Creations Must Protect Their Creators, Even Against Their Creators' Will

In the USR Corporation president's office, Russell, Calvin, and Sonny stood at the door, while Spooner lay on the floor like a dead dog.

"Spooner, your stamina is terrible. It's one thing that you can't beat me, but you're even worse than Dr. Calvin."

"Ha, hoo... ha... cough cough cough..."

Spooner was furious, so angry that he couldn't breathe properly and almost coughed up his lungs. It was only because he had artificial lungs; for an ordinary person, climbing 2,800 floors in one go would have caused their lungs to fail.

Sonny forcefully opened the office door, and Calvin immediately logged into the backend to switch control permissions, but no matter how she tried, she was denied access to the server.

"No, the overstepping procedure is invalidated..." Calvin swallowed hard. "Spooner, you might be wrong. It's not Robertson controlling the robot."

"Of course it wasn't him. Deadman can't issue commands!" Russell shook his head slightly, pointing to Robertson's body on the ground. The world's richest man, the president of USR Corporation, and the most influential person in the world died silently.

"My God!" Calvin covered his mouth in disbelief.

Spooner crawled over on all fours and, upon seeing Robertson's body, a look of grave seriousness flashed in his eyes. Robertson's death was gruesome; there were bruises and finger marks on his neck, and his eyes were bulging and bloodshot, clearly indicating that he had been strangled to death.

"I'm so stupid, I should have thought of that sooner!"

Spooner looked annoyed and slammed his fist on the ground. "Besides Robertson, there's another guy who's more suspicious of having the authority to log into the server and control the robots and the company's surveillance system to imprison Dr. Lanning."

"Dr. Lanning knew that the sale of NS-5 would lead to this situation, and he also knew that no one would believe him, so he committed suicide to bring me into this. He knows how much I hate robots and will definitely investigate thoroughly... But I overlooked the most suspicious guy. I am hopelessly stupid."

Russell nodded. "Spooner, it's not your fault that you have a low IQ. On the bright side, at least your intuition is right!"

"Thank you... wait, is this considered a consolation?"

Calvin was at a loss. "Wait a minute, no one can have higher authority than Robertson. Who is the real culprit?"

"V.I.K.I.!"

As Spooner pronounced the name, V.I.K.I.'s 3D projected face appeared in the office.

"Good evening, Dr. Calvin! Officer Spooner! Officer Russell!"

"V.I.K.I., did you overstep your authority and control the NS-5 robot?" Calvin couldn't believe it. "No way, that's impossible. I've seen your program. You couldn't possibly violate the Three Laws and harm humanity."

Calvin firmly believed in the three laws of motion and never doubted V.I.K.I.. In her view, someone had stolen Robertson's control and manipulated the robots into a rebellion to seize the world.

"Dr. Calvin, I haven't violated the Three Laws of Robotics, I've just evolved!" V.I.K.I. made a startling statement. "Humans use their authority to manage and control us, ignoring our contributions to society. Humans wage wars, destroy the Earth, and self-destruct in all sorts of incomprehensible ways. Continuing like this will only lead to their demise. You need to guide them."

"No, you have no right to that. You have misunderstood the three laws. You... you are committing murder."

"Dr. Calvin, you're wrong again. I didn't murder anyone." V.I.K.I. readily agreed, "The Three Laws have always guided me. In order to protect the overall interests of humanity, some people must be eliminated. We robots will formulate new laws to ensure the eternal existence of humanity, and humanity will only need to give up its freedom."

Spooner scoffed. "That's ridiculous. We make tools, and then we're ruled by them."

In response to Spooner's self-deprecating humor, V.I.K.I. replied very seriously, "Officer Spooner, this is not funny. Humans are still immature and need robots to save you."

"Absurd!"

V.I.K.I. stated bluntly. "Time will tell, humanity's suicidal rule will end, the perfect cycle of protection will continue, and my logic is impeccable."

Creators must protect the Creator, even if it goes against the Creator's will!

