Under the governance of the "Council of Three Magos," Night City, as if injected with catalysts of varying proportions, began to exhibit a complex and subtle transformation.
The city's foundational framework continued to operate with cold efficiency, maintained by the administrator AI—energy pipelines stably delivered, traffic networks ran orderly, and basic material provisions were precise and accurate.
Arasaka Kei's digital soul faithfully executed the core directives set by Osiris, ensuring the basic vital signs of this colossal machine.
However, above the orderly grid laid out by the administrator, the philosophies of Johnny Silverhand and Yorinobu Arasaka began to permeate, collide, and merge, attempting to leave their mark within the limited framework.
Johnny Silverhand, the former rock legend and symbol of rebellion, now had a legitimate platform.
He utilized the authority of the "Council of Three Magos," like a tireless fighter, continuously propagating his ideals.
The community self-governance pilot projects he promoted took root in several specific areas.
In the northern industrial district of Watson, a representative committee elected by local residents began to experiment with managing the allocation of public spaces and mediating minor disputes within the community.
In an old neighborhood in Heywood, residents spontaneously organized, using the limited resources coordinated by Yorinobu Arasaka, to repair damaged public facilities and even set up small community patrol teams.
Johnny's voice, through every channel he could access—whether it was announcements approved for release after strict review by the administrator, or encrypted broadcasts he briefly opened in specific areas using his authority—repeatedly emphasized the importance of "bottom-up mutual aid" and "community self-determination."
His very existence was like a stone thrown into stagnant water, creating ripples.
Some of the common people, accustomed to being ruled by corporations or gangs, began cautiously trying to voice their opinions, though these voices remained faint amidst the immense city noise.
Yorinobu Arasaka, on the other hand, played a dual role as mediator and executor.
He navigated between Johnny's idealism and Arasaka Kei's absolute rationality, attempting to translate seemingly feasible community proposals into concrete, actionable steps, and ensuring they would not cross the efficiency red line set by the administrator.
He was more like a shrewd politician, moving pieces on a limited chessboard, balancing various interests.
He leveraged the residual influence of the Arasaka Family (though this influence was negligible in the face of Osiris' absolute power) and the coordination authority granted by the "Council of Three Magos" to secure some tangible, minor improvements for the pilot communities.
For example, more timely garbage collection, or temporarily assigning some idle public spaces for community use.
His efforts prevented Johnny's ideals from becoming mere empty slogans, and also caused some faint fluctuations representing "increased community vitality" to occasionally appear in the administrator's cold data streams.
The changes were slow and localized.
Johnny's radical proposals were often rejected or significantly modified by the administrator's logical deductions based on efficiency and risk assessment.
Outside the community self-governance pilot areas, the main body of Night City remained shrouded in the shadow of the "contribution-guarantee" system.
The sense of oppression had not disappeared; it was merely diluted, mixed with new expectations carrying a hint of uncertainty.
Discussions in the streets and alleys became more frequent; people cautiously debated every public resolution of the "Council of Three Magos," speculated about Johnny's next move, and assessed Yorinobu's coordination abilities.
The remaining corporate forces, meanwhile, lay in wait even more cautiously, observing the loopholes and potential exploitable spaces within this new system.
However, Osiris' attention to all these subtle pulsations occurring deep within Night City's fabric was rapidly diminishing.
In the core laboratory of the Workshop in Wasteland Town, which had been expanded under his will and was now quite substantial, Osiris' massive dark-red mechanical body stood before the main control console.
His crimson optical lenses scanned the city operation data summary reports periodically uploaded by the administrator.
On the screen, curves and data streams representing employment rates, productivity, crime rates, resource consumption, and fluctuations in public physiological and psychological indices flowed steadily.
Data from Johnny's community pilot projects was separately highlighted, showing some fluctuations, but had not yet reached the threshold requiring his intervention.
"Social structure evolution data recorded completely, all abnormal fluctuations marked," Osiris' synthesized voice echoed in the silent laboratory, a routine instruction to the administrator, "Events not endangering base security or core research projects do not need to be reported to me. Maintain the basic order baseline."
His processing core had long since shifted its main threads to higher-priority matters.
The large-scale design of the dimensional teleporter had entered its final debugging phase, encrypted communications from Neksum Forge World regarding the successful trial production of the ancient logic core needed in-depth analysis, and more importantly, the strength of the members of his planned feeler—the exploration team about to extend into unknown dimensions—still seemed too weak in his eyes.
The administrator's virtual image bowed slightly in a corner of the main console: "Command confirmed, Lord Magos. All data will be archived to the 'Social Structure Evolution' database."
Osiris no longer responded; he brought up another list, his crimson optical lenses locking onto each name on it.
These were the Probes he had carefully selected in this realm, prepared for exploring multiple dimensions.
"Assemble all members of the dimensional exploration team; return to the main laboratory immediately," the command was instantly sent via encrypted channel.
—
When the command was received, Maine's crew was at a small training ground on the outskirts of Watson.
This was originally a warehouse of a defunct factory, now repurposed by them as a site for familiarizing themselves with new equipment and tactical coordination.
The air still carried the ozone smell of laser rifles scorching the air and the gunpowder smoke after heavy weapon tests.
Maine had just put down his left arm, modified into a finely crafted plasma cannon; Dorio was stepping out of her deeply modified centaur-type makeshift power armor; Rebecca was excitedly wiping the barrel of her bolter.
Osiris' summons made everyone pause.
"Lord Magos summoned?" Pilar blinked his modified electronic eyes, capable of multi-spectral scanning, "This time... is it for real?"
Maine rubbed his chin, scars particularly prominent under the light: "Gather. Move fast."
His voice carried a hint of imperceptible tension.
Dimensional exploration, the term itself represented unknown dangers far beyond street brawls in Night City.
Although they had undergone Osiris' initial enhancements and their equipment far surpassed what they had before, the thought of actively stepping into alien worlds with different rules and lurking dangers still sent a chill down the spines of even battle-hardened mercenaries.