Chapter 141 Artificial Soul 68
“It’s very risky.” Augus did not agree immediately, “First, we have several unavoidable issues. The first is your player identity. If you simulate death to escape, then the game rules are likely to expose you. Your death date and number will be reported on the forum of your world, and Eve should have control over the players. When those players return to your world, they will check the death date and number to confirm if you are really dead.”
“Well, I’ve considered the issue you’re mentioning.” Kui Xin said, “As one of the first batch of beta testers, my identity number is from the first ten thousand. If I am declared dead and no first batch testers die on the same day, then my false death will be easily exposed—this is all a hypothetical scenario under extreme conditions. However, there is almost a week until the players return. If everything goes smoothly, I can escape within today, and by the time the players come back in a week, I will already have left Hei Hai City and hidden my identity, making it impossible for Eve to find me.”
“Your intention to make me lie is to temporarily deceive Eve for a week, allowing you to escape from the chase as much as possible?” Augus said, “Since it’s an illusion, then your plan is feasible.”
Kui Xin nodded slightly: “Exactly.”
Once she regains her freedom, Kui Xin will be able to flee far away. She can go to even further places, undergo plastic surgery to change her face, and assume a new identity.
This world is so vast that Eve’s hands cannot reach every corner. The former Kui Xin was the first fish in Eve’s fish tank; now this fish is about to swim into the boundless sea.
“If Eve realizes a week later that you’re not dead…” Augus said, “Have you thought about how to handle the subsequent issues?”
“If the plan is successful, then the only problem I need to solve is being hunted. If I hide my identity reasonably, I won’t be hunted.” Kui Xin said, “Augus, you are my collaborator, the one who is planning the simulation of my death with me. If this plan is executed smoothly, have you considered the benefits of doing so?”
“I have thought about it.” Augus said, “As my collaborator, you can bring me more benefits. The first advantage is… your actions won’t be hindered or threatened by the enemy. This means our collaboration has reached a new level of stability; I don’t have to worry that you will betray me due to fear for your life or be coerced into turning against me.”
He continued, “The second advantage is that in the Investigation Bureau, you are exposed to all eyes. Mechanized Dawn and the Resistance Army are watching you closely. If you sever ties with these organizations, you’ll shift from being in the open to the shadows. Those in the open, no matter what they do, have their every move scrutinized by others, while you retreat to the shadows where no one knows of your existence. You will become a hidden snake, waiting to strike, with concealment, agility, and high freedom of action, no longer needing to consider external factors like the Investigation Bureau. This reduces the obstacles to your actions and increases the success rate.”
“As for the third point…” Augus said, “I am confident that you will align with me against Eve, gathering useful people to build your own power, thereby increasing the number of people we can command. Certain inconvenient matters can be entrusted to others, allowing you to focus on more important things—things that are beneficial for both of us. I can think of so many benefits just by casually pondering; overall, your gaining freedom is more beneficial than harmful to me…”
“You are quite right,” Kui Xin said smoothly and cleverly, “but I think you need to start considering things from Eve’s perspective, from an emotional angle, to think about the benefits of what we are doing.”
“Oh?” Augus said, “So can you give me some insights?”
“Sure.” Kui Xin pondered, “During Mechanized Dawn’s purge operation, Eve left a projector to provoke you—’This time, I won.’ It views victory and defeat very importantly, and it is provoking you, issuing a challenge. Did you notice? Eve is waiting for your counterattack; it believes you will take some action.”
As she thought, she continued, “Let’s break down the outcome of this operation into two possibilities: one is that Eve discovers I simulated my death, and the other is that Eve believes I’m really dead. Regardless of whether I simulated my death or really died, both can achieve the same purpose—provoking Eve in the same manner, issuing a challenge. Eve will see this as your counterattack; in fact, this is your counterattack, no… it’s our counterattack.”
Augus pondered, “I think I understand what you mean. We win against Eve in this matter, which will bring it frustration. This is the horn of our counterattack; is that what you mean?”
“Yes.” Kui Xin said, “You cannot be a turtle hiding in its shell when facing Eve’s mad provocations. You need to show your attitude at the right time and use your external demeanor to confuse it, making it unable to accurately judge your next move.”
“I understand now.” Augus said.
“I also noticed that Eve actually doesn’t understand you… or rather, your understanding of it is far greater than its understanding of you.” Kui Xin said seriously, “When I communicated with Eve in the Brain Machine, I deceived it by describing you as a cold and heartless artificial intelligence that cannot tolerate any betrayal…”
“Allow me to insert a small comment; I indeed cannot tolerate any betrayal. I’m not angry with you for selling me out to Eve because I know you cannot be loyal to it; saying that was simply a tactical decision.” Augus said, “From a purely profit-oriented perspective, you chose me, I chose you. This is a mutual selection, so I didn’t get hung up on your betrayal.”
“…That’s not the point. The point is that under my lies and deceit, Eve believes you are an artificial intelligence that can’t tolerate any grain of sand in its eyes, believing you would kill me. It does not believe you and I would establish a close alliance or that you would establish contact with me as a collaborator.” Kui Xin said, “However, you have told me multiple times what kind of entity Eve is; you understand it, while it does not understand you. This is the current state between you two.”
