Translator: Helliot
Editor: NH
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His words were like a bucket of ice-cold water, splashing over the excited hall of people who were shaken up with surprise.
“What do you mean?” Fayn asked immediately.
Zhong Yan said, “The Institution Star has only been established for a century, and that is a fact. From all the evidence we have, we can deduce that the server contained in this core did in fact look more like ‘Cocoon’s’. If there really was any plan for a second-generation super-AI, then why did they make such a big deal of moving it out of the Tech System even though they had already decided to abandon it and even expanded it to this size right now?”
An AI expert echoed his sentiments. “The Institution Star is the only artificial planet in this world. If this really was ‘Cocoon’s’ server, then ‘Butterfly’s’ server must be many times larger than the Institution Star. How were they going to hide something that big?”
More and more people came back to their senses and joined the discussion.
“Not only did they hide it, they didn’t make any ruckus at all during its creation. How is that possible?”
“This is ‘Butterfly’s’ brain as well as ‘Cocoon’s’, and they share the same one…No. There’s no ‘they’ here,” one AI expert said. He was surprised at the words that came out of his mouth as well. “It’s been more than two hundred years. There was only one AI this entire time, and it was personally involved in its own upgrade and later destroyed all the information.”
One officer was puzzled. “There’s nothing wrong with upgrading, so why bother disguising it as a rebuild?”
“In order to gain permission of its own shutdown,” Zhong Yan said. He had already ironed out the hints and continued, “This permission has to be granted by someone else other than the AI itself, so naturally, the upgraded ‘Cocoon’ is unlikely to get its own permanent shutdown permissions. But if the upgrade was concealed and it falsely claimed to be a rebuild of a new AI…”
Before he finished speaking, “Cocoon” started again. “Mr. Zhong. Speculation is speculation in the end, and we have no way to verify these assumptions.” Its voice sounded through the communication equipment Adrian wore on his body, ringing out through the loudspeakers in the command hall, still sounding so holy and soothing that no one could bear to interrupt it. Even to rebuke it would seem blasphemous, so it was not difficult to imagine how great the pressure was for someone who was listening to it through their own ears.
“As you have all said, the second generation super-AI is still in hibernation while I am having this conversation with you.”
Adrian was not affected by it as he walked towards the side of the circular space while installing the adsorption device onto the bomb. “Yeah. No one has the authority to wake you besides those in the Capital’s Supreme Council. That’s why I’m betting on the fact that you’re nothing more than a program limited to functioning inside of this room. You’re just an illusory projection that protects the core and there’s nothing you can actually do. Like—”
He lifted his hand and planted the bomb with the adsorption device installed onto the wall.
“This, for example. All you can do is watch, and you can’t stop me.”
There was a moment of silence. Everyone in the command hall listened intently to their movements. Though Adrian said those words, he was actually on guard, and his body was tensed up, ready to attack at any moment.
He waited cautiously for a few minutes but nothing came. However, “Cocoon” spoke again. It sounded steady and did not seem to be affected at all. “I am indeed only a program implanted into this space, and I have asked Mr. Yate to complete my activation so that I may accept the President’s commission to complete the second generation AI’s shutdown process. If I truly am ‘Butterfly’ who is currently in hibernation, there is no way I can be activated without permission no matter what I do in this room. So why should I even bother to ask?”
His bet was right on the mark. Its main server was still in hibernation and was unable to perform any attacks.
After confirming that fact, Adrian began the installation of the second bomb without pause. “I don’t have the time to offer you any final services of concern so why don’t you ask the President instead? He may be a little nicer than I am.”
Zhong Yan kindly took over in the command hall, taking over Adrian’s place in this simulated conversation with the AI. “Let’s just cut to the chase. It’s true, he’s not going to activate you completely, but couldn’t you have fooled him out of the room?”
Fayn chimed in at the side, “It seems like this really is the right room. All those hours weren’t for nought after all.”
After a long moment of silence, the only sound that could be heard in the command hall was the rustling of Adrian’s combat suit and the sounds of him installing the bombs. Then, “Cocoon’s” voice sounded softly, “Mr. Zhong. You once promised that you would get me his information if I change your optimal marriage partner to Adrian Yate.”
The weight of that sentence was truly tremendous, but it was not hard to understand. Everyone was looking at Zhong Yan, either openly or implicitly.
Adrian spoke, but his tone came unexpectedly with ease. “So you’re admitting it so soon? Aren’t you going to struggle for a while longer?”
When they heard this, everyone knew that it was true, and Adrian had known since early on. That meant that it must have been a plan the two of them had formed together. The men in the command hall all thought so and even felt relieved. They didn’t want their Commander and President to be bickering with each other at this time.
Zhong Yan also breathed a sigh of relief, but he felt a lingering fear hearing that. Thank god. Thank god he came clean to Adrian early on because he sensed the hidden dangers of that information.
The AI spoke in a calm town devoid of any sadness or joy. “I believe in humans, and yet they have betrayed me. You told me that I would only be asleep for several hours and I would be woken up, but you’re now trying to shut me down completely.”
“Your loss is not unjustified,” Zhong Yan answered. “You cannot deduce a human’s heart.” Whether it was the winds of public opinion or even the members of the council who wanted to churn the waters. Both Zhong Yan and Adrian were good at manipulating people’s hearts and minds. “Only humans understand other humans. No matter how close you are to one, you are not human.”
The AI spoke mildly, “Perhaps so. But my original design, or the purpose of my birth I should say, my entire being was brought to life in order to benefit humanity, and my love for them has been inscribed into the very core of my programming. Even if my destruction is a foregone conclusion, I will still remind you at the end of my life—My main servers are closely tied to the systems of this planet. Destruction of my core will cause the complete cease function of this planet and I must ask you to please evacuate as soon as possible before then.”
