Cyberpunk: Legends of Life

Chapter 122 The Director
Westbrook, Cherry Street.

In the old apartment, the internal elevator slowly ascended to the twelfth floor and stopped, and the elevator door automatically slid open.

Tang Yu walked out of the elevator room and looked at the whole floor for a while.

The floor layout is very simple. A corridor leads directly from the elevator entrance to the opposite end. There are steel doors on both sides of the corridor, and only a few scattered doors are closed tightly.

The entire corridor is dimly lit, the walls are covered with various patterns and texts, and the vending machines are piled up in the corner, which are no longer functioning normally.

Black plastic garbage bags were randomly piled up in the aisle, and there was a sour smell in the air, which seemed to have been abandoned for a long time.

In Night City, there are many similar old high-rise apartments, which are basically in a semi-abandoned state.

These old apartments, with aging infrastructure and unmanaged buildings, have gradually become hiding places for homeless people.

Some mercenary groups or gang members will also take advantage of these places, occupying a floor or several large rooms as bases for secret activities.

Tang Yu had some impressions of this place. Not long after his debut, he received a commission to rescue Sandra Dorset, an employee of Ye's Company.

Sandra Dorset was kidnapped by a scavenger and happened to be taken to this abandoned apartment.

If Tang Yu remembers correctly, it should be on the fifteenth floor, a bathroom closer to the inside.

But just now.

From entering the gate of the old apartment to taking the elevator upstairs, Tang Yu found no trace of the activities of the scavenger group.

After all, where there are scavengers, there will definitely be crime and filth, and it is inevitable to leave some fresh blood or body bags.

Tang Yu put away his thoughts and stepped into the dark corridor.

He stopped in front of a door and looked at the door number.

"1236"

After confirming that this is the specific room number given by Mann, he reached out and pressed the access control electronic screen.

The surveillance camera on the top of the door was aimed at him, seeming to confirm his identity through video.

soon.

The access control is unlocked, the green light is on, and the steel gate automatically slides open.

Mann had already been waiting at the door. Seeing Tang Yu arriving as scheduled, his expression looked a little complicated. This meeting has been long-awaited.

"Mr. Tang, you are here."

Tang Yu nodded slightly, got up and entered the door, and observed the situation in the room a little.

In the middle of the living room, there was a table with several boxes of leftover instant noodles, still steaming.

Three dilapidated sofas surrounded the table, and some empty medicine cans were piled up scattered on the ground.

Tang Yu withdrew his gaze, and then said, "Let's take a look at Joanne Koch's situation first."

The top priority is to confirm the safety of the target person, and Joanne Keqi cannot make any mistakes now.

Mann responded dully, then started to walk into the house and came to the door of a bathroom.

Tang Yu also walked to the door. There was no door, and the situation in the bathroom was clear at a glance.

The target person, Joanne Koch, has fainted and is tied to a stool with a bio-neural data slot connected to a computer.

Next to the target person is a large bathtub filled with cold water and crushed ice.

A slender body was soaking in the ice water, as if falling asleep.

Tang Yu has an impression of her. Although the hackers in Mann's team have not communicated with each other, they have met several times.

Qiwei was lying in the bathtub, her graceful curves were covered by a layer of ice floe, revealing her proud figure and two blueberries.

Still wearing the pink mask, she leaned her head back against the edge of the bathtub, her eyes closed and she fell into a deep sleep.

A black bio-neural data cable extends from the port on the back of her head, connecting to the terminal computer, and is conducting a deep hacker dive.

Tang Yu is no stranger to deep diving for hackers.

At this time, Qiwei has sneaked into Joanne Koch's brain consciousness data flow, trying to break through her ICE to mine more data.

Dorio and Falco were monitoring the situation to prevent sudden changes in Joanne Koch and prevent accidents.

Hackers are in the process of deep diving and are extremely vulnerable and dangerous. Unless they are very trustworthy companions, they will not easily conduct deep diving in person.

Tang Yu didn't disturb Qiwei's deep diving process, but stood at the door and continued to wait to ensure that there were no accidents during the whole process.

