Chapter 73 - The New God (2)

He was in a maximum security single cell. The room had all the necessary furniture, the bed was soft, the sheets were clean and there were even some books on the shelves to prevent the prisoner's life from being too monotonous.

Zhang Xun knew that this was a cell Adam had prepared for him and it had been prepared for a while. Adam sensed his doubts and anticipated that one day their relationship would come to this point.

Adam had private dealings with the Round Table and may even be collaborating with them. Zhang Xun wondered who the insider was who connected them with Adam, was it Jian Mo?

Zhang Xun didn't want to think about it. After knowing the truth, all his memories became tainted by suspicion. He was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the white-painted ceiling, pressing his hand lightly on his chest.

Under the thin material of his shirt, the locket was still lying against his heart.

He didn't want to think about the past, so he could only replay in his mind the last words Adam said to him over and over again.

Could Adam be right? Was losing individuality and evolving into a huge collective consciousness the future of human beings?

How would the conflict between consciousnesses be reconciled? Would the weaker consciousness be swallowed up and obliterated, or suppressed in the deepest darkness?

Could that even be called being alive? No longer able to perceive the world, no longer able to make independent choices, no longer able to experience life, no longer having personal memories, no longer being aware of one's self. Friends, lovers, family, all the joys and sorrows that may be experienced, would all disappear. What was the difference between that and dying?

Moreover, without the support of the body, emotions and survival instincts, pure reason couldn't survive for long. The structure of human consciousness was completely different from AI consciousness. It was a phenomenon that had been gradually formed and perfected through hundreds of millions of years of continuous evolution and was based on various chemical reactions in the body. It was a mysterious mandala that emerged from chaos and randomness. Without emotion and instincts, human consciousness would not be able to generate desire, would have no purpose, no motivation and would not find a meaning to exist.

Who could make such a decision?

Zhang Xun didn't understand, after all that he and Adam had been through together, wasn't there anything that Adam would want to hold on to? Was it because he didn't do enough so he only saw the struggle of being a human being? Making him want to let all human beings get rid of their human bodies and become something else.

Was everything between them not even worth mentioning for Adam?

Zhang Xun clenched his hands tightly, scrunching up his shirt into his fist. He didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't help thinking about it. Thinking back to every tender moment, every kiss they exchanged... Thinking back to the trusting, focused and tender look in Adam's eyes when he looked at him, as if Zhang Xun was the most important person in the universe, as if Zhang Xun was his whole world.

Zhang Xun swallowed the pain that was blocking his throat with difficulty and his eyes were sore again.

He still had one last line of defence, although he didn't know if Adam had lifted that one too. He hadn't taken that final step because he hadn't been able to make up his mind yet.

He was a coward.

At this time, the sound of gears turning came from the steel plate door of the cell. Zhang Xun immediately sat up from the bed, wiped his eyes with his sleeves, took a deep breath and prepared for whatever he might face.

After the door opened, the person standing at the door was not Adam like he thought.

Sixth Chief Miller smiled at him in a neat white suit. The two guards entered the room first, tied one of Zhang Xun's wrists to the iron railing at the head of the bed, moved a chair and placed it opposite Zhang Xun, then stepped back. Miller then paced up to Zhang Xun and looked down at him, like a victorious General looking contemptuously at a defeated army.

"If you had surrendered control obediently, you wouldn't have reached this stage." Miller sat down on the chair, his knees crossed, his head slightly tilted and looking at Zhang Xun's expression.

Zhang Xun's eyes burned with cold anger, "You agree with what Adam did?! You're going to destroy Lost Paradise!"

The Sixth Chief raised his hand. The two guards exited the room at the same time, then locked the door. When Miller heard the sound of the lock, he hummed, "Destroy Lost Paradise? Is there anything left to destroy in Lost Paradise?"

Zhang Xun stared at him in disbelief, not sure if these words really came from the mouth of today's most powerful Chief in the Round Table.

Miller leaned back in his chair and raised his head to look at a light bulb hanging from the ceiling, his eyes a little tired, "Lost Paradise has no future. As you should have seen, Eden can destroy us whenever it wants to. We humans are too weak and too limited to be Eden's opponent."

"So you've put your trust in Eden? You used the civilians that you should have protected as test subjects?!"

"It's not trust, just a temporary cooperation. You may not understand but this is actually an opportunity for us." Miller said in a tone of contempt for simple-minded primitive people, "I'm fed up with the powerlessness of being born human. No matter what we do, we will never be better than an AI. They are more precise and ruthless than us and don't need to waste time on eating and sleeping. Only by creating a super consciousness faster than Feathered Serpent City, a super consciousness belonging to human beings, only then can we truly compete with Eden, compete with artificial intelligence."

Zhang Xun had previously suspected that Eden's spies had infiltrated the top management; he had even suspected the Sixth Chief and investigated him, but he couldn't find anything and later gave up on this speculation. In hindsight, it wasn't that Eden had deliberately set up any spies, but that this long, slow resentment and dissatisfaction would prompt the emergence of leaders like the Sixth Chief on the Round Table, who had lost faith in humanity as a whole.

Zhang Xun knew it would be difficult for him to convince Miller, but he still had to try.

