The Net in Cyberpunk: Blackwall, Datakrash and rogue AIs

History

One of my favorite piece of Cyberpunk's lore is probably the one surrounding the Net and its evolution from today to 2077. In Cyberpunk, the Net works almost the same as today's world wide web, it is accessible by most people from their computer. The main difference is that professionals can browse it in 3D space, through a cybermodem or cyberdeck. Those people are called Netrunner, they are basically hackers with specific brain implants that allow them to directly plug their brain into the Net. Of course, it doesn't come without risk, most restricted access data are protected with ICE, which is some kind of firewall. Since Netrunners have their entire body connected, ICE can physically and mentally harm them, even to death.

The Datakrash

The Net has been like that since the beginning of the 2000s, but it went through a huge reboot in 2022, the Datakrash. At this time was living the best Netrunner ever, Rache Bartmoss. He spent his life fighting against corporations, mostly throught the cyberspace, thanks to his incredible netrunning skills. In 2014, he released on the Net some sort of "sleeper" virus, the R.A.B.I.D.S. The point of this virus was to spread silently on the Net, and to be triggered only upon his death. In 2022, Bartmoss was murdered by a corporation (Arasaka or Militech I'm not sure), which unleashed the virus on the entire Net. This virus was insanely powerful and deadly, its main goal was to get into corporations' databases and release them to the public. It was also infecting and mutating any AI it could find, into dangerous, bloodthirsty, rogue AIs. This led corporations to lose billions of dollars, it corrupted massive amounts of data and made the Net a literal no man's land, where most people couldn't survive long. Rogue AIs were also in control of vehicles, weapons, and basically any connected device in real life. In a few months, most of the Net was infected and unusable. Following those events, Netwatch decided to take action.

// Netwatch is an international Net policing organization that was created from a collaboration between the US and Europe. As most of the political scene, it works closely with corporations. Its main goal is to chase and put Netrunners out of action. After the Datakrash, it was also targeting rogue AIs within the Net.

Netwatch couldn't find a way to clean up the old Net, which resulted in the creations of many Citynets. These are basically local Nets entirely owned by corporations or governments. They were brand new and clean Nets, available in some regions. It was basically a fallback option so that people can continue to use the Net. It wasn't well received by most Netrunners given that those subnets were under the control of corporations, without any regulations. However, the old Net was still in service, but navigated only by experienced Netrunners and Netwatch agents.

The Blackwall

20 years later, with the goal of restoring the old Net, Netwatch was secretly working on the project of the "Blackwall". In 2044, without prior warning, it was implemented and raised in the middle of the old Net. The point of the Blackwall is to completely isolate the Net from rogue AIs. Due to its sudden apparition, Netrunners who happened to be behind it were stuck there forever, and most likely died, not being able to safely disconnect. But the most interesting part is the nature of the Blackwall. Officially, it's simply an advanced firewall developed by Netwatch, but there were a few archives stating that it was actually some sort of entity built in collaboration with rogue AIs themselves. Some people think that AIs might have wanted to build their own society, with no human interference. It is also speculated that the Blackwall could be an autonomous AI that would kinda make the bridge between the human society and rogue AIs. Sadly, there isn't much more lore about the Blackwall for now, though it gives us a lot of stuff to imagine further.

The Blackwall in Cyberpunk 2077

Alt Cunningham

Alt Cunningham is another legendary Netrunner, who worked side by side with Rache Bartmoss. She now lives permanently in the Net, behind the Blackwall. In 2013, she was kidnapped by Arasaka and forced to work for them. She was asked to replicate the Soul Killer, a program she built in the 2000s. This program can basically delete the soul of any Netrunner on the Net, within seconds. However, the version she made for Arasaka was also able to store the soul outside of the body, in a chip.

In late 2013, Johnny Silverhand led a raid to the Arasaka Tower in hope to rescue her. It didn't go as planned and she was killed when Johnny unplugged her. Though physically deceased, she was able to save her soul in the Net. She was now an AI herself. In 2023, she worked with Bartmoss and Militech in order to destroy Arasaka's Soul Killer. She was kidnapped again and forced to build the Soul Killer 3.0. In 2023, with the second Arasaka tower raid, she was released again on the Net.

In 2025, she built a "digital haven" in the city Hong Kong, to exist without any human interference. When the Blackwall was raised, she stayed on the rogue AIs side. In 2077, she is still a very powerful AI, Netrunners often try to contact her, especially the Voodoos Boys.

// After being arrested and interrogated in 2023, Johnny Silverhand was subject to the Soul Killer. His soul was then stored on the "Relic", which happens to be the one that V robbed from Arasaka in 2077.

// At the time, Hong Kong was completely deserted of any life, due to a bio-engineered plague released during the 4th Corporate War. This made available all the data centers and infrastructures to Alt.

Songbird

The Cyberpunk 2077's expansion, Phantom Liberty, focuses a lot on the Blackwall and the rogue AIs behind it. Songbird, a Netrunner employed by the NUSA, was in the 2070s, working on breaching the Blackwall. The president Myers wanted to be able to use it as a weapon, thus giving the NUSA a huge advantage over the rest of the world.

We don't know much details, but she actively uses the Blackwall in order to contact V, through the Relic. She also uses it to kill most corporate and NUSA agents coming in her way at the end of Phantom Liberty. However, the frequent contact with the Blackwall injured her, both physically and mentally. At the end of the expansion, she's almost completely lost to rogue AIs control.

Project Cynosure

Project Cynosure Phantom Liberty also teaches us more about Project "Cynosure". It was developed from 2013 to 2022, in order to counter Arasaka's Soul Killer. Project Cynosure was meant to capture rogue AIs and make use of them. However, the Datakrash wiped most of the project, and Militech had to abandon it. They closed the project facility, located under Night City.

In 2077, V and Songbird somehow happen to get into this facility. It is now occupied by the Cerberus, a prototype maintenance robot built by Militech. Since the Datakrash, it is now controlled by a rogue AI, and aims to kill anyone it finds.