Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 856: Don’t Look Up
"I can't answer your question," Nieto repeated.
"Why this time? Those things shouldn't involve the 'dangers' you mentioned, right?" Ke Lan asked doubtfully.
"According to my calculations, if this information is revealed to you, it will most likely trigger a series of chain reactions, causing the disaster to strike again," Neto said.
The way this biological computer thinks is very close to that of humans... Ke Lan thought, although the questions he asked had nothing to do with the " disaster " itself, he could piece together the "outline" of the "disaster" through various clues...
If Ze Luo hadn't been watching him, Ke Lan would have thought that this biological computer named "Neto" had invaded his mind and could see his thoughts clearly.
In this way, Ke Lan's plan to trick him into talking was completely in vain... What Neto had just said was probably all the information he could reveal to him within the permitted range. If he continued to ask, the other party would probably not only continue to refuse to answer, but would even take the so-called "memory erasure procedure."
Ke Lan didn't know how she could clear her memory, but after all, she was on someone else's territory, and unless it was absolutely necessary, Ke Lan didn't want to fall out with Neto.
"What other information is safe...can you tell me?" Ke Lan thought about it and decided that instead of constantly testing the waters herself, it would be better to just let the other party tell her everything that could be said.
However, Neto did not respond to this sentence, but just looked at Ke Lan silently. Ke Lan could not see anything from her calm eyes.
Ke Lan didn't know whether Neto's artificial intelligence was only set up for passive question-and-answer functions or whether his own questions had "crossed the line". He could only be patient and continue to think about those questions that would get Neto's answers without involving those "disasters".
"Then can you tell me about the authority levels of the hive?" Ke Lan thought of the sentences that Ze Luo had deciphered before and decided to use this as a breakthrough point to see what information he could get out of it.
"Yes." Nieto finally spoke, "The hierarchical system of the hive was officially promulgated in the fourth year of the Ice Age. The system divides the residents of the hive into six levels.
Level 1 authority is the owner of the hive, with the highest authority, and can directly control managers at all levels, including me;
Level 2, Administrator, has four positions in total, located from level 1 to level 4. I am the administrator of level 2;
Level 3: Senior residents, who can freely enter and exit all places except the fourth floor, and have the power of life and death over level 5 and level 6 residents;
Level 4 authority: armed personnel, responsible for protecting the residents of the first three levels of hives, maintaining order in the hives, and under the command of the level 2 'manager'.
The armed personnel are mainly distributed on the second and third floors of the hive city. They are strictly prohibited from leaving their garrison posts without permission.
The cadre class among the armed personnel also holds the status of high-ranking residents;
Authority level five, middle-level residents, are only allowed to move around in the first and second levels of the hive and are responsible for production work, but can become level four armed personnel through selection and training, with higher treatment and status.
Level 6, the lower-level residents, are people with genetic defects, physical disabilities, serious illnesses, and unable to work. In addition, if the middle-level residents lose their ability to work or violate the laws of the hive, they will also be demoted to the lower-level residents. The lower-level residents are placed on the first level of the hive. According to records, the population of the first level of the hive is generally around 40 to 50 million, and the historical peak has reached 70 million. "
"Seventy million people who are unable to work..." Ke Lan muttered, "Although it may sound a bit cruel to say this, it is difficult for the remaining people to support so many people who are not engaged in production, plus the armed personnel and high-level dignitaries who are also off-duty, right?"
The best solution is to exile those people who cannot be fed... Although the chance of survival on the ground is very low, it is at least better than starving to death in the hive... This is like the exiles in the wilderness now. Even if the mortality rate is very high and the quality of life is very poor, at least many people have survived and have gained a foothold in the wilderness.
Although Ke Lan's voice was so low that only he could hear it, and even Thirty-three standing beside him was unaware of it, Nieto still answered his doubts: "No matter how many residents there are on the lower level, according to regulations, the nest will only supply the minimum amount of food and other necessities for 10 million people on the first level."
