In her haste, V forgot to remove her hands from Berry's waist.
"Half and half."
Berry glared irritably at the "Little Black Box" and slid off V.
Johnny was doing this on purpose.
Johnny Silverhand, the only tenant in Berry's basement. Although a tenant, he couldn't pay a single cent, yet he constantly demanded things from her—he almost asked Berry to add an electronic sex doll for him.
However, he got nothing, because Berry had nothing, and since Johnny couldn't jump out of the little box to beat her, she didn't care.
Therefore, the only privilege Johnny received here was the stable ability to come out daily, get some air, and watch the news.
That's why Berry said Johnny was just itching to cause trouble.
Once a man loses his manhood, he starts overthinking, becomes mentally twisted, and can't stand seeing others happy.
Berry fiercely mocked Johnny, who couldn't control his mouth.
"...So, this is the legendary Johnny Handjob."
V was accustomed to intentionally mispronouncing people's names, so it slipped out subconsciously now.
But who knew if she was being careless, or intentionally careless?
"It's f*cking Johnny Silverhand! If either of you mispronounces my name again, I'll beat the hell out of you, even if you are women."
Johnny, living in the 21st Century, was undoubtedly a strong advocate for gender equality; when his temper flared, he beat both men and women.
However, given his current state, no one took his threats seriously.
"Oh my god, that's incredible, Berry! You released him from the relic chip."
V bent over, looking at the Little Black Box and the relic chip suspended in the glass jar behind it, her eyes full of surprise and curiosity.
"Is this really Silverhand, and not a copy, or a memory fragment or something?"
V pointed at the Little Black Box, turned to Berry, and spoke, her eyes full of curiosity about the unknown.
"..."
However, V's innocent curiosity rendered Johnny silent.
Well, isn't that just bringing up a sore subject?
He woke up only to find he wasn't even human. His constant worry was that he might just be a ridiculous copy, or a fake AI that thought it was Johnny Silverhand, and not the real Johnny at all.
This worry had been buried deep in his heart, unspoken to anyone, but this woman in front of him had instantly exposed it, completely breaking Johnny's defense.
The Little Black Box's light strip stopped flashing; it looked genuinely hurt.
"Although I really don't want to admit it, this venomous, arrogant, hormonally imbalanced guy is indeed that Johnny Silverhand."
Berry folded her arms and explained patiently.
Although she had considered this matter before.
That is, whether a person whose consciousness is uploaded to the network is the original person, or just an electronic replica that believes it is the original owner.
It's like the difference between copying/pasting and updating.
If it's merely an update based on the original, that aligns with people's imagination of evolving into a digital lifeform.
But what if the process of uploading consciousness is related to copying and pasting?
It wouldn't be a so-called upload; it would just be pasting a person's memories into the electronic network, creating another person who possesses the original owner's memories.
Can that still be considered the original person?
While there might be debate in other dimensions, in this Cyber World, especially after understanding how Soulkiller processes people, Berry believed that the relic Technology was not a simple copy-and-paste of human memory; it genuinely uploaded the person's consciousness.
Because in this world, the soul seems to exist.
Human consciousness can roam in the Virtual Network World, with the brain merely serving as a distant material support. The horror of Soulkiller lies in its ability to directly sever the brain's supply to consciousness, capture the consciousness, and upload it as data.
This process must be completed through violent reading and destruction of the brain. Therefore, Johnny doesn't need to worry about being a copy, because the Flesh-and-Blood Johnny died the instant the consciousness upload was completed.
This saved a lot of trouble.
There wouldn't be the awkward situation of having one Flesh-and-Blood Johnny and one Virtual Johnny.
Therefore, Johnny's worries are unnecessary. In this world, there is only one Johnny—he is unique—and since the relic chip cannot be copied, this worry is completely redundant.
After realizing there was another person in the room, V became much more obedient, quietly waiting for Berry to finish her work. And Johnny also stopped speaking, silently watching the TV in front of him, getting acquainted with this world that hadn't changed much.
Watching the two unusual individuals, Berry shook her head helplessly.
Weren't these two quite chatty in the game? Why are they silent when meeting in reality?
Did the plotline of a happy couple of rivals just get cut short because of my actions? Berry felt a tiny pang of heartache.
However, thinking about V's miserable state in the game, Berry quickly let it go, genuinely believing that V should thank her.
So when V saw Berry suddenly look at her with complicated eyes and shake her head, she felt utterly confused.
It was as if she had been looked down upon by her little girlfriend in an instant.
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