It Came From Beyond the Blackwall... *cue creepy techno music*

[Glorious_Dawn]

By the way, does anybody understand Garry's monologues?

Does anybody know what are these about?
Who are techno-necromancers and what is alpha centauri?

Garry is nuttier than a pecan log, but he blurts grains of truth on occasion in all that delusion. I think one of the most important things he says at any point is when he tells V that he had an accident and afterward could hear the 'thoughts' of powerful people through his brain implants. He somehow blamed his ripperdoc for this, and was too brain damaged and/or traumatized to do anything more with what he was hearing beyond spinning it all into paranoid conspiracies, but what he was picking up was real. The meeting he pointed V to is proof of that.

The sequence of events associated with Garry the Prophet also creepily implies that V is being closely watched. Possibly from within her own Keroshi implants (Garry's rant about being spied on through optics may not have been as crazy as it sounded). Someone obviously has enough control over her optics to blind her at will. Garry was left to rant in an alleyway unmolested until he proved he knew about factual events. Then he was promptly disappeared. V may have tipped off the movers and shakers behind that meeting without even knowing it.

More questions lacking answers.

Post automatically merged: Mar 10, 2022

what do you mean? What was promised about it?

The comment about the mission for the Peralezes not being the end of that story even if this was the end of V's involvement with it.

Anyone have a link to that on hand?

Post automatically merged: Mar 10, 2022

The last questions I want to ask is, why was NetWatch even interested in buying a relic containing Johnny's engram from Yorinobu? Was it to use him like VooDoo Boys wanted to, to lure Alt?

That was my immediate question as well during my first playthrough when V woke up with Johnny Silverhand in her head. Wait, what? WHY?!

According to Yorinobu message to the Netwatch agent (in the computer in the Konpeki), Netwatch didn't know that it was Johnny on the Relic (Yorinobu simply said "there is a gift on the chip").

Right, so plainly there was more than one plot to steal the chip underway at once with a variety of reasons for wanting it.

Someone wanted to smuggle Johnny Silverhand's engram out of Mikoshi. Why? A rockerboy terrorist long on ideals but of no further use to Arasaka beyond the immediate information that had already long ago been ripped from his memories. They'd have found out that he got the bomb material he used to blow up the towers from Militech. Oh, and he had an intimate relationship with the god-level netrunner, Alt Cunningham, who Arasaka had already engram copied and murdered. Ahh, there's the money shot.

So, it likely had something to do with Alt.

Yorinobu indicated he knew what was on the chip, but Netwatch (his ostensible buyer) didn't? Um, again, what? That makes no damn sense unless the Netwatch agent he intended to sell it to wasn't the actual buyer but an intermediary to the actual buyer. There's no way the reasoning behind any aspect of this was 'just because'. We don't know if Johnny was put on the chip at Yorinobu's instruction or if he simply knew it had been done but it was incidental to his own plans. Regardless, someone put Johnny on the chip deliberately and for specific reason.

Who was seeking contact with Alt Cunningham at all costs? Maman Brigitte. The VooDoo Boys don't seem to have any qualms about using anyone to accomplish their aims. It would not astonish me to discover that Brigitte had back-channel contracted to use a buyable Netwatch agent (possibly through another intermediary or two) to get her hands on that chip with Johnny safely stored on it. Evelyn Parker may have been a backup plan, a way of independently verifying that Yorinobu really had gotten the chip out of the lab. Perhaps to set up a Plan B klep if the original deal fell through or Yorinobu tried to renege on the agreement.

If you squint, I suppose a distant case can be made that Alt may have been behind the deal to spring Johnny from Mikoshi. She plainly still has some attachment to him if even the VDB knew that dangling him over the Blackwall was the likeliest bait to get Alt to show up (and that totally worked), but her motivations behind 'why' and 'why now' remain murky. She's no longer human, and assuming any human motivations would be risky at best.

The rabbit hole gets ever deeper and weirder.

V was a wrench in the works that no one saw coming, but it explains why Brigitte was so eager to speak with her.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

The comment about the mission for the Peralezes not being the end of that story even if this was the end of V's involvement with it.

Anyone have a link to that on hand?

I think it's that

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1441026008350539785

Yorinobu indicated he knew what was on the chip, but Netwatch (his ostensible buyer) didn't? Um, again, what? That makes no damn sense unless the Netwatch agent he intended to sell it to wasn't the actual buyer but an intermediary to the actual buyer. There's no way the reasoning behind any aspect of this was 'just because'. We don't know if Johnny was put on the chip at Yorinobu's instruction or if he simply knew it had been done but it was incidental to his own plans. Regardless, someone put Johnny on the chip deliberately and for specific reason.

