Once they left the suite, Songbird's expression was no longer as repressed as she had feigned. Instead, she eagerly lowered her voice, "Mercer! What's next?"
Mercer's voice came from under his helmet, "Stay quiet. We'll talk later."
Carrying Songbird, he flew directly to the EBM Petrochem Stadium. Mercer stopped and waited for a moment, and soon Rebecca and V arrived one after the other.
V's complaints arrived even faster than she did. "Mercer, we're in deep shit this time! That's the goddamn President of the NUSA! Dammit, if I'd known, I would've just agreed to go to the moon with you and kill that AI sooner!"
Songbird shot Mercer a strange look. Had he not explained the situation clearly to his own people?
But after hearing V's words, she immediately reverted to her previous timid and trembling demeanor, staying silent and playing her part.
Mercer simply said in a low voice, "Right now, I need you two to restore order in Dogtown as quickly as possible. Stabilize the situation."
"What about this Songbird? Did that rogue AI really ask for her by name?" V asked. "From what I saw, Myers has no intention of handing her over."
"She has no choice now," Mercer said, his expression under the helmet cold. "Militech and the NUSA brought all this trouble upon us. What she needs to consider now is how to ransom herself."
V smacked her lips. "Are you serious? We're going to extort the President of the NUSA?"
"What do you think we'd gain by letting her go now?" Mercer retorted, then continued, "The NUSA's gratitude? That woman is far more cold-blooded than you think. She might even turn around and award me a medal of honor, forcibly slapping an NUSA label on me. Since it's come to this, we have no other choice. We can only play it by ear."
V sighed in frustration, but Rebecca, unusually, said nothing. Beneath her helmet, her small face was scrunched up as she squinted, but she couldn't make anything out. Finally, she just said, "So what's next?"
"I'll talk to her first and see what the situation is. Rebecca, you go with V."
As Mercer finished speaking, he took Songbird and headed straight for the underground base in the stadium.
V was about to say something, but Rebecca suddenly cut in, "Okay, got it."
With that, she interrupted V's impending questions and pulled her along to fly off and organize Barghest's operations.
Control over the unmanned devices had mostly been restored, but due to the sudden lockdown, a thorough sweep was still necessary. The lockdown could only be lifted after the defensive facilities were inspected and redeployed.
—--
Mercer brought Songbird into the underground base, to be precise, into the advanced server room of the former Cynosure facility, hidden within the stadium.
Upon entering, before Songbird could speak, she saw another girl with short, silver hair sitting in a netrunner station, sizing them up.
Seeing Mercer arrive, the girl just gave them a complicated look for a moment before walking out without a word.
Mercer opened his faceplate. "Lucy, thanks for your hard work."
Morning Star controlled most of the unmanned devices in Dogtown, but a certain degree of human coordination was still required, and that person could only be Lucy.
"You handle your business first," Lucy said expressionlessly, then left directly, leaving the server room to the two of them.
Songbird waited until the door closed before speaking in a somewhat excited and relaxed tone, "Another pretty girl?"
"It seems you think the situation is settled?" Mercer took off his helmet expressionlessly and set it aside.
Songbird immediately reined in her emotions, a hint of nervousness creeping into her smile. "I did everything you asked..."
"I know," Mercer cut her off, then said calmly, "The dangerous part is just beginning... You haven't forgotten what our next objective is, have you?"
"I know... Contact Lilith, arrange for a manned rocket, then go to the moon..." As soon as Songbird finished, Mercer nodded and continued, "Next is what you need to do. Go contact Lilith."
Songbird didn't act immediately. Instead, she asked cautiously, "Are you sure? Right now? What about... President Myers? And what about the return flight?"
Mercer didn't elaborate, simply saying, "You don't need to worry about those things. First, contact Lilith and have her arrange a rocket for your evacuation as soon as possible."
After speaking, he pointed to the netrunner station. "I've prepared a dedicated network for you. Go on."
Songbird's eyes flickered, but in the end, she obediently sat down and picked up the netrunner station's neural link cable.
But before she entered a deep dive, Mercer inserted a chip into her neural link. "Don't worry, it's just to record your conversation."
Songbird just nodded silently. After inserting the chip, she entered a Deep Dive state and began to contact Lilith.
Meanwhile, Mercer immediately started communicating with Morning Star.
[Mercer: Is everything going smoothly?]
