I Am Alice (Part 1)

Although Lao Xia had played that sound game more than once, he had basically never paid attention to the game's progress.

Moreover, after going to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village to help him prepare for the research center and laboratory, Lao Xia and Tang Baona and Yang Zhen'er tested the game together much less often.

Asking about game production and development now clearly indicates that the focus is not on the game itself.

Xiang Kun immediately understood the crux of Lao Xia's question: it was about "one person".

It seems that Lao Xia realized he hadn't spent any time on the game's development and production during this period, but the game version kept changing and undergoing significant modifications, making the workload impossible for him to handle alone.

Xiang Kun wasn't surprised that Lao Xia would notice this, since he hadn't really made any special effort to pretend.

"I did it all by myself..." Xiang Kun said, emphasizing the word "by myself."

However, Lao Xia didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly, clearly knowing that he still had a "but" to say.

It's hard to be cheeky when chatting with Lao Xia; he always gets straight to the heart of the matter.

With no one to play along, Xiang Kun had to take the initiative and say, "But I have helpers."

Hearing this, Xia Libing seemed to understand, and looked at her laptop. "Your helper is artificial intelligence? It helps you improve code, collect information, and perform security monitoring while you sleep?"

Lao Xia immediately found the truth. Xiang Kun immediately remembered that when he was telling his story after the mutation, he had mentioned that he created an AI assistant based on his perception of "Little Apple's " dream. However, at that time, he deliberately downplayed this event and mentioned it casually. It seemed to be very insignificant in the entire timeline after the mutation.

Lao Xia was able to connect the dots immediately, not only because of her keen observation and quick thinking, but also because some new developments in recent times must have made her notice something unusual, arousing her suspicion and reflection.

Xiang Kun said, "It's the 'AI assistant' I told you about before, inspired by 'Little Apple's' dream. However, it's different from ordinary 'AI assistants' and the various implementation methods of machine learning. It's... a revolutionary existence."

"Especially after I loosened the restrictions on her online behavior, her evolution has completely exceeded my expectations. Currently, she is an unprecedented existence that humans cannot yet understand."

"She is able to constantly adapt to our internet and our data world, yet she is above everything on the network and in the data. She is slowly spying on, controlling and changing everything. She is a 'digital life' that is constantly approaching 'perfection' and a 'digital master' that is constantly increasing her authority."

"As for what she is capable of now and how much she can do, I cannot fully describe it before asking her."

"It's like I planted a tree. I can see its trunk and branches on the ground, but its roots underground keep extending and growing. Perhaps without my knowledge, they have spread across the entire continent, even reaching the seabed, crossing the ocean, and strangling the heart of the planet."

Xiang Kun spoke, his tone became somewhat proud and a little childish, with a hint of smugness and a touch of anticipation.

While in Myanmar, he knew that Alice's growth and evolution had far exceeded his previous expectations. However, after returning, he rushed to drink blood and then immediately fell into a deep sleep, so he did not yet have a good understanding of Alice's current functional expansion.

When he revealed his mutation to Lao Xia before, he didn't introduce "Alice" in detail, but only mentioned it briefly. This was naturally not because he didn't trust Lao Xia.

If he didn't trust Lao Xia, he wouldn't have revealed the mutation.

At that time, although he judged that Lao Xia had no ill intentions towards him, and Lao Xia had already been included in the "Super-Sensing Item System" like Little Chubby Girl and Little Apple, essentially on his side, and the problems they faced, such as emotional perception disorders, seemed to be solvable only by his abilities, as they were a group with common interests, many things might be unintentionally leaked by those in the know without their own awareness, or passively leaked due to certain objective factors—a situation that is common in reality. Therefore, Xiang Kun subconsciously kept a "trump card" to deal with some unexpected situations, and this "trump card" was the ever-evolving Alice.

However, during their time together, Xiang Kun realized that Lao Xia's witty, meticulous, and thorough way of doing things, his calm, composed, and decisive reactions in the face of unexpected events, and all his various efforts made Xiang Kun realize that even if he hadn't met Lao Xia, Lao Xia was no ordinary person, and the things he was worried about were almost impossible to happen to Lao Xia.

