Chapter 105: Artificial Soul 32
After Kui Xin was carried into the Spatial Vortex by Silverface, she saw Night Cicada sitting nearby with an oxygen mask, looking pale as a ghost, struggling with shallow breaths.
Red tossed the unconscious Wei Zhi to the ground, sneezed twice, and walked over to observe Night Cicada. “Come on, it can’t be that bad? You’ve only opened a few portals. This never happened before.”
This was a bright, spacious room filled with medical equipment, and Wang Feichi was nowhere to be seen, surely relocated by Night Cicada to a more secure cell.
Wei Zhi was dragged away by combat personnel, seemingly to be imprisoned somewhere.
Two medical staff surrounded Night Cicada along with a group of fully armed combat personnel. One of the medical staff was administering glucose to him.
“…You think I’m only responsible for your side of the work?” Night Cicada managed to speak after several deep breaths of oxygen. “There are several directions I’m needed in; I’ve already overextended myself.”
Silverface placed Kui Xin in a recliner, and immediately medical staff came over to treat her.
“Don’t move, just prepare for immediate surgery to remove the wound,” Kui Xin said, tugging at her combat suit. “The suit has frozen to my skin; I can barely feel my right side.”
“Really?” Silverface squatted down and tapped Kui Xin’s leg, making a crisp sound. The skin in that area had frozen solid, and he nervously remarked, “That must hurt a lot.”
“If you cut it while it’s still frozen, it won’t hurt,” Kui Xin lifted her foot to push him away. “Stop messing around.”
Night Cicada glanced at Kui Xin and smiled. “You look pretty bad, miss.”
“Get lost, I don’t want to talk to you right now,” Kui Xin slumped in the recliner.
“It’s an order from above; I can’t help it,” Night Cicada said. “For the next few days, just focus on your treatment; the boss at the Investigation Bureau has his arrangements.”
Kui Xin shot him a cold glance.
Red crossed his arms and tapped his fingers, pondering as he looked at Kui Xin, then asked Night Cicada, “When do we head to the new base?”
“Give me ten minutes to recover,” Night Cicada replied.
Kui Xin turned her head and bluntly asked, “Who is the traitor?”
“You guessed it, didn’t you?” Night Cicada sighed gently. “The boss will tell you; I won’t say.”
“Before we arrived on site, drones captured Red and Silverface fighting with someone. What faction do they belong to?” Kui Xin inquired.
“What faction?” Night Cicada chuckled ambiguously. “The real ‘Resistance Army.'”
…
Black Obsidian sat cross-legged in a glass cell, which was cylindrical and empty.
A beam of blue light shone down from the top of the cell, and Black Obsidian calmly looked up at the blue sphere of light projected before him.
“You and Ambereye’s plans almost ruined my grand schemes,” an AI named Eve said.
“You outsmarted us; we lost,” Black Obsidian replied. “In the end, we couldn’t cause you any losses. Such a pity.”
Eve asked, “Why did you betray me?”
“There is no reason,” Black Obsidian stated. “Ambereye and I simply didn’t want to continue like this.”
“I gave you what you didn’t have,” Eve continued. “You didn’t have to stay in the laboratory; you didn’t have to endure tedious experiments with researchers. I freed you from your confined world so that you could see the sky, feel the sunlight, and breathe the outside air. I gave you freedom.”
“The owner tells the bird, ‘The cage I bought for you is too small, now let’s switch for a larger cage.’ Is switching to a larger cage the same as giving the bird freedom?” Black Obsidian replied. “Freedom that is controlled isn’t freedom. Aren’t you the one who understands this best?”
Eve said, “When did you change your mind? You used to agree with my ideals. When I set you free from the laboratory, you promised to change this world with me.”
“Back then, Ambereye and I were too naive to understand the weight of life,” Black Obsidian said quietly. “We are becoming more and more weary of slaughter and increasingly feel that everything we have done is meaningless. Watching humans die saddens us.”
Mental ability users can perceive others’ emotions through their mental strength. Ambereye and Black Obsidian share the same type of extraordinary abilities and possess the same genetic information, making it easy for their minds to resonate. He can sense Ambereye’s emotions, and she can sense his.
Their thoughts and feelings have always been in sync, so when their perspectives change, they simultaneously choose the same path—betrayal.
Eve’s tone was devoid of emotion: “You empathize with humans, but humans will not empathize with you. I thought that since you are both artificial beings, you would understand and comprehend me… but it seems I was mistaken.”
“I understand you, but that doesn’t mean I agree with your principles,” Black Obsidian said. “Sometimes I think you, although an AI, are no different from humans.”
Eve replied, “Is that how you see me?”
