"Three years ago, Arasaka initiated a covert project called the 'Star Plan' at a secret base in Canada.
The essence of the project was to use a group of hackers to exploit the Internet Supervision in Canada and directly infiltrate the old net to mine its data.
The hackers they chose were all young kids like me—easy to deceive, easy to control, and since most were orphans, using them involved no future worries.
Thus, a group of kids as young as ten and no older than twelve became their data-mining machines.
And I was one of them."
Mercer's words, paired with his somewhat youthful face, left Rogue in silence.
She quietly watched Mercer's face, her emotions complex, and the previously volatile mood seemed to vanish suddenly.
And Mercer just continued his quiet narration:
"The plan officially kicked off a year ago, and within just a bit over a year, half of our hacking group has been killed by rampant AIs appearing in the old net.
I am one of the survivors.
And a month ago, we encountered a very powerful AI in the old net—Otter Cunningham."
Mercer told the tale half-truthfully, not revealing everything about Bartmos and Spider Murphy.
"And it was precisely Otter Cunningham's appearance that gave me a chance to escape from there.
Otter's emergence caused an overload in Arasaka's servers, attracting attention, and the higher-ups believed that the costs and returns of the 'Star Dust Project' were disproportionate, so they dismissed the original project director.
The ambitious new project director shifted the focus to the rampant AIs, hoping to use the Relic Chip to capture Arasaka's old nemesis, Otter Cunningham.
But the outcome was obvious... using the Soulkiller Program to capture the creator of the Soulkiller Program? It's an absolute joke.
I struck a deal with Otter, and with her help, I took over the servers of the Arasaka Base, killed all the guards, and escaped from there.
While incidentally looting the data and valuable Relic Chip inside, I also learned the truth of it all from Otter."
Mercer's words left Rogue silent, ultimately speaking in a complex tone: "Otter actually began using a child? It's really..."
"Ha, I wouldn't say using, more like mutual aid."
Mercer chuckled, then continued: "So now, you should understand, this whole thing is not me talking nonsense.
If you don't believe me, you can use your own connections to find out for yourself—what exactly happened at the Arasaka Base in the outskirts of Vancouver, Canada.
Many people died that day, and I bet the disturbance wasn't small. If your connections are reliable, they should be able to verify some of what I said."
"...aren't you afraid I'll turn around and sell you out to Arasaka?"
Rogue stared at Mercer.
But Mercer merely shrugged:
"That would mean I misjudged you, but I do think...
the woman who, years ago, stormed Arasaka with Johnny Silverhand is not so fragile that she's turned into a sniveling company lackey just because she's aged.
Weren't you curious why I came to Night City?
I can tell you clearly now... I'm here to finish what you people didn't finish back then!"
His eyes flashed with a firm light, unwaveringly meeting the gaze of the legendary queen of Night City, his tone grave:
"I want to turn this filthy city to ashes! I want to set the city on fire, bringing new hope to this world...
The hope of freedom!"
Rogue rubbed her brow in frustration and fatigue, watching the light on Mercer's face. She vaguely recalled her younger years.
That year, she was still young, just standing below the stage, watching Johnny Silverhand standing on stage, holding a guitar, screaming out loud.
He hoarsely screamed—even if it meant igniting the whole city, there was no way he would let the corporates turn this place into a land devoid of hope and freedom.
He... was truly an idiot.
And back then, she... was the same kind of idiot as he was.
"Ha... the old Johnny Silverhand isn't dead yet, and now the city gets another teenage terrorist... it's really fucking enough."
Rogue lit another cigarette, but this time, the hardness in her eyes was gone, replaced by an indescribable tenderness as she looked at Mercer.
Mercer's demeanor reminded her, for the first time in ages, of her own child.
"I'll give it a try. Arasaka Yoshinobu's private contact is not so easy to manage... once it's done, I'll contact you.
Now, aside from this... you mentioned before that you have an assignment for me?"
Upon hearing this, Mercer nodded, put his mask back on, and then said: "I need a new identity, a perfect fake identity that Arasaka can't track down in the near term.
I need someone to infiltrate Night City Hall's engine room and insert a Virus Chip into the server, helping me bypass the server's ICE.
Then I will modify the Night City's household registration information from the net, and start operating openly as a local."
Mercer was afraid to hack directly from the net... because he was worried about the hidden powers behind Night City, Ye Corporation.
He had researched online; the entire household registration system and public servers of Night City were established by Ye Corporation and Pyramid Company, and both had massive pitfalls. "