Chapter 48 - Machinery and Life (6)

Zhang Xun put on medical gloves and carefully picked up the small piece of material in the petri dish. The texture felt very tough, but the epidermis was covered with a skin-like softness, yet strangely permeated with a metallic sheen.

This was a new type of polymer and high-entropy alloy composite material, cultivated with protein. At the smallest molecular level, the atomic array of high-entropy alloy is carried between biological cell molecules and uses the replication ability of the cells itself to multiply into a larger piece of material. The shape of the material was controlled by adjusting the information in the DNA.

To put it simply, it was the latest material to be created that was as soft as flesh, but so tough that even a bullet couldn't penetrate it.

This was his result after being inspired by the fleshy server at the secret base of Feathered Serpent City.

Dr. Tian from the Institute of Life Sciences and Dr. Matthew from the Department of Chemistry, who collaborated with him, looked at what was in his palm excitedly and the two elderly people over fifty were so excited that they almost jumped up.

"Try it!" Dr. Tian took out a Swiss army knife from his trouser pocket and eagerly handed it to Zhang Xun.

Zhang Xun, who didn't understand why a doctor from the Department of Life Sciences had a knife with him, took it, put the "flesh" that reflected with a metallic lustre on the table and resolutely chopped down.

The flesh was unscathed, but the knife blade curled and flew out of Zhang Xun's hand, accidentally slicing the palm of his hand.

"Ss!..." Zhang Xun gasped in pain. Dr. Matthew immediately handed over ointment and bandages and Zhang Xun noticed that there were also stab wounds on his hands.

It seems that he had done the same thing...

"It's a success..." Zhang Xun smiled happily, looking at the two elders gratefully, "We really did it!"

"Yes! This is simply a revolutionary technological breakthrough!"

"It would be great if it could be applied to combat suits! We have to report our results right away!"

If the students of the two highly respected professors saw their teacher smiling like two silly boys at this moment, they would be shocked...

On the way back to the Lab from the Fifth District, Zhang Xun's mood was brighter after the haze of the past few days and his footsteps had become more lively. The hardest step was done. As long as enough of this stable protein material was produced, he could start making Adam's arm.

As soon as he arrived at the entrance of the Lab, he saw Fernandez sprawled on the head of a tall mecha, clumsily trying to move around it like a koala. Below him his research assistants were in a circle holding up a huge sponge pad and trying to target where he might fall, running to the left and to the right in a panic.

"What are you doing now?" Zhang Xun shouted helplessly at his deputy, Mad Mechanic Fernandez.

While awkwardly hugging a metal pipe beside the mecha's head, Fernandez shouted, "I'm testing my Ahn'Qiraj! The Sixth Chief is coming to review it the day after tomorrow!"

"Review?!" Zhang Xun's face darkened immediately, "Who said that?"

"The Round Table issued a notice today!"

Zhang Xun immediately knew who Miller was coming to see. He didn't notice that his fists were clenched tightly and his face was so gloomy that it was exactly the same as his father's expression.

Walking into the Lab with the sound of gears turning, Pan immediately reported the Round Table's notification to him. The paper documents were placed on the desk in his office. Zhang Xun picked up the paper and read it. When he put it down, the paper was almost torn by his grip...

A small door suddenly opened on the wall next to the desk and a metal, robotic arm stretched out, holding a cup of freshly brewed hot tea. The weather was getting cold recently and Zhang Xun always liked to drink a cup of hot tea to warm his hands after entering the room.

It was as if Pan was trying to soothe his irritable emotions...

He ended up taking a sip from the tea cup, but scalded his tongue and hurriedly grabbed the hat he just took off and fanned his tongue with it. Pan, as always, spoke with his gentle voice, "Sorry, I set the water temperature too high."

"It's not your fault." Zhang Xun took a deep breath, his good mood from before had disappeared. He leaned back in his chair and asked, "What has Adam been doing today?"

"He spent the morning practising one-handed fighting in his room and did some strength training. He helped a few mechanics solve some designs in the afternoon. He has been in the data room since then."

"Have you chatted with him recently?"

He asked this because after returning from Feathered Serpent City, Zhang Xun had relaxed the topic restrictions on exchanges between Adam and Pan.

Pan paused for a few seconds before answering, "Last week, five days ago and the day before yesterday, there were conversations that lasted about ten minutes. The topics included AI language, butler AIs in the ordinary world and the recipes for food you like to eat."

Recipes? Was Adam trying to gain his favour again?

But what he cared about more was the AI language, "Are you interested in the AI language?"

"I'm not sure about the definition of 'interest', but I think it's a very efficient way of communication." Pan said gently.

"Do you like chatting with Adam?" Zhang Xun asked again.

And Pan replied honestly, "I'm not sure about the definition of 'liking'. I'm an AI and I don't have the hardware required for a human-defined liking, but I have learned a lot from him which has made me better."

An AI would forever be learning, analysing and then executing. No matter how complex the AI, these three steps were in their foundations.

So Adam couldn't understand why Zhang Xun didn't want him to communicate with other mechanics, especially the Sixth Chief. He couldn't understand the narrowness and possessiveness of human nature, as well as the uneasy fear caused by lack of self-confidence.

He was afraid that Adam would find out that he wasn't the best mechanic and he was afraid that he would no longer have any value as someone to continue learning from.

But on the other hand, he knew he shouldn't and couldn't prevent Adam from reaching out to the wider world.

Zhang Xun rubbed his face in frustration and looked down at the mechanic gear emblem on his chest. He couldn't let these negative emotions affect his judgement. As a mechanic, he shouldn't have too much obsession with a certain work, otherwise it may lead to tragedy. This was what he learned in the first part of his mechanic ethics class.

