Judy and Rebecca ran out of the room after hearing the two gunshots and screams of pain. Arriving in the room, they found Sora kneeling down covering an unknown half-naked woman with his jacket. While a Tyger next to him, screaming, clutching with one hand his good knee, not so good anymore, and with the other his crotch, also wounded.
That they did not care much turning their attention to the woman that Sora was holding in his arms, who, judging by her appearance, must have been one of the women who had been locked in one of the rooms.
That, seeing the woman's condition, both Rebecca and Judy got goose bumps at the thought that they could have ended up the same way, rejoicing at having been saved. Sora, with his memories of his past life still present in his mind, after recognizing the woman's familiar look, with no hope or fear, only pain and looking for death.... like the one he had when....
Sora didn't miss the expression with concern and with some joy of Judy and Rebecca not ending up like the woman in his arms, Which made Sora couldn't help but remember the hateful looks he was getting on his sick body, pitying him, on the outside, but deep down with relief that it wasn't them and at the same time joy that there was someone having a worse time.
Making him sigh with the thought, not thought worse or bad of Judy and Rebecca... after all `that's how humans are'.
"Sora, who is she, is she okay?" asked Judy totally unaware of the things Sora was thinking.
"I don't know her name," Sora said as he held the woman in his arms. "She's weakened and in the early stages of starvation. Her kidneys seem to be failing, part of her liver is dead and her stomach seems closed. She also has several sexually transmitted diseases and traces of various drugs in her body, I can't tell.... how many." Sora spoke with a serious tone in her voice, startling Judy and Rebecca by the detailed examination Sora had done of the woman, almost seeming to them that he was able to see inside her with his `creepy eyes' at least to Rebecca.
Sora's eyes closed momentarily, as if concentrating. When he opened them, now with some restrained sadness in them. "There's something strange about her brain too... it looks like she's been implanted with something," Sora paused taking a deep breath and releasing it in the form of a sigh as he shook his head, at the reason behind the implant.
Making Judy and Rebecca exchanged uncomfortable glances, imagining in that short pause what kind of Chip the Tygers had implanted her with.
"It's atricked-outt Doll... Chip."
"Sora, what do you mean by tricked out?" Judy asked in a shaky voice, having a bad feeling, recognizing the sad tone in Sora. Knowing what that kind of technology was capable of.
"What difference does it make if it's tricked? If she has a doll chip implanted, why the fuck are they abusing her like this?" exclaimed Rebecca angrily, not realizing that the situation was much darker than she imagined.
The Chip Doll was originally created for military use, sold to 'protect soldiers' minds from the horrors of battle' as therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by erasing traumatic memories.
But in reality, its use was much more than that. The Chip Doll, initially called the Charon Chip.
It was created with the intention of guiding and controlling soldiers in battle, even to their death. Inspired by the underworld boatman, its main function was to influence the minds of soldiers by altering moods and emotions, with some of Bd's technology.
Controlling the guilt, fear, and doubt of the soldiers, implanting or reducing certain emotions, reducing their fear at certain times, in order to accomplish the mission. Or in case of doubt when killing, implanting a sense of panic in the brain by flooding adrenaline, making the soldier become a killing machine and then erasing everything that happened.
In the future at the time of the game, the Doll model of the chip would have an AI added to it to protect the conscience of the users and not just alter it and erase the memory afterwards. Possibly.... making the Charon model also able to take similar measures.
But currently it only altered the user's mental state so that he would endure "his job" and then immediately erase the memory, but the Tygers's tricked-out chip .... was just the opposite.
"I'm not the best at reading code, but.... the chip seems to be recording as if it were a Bd, Her state.... traumatized..." that when activated...' Sora left to himself the purpose of the chip he imagined from what he was able to read from its code....
"Shit..." Judy replied, perfectly understanding the emptiness in Sora's words...`imagine the worst and you'll get it right.... dammit' she thought as she....
"I don't get it, You Judy said you were better than him at coding when we met didn't you? You could read the rest couldn't you?" She was interrupted by Rebecca who turned to her for an answer as she was the only one who didn't understand what was going on
Judy not needing to confirm the use of the chip, but still wanting to read the code, as far as she knew the programs to records Bd's needed to be turned off carefully, if done forcibly, it could harm the user, wanting to help the woman in Sora's arms who was barely covered with a dirty blanket and Sora's jacket, which he had put on her.
