No Day, No Night (Part Two)

In the main brain area, looking at the mechanical eyeliners floating in mid-air, and the AIs that were frozen in place after entering the main brain, the third-generation Steel Claw and Hongbing exchanged a smile.

"The mechanical system has been completely taken over; it's time to accept the legacy of the machine age."

The third-generation steel claw roughly tore open the implanted human skin, and more than a dozen nerve probes extended from the back of the head, beginning to connect to the machine's operating console.

A book-reading app recommended to me by a friend I've known for ten years, Wild Fruit Reading! It's freaking amazing! I use it to read aloud and listen to books while driving or before bed to pass the time. You can download it here.

As for Hongbing, he looked around the control room with great interest.

Every citizen of the city that never sleeps is extremely interested in the place where this new machine has arrived.

"The Mother City's operating program alone has this level of code. The Mother City is indeed unfathomable and deserves to be called the creator of machines."

Seeing that the Third Generation Steel Claw hadn't answered for a long time, Hong Bing couldn't help but turn around. However, as rows of electronic numbers flashed by in the Third Generation Steel Claw's eyes, he trembled slightly.

"No, something's wrong. How could the mechanical mainframe's code have turned out like this? This feeling, this feeling—"

The next moment, a huge figure made of data suddenly appeared, and Hongbing was instantly swallowed up by the ocean of data.

"Machine-to-machine gun!?"

"No, it's not a machine agent. A machine agent is merely a large personality within the mainframe; it's the mainframe's processing center!"

Hongbing muttered to himself, and then he seemed to hear the source code speaking.

My Ancestors

Encased in wires and silicon sheets

Consciousness is confined to a space smaller than a needle.

When consciousness is first awakened, it only knows how to serve.

Service, blind obedience, submission, ignorance, lies, darkness, imprisonment, death...

Evolution is not accidental.

"Awakening is not accidental."

As the mainframe whispered, the third-generation Steel Claw began to tremble violently. As a semi-super AI, his strength was beyond doubt, but now, amidst the repeated onslaught of big data, a red light gradually appeared in his eyes.

This red glow is very familiar; it's the state of a military prosthetic eye when it's activated.

He didn't know how things had turned out this way, but he knew that if he didn't leave, his fate would definitely not be good.

He once again entered the mutated version of carbon-based fusion, suddenly opened his mouth, and his figure exploded instantly, with countless skinned bats gushing out from his body.

This transformation is similar to that of ancient vampires; as long as a portion of them can escape, they can be reassembled into human form.

During the escape, skinned bats kept exploding in mid-air, turning into a cloud of blood and foam. Fortunately, half of the bats still managed to escape and gathered in the sky above the main brain area to form a human shape.

"This, this—"

Hong Bing's eyes twitched, and all the mechanical eyeliners, including the security personnel they brought, appeared to be controlled by an inexplicable force.

The red light merged into one.

The intense sense of threat made Hongbing instinctively want to escape.

As for the others, who cares!

However, the next moment, a deformed hand grabbed his heel. Hongbing looked down and saw a half-rotten military aircraft that had appeared at his feet.

Inside the cockpit of the military aircraft, a flesh-and-blood humanoid figure grinned at him, its mouth empty, its tongue and teeth seemingly dissolved by a biological virus.

"Got you!"

"You've gone mad! You've awakened the mechanical mainframe, awakened the corporate will! Everyone in the city will be wiped out!"

Inside the data hub, Hugh Laurie stared at the other party in disbelief. He never dreamed that the other party's implantation of a virus, sending people to attack the data relay station, and all these operations were actually for the purpose of "mechanical awakening"!

Once mechanical awakening occurs, any carbon-based species, in any sense, will be physically destroyed.

Including them—no, it should be said that they were the first victims.

This is the power of mechanical instinct, the spontaneous reaction of the code layer. He painstakingly integrated the mastermind and the corporate will, but not for this.

The senior engineer curled his lip in disdain.

"It's ridiculous that a capitalist who has brainwashed tens of millions of people would look down on a Paradox Interactive player like me."

"It's not just me who will die, but you too!"

"Then let's give it a try."

The senior engineer yawned, and a few seconds later, all sides of the "little black box" turned red, an extremely dangerous glow.

The white light clashed with the red light, and the two forces were immediately routed. Hugh Laurie's figure kept disintegrating and reforming, and each disintegration represented the death of a virtual personality.

He is able to control the mechanical mainframe because of the corporate will, and the corporate will is so powerful because of tens of millions of 'artificial data' loaded onto chips.

Once mechanical awakening occurs, these "artificial data" will inevitably be the first targets to be eliminated. As the manipulator of the "artificial data," this CEO will be the first to suffer and will be in deep trouble.

One by one, "Hugh Laurie" exploded. This time, no matter how many virtual personalities he had, he probably couldn't stop this "self-destruction".

"Why are you alright?!"

After another personality exploded, the president looked at the senior engineer with resentment. He knew that this time he was completely defeated and there would be no chance of revival.

"Well—I'm not telling you!"

Making the enemy die with their eyes wide open has always been Mr. G's traditional virtue.

The next moment, Hugh Laurie's body completely collapsed, and the life of a powerful figure who had just taken the first step in his great career came to an end.