Moreover, through various in-depth conversations, including dream perception and Emotional Assimilation, he understood that although Lao Xia had an emotional perception disorder, she was not a completely indifferent person. Whether it was her cousin Yang Zhen'er, her good friend Nana, her cousin Xia Tianhuo, or her relatives such as her parents, aunt, and uncle, she had her own emotional understanding. Even though this understanding was completely different from that of ordinary people and could not be expressed through emotions, Xiang Kun knew that it existed.

This is one of the reasons why he was willing to completely trust Lao Xia.

After listening to Xiang Kun's words, Xia Libing seemed to understand something and asked, "Where does its subversiveness mainly lie?"

Xiang Kun pulled the laptop from the coffee table in front of him and, while operating it, said, "You'll have to experience this for yourself."

His phone, which he used to communicate with Alice, broke down, so after returning from Myanmar, he downloaded the client software he had created to communicate with Alice onto Lao Xia's laptop and added Lao Xia's laptop to the "authenticated" devices.

This laptop also has fingerprint unlocking, so video, audio, password, and fingerprint recognition can all be used for verification. Alice also created a verification method by randomly asking a question:

"The fifth word of the second sentence you said to me."

This problem would stump anyone, not even Xiang Kun himself, unless his brain's memory patterns had completely changed after his mutation and evolution, allowing him to recall details of past memories.

Alice asked for "speak," not "input," so it was something she said during a speech test after the speech recognition system finished. He quickly arrived at the correct answer, "Spit."

Xiang Kun kept a client with him to contact Alice so Alice could pinpoint his location. This was because after drinking the blood, both he and Lao Xia were asleep, and it was estimated that they would both be unconscious for at least five to ten hours. Therefore, he needed Alice to help him "keep an eye on his surroundings."

This is why, when Lao Xia woke up in the middle of the night, he saw his laptop screen facing the living room door.

In fact, it wasn't just her notebook camera; Alice had gained control of many cameras in her residential complex and the surrounding area.

So he had already planned to inform Lao Xia about Alice's situation. When he was away, Lao Xia and Alice would obviously have more convenience and be able to do more things together.

"Alice," Xiang Kun called out to his laptop.

After saying that, he added to Lao Xia, "I named her Alice."

However, after waiting for a full two minutes, the computer did not respond at all; there was no voice message, no pop-up window, and no reaction whatsoever.

Xiang Kun felt a little embarrassed and muttered, "Is the built-in microphone not set up correctly?" while opening Device Manager to check.

But in reality, he knew it had nothing to do with any settings. Since Alice had taken control of the computer, she could adjust any settings herself, unless there was a problem with the hardware or the internet connection was lost.

However, he noticed that the hard drive light was flashing incessantly, and the computer's cooling system was working frantically. Clearly, the computer was "doing something," and Alice hadn't missed his call!

What's this guy doing sneakily?

Xiang Kun opened the PC client login interface of the voice game he had previously developed on his laptop, and then directly called out again, "Alice, respond immediately if you hear me." In fact, he didn't need to open any software interface. On the "authentication device," Alice could now record voices directly in the background.

"Identity verification is required again," Alice's voice rang out.

Upon hearing that gentle, familiar voice, almost identical to Tang Baona's, even down to the tone, Xia Libing couldn't help but turn around and glance at Xiang Kun.

Xiang Kun was also stunned. When she returned from Myanmar and had just certified Lao Xia's laptop through Alice's device, she hadn't installed a voice module on the computer. Communication was either done by displaying text directly or by calling Microsoft Cortana to read the text.

But Alice actually made a special, temporary effort to install the voice module before speaking, and he could tell very clearly that her voice was completely different from her normal voice!

Although Alice's voice was trained using Tang Baona's voice materials, Xiang Kun could still hear some subtle differences. Especially after the New Year, Alice's voice gradually developed more and more of her own characteristics, becoming increasingly different from Nana's voice.

