018: Emergency Protocol
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[Task: A Helping Hand (Completed)]
[Reward 1: Messiah-Medusa V]
[Reward 2: Kingston-Radium Grip I3]
The mission settlement information surfaced in John's mind. He leaned against the wall to wait for his car, not daring to show any sign of weakness. The average moral integrity in Eden City was not worth testing; a luxury sports car paired with a frail owner was an easy target for dangerous elements.
Dragging his exhausted body, John left the East District commercial street. The roar of the Eisenberg’s engine could not drown out the screams of the partying crowds, and neon advertisements floated and flickered across every skyscraper in the city. The nights in Eden City were more alluring than the days; even the most famous radio stations and broadcasts were scheduled for the midnight slot.
The busy criminals were actively operating tonight as well. Sirens wailed, and red and blue lights pulsed incessantly. Hover-cars buzzed above the city, their conical beams of light sniffing and scanning the dark, cold streets below.
Sitting in his car, John felt his vision blurring. He had to pour cold water from a vending machine onto his face, attempting to alleviate his dangerously high body temperature and fading consciousness. Feeling slightly better, he turned up the volume. The radio broadcasted crime alerts; switching channels, a gravelly-voiced host was telling bottom-of-the-barrel dirty jokes.
The red light at the intersection flickered and vanished. Just as John was about to pull away, a police cordon flashed before him, and the vehicle's system popped up a warning message.
[Chip interference detected. Passage suspended.]
Most vehicles in Eden City came with built-in systems. His car was currently being subjected to some form of chip interference, a type of high-tech measure usually possessed only by massive conglomerates or government agencies.
[Release restrictions? No.]
John did not want to invite unnecessary trouble, so he chose to wait in place. Other vehicles on the street also obediently stopped behind the zebra crossings. All the traffic lights switched to red, and the pedestrian crossing projections shifted into scrolling warning text. A path leading toward the city center was cleared...
Police cruisers equipped with machine gun turrets drove past, followed by two helicopters skimming past the signage as they circled the skyscrapers. The radio reported a cyber-psychosis outbreak, with special tactical units rushing to the scene.
John leaned forward slightly and saw: A massive armored aircraft swept by, its high-density alloy hull emblazoned with the logo of the Special Tactical Unit.
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Faint sounds of explosions and gunfire echoed from within the city. John had no interest in joining the spectacle, let alone dragging his wounded body to watch a shootout between police and criminals; saving his own life was the higher priority.
His wheels crushed the city lights. The Eisenberg passed through the blockade and, following a drone scan, exited the outer fringes of Eden City.
[Eden City Landfill No. 3]
As soon as John approached, he received a signal from Blacklight. The Atlanta Virtual Network connected automatically via Bluetooth, adding Black Spider to his managed devices. From now on, no matter which corner of the city he was in, he could check the status of Black Spider through the network.
He moved past the block-shaped obstacles, pulled out his operating console, and skillfully crafted the blank chips needed for special inhibitors. Black Spider also ended its hibernation, voluntarily bringing out the hidden prosthetic remains and connecting to the interface to scrub away the residual biological data.
Breaking into a cold sweat, John inserted the newly crafted chip.
[Special Inhibitor (Destroyed)]
"Damn, this is brutal."
His body underwent a massive transformation. A second ago, his immune cells had been fighting more intensely than a corporate war, but once the inhibitor was inserted, the negative status vanished instantly.
Deep within his mind, Blacklight issued a small task.
[Side Mission: Independent Device Debugging]
[Reward: Emergency Protocol 13324 (Program)]
Following the instructions, John focused his attention on the Virtual Network chip. He could now remotely access Black Spider's device information. Expanding it revealed a brand new interface. A red outline appeared in the corner of his retina, somewhat similar to a weapon system, capable of detecting Black Spider's modifications and operational status.
[Mission Objective Updated]
[Explore the "Black Spider" independent repository (Incomplete)]
John scrolled through the specific information and saw the current exploration findings, which the system referred to as a repository.
[Special Consumables x3]
[Windfall Accounts x5]
These were the items Black Spider had accumulated. The special consumables were prosthetic limbs with residual biological data; currently, only the technology and formulas mastered by Blacklight could refine them into inhibitors.
If he continued to concentrate his consciousness...
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He could even see the specific models and damage status of each piece of wreckage, though it was of little significance. Not every item triggered a mission, and John had yet to figure out the specific mechanisms or patterns.
He swept the money from the remaining accounts—his recent expenses had been high, and there would be plenty of places to spend money later. The windfall funds were decent, though not substantial. After all, the banks weren't stupid; if an account holder died and a large sum of money remained untouched for a long time, the bank would have swallowed it up long ago. What remained were just the small scraps left behind.
John turned the remaining materials into special inhibitors and tucked them into the inner pocket of his bulletproof vest. His inventory was now completely exhausted.
[Side Mission: Independent Device Debugging (Completed)]
[Reward: Emergency Protocol 13324 (Program)]
The Blacklight in John's mind flickered once more, followed by a series of special code sequences flashing before his eyes. John had received similar knowledge before; just like the modification blueprints for Black Spider, they appeared in his mind after Blacklight loaded them.
He focused his mind, as if flipping through files on a computer.
[Program: Emergency Protocol 13324]
John pulled out his operating console, plugged the data cable into Black Spider, and his hands began to dance skillfully across the keyboard, as if he were a senior engineer with years of experience in a corporation.
He didn't understand his own actions at all. Blacklight downloaded a special program package through the link. The network protocols and symbols inside were ones he had never seen before; even on the screen, they appeared as nothing more than a mess of strange garbled characters.
Yet, John felt he could read them. His hands moved methodically, finishing the program edit and installing it into Black Spider’s backend.
[Program loading...]
He took a special inhibitor from his pocket and inserted it into Black Spider's vacant Slot 3.
[Module Slot 3: Emergency Self-Rescue Code (Active)]
[Description: When the user encounters an emergency, Protocol Code 13324 will be activated, automatically determining coordinates and proceeding to provide rescue...]
John finished reading and whispered, "Impressive."
Black Spider was an all-terrain mechanical modification. It possessed its own mobility and operable robotic arms. If one day the Blacklight in John's body overloaded and he collapsed in some corner of the city...
Black Spider would interrupt its exploration and hibernation mode, execute the emergency protocol, and use network positioning and signal tracking to find John, then spare no cost to insert the special inhibitor into his interface.
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