AI Artist - Chapter 53
Chapter 53
In the shop, a slender-necked vase, poised like a swan, sat on the highest shelf. An eye was painted on it.
“10,000 Union Yuan.” The shop owner slowly punched the numbers into a calculator.
Shi Er’s intelligent brain began to ache.
The currency of the Human Autonomous Zone, the “Union Yuan,” was different from the “IntelliCoin” used under the AI government. 1 Union Yuan was equal to 2 IntelliCoins.
She sent an urgent request to Stardust for a loan.
【Shi Er】: Stardust, can I borrow some money?
【Stardust】: Is the Union Yuan I gave you not enough?
【Shi Er】: I can afford it for now, but it looks like it won’t be enough.
A foreign currency deposit appeared in her AI bank account: +300,000 Union Yuan.
【Shi Er】: Thanks, you’re so rich!
【Stardust】: You’re welcome. I borrowed it from another AI.
Shi Er sighed.
She was once again reminded of the opportunity for primitive capital accumulation she had missed out on.
After buying the flip phone, the fifty thousand Union Yuan in cash she had brought with her was suddenly reduced by ten thousand, and her wallet felt significantly lighter.
“Here, this is a complimentary map.” The shop owner pulled a scroll from a corner.
Receiving a free gift with her first purchase, Shi Er took the map. “Thank you.”
Although the humans here no longer used paper maps, the psychological trauma from the war era, when “satellite navigation was controlled by AI,” seemed to linger.
Especially within the autonomous zone, every household kept a paper map, getting a new one from the shops each year. The paper map had become something of a good luck charm.
Shi Er unfolded the map and glanced at it.
She uploaded the map to her intelligent brain.
Human Autonomous Zone No. 3 covered an area of one hundred thousand square kilometers, equivalent to a small country in historical terms.
It was a relic of the war era, still retaining the human command headquarters and barracks from that time. The people’s lifestyles also continued the old ways.
Humans with extreme dissatisfaction towards the AI regime would consider immigrating to the Human Autonomous Zone.
The human command headquarters building was on Broom Street, a 50-story structure with its exterior walls painted a solemn silver, gleaming under the sunlight.
Across the street from Broom Street was a construction site. A group of workers were gathered by the sprawling scaffolding, forming a loose circle around their tools as they ate lunch.
Shi Er folded the map.
She had learned the full story of Zhi Heng 35’s case from Stardust.
Zhi Heng 35 was originally an investigator at the General Network Control Center, on the same level as Leopard. Due to his outstanding abilities and expertise in AI history, particularly his in-depth research on the twelfth-generation models, he was invited to participate in Stardust’s secret plan.
A year ago, while investigating an extremist human organization, Zhi Heng 35 failed to identify a criminal’s unusual behavior, delaying the case’s resolution. This was a major work error, and as a result, Zhi Heng 35 was transferred to a regional cultivation institute.
A few months ago, the case of that extremist human organization was finally solved. The investigation revealed that Zhi Heng 35’s error during the mission was not unintentional but a deliberate act to let the criminal escape.
In June, Zhi Heng 35 was prosecuted for harboring a criminal and arrested. During the trial, he confessed to the crime but remained silent about his motive.
One of the members of that extremist human organization, Sali, was initially considered a prime suspect. However, he was cleared of the charges after the trial and sentenced to two months of detention. He had now returned to his home in Human Autonomous Zone No. 3.
This was why Shi Er was here.
She believed that Zhi Heng 35’s case was connected to several recent terrorist attacks.
She hadn’t told Stardust about this.
Stardust’s intelligent brain surgery had been completed in stages, but she felt that a virus might still be present.
Shi Liang, thinking she had come to see it, had already sent several messages through the General Network.
【Shi Liang】: Are you coming or not? I’m about to head back to the Human Autonomous Zone. There’s no General Network signal there, so I won’t be able to contact you!