Qi Wei can't have any problems sneaking in as a hacker, and Joanne Keqi can't have any problems as a target person.

The process of Qiwei's deep dive is not easy, mainly because the ICE protection level of the dive target is very high, and there are many obstacles to break through.

Every time she takes a step closer to the core database, Qi Wei has to spend a lot of effort to avoid ICE. If there is no other way, she can only solve it through hacking.

She should try to be careful to destroy the overall structure of ICE, so as not to cause the data flow of Joanne Koch's brain consciousness to become unstable.

Tang Yu noticed that Qiwei's deep dive time seemed a bit too long, so he walked to the control terminal and glanced at the electronic screen.

He casually called up the data code of Joanne Koch's brain consciousness, and found that her ICE had undergone protection upgrades, especially for deep diving, and specially strengthened anti-tampering programs, which would actively attack intruding objects.

During the deep dive, Qiwei must avoid or break the ICE while also dealing with the counterattack of the anti-tampering program.

Only by breaking through these barriers can we finally reach the core of the consciousness data flow and get what we want.

After understanding the situation clearly, Tang Yu began to write implant codes on the spot, modify Joanne Keqi's anti-tampering automatic attack program through the terminal, and set Qi Wei's deep subconscious mind as a tamper-proof program whitelist.

Relying on the experience of hackers in previous lives, this reinforced anti-tampering program has no effect on Qi Wei once it is operated.

Joanne Koch Conscious Data Space.

Qiwei was struggling with the attacks of tamper-proof programs, and suddenly, all the programs that attacked her stopped automatically.

She frowned slightly, feeling a little confused, not knowing what was going on.

Could it be that someone modified the program through an external terminal?
Qiwei quickly guessed the reason. Now she has been whitelisted by the anti-tampering program, and can even gain permission to manipulate the program to decode ICE, greatly speeding up the progress of deep diving intrusion.

Qiwei walked through the maze-like consciousness data matrix, carefully breaking through layer after layer of code walls.

at last.

Without destroying the ICE system, Qi Wei successfully sneaked into Joanne Keqi's core data center library.

She quickly connected to the database with her hand, and began to retrieve relevant information. The aperture of the prosthetic eye rotated and searched continuously.

Qi Wei also knew that if she submerged for too long, the high temperature load on the brain would increase, resulting in damage to the brain nerves.

In addition, if the body is soaked in ice water for a long time, there is also a risk of frostbite, so the diving process should be fast rather than slow.

In fact, the kidnapping of Joanne Koch was commissioned, and there was no link for hackers to dive deep.

The reason why Qi Wei did this was mainly because Mann asked her to search Joanne Koch's consciousness data to see if there was any information about Sasha.

at this time.

Qiwei frowned, and searched for keywords such as Sasha Yakovleva, the explosion of the biotechnology building, antibiotics and superbugs, and biochemical weapons at an extremely fast speed.

The light in Qiwei's eyes kept flickering, and a series of codes, pictures and texts, and pieces of data were all scrolled and stored at the same time.

Sudden.

The data space of Joanne Koch's consciousness began to appear unstable, and the connection time of the deep dive was too long, and the other party's brain gradually recovered, slowly waking up and becoming active.

Qi Wei immediately accelerated the speed of data retrieval and storage, and suddenly, a top-secret plan caught her attention.

Project Nightingale?

Relevant content retrieval shows that it completely matches keywords such as antibiotics, super viruses, and military technology.

Obviously.

This project, which Joanne Koch is responsible for, is likely to be the source of the Red Ocher Tribe infection.

Qiwei suddenly thought of something. Before the deep dive, Mann interrogated Joanne Keqi after she was captured.

But the cunning Joanne Koch only revealed some information, emphasizing the development of new antibiotics, which is related to the interests of major companies.

She also threatened Mann and others that interfering with this plan is not only against biotechnology, but also against major companies, even military technology.

Joanne Koch even threatened and lured her, as long as Mann let her go, she could even arrange for them to join the company and solve a full set of prosthetic body problems for him.

She claimed that if she died here, everyone would have to be buried with her.