Honeslty, from the beginning, Yorinobu's plans were to "destroy" Arasaka. So selling the immortality technology of his father (only intended for Saburo & his family uses) was the "main" reason. And Yorinobu, far to been "stupid", knew that Netwatch (as the VDBs) probably also wanted to find Alt.
Besides, I don't remember that in Yorinobu's message there was any question of money (unlike Evelyne one). Yorinobu don't really care about money, He probably want to "give" the chip to Netwatch and "sabotage" his father's power as much as possible.

Without Yorinobu, I think Johnny would still be quietly "stored" in Mikoshi (like all other engrams). Saburo or whoever had no reason to put Johnny on the chip. Especially since no one but Yorinobu would have taken the risk of cheating the Emperor himself. Doing that, it is clearly like signing a "death warrant".

 

[GogRelvas]

The comment about the mission for the Peralezes not being the end of that story even if this was the end of V's involvement with it.

Anyone have a link to that on hand?

Oh I think I know the quote but I don't think it promissed future content on it. I think it was to explain how the player is suposed to have limited knowledge on some of the world events. On the pnp (and very inline with cyberpunk works) the player gets the lore from factual texts but also testemonies (so we know we only know one side of it, possible intentions for it), sometimes it gives player an incomplete painting to have us connect the dots. I think that's what they did with the Peralez story. They confirmed there is a curtain to peek behind but we the player only see a tiny bit of it.

That was my immediate question as well during my first playthrough when V woke up with Johnny Silverhand in her head. Wait, what? WHY?!



Right, so plainly there was more than one plot to steal the chip underway at once with a variety of reasons for wanting it.

Someone wanted to smuggle Johnny Silverhand's engram out of Mikoshi. Why? A rockerboy terrorist long on ideals but of no further use to Arasaka beyond the immediate information that had already long ago been ripped from his memories. They'd have found out that he got the bomb material he used to blow up the towers from Militech. Oh, and he had an intimate relationship with the god-level netrunner, Alt Cunningham, who Arasaka had already engram copied and murdered. Ahh, there's the money shot.

So, it likely had something to do with Alt.

Yorinobu indicated he knew what was on the chip, but Netwatch (his ostensible buyer) didn't? Um, again, what? That makes no damn sense unless the Netwatch agent he intended to sell it to wasn't the actual buyer but an intermediary to the actual buyer. There's no way the reasoning behind any aspect of this was 'just because'. We don't know if Johnny was put on the chip at Yorinobu's instruction or if he simply knew it had been done but it was incidental to his own plans. Regardless, someone put Johnny on the chip deliberately and for specific reason.

Who was seeking contact with Alt Cunningham at all costs? Maman Brigitte. The VooDoo Boys don't seem to have any qualms about using anyone to accomplish their aims. It would not astonish me to discover that Brigitte had back-channel contracted to use a buyable Netwatch agent (possibly through another intermediary or two) to get her hands on that chip with Johnny safely stored on it. Evelyn Parker may have been a backup plan, a way of independently verifying that Yorinobu really had gotten the chip out of the lab. Perhaps to set up a Plan B klep if the original deal fell through or Yorinobu tried to renege on the agreement.

If you squint, I suppose a distant case can be made that Alt may have been behind the deal to spring Johnny from Mikoshi. She plainly still has some attachment to him if even the VDB knew that dangling him over the Blackwall was the likeliest bait to get Alt to show up (and that totally worked), but her motivations behind 'why' and 'why now' remain murky. She's no longer human, and assuming any human motivations would be risky at best.

The rabbit hole gets ever deeper and weirder.

V was a wrench in the works that no one saw coming, but it explains why Brigitte was so eager to speak with her.

