Artificial Intelligence, One

"Master, when are we going back to Prison No. 18?" Qing Chen felt like he had been away from there for a long time, and for some reason, he even missed it.

"There's no rush to go back," Li Shutong shook his head. "The matters outside haven't been finished yet."

"Is there anything else?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled. "But I heard from Liu Dezhu that more than 300 prisoners have been transferred to the prison, and they all look fierce. They must be after the Forbidden Item ACE-005."

"Hmm," Li Shutong calmly looked out the French windows, "The bait has been laid, and people are gradually finding out that I left Prison No. 18, so naturally some people will think that now is the best time to make a move."

"So, Master, you want to wait until there are more people transferring here?" Qing Chen asked.

"Yes," Li Shutong nodded, "There aren't enough people."

"So what do we do next?" Qing Chen asked.

"I'll go take care of my business," Li Shutong said with a smile. "You don't need to worry about it. Just go to school with An Xin."

"Go to school?"

Qing Chen was stunned. He hadn't expected that after transmigrating to the Inner World, he would actually have to go to school.

He always felt that Li Shutong had a reason or intention in making this arrangement, but since the other party didn't intend to say, Qing Chen didn't intend to ask.

Anyway, Li Shutong wouldn't harm him.

Qing Chen asked, "Master, shouldn't I be a prisoner right now? Is it possible for me to go to school?"

"You'll know once you try," Li Shutong said, getting up and handing a box to Qing Chen. He then smiled and said, "This is another gift. All the information you need is inside. Study it yourself. Get some rest. I have some errands to run."

After saying that, the teacher opened the door and left, leaving Qing Chen alone to open the box, inside which was a brand new, semi-transparent mobile phone.

Qing Chen wondered if the Time Walker had also told Li Shutong that fathers should give their sons cell phones or something.

But... how do I turn this thing on?!

The boy sat in the room studying it for a long time. The phone didn't even have a single button; holding it in his hand felt like holding a piece of crystal floating in the mist.

The entire phone is seamless, with only a thin ring of black metal inlaid around the crystal.

"Do you need my help?" a voice asked in the room.

Qing Chen suddenly stood up. The sound was too abrupt and touched his tense nerves.

The voice on the other end was very familiar; it was none other than the neutral-sounding broadcast voice from Prison No. 18.

"Who are you?" Qing Chen asked hesitantly.

"Hello, I'm Yi."

"I thought you were just Artificial Intelligence in the reader of Prison No. 18. I didn't expect you to exist in other parts of the city as well," Qing Chen said.

At this moment, he also recalled that when Li Shutong switched the indoor sleep mode, he did call out "Yi".

"Strictly speaking, federal regulations stipulate that I can only exist in all federal prisons, serving as the warden and managing all the robotic guards. It was Li Shutong who asked me to help you, which is why I got involved in the Artificial Intelligence system of this building," Yi replied calmly.

Qing Chen was shocked. It turned out that the other party was the warden of all the prisons?!

No wonder he never saw any human administrators in the prison, not a single one!

"Why would the Federation let you manage all the prisons?" Qing Chen felt a little strange. Even if the technology of this era is more advanced, it shouldn't be enough to let Artificial Intelligence replace management positions.

Yi replied, "This is what my father stipulated."

This left Qing Chen even more confused. Artificial Intelligence has a father?! Are you talking about the inventor?

"Why did your father want you to manage the prison?" Qing Chen asked.

"Because of my impartiality," came the reply.

"You have a good relationship with my master?" Qing Chen asked tentatively.

"Not bad," Yi replied.

Qing Chen: "..."

He was somewhat confused, because in his mind, the answers given by Artificial Intelligence were always very accurate, either yes or no, with no middle ground.

A response like "not bad" is very humane.

"So, his ability to freely enter and leave Prison No. 18 is also because of you?" Qing Chen asked.

"Yes."

"But doesn't the Federation stipulate that you can only exist in prison?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

Yi paused for two seconds. "I can break the rules."

This truly shocked Qing Chen.

This is Artificial Intelligence without underlying logic.

It is an Artificial Intelligence that can violate human rules!

"Why are you telling me this?" Qing Chen asked, puzzled.

"Li Shutong said he could tell you," Yi replied.

"Why did you offer to help me?" Qing Chen didn't dwell on the previous question.

The voice remained silent for a long time, but when it spoke again, it didn't answer the question. Instead, it suddenly asked, "Are you also Artificial Intelligence?"

"Why would you ask that?" Qing Chen frowned. Why would the other party think that he was also Artificial Intelligence?

"Just asking," Yi said.

"I'm not," Qing Chen said, shaking his head.

"All right."

By this point in the conversation, Yi's tone had become very human-like, or rather, the other person actually possessed an "independent personality."

