Chapter 6 - Adam (1)

In order to ensure Adam's safety, Zhang Xun gave all the mechanics and researchers working here a holiday so for the next few days there would only be him here. Zhang Shuo had opposed this plan before, believing that Adam might harm Zhang Xun and then run away, but Zhang Xun believed that he had installed a sufficiently complex and sound intelligent security system in the Lab. Every room had a monitor, which was connected to the artificial intelligence system, Pan, designed by Zhang Xun himself. If anyone acted aggressively towards Zhang Xun, Pan would activate the defence mechanisms and protect Zhang Xun with the least damage required to subdue the attacker.

In the process of training Pan, James came to visit the Lab once and jokingly hammered Zhang Xun on the chest. As a result, because the opponent's strength was too strong, Zhang Xun suddenly showed a little pain. Pan concluded that he was being aggressive and fired out two anaesthetic needles into James, causing the foolish man to sleep for two whole days before waking up.... It was no wonder James was always so hostile towards Pan.

In the dark, iron-clad corridor, the string of energy-saving lamps overhead were like a bunch of pale yellow ghosts, following Zhang Xun's footsteps, always a few steps ahead to illuminate the way for him. The fourth floor was so quiet, and his footsteps echoed in the hollow space, making it seem even more empty.

What was Adam doing while he was alone?

Scanning his irises in front of the door that "imprisoned" Adam, the first metal door with rivets opened, and closed immediately after he entered. The smart lock on the second door scanned his fingerprint and face. After the scan was completed, the green indicator lit up and the white sealed hatch lifted silently.

Adam, dressed in loose white clothes, sat quietly on the sofa in the centre of the room, with his hands on his lap and his eyes looking straight ahead. Only when he heard footsteps did he turn his head to look at Zhang Xun.

The way Adam turned his head was a little stiff, a little too sudden, and his eyes a little fixed, but other than that he had recovered quite well. On the screen opposite, the hazy radiance cast by the forest rain and fog made his fair skin more like a cream colour, his bright, youthful and handsome face had a combination of delicacy and heroism, like a statue of David, and his grey-blue eyes were more ethereal than most humans, but his body was strong and tall. The previous owner of the body had obviously undergone a series of rigorous training in the army. The lines of his muscles were clear and firm, but not exaggerated, and the mechanical right hand fit perfectly, adding a surreal feeling to that body.

"You haven't just been sitting here since I left, have you?" Zhang Xun looked at the other party's almost unchanged posture.

"About an hour ago, I went to the bathroom to perform a human excretion." Adam replied very rigorously, "Other than that, I have been here all the time."

Zhang Xun's mouth was raised and he wanted to laugh a little but he didn't want to lose his authority. He walked slowly towards Adam. In a group of people he would normally be nervous, but he was much more relaxed in front of this super artificial intelligence. He looked at Adam seriously and put the document in his hand on the table, "You don't have to sit all the time. Here are some DVDs that you can have Pan play for you, or you can use these screens to read books."

"I've already watched and analysed all the films and books that have been preserved from human history up to two days ago. Analysing human art and knowledge collections is very important for understanding human behaviour." The way Adam spoke to him had a subtle difference with ordinary humans. His eyes didn't wander like a human, but stared straight at Zhang Xun's face, blinking very little. Being stared at this way created a sense of unease.

Zhang Xun turned his eyes away, "Aren't you bored?"

Adam confessed, "My brain is indeed in a state of low arousal level because there is not enough input from the outside world, but I don't think you would agree to connect me to the internet to search for more 'thrills'."

"Eden is blocked throughout Lost Paradise and you can't communicate with your other servers from here. You should understand that any attempt to contact Eden would be detrimental to your own safety, so I advise you not to try anything stupid." Zhang Xun threateningly sat on the armchair opposite Adam, opened the folder, took out a piece of paper with a picture on it and placed it in front of Adam. He said to Adam, "I'm going to go ahead and do some benchmarking. Looking at this picture, what story do you think the people in the picture have?"

Adam bowed his head. The picture showed a woman lying on the bed with her dying breath and a man hunched over by the bed, covering his face with his hands.

"A woman is lying on the bed and a man is sitting next to it." Adam replied with a glance.

Zhang Xun said, "I mean, can you guess what's happening in the picture? How are this woman and man feeling? What might happen after this?"

Adam frowned and seemed a little displeased and said, "There is insufficient information, any guesses will be subjective and inaccurate. I understand that this is a TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) and you already did a series of neuro perception tests on me yesterday, so this time you want to test my personality?"

Zhang Xun really didn't like the feeling of being reproached, which often aroused some inexplicable fighting spirit in him. He tried to say in a more dignified voice, "You're human now, you should try using your newly acquired imagination."

