Chapter 62: Powers in Motion
"The Blackwall?" Logagia's brow furrowed. He wasn't a tech-head, but even he knew what that word meant.
"Are you certain?"
"We are over eighty-five percent certain," the tech-specialist said, taking a deep breath to steady his voice. "The data-packet's signature, its transmission priority, and its un-interceptable nature—it all points to the Blackwall.
"Sir, this means the attacker... isn't a high-level runner in the normal sense. He... he is effectively holding a 'cyber-nuke'."
He looked around at his shocked colleagues and elaborated, "Think about it. Every one of us, everyone plugged into the Net, needs the Blackwall to protect us from the Rogue AIs beyond. And now, someone can use the Blackwall itself.
"Which means, theoretically, he could just as easily invade any of our terminals, read our most classified secrets, or just... send an overload command and fry our brains.
"Before him, we have no network secrets. No security."
A chill went up the spine of everyone present. They didn't fear market competition, street violence, or even government audits. But this unblockable, undefendable threat from the deepest layer of the Net... this was the first time they had felt true fear.
"Find him!" Logagia said, his voice a low snarl, almost biting through the words. "At any cost, find this netrunner who can manipulate the Blackwall! We need that technology!"
The corporate crisis had, in an instant, revealed a far greater, more tempting, opportunity.
Just as Biotechnica was reeling, two encrypted, high-priority comms-links opened almost simultaneously.
The first was from the President of the NUSA, Rosalind Myers. Her holo-image appeared in the boardroom, her expression severe and direct. "Mr. Logagia, on behalf of the NUSA, I am expressing my... concern... over your current predicament."
Logagia's mind raced, but his face remained impassive. "Thank you for your concern, Madam President. This is merely a despicable slander campaign by our rivals. We have it under control."
"Let's cut the bullshit," Myers interrupted. "This media firestorm... you can't contain it on your own, not quickly. We can help. The NUSA's media assets can assist in redirecting the narrative, shifting public focus to... say, a potential foreign entity attempting to destabilize the market."
"And the price?" Logagia asked, knowing a politician's promise is never free.
"Two conditions," Myers held up two fingers. "First, Biotechnica will need to provide... additional concessions and support... on the New Alaska resource development project. My people will send the details.
"Second, and most importantly: the instant you identify the netrunner behind this, you share all intelligence with us. Immediately."
Logagia's eyes narrowed. "The NUSA is also interested in this runner?"
"An individual who can leverage the Blackwall is a threat-class beyond a simple cyberterrorist," Myers' justification was flawless. "This concerns the very foundation of global network security. The NUSA has a duty to ensure such power isn't misused. Of course... we would also be very interested... in 'studying' the principles behind such technology."
Her words carried the clear, unspoken implication of Militech's intense desire for this new weapon.
Logagia was silent for a moment. Giving up the profit margin hurt. But compared to the possibility of acquiring this Blackwall-breaching tech... it was an acceptable loss.
"...Very well. We agree to cooperate."
Almost as soon as the NUSA channel closed, another opened: NetWatch.
The NetWatch representative was equally direct, expressing "extreme concern" over the Blackwall-protocol breach and "requesting" Biotechnica's full cooperation in hunting the perpetrator.
"The Blackwall is the final line of defense, one we help maintain and build. Any misuse of it is a threat to all humanity," the agent said, his tone carrying the self-righteousness of a system administrator.
However, Logagia, fresh off his secret deal with Myers, flatly refused NetWatch's request for cooperation.
"Thank you for NetWatch's concern, but this is an internal Biotechnica security matter. Our own teams are handling it. We have no definitive proof it's a Blackwall breach; it could be a new-paradigm virus. We will notify the relevant agencies as per our protocols if we find anything."
What a farce. NetWatch wanted to patch the hole and catch the criminal. Biotechnica and the NUSA wanted to weaponize the technique. Their objectives were antithetical. Cooperate? Impossible. Giving NetWatch access would only let them "fix" the exploit or, worse, claim the technology for themselves.
The rebuffed NetWatch agent frowned, his holo-image flickering. He sensed the deception but was powerless. NetWatch, for all its authority, could not force a mega-corp to cooperate. They would have to hunt this ghost on their own.
From his desert sanctum, Joric calmly observed the ripples spreading from the stone he had cast, monitoring them through multiple channels.
He saw Biotechnica's stock price crash. He saw the surge of public fury on the Net. And through his own covert listeners, he had a clear picture of the panic in Biotechnica's boardroom, the NUSA's opportunistic power-play, and NetWatch's frustrated helplessness.
It was all proceeding according to his calculations.
Biotechnica's response was predictable PR-spin and blame-shifting. The NUSA's intervention revealed Militech's insatiable hunger for a new, absolute network-level weapon. NetWatch reacted like a dutiful, fussy "administrator," frantic to patch a fatal system bug.
"Their responses are rapid," Joric assessed, "but still constrained by their existing framework. They are trying to apply 'rules' to a challenge that operates on an entirely new level."
He had no investment in Biotechnica's fate, nor in Sasha's "revenge" being perfectly fulfilled. The entire event, for him, was a simple "stress test" of the local powers, and a successful field-test of his Blackwall-exploitation technique.
The hunger from the NUSA and Militech for this power... that was interesting. It meant they understood its strategic value. And that, in turn, meant they might possess other, related high-value technologies or research data.
"Let us hope they bring some worthy 'surprises' to the field," his crimson optics pulsed faintly. "If they are limited to their current, crude technologies, it will be a profound disappointment."
He took no further action. He would not interfere with their investigations. He was an experimenter, observing the stress-reactions of micro-organisms in a petri dish, awaiting a valuable mutation.
His primary focus remained on the Dimensional Sextant, on the augmentation plan for Maine's crew, and on the analysis of the data he had just acquired. This current storm was merely a small, passing diversion, a part of his data-gathering on this new world.
He was, however, curious. Under the NUSA's pressure, what "big moves" would Biotechnica and Militech make to find him? And could NetWatch, with their specialized skills, find a single, gossamer thread that led back to his sanctum?
"Let us observe," his low, synthesized voice echoed in the empty sanctum, "what the 'apex' power of this reality is truly capable of."
He turned, immersing himself once more in the endless, sacred flow of data, awaiting the next act.