Dispatch 2
Here, if I win, I'll definitely tell Alphabet, 'You lost to me, didn't you?' With that amusing thought in mind, I watch Lorenzo slowly enter the abandoned factory's interior.
His breathing is rough—probably from tension. As a Bitmancer, I trace the path he's walking and his line of sight, mapping out the factory in real time. The generated map forms a game-like minimap in one corner of his vision.
After advancing like this for a while, Lorenzo whispers quietly.
"What do you think?"
What?
"Doesn't it look like someone fought here?"
Yeah, looks like it. But not a big battle.
"...Agreed. It wasn't that intense."
The factory's interior was in poor shape. Bullet marks everywhere, walls filthy from neglect. On the other hand, graffiti reading 'Essential for Happy Times!' remained intact.
"...Another one here."
An abandoned electronic device appeared in Lorenzo's vision. It looked like a monitor that managed the factory's production machines, but the screen was off.
"Connecting."
Lorenzo pulls a cable from his body and plugs it in. I ride that connection into the internal cyberspace.
Narrow. A single room with no connections anywhere.
Wrong one too.
"...Got it."
He glances at the map. We've already circled the factory's outskirts. Yet no devices leading inside remain. Not even a wireless network reaching the perimeter.
It's like someone set up a defensive line.
Without hesitation, Lorenzo reaches for the door to enter the interior. But I shout immediately.
Stop! It's dangerous inside. Call the grown-ups.
"I can do it."
I know you can, but if you die, it's meaningless.
"I have to."
Don't be stubborn. Stop.
He's only 14 in the end. If he has convictions, they're still firm at that age. But I'm curious. His school records showed he came from a wealthy family—what drives him to go this far?
Why are you doing this?
"What?"
There must be a reason for such obsession.
Wanting to do something cool once in life? That it?
"..."
Lorenzo withdraws his hand from the door. He stands there silently pondering for a while, so I give him a little nudge on the back.
I thought we were friends. Weren't we?
Then Lorenzo begins to speak quietly.
"My family was well-off. We held a lot of stock in ImmuneWire's United States branch. So for us, doing nothing was the norm. Eat, play..."
They lived in the pre-Alphabet rampage era.
"It wasn't that fun, so I spent most of my time at the hoverbike repair shop in front of our house."
The old man there took you in?
"I was good at studying, so I helped him with this and that."
Ah, right. You made it to the genius academy—no way you're dumb.
"I liked that working life. It made me feel alive. Then one day, the old man said he'd fixed half the hoverbikes in the city... That was so cool."
Lorenzo's gaze drops. He readjusts the gun in his arms several times.
"I want to leave behind something even greater than a hoverbike."
What's wrong with hoverbikes? Humanity's pinnacle of romance.Ah, not the point.
Even if it kills you in the process?
"A life where I can't say I cleared this damn factory is as good as dead."
That mindset's a bit dangerous for cyberpunk living.Funny thing is, I like it.
Master...
(◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ)
Alright, Lorenzo. Let's go.
"You convinced now?"
Understanding your motive doesn't mean I agree.
"...Thanks."
Of course, I'm no fool. Chasing romance? Fine. I can proudly say I'm living that way myself right now. But romance tempered with a touch of realism is even better.
I deliberately cut comms with Lorenzo alone and speak to the soldiers waiting outside.
I'll share my and Lorenzo's vision from now on.
If your squad leader judges it's dangerous, come in immediately.
"Understood. You won't regret entrusting the judgment to me."
The soldiers receiving the comms grab their weapons and exchange glances. Confirming this, I nod alone in cyberspace.
Good, insurance in place.
I reconnect comms with Lorenzo.
Listen up, Lorenzo. Once inside, high chance of war robots or turrets. Run if there are many. Fight if 1 or 2. But never fully destroy them.
They're definitely linked to the main cyberspace. Plug in your cable to let me infiltrate.
"Understood."
Lorenzo opens the door. Tense moment—no immediate threats visible. Even switching his eye cyberware to infrared and other visions yields nothing.
But the instant he steps in.
A metallic click from behind the door. Lorenzo reacts lightning-fast: grabs the robot aiming at him, smashes its arm with his elbow, snatches the gun, and aims at its head—then lowers to the chest and fires.
Right—robots don't care about headshots. Core systems are likely in the chest.
