"By the way, remember to collect the chips from Daichi and the others, and keep those two Relics with the Soulkiller Program hidden on you.
The potential of this chip is immense. Once I figure it out, it might have other wonderful uses... It's really risky if this thing gets exposed."
Mercer said, pausing for a moment: "I plan to retrieve the chips from Daichi and Leon, and then give them to the newcomers in the team.
The Relic Chip is not only a hardware repair tool. The hardware itself has a large memory and a very advanced micro CPU to ensure the program inside runs smoothly.
If I tweak it slightly, it's a top-tier ICE plugin, and I'm not afraid of it frying their brains.
Moreover, the biggest advantage of this chip is that it allows for data sharing... I can use the networked chips to see the world through your eyes, to feel everything you experience.
Of course, the main purpose is to provide you with support. I can establish a network connection with you through the Relic Chip, which is even more stable than ordinary network connections, and also the Relic Chip can..."
Seeing Mercer go on about the chip again, Lucy sighed: "It's too complicated, I don't want to hear it. So, are you still diving deep?"
"Yes." Mercer curled his lips: "Never mind if you don't want to listen, I usually don't tell anyone these secrets."
Lucy smirked, watching him close his eyes, and the signal light on the hacker chair lit up.
She gently tapped Mercer on the arm: "Mercer? Can you hear me?"
"I can... but if I get busy, it's not certain, you'd better communicate with me online,"
Mercer mumbled, sounding like he was talking in his sleep.
Lucy felt relieved, everything seemed to be going smoothly with the deep dive.
She stopped talking to Mercer, quietly lying on the bed, browsing the web on her laptop.
Only the humming sound of the radiator was left in the room, but Lucy didn't feel it was noisy. She simply enjoyed the silence of the moment, occasionally glancing at the operation panel of his hacker chair.
On the other side, Mercer was already excitedly roaming the network in Night City.
...
This was a city composed of blue data.
At this moment, Mercer changed into an outfit similar to the protagonist Brother A of Prototype, wore the smiling mask of 'The Legion' from the game 'Dead by Daylight', and strolled in this metropolitan area composed of data.
Each data-composed building was essentially a server network of varying sizes, some resembling skyscrapers, others like a cluster of square data blocks.
Mercer roamed freely among them, and on his shoulder sat 'Desire for Death', which he hadn't released for a long time, looking as always like a hairless cat, obediently perched on his shoulder.
As the Desire for Death program requires a lot of computing power while running, activating it even slightly is a burden on Mercer's brainpower. So he usually defaults to turning off the program.
Only when connected to the hacker chair does he have sufficient extra computing power for the AI to use—and he prefers it this way.
Having an AI program that he doesn't quite understand using his brain's computational power, frankly speaking, he doesn't feel very safe.
"Let me see...
This is a biotech server, and this one with the New America flag is... hmm, it's Military Science, indeed.
This is Zeta Technology's? Oh, Kangtao's server has quite a unique appearance, with two stone lions at the gate... ha."
Mercer walked around carelessly in the network data, commenting on each dazzling massive data entity.
These seemingly massive data entities often are not what their servers truly look like, but rather a disguise. The core data of the real servers is deeply embedded in these complex data.
These data range from those generated when employees connect to the internet, to bait ICE programs, as well as some representing the company's publicly accessible network data.
Things like website data, these intricate data are abstractly composed.
Mercer didn't want to approach them recklessly. He simply analyzed the structures and server ICE frameworks from the data layer.
Usually, only data entities of large companies would have a beautiful appearance—indicating some hacker deliberately adjusted it, showcasing the company's strength in Cyberspace.
Other fragmented data entities, like those of bars or hotels, when connected to the public network, generally appeared as cubes composed of various data.
Mercer strolled around and even spotted a few hackers active in Cyberspace.
These hackers were often very cautious. Upon seeing Mercer, an unfamiliar face, they would immediately jump IPs to flee rather than choose to make contact.
The reason is simple: Mercer's appearance looked too 'human-like'.
In Cyberspace, the more details you show, the more computational power you have, and the more data your brain can control.
Mercer not only had distinctly detailed clothing but also a slightly intimidating smiling mask and a seemingly 'smart' cat on his shoulder...
Compared to the hackers sometimes appearing only as a mosaic human shape composed of data clusters, Mercer's outfit was boldly declaring to all: I'm strong, guys.
Mercer wasn't in a hurry to deal with these small fry. While 'traveling' in Cyber World, he was also quickly processing his brain to try to analyze the composition of these data.
Once he had enough fun, he jumped to a server node and hacked in directly—only then did he realize it was the server for a black-market sex doll shop.
But Mercer didn't mind, he was just borrowing the server's computational power to test the program, using their computer as his botnet, or stepping stone.
When someone queries his data source, they would first trace it to this server's IP, and that would be enough.
Mercer began to use this sex doll shop server to study Desire for Death.
Testing and observing the data changes when Desire for Death launched attacks, the operation of its core code, and observing how the AI functioned, among other things.
The more Mercer researched, the more terrifyingly strong he found the Desire for Death program to be.
Indeed, Bartmos was a genius.
In such a small program framework, Desire for Death contained core codes of dozens of different types of programs; it's less a single program and more a code armory.
And the AI among them is the core for wielding these weapons—it judges the opponent's configuration and skillfully uses a core code to construct a counteracting program immediately.
Then, in the matter of milliseconds, it generates new programs from the core codes based on opponent vulnerabilities, viciously tearing through every layer of defense with these 'custom weapons.'
No wonder Bartmos said this cat would be his best teacher. These core codes with varying uses completely encompass all methods a hacker might need.
Including how to infiltrate server-level ICE without getting caught, how to surreptitiously alter data within opponents' servers, how to find vulnerabilities in their programs...
Each piece of core code, in fact, represents a solution proposed by Bartmos.
Even Mercer felt the weight of the challenge.
Given so many weapons, even he would likely need years to fully comprehend them all.
Because not only is it a matter of learning the programs, but also understanding Bartmos's thought processes and his methods of compiling.
How did he create these delicate core codes? Why is this section of core code so sleek yet powerful? What was his programming mindset?
Or rather, what was his compilation method, his programming language?
Bartmos had his own unique programming way. Among those strange and beautiful data entities, many coding methods didn't even appear in textbooks, as though he had created a programming language himself.
This made his programs scarcely understandable to average hackers, and even Mercer found them extremely challenging to learn.
Mercer was as if given a knife. He could see the shape of the knife, understood some of its compositions truly.
But the journey from that point to personally forging a knife or crafting a stronger one from different materials was long and needed intensive study.
As for AI...
The more Mercer pondered the Desire for Death AI code, the more he thought—was this... really written by a human?