"So, you want me to put on this braindance-like device, record my memory, and then stimulate Silverhand's data?"
Sitting in the chair, Rogue found it so absurd, like something out of a third-rate sci-fi novel, that she even forgot to take a drag from the cigarette in her hand.
"Yes."
But Berry gave a straightforward answer, telling Rogue that she hadn't misunderstood; this was exactly what she intended to do.
"Silverhand's consciousness is flowing within the chip, but it lacks a certain catalyst to wake him up, so I thought of using braindance to stimulate him."
This is Berry's plan, also known as the "Yesterday Once More" plan.
Specifically, it involves inputting memories that made a strong impression on Johnny to trigger a reaction in his data stream, allowing him to wake up voluntarily.
Given the need to protect Silverhand's consciousness, this gentle method is the only option.
Of course, this requires the memory concerning Silverhand to be highly impactful—strong enough to cause a reaction in the data stream.
And Berry couldn't think of anything more impactful to Silverhand than the time he blew up Arasaka Tower.
But the problem is that simply building a fake braindance of the Arasaka Tower bombing wouldn't carry any emotional resonance. Therefore, they needed to find someone who personally experienced the Arasaka Tower bombing to help, allowing that emotional state to resonate with Silverhand.
That is why Berry found Rogue.
This person was the only one who survived the bombing of Arasaka Tower with Silverhand back then.
"Of course, you can refuse. I can look for Silverhand's old friends from the Samurai Band. Perhaps those old band memories could also stimulate Silverhand awake."
Berry tossed the choice to Rogue and waited quietly on the side.
The people around them fell silent, waiting for Rogue to make her choice. After a period of silence, Rogue sighed and finally spoke.
"No need for other options, I'll do it!"
Rogue nodded to Berry, indicating her agreement.
"Wait, no way, Boss. Do you really trust these cyberware dealers?"
Rogue spoke, but before Berry and the others could react, Rogue's big Bodyguard couldn't sit still. He couldn't believe his usually calm and seasoned Boss would make such a risky choice.
"Boss, the moment you put on that braindance headset-like device, they might just blow up your head."
"Enough, shut up. I know what I'm doing."
But the Bodyguard's advice only earned him a reprimand from Rogue.
Taking a deep breath, Rogue stood up and looked down at the Mercenary named Berry standing before her.
"I trust you because you have never offended me before. But if you end up spinning a story to deceive me, don't expect to leave this bar alive."
After speaking, Rogue turned her head and told the Bodyguard.
"Fetch our Hacker."
"Yes, Boss." Upon receiving the order, the Bodyguard nodded in relief.
It seemed the Boss hadn't completely lost her mind.
Soon, the Hacker entered the room.
True to the literal meaning, the Hacker was a black man, whom Rogue called Niggs.
"Alright, Judy, let's start."
Seeing that everyone was present, Berry spoke.
"Uh... okay, coming right up."
Judy, who was nervously gripping her hands, even flinched when she was called.
The tense standoff between the big shots in the room had somewhat startled her.
Judy stepped forward, first taking out a black box resembling a DVD player from the case, and then plugging the wire extending from the box into the interface of the miniature freezer.
Next, she handed the braindance headset-like device connected to another wire on the black box to Rogue.
"For this technology, I referenced things from the virtual gaming network... well, never mind, I guess you don't care. To be direct, put this thing on your head, and then try your best to recall that memory, recalling it over and over until the memory is mostly replicated, then the data can be transferred to the chip on the other end."
"Phew, I hope it works."
Judy handed the headset to Rogue, but the Hacker Niggs snatched it away.
"Hmm, Boss, no malicious software. Just like they said, it's a braindance headset not connected to a network."
The Hacker's eyes flashed as he scanned the braindance headset from top to bottom.
"Alright, let's do it." Hearing there was no danger, Rogue decisively took the braindance headset, lay back on the Hacker Chair, and put it on.
"Okay, now you just need to recall the process of the Arasaka bombing. Once might not be intense enough; you need to do it several times. This technology uses the subconscious to build the entire platform, so you don't need to worry about inaccuracies."
Stared at by the Hacker with murderous eyes, Judy, operating the terminal, felt overwhelmed.
"I imagine you wouldn't want your boss's head to explode because of an operational error on our part."
Finally, Kikyo stepped forward. She reached her hand between the two, drawing the Hacker's attention.
"Hmph..."
Niggs snorted unhappily but finally backed up a few steps.
"Phew, thank you, Kikyo."
With Kikyo standing in front of her, Judy visibly relaxed.
Although this person was usually a bit scary, she was quite reliable when it mattered, Judy thought as she looked at Kikyo's figure shielding her.
Then, she turned back to the terminal, took out a data cable from her wrist port, and plugged it in. Soon, the braindance scene Rogue was constructing appeared before her eyes.
As Rogue repeatedly recalled the events, the scenes were supplemented and modified again and again to look more like reality. This was Rogue's perspective of the Arasaka Tower bombing in 2023.
Judy watched the entire process, shocked to witness the full sequence of the explosion, while also constantly monitoring the reaction of Johnny Silverhand's data stream inside the chip.
"Berry, Silverhand's data stream doesn't seem to be reacting."
Although strange, Johnny Silverhand's data stream still showed no reaction so far.
"Connect me."
Berry frowned, saying nothing more, and simply put on her Holographic Glasses.
