Mercer explained his findings to Lucy reluctantly: "The programs they developed in conjunction with Ye Corporation can directly influence human consciousness through the network, even signal waves. If this technology matures...
You know what happened to the old net, all the AI got corrupted, and the network became a dead zone. If this technology is made into a program and spread online, only more terrifying things will happen!
A sudden signal wave could make you forget who you are, who you love, what you are supposed to do. You would become a stranger in your own skin. By then, what difference would it make whether we're alive or dead?"
Mercer interrupted Lucy, who was about to speak, and continued:
"You might think this is all far away? No, if I tell you that Ye Corporation has already started using the Vortex Gang as guinea pigs in human experiments for Lilith, would you still feel it's distant?
Those idiots even call Lilith 'Moon Mother', it's so damn funny. A bunch of cyborg-brained guys starting to worship an anti-human AI as a religious belief!"
After Mercer finished speaking, he revealed even more incredible things to Lucy: "Arasaka controls the Moon Propulsion Device, and do you think a space company like Orbital Aviation doesn't have similar technology?
The intelligence I gathered with the Sky Net System has completely confirmed that Orbital Aviation is secretly building a large Material Pusher right under the European Space Agency's nose.
Once this thing is built, do you know what that means?"
Mercer spoke in a helpless and depressed tone: "That means this stupid AI could even throw asteroids at Earth at any time! Precisely destroying a city or even a continent!
I'm not trying to panic, but the fact is, Arasaka's research progress on Relic has accelerated, perhaps even entering the final research stage now!"
These are things Mercer never told the team—he already felt troubled enough knowing these damned things himself, and the team, with their limited capabilities, would only get more worried knowing them, so why bother?
The acceleration of Arasaka's research progress on Relic was also something Mercer learned with the help of the Sky Net System.
Originally, this technology was still in the experimental stage as late as 2077, but in the gaming narrative, Silver Hand survives in V's body in one ending, proving that Relic technology's success is highly possible.
And now, due to the butterfly effect, perhaps because Saburo sensed some crisis, he personally watched over the progress of Relic, leading to the much faster maturity of this technology.
It can be said that the Silver Hand RELIC chip in Yoshinobu's hands now is the practicable Relic chip the game showcased in 2077, and the entire development progress has accelerated by at least a year.
Sky Net System's intelligence analysis from Venus gave a relatively pessimistic conclusion — Arasaka Saburo might prepare for 'reincarnation' before his body naturally expires.
And the Material Pusher Lilith is constructing on the Moon is estimated by Venus to be completed by 2079.
As for the brainwashing technology jointly researched by Ye Corporation and Lilith, which can affect human consciousness and memory, both have officially entered the stage of combat testing.
Lilith, through Ye Corporation, is finding suitable humans to frequently test the brainwashing technology, even attempting to have AI directly enter human bodies and replace human consciousness — the crucial point being, this technology is actually showing results.
All this information gathered through the Sky Net System is making Mercer increasingly uneasy and anxious.
Apart from Arasaka, Lilith, and Ye Corporation's biological technologies, old adversaries, Sky Net System also collected a lot of information about Military Science, New America, European Community, and other forces.
And Sky Net System dug out lots of key data and analysis from various high-level think tanks, and almost all institutions believe — before 2085, the Fifth Corporate War is almost inevitable.
Considering President Miles' term, now that President Miles is in her third four-year term, her approval ratings could start to decline.
To consolidate her power, she is very likely to continue a unification war to activate wartime provisions, avoiding potentially unfavorable elections.
Also, nothing is easier to get votes than saying 'Make New America unified and great again'. Miles already gained considerable benefits in the last war, no reason not to do it again.
From all this information, Mercer also concluded — Arasaka Saburo won't delay his consciousness reincarnation past 78.
Because with Arasaka's power waning, to deal with the ambitious New America and Military Science, Saburo needs to return to his peak quickly and prepare for war.
All of this is pushing Mercer to hurry up, faster.
Resolving Lilith, even just destroying her Moon Base, could delay her threat to humanity as much as possible.
And resolving Arasaka Saburo and putting Yoshinobu in charge is both a solution to the threat Saburo poses and necessary for Mercer to prepare for the Fifth Corporate War quickly and early.