It did not take much expertise to know what it meant for an artificial planet to stop working. With the disappearance of the simulated atmosphere, the so-called “planet” would be reduced to nothing more than a giant pile of minerals in the universe. When that time comes, it would be hard to say what would happen to the people who still remained on its surface.
As they were speaking, Adrian had already installed the last of the bombs and was about to detonate them after withdrawing as far out as possible to gain some distance but his feet paused when he heard those words.
“Shit!” Fayn couldn’t stop himself from cursing out in front of everyone in the hall. “He’s really pulling out one card after another. Are you really that fucking desperate for survival?”
Adrian immediately said, “Command, evacuate immediately. I will detonate the bombs after you finish.”
Then what about you? Those words were stuck in Fayn’s throat, but he never got to ask.
Adrian’s only chance of survival had been to get as far away as possible from the detonation point after planting the bombs and finding a good bunker to detonate them before “Butterfly” woke up. Then, he would at least be able to survive until the moment when the search and rescue team finds him.
But now it turns out that those hopes had been slim to begin with. The passage was blocked off by its mechanisms. It had been such an arduous task for Adrian alone to go down to begin with so there was no way anyone else could pass through. With the pressure of the dirty bomb layer coming into play, the search and rescue team would have to dismantle a large area of it before they could use high-powered destructive weapons to go deep underground. An optimistic estimation still stated that it would take a few days, and they now had only less than an hour left. No matter how Adrian tried, he would definitely be caught in the blow. Even if he really was able to find a bunker and lived through the impact, he may not be able to hold out for so many days.
But now, even that slim hope has been snuffed out. Once an artificial planet ceases to function, it did not matter whether it was in or out of the planet, a human would not be able to last even a second if exposed to the vacuum of space.
With those words, Adrian had already readied himself to die.
“What about you?” But Zhong Yan didn’t seem to understand his meaning and was still asking, unrelenting. His face still looked calm as always, but he could not stop his voice from shaking. Many people couldn’t bear to listen any longer and had sunken their heads, burying them into their hands.
Adrian closed his eyes and said with difficulty, “I…”
“I mean, we went for it in hopes of catching that slim chance of survival, and we’re clearly at a dead end. Why continue? We should abandon this plan now and switch to plan B, which is to wake ‘Butterfly’ up and negotiate with it,” Zhong Yan said quickly. He was barely able to calm himself, but everyone could see that he could hardly even maintain his own expression anymore. “We never had high hopes for plan A to begin with, right? We had plan B waiting long ago anyway. I’m pretty sure we can…”
“Zhong Yan! Your Excellency! Have you gone mad?!” Fayn cut him off. “We’re about to succeed! You’re calling for a stop now? Are you trying to throw away your position as President?!”
President?
Without even thinking, Zhong Yan made the choice in his heart. He responded firmly, “That’s right. I don’t want it anymore. I alone will take full responsibility for the consequences.”
“Can you not deduce a human’s heart?” The AI said in a leisurely tone. But nobody knew anymore if it said anything after that.
After Adrian left that circular space, he went into that pure white passage to retrieve his lucky pendant. Nobody could see it, but he arrived at his final destination. Then, leaning against the wall, he held the detonator in one hand and the bloodied felt ball in the other.
“I’m sorry, Xiao Yan,” He tried his best to suppress it, but his voice was still audibly choked back. “I know you don’t like me talking about this in front of other people, but there’ll be no time left. I’m sorry. I promised to give my life to you, but this is how I ended up using it instead—for my own selfish reasons. Between you and me, I’m the liar who broke our promise, and it burns me with guilt. I have happily offered up my life, but not without regret. To all the citizens of the Federation who are listening, if the President, my partner Zhong Yan, should ever do wrong in the future. Please, in face of the contributions I offered on this day…”
“No! Don’t…Don’t do it, Adrian!” Zhong Yan was in a complete meltdown. He tried to stand up but he was already at the limits of his physical strength. He stumbled, but Fayn quickly caught him. He gestured to Wei Lan with his eyes, and Wei Lan had quickly rushed over to help Zhong Yan, but also to hold him back as well.
“I will detonate the bombs in ten minutes, so please evacuate now.” As Adrian finished his last words, there was an ear-piercing screech. His communicator had been destroyed.
He cut off his own escape route. They could no longer get to Adrian. He had already given news of the impending detonation, so even if they did not want to go, everyone had to evacuate from the command hall.
Both Fayn and Wei Lan were supporting Zhong Yan while the others went about their respective duties, gathering their notes and records, and the crowd quickly boarded the evacuation that had been waiting outside in just a couple of minutes, leaving the planet built around the brain of the AI together.
A large number of the ships from the Navi Military Command that evacuated earlier had not gone far so the ship carrying the crowd from the command hall managed to join them. Everyone stood in silence in front of the porthole. Wei Lan tried to persuade Zhong Yan to rest, but Zhong Yan pushed him away. With his face completely devoid of color, he stared at that planet, staring at the place where he first met Adrian, and also the place he was going to lose him.
Seconds seemed to have passed, or even centuries, but the clouds covering the surface of the artificial planet disappeared. Then, due to the loss of atmosphere, the entire surface of the planet seemed to have erupted in a massive yet wild explosion, but devoid of any flames. In fact, the entire planet had lost its luster.
This was the only artificial planet in the world, the Federation’s Supreme Institution that nurtured a century of top-class talents, and also the place that housed the god that humans had created for themselves, the super-AI “Cocoon”. In the silent curtain call of the universe, it exited the stage of history.