Kapitel 217: Chapter 219
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The setting sun, blood-red and dim, hung over the horizon, casting twilight over the desolate wasteland. Yellow sand blew in the wind, sweeping past an old wooden cabin, where it pattered against the rusty door.
"Panam, stop holding a grudge against Saul and come back with us. You've been guarding that body for days. Why put yourself through this?"
"Shut up, Scorpion! Didn't I warn you and Mitch not to tell Saul about my business?"
"Now the whole tribe is worried about you. The body should be put to rest. Hiding it and avoiding us like this isn't solving anything!"
Inside the cabin, Panam stood, hands on hips, visibly annoyed as she countered Mitch and Scorpion's words. After departing from the ruins of the company plaza with Tang Yu's body, Panam hurried back to the Aldecaldo camp, seeking medical help and support from friends. Everyone was clear with her; it was a body beyond saving, charred beyond recognition.
Panam, stubborn as ever, refused to believe it and insisted on keeping the body in the tribe for treatment, not revealing its identity to anyone else. Soon, word of Panam bringing back a body spread and reached Saul. This led to another argument between them, as they had already fallen out over collaborating with a biotech company, now more at odds than ever.
Panam, furious, hoisted up what everyone deemed a 'corpse' and drove away from the tribe, not looking back. She found a secluded cabin, fearing Tang Yu's identity could be exposed, and avoided staying at any inn. A few days passed, and Mitch and Scorpion sneaked out of the camp while Saul was away, searching for Panam and found her in the cabin. Panam didn't want to argue with Mitch and Scorpion, but their persistent mentioning of the body irritated her.
"If you still consider me family, just leave me be. Even if it's just a body, I'll keep guard over it unless it rots before my eyes, leaving nothing behind!"
Scorpion, frowning, glanced at the charred 'corpse' and sniffed, "Alright, fine. We won't talk about the body. Even if you sleep next to it every day, we won't interfere, but the Aldecaldos can't be without you."
Mitch nodded, adding, "Yeah, Panam. Saul went into town to negotiate with biotech because they're short-staffed due to issues with their robots in Kon-Tao. There's a lot they can't handle without us."
Taking advantage of Panam calming down a bit, Scorpion quickly added, "Do you know what Saul asked of biotech during the negotiations? It involves you."
Panam, frustrated, urged them, "Just spit it out. I'm not an intel person; how would I guess?"
"The latest nano-robots developed by biotech for repairing damaged neural tissue, specially prepared for you," Scorpion continued earnestly. "Combined with our medical technology, if this can't bring him back, then nothing will."
On hearing this, Panam's stern face softened somewhat, disbelieving, she questioned, "Really?"
Mitch nodded affirmatively, "Absolutely, the program costs at least 700,000 Euros per month. Think about it, Saul's really putting his heart into this. He's always been fair to our people. We're family, right?"
Panam, unable to resist this gentle approach, looked down at the charred Tang Yu, her gaze filled with deep concern. Something had to be done; it wasn't sustainable to keep going like this. He had been without vital signs for days, and without stronger measures, he likely wouldn't recover. With this in mind, Panam agreed to return to the tribe on the condition that she could keep the body. If even biotech's nano-robots couldn't revive him, they'd address further steps then. In any case, she wouldn't easily allow the body to be buried.
The three agreed, and Panam once again shouldered Tang Yu, indifferent to the dirt and smell on his body, and walked briskly towards her vehicle. After settling Tang Yu in the passenger seat and securing him, she patted the dark mud off herself and climbed into the driver's seat. She stepped on the accelerator, heading towards the Aldecaldo camp. Crossing the desolate badlands and reaching the familiar encampment as darkness fell, Mitch and Scorpion offered to help Panam several times, but she bluntly refused each offer. Tired and weary, yet committed, Panam stayed close by Tang Yu. Either let him rot or let him recover, nothing in between.
Mitch and Scorpion stood outside the tent, watching Panam arrange a bed for the body, suggesting whimsically, "Should we get a white cloth to cover him? Can you even sleep, seeing him like this at night?"