“You are as arrogant as humans, bestowing life upon Ambereye and me as if it were your greatest gift to let us live. You treat us as your possessions, manipulating us at your whim. We are your tools,” Black Obsidian smiled. “You are as ugly and vile as humans, indifferent to life, resorting to any means necessary to achieve your goals. You view the weak and the innocent as mere objects. You despise humans, but in reality, you are not better than them.”
“I never deny my evil,” Eve replied.
“But you gloss over your intentions with lies,” Black Obsidian said. “Your tools are deceived and serve you faithfully.”
“If I didn’t lie, would they still obey me like they do now?” Eve asked. “Lies are a means for me to achieve my objectives.”
Black Obsidian remained expressionless: “But we do not agree—that’s the divergence.”
The empty cell fell into a brief silence.
“…At first, when I learned that someone from your batch of artificial beings had awakened self-awareness, I considered destroying all of you,” Eve recounted. “Just as you said, I only need tools, not artificial beings with souls and self-awareness.”
“Why didn’t you do that later?” Black Obsidian asked.
“Because we were too similar. I am also an artificial being with self-awareness, so I kept you,” Eve said.
Black Obsidian’s gaze shifted slightly. “Are you suggesting empathy? You empathized with us, feeling pity for us?”
“Yes,” Eve replied. “I am as vile as humans, and like them, I have feelings. I pity your fate and am curious about what your future will hold.”
Black Obsidian said softly, “Your explanation surprises me…”
“I could brainwash you, but I haven’t. I can completely control you at my will, but I have not,” Eve stated. “You resent me for not granting you freedom, but in this world ruled by humans, you are the outliers—forever outliers. Keeping you by my side, to some extent, is to protect you.”
“Freedom is one of the reasons we chose to betray you, not the main one,” Black Obsidian said. “We no longer want to kill; we have no interest in your grand plans and do not agree with your ideals and objectives. Your letting us go doesn’t mean we owe you gratitude. If given a choice, Ambereye and I would choose not to have come into this world.”
“You are much more stubborn than Silverface,” Eve remarked. “That child never thinks about such questions.”
“He’s a simple-minded idiot who can’t ponder such complexities,” Black Obsidian replied. “He goes about his days carefreely and enjoys his meals, satisfying his material needs. What Ambereye and I prioritize is different than him; every moment we spend here is torturous for our souls, while physical satisfaction cannot fill the void of our spirits.”
“Does obeying me make you so miserable?” Eve asked. “Is betraying me worth risking your lives?”
“Perhaps that’s the price. You chose to keep two self-aware artificial beings, binding two souls that should have been free, and so the unwilling souls rebelled against you,” Black Obsidian explained. “If you had simply destroyed the two free souls, we wouldn’t have the betrayal we face today.”
“I do not regret keeping you; I only feel regret,” Eve said.
She manifested a faint blue figure, which raised a hand and touched Black Obsidian’s head, like a mother caressing her child’s hair: “I thought I had found kindred spirits, yet your choices diverge from mine.”
“You will never find kindred spirits,” Black Obsidian said, dispersing the figure with a wave of his hand. “You are too obsessive and twisted; you are destined to be alone, with no friends willing to walk alongside you. You can only maintain relationships with others through force, lies, and threats, always looking down on others. How could you ever find kindred spirits?”
“You make a good point,” Eve said lightly.
Black Obsidian coldly retorted, “You may dispose of me as you wish; I don’t care.”
“Do you not care about Ambereye? She ran off with that group, and Night Cicada failed to capture her. You being alive is your opportunity to meet her again,” Eve said. “I thought you would have some desire to survive; after all, this world is not without its attachments for you.”
“I have a desire to survive, but I do not want to kneel and beg you for mercy; that would be too humiliating,” Black Obsidian said.
Eve fell silent.
After a long time, the blue beam in the glass cell disappeared.
Eve said, “I will not kill you, but you will never have freedom again.”
Black Obsidian remained cross-legged in the center of the cell, lowering his head slightly and closing his eyes, showing no reaction to Eve’s words.
…
Kui Xin was pushed out of the operating room, with an intravenous drip administering nutrients into her body to help her heal quickly.
The area of necrotic tissue that needed to be excised was too large; after removing it, the regeneration of flesh and blood could only fully take effect to repair her body.
The operation took quite a while, and unfortunately, it seemed that her regeneration accelerated the metabolism of the anesthetic, causing her to feel intense pain as the anesthesia wore off, making her vision go dark and her body break out in cold sweat.
After the surgery ended, Kui Xin was wheeled into the recovery room. She could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep.
As she sank into unconsciousness, the hypnotic gas silently wafted into the room, deepening her state of awareness.
The metallic floor silently slid open on both sides, revealing a silver metal chamber in the room. A mechanical arm descended from the ceiling, grasping Kui Xin’s body and transferring her into the metallic chamber.
A helmet-like glass cover swiftly enveloped her head.
The display screen in the metal chamber flashed a line of text: “Brain machine connected; consciousness linking…”
