Chapter 332 - 307 Super Dream Experience

Rory from the Terrorist Mobile Team appeared before my eyes.

Super Dream reproduces all the mental states of the recorder while reading, and this replication is done by directly stimulating the nerves.

So an overly stimulating Super Dream can even permanently change the nerves, and cause damage almost equivalent to experiencing the trauma itself.

Of course, such changes can only occur if the experiencer truly immerses in that state.

Many young people are so enchanted by the thrill of Super Dream that they even start hallucinating.

This time, Lille’s task was to retrace the neural changes recorded by the Super Dream and then deduce the status of the prosthetics from it.

This was a process that required using one’s head, and of course, should not be influenced by the emotions within the Super Dream.

A qualified Super Dream editor has their methods to remove those irrelevant emotions and enhance the necessary ones; some do this through personal experience, editing while experiencing, while others choose based on observing the physiological states recorded in the Super Dream.

For Lille, this wasn’t just a Super Dream editing, so the latter method was the way to go.

[V: Have you gone in? How does it feel?]

[Lille: It’s nothing, I can withstand this kind of shock.]

V: ?

That response seemed a bit off.

[V: What do you mean?]

[Lille: Brilliant, V. If Kantao sees these details, they would probably hire you for their R&D department overnight...]

In the comparison of data captured by Little Octopus, it showcased what happened to V in that instant; if it had been anybody else, they would probably have burst dead already.

[Neural Tolerance Level Overloaded: Si Anweisitan stimulation current exceeds tolerance level by 15-30%]

[Frontal Lobe Cortex Damage: Local cell destruction, potential for slight personality changes and partial cognitive function loss]

[Feedback Loop Out of Control: Neural enhancement equipment losing feedback and control functions]

[Autonomic Nervous System Disorder: Blood pressure, heart rate, respiration curve chart is being generated...]

Lille started doubting whether V had truly transcended humanity, beginning to wonder if V was a bionic person...

[V: Is that all you have to say, damn it?!]

[Warning! Your body is under external attack!]

Huh?

"I’m going to let him know today..."

Next to the chair, Jack hurried to stop V: "Calm down, girl! Let’s talk this out!"

[Lille: What are you guys doing?]

[Jack: Nothing, it’s just, brother, how can you watch a Super Dream without feeling anything?]

[Lille: Maybe I just have a higher neural tolerance.]

Strange, very strange.

Jack always felt that Lille was not just uncommon among ordinary people, he was also starting to suspect that his good brother might be bionic...

Why does the conversation not match up!

Could it be that there really are such emotionless assassins in this world?!

But he seemed normal enough in their daily interactions, right?

[Lille: Stop shouting, sit in the diagnostic chair, and I’ll compare it again.]

V’s eyes were wide open with fury, but unfortunately, Lille was still in Super Dream, not even able to feel her angry gaze.

After staring for a while, V finally obediently sat in the diagnostic chair and connected to her personal link.

In the Super Dream, the camera moved to a part where V charged at Rory, then counter-attacked, badly injuring a member of the Terrorist Mobile Team.

This whole fight, if played at original speed without editing, would even need a Si Anweisitan to experience.

A blade was seen flying off, then, with V’s astonishing reflexes, she caught the blade with Magnetic Suction Gloves and sent it back into the belly of the Terrorist Mobile Team member.

The actions were so rapid, with so many details and such tremendous strength that, from the body data, they could all be called a miracle.

[Little Octopus: That was awesome!]

[V: Do you have to say that twice?!]

Lille sensed that in cyberspace, Little Octopus must have shrank onto his own head suddenly.

[Lille: I wasn’t the one who said it.]

[V: Then who was it?]

[Lille: An AI, it’s been the one repairing the Si Anweisitan these times.]

Unlike common AIs, Little Octopus did not like controlling ordinary machinery, nor did it like leaving its main computing code in those devices, so whether it was the OCT network or the ctOS system, Little Octopus never stayed in them for long.

It liked staying in Lille’s spinal prosthetics and had also expressed a clear preference for staying in V’s spine.

Since they would be collaborating more in the future, it made sense for V to get to know it now.

[Little Octopus: It’s me! Mu... Sis! (´͈ᵕ`͈)◞♡]

V’s prosthetic eye HUD suddenly displayed a pixelated octopus that grabbed all the frames and started dancing happily.

Noticing the incorrect word Little Octopus had used, V suddenly thought of the mysterious and unclear information she had come across on several assignments—

The truth was laid bare; it was the AI that had sent the messages.

Disappointment.

[Little Octopus: (⊙_⊙)?]

[V: You sure do a lot of acting, little guy... Wait a minute, this is an AI? Wasn’t the network supervision saying stuff like this is...]

[Lille: Right, very dangerous, but this one is not dangerous.]

V, intrigued, turned her gaze to Little Octopus, instinctively wanting to reach out and touch it.