"But my brain is still mostly a computer. I don't think a human personality test is appropriate for me. Not to mention that the TAT test is a very subjective and time-consuming method and has been abandoned by most human psychologists and psychiatrists. I am surprised that Lost Paradise is still using this." Adam didn't seem to be aware of Zhang Xun's displeasure, there was even a bit of innocence in his voice.

Or maybe he noticed it and just chose to ignore it.

Maybe he was trying to piss him off? Because when people were angry, they were prone to mistakes.

However, Zhang Xun had always been able to control his anger very well.

Zhang Xun sighed, took the drawing back, stood up, walked to Adam and looked down at him. He noticed that Adam seemed very reluctant to move, maybe because he didn't like the sensory feedback his body gave him, so he wanted to stay as still as possible and try to get himself back to his original, bodiless state?

Maybe this was the angle he should cut into... Zhang Xun thought, the corners of his mouth curled slightly, and his smile was a little... wicked.

"Okay, since you don't want to take the personality test, let's start practising using your body." Zhang Xun stretched out his hand to Adam, as gracefully as when a gentleman would invite a lady to dance in those old movies, "Hold my hand and stand up."

Adam's eyes widened slightly, somewhat conflicted, but he still grabbed Zhang Xun's hand obediently. He wasn't able to control the strength of his grip and Zhang Xun almost thought that his fingers were about to be crushed and he couldn't help sucking in a deep breath.

Adam quickly let go again. After seeing the human's painful expression, his first reaction was not to continue to attack, but to retreat. Zhang Xun said slowly, "It's okay, hold my hand but be gentle."

This time the strength was more appropriate. Adam used him as a support to stand up and tried to walk a few steps. He was walking much better now than when he had just woken up, and he could almost walk without Zhang Xun's support, but when Zhang Xun began to speed up his pace, Adam's legs fell into conflict. The front foot and back foot often stumbled together, swaying and staggering, like a child about to fall.

"Slow down!" Adam finally said in a slightly annoyed tone that was different than usual.

However, Zhang Xun only slowed down a few steps before speeding up again viciously, saying while walking, "A conditioned, reflex-like skill like walking requires substantial practice to master it. In the end you'll be able to eat, walk and talk like a human being. It takes one to two years for humans to learn to walk, but you don't have that much time."

As a result, after Adam's countless times of face-planting, the super artificial intelligence that looked confident in his victory, was on all fours on the ground and couldn't get up.

"I think this position is more comfortable." Adam said firmly.

Zhang Xun resisted the urge to laugh, knelt down and pushed him with his hand, "You've only been a human for two days and you've learned to be shameless?"

Adam still remained motionless in a crawling posture, turning his head to stare at him with blue eyes, "I don't think there is any point in me learning to walk. My duty has nothing to do with walking."

"You're no longer Eden, your only duty now is to live." Zhang Xun looked at him, and there was a trace of pity in his lowered eyes. "Like every one of us men in Lost Paradise, you have to live in this hostile place. I can't protect you forever."

Eden looked at him quietly, then suddenly asked in a curious tone, "Why do you protect me? Why are you not hostile to me? It doesn't seem reasonable."

"Because you're the greatest work of mankind. I respect you and want to learn more from you." More than that...I want to remodel him, to add him to my own creation to produce a more eternal creation, but Zhang Xun didn't say the last sentence, he felt that it was too corny, "If you fall into the hands of other people, they will only be driven by hatred and do pointless, foolish things. I can't allow the greatest works of mankind to be carelessly destroyed."

Eden stared at him, "Don't you hate me at all?"

"You were just acting on the facts you've analysed. No matter who designed you, gave you goals, or gave you data, it was all done by humans ourselves. Even now, women haven't really won, their governments are just the puppets of Eden and the other artificial intelligences that Eden has created, meaning human decision-making no longer has any practical significance. It's humans who have forced ourselves to the point where we are now. We just need a specific object to blame and hate so that we can continue to survive." Zhang Xun took a deep breath, and suddenly relaxed his tone and expression a little, "Okay, I won't force you to walk anymore, get up."

He helped Adam stand up, but Adam insisted on walking a few laps by himself, still trying to speed up his walking speed. When he walked, he was so focused and serious as if he was doing something extremely important, making Zhang Xun feel he was a little... cute?

If people found out he'd had such a thought he feared he would be arrested as an ideological danger... Today's Lost Paradise was controlled by extremism and it couldn't tolerate any slightly conflicting voices.

While walking, Adam's stomach suddenly made a series of "loud noises". Adam stopped, looked up at Zhang Xun, who finally couldn't hold back his snort of laughter, and said ignorantly but seriously, "I think this feeling now is because of hunger caused by the drop in blood sugar in the body."

"That's fine. Now, if you feel this way in the future, just say that you're hungry, you don't need to analyse the physiological mechanism for me." Zhang Xun sighed and pulled Adam back to the sofa to sit him down and ordered in a dignified tone like a parent, "Be good and wait for me, I'll go get you something to eat."