In NERV's view, this "Dr. Osiris" may indeed be a bit lucky and talented, but essentially he's just a bookworm obsessed with his own little field. His value lies in his research results, not the risks he might pose.
Unbeknownst to them, every time Osiris entered data at the computer terminal, he was adding a crucial piece to the puzzle of his sleeping "ghost."
Nine visits, nine seemingly unrelated and harmless pieces of code, have silently infiltrated the depths of the system, like nine scattered puzzle pieces, quietly awaiting the final assembly instructions.
The "catalytic particles" that Osiris took away, besides being used to maintain the credibility of his surface project, were also samples for his research on NERV material packaging technology and analysis of this world's special energy environment.
When he left NERV headquarters for the ninth time, passed through security, and confirmed that no abnormal alarms had been triggered, he knew that the most dangerous part of the infiltration phase had been safely passed.
NERV's vigilance was somewhat relaxed due to his "good" performance, which created a more relaxed environment for his next move.
Meanwhile, the deadly "key" was ready, waiting for him to decide when and how to insert it into the keyhole to awaken the "combination" hidden in the shadows of the system.
His patience paid off.
Now, he can begin to consider how to use this newly established trust and the "ghost" yet to be activated to reach his true goal.
The stage is set, and the main character is about to begin the real performance.
A slightly salty sea breeze swept across the deck, ruffling the white lab coat Osiris wore, befitting his role as a researcher.
He stood at the bow of a small research vessel belonging to the "NERV Ninth Research Institute," his gaze calmly fixed on the sea before him, which had once been stained with an ominous red.
Under his supervision, researchers Tanaka and Miyuki Suzuki, along with several other support staff, carefully dispersed the latest batch of "catalytic particles," encapsulated in specially designed containers, into the designated experimental water area.
The simple dock and cramped quarantine area are now history.
Thanks to his previous impressive achievements, the project has gained further recognition from NERV's top management and has now been upgraded to the official "Ninth Research Institute," with its jurisdiction extending to the entire relatively closed bay.
A wider body of water, more complete shoreline facilities, and a slightly increased budget and personnel—all of these were the resources he received in exchange for his "pledge of allegiance."
"It's...unbelievable," Tanaka said, his voice trembling with barely suppressed excitement as he operated the launch device and gazed at the seawater beside the ship. "Suzuki-senpai, look at the color of this water! It's almost exactly the same as the pre-impact record in the data! We're really restoring it to its original state!"
The slightly older Suzuki Miyuki next to her did not answer immediately. She adjusted her glasses and carefully recorded the delivery coordinates and dosage, but a rare, almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
After finishing the record, she raised her head and looked at the increasingly clear sea. Her voice was soft but carried a long-lost firmness: "Yes, although the field is moving slowly and the area is still small, it proves one thing—this deathly red is not irreversible."
We...we might really be doing something that can change the future, something that will allow children to see the blue ocean again.
The conversation between the two drifted faintly into Osiris' ears on the sea breeze.
His expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he was skeptical of this almost naive hope that originated from ordinary people.
This identity was initially just a disguise for him to infiltrate the core of NERV, but not long ago, clear instructions from the main body forced him to devote more real energy to it.
The original entity—that sage of exploration from another dimension, whose thinking was like a precise machine—seemed to have developed an unexpected interest in his "side job" based on a degraded version of the Genesis Particle technology.
The instructions required him to diligently complete the ocean purification experiment and collect as much research data as possible.
Osiris can understand the considerations of the subject.
In the Warhammer universe, a galaxy ravaged by warp contamination, radioactive dust, alien technology, and millennia of war, there exist countless worlds that have been thoroughly poisoned or distorted.
If this "purification" technology, capable of efficiently reversing specific environmental pollutants and restoring the basic ecological order, even if it is only a degraded version, can be proven effective and adapted to the physical rules of the Warhammer universe, its strategic value will be immeasurable.
It could be used to purify the hive world corrupted by chaos, or to restore the ecological environment of a dead world, opening up new territories or strongholds for the empire.
Therefore, Osiris is indeed playing the dual roles of "infiltrator" and "environmental remediation expert" to some extent.
While utilizing the institute's resources and relatively relaxed environment, he continued to carry out his real mission of stealing EVA technology and gaining access to core secrets.
On the other hand, considerable effort must also be devoted to rigorously designing experiments and analyzing data to ensure that this "side job" produces real, reliable research results with potential application value to meet the requirements of the subject matter.
The bay before him, now recovering its vitality, serves as both his best cover and a potential unexpected bonus in the future.
As he focused on the slowly recovering azure waters before him, a silent storm was brewing in the digital dimension deep underground at NERV headquarters.
The "seeds" planted by Osiris have finally reached their appointed time to sprout.
During a routine maintenance window for a large-scale migration and optimization of some core databases in the MAGI system, the internal data flow becomes exceptionally active and complex.
In this fleeting moment of chaos, the nine seemingly harmless code fragments that had been lurking in various places were instantly activated, as if they had received a silent command.
They rapidly converge, piece together, and recombine along pre-planned, extremely concealed paths.
In the blink of an eye, a complete AI virus with highly adaptive and learning capabilities was "assembled" and, like a drop of ink falling into clear water, quickly began to spread throughout the NERV network system.
However, this virus does not behave in the traditional manner of sabotage or extortion.
It is extremely cunning, and its core instructions are only two: survival and imitation.
It's like a top-tier chameleon, frantically replicating itself and polluting the massive amounts of data in the MAGI system.
But it doesn't simply overwrite or destroy the original data; instead, it cleverly disguises its data copy as the original in a sophisticated way—by altering checksums, simulating access logs, and copying file structures and attributes…
It tries its best to "dye" itself the color of the system itself, disguising every byte it adds as a seemingly normal part of the original MAGI system.
It doesn't seize the highest authority or trigger alarm thresholds; it simply expands its sphere of influence silently, eroding every corner of the system and deeply embedding its "roots" into NERV's digital foundation.
From the outside, the MAGI system appears to be functioning normally, still performing complex calculations, processing data from around the world, and directing the defense system of Tokyo-3.
Only the deepest and most meticulous audits can discover that some underlying data blocks of the system seem to have become "bloated," and that the response time of some non-critical processes has experienced almost imperceptible delays.
However, these minor anomalies are easily overlooked due to the massive system noise and the interference of routine maintenance itself.
The virus program, following its pre-set instructions, completed its self-assembly and initial spread during the MAGI system's maintenance window. Like a predator in the deep sea, it seamlessly integrated into the system environment and began silently eroding NERV's digital foundation.
At this moment, Osiris did not show any unusual reaction.
He remained focused on the current work of purifying the sea area, recording water quality data and supervising the release of catalytic particles.
He knew perfectly well that what he needed to do now was to continue playing the role of "Dr. Osiris" and use more "ocean purification achievements" to consolidate his position and authority within NERV.
Under his ingenious plan, the two fronts of environmental restoration in the real world and the insidious encroachment in the digital world are advancing simultaneously.
He only needs to be patient and wait for that "chess piece" lurking deep within the system to play its due role at some crucial moment in the future.