She didn’t actually touch it, but the Little Octopus read the thought, and its pixel graphics began to change as if it had been caressed.

The change even transformed into specific electrical signals that gently stimulated V’s hand a few times, as if she had really touched it.

[V: It’s kind of... magical, I can touch it?]

[Lille: What do you mean? Touch? A new feature?]

[Little Octopus: New feature!]

[Lille: You got a new feature and you didn’t let me try it first? Let me touch it.]

[Little Octopus: (♡˙︶˙♡)]

The "feeling" of touching was very unique, incredibly soft, just like touching a real octopus, full of elasticity.

But unlike a real octopus, it wasn’t overly sticky, and it didn’t have the slimy sensation of being mixed with seawater...

To Lille personally, it felt more like an upgraded version of touching an octopus.

He immediately understood the principle this touch was based on; theoretically, the Little Octopus could even fine-tune the sensation based on both their preferences...

It was actually a pretty advanced technology.

It just felt... like it was veering a bit too much into the technical side.

[Lille: So... you read the Vortex Gang’s combat data, and you trained to develop this function in the end?]

[Lille: You seem to be using your powers a bit... oddly.]

[Little Octopus: (๑′°︿°๑)]

[V: I think it’s great, let me touch it again.]

In V’s prosthetic eye display, the Little Octopus kept "clingy" hovering over V’s hand, its suckers gently clinging on, creating a strange sensation.

[V: This is quite interesting—now get back to work!]

Lille held his tongue and continued working.

After analyzing the overclocked state, in cyberspace, the Little Octopus chewed over the compiled neural state data of Si Anweisitan, repeatedly mulling it over.

Then, under Lille’s gaze, its tentacles scratched its head.

[Little Octopus: Big bro, I think we need more data. These data are quite dangerous; there is a significant chance of causing secondary damage with direct experimentation.]

But the data needed this time... had to come from a special group.

They needed to find someone who specialized in selling cyber-mental illness Super Dream clips.

[Lille: Alright, but we still need to expand the data.]

V disconnected the personal link, her mouth twitching slightly.

[V: How do we expand it?]

[Lille: Take a look at some cyber-mental illness Black Superdreams. I heard there’s a series called "Outsider" that specializes in this.]

[Lille: Ask David and that unlicensed doctor from before.]

V raised her hand, pretending to be serious as she said, "Yeah! That’s awesome! I just love to bust Black Superdream dealers!"

[Lille: Why so sentimental now? Isn’t your dream to become the most badass in Night City?]

That was a fair point.

But the reason she was not happy was obvious, though hard to say—

She always felt that she and Lille were not on the same wavelength!

So she said, "What about the beautiful things you mentioned?"

[Lille: They’re Super Dream clips. You guys have probably never seen pristine forests, mountain ranges, and animals, right?]

[Lille: I’ll show you something different from the stimulating Superdreams.]

"You have them on hand?" V raised an eyebrow, "Those things are much more expensive than Black Superdreams, and supposedly not exciting at all. What’s so good about them?"

In 2076, it was rare to see normal natural environments.

In Europe, the relentless pursuit of profit led to rapid industrial expansion and even caused an all-European "Great Smog" incident that greatly reduced the greenery.

In Asia and America, it was quite similar, but these places had also gone through the trials of large-scale wars.

Africa and Oceania suffered from rampant storms due to global climate change, and such storms became common in America as well.

The oceans were full of nuclear and industrial waste discharged by the whole world. Beneath these deadly waters, the number of living creatures dwindled, but AI-controlled nuclear submarines and unmanned fleets patrolled menacingly.

Beyond that, land suitable for plant growth was almost all planted with Alcohol 2 wheat or absorbed by corporations, waiting to be utilized.

The rain was acidic, the air was filled with dust, and the water was loaded with chemical waste and radioactive substances.

Those beautiful environments almost no longer existed—

And if they did, they were places of profit; naturally, to enjoy these scenes through Superdreams, one had to pay a licensing fee.

There was an ecological park in Night City, but it was packed with homeless people and the Animal Gang, stinky and chaotic.

For those who had never seen such scenes, the so-called "natural beauty" was just a collection of expensive Superdream clips that sounded utterly unexciting.

People preferred to buy risqué Superdreams or Black Superdreams – they were cheap and exciting, offering the best value for money, a favorite among the poor.

Lille logged out of the system and slowly disconnected the wires attached to his body.

As he exited his work mode, he said, "That’s not necessarily true. How do you know you don’t like it if you’ve never seen it?"

As Lille gradually left work mode, V crossed her arms, and Jack quietly stepped back a few paces, ready to make his escape.

As a result...

After removing the Superdream headband, both of them could immediately tell Lille had become that dopey mode—

Which was the dumb state that V loved to tease most.

This time, she didn’t immediately start shaking him...

So frustrating.