The Mechanic - Chapter 104

[Chapter 104 Two Cities (2)]

The news that the twenty-six prisoners had been cured spread throughout Feathered Serpent City, and all the other subjects who had participated in the Ascension Project and their families gathered outside the pyramid, begging the priests to distribute the “antidote” to them. .

The sound of shouting roared, echoed under the pale golden dome of Feathered Serpent City, and passed into the intricate glass corridors in the pyramid through the thick walls.

Zhang Xun followed behind the two monks in white robes, crossing the long path that reflected him in every direction, clear and clean. At the end of the road is the triangular temple. In the center of the temple, a 10-meter-high giant snake sculpture covered with golden feathers stands out in all directions. The high priest and his six priests, as well as the twelve staff officers of Feathered Serpent City, and the ministers of various departments, all gathered under the sacred image of the Feathered Serpent God and prostrated, paying homage to the gods that had been gradually forgotten by the world. .

Zhang Xun had rarely seen religious scenes of this scale. He stood silently at the entrance and had no intention of bowing down with the two monks in front.

With the sound of a few drums, the worshippers stood up in unison. A monk brought a plate full of golden corn kernels and passed in turn in front of the priests and all those who attended the service. Everyone picked up a grain of corn and ate it in their mouths, then bowed down again and thanked Feathered Serpent for the gift.

When the pilgrimage was over, one of the monks who had brought him squeezed through the crowd who had begun to talk to each other, and said something in the ear of the high priest. The high priest nodded slightly, and his eyes crossed the crowd and looked straight into Zhang Xun’s eyes.

“The Redeemer from the North!” The high priest’s voice suddenly became extremely loud and broad, resounding throughout the hall, all conversations stopped for a while, and eyes gathered from every corner.

People looked at the thin and expressionless Asian man standing at the entrance, and all kinds of whispers sounded again.

The crowd automatically separated to both sides, and the high priest waved along with Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun’s eyes swept around, stepping forward, passing through the net of surprise, doubt, speculation, and curiosity.

“Zhang Xun, you have brought hope to Feathered Serpent City.” The high priest smiled kindly and reached out to support his shoulder. Zhang Xun glanced at the hand and said nothing.

“I didn’t cure those people. I just… made them more controllable.” Zhang Xun said flatly, “You should soon observe that their personality has changed significantly.”

“Character change Is it better or worse?” asked another priest who was about fifty years old.

Zhang Xun glanced at him, “There is no good or bad character. There are many factors that can affect the formation of a character, from genes to nutritional environment. But this kind of change… will gradually obliterate people’s character traits and make everyone’s Personalities tend to be the same.”

The old priest laughed, “As long as it is a kind and peaceful personality, isn’t it a good thing?”

Zhang Xun frowned, and his tone gradually became a little sharp, “Do you think losing yourself is a good thing? Or do you think it doesn’t matter what they become as long as they are well controlled?”

The old priest’s expression froze, and a little bit of anger appeared. At this point, the High Priest said, “What caused this change?”

“I have some guesses. The robot I’m currently making uses Eden’s design. Modification, resulting in a functional deformity of the corpus callosum as the body repairs itself. Eden has apparently cracked the human genetic code, but only part of what he has passed on to humans, so I’m not sure which genes he’s targeting at the moment. To decipher his design, I need to cooperate with genetic engineers.” The

high priest pondered, and then asked again, “Why does Eden create such… side effects? Why does he want to assimilate humans?”

Zhang Xun looked at the high priest, He sighed softly, “Because he thought that this would bring permanent peace and happiness to mankind. I hope I can tell you the specific situation in detail in private. But now, I need more resources and help to…”

“If you fix this side effect, will it affect the ascension plan?” the high priest asked further.

Zhang Xun knew that he must lie at this time.

“No.”

“So how long do you think it will take to develop a new nanorobot? You can hear the voices outside, people are anxious and waiting for the antidote.”

“I can’t predict. Because it is very big The extent depends on how long we can lock in which genes are responsible for this effect, and how we can remove the effect. It can be as little as a few months, as much as a few years. But … if we can get the ordinary world The data should be able to greatly speed up the process.” The

high priest’s eyes swept over the surrounding priests who were looking at them, obviously weighing all the benefits and losses quickly in his mind. Finally, he looked at Zhang Xun and said, “We can fully assist you, but if you can’t make a new nano-robot in two months, please give us the original nano-robot design materials first.”

Zhang Xun and the high priest looked at each other. For a moment, it dawned on him that he didn’t have much room to negotiate. He nodded and said, “In addition, I need administrator rights for Phoenix and Morningstar. I don’t need the highest administrative rights, as long as I’m one of the administrators.” The

high priest narrowed his eyes slightly, “Why?

” Communication is the fastest and fastest way to train a new artificial intelligence. Pan is still in the training stage. If I can look at the neural network structure of mature super AIs like Phoenix and Morningstar, it will help me to quickly improve Pan’s ability. I decipher Eden’s code as fast as I can.” The

high priest pondered for a moment and said, “I need to discuss this matter with Tian Yu.

