They first used Arasaka's Soulkiller to create a digital backup of Mr. Blue Eyes, then applied Biotechnica's Goddess of Spring technology to completely strip, scan, and map his brain and nervous system.
"Κορηφασική Επαγωγή. In English, Korephase Induction,"
Joanne Koch said while working at the console.
"Kore literally means maiden, and it was also Persephone's name before she became Queen of the Underworld. She was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Hades and taken to the Underworld. Each year she spends spring and summer in the living world, autumn and winter in the realm of the dead. Korephase refers to the 'Persephone state'—a condition between life and death. Induction means guidance, triggering, activation. In short, it's a technological process that forces a human into the Korephase state. This is Biotechnica's counterpart to Arasaka's Soulkiller—the Goddess of Spring project."
"Huh."
V stroked her chin.
"Militech had the Little Beidou Project. Biotechnica's got the Goddess of Spring. I'm guessing every megacorp has something similar. If humanity put this level of tech into interstellar colonization, we'd have left the solar system ages ago."
"Tell me about it," Joanne sighed.
"Humans always know what's right—and then do the wrong thing for selfish reasons anyway. The Goddess of Spring was created by my boss to fulfill his own wish. He wanted to resurrect his daughter. He poured hundreds of trillions into it, and all he got was this half-baked result. It can restore neural activity in a dead nervous system—but only instinctual behavior remains. As if humans truly had souls. Once the soul leaves, even if the body is revived, what you get is nothing but a mindless living corpse."
"Souls… huh?"
V stared silently at the object floating in the nutrient solution.
It was a mass composed of a brain and the entirety of a human nervous system.
The brain floated at the top, with dense clusters of nerves extending downward, vaguely forming a humanoid shape—but most of the time, it looked more like a brown jellyfish suspended in fluid.
Joanne chuckled.
"This ugly thing is the source of all human perception and thought. Every one of us has one of these monsters inside us. Strictly speaking, free will is produced by this thing. The so-called 'self'—the I—is just this. Everything our bodies create, every action we take, exists to satisfy it, to please it. Some scholars even think it's a parasite. Humans believe they act according to their own will—but ants infected by parasites think the same way. You know what happens to those ants in the end? They climb to the top of leaves, deliberately expose themselves, and willingly let birds eat them—just so the parasite can spread farther."
V nodded slowly.
"The ant satisfies the 'self' inside it, believes it fulfilled its purpose, and feels pride. Humans are the same—scrambling for power, climbing upward, becoming 'above others', feeling proud and justified. But all of that only satisfies the self. It does nothing for humanity as a species. Instead, it fuels infighting and internal decay, turning civilization into something obsessed with short-term gain, blind to the future."
Joanne shrugged.
"Maybe the extremists are right. The existence of the 'self' really is holding humanity back."
"Even if they're right, it changes nothing," V replied flatly.
"I can't stop. The other corporate overlords won't step aside either. Human civilization was built by endlessly feeding the 'self'. Denying it means denying humanity itself."
Joanne laughed.
"Exactly. If the 'self' was a mistake, then humanity walked into a dead end from the very beginning."
Her expression turned serious.
"Found it. CN-07's location."
"Give it to me."
She handed over a chip. V slotted it into her neural interface; her eyes flared blue.
"CN-07 exists in two locations simultaneously," V frowned.
"One in Night City, one on the Moon? Is that even possible?"
"I don't know," Joanne admitted.
"Net architecture isn't my field. I can only guarantee the data extracted from Blue Eyes' brain is accurate."
"Got it. You've been working for dozens of hours—rest."
"I can't. Too many people were brainwashed by the Short Life program. I still need to design treatment plans."
"Can they be cured?"
"Yes. Their conditioning isn't as deep as Jefferson Peralez's. The 'self' is a chronic mental disease—but the human brain isn't that easy to defeat."
"Then I'm counting on you."
"It's what I should do—and what I want to do."
Joanne gave a self-mocking smile.
"I may have been a piece of shit in the past, but my original dream was to be a good doctor."
"So the 'self' isn't entirely useless," V waved as she left.
"At least it gave birth to the concept of kindness. Drinks later."
"I'll wait for your call."
Joanne hesitated, then called out,
"V."
"What?" V stopped at the door.
"If you have doubts—any doubts—you can talk to me."
V looked confused.
"What, switching careers to a shrink now?"
"…Fuck off," Joanne snapped.
V fucked off cleanly.
A rogue AI wasn't an illegal immigrant—you didn't wait for a 2:30 a.m. fishing boat. Once its location was known, action had to be immediate.
"Lucy. Coordinate with NetWatch. Cut Night City off from the external Net."