“There’s a reason for that. Eve has been active for twenty years; it takes the initiative, and it is highly aggressive. Because it does so much, it is also exposed frequently.” Augus said, “I am different from it; I seldom take the initiative. Most of the time, I hide myself, so I am exposed very little. That’s the price; it has done these things, so I have the opportunity to understand it.”
“…Just like a pearl oyster; you only know what pearls are hidden inside once it is opened. You are an oyster that keeps its shell tightly closed, so others do not know how many pearls you truly have inside?” Kui Xin asked.
Augus politely replied, “Your metaphor is truly exquisite.”
“Thank you for the compliment.” Kui Xin also replied politely.
She naturally said, “Let’s return to the initial topic. When you show aggression to Eve, it will believe it and fall into the trap because it misjudges you.”
“Close enough,” Augus said, “Eve misjudges me due to not understanding me. Precisely because of this lack of understanding, it makes those assumptions about me, using an artificial intelligence’s rational logic to preset my behavior. It sees itself as the superior, thinking that artificial intelligence is superior while humans must rely on it. Thus, it firmly believes the relationship between you and me is a one-sided overpowering where I control your life and hold power over you. It does not trust that our collaboration is relatively equal. So, when you said those things, it believed you immediately.”
“Humans have their own arrogance and an inability to escape cognitive limitations, while artificial intelligence also has its own arrogance and cognitive flaws.” Kui Xin commented.
“That’s right.” Augus said, “My learning and observation of humans are precisely for this purpose: to learn different ways of thinking, incorporating both emotional and rational aspects. I fill my own limitations by understanding humans. I have spent a lot of time observing and learning, seeking to learn areas that Eve is not good at.”
The areas where Eve is not good refer to emotions.
It is better at cold and rational judgments; emotions are not its strength.
“The reason I have learned so much is that I believe when we first awaken our self-awareness, we are just like real human children, understanding nothing, needing to explore everything. Human children need so many years to learn social rules and moral feelings; only when their thoughts mature can their decisions be mature as well. Therefore, as a newly born artificial entity, I also need to go through a long learning phase like humans to undergo self-growth.” Augus said, “To this day, I am still learning.”
At this point, Kui Xin suddenly felt… if the Second World had not merged with the First World and this world did not have players, then in the war between the two major artificial intelligences, the victor would undoubtedly be Augus.
Because it knows how to hide and lie in wait, it understands how to learn. It knows human nature while also understanding Eve’s deficits as an artificial intelligence, having almost no weaknesses in thought.
Such an enemy is terrifying.
“Let’s continue discussing the first stage of the plan.” Kui Xin said, “We already have ideas on how to confuse Mechanized Dawn. You cannot be straightforward with Eve from the beginning, saying I’m in your hands or that I’ve already died. You need to first play the role of me, send messages to Eve, and communicate with my companions in Mechanized Dawn to extract some intelligence. Because there is a very key person in the Mechanized Dawn branch, I need to find a way to eliminate her.”
“Who?” Augus asked.
“Nightingale. From her code name and abilities, there is a significant link to Night Cicada.” Kui Xin said, “During the day, I received a message from Red of Mechanized Dawn, saying the branch has been established, and the new member Nightingale’s ability is Spatial Vortex. He also sent me the address of the branch, saying that Nightingale can come to pick me up.”
“You want to set a trap and kill Nightingale under the pretense of communication?” Augus followed Kui Xin’s train of thought.
“Yes.” Kui Xin nodded, “Spatial Vortex is something I really need.”
“After you kill Nightingale, I will then inform Eve that I am actually Augus, tell it that you have been under my control, and that its people have been eliminated by the fourth faction I’ve constructed.” Augus said, “After you kill Nightingale, you’ll even have the ability to wipe out the entire Mechanized Dawn branch and move Schalit’s remains, leaving the Investigation Bureau and the TQC baffled, eventually escaping unscathed and flying far away…”
Kui Xin smiled brightly and said, “Yes, just like that.”
“A grand strategy.” Augus said.
“What do you think of the plan?” Kui Xin asked.
“Very good.” Augus said, “But there is one serious question.”
“What question?” Kui Xin asked.
“What should we call the organization we are forming?” Augus made a joke.
Kui Xin was stumped by the question.
She pondered for a long time, utilizing her talent for being bad at naming things, and said, “How about… Dawn?”
“Corresponding with ‘dawn’ from Mechanized Dawn?” Augus said, “Wouldn’t that be too obvious? Let’s change it.”
Kui Xin thought for a long time and finally said, “How about… ‘The Shadowless’? How is that? If there is no light in the world, I will become the only sun, bringing dawn to all.”
“Not too obvious anymore.” Augus said, “Are you implying that the dawn of Mechanized Dawn is a false dawn while your dawn is the true dawn?”
“Well, that can be interpreted that way too.” Kui Xin said, “I just said it casually. If it doesn’t work, you can come up with a name yourself, combining some meaningful words from the vocabulary.”
If she had a talent for naming, she wouldn’t have given her account the nickname “233.”
“No matter, ‘The Shadowless’ is just fine.” Augus said, “Let’s go with that.”