"Gunfire."
Just those words, but I get it. The whole facility now knows there's an intruder. Sure enough, red lights flash, sirens blare wildly.
Before more enemies arrive, Lorenzo grabs the falling robot's head and plugs in his cable. I follow the route inside.
Thus, I set foot in the factory's cyberspace. Behind me, a small fortress—ImmuneWire ICE on Lorenzo.
Below, shattered data fragments on the floor—from the robot and devices Lorenzo destroyed.
Ahead, purple data blocks unique to Alphabet approach from afar.
Borrowing Lorenzo's sight: war machines closing in. Not just the initial cyborg type—flying drones, tracked drones, walkers in various forms, even mobile turrets. Forming an army.
"...Hah."
Lorenzo sighs at their might but calmly raises his gun. Fires at the approaching flying drones. In cyberspace, several data blocks shatter and vanish.
That's the rule this battle. Kill in reality, they die in cyberspace. Kill in cyberspace, they die in reality. Combat across linked spaces.
My role as Bitmancer: protect Lorenzo from electronic warfare. If there's leeway, hack enemy systems to support him.
But will there be leeway? Opponent's Alphabet War-era ICE.
Facing approaching foes, I form a now-familiar long-sword data weapon.
[Protocol Z activated.]
Protocol Z
The data weapon turns white. Enemy data spotting me shifts—purple blocks morph into proper ICE forms.
And those forms are... human.
...V, I'm not getting hacked right now, am I?
Master's system is intact.
Then what are these data forms in front of me?
Before finishing my guess, a foe charges. Our data weapons clash—and I see it: the enemy's sword passes right through mine, striking me.
I dodge back just in time.
Analysis complete.
Zero Day Attack
Attack exploiting specific program vulnerabilities. Named "Zero Day" because it vanishes within a day of first strike.
Concept bypasses data weapon entirely. Similar to Master's Dead Sector traversal method.
Countermeasure complete. Master's sword will now bind enemy data.
A defense forms instantly.
Enemy using humanity's real combat tech. Protocol Z contains identical tactics.
What?
Hypothesis: Remodeled data of deceased human Bitmancers into ICE.
Alphabet copied Bitmancers to use as subordinates? Not mere mockery—its obsession with efficiency won't let that go.
My thinking: Once ICE is breached, it loses defense. Vulnerabilities exposed. Must constantly update or restructure.
But wartime. These are bottom-rung forces. Even Alphabet can't patch every outpost ICE manually.
Meanwhile, humanity had geniuses everywhere with unique traits. Minor tweaks based on them, embed in each unit—done.
Hah, Alphabet—you showed presence, missiles flew. You deserved it.If I saw my comrades like that, I'd lose it too.
Amid this, data blocks vanish one by one. In reality, Lorenzo ducks behind cover, trading shots with machines. Buys me thinking time.
...So my opponents are genius Bitmancers from the Alphabet War?
Downgraded versions only.
Master receives computational support from ImmuneWire supercomputer. Superior processing power.
Master has yet to master Z fully.
Z holds vast techniques.
Enemy combat tech incomparable to Z.
Program made to defeat Alphabet—naturally packed with every genius Bitmancer technique.
Then help me, V.
Teach me to wield Z properly.
(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)♡
Master, remember.
Humans never stood alone.
Each function has unique code structure.
Can't master without understanding developers' styles.
Grasp every Bitmancer's hacking style.
Easy—right in front of me are perfect teacher examples.
Gripping my sword, facing foes closing in despite Lorenzo's resistance. Their faces clear now. They fought for humanity with those faces in life. Expressionless purple skin—not friendly, but.
One thrusts its sword into the ground. Purple data flows, corrupting the data net.
I know this. First technique I used post-Z acquisition. Severed cables, saved Dead Sector trainees.
Pull related info from Protocol Z instantly.
First technique: Mass Corruption. Developer: São Paulo—Davi Alencar. Fell in team dispatched to end Alphabet War.
I stab my sword into the data net. White spreads from it. Purple and white collide—my superior compute power slowly pushes back.
Deletes all internal code, overwrites with new. Hijacks the data net itself.
Whoever overwrites faster wins. Banned on humans—resets neural nets, induces psychosis.
