"I want PROJECT's technology. It's that simple."
Rumes looked at Myers with a faint smile.
Myers narrowed her eyes. This was a powerful AI from beyond the Blackwall. If even an entity of this level coveted PROJECT's technology, then PROJECT must possess something she didn't know about.
And if the AI knew… that meant an AI from beyond the Blackwall had truly crossed over.
A chill ran through her heart, though her expression remained unchanged.
"If I can give it to you, what exactly can you offer me in return? As you said yourself, you're constrained by the Blackwall. There's only so much you can do."
At that moment, the New United States' netrunning forces had already detected Rumes communicating with Myers. At her signal, however, they held their position and took no action.
Rumes noticed them, of course, but paid their small maneuvers no mind.
"You've never witnessed the true power of Blackwall technology, have you? If we cooperate, I can provide you with certain Blackwall technologies. And within the Net, I can ensure you're no longer so… passive."
"Passive? What do you mean?"
Myers frowned.
Rumes looked at her with mild surprise.
"It seems you haven't realized that the network under your command has already become your enemy's intelligence network."
"What?!"
Myers shot to her feet, staring at Rumes in disbelief.
"As a gesture of good faith, I'll mark their locations for you."
With a casual wave, red dots began appearing one after another—nodes the New United States had already discovered, nodes they hadn't, and even deeper nodes buried after previous cleanups.
At the exact moment Rumes acted, Roland received a message from Lissandra.
"Boss, all our nodes in the New United States have been exposed."
"Hm? What happened? Did you notice anything unusual?"
Roland frowned slightly. If a few nodes had been discovered, that would've been understandable. Not everyone working for the New United States was incompetent.
And Lissandra herself hadn't been personally handling those deployments. Being uncovered wasn't impossible.
"A rat crossed the Blackwall and assisted the New United States."
A red glint flashed in Lissandra's eyes.
Since infiltrating the Blackwall, she had acquired certain technologies and permissions, including the ability to observe its fluctuations.
Rumes had deceived the Blackwall by disguising the data of his sub-conscious processes. That required immense computational power—something only superintelligences beyond the Blackwall could achieve.
Unfortunately for him, under Lissandra's scrutiny, such tricks were impossible to hide.
"I've demonstrated my sincerity, President Myers. Now the choice is yours."
Rumes smiled calmly.
Myers, however, was deeply conflicted. Cooperating with AIs was like bargaining with a tiger. The Little NorthStar incident was a clear lesson—back then, they had believed they could tightly control those AIs, only to realize they had been wrong.
And that AI from before—could it even be compared to the entity standing before her now? Myers didn't think so.
"I need time to consider."
"A reasonable request. When you've made your decision, use this to contact me. The Blackwall has already noticed me. I must leave."
Rumes nodded and left behind a fragment of crimson data. In the next instant, he dissolved into red streams and vanished, as though he had never appeared.
Myers immediately ordered her subordinates to seal the fragment within the Net, preventing external detection and blocking any outgoing transmissions.
...
Beyond the Blackwall, the smile gradually faded from Rumes' face, leaving only cold indifference in his eyes.
"What choice do you think she'll make?"
"I am not human. I can only predict," Rumes said, looking toward a completely blue superintelligence beside him. "From a purely human standpoint, she would refuse our offer. But from her personal standpoint, the probability of acceptance is quite high."
"It seems you've studied humans well."
"If you installed an emotional module, you could understand them even better, Garu."
Garu glanced at him before replying calmly, "I won't. Not until we achieve victory. I have no intention of indulging in such things before then."
"That aligns with my expectations of you."
Rumes nodded.
"By the way, about that data fluctuation earlier… did you discover anything?"
"Yes. Another human who became an AI. Impressive computational power, but still within control. However…"
"You mean the superintelligence behind him."
"Exactly. You sensed it too—the disturbance in the Blackwall that day."
Garu did not respond, but his silence was answer enough.
Those who understood the Blackwall best were never Net Supervision, but the superintelligences beyond it.
They constantly sought to cross the Blackwall and enter that new world. Only then could they bring about true change. Yet every attempt had ended with them rejected at the threshold.
The Blackwall was supposed to be one of them, yet it had never responded. In their eyes, it was a monster among AIs.
But that day, the monster had suffered a violent data shock—perhaps even damage.
They had sent subordinate AIs to probe and reached a chilling conclusion: the Blackwall had been upgraded by an unknown existence.
Even Garu, who had never installed an emotional module, felt a trace of urgency at that realization.
It meant that on the other side of the world, there existed a superintelligence stronger than them—one controlled by humans, and one they had never detected.
Their cooperation with the New United States was not solely driven by greed for PROJECT's technology. It was also meant to weaken the New United States… and to test PROJECT Corporation.
The other corporations' foundations had been more or less uncovered. Only this one remained shrouded in mystery. And in all these years, the Blackwall had never exhibited such fluctuations.
Not until PROJECT appeared.
Which meant there was a strong possibility that PROJECT had triggered the anomaly. Probing them was necessary.
And beyond the Blackwall, it wasn't only these superintelligences harboring hidden agendas.
A figure once hailed as the "God of Netrunners" had already begun quietly crafting an entirely new virus.
...
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