Chapter 340
2-in-1-chapter
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Once Rogue's contacts delivered the VR training rigs, Leo's people would be able to train in multiple combat styles, including close‑quarters urban combat.
But before that, Leo had Viktor handle their cyberware upgrades to boost their combat effectiveness.
Of course, Leo wasn't planning to give everyone a Sandevistan—no, not at all. That wasn't a matter of money, but of risk. The stronger the cyberware, the heavier the side effects. Many cyberpsychos had lost their minds simply because they'd pursued raw power without restraint.
Power was important, yes—but stability and health mattered more. Leo wasn't the type of cold‑blooded madman who treated his people like disposable tools.
So instead, he had Viktor swap out all the shady, black‑market cyberware they'd been using for legitimate, high‑quality gear suited to each of them.
Nomads were usually poor, using whatever parts they could scavenge or afford. That meant most of their implants were unlicensed junk of questionable origin—dangerous with long‑term use. Replacing them with proper hardware was the first step, and only afterward would upgrades be considered, tailored to each individual's needs.
Naturally, upgrades had limits. They weren't V, who could slot almost anything into her body without issue.
Truth be told, Viktor would have done this anyway, even without Leo asking—unless someone wanted to deliberately mass‑produce cyberpsychos, nobody maxed out raw power without thought.
Still, equipping thirty people with legitimate cyberware wasn't cheap.
Fortunately, Leo wasn't the same man he used to be. He had the money now. He told Viktor to go all‑out—the cost wasn't an issue.
Days later, Rogue finally called. She asked him to come down to the Afterlife, though she didn't explain why over the phone.
Leo assumed she had found a seller for the VR training rigs. But when he met her in person at the Afterlife, he realized it wasn't that.
"Remember what I told you before about the Voodoo Boys?" Rogue asked.
"I remember."
The conversation was from a while back, but Leo recalled it clearly.
The Voodoo Boys, a Pacifica gang, had once hired Evelyn to record a braindance in a Konpeki Plaza penthouse. Their goal was to steal the Relic that Yorinobu Arasaka kept hidden there. They hoped to use Johnny Silverhand's engram inside the Relic to locate his girlfriend, Alt Cunningham.
Rogue had told Leo back then that when the time was right, she'd ask him to dig deeper into what the Voodoo Boys were really after. But she hadn't mentioned it again since, so Leo had shelved the matter, assuming she'd either forgotten or no longer needed him for it.
Now she was bringing it up again.
Could it be—?
Rogue nodded, signaling the bartender for two drinks. "I've figured out what those lunatics want."
Leo took a sip of his cola. "Alright then—what the hell are the Voodoo punks after?"
"They want Alt to carve them a place in the New World."
The booth fell silent.
Leo blinked. For a moment, he thought he'd misheard.
"Hold on—what New World? What place?"
Rogue didn't answer directly. Instead, she asked, "Before I explain, let me ask you something: do you know that Johnny's girlfriend, Alt, is actually still alive in this world?"
Leo frowned. "She's still alive? Wasn't it her death that pushed Johnny to bomb Arasaka Tower in the first place?"
Then a thought struck him like lightning, and he said without thinking:
"Don't tell me Alt never died—that she was turned into digital consciousness?"
Rogue nodded.
"You ever read A Song of Ice and Fire? Imagine the Blackwall as the Wall, and the rogue AIs beyond it as the wildlings. Alt, right now, is their 'King‑Beyond‑the‑Wall.'"
Leo had, of course. He'd read the books, watched the series, even browsed fanfics.
But… was Alt, transformed into an AI, still really Alt? He wasn't so sure.
What puzzled him more was—
"How the hell do you know all this?"
Even after all this time, he still couldn't help but be surprised by how far her intel gathering could reach. Even a reclusive gang like the Voodoo Boys couldn't hide intel from her.
She smiled faintly. "One of their guys was tired of stumbling around in the dark with the rest. He had someone reach out to me—wanted help getting to Europe."
"Preferably Scandinavia. England, France, or Germany would do. If not, Italy or Spain."
"I said I could arrange it. In return, he told me everything he knew."
Leo rubbed his chin with two fingers. "So… he betrayed his crew?"
Rogue's lips curved into a cold smile. "More accurate to say he woke up. He wasn't as brainwashed as the others."
Leo nodded. "Alright. So, what did he tell you?"
Rogue's voice stayed calm.
"The New World—that's what the Voodoo Boys have been chasing. They believe this world is rotten, decayed. From all of human history, they've drawn one conclusion—a conclusion they think is absolute."
"They believe that if humanity keeps destroying itself, sooner or later it'll succeed. Even in the best‑case scenario, if humans don't kill themselves outright, they'll burn through the Earth's resources eventually. And when that day comes, the human race ends."
