"This helmet, I bought it before I even went to Berlin..."
...from a roadside on my way home from work.
"The black market dealer said this thing was thrilling, that it could break the limits of the official EU Super Dream helmet..."
...such things are usually more expensive, and this one could bypass normal safety inspections.
"I like using this to watch Super Dreams; it even has a hidden scent and touch module..."
...though its origins were unclear, it was very useful indeed.
Everything Yon the big guy said matched what big guy Elliot had said, and Elliot could completely follow what Yon wanted to say because he had said all this before.
The way he obtained the helmet, the joy after bringing it back, the pleasure the helmet brought, exceeding what a normal product could offer, feeling different from others...
These were all his thoughts once upon a time.
Elliot became increasingly silent, and in Yonâs eyes, this silence seemed unapproachable.
[Elliot: Bro, this...]
[Lille: What do you mean âthisâ? Iâve long told you that helmet was intentionally given to you by the Network Supervisionâtheyâve been releasing these seemingly illegal little things within the territory, or do you think your amateur network skills could avoid their surveillance?]
[Elliot: So now I...]
A question suddenly arose in Elliotâs mind:
The helmet was the opportunity for him to know Lille, and Lille had already told him that the helmet was intentional deployment by the Network Supervision and the European Union, all under their control.
He hadnât thought this way before, but now suddenly considered: since the helmetâs deployment was within the Network Supervisionâs plans, could the big brother...
also be in the plan?
And how much of his seemingly illegal little tricks and tactics truly escaped the surveillance of the Network Supervision?
This doubt was forcibly swallowed back into his heart.
[Elliot: ...What now? Harlin Eck has disappeared.]
[Lille: Harlin Eck hasnât disappeared; heâs been promotedâat least on the surface, though I suspect heâs indeed disappeared behind the scenes.]
[Lille: This helmet used Harlin Eckâs identity code, gaining network access by hacking into a washing machine in a yet-to-be-renewed rental room. Mostly, itâs used just like that, seeming to "deceive" Network Supervision.]
[Lille: The Network Supervision will soon make suggestions to you.]
Sevens and Elliot received a message from Network Supervision simultaneously.
[Network Surveillance Agent: The helmet has some issues; it contains an identity emulation system, and we will immediately come to reclaim it.]
[Network Surveillance Agent: There was a problem with the list we gave you earlier; Harlin Eck has been away from Berlin for some time. Yon Davidson is there now, indeed working at the IEC factory.]
[Network Surveillance Agent: Do you think heâs connected to the intimidation case?]
[Sevens: What do you think? You guys are the ones dealing with network security. Do you think such errors appearing in Berlin is normal?]
[Network Surveillance Agent: We donât rely on feelings. Have you discovered any other evidence?]
That familiar feelingâ
Other evidence? None.
The Network Supervision, after repeatedly reviewing and failing to find evidence of the elusive AI, will give up interrogating Elliot, and certainly Yon as well.
Now Elliot was getting even more anxious, pacing around unconsciously. Realizing his abnormal state, after signaling to Sevens, he left the room.
At the doorway, Alina, who had been waiting outside, saw Elliot come out alone and asked in surprise, "Why are you coming out alone? You look like you just woke up from being hit in the head."
Elliot walked straight to the corridor railing, slapped his hands on it, and looked at the atrium. "...Though I donât smoke or drink, I kind of understand why some people turn to smoking under intense pressure now..."
"How do you understand that?"
Elliot gazed at the workers passing below in the atrium, remained silent for a while, and then said, "...Itâs convenient, and it can help ease this stupid appearance I have now."
After speaking, he felt Alina behind him, nudging him, and turned around to find it was indeed a cigarette.
Alina already had one between her lips and had produced a lighter: "Go on."
Elliot hesitated for a moment, then smiled and took the cigaretteâ
and immediately started coughing.
"Haha, this is for seasoned smokers. You need to take it slow, andâdonât inhale it into your lungs on your first try!"
"Cough cough...why didnât you say so earlier..."
In the time it took them to exchange these words, Johnny appeared at the railing, looking at the workers passing by, and then at the two beside him...
[Johnny: Is he in love? Heâs got himself a partner now?]
[Johnny: If you told me back when we just arrived at the EU that this big guy would hook up with a big beauty from the Su Federation, Iâd ask if you believe him or believe me as Arasaka Saburo?]
[Lille: Why do you care about that?]
[Johnny: Just thinking about that big guy landing someone like her gets to me...anyway, this situation clearly isnât quite right. What do you think is going on?]
[Johnny: Perhaps the EU already noticed this big guyâs issues; perhaps cyberpsychosis doesnât even exist...]
[Johnny: If you ask me, living so well here, salaries going up, opposing corporate dogs, and even promising days off after the typhoonâcausing trouble still seems ungrateful.]
[Johnny: But why do I feel somethingâs off about it all?]
[Lille: There are too many things off, like you, the anti-corporate colonial pioneer and free Johnny Silverhand, actually starting to speak for the EU.]
[Johnny: I know you have some issues with me, but Iâm not someone who finds everything bothersomeâ]
[Johnny: Alright, maybe a bit, but that doesnât relate to what weâre discussing now.]
[Lille: How can it not relate? Johnny, you feel somethingâs wrong, but because you think life is already good enough, you overlook the problemâwhich is the biggest problem.]
[Lille: The trolley problem has long been abandoned to philosophersâ minds, but in this world, trolley problems occur every minute and secondâ]
[Lille: A seemingly problematic issue is right there. If revealing it could disrupt your beautiful life now, would you still do it?]
[Johnny: Of course...]
[Lille: Itâs easy to say, hard to do. Sounding off on the internet is simpler than peeing. Thereâs no shortage of online warriors supporting Night Cityâs independence movement here, but they wouldnât actually buy a ticket to Night City.]
[Johnny: Isnât that obvious? Who would give up...]
Johnny stopped halfway: Indeed, itâs obvious, or else he wouldnât need to write songsâcalling people to riot under Arasaka Tower, no one would go, but Johnny Silverhand performing a concert?
It would be a sea of people.
[Johnny: But this isnât the same as the trolley problem...]
[Lille: It doesnât seem the same, but everyone having the choice is the same; you canât expect one choice to be absolutely right, and then confirm it as âabsolutely rightâ before you make it.]
[Lille: The enthusiasm of the workersâ movement will quickly be redirected, dissolved, and if the answer isnât reached before the dissolution, it will never be reached.]
[Lille: You asked me why Iâm so cautious, insistent on urging this big guy Elliot to do things instead of doing them myself...because the answer must be something they seek out themselves.]
[Johnny: Tsk, Holy Mother, if you think it must be done, you should...]
[Lille: Just like the EU, holding their hand, forcing them to do it, right?]
Johnny was at a loss for words momentarily, waved his hand, and faded into thin air.
The development of prosthetics and cyber technology is not the foundational technology for the Cyberpunk World becoming what it isâ
A hammer can build houses or smash someoneâs skull; it is people who ultimately decide the purpose of tools:
It is cybernetics that is the foundation of the Cyberpunk World, achieving seamless control with cyber technology, transforming people into tools to achieve certain goals, with prosthetization being just an external manifestation.
Lille looked at Elliot and Alina, two men and women who met by chance, moving forward in the storm, step by step becoming companions, growing feelings for each other...
Love is humanityâs innate control mechanism, far more real than ârighteousnessâ.
The EU has been stable for so many years for a reason, with opponents much tougher than one might imagine.