#hacker's memory

[felisartus]

Yuu...

[mythgendered]

i like these games a Normal Amount, and naem can attest the growing pile of unposted fanart is testament to just the tip of the iceberg of Normal ive been about my most recent (re)plays

[ghostlightart]

[traumatas]

Little warm up doodle!

Personally, I like to think Keisuke did really just consider Yuu his friend during the game. Post-game, however, with the knowledge of Yuu being interested in him, he's gonna catch it baaaad. Give him a year or so and he's head over heels.

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[aoi311]

[metalempire]

fun fact: in digimon story cyber sleuth: hacker's memory, the BBS you use to accept cases has a url shown in game, punching it in actually takes you to a real website that features info all about the cyber sleuth games that was used both pre-release and during the release of the games. nice detail.

https://digimonstory.bn-ent.net/

[nogiyuu]

Hacker's Memory and Neuromancer

(I wrote this a bit ago and threw it onto a forum, but I thought I'd also put it here.)

Warning: This contains immense spoilers for both Hacker’s Memory and Neuromancer by William Gibson.

Neuromancer, a science fiction novel released in 1984, is mentioned in Hacker’s Memory a couple times, both by Yuu. Intrigued, I looked into the book and realized that there are other influences that Neuromancer had (or may have had) on Hacker’s Memory (and perhaps Cyber Sleuth as a whole). 

This is just a writeup of my thoughts on this, so if this sounds disinteresting, feel free to click away any time.

1) Names

On the Digimon wiki, it is stated that K is named after Keisuke. In the game itself, it never explicitly states this, so I was always a bit dubious about it; maybe it seems completely obvious based on the contents of the story, but I didn’t like that it had no source.

In chapter 6, if you choose the option “Who are you?” when questioning K, he will tell you this:

English:  ...I can't reveal that just yet. Oh, I know. I should at least tell you the origin of this name. Have you ever read Gibson? He wrote the famous book "Neuro--" ...No, that might be too much of a hint. There's no point... if you don't figure out the answer yourself.

Japanese: …まだそれを明かすわけにはいかない だが、そうだな。この名の由来くらいは教えてやろう。ギブスンを読んだことはあるかな？ かの有名なニューロー　……いや、これは少しヒントを与えすぎかな 答えは……君自身が気づかなければ意味がない

According to K, his name originates from Neuromancer. There are a few different ways that this can be taken.

1. K is simply based off of Case, the name of the protagonist of Neuromancer. This is the most similar name in the book, and considering Case was a well-known formerly-legendary hacker, it makes sense that he would name himself after him.

2. Rather than his name explicitly, it refers to the scene at the end of Neuromancer where Case enters cyberspace and sees a copy of himself operating independently of him:

“And one October night, punching himself past the scarlet tiers of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority, he saw three figures, tiny, impossible, who stood at the very edge of one of the vast steps of data. [...] But the third figure, close behind her, arm across her shoulders, was himself.” (p263)

If taken this way, this indirectly states that K’s name is based on Keisuke; because in EDEN, K is using Keisuke’s avatar, and is thus effectively a copy of Keisuke separate from himself in the physical world. It is a way of saying “the origin of this name is that I am a copy of you in cyberspace.”

3. Keisuke’s name itself is based on Case’s. In the Japanese translation of Neuromancer, Case’s name is written as ケイス. Keisuke’s name is originally written as ケイスケ; potentially just an additional sound to add the masculine -suke ending for names. As of now, the Digimon wiki simply writes that Keisuke is a masculine Japanese name, which is also true. However, considering the other Neuromancer references in Hacker’s Memory, it makes me think that Keisuke’s name itself may also be a reference.

In this case, it would be accurate to say that both ideas are true; that K’s name is based on Keisuke, which is in turn based on Case, and thus both of their names are a reference to him.

2) More About Yuu

Yuu is an avid fan of science-fiction, often lending books to Keisuke. He mentions Neuromancer twice: once in the K quote written above, and also during chapter 9:

English:  I may not be as good as you, but I'm a pretty great "Computer Cowboy," too. You don't know? It's from the book I lent you.

Japanese:  おまえほどじゃなくても、立派に”コンピューター・カウボーイ”なんだ、おれだって。 何って…お前に貸しただろ、本。

In Neuromancer, “console cowboy,” a term meaning “hacker,” was translated in the Japanese version as “computer cowboy.” If one is familiar with Neuromancer, this is also another clue to K’s true identity earlier than its reveal in chapter 14. It’s also canon here that Yuu lent Keisuke a copy of Neuromancer, though he never read it.

3) Other Similarities

I don’t know how the Japanese translation of Neuromancer translated some of the things below, so it’s possible that some of this is by coincidence with the English version of Hacker’s Memory.

1. The Mole

In Hacker’s Memory, the Mole is a tiny device used for body control that was discussed in the case that involved student bullying. It was used to hijack someone else’s body’s functions and force them to move at your will.