[Morning Star: Everything is smooth. The Blacklight virus launcher is ready. The armored spacesuit components are ready. The network interception program is running. The clone's vital signs are normal, the Relic biochip is functioning normally, and Ms. Alt has also indicated that everything is normal.]
[Mercer: No anomalies with the Skynet system?]
[Morning Star: No anomalies.]
After a simple confirmation of the situation, Mercer sat to one side and waited for Songbird's report. Soon, she recovered from her Deep Dive state.
"Nine-fifty tonight. She'll have all the paperwork prepared in advance. We just need to arrive inside the rocket on time, and we can go to the moon."
Songbird said anxiously, "Are you sure this plan of ours is reliable?"
"Considering the plan on its own, it's not reliable. But if you factor in that the enemy is an AI, this might be the most reliable plan there is."
The closer it got to the critical moment, the calmer Mercer became. "In Lilith's eyes, humans are inferior beings living in a false world. But even the most foolish human wouldn't choose such a high-risk course of action."
"You mean, you're going to bet on the option with the seemingly lowest chance of success, to gamble on a low probability that the AI's calculations haven't prepared for?" Songbird immediately felt like backing out.
Wait, if you'd told me you were playing it like this, maybe I should reconsider going back with Myers first?
But Mercer just curled his lip. "In an AI's view, no probability, no matter how small, will be ignored. The key is that we must possess the ability to break its calculated variables. She might know a little about me, but she has absolutely no idea what kind of power I truly command now. What we need to do is not give her time to react, to hit her with a variable outside her calculations, and give her a surprise."
Mercer said pointedly, "Lilith will certainly be on guard, but the key is, we know her well, but does she... really know me?"
Seeing Mercer's confident expression after he opened his helmet's faceplate, Songbird's heart was still pounding, but at this point, it seemed her only option was to go along with Mercer's madness.
"So what do we do after? Can you withstand President Myers's retaliation and accountability afterward? To be honest... I thought you wouldn't agree to such a crazy plan of mine."
Songbird probed, but Mercer just shook his head and said, "Stop overthinking it. Listen, Songbird, since I've made my choice, I've definitely thought about how to bear the consequences. I won't sell you out again."
Songbird let out a dry laugh. She didn't want to be so direct, but from her experience dealing with Mercer, sometimes being relatively frank was better than scheming back and forth. The main issue was that Mercer held all the cards now; she was in no position to negotiate with him.
"My purpose in letting Myers come to Dogtown was, of course, not as simple as just getting you to escape here..."
Mercer explained his reason directly, "I need a witness, and one with enough clout to corroborate my story."
"Story..." Songbird paused, then said cautiously, "Is it just about Lilith, or... does it include things like the lunar mass driver? Does Lilith really control a mass driver?!"
"Yes, she does."
After saying this, Mercer didn't explain further. Although Lilith's mass driver wasn't built yet, if Mercer said she had one, then she had one.
He was determined to use the Arasaka Base's lunar mass driver to destroy the Arasaka Base in Tokyo anyway. Since that was the case, someone had to take the fall.
Mercer had thought it over. If he could get a witness to testify that this lunar mass driver was the work of Orbital Air and the AI Lilith, not only would it directly strike a blow against the rogue AI forces on the moon, but he'd also have someone to take the blame for him. What could be better?
And to make people believe something that sounded so absurd, Mercer needed a witness, a witness whose words carried weight and who could, to some extent, bear the responsibility for such a major event.
From a strategic standpoint, Mercer striking at Saburo Arasaka was beneficial to Myers. And from a practical standpoint, as long as everything went smoothly for him, the lunar mass driver would become the most direct super-threat in his hands.
At that time, even if Myers was dissatisfied, she would have to be wary of the mass driver Mercer controlled.
What Morning Star had given Mercer was never a simple action plan. What he and she had discussed was a long-term strategic plan.
If the plan succeeded, Mercer would eliminate the threat of Lilith in one fell swoop and expose this terrifying AI to the world.
He would eliminate Saburo Arasaka and pin the blame for the destruction of Arasaka's Tokyo base on Lilith. Even the fall of the lunar base could be blamed on Lilith.
This point didn't even need Myers's confirmation, because Yorinobu Arasaka would be eager to declare it was true.
And Myers would witness the power Mercer possessed with her own eyes. Right in front of her, Mercer would make Songbird mysteriously disappear and take control of the lunar mass driver.
This would greatly influence Myers's future strategic deployments. Even if the Fifth Corporate War began, Myers would never easily let Mercer become her opponent.
