Cyberpunk: Starting in 2071

Chapter 7: Let's dive deeper!
The next day, Mercer was severely reprimanded by Dr. Oda.

He proved by his own experience that excessive learning does not promote brain development.

But Mercer has no intention of stopping there, for a very simple reason.

First, his learning efficiency is frighteningly high.

It's not just about having a photographic memory—in fact, this doesn't require any talent at all.

The professional learning Mewtwo equipped by Arasaka was specifically developed for learning and can forcibly instill knowledge into the brain.

In a world where even consciousness can be stripped away and altered, simply resorting to cramming education is not a difficult task at all.

Perhaps this is a very happy thing for those students who had to memorize things painfully before they traveled through time.

But in reality, in this world where every student can be fed knowledge by machines, the things that students have to do are far more painful than those of students before the time travel.

First, one must digest and understand this knowledge; second, this kind of knowledge indoctrination is a very crude and voluminous process.

The amount of information to learn and memorize in one hour is terrifying, equivalent to a month's worth of knowledge for an average student before time travel.

Each beginner course consists of a full twenty-eight class hours, with extremely complex and comprehensive content.

Advanced courses are even more challenging. Take hacker tutorials as an example. In this course, you don't need to do simple memorization exercises, but practical exercises.

You'll need to complete countless hacking and defense operations, design and run countless programs, and do disgusting things like fixing mountains of crap code in the tutorial.

In addition to these, there are other methods such as using large servers to build enterprise-level ICE systems, using hacking knowledge to carry out stealth and assassination, and using single-line techniques.
They even have to learn how to design intelligent systems for weapons, vehicles, and other things.

If you want to design a system, you need to learn about weapons and vehicles.

To learn this knowledge, one would have to take several introductory courses in vehicle design and weapon design.
Even though Mercer now prides himself on his AI-level intelligence, he feels like he's been given a rapid-fire hack with 'pig brain overload'.

After finishing my scheduled course, I almost fell asleep and forgot to go to the infirmary.

When Mercer appeared in the cafeteria with a pale face, everyone showed concern, except for Lucy and the others who had strange expressions.

But when the somewhat carefree Kyoko came up to him with a grin and pressed his head to ask why, Lucy and the others all showed a somewhat ashamed expression.

Even Xingzi looked like she was under a lot of pressure, which made Moser laugh and rub her head. I must say, this little red hair is quite smooth.

"Don't worry, this was part of my plan. There aren't many institutions in the world better than Arasaka Education."

I'm doing everything I can to make money—there won't be any opportunities to systematically learn these things outside."

The remaining two small hackers who hadn't joined the group reacted indifferently upon hearing this. One of them gave Mercer a strange look, while the other seemed to be daydreaming.

study?

You'd be better off thinking about how to survive the mining process.

Kyoko pursed her lips and nodded: "I understand, I will study hard too!"

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're already an excellent hacker. If you were outside, you would undoubtedly be considered a genius hacker."

Mercer comforted him.

"But I'm still far behind you, and I'm also not as good as Lucy and Daichi."

Anzu sighed, then sat down next to him and started eating ramen. Putting aside the taste of the synthesized ramen, it was definitely packed with nutrition.

The noodle soup is packed with good stuff; after a bowl, you can ignore the taste, but it will definitely fill you up with energy.

Mercer could only say, "You're younger than all of us. When you get to our age, you'll definitely do even better. Of course, I'm an exception; I might really be a genius."

"Pfft, I know! Genius-senpai." Kyoko said with a long, drawn-out laugh.

Mercer, a longtime anime fan, couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing this authentic Japanese loli voice: "Ha."

Chatting and laughing, lunchtime passed, and Mercer went back to his room to study intensely.

Having learned from yesterday's experience, he scheduled sufficient rest time between each class this time, and his discomfort indeed decreased significantly.

However, Mercer extended his study time, planning a total of seventeen hours of study time per day, including rest.

In this way, he can study at least 13-14 hours of classes every day, and the breaks in between naturally reduce his sleep time.

Dr. Xiaotian only offered advice twice and then stopped saying anything more. He just ignored him as long as his brain nerves showed no signs of worsening. He didn't care; he figured if he couldn't study to death, he should study to death.

Two more days passed in the blink of an eye, and the server was rebuilt, or more accurately, expanded.