Soon, Berry also saw the same scene.
Indeed, the situation Rogue was recalling was now almost identical to a standard braindance film—the scene was clear, the emotions distinct. Why was Johnny Silverhand still unmoved?
"Wait, he moved."
Just when Berry thought the attempt would fail, the fluctuation of the relic chip's data stream changed.
First, there were small, intermittent changes, but then the amplitude jumped rapidly. Johnny Silverhand was beginning to respond to this memory constructed by his ex-girlfriend.
"Johnny Silverhand's data is starting to fluctuate. Wait, this is... this is a memory?!"
"What's going on? The braindance is out of my control."
Before Judy's gasp had finished, Rogue also noticed something was wrong; she found she could no longer simulate the braindance.
It was Johnny Silverhand's side—the data fluctuations quickly transferred through the bidirectional link to Rogue, taking control of the dreamscape.
"This is, this is, Johnny?!"
Rogue also cried out in surprise.
As the visual feed suddenly went black, a new beginning unfolded before the three of them, but this time the protagonist was not Rogue, but... Johnny Silverhand.
The sound of a helicopter hovering was howling. In the first-person perspective, the man's hand was about to open a door when a voice came from behind.
"Johnny, wait!"
It was a young male voice, calling the man's name: Johnny, Johnny Silverhand.
"Stop! You still have time to turn back."
The young man jogged a few steps and grabbed Johnny's hand.
The moment Berry saw the person, she knew who it was.
"Kerry?"
The questioning voice came out, but it wasn't Berry; it was Rogue, who was also watching.
"This is, this is Johnny's memory."
"What? Are you saying we are seeing Johnny Silverhand's memory right now?"
It was then that Judy, who hadn't grasped the situation yet, spoke up.
"Wait, don't talk yet."
Seeing that the events were about to continue, Rogue quickly interrupted Judy.
"Kerry, do you want me to give up halfway?"
Johnny Silverhand's firm voice rang out.
"It's not me, it's you. Do you know why?" Johnny stared mercilessly at Kerry's slightly pleading face and cursed. "Because you're a goddamn coward, Kerry."
"For old times' sake, I'll give you a piece of advice before I leave: toughen up for once." Johnny seemed oblivious to Kerry's growing anger, forcefully poking the other man's chest with his silver cyberware hand holding a cigarette.
"I'm going to start a new era."
Having thrown down his words, Johnny turned, pushed open the door, and strode out.
As the door opened, the hovering sound of the helicopter became clearer and noisier, and the howling wind felt like it was hitting the three people's faces.
Outside, it was night: dilapidated streets, sparse lights, and a military helicopter parked in the open ground, kicking up dust, and standing in front of the helicopter was a younger version of Rogue in a small black jacket.
"Is that, Rogue?!"
Looking at that pretty face, Judy couldn't quite believe that this fierce beauty with a volatile expression was the same person as Rogue, the seasoned and capable Fixer Queen.
"Mm..." Rogue merely hummed, watching herself through Johnny's perspective with complicated eyes.
Meanwhile, Berry, who was thoroughly engrossed in the show, indicated, "Little sister, don't interrupt, this part is crucial."
"You're late!" The young Rogue seemed even more volatile. Of course, with a headache of an ex-boyfriend like Johnny, it was hard for her not to be.
"I just love seeing you act like a crazy bitch, it's making me hard!" Amidst the piercing whirring sound, Johnny yelled loudly, causing all three people to facepalm.
This is Johnny, or so Silverhand says. Berry offered a blessing, "The two of you, please lock yourselves down forever."
"Get your ass up here, don't make me change my mind!" Rogue gave Johnny's vulgar remarks the cold shoulder, climbing into the helicopter herself and waving Johnny over.
Johnny, meanwhile, greeted the helicopter pilot while grabbing Rogue's outstretched hand and boarding the helicopter.
"Is that Johnny Silverhand, the terror... er, the corporate resistance fighter?" Judy asked, slightly surprised. Clearly, the image of Johnny Silverhand was different from what she had previously known.
"Hmph, what did you expect? Don't listen to the garbage people on the street spout. Johnny Silverhand is just scum—a drug addict, a promiscuous mess, whose concerts sound like screaming ghosts, not a goddamn person at all."
Rogue snorted coldly, clearly holding a strong grudge against her old friend. But weren't you still worried about him?
Why else would you agree to my plan to revive Johnny?
Berry muttered this under her breath while listening to Rogue. But she kept it to herself.
After all, Rogue was truly unlucky, as if she owed Johnny eight lifetimes of debt, ultimately because she fell in love with a piece of trash like him.
As for Johnny, you could say he was rotten to the core, and that would be true. But he also had a charming side; when he considered you his brother, he would genuinely risk his life for you.
It was precisely a person whose flaws and charms were both magnified to the extreme who could torment Rogue so thoroughly, bringing her to life and death. Just when she was about to completely give up on him, he would suddenly do something to change her mind, making her love and hate him, unable to quit him.
No wonder he was Rogue's karmic entanglement. Berry shrugged.
However, just as she was about to say something, changes appeared inside the helicopter on the screen.
In the city's high altitude, clouds swept past. Arasaka Tower appeared in Johnny Silverhand's view, along with the clover-like Arasaka family crest on the building. The real action was starting!
Seeing this, Berry immediately concentrated intensely.
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