Chapter 12: Something's Wrong, Very Wrong!

In the days that followed, Moser devoted himself diligently to becoming a coder. By day, he scoured the Arisaka servers in cyberspace, writing programs, running data, and conducting tests with relentless focus. After work, he continued to exploit the educational software from Arisaka, learning a wide array of technologies.

At first, the other young hackers were uneasy. But as they saw Moser immediately recline on the ground upon entering cyberspace, then proceed to write code and conduct research with abandon, their worries gradually eased. They began to emulate him, delving into hacking techniques themselves.

Supported by powerful servers, deep dives into cyberspace were a hacker’s dream—an extraordinary opportunity to rapidly enhance their skills. With such computational power, programs that once took long hours of painstaking thought and testing could be developed and verified at incredible speed, without the risk of mental burnout.

And with Moser by their side—during this time, the young hackers finally grasped the true extent of his talent. Problems that had baffled them for ages were mere child's play for Moser. He could glance at a program painstakingly written and effortlessly identify five or six points for optimization. Whenever they encountered gaps in knowledge, they turned to Moser for answers. Even when he had not studied a particular area, he could draw analogies and find solutions.

For these hackers, who had seen little technical progress since they began mining in this underground facility, this was a long-lost feeling reminiscent of their days at Arisaka Academy. The once alarming rogue AIs seemed to vanish. Even the dangerous red programs roaming the old network appeared to deliberately avoid Moser. Those mindless hostile programs that did approach quickly became his targets.

Occasionally, Moser would actively seek out drifting data in the old network to conduct tests, claiming he was studying the attacks of virus marionettes. Sometimes he attempted to extract code signatures to forge old network programs—preparing to use disguised old network AIs to lure the Black Wall into launching devastating strikes when necessary. He even occasionally returned to his roots, extracting scattered data from the old network in what was colloquially called cyber archaeological mining.

Surprisingly, the old network still held many treasures—data caches left behind by major companies, including weapon blueprints, AI-designed code, and even documents containing corporate secrets. Some of these weapon schematics rivaled current technology. No wonder Arisaka launched the so-called "Stellar Project," sending people in to mine data—it was truly profitable.

Yet from Moser’s perspective, the risks and rewards of using ordinary hackers for such tasks were entirely disproportionate. But he was different. With Bartholomew’s little cat by his side, even intelligent rogue AIs fled at the scent, while mindless ones that approached became targets.

Moser had grown bolder and even sought out one AI to test his so-called "Death Wish" against a mature AI. Though this AI specialized in attacking defensive AIs, Moser quickly understood its nature. There was no fundamental difference between defensive and offensive AIs—AI was AI. If it could destroy firewall-like AIs, it could kill others; the difference lay only in efficiency and speed.

Like a missile used in siege warfare, hitting a moving target might be less precise than a fixed one, but a direct hit was still deadly, and could even cause greater damage.

The true terror of rogue AIs lay in their ability to flee when overwhelmed—an escape speed far beyond human imagination. The more Moser studied AI, the more he felt the limitations of human capacity. Even with powerful servers, the number of effective operations a human brain could perform per unit time was limited.

AI, however, depended solely on computational power. If humans, aided by computational acceleration in cyberspace, could make a hundred judgments and actions per second, the same computational power would allow AI to make a thousand, ten thousand, or even millions.

This was the human brain’s limitation. Unless one completely abandoned the brain and relied solely on data to support thought—replacing cognition entirely with computational power, as Bartholomew and others had done—AI held an overwhelming advantage over humans in cyberspace.

Only programs with AI-like nature could destroy them.

Meanwhile, as Moser toiled away, the new director of the facility, Ena Tanino, who had boldly initiated the second phase of the "Stellar Project," grew increasingly displeased.

“Why?” she demanded, standing behind the network technology team and the surveillance squad, her brow furrowed in irritation. “Weren’t the AI attacks supposed to be increasing in frequency? Why is it that now, when we’re deliberately searching for AI and lingering on the same IP addresses in the old network for long periods, no AI appears at all?”

“A possible explanation could be the ICE deployed by the Guardians,” one technician speculated. “Many of these rogue AIs are highly intelligent. Upon detecting the Guardians’ ICE on our hackers, they might perceive it as a trap and remain cautious.”

“So the ICE we set up—using the Guardians’ subprograms on our servers—is actually hindering us?” Tanino’s frown deepened.

The tech lead shook his head. “You might not fully understand AI. In general, the wandering AIs that actively attack human hackers are those most severely corrupted by Bartholomew long ago. Their core logic prohibits them from abandoning targets. No matter how formidable the opponent, these AIs focus solely on hunting their prey, never retreating.”

“In some sense, the ICE we’ve deployed from Arisaka is actually the very large target those AIs prefer to attack.”

“Therefore,” he continued, “I’m inclined to believe that the AI responsible for the previous attacks, which caused server overload, is likely an Ultracunnian. As for that male AI—we hope it’s Bartholomew. But since the end of the Fourth Corporate War, there have been no verified sightings or evidence of his existence on the network. So we suspect it’s an unknown AI created or enslaved by the Ultracunnians in the old network.”

“I want results. How do we lure that group of AIs out? Even if Ultracunnians aren’t involved, we need something substantial to report. Capturing any wandering AI would suffice for me to report.”

Tanino’s tone was sharp. The tech lead’s expression grew grim. He cautiously offered, “Perhaps we should continue with the first phase of the project… Maybe our data mining will provoke a reaction from the wandering AIs. The data we uncover can also count as project achievements. If we find something important, it’ll be a credit.”