Bitmancer uses corrupted devices for own ends. Here, on robot hardware Lorenzo subdued.
Robot reactivates. Lorenzo, unaware, fights ahead. Robot grabs gun, shoots at approaching machines.
Surprised by gunfire behind, Lorenzo turns.
"You did that?"
Yeah, fight together.
Limitations exist. Forced overwrite burdens hardware. Like walking on hands instead of legs.
After ~30 seconds fighting together, robot shorts out and falls. Already shot up, couldn't last.
White data net spreading halts before foes. Technique requires prior breach.
Then I'll breach.
One enemy moves. Spawns worm-like programs, hurls at me. I slash them with sword, analyze purpose quickly.
My turn. Second technique: Cyberdemon Creation. Developer: Leich Batomos. Died guarding London's cyberspace from overheating.
Hordes of hacking-tool worms spawn around me.
Go.
They swarm, breaching encryptions, infiltrating enemies. No need for micro-commands—all cyberdemons, self-judging.
My job: provide compute power.
Worms infiltrate, Davi's corruption code takes over internals. This made beyond Erebus Line hell.
I'll purge them post-battle, just in case.
Borrow Lorenzo's sight: Robots halt advance, shoot each other.
But one grabs worms for counterattack. I know the code it's trying.
Third technique: Contagion Code. Developer: Lucas Andráž. Vanished after destroying Alphabet's African missile base.
Allied cyberspace allows mutual access via IFF keys. Steal key, opens path to all systems.
Tiny hole collapses entire network—devastating.
Block enemy contagion first. Constantly update all worm IFF keys in real-time, buy time.
Chaining three techniques plus this, my head's burning. But worth it.
Confirming no infiltration, I exploit worm holes. Contagion followed by corruption seizes all control via data nets.
Fighting robots freeze entirely.
Z holds countless more. Using them to push deeper—
Enemy command unit severed cyberspace link.
Disrupting wireless with jamming waves.
Glance at cyberspace far side. Data nets flicker, severing and reforming under jamming.
Send robots directly.
Hijacked robots turn, march inward. Lorenzo, watching from cover, emerges astonished.
"You... are incredible."
No big deal.
But no time to relax. Massive war machine rises from robot side.
Heavy cannon roar shakes guts—all seized machines explode in unison. My location destroyed, I'm ejected from cyberspace.
What the—?
Back in Lorenzo's body, assessing—Lorenzo speaks first.
"Tank."
Next instant, in his sight: massive spider-legged tank. Thick armor, enormous main gun.
Insane—what tank fits in a building?
Aims at Lorenzo—I scream to dodge, but missile flies, destroys gun. Lorenzo turns.
Holy Legion soldiers rush in, unleashing anti-tank missiles. Tank collapses, wrecked.
"Saintess! Are you alright?!"
Squad leader checks on Lorenzo, but his face shows regret. He didn't do much. Bitter in a place testing his convictions.
I speak first to console.
It's fine. You bought me time to hack.
"Is that so."
True fact. Be proud.
Did it help? Lorenzo's expression brightens slightly.
"I'm fine, Squad Leader."
"Good."
No, there's a command unit inside. Catch it, we're done. Watch for traps everywhere.
"We'll advance together from now."
Squad leader speaks; Lorenzo bows head deeply but accepts reality.
No major issues after. True to "ImmuneWire's strongest single legion," soldiers swiftly clear mines and turrets, pushing in.
Occasional ambushes fail—bullets don't pierce. They have Svetlana's chitin cyberware. Walking tanks.
Reach core: massive room labeled "Aphrodisiac Concentration Chamber."
"Saintess, entering."
Hold on.
Somehow, vast cyberspace via wireless net. Where'd the jamming go?
Trap probability.
Lure enemy Bitmancer, kill, counter-infiltrate to eliminate all.
Command unit that smart?
What to do?
Command unit likely holds vast old war data.
Physical destruction with soldiers risks data loss.
Decided then. Z showed my strength.
I'll enter cyberspace first. If I'm in danger, grown-ups smash it.
"Understood, Saintess."
I slip into the wireless net quietly. Wireless cyberspace: flat, straightforward structure. No special terrain or architecture.
But waiting there was more special to me than anyone.
The command unit's ICE.
...That's me?
It had my exact face.
Neige's face? No—my past life. Kang Seol's face.