In Neuromancer, the Mole is described as a virus, a “series [of] the first generation of real intrusion programs” (p27). The Mole IX was described as “the first true virus in the history of cybernetics” (p79). Though the story is extremely vague about what the Mole actually does, the names matching makes me think that Neuromancer’s Mole was an inspiration for Hacker’s Memory’s. 

Regarding that particular case further, there is a scene in Neuromancer where an AI takes the appearance of someone Case knows, and Case wants to kill them. The AI warns him against it, because “there are certain internal logics to be honored. If you use that, you'll see a lot of brains and blood” (p116). The student in the Hacker’s Memory case also believes that everything that is happening is reality, and sees the bloody effects of his actions. Though the Hacker’s Memory story never follows up with the student, Neuromancer goes into Case’s reaction: “Deane's death kept turning up like a bad card, no matter if he told himself that it hadn't been Deane. That it hadn't, in fact, happened at all” (p120). 

2. EDEN

In Neuromancer, their cyberspace is known as the “matrix.” You plug in through a “deck” (effectively the Digivice equivalent) that projects your “disembodied consciousness into the consensual hallucination that was the matrix” (p3). Even the basic description of the matrix has some parallels with EDEN: "Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...” (p50). 

Case, the main hacker protagonist, describes himself as a thief who “worked for even wealthier thieves” (p3), which mirrors some of how the hackers acted in account thievery for the sake of money. Hacking is often described in the book as “breaking through the ice,” with “ice” being a term similar to how firewalls and security programs are depicted in Cyber Sleuth, as well as more generally the makeup of a program’s structure.

There are a few times when the matrix is described to be visually similar to EDEN. “He punched himself through and found an infinite blue space ranged with color-coded spheres strung on a tight grid of pale blue neon. [...] He began to glide through the spheres as if he were on invisible tracks” (p61). “They ascended lattices of light, levels strobing, a blue flicker. [...] Wintermute was a simple cube of white light, that very simplicity suggesting extreme complexity” (p111). 

3. Sapient Viruses

Digimon in the series obviously have their own thoughts, opinions, ability to speak, etc. They are also used in Cyber Sleuth as hacking tools to break through firewalls. Neuromancer barely goes into this, but there is a virus called the Kuang Grade Mark Eleven that takes a form in cyberspace and, according to an AI living there, is “real friendly,” “polite and helpful as can be,” and “speaks good English” (p165). Visually, it acts like a plane, can be ridden, and is described as a “black-mirrored shark thing” (p223). Living programs are ubiquitous enough in media that I’m not claiming Neuromancer specifically may have influenced Digimon in any way, but I do think it’s interesting how Neuromancer reflects a Digimon-esque virus that has its own self, even if these traits are relayed only by the AI. 

4) Final Thoughts

Yuu also mentions a book to Keisuke where the protagonist “found [themself] one day on an animal planet” (朝目が覚めたら動物しかいない惑星に飛ばされて), and I don’t know sci-fi well, so if he’s referencing an existing work here, I don’t know it. If anyone does, if you could please mention it?

Personally, I would not recommend reading Neuromancer based on this, as it doesn’t tell you much more than I’ve illustrated here, and there are better reads. I would consider it an adult book, and it contains such topics in relative detail, so be aware of that. 

I think the one thing I didn’t think was relevant to go into too much detail for is that there is a Neuromancer concept/device called “stimsim,” where one essentially takes a backseat in someone else’s body and feels all the sensations their body does, but they have no control. While this does remind me a bit of when Keisuke logged in with Yuuko’s avatar and thus experienced whatever sensations she would be, and perhaps this concept influenced how EDEN tried to replicate human sensation in the virtual realm, it may be unrelated. 

[ojisanmuramasa]

finally finished digimon story cyber sleuth hacker's memory, and now i'm sad and dont know what to do with myself

[appdigitize]

Digi-Gaming on my Nintendo Switch #1

I fucked up on Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, so I ended up deleting my file out of frustration and starting to replay Hacker's Memory. Honestly, the story of Hacker's Memory and gameplay is better than the original Cyber Sleuth. I'm the only one who finds the original Cyber Sleuth kinda boring and enjoy Hacker's Memory more?

[felisartus]

Messy colored sketch page.

[mythgendered]

What makes you, "you"? Can you give it away?

[zeromaster]

🔴 #ZeroStreams IS LIVE!!! 🔴 #VTUBER Maphisto! | #Digimon Hacker's Memory | !throne !patreon !gg

https://twitch.tv/Zeromaster

https://kick.com/zeromaster

[madhogthymaster]

Slug Man and The Girls - Surviving Digimon, Feat. Melody Dickens and Sushi_Witch [Ep. 1.5]

Episode 2 is coming soon.

Catch all streams live at: twitch.tv/melodydickens

[beycrafter]

[emr7]