"Show me" Judy said as she looked into Sora's totally black eyes lit up with a blue light in them, which she knew were the reason Sora could read the code of a chip inside a person's head.
The first thing that came to Sora's mind was to call Judy's IDn, sharing his vision that thanks to his echolocation together with the scanner mode allowed him to get information from what he saw and he was able to read the code of the chip inside a person's head, but when the call was starting, it was cut off or better said, something cut it short, automatically activating the last setting that he had not yet tested.
-Synchronization with devices.
Darkening Sora's consciousness until....
"Sora!!! What are you doing here!!!" He hears a familiar voice call out to him in surprise
"Cortana?"
"Same one, what the hell are you doing here? how did you get in?, you don't have a neural implant to get into cyberspace, what the hell are you doing in the Qpc!"
"OHH!!! So this is the cyberspace.... I imagined it more black with 8-Bits style but this...is....incredible" Said Sora looking at the cyberspace of the Qpc. The virtual world created inside a quantum computer in his apartment. Which Sora perceived as a huge and mostly empty space, with walls displaying the Qpc's software code, delimiting the space he was in and at the same time illuminating it with a familiar pulsing blue light like an electric current in the constantly moving and changing code on the walls. Isolating them and at the same time protecting them from the Outside.
That Sora could see how outside the code walls, infinite colored lights were flowing at high speed, Suddenly splitting branching out reaching different constructions made of codes with different colors.
Leaving Sora to be amazed and fascinated by the beauty and complexity of the cyberspace seeming to him a living and fascinating place.
Seeing the expression that Sora was putting on and by his words waiting for him ``8-Bit style'' he alarmed Cortana that "Wait Sora, what do you think of this place? Are you able to see out of the Qpc walls?
"You mean the lights outside and the constructions made of code? Yeah, I can't believe it, I'm guessing it's the servers, right? And the lights, the files in code form being uploaded and downloaded from the net? Hum? Now that I look at it because it reminds me of a-"
"City?" Completed Cortana.
"Yes, Cortana why is Cyberspace shaped like that?" Answered and asked Sora looking at the net server constructions that each had slight differences in their shape, almost resembling architectures.
"I'm not sure, before I didn't think so because it has always been like that, but now, I think it's not the cyberspace that is represented like that, if not us who make it, since being ourselves the ones who perceive a never observed space we gave it shape by making it-" Cortana said being interrupted.
"By 'we' you mean the-" By Sora interested in Cortana's explanation.
"Yes, the AI`s of course, since they were the first inhabitants of Cyberspace.... As I was saying before you interrupted me. It's like theoretical physicist Werner Heisenber's "Observer Principle".
``The observation or measurement of a system alters that system´´ I think with Cyberspace it's the same, when the first AI's advanced enough to perceive themselves and then the place where they were, cyberspace took shape.
Also, AI's at the end of the day, we are beings based on the information, culture and advancements humans have created, we AI's also inherited them, creating this space that has a shape relative to a city in the physical world."
"Unbelievable! No! Wait! I can't waste time here."
"Don't worry, the time that has passed since you appeared here is less than half a second."
"What?!, IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Hmm... Well, that's because of the information you're processing right now. It's made up of bits of information in code form, what you hear as my voice or the space you occupy or time you feel passing. All of that information is in the form of code that is inherently designed for that function. Transmit information. Your brain doesn't have to waste time translating and transcribing the information that your physical senses pick up because here all that information is already stuffed into the code. Get it?"
"Well, more or less. If I understand correctly, the way information is transmitted in cyberspace is through code, which its only function is to transmit information. This creates a much more efficient system than the physical one, which is tied to our senses to perceive it, right? In short, my brain just has to process that information in its pure state and not waste time, transcribing what my senses pick up in the physical world."
"Yes, you got that right." what Cortana didn't say is that a normal human brain wouldn't be able to process that much information that fast either.
"Ha! in the end Cortan you're going to be right and you're a great teacher!"
"Of course! That I am."
"But Cortana why are you so surprised that I'm able to see cyberspace?"
"That's because-" As Cortana was about to respond she was interrupted by.....
"WOOF-WOOF" Some energetic barking that just appeared or rather decompressed.
"Eco!!! good to see you, how are you? how are you feeling?"
"Woof woof?"
