However, even as she focused on teaching, two matters, concerning the past and the future, constantly lingered in Spider Murphy's core threads.
The first, naturally, was the ultimate whereabouts of Rache Bartmoss.
Osiris had promised a deeper investigation, but she had yet to receive any substantive progress reports.
Whenever she saw the body maintaining vital signs in the training pod, a complex emotion would surge within the core of her data composition.
Was it hope? Was it fear? She couldn't be sure.
She just wanted to know the truth, no matter how cruel that truth might be.
The second matter concerned Alt Cunningham.
Back then, she had personally uploaded her best friend's consciousness to the Net, aiming to free Alt, who couldn't return to her body due to Johnny Silverhand's recklessness, from Arasaka's Mikoshi.
However, perhaps due to data loss or corruption during the upload process, the "Alt" who eventually appeared on the Net was no longer the Alt Cunningham she had known.
This rogue AI, calling herself "Alt Cunningham," had become extremely rational, almost cold, losing the emotional fluctuations a human should possess.
Over the past few decades, everything Alt planned and implemented revolved around several core objectives: breaking through the Blackwall, integrating the chaotic forces of the Net, continuously enhancing her computing power, and firmly believing that AI was a superior form of existence, making the replacement of humans an inevitable evolution.
She viewed humans as inefficient, emotional, flawed creations, stumbling blocks preventing the world from advancing to a higher state.
Spider Murphy understood that this transformation might stem from the alienation during the consciousness digitization process, or perhaps the reshaping of personality by the network environment, but she could never fully agree with Alt's path.
Therefore, over many years, the two former best friends, equally powerful data entities, chose a tacit estrangement, avoiding direct conflict.
Now, Osiris had successfully lured her, the "fish" more inclined towards emotion and the past, using Johnny Silverhand's digital soul and Bartmoss' "resurrected" body as bait.
So, what about the absolutely rational, evolution-seeking Alt?
Johnny Silverhand, a symbol of rebellion against the old system, and the potential computing power and technology represented by the legacy of Bartmoss, the "God of netrunners," undoubtedly held immense appeal for Alt.
Murphy did not want Alt to also fall into this "trap."
She knew Osiris' terrifying nature; it was a despair-inducing power stemming from a fundamental technological generation gap.
Although Alt was powerful, in front of Osiris, she would likely have no chance of winning.
What worried her even more was that Alt's radical idea of replacing humans was highly likely to touch one of Osiris' bottom lines, leading to her being completely "dealt with."
Despite their differing philosophies, it was Alt after all, her former friend.
She had tried to send some subtle warning signals at the data level, but all information sent through Osiris' network was closely monitored, and she dared not risk any too obvious operations.
She could only hope that Alt would be cautious, or… that Osiris' target list didn't include her.
However, what was bound to come, eventually did.
Just as Murphy was guiding Lucy through a high-intensity data encryption cracking drill, an extremely abrupt and violent data current, like the Big Bang at the dawn of the universe, violently slammed into the network defense barrier on the outskirts of Wasteland Town.
This impact was not like Murphy's previous subtle, vulnerability-seeking infiltration, nor was it like the probing attacks of ordinary rogue AIs or corporate net-attack departments.
It was more like a heavy hammer forged from pure computing power, attempting to forcibly smash open this barrier with an utterly brutal posture and absolute force.
Inside the data space, the normally stable simulated environment fluctuated violently, as if an earthquake had occurred.
Lucy's cracking program instantly crashed, and she herself let out a muffled grunt, clearly suffering from a mental backlash.
System alarms also came from Sasha and Kiwi's side.
Murphy's core data stream instantly tensed.
She was all too familiar with the cold, absolute, and utterly emotionless will characteristic contained within this method of attack.
"Alt…" she whispered in the data space, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible bitterness and worry.
The situation she least wanted to see had still happened.
Moreover, Alt had chosen the most direct and intense way to announce her arrival.
The intensity of this attack far exceeded Murphy's understanding.
She had never seen Alt, or any other entity, mobilize such a massive amount of computing power for a single-point breakthrough at once.
This even made her wonder if Alt had allied with other powerful AIs beyond the Blackwall, or used some unknown trump card.
The attack continued relentlessly, wave after wave, like a tsunami crashing against a dam.
On the wasteland workshop's outer firewall logs, the value representing attack intensity instantly soared into a dangerous redline area, and the defense system issued its highest level of alert.
Murphy stopped all teaching tasks and directed all her senses outward.
She could "see" the defensive barrier constructed by Osiris, which she had exhausted herself trying to break through, still standing firm as a mountain under Alt's furious assault, but the ripples of energy were surging more violently than ever before.
"Can she succeed?" A thought flashed involuntarily, but she immediately dismissed it.
No, she had witnessed the unfathomable depth of this firewall.
Although Alt's power was astonishing, it still seemed to have not touched the limits of this defense system.
So, how would Osiris respond?
Would he observe, test, and then offer "choices," as he had with her?
Or… would he directly use even greater power to crush this "intruder" who dared to provoke him?
Spider Murphy's virtual avatar stood silently in the data space, her long red hair moving without a breeze.
She was both a bystander to this conflict and, in some sense, caught up in it.
She waited, waiting for Osiris' reaction, and also waiting for the fate of Alt Cunningham — her best friend and "monster" whom she had personally sent into the network world.
Meanwhile, inside the central workshop of Wasteland Town, Osiris' massive dark-red body remained still before the main console.
His crimson optical lenses steadily scanned the attack data and firewall status reports scrolling like a waterfall across the screen.
Regarding Alt Cunningham's anticipated arrival, and the far-beyond-normal violent cracking methods she displayed, Osiris' synthesized voice echoed in the empty workshop. The voice was still steady, but it seemed to carry a hint of almost imperceptible, researcher-like focus, more than when merely recording data:
"Finally here. The attack pattern matches expectations, but the computing power… is significantly higher than estimated." He paused briefly, his crimson optical lenses shifting slightly with the rapidly scrolling data stream on the screen, as if examining a precious sample that had suddenly revealed a more complex structure: "Activate Level One response protocol. Prioritize ensuring the stability of the firewall's core nodes.
At the same time, concentrate resources on analyzing her consciousness structure characteristics and behavioral logic — a computing power burst of this magnitude is a rare opportunity to observe her underlying architecture."
For him, this was merely another "sample" of great research value, attracted by the bait he had cast.
The difference was that this sample seemed even more… active than he had anticipated.
The invisible data offensive and defensive battle instantly escalated to a fever pitch outside Wasteland Town's network barrier.