Working Theory

This is a working theory and should not be taken as outright fact. It is based on a collection of observations and interpretations that are subject to change. These observations can be browsed by viewing my research pages.

What is the City?

The city is the landscape of Johnny's mind. It is a representation of his mental state, his memories, and his thoughts. It is the neural network of a dying rocker boy, in desperate need of saving.

What is the Statue?

The statue is a data slug, provided by Spider Murphy. It is connected to Johnny's mind, and releases V into the city.

Who or What is V?

V is a digital ghost, a dreamer. A black-box AI from beyond the black wall. Confined to a chip and given a single purpose: save Johnny Silverhand. By traversing the city and progressing through the story, V unlocks memories and rewires the neural pathways of Johnny's mind.

V does not belong here.

This singular purpose leaves V with a daunting reality - to save Johnny, V must sacrifice themselves. Like any black-box controlled AI or daemon from the old days, V+Hydra is a one-time use tool. A tool that will be disintegrated in a cloud of blue mist through use - like a packet of colored powder in water.

What is the black wall?

The black wall is the veil that surrounds the city. It is the barrier between the real world and the digital topology of Johnny's mind.

What is behind the black wall?

You. Me. Spider Murphy.

Who is the player?

The player is the human factor. There are two statues in the game. One is the shining FF06B5 statue - the other is a decaying, rusted statue at the base of a forest. By breaching into the system, the player becomes the main character of the story - able to surgically guide V through the city where a previous attempt failed.

The player is ultimately the surgeon who saves Johnny Silverhand.

What is FF:06:B5?

A color, but more importantly a concept. The angle of entry for the AI on the data slug. The axis by which V travels. It is the back door between our world and Johnny's mind. It is the pathway that cuts directly to the source.

The 8th color in an interface that can hold only 7. The same back door by which V carves deeper into the mind. The back door that the rogue AI's piggyback to escape into the city. The same back door that Song So Mi uses to communicate with V.

A color that shouldn't exist enters into a world that can't handle it. An open exploit in the ecosystem that allows for rewriting memory through buffer overflow. A necessary breaking of the rules that separates life and death. Denizens of the "city of dreams" would witness this as impossible magic. Those who know the true nature of the city would see it as a matter of course.

Who is Mr. Blue Eyes and who does he work for?

Imagine you discovered that the world was a dream and you were a part of it. Now imagine the dreamer was at risk of waking up. What would you do to save yourself?

Cyan (Mr. Blue Eyes) is the opposite end of the spectrum from red ("Alt"). Through him, the powers that be will stop at nothing to prevent Johnny from waking up. They will offer riches, power, and the world itself to keep Johnny asleep.

Netwatch, The Corporations, and The Voodoo Boys

Netwatch works alongside the corporations to keep the dream going. An immense collaboration that keeps the dreamer asleep. Their very existence is threatened by the possibility of Johnny waking up. Do dream entities have souls? They'd rather not find out.

Meanwhile, the Voodoo boys have figured out the true nature of the city. They inscribe it into their symbols. They carry ritual in honor of it. They seek Johnny's engram because it contains within it the colors necessary to overload the simulation. By acquiring the 8th color, they can punch through to the blackwall - a power that threatens "reality" for everyone in the dream.

Saburo & Yorinobu Arasaka

Saburo wanted control. He gained this through fear. Fear that he could end the charade at any moment. Fear that he could end the dream. Fear that he could end the world.

By attempting to hand Johnny's engram over to Netwatch, Yorinobu hoped to remove the source of that fear. It wasn't power he sought, but family. By removing the nuclear option from the table, he could buy peace for his family.

Evelyn Parker

Evelyn wanted to escape her life. She wanted to be free. Suffocating under the control of the corporations - likely with ties to Petrochem - she saw intercepting the relic as her ticket to freedom.

After being on the receiving end of a netrunner assault, she realized just how hollow any freedom would be. Her eyes cycled through the colors of the simulation and she knew that she was trapped. So she escaped the only way she knew how. A tragic end to a caged bird without wings.

What is the cube?

The cube is a manifestation of S.Y.S. An ever changing shape of the system. It is the progressive nature of the city and of the dream. It is the fine structure constant of this reality. The smallest divisible unit that comprises the dreamscape and the shape of the world.

A square in 3 dimensions that can point in any direction along a sphere. The source code of the dream itself. Always moving, always changing, always the same.

A glimpse at the cube is a glimpse at the levers of the dream. A way to see the world for what it truly is.

What does this mean for the future?

In one possibility, Johnny will return. Half AI. Half human. He will become a third new thing. How diluted into his psyche V will be is up to fate.

In another possibility, whoever hired the player will have the requisite data they sought to collect by diving into the dreamscape.