The city’s network is called the Web — Mong in Cantonese — and it has two layers.
The Open Web
Public. Monitored. Sky-mediated. What everyone uses for everything legal. End-to-end encryption is standard. Surveillance is also standard. Every node has both a technical address and a Sky House registration.
The Quiet Web
Jing Mong. The parallel network operated by unregistered nodes, modified hardware, and broker-priest workarounds. Officially illegal to operate, in practice tolerated below a certain threshold of activity.
Web specialists
- Web-walkers (Mong Hang) — the standard term for someone who works the Web professionally.
- Quiet-walkers (Jing Hang) — Web-walkers specialized in Quiet Web operations. The crew specialist role. Jin is one of these.
- Sky-talkers (Tin Wa) — broker-priests specialized in Sky House contracts. The interface between Web work and divine favor. Most serious crew jobs need a Sky-talker — or a broker who can hold the role part-time — to keep Sky’s attention pointed elsewhere during the operation.
What hacking actually is
A combination of technical intrusion — standard protocols, exploits, social engineering — and Sky-favor management. A pure technical intrusion can succeed on the Open Web but will leave a trace Sky can read. A pure favor-based approach can keep Sky distracted but will not bypass actual encryption. Crews need both.