Chapter 108: Chapter 82: Black Ice
John is not a professional hacker.
He has only heard about it on the news and can’t grasp the real threat posed by the AI at large mentioned by Internet Surveillance.
John fears Eden will succumb to some "high-profile" pressure, stay neutral, or even actively hand him over to Internet Surveillance’s hovercar.
Eden is unexpectedly calm.
"Isn’t the Black Wall a load of crap you don’t even recognize? Even if a roaming AI destroys Eden City tomorrow, I wouldn’t be surprised."
The state police officer gives a smile with unclear meaning.
Eden remains strong.
"The era of Internet Surveillance’s dominance is over. If you suspect citizens of AI infiltration, you need to provide evidence. Where do you think you’re sitting?"
"In just a few words and you’re ready to act."
The state police officer is unafraid of threats.
He controls the circuit of the Harbor Company’s office building.
The lights in the meeting room start to flicker.
His prosthetic eye projects a yellow light amid the flickering, like an indicator on a machine.
Bang!
A bullet hole appears in the wall behind the state police officer.
John regains some clarity, noticing a bullet graze on the officer’s temple.
The room’s lights stabilize again.
Eden remains seated, his hands back on the table, but no one saw where the shot came from.
He delivers a mild threat.
"Consider this an electrical malfunction, no worries. But if another bulb flickers, or if any hacking is detected... that indicates you’ve wrapped up with your colleagues before coming in."
The state police officer raises his hands with a wry smile. "You actually signed the Special Task Force agreement."
"We’re all about the same, and over the years, you’re not the only one to turn into a monster."
Eden understands the consequences of an out-of-control AI at large.
But he’s no fool.
Be it Internet Surveillance or the Special Affairs Bureau, power-hungry organizations love to create pressure via information asymmetry to control their targets.
Eden and the state police officer are veterans.
They know anyone in this line of work ends up this way.
Once you’re in, you either get silenced by newcomers or, like them, gradually become monsters.
Plunging into madness, waiting for death to arrive.
Tinfoil presents a diagnostic report.
During John’s combat training, he underwent comprehensive testing, which included — in addition to routine cyberpsychosis diagnosis — common cognitive processing, logical judgment, emotional fluctuation, and organ data monitoring, among others.
The state police officer doesn’t even glance at it.
He activates the database, retrieves two video clips, and sends them to Tinfoil and Eden.
John feels a bit uneasy.
The state police officer refuses to have any transmission or interaction with him.
Tinfoil nonchalantly forwards the files to John, revealing the Bolago Club parking lot.
The video window expands:
The Alloy RCH emits a screeching brake sound.
It speeds into the underground garage, drifting and braking sharply in the narrow space, disregarding any pedestrians.
John remembers.
That was during his first mission with Harbor Company.
Black Light overwrote the chip.
The side effects left him in a daze, reportedly disturbing some VIP clients at the club.
The footage starts to switch, focusing on him and following him.
That means Internet Surveillance was already eyeing him.
John staggers out of the car, hurrying down the corridor into the elevator...
John’s face is expressionless.
Sweat leaves two smeared streaks down his cheeks.
He casts an empty glance towards the camera, though his prosthetic eye remains activated.
Red data streams across his pupils.
"Drunk, or too much on his plate?"
The state police officer calmly looks at the table in front of John, deliberately avoiding eye contact.
Eden slightly frowns.
He has deep ties with the Special Task Force and recognizes this as a classic "dissociative" state of cyberpsychosis.
Crazy people losing control aren’t always hysterical.
They often appear dazed before breaking down, unusually calm when faced with stimuli, their prosthetics opening and closing uncontrollably.
The video has a timestamp in the lower right corner.
Eden and Tinfoil exchange a glance—the thorough tests conducted on John by Harbor Company, and the suspected equipment malfunction, all occurred after this video’s timeframe.
But at that time, John was normal.
This suggests the test results might not be accurate.
"This next video is more recent, just days before we approved the arrest warrant."
The state police officer signals them to finish watching.
Again, it’s the Dan Street Apartment elevator camera.
This area is already under the surveillance control, with John being closely monitored.
Footage from the elevator camera:
John is kneeling in front of the control panel, sweating profusely, his body weak with spasms and trembling, dragging his collapsing body down the corridor.
That’s him fleeing from Angelica’s room...
Eden and Tinfoil frown deeply.
As professionals frequently dealing with the insane, they almost confirm this as cyberpsychosis.
Why was everything normal during deep renderings?
The state police officer proposes a hypothesis:
The roaming AI helped John in some way.
John doesn’t argue.
He would rather entrust the secrets to Harbor Company and let the Special Task Force kill him than be taken for experiments by Internet Surveillance.
However, Eden believes:
This only proves that John might have cyberpsychosis, but it doesn’t prove his connection with the roaming AI.
"Are you going to protect him to such an extent?"
The state police officer realizes that the Harbor Company wants to extract more information from the Internet Surveillance office.
"What was your motive for issuing the arrest order?"
"It hired an intermediary to investigate the convoy accident with Tiebang Logistics, an incident related to the roaming AI."
"Fuck it all, that tie clip."
John clenches his fists. "That was the last job I did for the company, and it ruined my career and life. The HR department kicked me out in the hospital. Now I want to look into what exactly went wrong, and I can’t even do that?"
"And what’s your connection to the serum?"
The state police officer countered.