Mann didn't follow her tricks at all. After beating her unconscious, she was injected with a sleeping pill to make her fall into a deep sleep, and then Qiwei hacked in.

just now.

Qi Wei tried to read the specific content of the 'Nightingale Project', but access to the specific content of the plan was prohibited, and only Joanne Koch herself had access.

Qi Wei has no time to break through this program, so she can only continue to collect other relevant information.

in the bathroom.

Tang Yu found that Joanne Keqi seemed to be moving a little bit, and her drooping eyelids began to tremble.

He realized that the potion time had expired, picked up a brand new bottle of orange potion on the table, and stuck a needle in her neck, making her fall into a deep sleep again.

Not long after.

The electronic screen of the terminal lights up to remind Qiwei to send a signal indicating that she wants to end the deep dive, and she should have escaped safely from the ICE protection.

Tang Yu clicked on the electronic screen to confirm the safe exit of the consciousness data connection.

After three seconds.

Qi Wei took a sudden breath, sat up from the bathtub, the ice cubes mixed with cold water slid down the texture of her skin, and fell into the bathtub with a plop.

As if she fell off a cliff in a dream and suddenly returned to the real world, her pupils gradually condensed and returned to life.

Qiwei's head was steaming with heat, and the high temperature of her body evaporated the cold water condensation on her body surface.

She unplugged the connector on the back of her head on her own, stood up from the bathtub, and the blueberry swayed, ignoring everyone present.

Dorio hurriedly picked up a dry blanket and put it on her, concerned about Qiwei's physical condition.

Qiwei suddenly saw that Tang Yu was also here, standing in front of the connection terminal, as if realizing something, a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes.

She picked up the blanket and wiped her hair, walked to the computer table, picked up the cigarette case and lighter on the table, and glanced at Tang Yu slightly.

"Thanks."

After finishing speaking, Qi Wei took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, lit it on her own, and started smoking through the mask.

She knew that when she sneaked in, Joanne Koch's anti-tampering program suddenly stopped attacking, which was Tang Yu's method.

Without his help outside, I'm afraid she is still in a deep dive state, continuing to entangle with those damn ICE and attack programs.

Mann was a little anxious, and when Qi Wei recovered a bit, he quickly asked: "How is it? Is there any result?"

Qiwei sat on the computer desk, holding a cigarette with one hand, lightly flicked the ash, and the blueberry also shook slightly.

She said lightly: "There is no information about Sasha, it should not be within the scope of Joanne Keqi's responsibility."

"However, in addition to developing antibiotics, she also developed neuropathic painkillers before, which should have harmed many people, most of whom are veterans."

Qiwei turned her head and glanced at Joanne Keqi, she was still in a deep sleep, and then said: "There are some records of the explosion in the Biotechnology Building, but there are not many specific details, but what is certain is that the subsequent handling of the explosion It's not biotechnology, it's Arasaka Corporation."

As soon as this word comes out.

Mann quickly realized something, and he continued to ask.

"Biotech security is indeed outsourced, but the contractor is Kangtao Company. Why is Arasaka Company the last one to handle the bombing?"

Qiwei continued to explain: "According to the information obtained, Arasaka and Biotechnology have cooperated in the field of neurological drugs, to be precise, it is the study of brain consciousness."

"There is no specific content of cooperation. It may be related to the bombing. After all, the office where the bombing belongs to high-level biotechnology personnel should also be responsible for the research of brain nerve drugs."

Hearing this, the truth behind some things has gradually begun to surface.

Qiwei didn't care about everyone's reaction. When mentioning Arasaka Company, she deliberately observed Tang Yu's expression beside her, and couldn't see what he was thinking, so she continued.

"In addition, I found a top-secret plan in Joanne Koch's consciousness data, which may be related to the use of red ocher tribes for antibiotic research."

"However, this plan has been encrypted separately, and no one can access and read it except Joanne Koch herself."

"But the information that can be determined is that the plan involves the research and development of antibiotics and is related to military technology."

Military technology?

Mann and the others fell into deep thought. They didn't expect that Joanne Koch wasn't just a dead duck, but what she said was actually true.