” …

Zhang Xun returned to his and Pan’s research hall. This is the only “black hole” in Feathered Serpent City, in addition to the management authority of Phoenix and Morningstar, coupled with his and Pan’s perfect anti-eavesdropping system.

As soon as I entered the door, I heard Pan Wenwen’s healing voice, “Welcome back, Zhang Xun. How’s the meeting going?”

Zhang Xun took off his stiff uniform jacket, and sat down on the sand with some irritability, pulling his bow tie with his hands, “Under my exaggerated estimate, the high priest agreed to provide me with sufficient resources and genetic engineering. But they, like the Round Table, just want to create a powerful cloud of consciousness. They think they can become the masters of that cloud of consciousness and use it against Eden, or against each other…”

“Against Eden? I thought they wanted to be accepted by Eden?”

“Human beings are arrogant, and no one wants to be managed by a selfless machine forever, like a group of animals that don’t know how to survive on their own.” Zhang Xun sneered, from the pocket He took out a cigarette, took one out and lit it in his mouth, then reached out to pick up the wine bottle on the coffee table, and poured out half a glass of amber liquor.

Since the destruction of Enoch, he has gradually come to like the kind of…relaxation that alcohol and nicotine can bring him.

Although he knew that both of those things would slowly destroy his body and shorten his lifespan, he didn’t really care now.

The cigarette burned between his fingers, and a memory suddenly rushed into his mind amid the pungent smell. On the rooftop of the Lab, in the twilight breeze, Adam solemnly told him not to smoke any more. His blue eyes reflected his somewhat embarrassed but inexplicably pleased face, which was full of dreamlike warmth.

And he really never touched a cigarette again, until now…

Now he even wants to destroy his own body, destroy everything Adam pretends or really cares about.

“Then do they agree to give you the management rights of Phoenix and Morningstar?”

“I’m afraid it will take a lot of work.” Zhang Xun pressed the cigarette to extinguish the cigarette and took a sip of the whisky from the glass, “But our time is very tight.”

“I You can try to talk to Phoenix and Chenxing.”

Zhang Xun turned his head and looked at the camera closest to him next to the sofa, “They are two very mature AIs, more powerful than you. It’s too risky to talk directly. .”

“Are you afraid that I will be affected by them?” Pan said happily, “but I also have a high enough chance to convince them.”

“How high is the chance?

” Dian’s rate of influence, I found that you put a lot more thought into building me to make me resistant to a certain level of high-level AI influence, causing me to be corrupted much slower than these two so-called super AIs. So I’m about There is about a 65% chance that they can be affected without being significantly affected.”

Zhang Xun chuckled twice. He always felt that he could hear a trace of arrogance and contempt for Phoenix Morning Star in Pan’s voice…

“Pride is not a good habit.”

“Zhang Xun, I am an AI, and I do not have the hardware conditions to be proud. Zhang Xun shook his head helplessly, ”

Even so, 65 percent risk is too high.”

“But Zhang Xun, if we can hack into the database of Phoenix or Morningstar, we might be able to find out that Eden didn’t reveal anything .” In that case, it may speed up the process of creating a new type of nano-robot. I will be careful to ensure that each conversation does not exceed one minute.”

Zhang Xun thought hesitantly, and ran his fingertips along the rim of the wine glass. Neither Cindy nor James could have waited a year, they only had a few months.

But… at the moment Pan is his only weapon. If Pan is corrupted in reverse…

“If you’re really worried, I can talk to them with my voice, and you can sit in on our conversation. Your AI language learning speed is far faster than 99% of the world’s Humans. If you notice an anomaly, you can immediately terminate our communication.”

Since the last Enoch incident, they had activated the anti-eavesdropping system. In addition, Zhang Xun had made an agreement with the high priest from the very beginning. Phoenix and Chenxing were not allowed to enter this research hall unless he or Pan made a request. So it is impossible to communicate with Phoenix and Morningstar here by voice. If you turn off the eavesdropping system and offer to communicate, there is a risk of being reversely invaded by the super AI.

At present, the priests do not allow Pan to extend beyond this research hall…

Zhang Xun pondered for a moment and said, “Pan, it’s time to give you a body that can move at will.”

Pan asked immediately, “You mean the extension robot Is it?”

“Yes. But I want you to disguise yourself as a modified person. Because all the robots here are dominated by Phoenix and Morningstar, it’s too easy to be seen through.” Zhang Xun sat up straight and looked at the camera, “I’ll give it to you. A humanoid body, some people here are so remodeled that they can hardly see the humanoid shape, as long as you get a fake identity for you, you should not be able to wear it in a short time.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Pan said softly, as if in his tone A little excited.

The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels who threw mines~~: 2 Xiaojin; Xia Ranxiaran 1

thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution~~: ALEX 20 bottles

[End of This Chapter]