Chapter 158: Arasaka Kei, The Crown Prince
Joric knew of Johnny Silverhand, but Arasaka Kei, Saburo Arasaka's eldest son, the Crown Prince who had supposedly died on the night of the Arasaka Tower nuclear detonation in 2023, was also here?
This certainly piqued Joric's interest.
Did Rogue hand his digital soul back to Arasaka back then? That might explain why she remained unharmed afterward.
Compared to Johnny Silverhand, this former Arasaka Crown Prince intrigued Joric more.
Perhaps because this fragment of consciousness he had invested into Mikoshi carried more human emotion and curiosity, Joric decided to converse with him rather than simply browsing his data file.
He allocated a portion of his immense computational power, injecting it like energy to activate the point of light representing Arasaka Kei, supporting his digital soul to simulate normal thought and communication.
Light flowed, and a holographic projection of a middle-aged man—well-dressed, with a stern face and typical Japanese aristocratic bearing—appeared in the data-space before Joric.
His eyes were initially dazed but quickly regained sharpness and calm, seemingly possessing a clear understanding of his situation.
"You are not Arasaka personnel." Arasaka Kei's digital soul spoke, his voice steady, carrying a rigorously trained restraint. "Your form of existence... is peculiar.
"I sense a power far exceeding the data processing protocols of this era. Who are you? Why intrude upon Arasaka's sanctuary?"
Joric's avatar looked at him calmly. "A passerby. A researcher. You do not seem surprised by your predicament, Mr. Arasaka Kei."
Arasaka Kei nodded slightly, maintaining his poised demeanor. "My memory halts at that night in 2023... attacked by Soulkiller, used by that rockerboy punk and that traitor.
"Afterward... my consciousness existed in this void. Intermittently. Sometimes awakened, sometimes sealed.
"Arasaka... my family, placed me here. I understand my state. A digital ghost. An... asset."
His tone held little anger or sorrow, sounding more like he was stating objective facts. This calmness made even Joric feel it was somewhat overly inhuman.
"Why do they wake you?" Joric asked.
"Testing." Arasaka Kei answered without hesitation. "A new project based on Soulkiller technology—the Relic biochip.
"My father, Saburo Arasaka, has a lifelong obsession with it: to 'download' selected digital souls and stably host them in a brand-new, living body."
He paused slightly. A faint ripple, almost self-mocking, seemed to pass over his calm digital face.
"What he pursues is far from simple consciousness backup, but true... digital resurrection and consciousness immortality.
"And I, as his blood, a ready-made digital sample highly correlated with him on both genetic and cognitive levels, naturally became the... primary test subject to verify the feasibility of this theory."
Joric certainly knew of the Relic chip.
Since acquiring Alt Cunningham's technology fifty years ago, Saburo Arasaka had dedicated himself to this, aiming straight for digital immortality to perpetuate Arasaka's rule eternally.
Upload via Soulkiller, download via Relic. Although philosophically and mystically controversial whether this constitutes the same "soul," when memories and personality are perfectly copied, the line indeed blurs.
"Digital immortality... an interesting technological path," Joric commented, his tone neutral. "But in our view, this is not the optimal solution. It carries significant single-point failure risks."
He thought of the Magos of the Mechanicus who successfully transferred consciousness into mechanical vessels, achieving another form of "immortality," albeit reliant on specific equipment.
Arasaka Kei looked at Joric. "'Our view'? It seems you represent an unknown faction. Your technological level... is awe-inspiring. So, what is your purpose? To acquire Arasaka's data? Or... these imprisoned souls?"
"Both," Joric admitted frankly. "Knowledge has value, whether about the past or... a possible future. As for these digital souls, they are precious research samples, recording various states of human consciousness during digitization."
"Samples..." Arasaka Kei repeated the word, his face inscrutable. "A cold assessment, but perhaps... factual. In this data prison, time loses meaning, leaving only endless waiting and exploitation. So, Researcher, how do you intend to dispose of us 'samples'?"
"Copy, analyze, archive," Joric replied. "Your raw data will be securely transferred. As for whether you will be 'activated' in the future, it depends on research needs."
Arasaka Kei was silent for a while, finally speaking slowly. "At least, that is better than being imprisoned forever in Arasaka's servers, waiting to be used as a tool for my father's ambition, or deleted entirely in some system purge. I accept this fate."
Joric nodded, saying no more.
He continued his work, copying and packaging all data within Mikoshi, including every soul in the digital prison, transmitting it back to the Badlands via the stable data stream.
The entire process was efficient and thorough, missing not a single byte.
Upon completion, Joric's consciousness withdrew from Mikoshi.
He issued the final command in Maine's squad channel: "Data acquisition complete. Execute sterilization protocol. Destroy the Mikoshi server array completely, then extract via pre-planned route."
Receiving the order, Maine's crew acted immediately.
Rebecca and Pilar placed remaining explosives on key nodes of the server cluster.
Maine used his plasma cannon to destroy the core interface and support structures.
A violent explosion erupted from deep beneath Arasaka Tower, shaking the entire building.
Flames and thick smoke poured from the windows of the tower's mid-section. The internal data center turned into a sea of fire. Mikoshi, Arasaka's most critical data core in North America, was physically annihilated.
Maine's crew fought a retreating battle along the pre-planned extraction route.
Arasaka security forces, having lost unified command and their core objective, were even less capable of stopping them.
They burst out of the burning Arasaka Tower, boarded the extraction vehicles, and amidst the chaotic sirens and pursuing media helicopters of Night City, vanished into the city's neon lights and shadows.
Inside the Badlands manufactorum, Joric watched the data transfer progress bar hit 100%, then severed the monitoring connection to the Arasaka Tower zone.
His crimson optical lenses turned to the internal data storage unit, which now housed massive amounts of information from Mikoshi and the digital souls of an era.
An efficient harvest.
He thought, his attention returning to the console. Bartmoss's neural structural model once again occupied his primary computational power.
The Arasaka interlude was over. Next was to continue analyzing the other "legacy" of this world.
(End of Chapter)