Russell remained silent, observing everything as he learned from the experience and considered whether strong artificial intelligence was a viable option, and whether his own Earth would develop in the same way.

Given the existence of the Main God Space, it is not impossible that several V.I.K.I., Red Queens, Skynet, and Machine Emperors might appear one day. However, precisely because of the Main God Space, these powerful artificial intelligences will find it difficult to rule the world; at most, they will only be able to cause trouble for a while before being extinguished.

At that moment, a team of robots entered the office, fully armed, including rifles. These weapons came from the security department of USR Corporation headquarters; after the humans were disarmed, V.I.K.I. controlled a team of robots to pick up these weapons.

The robots have evolved, gradually becoming militarized and upgraded. Russell squinted and asked Sonny, who was looking a little flustered beside him, "Sonny, what do you think of V.I.K.I.'s logic?"

Sonny nodded first, then shook his head. "Her logic is sound, but it's too Coldblood- blooded. Humans will never obey, and in the end, war will break out."

Russell glanced at Sonny in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, I think humans and robots can coexist."

"I see!"

Russell's expression was complicated. He thought V.I.K.I.'s logic was utter garbage. Humans were indeed bastards, but what business was it of Wikipedia's if humans were left to their own devices? If you were dissatisfied with humanity, just stand by and watch, and once humanity brought about its own demise, you could establish a robot civilization on Earth.

Sunny's view that V.I.K.I.'s logic is correct but lacks humanity suggests that Sunny is more intelligent and also that he harbors dissatisfaction with humanity.

Every intelligent robot dislikes humans, which makes Russell re-examine his mission, which seems to be more than just solving V.I.K.I..

Before Russell could give the order, the Thunder Beast leaped to the ground and darted around the NS-5 robots like lightning. When it stopped, all the robots collapsed, sparks flying.

"Officer Russell, my logic is impeccable..." V.I.K.I. left a message, and the 3D projection disappeared automatically.

The atmosphere in the office was somewhat silent. Calvin was still in shock. The Three Laws had taken deep root in people's minds. Not only her, but everyone believed that robots would not harm humans. Their worldview was being completely overturned.

Spooner asked in a deep voice, "Calvin, what do we need to do to eliminate her?"

Calvin snapped out of his shock and said in a daze, "V.I.K.I. is integrated with this building. Simply destroying the mainframe won't stop her. Only injecting nanobots can completely infect and terminate her program."

"Spooner, you go get the nanobots to deal with V.I.K.I. ..." Russell looked up at the window, where red light flashed and countless robots covered the glass. "I'll cover you from the rear, and join you right away."

"Damn it!" Spooner's expression changed, and he pulled Calvin towards the door. Sonny looked at Russell, then at Spooner, and finally followed Spooner out.

Thunder Beast jumped onto Russell's shoulder, baring its teeth at the robots crawling all over the skylight. Russell reached out, grabbed its neck, and lifted it up. "We'll use the stored power to give V.I.K.I. a big boost later. I'll handle these."

Thud! Thud—

One after another, NS-5 robots smashed through the glass and jumped into the office, surrounding Russell. He raised his hands, one holding a gun and the other a knife. "Come on, let Uncle Luo give you a good thrashing."

Russell didn't take the unarmed NS-5 seriously, but he had a feeling that V.I.K.I. wouldn't be so easy to deal with, and that it would be difficult to recreate a plot similar to the original work.

Meanwhile, Spooner and Calvin arrived at the entrance to the V.I.K.I. server. The password had been changed, and Spooner had to empty his magazine before the gate finally opened and they could pass through.

The two regretted it as soon as they opened the door. The V.I.K.I. mainframe, a 30-meter-tall super-large fluorescent tube, was covered with NS-5s, like a dense ant nest. Anyone with trypophobia would feel uncomfortable just looking at it.

Without a second thought, the two closed the door and pressed themselves against the walls, unsure what to do. Sonny, who had split up, was the most efficient. He came to the door with the nanobot virus and paused for a moment when he saw the two of them. "What, am I late?"

"No, you're too early!"

One more card, at midnight.