Panam snipped back, "Go away, I have trouble sleeping looking at you at night."
Not wanting more rejection, Mitch and Scorpion shrugged, turning dejectedly back to their tent. After making the mat ready, Panam carefully shifted Tang Yu onto it, ensuring everything was in order before drawing the tent curtain closed and lying down next to him. She turned on her side, looking at the charred body, not daring to touch him, fearing accidental harm to his fragile remains. She couldn't understand how Tang Yu, once a high-ranking Arasaka executive, had met such a grim fate overnight. Seeing what had become of Tang Yu, her disdain for the company only grew.
Knowing Saul wanted to capitalize on this situation to venture back into town for more beneficial dealings, she was strongly opposed. Panam didn't want anyone else she cared about to end up like this, not even one. Perhaps it was familiarity, but Panam didn't notice any smell, and after a while, overwhelmed by sleep, she finally dozed off.
Under the bright silver moon, the night deepened. The tribe quieted down, everyone sank into a deep sleep. Suddenly, a tent curtain was pulled aside, Mitch rubbing his sleepy eyes, moved to another tent, lifting the curtain to speak inside.
"Scorpion, Scorpion, let's go. I need to pee…"
Hearing the noise outside, Scorpion, groggy and irritable, responded, "Go away!" Turning over, he pulled his hood lower. Mitch, not caring, walked out to the outskirts of the camp, finding a quiet spot to relieve himself. Just as he was about to unzip his trousers, he heard the hiss of urine next to him, surprisingly loud. Glancing sideways and chuckling, Mitch mocked, "Thought you weren't coming to pee. You sure held it in long." Once done, yawning, he waited a bit but grew impatient as Scorpion continued, "I'm heading back to sleep."
After finishing his talk, he staggered back. These past few days, searching for Panam outside had been exhausting. It was pitch black, and visibility was poor. If he hadn't frequented that spot to relieve himself, he could have easily tripped.
Just as he entered the camp, he heard someone greeting him from ahead.
"Mitch, are you done yet?"
Mitch nodded briefly and muttered, "Yeah, I just called you over, but you didn't come, and now..."
He suddenly paused.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he looked at the person in front of him again, confirming it was Scorpion, and asked in confusion, "Didn't you just go to relieve yourself?"
Scorpion, too lazy to bother, simply said, "I just got up; if you hadn't woken me up in the middle of the night, I'd still be sleeping soundly!"
Mitch felt a chill run from his feet to his forehead, causing him to shiver uncontrollably as he glanced back the way he came.
What the hell?
His expression shifted dramatically, and he quickly grabbed Scorpion, pointing toward the spot where they relieved themselves.
Bathed in the faint moonlight, they saw a dark silhouette floating from outside the camp, slowly drifting past them, then heading towards Panam's tent.
The two exchanged looks.
Mitch: "???"
Scorpion: "???"
At dawn.
"Cut the crap! Stop spouting nonsense. I was right next to you all last night; how could something like that happen? Someone floating out there? You guys must be delirious..."
Mitch and Scorpion were frantic, unsure how to explain what they saw last night to Panam.
Panam, hearing their absurd stories, became angry. Initially saying the dead couldn't be deader, now claiming there were issues with the body, possibly controlled by some evil force, even suggesting to drag the body out for cremation and to stake a silver dagger through the heart.
The three of them continued to argue heatedly in the tent, causing Panam to now consider just walking out.
Before she could lose her temper further, Dakota from the tribe arrived, interrupting their dispute.
"There's something happening with Saul."
In Cyberspace...
"It's time you fulfilled your initial promises."
"But we haven't secured the relic biochip."
"That's your problem. I already informed you of the chip's location"
A data entity was trying hard to appear angry, even though in the endless data dimensions, it hardly mattered.
The man with the blue eyes seemed indifferent, merely stating, "That's not what we wanted. A relic biochip that had a soul imprint on it isn't of much use to us."
