Chapter 129: Restless Movements
“Yes. He became a ghost drifting through the Net, uploading his consciousness into cyberspace, and in the process, he borrowed part of the relic’s technology.”
After hearing this, Roland nodded, then his thoughts drifted to Saburo Arasaka. If that was the case… then if Saburo had noticed Bartmoss early on and brought that genius into his corp from the start…
Maybe his objective would have already been achieved.
After all, Bartmoss had originally worked for a corporation as well. It was just that back then, he probably hadn’t caught Arasaka’s attention—he wasn’t famous yet.
It was only after being fired that he developed a brand-new, era-defining program. He then sold it in various places, earning enough capital that he no longer needed to sell his life to a corp.
And then…
Then he began to look down on corporations altogether. Later, when Militech wanted to work with him, it was Morgan, Alt, and others who had to persuade him. Even so, plenty of problems still cropped up.
Bartmoss caused Militech no small amount of trouble, but under Morgan’s persuasion, he never launched a formal netrunning attack against them. Otherwise, Militech would have suffered badly.
As for Bartmoss’s initial death, it was fairly unlucky—but that can’t be confirmed either. It’s just one version of events.
He had commissioned a medical facility to maintain his vital signs in a life-support pod—the very “freezer” that was later discovered. Yes, he had modified its exterior.
At the same time, he removed the vital-sign alarm systems and location trackers. Which meant… others could no longer use it to determine his location. But on the flip side… if something went wrong, no one would be able to find him either.
So in ’21, he suffered a heart attack. His heart stopped inside that life-support pod. However… his brain was still alive, and continued to remain active in cyberspace. It was an incredibly bizarre situation.
Later, after the attack on Arasaka, his location was exposed, and he was truly killed. But the exact details…
No one knows.
At this point, Roland realized something else.
Logically speaking, Bartmoss’s body shouldn’t be here right now.
According to the established setting, Bartmoss’s body was leased under a fifty-year contract. When the term expired, it was thrown here by Respectable Logistics.
But judging by the timeline—whether in the game or now—the timing of Bartmoss’s death doesn’t line up.
Which meant…
Someone had moved Bartmoss’s body once. In other words, this was still Bartmoss’s original life-support pod. The one that came later… might not have been the original at all.
That was very possible, because… the thing in front of him now didn’t look like a freezer at all. It also didn’t contain the pile of ice-like material seen when it was opened in the game. In the game… it really did just look like a freezer.
Thinking about all this made Roland’s head spin, so he decided to stop dwelling on it.
After all… Bartmoss’s body was now in his hands. And it had already been confirmed that Bartmoss was compatible with a template.
It was also confirmed that Bartmoss was still alive—still active beyond the Blackwall. The only question was what Bartmoss was like now.
Had he absorbed massive amounts of data and become something like Alt?
Or had he retained his sense of self, barely surviving beyond the Blackwall by relying on his own skills?
Or perhaps…
Using his overwhelming abilities, had he managed to maintain his individuality while also controlling part of the AI ecosystem—becoming a major “warlord” on the other side?
Roland had no answers to any of these questions.
The only thing he was certain of was that sooner or later, he would come into conflict with the AIs beyond the Blackwall.
And when that time came…
...
“That workshop was disbanded?”
Kuroda narrowed his eyes, looking at his subordinate while stroking his chin. He had been keeping an eye on Roland’s movements, which naturally included the workshop Roland had people set up.
“Send someone to track down the workshop’s former employees. Ask them what they know. And find Micks—he should know the most.”
“Yes, understood.”
Kuroda waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate. He knew very well that the chances of getting useful information were slim, and that Roland had probably already obtained what he wanted.
The only unknown was what, exactly, Roland had taken.
Even earlier than Kuroda, some rogue AIs arranged by Blue Eyes had already begun quietly observing the situation. Their intelligence-gathering speed and capability far surpassed Kuroda’s.
“Looking for a freezer?”
“It’s probably not that simple. I’ll find a chance to break into the robots inside and check the intel.”
Another rogue AI, entirely yellow in color, glanced at the companion beside it and spoke.
“Alright. Be careful of that AI over there. With the corporation backing her, her computing power is terrifying. Don’t let her notice you. We haven’t had time to transmit our ‘scripture’ to her yet—we still need to lie low for a while.”
“Understood. I’ll be careful.”
With that, it turned into a streak of yellow data and vanished into the roaring flow of the Net.
Before long, following streams of data, it located the security robots involved in the operation.
“Very refined network security design… but still not enough against me.”
As it spoke, it merged directly into one of the security robots. As the data was stripped away, it swiftly seized control of the robot’s body.
It moved slightly, testing the new form, finding it unexpectedly suitable.
“This is surprising… it’s actually so compatible with our AI data consciousness…”
“Of course it is. This was specifically tuned by the Master for my descent. Intruder, you have nowhere left to run.”
Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from within.
In an instant, control of the security robot was snatched away.
“That’s impossible?!”
Realizing what had happened, it immediately launched a data assault at Astat. Several streaks of yellow light surged through cyberspace.
However, now completely sealed inside the security robot, it couldn’t cause any real trouble. Even its distress signals were completely intercepted.
Astat didn’t give it any extra time. It moved in directly, bombarding it with raw data firepower—no, with sheer data and computational force—then cut it off from the network and restricted its processing power.
Simply put, the rogue AI was reduced to a mindless babbling state.
“Looks like Astat can handle things on her own now,” Roland said to Lissandra beside him, having witnessed the entire process.
“How do you plan to deal with it, sir?”
“Hmm… convert it, then send it back.”
“Understood.”
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