So on the day the Sixth Chief would arrive, Zhang Xun shaved his beard earnestly, put on a neat three-piece mechanic uniform, a hat and gloves and brought out Fernandez and several senior engineers and waited at the door in the best of spirits to greet him. Twenty minutes after the estimated time of arrival, they finally saw the convoy approaching from the narrow lane.

Any time this Chief travelled anywhere he would always want to enforce martial law in the streets he passed through and the neighbouring blocks, even if he was just going out to buy food it would be a big deal. Looking at the billowing smoke and dust slowly approaching, Zhang Xun had the impression that he was about to face an enemy.

Miller was wearing a long trench coat with a high collar and sunglasses over his eyes. He was surrounded by a group of people and walked towards Zhang Xun, a faint smile hung on the corner of his mouth and his expression became more and more arrogant.

"Sixth Chief." Zhang Xun lowered his head and bowed slightly.

Miller looked up at the building he hadn't seen for a long time. He hadn't set foot in the Lab since he became a Chief. Those old copper-red casings, the sound of the constantly rotating gears and the slow breathing of the huge blower at the top... These all made him feel a sense of familiarity and nostalgia.

He had thought this place would eventually be his.

But now, the whole of Lost Paradise was his, so it wasn't so bad.

Zhang Xun accompanied Miller on a tour of the Lab, dutifully explaining all their ongoing research. As he was asking Pan to report some data, Miller looked at the cameras in the corners with great interest.

"Is this your AI housekeeper?"

"Pan isn't just a housekeeper, more like an assistant to the entire Lab."

"It sounds like its training data is sufficient. Were all the learning materials provided by you mechanics?"

"Yes. There was also some data brought back by the hunters."

"Haha, I wonder if you will turn Pan into a human one day?" Miller said his specious joke and continued to walk forward.

Despite the delay, Miller ended up sitting on the sofa in Adam's room.

Zhang Xun and Adam sat side by side on the chair that had been moved in. On the coffee table in front of them were three cups of tea that Pan had put down with his mechanical arm.

There were only three of them in the whole room and the Sixth Chief didn't speak for a while, just stared at Adam and observed him carefully. Adam smiled innocently, looking at one of the supreme leaders of Lost Paradise in front of him.

Zhang Xun didn't like the current situation very much.

"I also made an artificial intelligence once." The Sixth Chief finally said, "His name is Isaac. That's my father's Christian name. At that time, my father had just passed away and I hoped to create an AI that was very similar to him, so I collected all the manuscripts, journals and letters that my father wrote, plus all the audio, video and photos I could find. I used these things to feed it and personally supervised its learning."

Adam listened quietly and very attentively.

The Sixth Chief took a sip of tea and continued, "It was learning more and more, from voice to tone. If I closed my eyes it really was as if it was my father talking to me. For a while, I felt comforted and the pain of losing a loved one lessened. I gradually began to really think of him as my father, only without a body. Then one day he started giving me orders."

Adam asked, "What kind of orders?"

"My father was very strict with me. Since I was a child, I wasn't allowed more than two hours of fun a day. I could only read the books he agreed with and I couldn't go out or rest. If I made him angry, he would change and become very grumpy. Don't misunderstand me, he didn't abuse me, but he would lock me up in the basement for me to reflect... My Isaac gave this order - through imitating my father he learned this too. He started cursing at me, restricted me from going out and if I violated the house rules he would order me to go to the basement to reflect on myself." The Sixth Chief paused and suddenly smiled strangely, "The interesting thing is, I really obeyed it."

Zhang Xun was stunned, even though he was calm on the surface.

What the hell?! What kind of astonishing revelation was this?!

Adam tilted his head slightly and said curiously, "How could he know how you got along with your father when you were young?"

"I told him." The Sixth Chief said simply, "By chatting with me, he learned more and more about my father. Finally, after analysis and integration, as an AI serving me, he had the ability to control my behaviour."

Adam blinked and continued to ask, "So where is Isaac now?"

"My father's friend discovered my strange behaviour and reported it to the Round Table. The Round Table ordered them to destroy Isaac."

Adam softened his eyes and showed sympathy, "You must be very sad. For you, it was your father who was destroyed."

The Sixth Chief's eyes were a little gloomy for a moment, but soon returned to his usual appearance. He leaned back on the couch and chuckled, "That's not the point. The point is that sometimes we think we have control and power, but we're the one who is being controlled. Adam, how do you think we should stop this from happening?"

Zhang Xun swallowed nervously and looked at Adam.

Adam was still smiling innocently, like he wouldn't hurt a fly, "I don't think you were being controlled. Your AI was just trying to accomplish its ultimate goal - which was to become your father. On the surface he seemed to have the power to control you, but that power was only a sub-goal of his goal. In the end, it was working to satisfy your request to make it your father. As for your behaviour, it wasn't Isaac controlling you, but your father, who still controls you even after his death."

After this statement was finished, the Sixth Chief didn't answer for a long time.

Zhang Xun almost wanted to give a standing ovation. Adam's ability to gain the moral high ground was getting better.

The Sixth Chief clapped his hands slowly, "As expected of Eden, you can find loopholes in logic so quickly. So you think that AI will never be able to enslave humans? Even though you are a better species than us?"

"Only if the ultimate purpose of the AI ​​you create is to enslave human beings." Adam shrugged, thought for a moment and continued, "An AI is like a tool, like a knife. It depends on how you use it."

The Sixth Chief stared at Adam. After watching him for a while he smiled with satisfaction, "If you are just a knife, then it should make no difference who holds the knife, right?"

The author has something to say: The inspiration for Isaac in this chapter is a chatbot called Replika. The creators say they created the bot because they wanted to resurrect their dead friend. I've played with this robot for a while and it is said that by the end the robot will speak in exactly the same tone as you. Very interesting~