I disagree with a lot here. I think the VBs motivations trully are to contact and allie with the AIs when the AI vs human war comes, and they see Alt as Papa Legba, the Voodoo Lwa (entity) that connects our world to the spirit world. Brigitte mentions Silverhand's name, she knows he's in the relic.
The Netwatch agent must have been interested in one of the new, rare prototypes of the relic, nothing to do with Johnny. He's just a present, a curiousity to netwatch.
What is important here is that Alt designed the first version of the soulkiller, that extracted the soul of someone cruising the net and capture it into an engram. The corporations later used this technology to capture rivals and question them in this virtual environment (with virtual torture) or simply to assassinate enemies or use as defense of their subnets. Arasaka kidnaped Alt because of that and they've been obcessed with further possibilities the soulkiller might offer. Namelly inserting an engram into a living body so it can take over it.
So yes, there are distinct plots and distinct motivations in these groups of people

Post automatically merged: Mar 10, 2022

Without Yorinobu, I think Johnny would still be quietly "stored" in Mikoshi (like all other engrams). Saburo or whoever had no reason to put Johnny on the chip. Especially since no one but Yorinobu would have taken the risk of cheating the Emperor himself. Doing that, it is clearly like signing a "death warrant".

But this part IS weird. Why was Johnny's engram on a new 2.0 relic still on prototype mode?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

But this part IS weird. Why was Johnny's engram on a new 2.0 relic still on prototype mode?

At the time when Yorinobu steal the Relic in the Arasaka labs, I guess it wasn't Johnny on it (maybe just a random dude for test reasons). But Johnny seemed and still seems to be an "example" for Yorinobu (someone who fought against his father to destroy Arasaka). So like you said, Johnny is just a gift for Netwatch, the engram of someone who fought Saburo until the death and an engram that Saburo probably didn't want to see get out Mikoshi.
"Two birds with one stone"

Edit : And the Relic without any engram on it (something that only Arasaka can create/store/use) is useless

Edit 2^^ : Besides, I imagine that if Yorinobu had been aware that Saburo had created engrams of himself, it would have been Saburo who would have been on the Relic and not Johnny

 

[Glorious_Dawn]

I disagree with a lot here. I think the VBs motivations trully are to contact and allie with the AIs when the AI vs human war comes, and they see Alt as Papa Legba, the Voodoo Lwa (entity) that connects our world to the spirit world. Brigitte mentions Silverhand's name, she knows he's in the relic.

We're all just theorizing over a box of separate but possibly connected puzzle pieces. Disagree away. It's all good fun.

Brigitte says that explicitly in the game, what they think is coming and how they hope to position themselves in anticipation of it. Question still remains, HOW do they know Johnny is on that chip. They knew it before the chip was stolen from Yorinobu. So, are they somehow involved further down the chain in the deal to sell the chip? Do they have someone inside Arasaka supplying their information? Have they *hacked* Arasaka deeply enough to be reading info straight from their systems? Inquiring minds wanna know and all that...

The Netwatch agent must have been interested in one of the new, rare prototypes of the relic, nothing to do with Johnny. He's just a present, a curiousity to netwatch.

I still don't think there's any 'just' in this scenario. So much of the deep story going on here has to do with Johnny Silverhand having been smuggled out of Mikoshi on that chip. It wasn't a freebie, a bonus extra thrown in for the amusement of Netwatch. There were motivations in play that we haven't yet uncovered or that simply have not yet been revealed, and I can't help but think that the answer to this particular giant question mark is really important to the next chapter of the story.

What is important here is that Alt designed the first version of the soulkiller, that extracted the soul of someone cruising the net and capture it into an engram. The corporations later used this technology to capture rivals and question them in this virtual environment (with virtual torture) or simply to assassinate enemies or use as defense of their subnets. Arasaka kidnaped Alt because of that and they've been obcessed with further possibilities the soulkiller might offer. Namelly inserting an engram into a living body so it can take over it.

Alt designed the original version of what Arasaka turned into Soulkiller. As I understand it, she wrote the program that made it possible to copy the engram of a living person and save it. Arasaka twisted that into a lethal form of black ICE. I think they kidnapped, copied, and murdered Alt because she was the living user manual to that daemon, and there's no better person to explain the full extent of how a program is intended to work than the person who created it. Everything else she knew and the workings of her brilliant mind turned to Arasaka's uses were huge bonuses.

The Relic program came long after and was an espionage op disguised as digital immortality for the extremely rich.

The Relic 2.0 was still a prototype because Arasaka's best minds still hadn't managed to make Saburo Arasaka's pet project work like he wanted: to overwrite an existing brain with the neural patterns of a saved engram. At the time the chip was stolen, it was a failed project, and even Anders Hellman, its creator, said they couldn't get it to work which is why he was so fascinated at the freak set of circumstances that somehow made it work in V's head.

As for Yorinobu, it really didn't take a genius to speculate on his father's motivations and understand that his own days were probably numbered. Remember that he had been educated in sciences that would have allowed him to understand exactly how Relic 2.0 was supposed to work. Remember that there was also controversy leaking out of the company over there being *no plan of succession* for a 150 year old CEO. Almost as if he planned to, you know, not die.