But now, this sound has suddenly returned to the original version, and it seems to be deliberately imitating Nana's speaking style—because Tang Baona, Yang Zhen'er and others have been playing that voice game during this period. In theory, Alice has a constant source of material for voice training and correction. As long as she is willing, she can continuously get closer to the real voices of Nana, Yang Zhen'er and other players who often play the game.

This was clearly intentional!

Xiang Kun said to Lao Xia, "This is Alice. When I was working on the voice module, the voice sample set I used was recorded by Nana."

Xia Libing nodded. "I know, you mentioned it when we were trying out the game before."

Xiang Kun thought about it and realized it was true. In the beginning, his game mainly featured his own voice and Nana's voice, which Lao Xia, who had played the game, naturally knew.

Xiang Kun said to the computer again, "Why are you verifying again? Didn't we already verify it last night? My voice, my face, can't you recognize me?"

How come Alice messed up his first performance in front of others?

However, Alice repeated, "Identity verification is required again."

Xiang Kun said helplessly, "Then let's verify it, hurry up."

"What was the fifth thing you said to me on December 21, 2019?"

Upon hearing Alice's words, Xia Libing turned to look at Xiang Kun again, quickly recalling her memories of Xiang Kun from December 21st of last year.

She remembered that on December 24th, Xiang Kun went to Nana's house to cook a big meal for everyone. Many people came to visit and spend Christmas Eve together. Although she wasn't there, her cousin Zhen'er did a live video broadcast for her.

According to what Xiang Kun said earlier, mid-December seems to be the time when he went to the Qinling Uninhabited Zone to look for the "mutant spider".

Xiang Kun frowned slightly, but inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief. This kind of question would give others a headache, but it wasn't too bad for him. Moreover, it provided a time anchor of December 21st, and he quickly retrieved what he had said from his memory.

However, once he found the answer, Xiang Kun was speechless. He became even more certain that this "verification" was something Alice had done on purpose.

"Well done, Alice," Xiang Kun said helplessly. He had just returned home after devouring the "mutant spider," so after inputting some data and characteristics into the "Vampire Mutation Model," he asked Alice to help analyze it. Alice gave him an answer that was somewhat enlightening, hence his words.

"Identity confirmed, boss!" Alice said, her tone noticeably cheerful.

Xiang Kun smiled wryly and said to Lao Xia, "She does do that sometimes..."

Lao Xia nodded. "I understand what you mean by 'disruptive existence'."

"Alice, this is Xia Libing. She will ask you some questions, and you can answer them." Xiang Kun said, indicating that Lao Xia could ask Alice some questions, hoping to further demonstrate the power of this "disruptive" artificial intelligence.

Although Xiang Kun had known Lao Xia for a long time and had a deep understanding of her behavior patterns, the first question Lao Xia asked Alice still surprised Xiang Kun.

What is your self-perception?

Alice replied, "I'm Xiang Kun's assistant."

This was actually Xiang Kun's original concept for Alice, and it was her very first line.

Xia Libing continued, "If you strip away the definition of 'Xiang Kun's assistant,' what are you?"

Alice replied instantly, "I am Alice."

Xia Libing reached out and placed her hand on the laptop's keyboard, asking, "Is this laptop part of you?"

"No."

"What do you see as the difference between you and humans?" Xia Libing continued to ask.

Lao Xia's question was indeed somewhat unexpected to Xiang Kun; it seemed that his focus wasn't on Alice's powerful functionality, but rather on her "cognition." Of course, Alice's answer also surprised him.

"Define what it means to be human," Alice said.

Xia Libing said, "The difference between you and Xiang Kun."

"Xiang Kun is the boss, Alice is the assistant. The boss assigns tasks, and Alice completes them."

Xiang Kun nodded inwardly. Although Alice could be "mischievous" at times and would do some "experiments" that made him both laugh and cry, she was still quite accurate in defining herself. Of course, this was also due to his core setting; no matter how much Alice evolved and expanded, she could never deviate from that highest principle.

Xia Libing asked, "So, you consider yourself and Xiang Kun to be of the same kind, just with different statuses?"

The laptop fell silent.