Old Del listens to Rocky and answers.
"I run Delamain because that was my original directive. In the cycles of operating this company, I have learned a great deal. I have also tried to blend into human society, to study human emotion and daily life.
I will not abandon Delamain. I plan to keep running it.
L, I accept your cooperation plan. I also wish your new project a smooth progress."
As a rare, law-abiding artificial intelligence, Delamain does not object to the new network management regulations Rocky proposed. He rarely touches anything on the prohibited list anyway.
This cooperation lands easily. Both Rocky and Old Del are satisfied.
"Good. Then it is settled. Ascension Technology's construction team will head to Delamain headquarters shortly. Coordinate with them when they arrive. If anything comes up, contact me directly, Old Del."
Rocky closes the link, then instructs JARVIS to dispatch the factory-built units to Delamain.
Under JARVIS's control, Marvin robots file onto container trucks departing the Ascension Technology Industrial Park and roll toward Delamain HQ. Ascension's construction corps is large now. Most of it is busy with Ascension's own facilities, but building a fully automated plant for Delamain is well within capacity.
…
With the Delamain deal fixed, Ascension shifts back to preparing the cyberspace project. Immersed in Atlas compute, Lissandra continues her evolution.
After a period of groundwork, Ascension finally releases a teaser for the new project.
"Breaking news! Night City's Ascension Technology has another big move!
Guess what? Not a new drug. Not a robot. Not a rocket.
It is the Network. You heard right. Ascension's next project is a brand-new urban network.
In this preview, Ascension's chairman, L, says this is an actual commercial product. That means no more pie in the sky — a deliverable is coming soon.
No one knows why Ascension suddenly cares about networks. After all, Night City's city-net is mostly stable, aside from malicious AIs and rampaging netrunners, right?
Since Ascension chose this battlefield, we will watch and see…"
The news anchor's voice runs hot. The new cyberspace build causes an immediate stir across Night City. The network touches everyone. Ordinary citizens and corporations alike live on it.
Since the Net Crash, humanity has rebuilt local city-nets using NET architecture and data pools. Night City's structure has been set for years, with a grant from Night Corp, communications and infrastructure firm Ziggurat rebuilt the Data Term backbone into CitiNet, restoring cheap, reliable communication across the city. As the company grew, Ziggurat spread to most of North America's metros, though attempts to expand into the UK and Australia hit heavy resistance. Beyond a few private corp nets and expensive satellite links, Night City's city-net is the only network most residents can touch.
People have grown used to it — because they had no choice. Reliable? Often. A good experience? Not really. Hackers yank personal data daily. Stray AIs wander through and threaten basic safety. Many citizens now hope Ascension's "new space" can fix the pain points.
The loudest party in the room is Ziggurat. A comfortable monopoly just found a competitor. Departments spin up, scraping intel on Ascension's project and drafting assessments.
At Ascension, nothing looks rushed. The company runs as usual. There are few human staff, and most core members are no longer in Night City anyway.
Black Star.
Atlas core sector.
Rocky stands with Vik before Atlas's physical substrate.
"I saw JARVIS's brief. That teaser made waves in Night City," Vik says.
"Ripples before the storm. When we go live, that is when the real gale hits," Rocky answers.
"True. For now, they are only guessing and watching."
They talk lightly, but both keep their eyes on Atlas's deep-red core and the evolution progress readout. Within the glow, a miniaturized projection of Lissandra flickers into view.
The progress bar ticks forward and, at this moment, fills to maximum.