At the same time, Lucy also sent her bad news via encrypted messaging software, which made her very uneasy once again.

The number of security personnel and staff has increased.

The original research staff left along with a group of people when the original project director was replaced. In return, there were three special task forces, totaling more than twenty Arasaka employees specializing in network technology.

Perhaps due to the increased importance of the project, even the number of Arasaka agents responsible for security and monitoring has increased significantly.

According to Lucy's estimate, there were at least fifteen more Arasaka agents, five of whom were professional hackers responsible for network security, and the remaining ten were professional soldiers equipped with combat prosthetics.

The squad leader at the head of the group was a high-ranking agent of S.A.W.S. with laboratory-level expertise.

Because the purpose of the high-level agents is not only to guard against potential enemies but also to intimidate their own people, the entire cybernetic equipment section is open to the public.

Anyone with a single glance at the prosthetic eye can see a series of combat prosthetics that send chills down their spines.

Operating System: Arasaka "Kagemusha" S2 Experimental Sinweistein

【Arasaka Special Agent Type ICE V.2】

Pain Editor

Neural Processor: Arasaka NP-Mk.2 "Obsidian"

【Combat Visor - Military Technology "Night Owl" Mk.2 (Arasaka Kai)】

[Skeleton - Universal Enhancement Components]

【Arasaka Special Type D.2 Subcutaneous Armor】

[Hand-based Universal Coprocessor]

[Arm - Arasaka "Demon" Test Version Mantis Blade]

[Circulatory System: Bioconductor "Blood Pump" Beta Test Model]

Um.
After reading it, Mercer added two more prosthetic courses overnight—if he could find a way to kill him, it would be a huge loss if he couldn't get his hands on the equipment.

As for whether it's disgusting or cruel, etc.
He was certain that if his escape failed, his best outcome would be to die on the spot and pray that his body wasn't too intact.

"He's dead, so I should leave something for my buddy, like Sianwistan or something. You could easily sell that for ten or twenty thousand euros, right? No, ten or twenty thousand in the game, but in real life it'd be worth ten times that! Here's my start-up capital, isn't it?"
Who knows what else he might be able to use? Mercer didn't mind and used it without hesitation, prioritizing making himself stronger and surviving first.

As for whether we can kill him?

Well, we'll have to see just how powerful his personal ICE is to withstand a hacker attack launched using Arasaka's server.

After all, everyone in this underground facility is connected to the same server network.

Wow, that's the power of hacking!
Forget about Sinwiss's time slowing, mid-air jumps, and mantis knives; talk to me about my quick-break synaptic dissolution. I'll burn your brain and see how fast your corpse can run.

Mercer paused for a few seconds to think, then quickly returned to his studies.

Unsurprisingly, the day after the server reconstruction was completed and the personnel changes were over, all the junior hackers were once again ordered to gather in the server room on the second basement floor.

Huge, blue fluorescent neural wires, which also serve a heat dissipation function, resemble a large clump of vines falling from the ceiling and gathered in the center of the room.

The servers, with their humming fans, surrounded the room, converging to create an annoying low hum.

Countless flashing indicator lights and glowing neural wires almost replaced the lighting. At this moment, Ena Tano, the project director at the time, stood in front of a hacker chair with a somewhat excited smile.

Good morning, children.

“I know that many of you are meeting me for the first time and are not familiar with me, but that doesn’t matter.”

All you need to know is that I am Ena Tano, the project director of the new 'Project Star'.

"Next, our 'Project Star' will move into its second phase."

The goal will no longer be limited to mining data from the old network, but will instead focus on capturing specific AI behavioral data characteristics within the old network.

Don't be afraid.
Seeing how pale your faces are, don't worry, I'm not like the former director.

This time, while you dive deep, you will be protected by the latest Arasaka Guardian Firewall.

Although our firewall cannot extend to the old network to provide you with fortress-like protection, do you see this server?

That's right, this is the subroutine server of the Guardian AI from the Arasaka Corporation!
It lacks AI features to prevent it from being corrupted by AI in the old network.

However, it still possesses enterprise-level ICE capabilities, providing short-term defense against AI, enough to allow you to retreat behind the wall and complete the shutdown.

Please remember that the current guidelines remain unchanged: no one is permitted to log off directly from the old network to avoid having their IP address captured by AI. You must bypass the Great Firewall before logging off.

