A brief silence fell over the workshop, broken only by the low hum of the energy core and the subtle whirring of the servo-skull as it scanned.
Osiris' calm, unruffled voice, as if stating a physical law, had just proposed a plan that could only be described as insane in the world of Cyberpunk.
"Precisely. The Blackwall, this global super-firewall, is essentially a highly specialized, rule-driven collective of vast AIs," Osiris said, his crimson optical lens sweeping over their shocked faces, continuing in his characteristic, emotionless technical analysis tone, "Its core mission is to isolate rogue AIs from beyond the wall, ensuring the basic security of the internal network.
However, its sheer size and complex rule layers mean that its monitoring of certain 'non-malicious' but unconventional protocol-violating, or specific system command-mimicking data flows within the internal network, is not foolproof.
Especially when leveraging certain inherent or early design-legacy authentication vulnerabilities in its gateway protocol layer.
Militech's 'Little Dipper Project' back then, some of its undisclosed exploratory directions, was precisely an attempt to understand and utilize certain underlying protocol features of the Blackwall, transforming them into an offensive weapon.
They achieved some initial, dangerous results, and although the project was ultimately terminated due to the risk of losing control, the technical principles it revealed... are indeed feasible."
As he stated these things, Osiris also recalled his memories from before his transmigration.
He clearly remembered that during the reconstruction of the New United States, its intelligence and special departments had unearthed and inherited part of the core legacy of the "Little Dipper Project." It was this forbidden knowledge from the old era that was applied to a top-tier hacker codenamed "Songbird."
That hacker, originally only somewhat talented, was thus transformed and elevated into a terrifying existence that could be called a "cybernetic nuclear bomb."
Songbird's terrifying aspect was her ability to hack using the Blackwall itself as a springboard and amplifier—because almost all networks in the Cyberpunk world, from personal terminals to corporate core databases, needed to connect to the Blackwall for protection, isolating rogue AIs from beyond the wall.
Leveraging this ubiquitous connectivity, and with the Blackwall's power, she could infiltrate almost any target without a trace, and easily mobilize the Blackwall's vast resources to instantly incinerate anyone or any device she targeted.
Even the most powerful solo hacker was as insignificant as an ant before the Blackwall, which represented the very foundation of network defense.
However, being unable to confront it directly did not mean being unable to utilize it.
As he had just explained, the key lay in "understanding" and "mimicking."
"I don't need to, nor can I, control the Blackwall...yet. That would require computing power beyond national levels and would inevitably invite devastating countermeasures," Osiris said, his mechanical tentacles precisely tapping on several key data nodes on the screen, emphasizing the core of his plan: "I only need to perform precise 'mimicry'... or rather, 'falsify' its identity.
I can construct an extremely special data packet, utilizing the specific authentication vulnerabilities of the Blackwall gateway protocol that we have identified, causing it to be 'misjudged' by the Blackwall system itself as a high-priority system broadcast or status synchronization message from one of its internal high-level nodes."
He paused slightly, allowing everyone to grasp the revolutionary nature of this concept, then continued to describe the horrifying scenario: "Once successfully injected, by virtue of its internally marked high priority, this data stream will follow the Blackwall's internal communication protocols, automatically replicated and distributed to every online network access point connected to the Blackwall.
From the most ordinary personal terminals, public GG displays, to corporate internal networks, government agency servers... any device connected to this network will, in theory, within an extremely short period, be forced to display a highest-priority information window that cannot be closed, bypassed, or blocked.
And the content displayed in that window will be all the evidence of Biotechnica's painkiller scandal that you provide."
A deathly silence fell over the workshop, as if even the air had solidified.
Everyone was speechless, shaken by this bold, insane plan, yet one built on cold technical logic.
To forcibly push a message, via the Blackwall, to... every single networked user globally?
This was no longer the covert spread of information in underground datastacks, nor an investigative report that an independent news channel had to play under pressure, but an unstoppable information tsunami that would instantly sweep across the entire digital world!
Biotechnica would have no means to delete, suppress, or obfuscate this information at the first moment, because the source of the information, on the surface, would appear to be the Blackwall itself!
This was enough to ignite a global public opinion earthquake in an instant, causing devastating damage to Biotechnica's credibility and market value.
Sasha forgot her quiet sobs, forgot her self-protective curled-up posture; she stared blankly up at Osiris' dark red, god-like towering mechanical body, her eyes filled with incredulous light.
That invisible wall named "Corporate Power" that had pushed her into the abyss of despair, seemed at this moment to have a crack pointed out by this being before her, a crack large enough to make it crumble.
The ice of despair in her heart cracked and groaned, and a nearly scorching hope, one she had never dared to dream of, like a vine breaking free of its restraints, frantically wrapped around her heart.
Rebecca's mouth hung open for a long time before she suddenly snapped it shut, muttering, "I... I'll be damned... this is the real chrome... Shoving the company's shit right in their faces with the Blackwall? Preem!"
Maine took a deep breath of the oil-scented air, trying to calm the tumultuous waves in his heart.
As the team leader, he instinctively weighed the risks and rewards.
He looked at Osiris, his gaze extremely solemn, his voice low and serious: "Boss, can we actually pull this gig off? What are the odds? What happens if the Wall detects the spoofing, how bad's the heat gonna be?"
"Technically, based on current data models and simulations, the feasibility assessment exceeds seventy-eight percent," Osiris' reply was still as calm as if reporting experimental data, "The main risks are concentrated on the precision of the data packet construction, which must perfectly mimic the digital signature and communication format of specific Blackwall nodes; and the instantaneousness and stealth of the injection process, which needs to be completed in an extremely short time to avoid being caught by real-time monitoring systems for anomalies.
If identified as a high-threat malicious attack by the Blackwall's deep autonomous defense mechanisms, it could trigger localization and high-intensity countermeasures against the injection source.
But according to my calculations, because it highly mimics internal system commands and exploits protocol vulnerabilities rather than brute-force cracking, the probability of triggering the highest level of countermeasures is less than fifteen percent."
He slightly adjusted the focus of his optical lens, adding, "Even if triggered, I have prepared multiple contingency plans, including instantaneous physical disconnection, releasing deceptive interference signals, and activating the workshop's emergency shielding field, which is sufficient to evade tracking in most situations and ensure the safety of this location."
Osiris turned his gaze to Sasha, who was still in shock, and laid out a clear path: "So, that data backup you obtained at such a great cost now has a purpose far more 'efficient' and 'lethal' than simply publishing it.
You need to organize and refine it into a format most suitable for widespread dissemination in such a forced pop-up environment, capable of instantly resonating with the public.
When you are ready, and your body has undergone initial repairs and can withstand the potentially accompanying, brief neural load of data transmission, we can initiate this 'global announcement' procedure.
In the face of technology that understands the essence of rules, the corporate-engineered wall of public opinion manipulation is merely a fragile barrier maintained by information asymmetry.
Breaking it sometimes doesn't require brute force; it only requires finding that correct 'frequency' that can cause resonance."
Sasha breathed deeply, almost greedily, her chest heaving violently, as if she had relearned how to breathe.
She looked at Osiris, then at Rebecca beside her, whose eyes burned with fervent light, and at Maine and the others, who looked solemn but did not object.
The previously stagnant lake of her heart was thoroughly stirred, and the surging waves were mixed with fear of unknown risks, the burning desire for revenge, and the desperate resolve to stake everything on a slim hope.
Her curled fingers slightly loosened, then tightened again. Finally, she nodded gently, her voice still weak and a little shaky, but revealing an unprecedented, do-or-die determination: "How much time... do I need... to prepare the system parameters and the data?"