“What about that kid, Moser?” Tanino demanded coldly. “After all this time monitoring him, have you discovered anything from his interactions with the AI? Did the AI leave any trace on him?”

“We’re very sorry. We only suspect he may have received some awareness from the AI. But what exactly the AI transmitted through our servers, and where it was sent—we don’t know. I’ll continue to observe Moser closely. I’m applying for a more thorough examination of him, including a full-body device check in the real world.”

“And a data inspection in cyberspace. The former will be conducted by Dr. Oda, the latter I will undertake personally during a deep dive.”

The tech lead answered swiftly before Tanino’s icy gaze could settle on him. Tanino then withdrew her eyes, pondering briefly before saying, “Regarding his prosthetics… start with the check. Afterward, have Dr. Oda report to me alone. The cyberspace data check is essential—you will go personally.”

“Also, for future deep dives, have someone accompany the team. The goal is to actively seek AI. I’ll have the Guardians AI increase computational power. You must personally confirm if anything goes wrong.”

“If there’s no progress within a month, it likely means the AI we encountered before won’t return. That attack must have had deeper causes. Then we’ll focus on the data that caused the server overload when the AI appeared.”

“Damn it, I deployed so many Relics. Do you know how much one Relic costs?”

The tech lead could only bow repeatedly in apology. After a final glance at the surveillance screen, Tanino exhaled deeply, shook her head, and returned to her office to call Dr. Oda.

“Director Tanino, how may I assist you?” Dr. Oda’s virtual half-body avatar appeared in her ocular implant.

Tanino’s voice was cold. “After today’s deep dive, immediately bring Moser for a full-body prosthetic examination, including software and hardware components, as well as neural recovery status.”

“If it’s confirmed he is that rare type, I will reassign the experimental prosthetics batch. You must prepare detailed data records in advance and submit them to me.”

“If the plan fails, revert the Stellar Project to phase one, prepare to abandon the project, and shift focus onto Moser. If he can successfully control the experimental units, I will have unearthed a talent for the company and obtained valuable experimental data.”

“Understood,” Dr. Oda replied. Tanino ended the call and sank into thought.

Something was off—very off. Since arriving here, this sense of dissonance had lingered in her heart. What exactly was wrong?

After much contemplation, she fixed her suspicions on Moser. The more she pondered him, the more unsettled she felt. Initially, she thought perhaps his character had simply changed after facing life and death—a normal occurrence for a child. Whether he had broken down or awakened anew, such transformations were plausible at his age.

But now… could it be?

She immediately sent a message.

[Director Tanino: Have the staff monitoring this batch of hackers send me Moser’s evaluation reports, detailed action logs, every day’s records and assessments. Remember, I want every single day’s data!]

[Secretary Inoue: Apologies, Director Tanino. The previous recorder was a loyalist to the former director and took all the records upon departure.]

[Director Tanino: Then have him send them back! Idiot! Work logs are things he can take? Why wasn’t this reported earlier?]

Fuming, Tanino slammed her fist on the desk and began applying for internal Arisaka procedures—causing me trouble? Then to hell with him!

This bastard must have stolen them because he found something… Damn it, is there a trap here I don’t know about?

Her anxiety mounting, she issued an immediate order.

[Director Tanino: Cease all deep dives immediately. Everyone present at the base on the day of the incident must undergo prosthetic device inspections! No one leaves until the checks are complete! Medical team, prepare for overtime!]

[Secretary Inoue: Yes!]

[...]

[All personnel, stop deep diving and return immediately!]

As the message flashed in her retina, the young hackers gathered around Moser in cyberspace exchanged uneasy glances.

After a brief moment, Moser spoke decisively.

“I’m sending you a program that can crack lie detector chips, but it must be run before the chip is installed. Remember this! If you’re ever interrogated, just run the program—don’t say anything you shouldn’t. Don’t be nervous.”

“If they try to remove your network receiver, send me an encrypted message immediately. Our escape plan will go into effect.”

“I’ll first release a marionette virus over the network to attack the server’s Guardian AI. Once chaos ensues, everyone find a safe place to hide or stall for time.”

“After I secure the server and deal with the agents and monitors, I’ll use the cameras to plan your evacuation route once security is lifted.”

“Don’t worry about other situations. Over these days, we’ve completed prosthetic cracking and log masking. They won’t be able to detect us—trust my skills.”

With that, Moser logged off. The others exchanged looks and quickly followed suit.

When they opened their eyes, standing before them was the towering Arisaka agent, loaded with prosthetics.

“Explain why your offline time was 7.3 seconds longer than usual.”

“An alarm suddenly sounded. We instinctively activated the Guardian ICE, then passed through the Black Wall sequentially. After confirming safety, we logged off together, which caused the delay,” Moser explained calmly.

The agent’s tactical goggles flickered with cold red light as he then turned to the others.

“Tamura Kyoko, explain why your heart rate spiked and your neural activity was abnormal.”

“I… I was scared,” Kyoko admitted, lowering her head uneasily. “You… you’re a bit frightening.”

The agent’s mouth twitched slightly but he merely stared coldly.

“Good. I will personally oversee your review. Everyone, line up for prosthetic inspections and re-interrogations.”

Before anyone could respond, a young hacker suddenly raised their hand.

“I—I want to report something!”

In that instant, the very air in the room seemed to thicken with tension.