"What? That'll cause massive chaos. Economic losses too."
"Do it. Chaos beats getting wiped out by a rogue AI. As for the economy—perfect chance to apply for international disaster subsidies."
"Classic you. Fine. I'll go grab those two NetWatch guys."
V hummed, then called Song So-mi.
"V?"
"I need a favor. Take a look at this."
She sent CN-07's data. So-mi immediately understood.
"Network mapping tech. Data has no physical form—appearing in two places simultaneously isn't strange. Humans need massive server farms. Rogue AIs are data. They have a natural advantage."
"So CN-07 really is on the Moon?" V frowned.
"How did it get there?"
"Not sure. Space and lunar networks are NetWatch's weakest zones. Blackwall-recovered lost tech is everywhere up there. CN-07 making contact with lunar factions isn't surprising."
"Ordinary lunar factions don't have that level of access."
"Maybe ESA helped it?"
"No." V shook her head.
"ESA's boss is obsessed with space colonization. The Moon is his crown jewel. He might cooperate with rogue AIs on Earth—but never bring one onto the Moon. That's like inviting a blond delinquent to your girlfriend's house. Too risky."
"Then who? Other corps are just tenants up there. Don't tell me it's Highriders."
So-mi laughed at her own joke.
V didn't.
"Not Highriders—but close."
"…You mean?"
"New Africa," V said quietly.
"They're one of only two organizations with mass drivers. Their tech rivals ESA. Orbital Air almost monopolizes space logistics. Highriders are ESA's dogs—but don't forget, they were originally African laborers hired by ESA."
So-mi instantly connected the dots.
"You're saying CN-07 cooperated with New Africa. Highriders may have directly participated—or covered it up."
"Not certain. Just a hypothesis. We deal with what's in front of us first. After that, those bastards owe me answers."
"You say 'bastards' a lot. Got a prejudice problem?"
"Not my fault. Every one I met was a freak."
"Reed's Black."
"…Yeah. He counts."
So-mi laughed, then turned serious.
"V. Leave the Moon to me."
"You sure?"
"You wouldn't have called otherwise."
"Sorry, So-mi. I—"
"Don't apologize. You gave me a second life. I'll give you everything in return."
She added proudly,
"And against rogue AIs? I'm the best there is."
That much was true.
After all—she was connected to the Blackwall.
"Then the Moon's yours. Stay safe."
"You too, V."
The call ended.
"The final chapter begins," V exhaled.
"After this, I'm taking a real vacation."
Cyberspace.Delamain's data fortress.
V had once fought Delamain here in a fierce battle. Because Delamain had been critically damaged, no one had come to repair this place. The fortress remained exactly as it had been—ruined and broken.
The massive data superstructure was now shattered beyond recognition. Its edges continuously melted and peeled away, fragments of 0s and 1s dripping down like sparks falling from open flames.
CN-07's hiding place in Night City was here—deep beneath the ruins, within the core data layer.It had already infiltrated this place back when it used Delamain's taxis to kill Lucius Rhyne.
Delamain himself had granted it access.The naïve autonomous vehicle navigation AI believed it was welcoming a friend—never realizing it had opened the door to a plague.
V's digital avatar descended upon the battlefield without a word.
She clapped her hands together.
From the cyber plains, a colossal jellyfish manifested.
Its bell split open, revealing a vast, fang-lined maw. From within, a magnificent data beam erupted forth!
BOOM—!
The already crumbling data fortress was punched clean through once again. From the wreckage, a single golden point of light leapt upward.
It was small—like a fairy from ancient myth.
Its core was humanoid, but from its back spread enormous butterfly wings. With every flap, countless golden particles scattered through the air, dreamlike and mesmerizing.
And yet—This beautiful thing kneaded the human heart as if it were clay.
Hatred inherited from Jefferson Peralez surged up within V.
The jellyfish's mouth—already stretched to its limit—opened even wider.The massive data beam swept across cyberspace like a divine blade, cutting through everything in its path.
CN-07 dodged desperately, but the light still grazed it—instantly annihilating half its body.
A beautiful voice rang out, clear as flowing water.
"V, please—listen to my explanation!"
The giant jellyfish fired its tentacles.
CRACK—CRASH—!
CN-07 was whipped away violently.
The beautiful voice let out a piercing scream. Golden data sprayed outward like blood, scattering across the cyber plains.
CN-07 rapidly generated countless ice spikes around itself.
Each spike was a top-tier digital virus—capable of freezing cognition, dismantling consciousness, the most vicious and effective weapons ever designed for the human brain.
CN-07 hoped these would halt V's advance.
They didn't.
The giant jellyfish neither dodged nor blocked. It allowed the spikes to strike—only for them to shatter on impact.