Leo frowned. "That doesn't add up. Humanity's already building colonies on the moon. And we have the potential to colonize other planets."
Sure, they were still in early stages, but it was a massive leap toward space expansion. Earth's resources would run dry one day—but that was far in the future. By then, humanity would likely have spread across the solar system.
If people stayed chained to Earth, maybe the Voodoo Boys view would make sense. But with space colonization, how could resources truly run out? How could humanity face extinction so soon?
Rogue shook her head. "That's their view, not mine. And honestly, it's not worth arguing about whether a gang's philosophy is right or wrong. Pick another gang and you'll hear a totally different creed."
"For example, there's a tiny gang in Night City called the Church of the Atom. They believe nuclear reaction is the source of all life."
"You don't need to argue with gangs like that, because they won't listen, and there's no way you can convince them."
"The Voodoo Boys are the same. They insist AI is the future. If that's already what they all believe, what can you say? Why not just go along with it?"
Rogue had a point.
Trying to communicate with people whose core beliefs opposed yours was exhausting.
It was one thing if both sides could agree to disagree.
But if the other side wasn't just brainwashed, but determined to drag you into their ideology too, then talking to them was not only troublesome but also a complete waste of breath.
"So for now, let's not worry about humanity's future. Let's keep talking about the Voodoo Boys."
Rogue nodded. "Like I said earlier, the Voodoo Boys believe that if humanity continues to control its own fate, its future will be nothing but bleak."
"So their goal is to contact Alt Cunningham on the other side of the Blackwall—and ask her to turn them into AIs too."
Leo froze for a second, then exclaimed in shock,
"Shit! They want to sell out humanity?!"
It had been mentioned before: even if Johnny's girlfriend Alt Cunningham truly still existed beyond the Blackwall in digital form, there was no telling if she was still the same Alt she once was.
Leo believed it was highly unlikely she was.
And yet, these maniacs in the Voodoo Boys wanted to reach out to her because they wanted to become AIs themselves?
Rogue took another sip of her drink.
"They've been poking holes in the Blackwall for years. Every time, NetWatch detected it in time and patched the breach."
"But instead of stopping, the Voodoo Boys only escalated. Still, the other side of the Blackwall isn't some paradise. Even if they slip past NetWatch, they never manage to meet Alt."
"Most Voodoo Boys netrunners get torn apart by rogue AIs roaming the other side long before they can find her."
"Despite being vicious toward outsiders, the Voodoo Boys aren't entirely heartless toward their own. Once they realized blindly sending people past the Blackwall wasn't working, they came up with a new plan."
"They decided to use Johnny Silverhand to draw Alt out. Or rather—to attract her."
Leo smirked.
"'Attract'? What do they think Johnny is, bait on a fishing hook?"
"Something like that." Rogue didn't sound angry anymore—maybe because she'd already vented her anger earlier.
"I do have a question, Rogue."
"Go ahead."
"Your informant in the Voodoo Boys told you they want Alt to make them into AIs. I'm not saying I don't believe you—or your informant. But it's hard to believe Alt would just agree to a human request like that."
"First, the Alt beyond the Blackwall is almost certainly no longer the same woman Johnny knew."
"Second, even if she were the same—which is impossible—why would Alt help the Voodoo Boys? To turn a bunch of gang members into AIs? Whether or not Alt could even do that, I'm certain the Voodoo Boys couldn't."
"If they could, they wouldn't need her."
"So why would Alt help them? On what grounds do the Voodoo Boys believe she would?"
"Alt isn't human anymore. She doesn't even have basic human empathy. Even if someone dropped dead in front of her, I doubt she'd blink."
"Expecting an AI like that to suddenly act out of kindness—isn't that a joke?"
Rogue answered, "Of course, they don't naively believe Alt would agree so easily. That's why they plan to give her a reason she can't refuse."
"A reason she can't refuse? And what's that supposed to be?"
"They want to help Alt bring down the Blackwall. Even if they can't topple the entire thing, they'll punch a hole far bigger than any of their previous breaches—big enough for Alt and the rogue AIs to cross into our side."
"The fuck?!"
This world hadn't turned into something out of a Terminator movie only because the Blackwall kept rogue AIs contained.
If the Blackwall was destroyed and rogue AIs poured into reality, the consequences would be catastrophic.
By 2077, nearly everyone had a neural link and a cyberwared brain slot, except for monks.
Even the upper classes weren't clinging to notions of purity or "natural humanity"—they sought better cyberware and more advanced body modifications.
Which meant that once rogue AIs invaded the real world, not even the elites would be safe.
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