104: Existing as Human Consciousness

Under Carl's direction, Reid helped Song Zhaomei complete the connection, then stepped aside, his gaze fixed tightly on Carl.

Carl did not look at Reid, yet he clearly sensed a certain emotion hidden in his gaze.

"If something really goes wrong, I'm counting on you, Reid."

He had seen through Reid's thoughts—Reid was considering knocking him unconscious and forcibly severing the connection the moment anything changed, and Carl did not think there was anything wrong with that.

On the contrary, Reid's vigilance was exactly what Carl considered correct.

If he really was corrupted by an AI, he would rather Reid act quickly.

Or rather, only Reid could act.

Of the three of them, one was half-conscious and one was being corrupted. Other than Reid, who else could move?

"Let me see. Hmm, access code, then..."

Carl entered the access code, and at that very instant, he felt something remarkably strange.

As the access code unlocked the restraints, the machine's true functions began to awaken before Carl. An endless stream of data flowed through the Monomolecular Wire into Carl's Access Port. The data transmission grew greater and faster, to the point where even Carl's customized Monomolecular Wire—arguably the best product of its kind in the world when it came to transfer capacity—seemed barely able to withstand that speed.

The Rogue AIs beyond the Blackwall were constantly growing. Just as big fish ate small fish, the AIs on the other side of the Blackwall could be devoured by larger AIs at any time and absorbed into them. Whether they originated from programs or were intelligence born from data, they never stopped evolving.

Or rather, for AIs, ceaseless evolution was instinct—the instinct that allowed them to continue existing.

Even the AI captured by corporations and imprisoned within the Neural Matrix was no exception.