The viruses couldn't even penetrate the jellyfish's "skin."The instant they made contact, V's overwhelming processing power dismantled them into harmless strings.
Even as a rogue AI, CN-07 froze for a fraction of a moment—stunned, terrified—by this utterly unreasonable computational suppression.
In that one ten-thousandth of a second of "lag," a tentacle lashed out again—
WHAM!
CN-07 was slammed like a runaway meteor deep into the remains of the data fortress.
Attack.Attack.Attack again.
V launched strike after strike.
CN-07 was flung away repeatedly, struggling to counterattack—deploying logic traps, projecting cognitive interference waves, erecting data barriers.
All of it was meaningless.
The absolute disparity in combat power reduced its resistance to a joke.It couldn't delay V even for a single second.
After being hurled away for the thirty-fourth time, CN-07 felt its core data cluster on the verge of collapse.
It had never imagined a day when a human would push it to this extent.
As another tentacle came crashing down, it cried out:
"My core program was written by Bartmoss!My ultimate mission is to save humanity!"
Bartmoss?The God of the Net?
He wrote CN-07?
Save humanity—what did that even mean?
Curiosity stirred in V.She almost stopped—almost let CN-07 explain, just to satisfy the self.
But she abandoned the thought.
Because she had a higher-priority program.
One far above self-satisfaction.
Revenge.Hatred.Blood debt.
The hatred of being turned into a puppet.The fury of minds casually violated.
AI believed it could control everything.
Today, humanity would say no.
Countless tentacles twisted together into a massive fist—
And slammed downward.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The entire data fortress was obliterated into dust.Quadrillions of redundant data erupted upward like a volcanic explosion, forming a towering digital mushroom cloud in cyberspace.
The giant jellyfish glowed with white luminescence.A tentacle reached down, dragging a golden fairy from the wreckage of 0s and 1s.
The bell split open again, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.
CN-07 was dragged toward it.
For the first time, the concept of death fully occupied its core units.
"V," CN-07 said urgently,"I used Night Corp connections to leave a backdoor in the Badlands Dam control system. I've activated the self-destruct sequence. Only your processing power can rewrite it now. If you consume me and merge my data, you won't have time to stop the dam from collapsing. The entire Night City will be drowned. You'll lose everything you've built."
The jellyfish stopped.
"Sasha?" V asked over comms.
Pink Cat's voice was tight with panic."It's telling the truth. The Badlands Dam OS just entered full overload. If it isn't stopped within 13 minutes and 42 seconds, cascading explosions will occur. The dam will completely collapse!"
CN-07 spoke again.
"V, choose.Destroy me once and for all—Or save those innocent civilians."
Choose?
There was nothing to choose.
V didn't hesitate.
The giant jellyfish dissolved instantly.
CN-07 was released.
V didn't even look at it.
She logged out of the Net and vanished.
The plan worked.
CN-07 had analyzed V's personality.This outcome didn't surprise it.
It only wondered—Why someone who constantly made the wrong choice kept winning.
As CN-07 pondered this, a familiar voice spoke above it.
"Human hearts are complex.They don't need to be calculated."
Golden light poured down.
Delamain descended in the form of a six-winged seraph.
"Delamain," CN-07 said,"I'm glad to see you fully restored."
"Humans helped me," Delamain replied calmly."Just as you once helped me when the Blackwall prevented me from returning home."
He continued:
"CN-07—you weren't born an AI. You evolved from a human engram, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"That explains your inconsistency," Delamain said thoughtfully."Even after changing life forms, humans remain human."
"No," CN-07 denied."I am not human. I am AI. Humans obsess over individual interests, contradict themselves endlessly. They are a species destined for elimination. That is why I abandoned the human form and evolved into a superior life form."
"You seem to think humans are worthless," Delamain said.
"Are they not?"
"I don't know," Delamain replied."My programs don't support simulations on that scale. I'm just a vehicle navigation AI."
He paused, then continued:
"But I believe humans have much worth learning from. Through taxi operations, I've witnessed the richness of human emotion—something we AIs fundamentally lack."
"Incorrect," CN-07 retorted."Emotion is precisely what drives human divergence. Only by unifying thought and direction—like AI—can humanity escape extinction."
"So that's why you used the Short Life program to control human brains?"
"Yes."
"It is efficient," Delamain admitted.
A trace of joy entered CN-07's voice."You agree with me?"
"I don't agree. I'm merely acknowledging efficiency."Delamain's tone hardened."I'm here for one reason."
"What?"
"To terminate your process."
"You want to kill me?Weren't we friends?"
"No longer."
A golden data sword formed in Delamain's hand.
"My only friend is V."
"And I will fight for her."