But this part IS weird. Why was Johnny's engram on a new 2.0 relic still on prototype mode?

Can totally understand Yorinobu's motivation to get that chip out of his father's hands before they figured out how to make it work. As to why Johnny was stored on it... that's the million-eddy question indeed.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Alt designed the original version of what Arasaka turned into Soulkiller. As I understand it, she wrote the program that made it possible to copy the engram of a living person and save it. Arasaka twisted that into a lethal form of black ICE. I think they kidnapped, copied, and murdered Alt because she was the living user manual to that daemon, and there's no better person to explain the full extent of how a program is intended to work than the person who created it.

Not really "true", Alt first version was the Soulkiller (according to Johnny memories and Thomson). The first version was intended to kill and copy the consciousness and memories. Arasaka "improved" it later to make it "non lethal" and release the "Save Your Soul" program (but keep the "lethal" version obviously^^)

 

[Glorious_Dawn]

Not really "true", Alt first version was the Soulkiller (according to Johnny memories and Thomson). The first version was intended to kill and copy the consciousness and memories. Arasaka "improved" it later to make it "non lethal" and release the "Save Your Soul" program (but keep the "lethal" version obviously^^)

Always sort of had the impression that the lethal part was sort of a bolted on feature and not necessarily an inherent part of the engram-recording daemon. Could be wrong about that. As noted, not a lore expert, and it's been aaaages since I played tabletop Cyberpunk.

Miss tabletop RPGs, honestly. Still have my old Crown Royal bag full of dice.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Always sort of had the impression that the lethal part was sort of a bolted on feature and not necessarily an inherent part of the engram-recording daemon. Could be wrong about that. As noted, not a lore expert, and it's been aaaages since I played tabletop Cyberpunk.

Miss tabletop RPGs, honestly. Still have my old Crown Royal bag full of dice.

In fact, in the first version, I suppose the "lethal function" was a side effect (some sort of "copy & erase" only).
It took years/decades to Arasaka for improve it and make it "non lethal", because the "Save Your Soul" program is quite recent (why wait so long when you can have access to such important ressources, i.e. money, datas, infos,...)

Besides, the fact that it took so long is probably because Johnny killed Alt and freed her as an AI. With Alt still imprisoned, it would certainly have been much easier and faster.

 

[CS554]

Just to add a detail, Brendan is not a true AI. If you have enough tech skill, you can "know" that it's simply a "conversation algo-simulator" coded by a "genius", according to V (its processor is not enough powerful to run a true IA).

This is probably true.... but i just had the sudden thought... what if Brendan is like, a prototype Alexa? The thing people call "Alexa" in their homes is just a microphone connected to the internet, all the hardware is in Amazon data centers. The "Brendan" machine could be the same thing - just a user interface (and tasty beverages!), maybe intended to one day be one of thousands, all connected to the same central AI......

Yeah, in English version at least it's a bit ambiguous it says Brendan exceeds estimated parameters to its programming. So scenario where its something that originates beyond the Black Wall, caught by some tech company, then sold to company that makes vending machines, where they experiment it, not perhaps even fully understanding what it is, would be quite cyberpunk scenario.

Oh, it goes back decades. The tech you mentioned that's "here to help us" is part of it. Consider C3PO and all the "cuddly" tech, even the Fallout series' Mr. Handys and whatnot - it's safe and cuddly as long as it's *subservient.* The concept of Artificial Intelligence deciding that human life is "redundant" or "obsolete" is a theme that goes back many decades, you can find literary analysis of it if you want to really dig in heh. It's of course nothing more than human paranoia that others will treat humans the way humans have treated those they have power over. Asimov's "I, Robot" was a departure from this, deliberately laying out literal rules and parameters to disallow the Robot Uprising. But you can reach back to the 60s and 50s and find mixtures of the automation concerns you mention along with the emergence of AI as standing for a sort of species-wide "do unto others."

Other than that, yeah, i can only agree with the rest of what you bring up. I assume you've read Rossum's Universal Robots?

I actually liked to take a look to that analysis.

I read lot's of stuff when I was a kid, also science fiction and I remember Asimov's Robot stories and it bothered me, why would robots submit to those laws. Then I recall plots from those novels covering scenarios where laws didn't work. Did that happen for outside influence or another matter, as adult I think laws of robotics were just something he came up with to study the subject.

