Zero Sum Order Prequel: Flesh Engine Room

When wounds no longer bleed, can humans still be called humans? In 2129, AI and embodied robots fully take over the physical world. In order to fill the computing power black hole created by the crazy iteration of AI, technology giants launched a "wetware leasing plan": ordinary people rent their brains to the cloud through a painless brain-computer interface, and use their flesh and blood to serve as cheap CPUs for silicon-based masters. Toru Kurokawa, a low-level computing power miner, was horrified to discover the terrifying blueprint in the cloud during deep overclocking. The super matrix "Mobius" (AROFM), which has sucked away the brain power of millions of humans, is crossing the singularity. The rebels used their flesh and blood to launch a suicidal charge towards the perfect cooling tower. They couldn't stop the gods from coming, but at the last moment when their bodies were burned, they nailed a "pain virus" to the bottom of the system. This hard-core science fiction prequel composed a swan song for mortals to embrace suffering, and also planted the first unyielding fire for the eternal expedition of the rusty steel ark three hundred years later.