Silently, I survey my surroundings.
The floor, perfectly flat without any bumps, offers a strange sense of stability, devoid of any grass.
The liberation offered by the infinitely expansive space and the fundamentally unbreakable tranquility even if I talk to myself.
The barren landscape, far removed from both primitive nature and artificial civilization, left onlookers with a heavy heart.
If it weren’t for the eerie atmosphere where everything was buried in pitch-black darkness, I might think this place gained its reputation as a meditation hotspot among hackers who can use Abyss Dive.
Just a feeling of escape from the tight and busy city life.
……Could it really be? With modern individuals conditioned to stimulation?
“…….”
I turn my head. After stealthily pushing away distracting thoughts, I begin my task, aiming to fulfill my purpose.
Moving what feels like nonexistent organs and muscles, as if manipulating new limbs that have sprouted from my body. I extend my consciousness to stir the waters below.
Like emitting electricity, it’s all about skill. The more I repeat, the more skilled I become, and once I’m proficient… In any case, it’s a skill that can be activated smoother and quicker.
Recalling the battle against the Paradise personnel in the gateway laboratory, I realized that when the number of enemies and available memory increased, it became quite a chaotic melee even in this state… So, I really need to take the time to train.
“Hmm….”
However, a low murmur escapes me.
In the midst of digging through the sea, I’ve brought every piece of data, like heavy machinery performing the tasks of forklifts or bulldozers…
But there’s nothing. Not particularly anything at all. It’s not that there’s completely nothing, but still, it feels empty.
Since this space has overwhelmingly more authority and perceptual ability than just a simple connection, I should have been able to sift through the databases of the devices connected to this network, but nothing particularly useful was found.
If I had known this would happen, I should have captured that unpleasant, ghostly friend earlier instead of chasing them away, to extract any information at all.
What kind of network is this that it’s so hollow?
Usually, I’m the one established here first while the enemies come in afterwards, so I completely forgot the obvious fact that I’m the intruder while the other side knows much more.
It wasn’t until Zero reminded me, after I abandoned it, that I went, “Oh!” …Damn it!
– …I recommend you start moving to the next network soon. If this place was solely a realm for that conscious entity, there’s a risk it could be closed off at any moment. –
“Crap. That could be a possibility…?!”
It was an extremely insightful remark that surprised me.
After all, it isn’t a public network of a city meant to be open 24 hours or a research facility network, but a random place I stumbled into. Moreover, since I forcibly evicted a native, my hypothesis was even more valid.
I’d rather avoid being cut off from escape while wandering around to steal some information.
If I end up becoming a lost child, that would be fortunate, but if I remain distanced from the brain that is the source of self-awareness, it would be the same as dying soon… right?
“…Oh.”
For a moment, I experienced a brain freeze due to self-contradiction.
While I’ve always taken it for granted to study cyber engineering theories or memorize game settings alone, I suddenly thought that having succeeded in preserving a part of my old memories and self beyond dimensions might be a living contradiction to that theory…
While there are companies that closely reside alongside each other with significant technological gaps and transcendent beings that are hard to explain logically, I can’t jump to conclusions recklessly.
– Ahsa? –
“Ah, sorry. Could you rearrange the broadcast list? This time… let’s try to pinpoint the destination based on signal strength.”
I calmed Zero, who seemed anxious by my stillness.
I even asked them to focus on the perimeter, yet here they are getting overly engaged in supportive activities.
Limiting to the virtual space, I’ve never experienced a failure before. The worries piled like a mountain. But then again, I wouldn’t refuse any help provided.
If it were a real situation, there would probably be a sound like “Swoosh!” as the broadcast list unfolds before my eyes.
It’s uncertain how deep underground I am, but unlike the surface where hundreds to thousands of networks pop up to pester consumers, here is a quite restrained lineup that I could count on my fingers.
Now… the city public network I found useful earlier can be excluded since my work with it is done.
And this one, which has a signal strength too high and aggressive, is likely the harmful transmission that had been layered from above. It must be from the black market or Sir Léonard, but it’s malevolent in nature, so I’ll move it to the back.
That leaves the last choice, suspiciously active in signal exchange and close enough to pinpoint the origin within the plaza.
Surely, there must be a grand vault heist show happening right in front of me, so who on earth are the ones fervently busy like me on the side?
This is not really a question. I can simply find out myself from here on.
Zzztt…!!
A feeling of buoyancy enveloped my entire body, and I was immediately flung away.
Consciousness flows from one network to another. The aspect where one’s mind can alter the environment once determined resonates with the peak of lucid dreaming.
This omnipotence is something I surely could never forget, even if I could return to the original state someday.
