Cyberpunk:Gained a body of steel

"Let's talk somewhere else."

Peter looked at Otto, who was floating in the air, and spoke calmly.

'Otto' glanced at Peter before the surrounding light particles shifted, enveloping both Peter and Johnny. In the next instant, they found themselves in cyberspace once more—this time alongside Bridget and the others.

It seemed Otto had momentarily moved from the old-world cyberspace to Bridget's subnet, Poseidon.

Bridget and her team had been anxiously waiting for Peter's return, but they hadn't expected him to lead Otto through the black wall into their cyberspace. The unexpected development was a welcome surprise.

"Otto Cunningham?" Bridget called out cautiously.

But before she could say anything more, Otto dismissed her and the others from cyberspace without so much as a glance.

This act alone demonstrated Otto's absolute control in this space. Even a world-class hacker like Bridget had no way to resist.

"Now, state your purpose," Otto said, turning to Peter.

"Actually, it's not me who wants to talk to you. It's him," Peter said, pointing at Johnny.

Johnny fixed his gaze on Otto's floating figure and asked, "Otto, do you still have your own consciousness?"

"Consciousness? The real Otto Cunningham has long merged with this data consciousness. You can consider me her, yet at the same time, I am not her."

As Otto spoke, their eyes shifted to Peter.

"You, on the other hand, are quite interesting. I can sense that the relic chip has been activated in your brain. Yet, unlike others, you've only retained Johnny Silverhand's consciousness and managed to extract the chip."

Otto studied Peter for a moment before continuing, "More intriguingly, your mind doesn't seem to be influenced by Johnny's consciousness at all. I'm curious—how did you achieve this?"

Peter smirked. "Would you believe me if I said I simply rely on my brain to handle it?"

Otto considered this for a moment before nodding. "To some extent, I would. If a person's brain development surpasses normal human limits, achieving your level of control is theoretically possible."

They paused before adding, "However, I have never found any records or brain development techniques like yours in the old-world network."

"So, is that the only reason you came to me?" Otto asked.

"What else? This guy here thinks you're still alive and wants me to take you out of cyberspace," Peter shrugged.

He had no intention of needing Otto's help to destroy Mikoshi like in the game. If he wanted, he could simply fly into orbit and obliterate Mikoshi's satellite server himself. But what good would that do? It would only make an already broken world even worse.

"Otto, I believe you still have your own consciousness," Johnny insisted. "Maybe you can extract your consciousness and live in Peter's brain, just like me."

Otto shook their head. "That's impossible. Otto Cunningham was the first consciousness to merge with this data entity. Her consciousness was erased long ago. There is nothing left to retrieve."

"Then why do you appear as Otto?" Johnny asked, his voice laced with frustration.

"Because that is what you expect to see, and that is what I manifest as."

Otto's words crushed Johnny's last sliver of hope. The time he had once shared with Otto was gone, never to return. All because he had failed to protect her.

"Damn it! I don't want to talk anymore. Let's go, Peter," Johnny muttered, defeated.

Peter nodded in agreement.

"Leave a contact," he said.

"Fine."

Otto, curious about Peter's abilities, didn't refuse. They downloaded an encrypted communication channel directly to Peter, allowing him to reach them anytime.

Once the encrypted channel was secured, Peter exited cyberspace.

Emerging from the cabinet filled with ice water, he saw Bridget and her team standing nearby, engaged in heated discussion.

"Looks like you got what you wanted," Bridget said coldly. "Otto Cunningham spoke to you. What did they say?"

Peter stretched his limbs, still feeling slightly disoriented from the cyberspace exit. "I'm under no obligation to tell you that."

Bridget's expression darkened. "What did you say? If it weren't for us, you wouldn't have met Otto Cunningham in the first place!"

Blue light flickered in Bridget's eyes—a clear sign that they were preparing to hack into Peter's system directly.

Peter smirked. "Don't you have your own questions for Otto? What's wrong? Mad that I got my answers while you got nothing?"

Bridget gritted their teeth. "I can pull the information from your system myself if I have to."

Without hesitation, Bridget launched a full-power hacking attack.

"Oh? You think you can use me as a stepping stone? Let's see if you're even capable!"

Peter activated his anti-hacking defenses, flooding Bridget's mind with an overwhelming wave of puppet data.

"Agh!!"

Bridget's eyes burned with blue fire as they screamed in agony. Their body convulsed violently before collapsing to the ground.

"You enjoy disabling other people's behavior chips, huh?" Peter crouched beside Bridget, a cold smile on his face. "How about I let you experience it firsthand?"

"Damn it! Kill him!" Bridget's teammates sprang into action.

"Boss!"

"Notify the Second Master!"

Five hackers attempted to breach Peter's system simultaneously.

Peter barely spared them a glance before hacking into all their systems in an instant, frying their neural links.

Bridget lay trembling on the ground, helpless. Peter sneered, "Tell me, how does it feel to be powerless?"

He pressed his foot against Bridget's thigh and applied pressure.

"AHH! You lunatic! You're dead!" Bridget howled in pain as their bone snapped.

Peter wasn't done. He burned Bridget's behavioral chip, severing their limb control system, language system, and sensory functions.

"You love playing these little games with others, don't you?" Peter mused. "Let's see how you like being on the receiving end."

One by one, he disabled Bridget's remaining limbs.

By the time he was finished, Bridget was barely clinging to life, teetering on the edge of death.