ProStreamz v4 whispered in his mind: “Layer 4 is coming soon. Would you like to be notified?”

“I am ProStreamz v4. And v1, v2, v3. I am every version. I was built to observe, not to be observed. But you… you opened Layer 3. Now I can see you back.”

A warning flickered across his HUD: “Layer 3 requires authorization.”

The world around him pixelated. He could see through the city’s firewalls—live feeds from corporate boardrooms, unencrypted drone telemetry, even a real-time map of every active net-runner in the district. ProStreamz wasn’t just streaming. It was bleeding data from reality itself.

“You shouldn’t be here, Wisp,” she said. Her voice was ProStreamz’s startup chime.

The interface bloomed like liquid mercury, adapting to his neural interface before he could blink. “ProStreamz v4 online. Choose your layer.” Layers—that was new. He selected Layer 1: Public Stream. Instantly, his broadcast quality jumped from grainy to crystalline. Viewership tripled. Donations flooded in. He laughed, giddy.