At the same time, Ena Tano also took out a box of chips:
"This is a special chip made in the laboratory. Perhaps some of you have heard of our Arasaka Corporation's core product, the 'Protecting Your Soul' project."

That's right, these are Relic chips. Of course, these expensive chips aren't used to replicate your souls, but rather to capture AI.

When you wear this chip, the Relic chip will activate when you encounter AI, and the program will automatically record the characteristics of the AI.

What you need to do is try every possible way to record as many features of the AI ​​as possible.

This also means that I require you to use the 'Guardian' ICE to buy time in the event of an AI attack.

During combat interactions within the program, linger as long as possible to record the AI's characteristics using a chip.

We only have two target AIs, so the other AIs that need to be recorded are not within our recording scope.

If you encounter an AI that is not your target, you can transfer it and then log it off.

The task is that simple: find the AI, observe and record it as much as possible while the firewall is still active, then return and take it offline.

Compared to the undefendable random attacks that might occur when mining data, isn't the target much simpler now?

After Ena Tano finished speaking with a smile, she noticed that the expressions of many of the young hackers had calmed down a bit, so she immediately spoke up:

"Alright, now that everyone understands our purpose, you just need to act as usual."

Location and number of people are both flexible. Hmm, if you ask me, it would be better if you all logged in from the same IP address.

Alright, let's get started.

Lucy glanced at Mercer instinctively, and Mercer turned to look at her, smiling as he said without hesitation, "You guys go together, I'll go on my own first."

"it is good."

Lucy said no more, and didn't even dare to send him an encrypted message in this situation. She just obediently lined up to receive her chip like the other children, and then walked to her hacker chair.

Mercer also took one, but Ena Tano suddenly spoke up at the same moment he received the chip:

“Mercer, you are different from the others. If you discover an AI while deep diving, I will allow you to log off immediately regardless of the circumstances, whether it is Ultraman or another AI with male characteristics.”

“Yes.” Mercer’s expression remained unchanged, but then a sudden sense of vigilance arose within him.

Is the Relic chip you gave your buddy specially made?
For example, once you insert it and enter cyberspace, you'll see Johnny Silver Hand, and then Ultraman will actually arrive. He doesn't want to experience the treatment of the protagonist V!

But with Ena Tano watching him with a smile, he couldn't do anything out of line—don't be fooled by her gentle smile, he was certain that if he dared to do anything strange...
What he's to do next will probably be mandatory.

Finally, Mercer gritted his teeth and inserted it.

Damn it, if you push me too far, I'll find a way to ascend to Ultraman Cyber. I don't care about this mere flesh and blood body anymore. I'll become an AI and kill these Arasaka idiots even if I have to become a ghost.

Turning around, the moment Mercer inserted the Relic chip, he immediately started the self-test program, his eyes shining as he rapidly processed the self-test data to check if the Relic chip was activated.

Fortunately, no.

This is indeed a Relic chip that has not yet been activated, and even the activation conditions are the same as she described.

Mercer walked to the hacker chair, took a deep breath, sat down, and immediately began programming before connecting to the server.

He plans to modify the startup conditions of the Relic chip, changing the automatic detection startup to a requirement that it must be manually enabled.

Once connected to the server, his use of the server's computing power for programming will leave traces, unless he can crack the server's permissions and modify the logs.

But luckily—he programs at a speed that seems inhuman.

Before the neural wires connected to the hacker chair were inserted into a special plug-in in the back of his head, he finally succeeded in changing the automatic startup program set by Relic.

However, Mercer was very cautious and did not touch Relic's core program, and did not even dare to try to crack it.

Because he strongly suspected that the Relic chip inserted into his neck was not a simple recording or capture chip at all, but a 'soul killer' program modified for AI!
If the mechanism is misactivated or triggered, Soul Killer will immediately activate and target him.
Mercer wasn't arrogant enough to think he could withstand this super virus, created over fifty years ago by the legendary hacker Otto and improved and researched by Arasaka for decades, using only a network receiver and the computing power of his brain.

When everything was ready, the staff who had appeared behind us had already installed all the wires.

Mercer touched the black, specially made Arasaka Black customer service suit on his body, let out a long sigh, and lay down on the hacker chair.

"let's start!"

"Dive deep into cyberspace!"

(End of this chapter)