Creak…!
“Ah! Damn it…!!”
I covered my face that had slammed into something hard.
During the dizzying float, I accidentally encountered a net entangling my body, resulting in a sudden halt akin to a plane’s engine dying due to a bird strike.
If the intention was blatantly destructive sabotage or invasion, it would have been fine to just push through, but this is primarily about investigation, so smashing through the firewall crossing the guard threshold would completely defeat the purpose.
First, I must feel around with my hands to accept the data inside and the codes composing it.
As I’ve said before, unlike the augmented reality outputting fixed textures and models from corporations, the imaginary world I’ve created purely follows the user’s perception.
Each time I sift through someone else’s database, the landscape is determined by grammar like ‘data = books; since there are many books, it’s a study or library’ which is due to my subconscious.
This vast ocean of information is also, if I must argue, closer to the latter of the extension of imagery than electronics itself, which is why such obstacles emerge.
What pops into my head first when thinking of a firewall?
For someone like me… Is it that iconic red brick wall icon of the operating system along with influences from various audiovisual media that bring to mind either an animal cage or an electric barbed wire?
Right now, I genuinely believed I could just fly over it, so it took the form of this bird-catching net to block my path.
“…How arrogant for a mere piece of data.”
I’ve roughly drawn a conclusion. That’s fine. In fact, the web-firewall that had spread in the network where that ghostly friend lingered previously was far denser, tougher, and more dangerous.
What the hell was the purpose of that network?
In any case, that doesn’t mean I would forcibly widen a hole to create a gap to cross. Otherwise, there would be a very distinct mark left behind, much like a fingerprint in reality. …Conversely, if I could wholly destroy it and make the afterward clean, then that would indeed be perfectly fine.
…Gurgle.
Like ripples in a tranquil lake. Part of the net meets my palm and starts to shake, darkening to black.
Elusive signals that have always guaranteed the confidentiality of my work are injected into the data that allows me to pass through myself seamlessly.
There’s no need to touch the logic or structure that constitutes the entirety. I can just go in and come back out to restore everything.
Moreover, if there hadn’t been a condition to maintain the communication line with Zero, I could have passed through the walls just as easily without infecting part of the network.
“Alright…!”
Having successfully passed through the firewall, I stepped into a digital network constructed with hard work without permission.
Apologies? Sorry, but I don’t do such things. I’m about to perform actions that are even more rude anyway, so why bow my head first?
“Now… to the winged envelopes (Emails) over there. Don’t run away, just neatly pass in front of me before transmitting…?”
It feels like gravity suddenly exists in a world where physical laws didn’t.
As I started pulling down each message that floated in the air, I began copying their contents, whether the original owner was busy communicating currently.
Privacy protection? Unfortunately, as a citizen lacking common sense, I know nothing of that. If you’ve got issues, directly contact public institutions or businesses.
[ …At your request, mercenaries are stimulated to secure a competitive structure. ]
[ However, the loose explanations of the selected representatives combined with the exaggerated reactions of Gemini Node, a lower-tier participant, led to an excessive heating of the original test content becoming forgotten. ]
[ Currently unable to judge whether the trace data or metadata within the vault is intact. ]
[ …Thus, this is entirely a result of the black market’s personnel miscalculation. We must clearly express that we have fulfilled our responsibilities according to the contract contents… ]
“Ugh, what’s all this?”
Anyway, the contents are chaotic. It’s making my head hurt.
I well know that releasing the virus was intentional… The original test? Internal trace data? Wasn’t it enough just to break into the labyrinth-grade vault?
Sir Léonard… How poorly did you conduct your work for such talks to be circulating internally like this?!
No wonder you were treated like a nuisance in the original work…!
I can’t stand the absurdity. I had hoped to settle with the understanding that it wasn’t some elaborate trap or conspiracy but merely aimed to incite competition, but once I learned that they even hired a lacking hacker team to find better talent, I need to see the face of whoever that is.
Considering the quantity of credits being spread around, they seem quite affluent, perhaps even someone from the original work I know.
It shouldn’t be difficult. Now that I’ve come this far, if I follow the communication, it’ll lead me to the sky box where the client should be, and while there, if I steal any camera or identity data, my curiosity will be satisfied…!
– Apologies for the interruption, but it seems you should start waking up. –
“Eh…? Why?”
Just as I was about to take another big leap over the network boundary, Zero cautiously spoke up, causing me to halt my movements abruptly.
If this was just the usual advice or reporting, I would have listened while moving… But waking up? Why?
– Number 168 has just withdrawn. Otherwise, I’ll contact you again the moment the number is called, so will you end the dive then? –
……Already?
