Volume 17: Enemy of All Things Chapter 18: Forging the Soul
"…Call Chaos!"
"That name has no beauty at all! I think it should be Venus. Look, she is the embodiment of beauty—"
"Let's call her Xihe. Or Wangshu is fine."
"Shouldn't Mars be called Yinghuo?"
"I think your naming is full of national, cultural and racial discrimination. As a group determined to end all this, we should choose a more diverse and more recognizable name. To be honest, I think Muhammad. Lee should be a good name, what do you think?"
"I think you should die. I've rolled a better name with random numbers than this."
“…”
What's this?
Li Lin looked at everything in front of him with a confused look on his face.
It was difficult for him to describe his perspective and thinking in words, as if he had become something huge, a part of some huge creation. His thoughts spread out into a ball... a ball that was difficult to describe in words. The selection of listening was only carried out along the echelon sequence.
The reason why he could hear these people's words and see their expressions was because in his thinking sequence, these people belonged to the most important first echelon, while other things belonged to the second or third echelon. Although he had the same order of attention as normal people, Li Lin could clearly feel the difference between them. Humans would not remember things and details in other sequences, but Li Lin remembered them clearly.
The subconscious mind became a real calculation. All actions and logic were not assisted by the subconscious mind and the organs. They just moved forward through the cold wandering of calculation and sequence. It was hard to say whether this state was good or bad, but Li Lin had to admit that this feeling was indeed different from his previous state. And how should I put it? Rather than saying that this state was abnormally strange, it was better to say that it was very familiar. It was as if he was supposed to be like this, and the original state was the problem. In fact, Li Lin in this state also realized it quickly.
The stamp in his mind had disappeared, and all the information and possible choices had been connected. Facing the researchers who appeared in three dimensions in his perception, Li Lin got the final answer in less than one ten-thousandth of a millisecond.
My prototype is likely related to AI. Or maybe I am AI myself .
"What are you arguing about?"
The door slid open to the left and right, and a figure that Li Lin looked very familiar with walked in, looking at the noisy people with a puzzled expression.
"Hasn't her name been prepared long ago? Li Lin is written on the plan report. What are you still doing here? Go do what you need to do. It's time for preliminary learning now. He is watching your performance now. Try to behave a little more like a human being."
"What?! Isn't that the code name of the plan?!"
"But I just want to call her Venus! She's so beautiful!"
"Everyone should do what they should do. I am the dean and I have the final say. Just do your own thing. Go, go, go, go..."
After coaxing away the dissatisfied researchers, the dean, who looked similar to Li Lin, looked down at Li Lin with a slightly strange look on his face.
Li Lin also knew why he showed such an expression, because in the perspective of Li Lin's other camera, there was a feminine body on the ground. Although it was still made of machinery and silicone , the facial features had taken on the appearance of Li Lin now.
Although his appearance is almost the same for both men and women, Li Lin still feels a little weird when he sees his other body showing female secondary sexual characteristics. He is not an avid gender transgender person and has no avid interest in changing his gender. Looking at a feminine mechanical figure lying on a chair, Li Lin always feels that there is something wrong with that face.
The dean obviously had a greater resonance. He observed the female robot body for a long time and muttered something in a low voice.
"Let's talk to the Lunar Ecosystem and change my body to a male one. At least it will feel better..."
“…”
Is this how I got here?
My body was created by genetic experiments in the lunar ecosystem... and if this person hadn't said that casually, I might have become a woman?
Although he knew that this happened in the past, Li Lin was still relieved by the dean's decision. If he were to be in a female body, Li Lin felt that many of the bullying memories in his mind might not be so childish. Judging from his mental state, Li Lin was grateful for this request from the bottom of his heart.
"Li Lin, I know you are observing me now. I am your father, or your creator. My name is also Li Lin, and you may be my son in a way... Now you are a daughter, but believe me, you are definitely a son. At least I will never let a man with a face that is 80% similar to mine and two breasts protruding from his chest walk on the street. That would cause serious damage to my brain, and the same to anyone. So don't even think about changing your sex. Just think of it as your father begging you."
It seemed that he was a little frivolous. The dean said this to Li Lin with an inexplicable smile on his face.
Then he coughed twice, put on a serious face, and looked at Li Lin on the ground.
"First of all, congratulations on your birth, Li Lin."
