Chapter 184: Still Not Giving Up
“Pass the message to Nevada. Let them know our objectives do not include their territory. Find a way to stir up internal discord and get them to withdraw from the Free State Alliance, then have them focus all their attention on dealing with PROJECT Corporation.”
Myers set the intelligence report aside and looked at the Secretary-General standing before her.
“If we tell them outright, they probably won’t believe us.”
“Then have a few senior officials get ‘bribed,’ and only after that pass the message along to Nevada.”
Myers gave the matter a brief thought before offering her solution.
“Understood.”
The Secretary-General nodded, raising no objections. After all, this approach served everyone’s interests—at least from the New United States’ perspective.
Now, all they could do was hope Nevada would prove capable enough to restrain PROJECT’s expansion and development.
“Do we need to implement any additional countermeasures against PROJECT?”
The Secretary-General set down his tablet and looked up at Myers.
“Hmm…”
Myers clasped her hands in front of her nose, thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Send some agents into the cities currently under PROJECT’s control and have them stand by. I doubt it will be long before they expand again. Their boss is clearly an ambitious one.”
The Secretary-General nodded. “Anything else?”
“…I’ve decided to restart the Project Northstar. The child the military mentioned before—have them make preparations.”
A flash of resolve crossed Myers’ eyes. Hearing this, the Secretary-General froze mid-motion. After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
“I’ll go explain the situation to them.”
After the Secretary-General left, Myers leaned back in her chair, her gaze cold as she stared at the map in front of her. It showed the future scenario most likely to emerge, as projected by Militech experts.
A vast swath of territory was clearly marked as belonging to PROJECT Corporation—something Myers found utterly intolerable.
Still, she knew all too well that unless some new variable entered the situation, this projection was highly likely to become reality.
On the main front, they no longer had the capacity to provoke a PROJECT Corporation that possessed weapons of that level. That left only indirect methods. A corporation so heavily invested in frontline war machines surely couldn’t also be leading the entire world in netrunning technology... right?
Lissandra: ?
The Project Northstar that Myers had decided to restart had actually begun back in the early 21st century. Its original purpose was to capture Rogue AIs in order to strengthen Militech’s weaponry and netrunning technology, with its primary target being the Soulkiller Type-1 developed by Arasaka.
Later, however, a Rogue AI escape incident occurred, nearly resulting in the entire Project Northstar bunker falling under AI control. The situation was eventually contained, so it didn’t escalate into a major disaster.
Even so, the incident left Militech deeply wary of AI technology. The project was sealed away, especially since the Rogue AIs captured earlier were already sufficient for research and application. There was no need to take even greater risks.
But the current situation gave Myers an even stronger sense of crisis. If PROJECT Corporation were allowed to continue growing unchecked… she could almost see another Arasaka Group rising before her eyes—perhaps something even more powerful.
Such a possibility was better strangled in the cradle. AI technology beyond the Blackwall was the best way to do it.
As for the enormous risks involved… enormous risks often came with enormous rewards.
She believed it would all be worth it.
...
“How is the situation in Elor City?”
Roland flipped through the documents in his hands while asking Lissandra.
“All security forces are now under my control, and all Nevada government officials have been replaced by our people. From this point on, Elor City will operate according to PROJECT-designated rules.”
Roland nodded and fell into thought.
“And the attitude of the citizens in Elor City?”
“Most are uneasy and resistant. They show very obvious fear and rejection toward our security forces, along with confusion about their future. Quite a few seem to be considering leaving the city, but with the current state of war, they don’t know where to go.”
Lissandra reported the situation truthfully.
Roland felt a slight headache after hearing this. Elor City’s circumstances were very different from Agas City. In Agas, people eventually realized they were under PROJECT’s control—but by the time they did, it was already too late.
The citizens there had long grown used to PROJECT’s presence. Its arrival had created new jobs and significantly improved public security, so acceptance of PROJECT’s control was actually quite high.
Elor City, on the other hand, had been taken over by force. Now, every aspect of the city’s affairs needed to be personally arranged by Roland.
“…Use Elor City as a prototype to begin constructing PROJECT-style cities. Some regulations will need adjustment. Raise social welfare standards based on this world’s rules, start building our hospitals and schools, and accelerate the transformation of the industrial zones…”
After a period of thought, Roland began issuing orders one after another. Through Lissandra, these instructions were quickly relayed to the relevant departments within PROJECT Corporation.
Engineering teams and public relations departments immediately sprang into action.
The first thing Roland needed to secure was control over public opinion within Elor City.
“Send PROJECT teams into the city to clear out the gang forces. In my city… there will only be one voice.”
Roland spoke slowly, lightly pinching the web of his hand.
“Oh, and place Elor City’s traffic under temporary control. Only those with permits are allowed to pass. As for issuing and inspecting those permits… leave that to Kelly.”
“I understand. I will carry out your will.”
“Hah… things are really busy right now. But this feeling isn’t bad at all.”
As he spoke, Roland slowly clenched his fist, a smile appearing on his face.
Next came the phase of steady expansion. In this unification war, the New United States would obtain the territory it desired, Arasaka would reclaim Night City and announce its return to the world—
And PROJECT would also announce its arrival to the world.
Everything happening here was silently observed by a presence high above.
“This corporation is quite interesting, and its technology is extremely profound… If I remember correctly, they paid their taxes and plan to launch satellites, didn’t they?”
“Yes… the signatory was Oro. The procedures are all in order.”
“Tsk. That guy probably took some kind of benefit again. Forget his nonsense. I’m very interested in their energy technology. Send someone to negotiate with them. If they’re willing to share, we can offer some assistance.”
“Alright. I’ll send someone over shortly.”
What they didn’t know was that all of this, too, was being watched closely by another existence.
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.