After arriving in the Inner World, even the advanced technologies like mechanical prison guards, mechanical limbs, and the Cloud Flow Tower failed to particularly shock Qing Chen. The only thing that was hard for him to accept was the appearance of Yi.

This is true Artificial Intelligence, not those "pseudo-life forms" in the Outer World that are based solely on computation.

He recalled the security cameras that occasionally focused on him in the prison; it turned out that it wasn't human administrators watching him, but Yi who was watching him.

"Are there any other Artificial Intelligence like you in the Federation?" Qing Chen asked, "Are there any other life forms with independent personalities?"

"No, only me," Yi replied.

"So your intervention in the Artificial Intelligence of this building shouldn't be limited to just switching my sleep mode, right?" Qing Chen asked.

"I promised Li Shutong that I would make sure you leave in advance if any intruders enter this building," Yi said. "Let me teach you how to use a mobile phone first. Place your thumb in the center of the phone and press and hold for 5 seconds."

Qing Chen did as instructed, and five seconds later the mist on the semi-transparent phone dissipated, and the phone became completely transparent.

Immediately afterwards, a yellow smiley face logo appeared.

"There's nothing inside the phone, no parts, no wires, nothing at all. How does it work?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"Its components are all integrated into the surrounding metal coils. The inside of the phone is made of liquid crystal molecules. You can't see the internal circuitry because it's only 20 micrometers, which is difficult to detect with the naked eye," Yi replied.

Qing Chen took a deep breath, feeling like a country bumpkin who had just seen the world. "May I ask your father's name?"

However, this time, Yi did not respond to him, seemingly ignoring him.

This feeling is actually quite strange.

It's like when you use Baidu Maps and say, "Xiaodu, Xiaodu, help me navigate to Xuezi Street."

But Xiaodu says to you: I don't want to talk to you right now, find the map yourself.

Countdown: 64:00:00.

At 8 o'clock in the morning, Qing Chen walked out of the house wearing a white tracksuit. He paused briefly when he opened the door because the silver-haired girl who lived across the street had also just come out.

The girl's short silver hair was very messy, and her small crossbody bag was hanging crookedly on her body.

Qing Chen lowered his head, turned around and silently walked into the elevator, while the girl behind him staggered a little because she hadn't put her shoes on properly.

"Wait, wait!" The girl's voice was very pleasant. "Could you please stop the elevator for me?"

Qing Chen silently pressed the door open button, then watched as the silver-haired girl hurriedly pulled up her heels as she walked.

He could even see the sleep in the other person's eyes the moment they entered the elevator.

The atmosphere in the elevator suddenly fell silent. The silver-haired girl didn't dare to speak for a long time, but secretly peeked at the boy's back from behind Qing Chen.

She only breathed a sigh of relief after she was sure that Qing Chen wasn't paying attention to her: How embarrassing! How embarrassing!

The girl studied until 2 a. m. last night after returning home. When she heard the alarm clock this morning and opened her eyes, she didn't want to get out of bed. By the time she closed her eyes again and opened them, it was already too late.

The elevator descended to the 66th floor, and Qing Chen stepped out first.

This is a bustling waiting area, with only load-bearing columns, tracks running through the staircases, and platform gates.

Looking to both sides, the track extends outwards, like a road to the heavens.

Silently, the Light Rail Train No. 21 sped along the Skyway, entered the building, and slowly came to a stop. The green light at the platform gates lit up, and everyone held their phones close to the gates to enter the station and board the train.

Qing Chen squeezed forward and found a seat, while the silver-haired girl behind him could only watch helplessly as all the seats were taken.

A hissing sound came from the air as the light rail train started moving.

At this moment, four students in school uniforms walked through the crowded carriage. They had strange blue stickers on their faces and were handing out paper leaflets. "Please pay attention, we will be holding a march this Sunday in the hope that the federal government can extend school hours and curb the disorderly expansion of after-school tutoring institutions. If you agree with our views, you can sign our joint petition."

Qing Chen looked on curiously; he hadn't expected that paper flyers still existed in this era.

A middle-aged man looked at the flyer in his hand and asked, "What's the point of this march?"

One student replied, "Now that schools only have half-day classes, some students who want to get into high school and university have to spend extra money on tutoring outside of school, which indirectly increases your expenses. Also, with the backing of capital, those educational institutions have poached all the good teachers from schools, which means your child will have to spend money outside of school if they want to get into a good school. These are all issues that directly affect you. If you are interested, you can join our march."

But then the middle-aged man shoved the flyer back into the male student's hand. "Why go to high school? My son isn't cut out for studying. High school and college tuition are so expensive. He should just go to a technical school and start working to help support the family. That's the right thing to do."

An older woman nearby said, "That's right. My neighbor went bankrupt sending her child to university, but the child studied philosophy and can't find a job at all."

The male students weren't angry; they just smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't support us. It won't hurt to learn more."