"Ten million servings? Then many people will starve to death every day, right?" Ke Lan couldn't help but frowned.
"The bodies will be transported to a recycling facility for decomposition, and every part will be put to good use." Neto's answer was still emotionless.
Ke Lan's mouth twitched involuntarily - he had thought his idea was a bit cruel, but he had not expected that the management of the Chaodu would be even more ruthless...
But Ke Lan had to admit that if civilization wanted to survive in the end times, only cold and tough means would be needed... A manager who was too soft-hearted would only lead the entire nest into an irretrievable situation.
"The lower-class residents also have the opportunity to restore their status as middle-class residents, or even directly become high-class residents," Nieto added.
"Join...the ground exploration team?" Although Neto hadn't said it yet, Ke Lan had already guessed the answer.
"That's right," Nieto said. "As long as they can find valuable enough resources on the ground, or the information is considered useful by the management, the lower-level residents who join the exploration team can be promoted according to their contributions. This is also the only way for the lower-level residents to get rid of their own situation."
"What is the survival rate of the ground exploration team?" When Ke Lan asked this question, he was also calculating the return rate of the relic hunters on the Ark - of course , he was not calculating the return rate of the current hunters, but the return rate of the hunters in the few years when the Ark had just landed on Alpha.
In those days, the profession of relic hunter was basically equated with desperado, and few people would join this profession unless they were desperate.
"According to the archive records, a total of 619,559 residents from the lower levels joined the surface exploration team. Ninety-three of them were able to successfully return from the surface."
Nearly 620,000 people...only 93 of them can return to the hive alive?
If I were a low-level resident of the Hive City, I probably wouldn't join this "ground exploration team"...
The information revealed by Neto this time was not small, and it was very complete and detailed. Ke Lan thought about it in his mind and gave each class a name of "Earth Civilization" in a more understandable way.
Level one is the "Emperor", level three is the "Nobles", level four is the "Army", level five is the "Workers", level six is the "Livestock"... As for the level two managers, they are obviously intelligent biological computers like Neto. Strictly speaking, they can only be regarded as an extension of the "Emperor's" will and cannot be counted as residents of the hive city.
"According to what you said, the hive has four floors in total, right?"
"No, it's the fifth floor." Nieto corrected, "It's just that the fifth floor, the deepest part of the hive, is a no-man's land, and only four floors can be inhabited by humans."
"Why the fourth floor? Can you tell me?"
"The first level is the 'bottom nest' at the top of the hive city; the second level is the lower city area; the third level is the upper city area; the fourth level is the 'cloud top'." Neto replied.
Judging from the name alone, the structure of this hive city seems to be upside down, but judging from the distribution of the power structure of the residents, it makes perfect sense.
"I have another question. Why can I open the door of the hive city and enter the interior of the hive city? Is it because of my blood?"
Nieto did not answer, but did not refute either.
In Ke Lan's opinion, this should be regarded as a tacit approval of his own statement.
"The lift stopped after reaching this floor. It's because with my 'bloodline', I can only be considered a 'middle-class resident' with level 5 authority, so I can't go to the upper city, right?"
"Wrong." Neto looked at Ke Lan deeply. Although her face was still expressionless, Ke Lan felt that she seemed to be conveying something to her through her eyes. "The lift platform cannot go to the third floor because the administrator of the third floor has completely lost control. As for your authority level, I cannot judge it."
"It's impossible to determine... Then how do you determine who is the enemy?" Ke Lan asked curiously.
If it were the Ark, if an Alpha accidentally broke into the Ark, even if they didn't open fire directly, they would definitely be surrounded by cameras and long guns - the long guns and short guns here refer to real guns and short guns in the consciousness, not the microphones and cameras held by reporters and photographers.
But he and Sanshisan did not encounter any obstacles along the way.
"Only those who harbor the seeds of 'disaster' will be identified as enemies," said Neto.