"What did Adam tell you? Do you know what he's going to do to humans?"

"Nanobots will partially modify the structure of the brain slowly and gradually, making the human mind more...open, in preparation for the creation of a cloud of consciousness in the future. In the future, everyone can connect to the cloud of consciousness and receive information anytime, anywhere and upload their own information. This cloud of consciousness will bring us closer to God and make us more complete." Miller's words began to become pious towards the end, taking on the reverent tinge characteristic of Catholics when speaking of God.

Zhang Xun sneered, "What do you think the cloud of consciousness is? When one's consciousness connects with what you call the cloud of consciousness, it is immediately consumed by the reverse influence of the cloud of consciousness. Your entire sense of self disappears and you become...... everyone."

"What's wrong with that? Human beings were driven out of the Garden of Eden because of their sins. We are all sinners. Only together can we wash away our imperfections."

"It doesn't matter if you lose your self-awareness?" Zhang Xun asked, "It doesn't matter if you become just insignificant cells?" He paused, suddenly intending to persuade in a different way, "You've said that you have deep feelings for your father. If one day, while he was still alive, if a thief had stormed into your house and stabbed your father to death, you would have had to watch. When you saw that thief again, what would you want to do to him?"

The Sixth Chief's expression changed subtly when he mentioned his father and he became obviously irritable, "This scenario doesn't exist."

"I'm saying if."

The Sixth Chief sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was really imagining that scene. Then he said in a dangerous voice, "...if he stabbed my dad a few times, I'll multiply that number by three and give it back to him."

"But if you're integrated into the collective consciousness, you won't do that." Zhang Xun said, "Because other people don't have such a strong hatred for this person, after all, their father was not killed by him. Killing is immoral, irrational and uncivilised in the consciousness of most people. The reasoning of others will completely obliterate your desire and you may even smile at him or even help him."

The Sixth Chief frowned slightly.

Zhang Xun hurriedly continued, "All your decisions would no longer be your own, but decisions made by everyone for you. You won't be any different. And this is just the beginning.

The basic human condition doesn't allow for the fusion of consciousness, as in the case of the Ascension Project, and one goes mad in the conflict between collective and individual consciousness. That's why Adam wants to use nanobots to modify the human brain so that self-consciousness can more easily obey the powerful collective consciousness, which is what he calls 'more openness'. This is just the first step for him and then he will start to really try to build a collective consciousness and none of us will know if the tragedy of the Ascension Project will be repeated with us. Even if we get past that, Adam is going to want to completely 'free' us from our imperfect bodies next. All of us humans will become a giant AI without having a defined goal like an AI."

Having said that, Zhang Xun stopped and let all the information settle into the Sixth Chief's ears, "At that time, can we still be considered human? Even if you insist that we'd be fine, or that it's pointless to dwell on definitions. Then... we would have no ego, no desire, we would just be an invisible mass of consciousness floating in a human server, with no past and no future. Is this the 'heaven' you want?"

If Adam couldn't understand the human obsession with individual independence, then Miller could understand it, couldn't he?

The Sixth Chief smiled slightly and raised his head indifferently, "It sounds like this is exactly what God wants us to be. No more sins, like returning to the original, carefree state of Eden."

Zhang Xun couldn't believe it. He had said so much, but the Sixth Chief used God to prevaricate him. He wanted to get up, but his wrist was restrained by handcuffs, making a metallic clanging sound, "Okay, even if you want to change, go ahead, but you have no right to make that decision for everyone!"

The Sixth Chief rubbed his eyebrows as if he had a headache and then stood up, "I'm here today because I wanted to give you a chance to leave here for Commander Zhang's sake. I'm not here to talk to you about these illusionary things."

Zhang Xun's clenched hands trembled slightly. He realised that the Sixth Chief was determined to take the entire Lost Paradise down this path of no return.

"As much as I would like to exile you, it's clear that Adam has some...... very human attachment to you. He wants you to remain with him. So, if you are willing to continue cooperating, we can keep your position as the Lab's top mechanic and retain all your privileges. All you have to do is surrender full control of Pan, be an obedient pet, help Adam properly with his research and keep me truthfully informed of Adam's movements and status on a weekly basis. Also, do not reveal any secrets. Of course, we'll have people watching you 24/7, but at least you won't have to live in the slums and scavenge food from the trash." The Sixth Chief spoke in a patronising tone, as if he was rewarding him with something very valuable.

Zhang Xun glared at him silently.

"What? Are you speechless with joy?" Miller hummed, turning around and said, "Of course, only the two of us will know about our conversation today, Adam doesn't have to know about our little transaction."

"I refuse." Zhang Xun said coldly.

Miller paused, frowning and turning his head, "What?"

"I said, I refuse." Zhang Xun's face was pale but he said very firmly, "Take whatever you want, but I won't do the wrong thing anymore."

Miller narrowed his eyes slightly and the gloomy colour overflowed, but then he hummed and said nonchalantly, "Alright, then I don't need to stand on ceremony anymore."

When the iron door closed again, Zhang Xun made up his mind.

If no one was going to stop Adam, he could only play his last move, whether it would still work or not.

He had to destroy Adam completely.

note-

crying.