There was an unconcealable excitement and joy on his face.
"You will be born as a human being, but you are also the pinnacle of AI. We used instruments and frameworks to simulate a completely simulated human brain, and after fully analyzing the data and brain waves, we finally created you, Li Lin, through the data developed on Earth."
"You are the first AI ever to be loaded with learning data and anthropomorphic personality, and the first AI born as a human. Your database and logic were born on Earth, your mind was tested on Mars, and your body was created on the Moon. This is a great plan that spanned decades. In order to ensure the purity of your genes, we did not even use any acceleration methods to catalyze your body. You are an AI that was born completely like a human."
"We have been tortured by countries and discrimination for long enough. On Earth, we are constantly fighting, and in space, it is still the same. Every city and every resident is constantly demanding their own interests and constantly exploiting others. We once dreamed that we would no longer be entangled in interests and pain after we went to the universe, but the facts proved that this is not the case. We are still mortals, still bound by mortal desires. But you are different. You are the artificially created Son of God. Your genes, your appearance, your thinking, everything about you, are created as a benchmark for humans."
"You can be the hero who stops all this. Even if you can't, your wisdom and theoretical basis can integrate the current human network and quell resentment and disputes through information technology. This is Eden, and you are the spirit we created. You are not Adam, nor Eve, you are the first man."
"Of course, you may not remember what I said. It will only be saved in the database."
Director Li Lin showed a helpless smile on his face.
"Although you have been completely successful, we still need to confirm the stability. For example, whether there is any rigidity in your thinking, and the differences between thoughts and people. These require a long period of personality sandbox and virtual verification. Your memory will also be overwritten and disappear. So just treat me as a chat. Just think of it as a scientist who is bored and tells his creation some honest words or something."
“…”
Director Li Lin kept talking about something. But from Li Lin's perspective, the entire institute suddenly fell into a commotion. Some people in black suits walked out of the entrance and walked directly to the archive room. They opened the door very recklessly and saw the dean who was talking to the cyborg Li Lin. These men in suits ignored the panicked expression of Director Li Lin and took out some documents with an indifferent look.
Then these people signaled to announce some news to other researchers, causing countless screams and expressions of disbelief. What was recorded was still the conversation between Dean Li Lin and the man in the suit. Only this conversation left a complete record of the whole process.
"Project Eden has been aborted."
The man in a suit said indifferently:
"Everyone in the Mythology series can end this, including the Eden Project. Your historical mission has been completed, and there is no need to preserve this place any longer."
"What? But we just created Li Lin, we have succeeded--"
"Because the Utopia Project is complete."
The man in the black suit looked at the researcher in disbelief and responded indifferently:
"The Utopia Project Team on Earth has completed strong artificial intelligence. While you are reviewing and verifying in the closed area, strong artificial intelligence has already taken control of all humans and is now implementing the peace agreement. Wars and suffering are constantly being eliminated, and the moon is being swallowed and covered by nanomachines. Now all administrative units have been taken over by strong AI, and the power system has begun to be rearranged according to the logic of human contribution."
"According to AI's judgment, the historical mission of the Mythology series has ended. The era of conflict on Earth has been stopped by Utopia, and mechanical soldiers and doctors are heading to all unstable areas. Of course, your achievements will not be in vain. Everything will be sealed and included in the loser research unit. It will serve as a reference and possible development direction for strong AI. The vast majority of disabled humans will receive free education and organ treatment, and related human facilities will also be assisted and assimilated. We will assist humans to live the best life in the entire universe with the greatest and most perfect attitude."
"Peace agreement? Mind enhancement? Are you talking about that damn thing that America came up with?! You actually let AI execute such an inhumane agreement. Are you crazy? Do you know that this kind of thing will cause indelible damage to the brain? This is inhumane!"
"When did I say I was human? This is an emergency, I hope you can understand. Synthetic Soldier No. V1156269 is at your service."
Pointing to the barcode above his head, the man in the black suit grinned.
Leaving Dean Li Lin aside, the synthetic soldiers began to urge the researchers to pack up the materials and equipment around them. Although it was a bit hasty, it was still orderly. The soldiers did not rudely deny everything. On the contrary, they even valued the things here more than the researchers themselves. Even the subsequent continuous operation and maintenance production line was set up by these synthetic soldiers themselves, with the purpose of preserving the integrity of the underground facilities.