The seeds of disaster? Was it erosion? But he and Sanshisan should have been eroded, but it just hasn't shown on the outside yet... Could it be that this seemingly powerful intelligent biological computer is actually a guy who "judged a book by its cover".
"What about Heruni and the others?"
"They are enemies, but they have not entered the second level of the hive, so I can't eliminate them." Neto answered immediately, very straightforwardly and without any delay.
"What about the manager of the first level of the hive? Why didn't it eliminate Heruni and others, but let them go back?"
"The manager of the first floor of the hive has been destroyed. The entire first floor is currently without a manager. My authority cannot extend to the first floor, so I can only let them leave."
"So that's how it is..." Ke Lan nodded. Based on the information currently obtained, the fourth floor of the hive city, "Cloud Top", which is where the people with the highest authority in the hive city live, should be the destination of his trip. However, the lifting platform cannot go to the third floor, and naturally it cannot reach the fourth floor below the third floor.
"You just said that the managers on the third floor are out of control. What do you mean?"
Nieto did not answer.
"Did it rebel?"
Nieto still didn't answer.
"The third floor... is there any danger?"
"It's very dangerous." Nieto said, "There are remnants of 'disaster' there."
The remnants of...disaster?
Does this mean that there is a "Corpse" on the third floor? Or does it mean that the administrator of the third floor has been corrupted and turned into a monster similar to the "Corpse"?
"Wait a minute, I want to confirm something with you." Ke Lan suddenly had an idea and asked, "As the manager of the second floor, your authority is limited to the space within the second floor. You have no right to interfere in the affairs of other floors, right ?"
"correct."
"Then if I want to go to the third floor, even if I might cause the second theory of 'disaster' on the third floor, as long as it is not within your control, you will not stop me, right?"
"My mission is only to ensure that the second level of the hive is not threatened by the 'disaster'. After you leave the second level, I will not interfere with any of your actions." Neto said.
Good! Ke Lan shook his fist vigorously in his heart - this intelligent biological computer seemed very smart, but in fact it had a fatal flaw.
She only cares about the matters on the bottom two floors of the hive; as for the other floors, they have nothing to do with her.
To use an old saying, this is an AI that only knows how to "mind its own business."
I think the owner of the hive designed these AIs in this way to prevent the managers of these layers from interfering with each other, and also for security reasons - a management network that connects the entire hive together is obviously more likely to fall than a management model that separates each layer.
"Then can you tell me, besides the lift platform, are there other passages leading to the third floor of the hive?"
Neto was silent for a long time, as if he was weighing the pros and cons... After more than half a minute, he gave Ke Lan a positive answer: "Yes."
Half a minute is a "very long" thinking time for an intelligent biological computer. Ke Lan didn't know what calculations Neto had made in this half minute, but in short, it was willing to tell him about the other channel, so Ke Lan's goal had been achieved.
"Go along No. 3 Street to the edge of the lower city. Go all the way to the end. There is a garbage disposal plant. The garbage disposal plant has a one-way passage that connects the upper city directly to the lower city. This passage was originally used to transport domestic garbage the lower city for processing, but now both the one-way passage and the garbage disposal plant have stopped operating. As long as you can break the six one-way valves in the passage, you can go back to the upper city."
Neto's explanation was very detailed... It was as if its own will also wanted Ke Lan and the others to go to the upper city.
"Garbage passage?" Ke Lan pondered. "Yes, it is indeed a bit troublesome to use a lifting platform to transport garbage... Apart from the lifting platform, the passages connecting the two layers of the hive city are probably only places like garbage passages and ventilation ducts."
"There are two more things I need to tell you in advance," Neto suddenly added.
"Which two things?"
"First, don't look up at the dome after you reach the upper city. Second, don't listen to anything the administrator of the third floor says to you. Don't believe anything she says, and don't accept any of her suggestions or help."
"Okay, I get it... But isn't the third floor not your responsibility? Why are you telling me this?"
Neto remained silent again. This time, she simply closed her eyes and didn't even look at Ke Lan.