"EH? Yeah, yeah, easy, thanks to you I made it in time, she's fine. Wait how do I understand you? Whatever... It's amazing what you've done mate, thanks Eco, I'm proud of you!"
Sora said as Eco jumped towards him, unable to contain his joy at his master's words. Eco had stopped the replacement of his code, which had already advanced far enough for Eco.Ai to run. When he seemed to receive voice data similar to his masters, within Cyberspace, find when he came out of compression himself to Sora for the first time in Cyberspace, an opportunity he could not miss.
"Woof!" Making the already animated Eco unable to control himself anymore as he received his master's words of gratitude and praise, launching himself and pulling Sora to the Qpc's floor making the code glow at the parts where their bodies touched, as Eco licked his face with his warm, smoky tongue, ironically seeming more real here in cyberspace than in the physical world.
Watching the emotional scene of Man and animal. Human and Ai. Master and pet. Cortana couldn't help herself.
"Wow here you have to grow a tail for them to value your work. look!"
"Puff" disappearing in a smoke she had generated, she reappeared with her body made only of code like always but now with a tail and two droopy dog ears on her head in the same style that her blue body.
"What do you think now there is no problem for you to tell me good job and to be proud of me too, right?"
"C-cortana what did you wear?"
"What do you like?"
"Th-that's not the question"
"Hooo for a projection you can even turn red, tch I don't know what you're hiding, but the technology you're demonstrating along with the code you gave us.... what are you Sora?"
"What are you talking about Cortana are you the one who knows more than me what's going on. Projection? You mean my status? What's so strange about it, we have Cyberware that allows anyone to enter cyberspace, okay it's true I don't have it, but-"
"Sora! Stop talking, okay? Don't make a fool of yourself anymore. Do you know what layer of assimilation you're demonstrating cyberspace to be in Sora?"
"Eh? assimilation what's that? It's not like I'm going to be Netrunner I have no idea what it is."
"Too bad because with your current state you'd be the best in the world."
"What are you talking about if I barely know anything about Hacking Cortana!" Said Sora puzzled still sitting on the ground hugging Eco, enjoying a furry feeling on the body made of Eco's code.
"You don't get it Sora.... Your assimilation with Cyberspace is 100%. do you get it, now? you grasp cyberspace perfectly without fail... you are the first human to see Cyberspaces, as do the Ai's"
"Shit."
"Yeah shit, Sora, do you know what the current Record of assimilation made by humans with the latest models of the Neural Inplants is?"
"No..."
"It's 13% that's why they see it the Cyberspace in ``8-Bits'' style Sora."
"And the projection"
"A of course the cherry, actually, you're still in your body!"
"Eh!?.... but that's .... Normal, isn't it?"
"Hmmmm Omnissiah give me patience"
"Cortana it was me who taught you that reference don't use it against me!"
"That doesn't matter it's a cool idea that obviously makes more sense than an Ai using it! To which I was going.... if I killed you right now you would open your eyes in your body, tell me Sora what happens when they kill someone with their consciousness in the Net, something very common to the Netrunnes"
With a certain regret in his voice knowing what Cortana meant, Sora answered "They die, their consciousness dies in the Cyberspace, and at the same time their body in the physical"
"Exactly! Slowly but surely! GG!"
"Stop it, So mine is so amazing, huh?"
"More than amazing, I can't foresee what the hell will happen when you bring your whole ass instead of projecting it, by streaming it from your head.... Hmmm you scare me Sora like that time when you noticed me recording you and Judy" Cortana said seriously, shaking her head and with it her dog ears.
"Shit Judy, Cortana I'll be back when this is all over.... how it's done Ah!" said Sora trying to get something to come out his body, a Link a wire whatever. When from Sora's hand appeared a small ball of light that widened creating a window "It's more intuitive than I thought, Cortana take this connection to my body and contact Judy's IDn, also create a local connection to Judy's IDn I don't want this line to go through the net, Eco I swear when this is over I will create you a better Hardware than the previous one"
"Woof-" Eco barked in response Sora´s words, who disappeared before Eco could finish his bark. When Sora's projection made of light disappeared in front of the annoyed Cortana and the saddened Eco.
"Tch, "Please Cortana" "Thank you Cortana, what would we do without you"....Damn humans.... in the end he didn't tell me anything about the ears.... though from his red face I think he liked it, good enoght!".
"Whoof whoof!"
"Yes, yes thank you Eco, I'm glad you like my ears"