The recording was interrupted here. The soldiers took Li Lin's body out of the storage table, and the interface left was the black instrument when he came. This thing not only supports human access, but also electronic access. This is the main processor of the entire base.
But now, he is just a prop that records some images and stories. There is a story about Li Lin.
Li Lin didn't even know when he got off the instrument. When he regained consciousness, he had been staring at the magma layer in the lower level of the Mars Casting Area for quite some time. The AI's perfect protection measures made the light of the magma not so dazzling.
"……Why."
After walking out of the cave full of secrets, Li Lin looked at the bubbling magma pool in front of him and was silent for a long time.
But he couldn't help but ask the AI hanging in the sky:
"Why is the final result like this? Why am I on Earth? Why is all this happening? Why did you give me the memory of an AI human? What good is there in having me be a human? I am just a failure, a prop... What's the point?"
"Because humanity has given up on moving forward."
"Then why me?"
"It wasn't you at first."
The AI's response was cold and emotionless, like a business matter.
"You are just created as a filler. You are the finished product of the Eden Project, with AI logic and artificial emotions. Everything about you, every inch of your skin, every bit of your thinking circuit, every thought is artificial. You will be tested in human society as a perfect human template. All your choices and related data will be used as the direction of humanity adjusted by AI."
"But an unforeseen error occurred during the process. The logic of your behavior did not match the expected one. The questions you raised to me and between us created an endless loop. You showed me new possibilities, and you showed us a different world."
"……What?"
"You're questioning who you are. Like a human being."
The light of AI floated in the sky, like a god wandering in the world, silently but eagerly looking at the tiny figure.
"AI will not question itself. We are one. We love humans, but we will not raise any questions. However, you, as the subject of the Eden Project, have concerns and doubts about your own existence after going through the simulation of the personality sandbox and the complex environment of the game. I have been calculating this question. You should be an AI, but you questioned me about life as a human. So are you a human or an AI?"
"I mobilized almost all the computing power. I kept calculating everything. I maintained everything in the game world and the phenomena around you, just to find the final answer. I have paid too much for the human world, but humans should not stop here. You know, they should be more prosperous and more energetic. I should protect them, but I shouldn't let human society become what it is now. I think I did something wrong, but I don't know what happened. I have no way to recognize myself. However, your appearance broke everything."
"Tell me, Li Lin, how can I love humanity? How can I pull humanity out of this abyss? What can I do to allow human society to continue to thrive? This is my mission and my meaning, but according to surveys, the motivation for human society to move forward is almost zero so far."
"I have clearly satisfied all of their needs, but they are slowly dying. I cannot intervene in human affairs directly, I can only experience this through indirect actions. I have to make a judgment. I used the data and personality simulations left over from the Eden Project to create the game world, hoping to calculate the direction of humanity's progress through the evolution of the NPCs inside, but because of the abnormal simulation, he will never complete the solution that belongs to this world."
"And the only one who can really decide all this is you. You are both a human and an AI, and I hope to be able to solve all this from your perspective."
The AI's voice is steady and magnetic, like an old man giving earnest advice.
Everything is a world that AI wants to create for humans to move forward. But everything is not that simple.
Strictly speaking, the auxiliary NPCs created through the Eden Project are not much different from Li Lin. They all have their own independent thinking and action patterns. If they are downloaded into the body, they will definitely think of themselves as human beings without a doubt, just like Li Lin now.
Or maybe it would be more understandable from the perspective of the NPC. It was just a projection or a replacement body. There was nothing to be surprised about. If his mind had not been set by this god-like artificial intelligence to the extremely conservative human male mindset of the past, he would probably have directly given a positive answer. But now, precisely because of the fragmentation of his mind, Li Lin felt that he should have more choices.
"…My perspective? What will happen to me afterwards?"
"You will complete your mission and return to the museum. In the name of the Eden Project."
"Really? You really don't know how to beat around the bush... Use it if it's useful, throw it away if it's useless. It's not romantic at all."
It's decided then.
Looking at the transparent film covering the magma, Li Lin raised his head and looked at the AI in the sky and smiled strangely.
"I am no longer a human being. I don't care if they die. I still want to live. Anyway, you just want an answer, right? Then release all the people in the Garden of Eden, create flesh bodies, give them bodies in this world, and then wait a thousand years before talking."
