blood. The potential brought by her "Heaven's Gift" of transmigration was still just potential if never realized.

Seeking realization and transformation required caution, and the process of infiltrating Cyberspace, deep-diving into the Old Net, was the most suitable 'training' method Vera had found. The safety relay's guarantee freed her from any worries about life or limb.

"If I could devour the entire Old Net... well, no reaching for the stars. Step by step."

Vera refocused her attention, gazing eagerly at the data ruins of the Old Net before her. Like a player controlling a game character hunting hostile NPCs, she weighed the 'experience points' from killing AIs and dueling data streams with them with a mix of greed and restraint.

Cyberspace · Beyond the "Black Wall."

On a data wasteland filled with damaged electronic countermeasure units and Rogue AIs, a woman slowly manifested, outlined, and took shape as a scarlet data simulacrum of 0s and 1s. It was the image of a naked, long-haired woman. It looked toward Vera's direction.

Search... Compare...

"Arasaka..."

2074/5/28, 00:00.

Arasaka Tower, Internal Network Security Class attached to the Security Department.

Her vision returned to clarity, capturing the colors and light of the real world.

Feeling her consciousness was crystal clear, but needing to put on a tired expression, Vera rubbed her eyes and brow, stood up from the sofa, and detached her personal connection line from the safety relay's terminal. The polite, formulaic voice of an Arasaka administrative hacker reached her ears.

"Supervisor Vera, deep dive time is over."

"Mm. Thanks."

Responding politely, Vera rubbed the bridge of her nose and turned her head, glancing at the hacker who was holding the scorching-hot relay and sighing. She smiled faintly. "Looks like my skills have improved significantly. This time, it didn't get fried."

"...Beyond the 'Black Wall' is dangerous, Supervisor Vera. Even with safety programs protecting you, if a Rogue AI attack fries the relay, the strain on your brain's nerves is still enormous."

The lead hacker emphasized with a sense of responsibility.

Vera was well aware of this.

Arasaka hackers who dove into the Old Net, even with safety program protection, would often wake up from a Rogue AI attack dazed, with blood from their nose and mouth, needing rest and recovery for a while.

But—

Vera stretched, and every bone in her body immediately let out a series of cracks. "Thanks for the reminder, but you forgot I came from the Special Rapid Response Unit. See you tomorrow." With that, Vera waved lightly.

The automatic door opened.

She walked out.

Off work!

"Sigh... Security, combat command, biological research, network hacking... A jack of all trades, huh."

After Vera left, the lead hacker shook his head, patted the still-hot safety relay that needed maintenance, and sighed. "What a talent to envy..."

"Supervisor Vera Adelheid Russell."

Chapter 010: Miss Vera Does Not Want to Become a Legend

Night fell, neon blazing.

At 0:07 AM, Miss Vera finished her day's work.

Vroom... vroom...

A Rayfield 'Holy Sword' model hovercar slowly emerged from the landing pad inside the pitch-black tower.

Its body was coated with a special finish only found on the latest supercars—dark-toned, capable of absorbing radar waves for a degree of 'stealth' effect, while remaining translucent yet subdued, understated yet luxurious.

Black base with white patterns, the logos of Arasaka and the Arasaka Clover.

This was the guarantee that allowed it to travel almost unimpeded through Night City, without any inspections.

Inside the car, Vera slipped off her jacket and leaned back against the soft cushion, examining the identity card, car purchase certificate, and thank-you letter wrapped in a vintage gold-plated cardboard box. The card resembled the Trauma Team Platinum Membership Card.

"Internal discount, not too expensive."

It was only a bit pricier than the Lady of the Lake S9 Guinevere's 225,000 euros.

For a hovercar, the truly hard part was the purchasing channel—that was class.

Arasaka... no, all corporations were the same, upholding a hierarchy of rank. Your rank determined what you wore, what car you rode. Both men and women were required to dress in accordance with their position.

"..."

After a few seconds, her interest waning, Vera tossed the cardboard box aside, propped her elbow on the armrest, and rested her chin on her hand with a blank expression, watching the rapidly receding city lights outside the window.

Her first hovercar had arrived.

But it didn't seem to bring her much joy.

Even though she had wanted one so badly before...

Through the dark, privacy-tinted glass, Vera's indigo eyes gazed down at the world beneath her feet.

"..."