In this way, Mercer would achieve multiple objectives with a single move. He would eliminate Saburo, greatly weaken Orbital Air and Lilith's power, and perhaps even destroy that terrifying entity directly.
He could also kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, making Militech aware of Dogtown's military strength. At the same time, Mercer's choice to practically kidnap Myers was a crucial insurance policy.
Just as Arasaka had established a base on the moon, Militech and the NUSA also had their own space stations in orbit.
If, during the evacuation, Mercer couldn't find a suitable space station for V and Songbird to delta from, then Militech's space station would be his final insurance.
Or, if some unforeseen circumstances arose, Mercer wouldn't hesitate to use threats to make Myers provide him with all necessary support.
Yes, from this moment until his mission was over, President Myers was, in effect, his hostage.
The ransom would depend on how smoothly the plan went.
Songbird didn't know if Mercer was telling the truth, but she had heard of the terrifying reputation of the lunar mass driver. An attack far more powerful than a nuclear bomb, yet cleaner and virtually indefensible... if a rogue AI truly controlled it...
"So what do we need to do now?" Songbird reminded him. "Are you going to go with me openly?"
"Of course not." Mercer gestured for her to follow him. Songbird followed closely, and soon, they arrived at a cyberware installation room.
"This is..." Before Mercer could introduce it, Songbird's gaze was fixed on a special piece of cyberware floating in a nutrient solution.
The thing looked like the skin of a human face, a bit creepy, but behind the face was a dense array of circuit boards and chips.
Songbird identified it in a single sentence, "A Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate? Where did you get this?"
"I developed it myself. I call it Thousand Faces. It's far more advanced than your Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate."
Mercer explained simply, then gestured for her to lie down. "A Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate needs to steal neural data from a person's brain to achieve a perfect disguise. This thing of mine is much more user-friendly. It only needs biological data that I've compiled and converted to perfectly replace the entire face, and the associated biometric authentication will automatically change as well. Of course, it requires more to be installed."
Mercer took out a large pile of items. Besides the faceplate, there was also Nanoweave camouflage skin and a biosignal simulator.
"When you get back from the moon, you can freely customize a new face and start a new life. As for an identity profile... with your netrunner skills, you shouldn't need my help creating an identity, right?" Mercer asked.
Songbird nodded eagerly in excitement. "Of course! Thank you, Mercer!"
"This thing isn't that hard to repair. I'll send you a simple diagnostic program. If you have a Cyberware Malfunction, you can troubleshoot the source yourself and find a ripperdoc to fix it for you."
As Mercer spoke, he began to install a medical Octopus Arm onto his own mech.
Songbird watched the menacing Octopus Arm waving behind him and said half-jokingly, "Well then, I'll have to ask you to make me look pretty. Do I need to take off my clothes?"
"No need. The Nanoweave skin uses an injection method similar to Skinweave. A few shots in key areas will do. As for the rest... your upper body is like mine, all machine except for a piece of skin. It makes no difference whether you take it off or not."
After speaking, Mercer glanced at her. Songbird looked at him apprehensively. "So when will my medical surgery be done?"
"Now," Mercer said. Songbird was stunned. "I mean, my neural..."
"Why do you think I'm starting your surgery now?"
Mercer just calmly calibrated the Octopus Arm. Four arms extended from the back of his mech. At the same time, several smaller octopus arms automatically extended from the side of the surgical bed, and one of them picked up a neural link cable and connected it to Mercer's head.
For a moment, Songbird couldn't help but swallow. "You're saying you're going to give me a full-body disguise surgery and also repair my neural damage? This... maybe we should wait until we get back from the moon..."
"Cut the crap and lie down." Mercer just curled his lip, looking at her with interest. "Afraid of needles?"
"Not really..." Songbird was about to say more, but a mechanical arm was already holding a syringe and pricking her neck.
She sighed and resignedly closed her eyes. "Mercer... after the surgery... will I be okay?"
"No." Seeing her eyes snap open, Mercer couldn't help but chuckle twice. "You'll need to recuperate for a few days, at least."
Only then did Songbird glare at him with a hint of reproach, but she soon drifted into unconsciousness.
The mechanical arms behind Mercer began to transform, and various surgical instruments emerged. He checked the time, then sent a message to V.
[Mercer: Tickets are for 9:50 tonight. We need to get to the station early. Get ready.]
[V: Huh? Get ready for what?]
[Mercer: To go to the moon.]
[V: ?]