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Vol. 8 Chapter 149.1
Relief
Translated by boilpoil
Edited by boilpoil
Liang Xingyi is like a dumbo.
He looks a bit dull and formulaic; meanwhile, he’s panicking and acting crazy.
Everything he did is probably enough to evoke cold sweat in anyone that hears, but he did it regardless, like he had to.
He did it without considering consequences either, seemingly believing everything will go the exact way he wishes it to.
Only when Mu Jiashi questioned him did it seem to dawn on him that he needs failsafes.
Why is he so certain Liang Zhiyi’s brain will be able to wake up in the AI’s programming?
There is no proof, but he believes in it, unwaveringly.
Though he wasn’t completely bankrupt in intelligence, having left behind an inflexible programme in his AI.
Mu Jiashi finally manages to understand what kind of software has been inserted through the mess of jargon he’s spouting, “so you mean, your AI will continuously try to stimulate Liang Zhiyi’s brain for him to wake up?”
“That’s right!” Liang Xingyi keeps nodding like a pecking chicken, “my older brother can definitely wake up!”
Mu Jiashi “…”
He literally cusses, before forcing himself to calm back down and ask, “so what if it doesn’t do a damned thing? Liang Zhiyi isn’t waking up at all!”
Liang Xingyi seems stunned, then says, with quite the pitiful tone, “but, but I’m sure, he would…”
“The hell’s your ‘sure’ useful for!” Mu Jiashi finally loses it, lashing out, then takes a deep breath again.
Shen YĂźnjĂź pats him on the shoulder. The hospital is emotionally affecting them; both positive and negative emotions seem to be far more intense than usual.
Mu Jiashi slowly calms back down, saying, “I’m fine…”
Silence ensues between them for now.
Liang Xingyi looks like he’s questioning his entire existence, holding the glass container blankly.
Mu Jiashi knows he is too irritated by him to talk for now. Shen YĂźnjĂź is still thinking.
Finally, Mystic is the one to ask, “what does your AI actually do?”
Liang Xingyi suddenly brightens up thanks to the question, and spouts a bunch of technical jargon while stuttering here and there. He’s in a whole different dimension.
Finally, perhaps noticing none present are as technically savvy, he explains more simply, “it’s specialised in autonomous management.”
“Autonomous management…” Mu Jiashi wonders, “is that why it was the Tower’s manager in the end?”
Shen Yünjü knits his brows and says, “but it sounds more like the whole programme is made to automate industrial manufacturing, rather than… organisational management?”
They look back at Liang Xingyi.
Once again, he defers back to many technical terms, but clearly, he is unable to put the function of his AI in simple terms for the three of them. It’s beyond their expertise entirely.
Mu Jiashi just coldly remarks, “this is a waste of time.”
Liang Xingyi seems taken aback by that, widening his eyes, looking lost.
Shen Yünjü thinks about it, and then decides to ask the one key question that’s bugged him, “this AI you’ve made… can it be shut down?”
“Shut down?” Liang Xingyi seems shocked, “why would you want to shut it down?”
Shen YĂźnjĂź glances at Mu Jiashi, who also seems to have caught on now, falling back into thought.
Shen Yünjü starts coming up with something believable, “Liang Zhiyi couldn’t wake up, and the AI has total control in the future. You’ve connected the AI with your older brother’s brain, but that doesn’t mean they’ve become one, as I understand.”
Liang Xingyi opens his mouth. Before he can answer, Shen Yünjü continues, “so, if we just shut down the AI, your older brother might be able to wake up.”
Liang Xingyi looks like he’s still processing everything, staring blankly at Shen Yünjü, before finally, torturously, telling them, “yes… you can.”
“How?”
“The programme,” replies Liang Xingyi, “was set up so it never shuts down unless its source code can be accessed.
But… you might be unable to find it; it’s with me right now, but you’re from the future…
It’s impossible in the beginning, but when I improved its code as I went on… when I, wanted it to help my older brother wake up; if he doesn’t wake up, it doesn’t have any purpose to exist anymore.”
He gets pretty depressed towards the end.