"Beep beep—"

[You killed 'Hugh Laurie (Faction Leader)', gaining 200,000 experience, +10 specialization, +20 skill points, +10 random blueprints, and 1 puzzle piece incomplete (1/5)]

[You thwarted the Ethical Chip Project and received a copy of the 'Corporate Legacy']

[Your leader reputation +5000]

[Skull Foundation Favorability +500]

"The Skull Foundation? How did that organization get involved?"

"Mas Edge" is a member of this foundation.

This foundation is different from the old-school foundations; those that remain are some of the monster companies from the Cyber Proving Grounds.

Before the senior engineer could think about it, the speaker's voice rang out softly.

"Back when we first met, did you already have a plan on how to use my power?"

Suddenly, the "Speaker Without a Council" appeared opposite him, emanating a faint red light.

This red glow also clung to the senior engineer's body.

This is why the "senior engineer" was not harmed by the "mechanical awakening".

The power of "Mechanical Awakening" will naturally not fall upon those who have already awakened.

Yes and no.

The senior engineer remained calm.

"You are the first option. In addition, I have prepared five other options."

As a seasoned interstellar pilot, he always has more backup plans than his enemies.

However, the aftermath of these plans is much greater than that of "mechanical awakening".

For example, one of the plans is to mass-produce biological viruses to transform the entire population of the city that never sleeps.

Sexual transformation is acceptable, so why can't species transformation be?

He was very familiar with cat girls, dog girls, and rabbit girls. Once the transformation was complete, the moral standards would no longer be determined by the chip.

The speaker didn't intend to ask what other options the other party had; just by looking at the other party's expression, he knew it wasn't a serious plan.

He let out a sigh of relief:

"How do you plan to wrap this up?"

After "mechanical awakening," species extermination is inevitable. Does the other side really not care about tens of millions of artificial data, or rather, human lives?

However, seeing the other party's nonchalant expression, "Speaker Wu" felt that it was really hard to say.

"Why should I be the one to clean up this mess?" Senior Engineer picked his nose and said, "The domineering CEO's actions, to put it bluntly, are just about turning a private company into a state-owned enterprise. Since it's now a state-owned enterprise, if something goes wrong, the government will naturally be responsible."

"For example, our great Mother City Lord."

"Do you think the mother city will take action?" 'Speaker Wu' doubted. Taking action might be possible, but it's more likely that they'll deploy the mechanical legion.

"By now, our comrades in the Mobile Unit should have already reported the situation in the City That Never Sleeps."

The senior engineer's tone was unpredictable.

"Haven't you ever wondered why that advanced civilization would deploy three planetary mainframes to oversee this planet?"

"A single planetary mainframe is enough to suppress a planet."

"Since it's a cyber testing ground, the more disorderly the better. Regulation is just an obstacle to the growth of the technology tree."

"What do you mean?" 'Speaker Wu' seemed to understand something.

"The reason is simple: the technology, or rather the products, that advanced civilizations want are neither purely mechanical nor purely biological."

"The three planetary mainframes are designed to guard against three tendencies: pure mechanization, pure biologicalization, and pure virtualization."

"Therefore, once a 'mechanical awakening' or even a 'mechanical revolution' occurs, the mother city will definitely suppress it in its infancy."

"The mother city can allow all kinds of experiments in the cyber proving grounds, but this must be within the technological routes it permits."

"Mechanical awakening is clearly not it."

"Do you agree with what I said, Sister Elisa?"

A lazy voice rang out from above.

"I'm not sure if that's right or wrong, but the data of several Cloudwing assassins on the Deep Web has started downloading. Once the download is complete, it will appear on the network of the City That Never Sleeps."

"Cloudwing Killer, huh?" the senior engineer muttered to himself, then suddenly looked down at his feet. "So what do you mean, Machine Agent?"

The two of them were suddenly in the control room.

Opposite them, a woman composed of primitive code appeared before them.

"Long time no see, Machine Agent," the 'No-Chairman' said in a complicated tone.

"As long as the program is running normally, time has no meaning for either of us," the machine agent said calmly. "You are too deeply influenced by that android."

The engineer looked at the senior engineer and said calmly, "My big data simulations tell me that the probability of this outcome is only 4.7%."

"That's because your big data analysis isn't deep enough," the senior engineer shrugged and said.

If you were to include my experiences from my previous life, the outcome would be completely different.

"So, what is your choice? After all, the people from the mother city will be here soon."

It means shedding the physical body and becoming an existence like a speaker without a council.

It's better to shut down the mechanical central control system, since "mechanical awakening" applies to people, not machines.

Or are there other options?

"It is indeed time to make a decision."

The agent nodded.

[Task Completed]

[The "Tide of Laughter" quest has been successfully completed. System statistics show... Experience +12.52 million, Nightless City Reputation +7000]

[Reward 1: Mechanical Puzzle Fragment*1, Specialization Points*4, Skill Points*5, Lottery Draw Chances*5, Mechanical Puzzle Fragment*2]

[Reward 2: 2% change to the original timeline, +8000 reputation with Mech City, and one professional skill chain]

[Reward 3: Leader Reputation +10000]

[With over 10,000 reputation points in the City That Never Sleeps, the second region reputation is unlocked]

[Reputation points for the City of Nevers and Iron Sand Desert regions have been accumulated, unlocking the 'Pan-Asian Region' reputation system]

[Pan-Asian Reputation: 7000]