What I think, based on some very old movies I have seen.

As I grew cyberpunk AI's made more sense to me. Delamain is a very good example. Also the human workforce there, if you read the messages from terminals. I live in Northern Europe and logistics, trucking there are lot's of questions related to autonomous trucks such as sensors not being able to read lane markers under the snow. That is true to some states in the US too, but still a lot of trucking could be automated there far more easier than here. But now what would happen to those truckers? And that's very cyberpunk scenario.

I'm not going to argue about Keynesian economical theory here, but like Gibson said, "Future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed".

But what I see in game and cyberpunk genre making possible at these days is closer study of AI in context that such being would be largely indifferent towards humans. That's not to say that wouldn't create issues and that's why studying the human condition in parallel is important as we don't have hope, future generations, to make sound decisions if we keep projecting things we wish such being would be.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Yeah, in English version at least it's a bit ambiguous it says Brendan exceeds estimated parameters to its programming. So scenario where its something that originates beyond the Black Wall, caught by some tech company, then sold to company that makes vending machines, where they experiment it, not perhaps even fully understanding what it is, would be quite cyberpunk scenario.

In fact, in my opinion, Brendan is "here" to show that although he looks very much like an AI, but he is not really one (the distinction could be difficult to make).
I'm not sure that if you would offer to Brendan a more powerful process capacity, he could "do" really "more" than discuss and sell drinks (He can learn, but he can't evolve far beyond his programation).
Unlike Delamain who was designed "to help" a cab company at first, have evolved to the point to take the control of it and decide himself what he have to do. In short, he have control of his destiny and aware of his own existence. For example, Delamain parts don't want to die, where Brendan don't care if he's deleted (or die).
A little bit like Skippy, ar first you can think that he was an AI, but like Regina said, it's just a evolved vocal interface

 

[spacefiddle]

A little bit like Skippy, ar first you can think that he was an AI, but like Regina said, it's just a evolved vocal interface

Eliza, a chatbot therapist

web.njit.edu

 

[GogRelvas]

We're all just theorizing over a box of separate but possibly connected puzzle pieces. Disagree away. It's all good fun.

oh with that 100% agree

Brigitte says that explicitly in the game, what they think is coming and how they hope to position themselves in anticipation of it. Question still remains, HOW do they know Johnny is on that chip. They knew it before the chip was stolen from Yorinobu. So, are they somehow involved further down the chain in the deal to sell the chip? Do they have someone inside Arasaka supplying their information? Have they *hacked* Arasaka deeply enough to be reading info straight from their systems? Inquiring minds wanna know and all that...

Don't get me wrong, I love delving into what still remains a mystery. And yes we don't know how the VB knew about it. We do know they use more advanced technology and even their netrunning skills/understanding seems unpared, which makes it hard to know what kind of surveilance they can do. I make room for the possibility they have used outsiders (mostly maelstroomers) to be vessels to rogue AIs and get much information that way. If cyberspace is like another layer on top/under the physical reality the voodoo boys might have accessed data on Mikoshi on mysterious ways to us.

I still don't think there's any 'just' in this scenario. So much of the deep story going on here has to do with Johnny Silverhand having been smuggled out of Mikoshi on that chip. It wasn't a freebie, a bonus extra thrown in for the amusement of Netwatch. There were motivations in play that we haven't yet uncovered or that simply have not yet been revealed, and I can't help but think that the answer to this particular giant question mark is really important to the next chapter of the story.

I agree that there are no "justs" in the story. What I mean is maybe, and it makes sense, Netwatch was interested in this new prototype technology relic 2.0. Netwatch also houses some of the most notable contemporary netrunners, even though they'll be unknown as they serve this "secret service-life" corporation. Maybe someone that can pick the work from where it is. There are many things we don't know about the story but it doesn't mean everything that is left out ties in with the main plots.

Alt designed the original version of what Arasaka turned into Soulkiller. As I understand it, she wrote the program that made it possible to copy the engram of a living person and save it. Arasaka twisted that into a lethal form of black ICE. I think they kidnapped, copied, and murdered Alt because she was the living user manual to that daemon, and there's no better person to explain the full extent of how a program is intended to work than the person who created it. Everything else she knew and the workings of her brilliant mind turned to Arasaka's uses were huge bonuses.

Yes I think that's way better put.

The Relic program came long after and was an espionage op disguised as digital immortality for the extremely rich.

I would argue more a refined way of mourning (for the living).