The Missiontakers look at each other. They seem to understand now.
Mu Jiashi asks, “so it will try to wake up your older brother, but if it fails continuously, at a certain point, it will shut down? Is that what you mean?”
Liang Xingyi slowly nods after a long pause.
He says, “no one knows about this. I haven’t told anyone.”
Shen Yünjü gasps slightly. It’s a shock the AI can actually be shut down, but also, he’s angry.
The Tower’s AI is destined to fail——It is an eventuality.
Then what would happen to the humans living under its aegis of protection? What about them?!
How dare Liang Xingyi make such a decision – did he even know this AI was going to become the manager of the Tower?
Could he have been unaware that this decision could have indirectly killed all of humanity inside the Tower?
This is all the settings in the plot of a game, but Shen YĂźnjĂź is empathising, and even feeling a strange sorrow.
Liang Xingyi is insane. He’s insane, that’s why he did something like this.
When he can decide that the AI has no purpose existing if his older brother wouldn’t wake up, he may very well decide the same of any other humans and ignore their wellbeing.
What disasters shall befall others because of all his decisions are no longer part of his concern.
He is pathologically apathetic.
Why did Liang Xingyi go insane? Was this how he has been all along? Did he wish for all this?
No. That’s not it. It’s the Apocalypse.
In the past, some people had psychological, or other such mental illnesses that contributed to an abnormal mental state, and they may cause harm to themselves or others.
After the Apocalypse, the ‘some’ became the ‘norm,’ enough that society has collapsed.
Case in point, the traitor trapped in the labyrinth. What good could betraying humanity possibly do?
What was the reason he did all this? Not even his teacher and mentor of many years could understand his thoughts anymore.
It means, when the madness was spreading among humanity, humanity’s fate has already been sealed.
An AI that was eventually going to shut down was assigned to protect all of humanity. What an unprecedented farce.
Mu Jiashi shuts his eyes for a little, then asks, “how many times? How many times is it until the AI shuts down from all the failures?”
“1024 to the 1024th power,” Liang Xingyi quietly mumbles, “after that many failures, the AI will shut down automatically.”
The corner of Mu Jiashi’s mouth is twitching already.
How are they even going to check the number of times the AI has failed? The number is preposterously astronomical!
“There is no way to manually shut it down,” Liang Xingyi is still saying, apparently unaware of Mu Jiashi’s boiling rage, “unless…”
“Unless?”
“Unless you find where the source code is at your time,” replies a hesitant Liang Xingyi.”
“The source code?” Mu Jiashi repeats the phrase, saying, “you wouldn’t happen to know where…”
Liang Xingyi shakes his head.
The source code is, of course, in his computer right now——The AI hasn’t even been made yet at this point!
But what about after that? This AI Liang Xingyi made became the manager of the Tower. Where would the source code be at that moment?
Mu Jiashi starts bitterly laughing. Then, he sighs, saying, “it’s another impossible wild goose chase, is it…”
After finding Liang Xingyi, they gained information and directions. They could choose to wake up Liang Zhiyi’s brain, for example;
Or look for the source code of the AI somewhere.
Both would help resolve their predicament.
The problem is——Neither are fucking helpful solutions right now! If they already had the capability to find the source code or wake up Liang Zhiyi’s consciousness from here, they wouldn’t be stuck in this hell in the first place!
Before they were in the Ultimate Nightmare… Actually, before they even stepped foot in this hospital, they didn’t even know about this Liang Zhiyi at all!
So it’s a wide garden path that led nowhere, huh.
For now, a defeatist, possibly self-derisive mood takes over Mu Jiashi once more.
This time, though, his gaze is still clear and sharp. The mood isn’t going to take his rational side with him this time.
His emotions are trying to hinder him in this damned hospital. As long as he’s aware, he can ignore all the negative mood for now.
He keeps his eyes shut, squeezing.
His companions also fall silent.
Liang Zhiyi seems to be pretty anxious and frightened right now, while looking at them carefully. He behaves quite like a person who shrinks and ducks in the face of any pressure, but what he’s done, has certainly shaken the whole of humanity to its core.