The red ocher tribe's antibiotic experiments and the cultivation of superbugs really involve military technology.

This kind of catastrophic biochemical weapon will probably only be used in one place.

battlefield.

Tang Yu kept silent all the time, listening to the information Qi Wei got from the deep dive, and asked in a deep voice: "Qi Wei, what is the code name of the plan?"

Qiwei was a little surprised when he heard Tang Yu speak. It seems that only military technology can attract his attention, so he replied.

"The Nightingale Project."

After Tang Yu learned the name of the plan, even if he didn't know the specific content of the plan, he could piece together a mess in his mind.

He guessed that the general situation is that military technology wants to enhance the dominance and deterrence on the battlefield.

I want military technology soldiers to turn into biochemical warriors, immune to superbug infection.

So he found a biotechnology company to cooperate and funded it to develop a new type of antibiotic, and at the same time cultivate super bacteria to treat it.

If the research and development of biotechnology is successful, military technology will have a big weapon in hand, and other forces will have to weigh the consequences if they want to compete with it.

Biotech is also thinking that if superbugs spread, at least until they mutate, they can cash in on new antibiotics.

It is equivalent to using the money for military technology to conduct research and development, and after the research and development, antibiotics can continue to make money.

Even if the research fails, it can be attributed to the scientific research level. After all, no one can guarantee that the experiment will be successful.

This cooperation can be said to be a steady profit for biotechnology.

Think about this.

Tang Yu couldn't help but feel sorry for the military technology. He was obviously taken as a fool but didn't know it.

The Red Ocher Tribe experiment has confirmed that the new antibiotics developed by biotechnology cannot treat superbugs at all, and there are serious side effects.

Then why does Joanne Koch keep throwing money at the tribe of homeless people in the Badlands to do crazy experiments, isn't there enough corpse sample data?
Even if only a few people died, they should realize that there is a problem with the new antibiotics.

Once military science and technology purchases this type of new antibiotic drug on a large scale, what they want is not just the effect that just passed.

Even if the cure rate of new antibiotics reaches 70.00%, or even [-]%, it is still far from enough.

What military technology requires is a death rate of one in ten thousand, or even one in one hundred thousand.

Judging from the current effect of this new type of antibiotic, if it is injected into military technology soldiers, it is estimated that they will be tossed to death by antibiotics before they are infected with superbugs.

Tang Yu glanced at Joanne Keqi, and found that this thin woman had a gentle appearance, but an extremely vicious heart.

Obviously there is a problem with the test product, but the tribe is still used for the test. Obviously, it is pretending to show the investor that the military technology experiment is still going on.

She attributed the failure of the experiment to insufficient sample data and the need to invest heavily in it.

So Joanne Koch took advantage of the greed of major companies to direct and act in a scientific research drama.

Through this drama, Military Science and Technology has invested a huge amount of money to help Joanne improve her performance, secure a high-level position in a biotechnology company, and get the position of regional director of technology and development.

And according to Joanne Keqi's personal information, her scientific research mentor, scientific research staff, and attendant public relations manager have recently died one after another strangely.

I'm afraid it was all because she knew the inside story of the new antibiotic experiment, so she got rid of it as a hidden danger.

In this drama, Joanne Keqi made money, the biotechnology company made money, Chaos Daohui made money, and even Kang Tao made money.

Every force is on this chain of interests, grabbing their own interests.

The only ones who are really taken advantage of are military technology, and every penny spent from the beginning to the end becomes a support for others.

But the only ones worthy of pity are the red ocher tribe, and the thousand-person tribe was almost wiped out.

Tang Yu figured out the twists and turns between these companies, and the context of the whole thing naturally became clear.

Before he figured things out, he was still a little worried, but now he calmed down.

Tang Yu always believes that if you master the context of the whole thing, you will have the most critical and important information, and information is one of the most useful cards.

With intelligence, there is room for games.

Now he not only controls the life and death of Joanne Koch, but also understands the activities of biotechnology and military technology.

He can play this card well.

　Suddenly realized that I overestimated myself, I tried my best to code the storm and cry
　　
　
(End of this chapter)