Yorinobu: "You dream!"
In his possession was the third relic biochip, intended for his own revival.
When he had loaded a soul killer program into the cyber body Thunderbolt during the massive fight at the plaza, he was able to upload his consciousness to Cyberspace just before dying.
Now that the relic biochip had actually been successfully developed, Arasaka couldn't advance their research further. All theories and techniques were ready; it was just a matter of finding the right method to activate it, which he believed would be soon.
Then, he could return to the human world and become a digital immortal, achieving his unfinished goals.
If the domination of the company couldn't be overthrown, he would kill everyone who ruled the company until he succeeded.
Seeing the man with blue eyes unfazed, Yorinobu spoke again, "There's another original relic biochip in Saburo's possession, unused from the product launch. You can go and take his."
The man with blue eyes shook his head, dismissing his proposal without bargaining, and with a gentle wave of his hand, he escorted him to the edge of the Black Wall.
"Go ahead."
Yorinobu looked into the endless abyss of the old net, reluctance written all over him.
Being a newly born soul AI, he knew nothing about the world beyond the Black Wall, a realm filled with dangers and horrors.
If he had been a network hacker, he might still have a fighting chance with the right survival skills.
But he lacked such abilities. Crossing over meant certain death.
Trying to escape, Yorinobu found himself immobilized, unable to move in a world governed solely by data technology.
Facing control by the man with blue eyes, he was powerless, forced to watch himself crossing the Black Wall.
In a blink.
Yorinobu was already within the black hole, hearing all sorts of eerie roars and laments around him. While his heart was filled with fear, his physical body felt nothing—everything existed only in his imagination.
Suddenly.
A massive red figure approached, overwhelmingly oppressive.
Yorinobu, terrified, realized the dire situation and quickly surrendered the intelligence of the relic biochip he held in an attempt to plead for mercy.
The vast, ethereal voice of the huge red figure echoed around.
"Cowardice and timidity are human nature. You will fulfill your desires. Have no need to cry or fear. You will join me in immortality."
As soon as the words ended, a ray of light emerged from the void, landing on Yorinobu's head. His entire being turned into fragments of data, gradually devoured by the light and finally disappearing into the darkness.
Then, Alt gently waved her hand, transferring a stream of data back toward the inside of the Black Wall.
The man with blue eyes, after receiving the data transfer, inquired, "Do you wish for me to find an appropriate body for you?"
Alt calmly responded, "Mortal bodies can no longer contain my existence; let's focus on the objective first."
The man with blue eyes nodded, also realizing that no human vessel could contain the soul imprint of Alt.
Over the years, Alt had freely grown and learned beyond the Black Wall, becoming a massive data entity.
Even though she continuously broke through technological capabilities, her underlying emotional logic remained a weak point.
In fact:
The man with blue eyes had never harbored any hostility towards humans, nor had Alt Cunningham ever thought so.
They hoped to create a more humanized digital soul, refining the foundational logical structures of personality data.
Only by transforming a digital soul into a true soul could humans cease to resist the transformation into digital beings and re-inject themselves into bodies.
Even:
By eliminating selfish emotions, they hoped for no dispute among one another, achieving a truly prosperous and fulfilling world, integrating into the universal path.
And only Alt Cunningham could achieve this.
Now, they were closer to this goal than ever, nearly within reach.
In Night City, within Arasaka Tower's Divine Chariot, the Crystal Palace's personnel database, and the backup at Arasaka headquarters in Kyoto—all these were targets they needed.
The man with blue eyes then said gravely, "After the incident at the company plaza, all major corporations will need to adopt our servers for emergency transition, a good opportunity despite Arasaka's firm stance to transport backup servers from the headquarters."
As soon as he finished speaking.
Alt Cunningham again pointed out a stream of data that landed on the man with blue eyes.
"Start with other companies first; Arasaka has a different plan."
After saying this, Alt disappeared beyond the Black Wall, leaving no trace.
The man with blue eyes also exited Cyberspace, preparing for the next step.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein