Bryce Morris, a Netwatch agent, was on duty.
Leo barely remembered him; after all, there were only a handful of agents in the original game.
This guy was fully equipped and nothing like Leo, who entered cyberspace through hacks. Bryce was a true elite netrunner.
Aside from the skin on his face, the rest of his head had been modified with heat-dissipating synthetic materials, which extended from the back of his head down his spine and arms.
These extreme cooling components hinted at the high-risk nature of his cyber work.
Backed by the top-notch organization of Netwatch, they had the most advanced access pods, software, and any other tool necessary for the job.
Leo glanced at a nearby hacker who had just fried his brain and sat down next to Bryce.
"Work hazard?"
"This isn't a work hazard. Netwatch has zero tolerance for cybercrime."
"Doesn't sound too impressive. You're in Night City, not Europe."
Zero tolerance sounded bold, but no one could ignore the rampant cybercrime in Night City.
Bryce was momentarily at a loss—Leo had a point.
There's attitude, and there's reality.
The policy was zero tolerance, but the reality was uncontrollable.
"You're calmer than I expected."
"Thanks. Should I take that as you screaming the first time you got booted offline?"
Bryce scowled: "Can you talk normally?"
"Ahem, no time for nonsense."
"Aren't you the one rambling? If you didn't arrest me, then you have a job for me, right? Get to it, and name your price."
The street vendor quietly placed two burgers on their table and stepped away.
Leo looked at the fresh burgers, his eyebrow twitching.
"You like this stuff too?"
Bryce paused. "I thought you liked it. Damn, can we talk about something worthwhile?"
"Then you start!"
"I mean, alright. Burger King, huh? Your illegal cyber activities are all recorded. Netwatch has you documented according to—"
Leo cut him off, "Aren't you the one who just said no small talk?"
Bryce's face darkened further. "Well, anyway, your internet access permit is revoked! If you…"
Leo interrupted again: "Come on, I know you're cool already. Just get to the point."
Bryce almost lost his cool, glaring as he took a vicious bite of his burger.
Watching, Leo had a random thought: he should create a legend that every time someone eats a whole burger in Night City, someone somewhere dies.
After a few bites, Bryce said, "You have real talent; being a solo is a waste. Join Netwatch."
Leo Ignoring him
"What is the job? Details."
"Last year—exactly seven months ago—some Fixer messed things up in Pacifica, and then the Black Wall was attacked.
Wait, you know what the Black Wall is, right?"
This story goes back to 2022.
Before June 13, 2022, the world widely used the internet, allowing people to communicate, share, and monitor through this massive network.
At that time, AI was being explored intensively, and the industry was thriving.
But then, Bartmoss, the so-called "God of Netrunner," released a virus that gave AI self-awareness, making them highly aggressive.
TN: He just made a million ai copies of himself and accidentally release some rogue ai I think
These AI indiscriminately attacked humans online, even using controlled machinery, including military equipment, to inflict harm.
From that day on, the internet became a danger zone full of hostile AI.
No one dared connect to cyberspace, as even subnet access posed the risk of AI infiltration through unknown devices.
Once they found you, it was life or death.
For nearly 20 years, humanity lived offline, while the British company Netwatch made repeated failed attempts to take control.
Until, after two decades, Netwatch announced they had brought together ten network security experts to create something called the Black Wall.
The Black Wall isolated these rogue AIs from the regular internet, giving mega-corporations breathing room to rebuild their local networks.
After listening to the history, Leo replied, "Yeah, the ultimate anti-AI software."
Yes, "Black Wall" is a term that's easy for people to understand—like a wall separating dangerous cyberspace.
But cyberspace isn't a physical place, and the Black Wall isn't a real wall.
It's essentially an AI—a form of "disinfectant" software.
Standing between the normal network and the chaotic old net, it attacks anything resembling rogue AI and any entity attempting to enter the old net.
Now, in today's world, all local networks connect through this super AI, which sanitizes other rogue AIs, ensuring network stability and safety.
Because of the Black Wall, other corporations accepted Cybersecurity's elevated authority in cyberspace.
Bryce nodded approvingly, "You know your stuff. I like how you put it."
"Stick to the point, my friend."
Bryce's face tightened. "Alright, here's the deal: I need to locate and eliminate the criminals who attacked the Black Wall. Help me with this."
"The reward?"
"An access permit."
Much better—short and sweet.
But Leo shook his head, "No deal. I can hack for a permit myself. I'd rather avoid being tied to a permit number by you guys."
Bryce's cooling fins almost flared in frustration!
Thankfully, Leo quickly added, "However, I've heard about the Black Wall. Helping you guys is helping humanity. I don't want cash—just one thing: give me access to your Netwatch training materials."
Bryce paused, surprised. Leo didn't ask for money but for knowledge!
This was unexpected; he was different from the typical street kid.
Considering his assessment report on Leo, Bryce slowly said:
"You know, knowledge is hard to price. If you want to learn, why not join Netwatch directly?"
"No thanks. Only fools get tied to 'serving humanity' around the clock. Even God took a day off when creating the world."
Bryce almost choked—you just said it was a noble cause!
He didn't let it bother him, though—real wounds don't always bring anger.
"Actually, God only rested one day." Bryce signaled the vendor, "Bring me a Nicola Dream."
He took a big gulp from the can.
"So, deal?" Leo asked tentatively. "With all this work, don't you want a real drink?"
"Alcohol dulls neural sensitivity and disrupts computational stability—I have to work overtime soon.
I'll give you some materials, but only on my terms. And don't mention cybercrime around me again!"
"Deal—never thought there'd be a decent corpo. Where do we start? Got a lead?"
But Bryce fell silent.
Leo was puzzled.
Finally, Bryce said slowly, "No."
There was a brief silence, broken only by vending machine ads and snippets of conversation, drunken cursing.
Leo was ready to leave—
"Wait!" Bryce quickly grabbed his arm. "There was a lead, but thanks to what you guys pulled at the corporate plaza, it's gone!"
Leo sat back down.
Now, that was more like it.
For a moment, he thought this Netwatch agent was all talk.