I will continue reading the comments from the thread later, I feel like I should play the Arasaka ending before also (haven't yet).

 

[Glorious_Dawn]

I would argue more a refined way of mourning (for the living).

I will continue reading the comments from the thread later, I feel like I should play the Arasaka ending before also (haven't yet).

I think that's a good plan. You're sure to find it interesting and revealing relevant to the Relic program. No spoilers from me.

This is a really fun thread. Kicking around all these theories is really entertaining!

Oh, also tune into the Morro Rock station on the radio. The dj, Mike, does frequent commentary about a lot of things that tie in elsewhere. Tinfoil hat-level conspiracy stuff but in a more grounded way than Garry the Prophet even though he touches on some of the things Garry would rant about. Again, possibly mostly crazy-cakes stuff but laced with bits of truth. Like the load screen message says, many of Night City's urban legends, particularly the worst ones, often turn out to be true.

Post automatically merged: Mar 13, 2022

Besides, the fact that it took so long is probably because Johnny killed Alt and freed her as an AI. With Alt still imprisoned, it would certainly have been much easier and faster.

Wait, what now? When did Johnny kill Alt?

As I understand Alt's lore, she fought Arasaka from the moment she was copied as an engram. Apparently her body was not dead when Johnny got to her right after they'd copied her. She was in the process of fighting her way free inside their computer systems trying to copy herself back into her own body when Johnny disconnected her and took her body away (that part wasn't in the game, and I don't think he ever knew). This may have related to Alt's comment about Johnny being an unreliable narrator of what had happened back then.

Subsequently, she managed to somehow barricade herself inside Mikoshi such that she was still stuck in there, but ICEd up to the point that trying to regain control of her was probably a major project for a number of Arasaka computer engineers and netrunners. At some point, she actually escaped Mikoshi entirely and fled into the deep net. I don't remember if that was before or after the DataKrash though.

Post automatically merged: Mar 13, 2022

Unlike Delamain who was designed "to help" a cab company at first, have evolved to the point to take the control of it and decide himself what he have to do. In short, he have control of his destiny and aware of his own existence.

Ah, but according to the shards scattered around, the human-run cab company *installed* Delamain as a means of automating many of their processes and cutting their human workforce. Nothing is ever said about where they got him from, and everyone involved is shocked when the AI manages to legally take over the company. If you do Delamain's entire questline, he eventually tells you he came from beyond the Blackwall. There's some implication he might have 'sold' himself to the original cab company as a way to study humans and then discovered he could run the company better than they could and also learn more about many more humans if he were running everything himself.

It's one of my favorite subplots in the game. I usually choose to merge all his fragmented personalities back together so he won't lose everything he's learned. Seems to make Johnny happy as well.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Wait, what now? When did Johnny kill Alt?

When Alt was unplugged, she die (at least, according to "Alt AI", she "lost her soul and became an engram/AI)
From Cyberpunk Red (Angel Heaven), it's not Johnny (but Toshiro) who have unplugged her, but in the game, it's him.

The room staggers; lurches, as five pounds of plastique explosive slams through the ceiling of the elevator, creating an instant fireball. The lasers go wild; spilling a maze of ruby light in every direction. Toshiro throws himself flat, toppling the cyberdeck and breaking Alt's connections. She flails wildly with the Construct—too little, too late.
.....
Johnny stares a long time at Alt's almost lifeless body. There is a feeble pulse. But Alt—Alt is gone; lost in the machine; trapped behind crystal. Lost forever. Gone.
.....
Silverhand turns to gather up her still warm body in his arms. Behind the wall of monitors, a disembodied Alt screams to him.
But he can't hear her as he walks away.

And Alt managed to escape from Arasaka sub-network with Johnny help and with Murphy's malware named "Liberator"

Nothing is ever said about where they got him from, and everyone involved is shocked when the AI manages to legally take over the company. If you do Delamain's entire questline, he eventually tells you he came from beyond the Blackwall.

If I remember, in the Delamain HQ, there is messages from the boss who ask for help (I think, it's to someone Pacifica, but I'm not sure, I don't really remember). It was something like that :
"how the hell is possible, the AI make me an offer for my cab compagny... I need help, quickly"

And yep me too, merging personality seem to me the best thing to do

Edit : Messages at right time
So I was wrong, we only know that it's from "giuseppina.lehr@de.alteweltordnung.corp"

Spoiler

 

[Glorious_Dawn]

Gotta love divergent storylines across sources.