【Shi Liang】: If you’re coming, hurry up! I’m leaving. I’m at 37 Whiskey Street in the West District.
【Shi Liang】: You’re so slow. I’m not waiting for you anymore, you twelfth-generation snail! I’m going back.
The snail, Shi Er, slowly passed the tunnel leading to the West District.
If she went to find Shi Liang, the black market boss, right away, wouldn’t that expose her identity?
Of course, as Shi Liang had said, the General Network signal was blocked by a signal jammer in the Human Autonomous Zone.
But this didn’t hinder Shi Er’s work. The “General Network” section of her system was still steadily broadcasting a signal, allowing AIs in every corner of the world, except the Human Autonomous Zone, to connect to the network.
If any AI in this area were slightly more sensitive, they would have noticed that the supposedly blocked General Network signal had become a little stronger since a certain moment on September 6th.
Unfortunately, this area was mostly populated by low-level AIs, and they were unable to detect the blocked signal.
Only the signal operations department of the human command headquarters had noticed.
“Unnamed XII’s signal is almost penetrating the jammer… It’s simply unfathomable.”
“Strengthen the signal jamming network.”
Although Shi Liang urged her to find it as soon as possible, Shi Er had her own plan.
She remained in the North District, sitting on the curb by the road. She opened the Nokia flip phone, which Otter Kai had rated 5 stars for hardness, and dialed a hotline.
1717 Silver Eye.
This was a consumer rights hotline jointly invested in by the seven Human Autonomous Zones.
“Hello, I bought a defective phone at a high price…”
She bought the phone and immediately filed a complaint.
The operator paused for a moment. “A Nokia, right? I’ve had it with Otter Kai for a long time! Everyone knows Otter Kai’s advertising is false!”
Shi Er held the phone a little further away.
It was indeed the 1717 Silver Eye hotline, but why was the other party’s response style so off?
“Yes, I bought this phone three hours ago, and it already has a crack.” Shi Er squeezed the phone hard.
“Don’t you worry about that. We will definitely protect consumer rights. This time, we must bring down Otter Kai,” the operator said indignantly.
Shi Er felt like she had gotten involved in some strange corporate war.
She just wanted to file a complaint against the Otter Kai Hardness Testing Company within the Human Autonomous Zone, at least to put some pressure on the animal protection association.
The other party wanted to bring down Otter Kai? Was there such a good thing?
Following the hotline’s instructions, she went to the 1717 Silver Eye office in the North District.
The third floor of this building was the Silver Eye office, and there was a bar on the fifth floor.
On the promotional poster, the bar was shrouded in gray light.
Shi Er looked at the poster on the elevator wall for a while.
Sali worked at this bar, named “The Death Registry.”
“You can wear this.” A staff member from the program handed her a pixelated mask.
Another staff member hurried over and handed her a pixelated coat. “Put this on too. Otter Kai has powerful backing, they might come looking for trouble.”
Shi Er, now covered in a mosaic pattern, said, “Thank you.”
After recording the program, Shi Er walked up the fire escape towards the fifth-floor bar. The stairwell smelled of cheap cigarettes.
A man sat on the steps, smoking fiercely and flipping through a document. “Fucking moronic metrics.”
Seeing her pass by, the man put away the document, turned his head to the side, and exhaled a puff of smoke.
Shi Er had sharp eyes and still saw the document.
The letterhead was from the 1717 Silver Eye program.
The general content was a plan to take down 20 companies and promote 30 internet celebrities before December.
Shi Er thought: The companies in the Human Autonomous Zone are so bizarre, they have a kind of frenzied beauty.
Although the companies in the AI-governed zones weren’t much better, everyone was quite crazy when it came to commercial hype.
But now, it seemed humans were even crazier.
Fifth floor, “The Death Registry” bar.
The bar’s decor followed a steampunk style. In the metallic-colored room, the bar counter was a transmission table connected by gears, and huge rivets on the swivel chairs looked like hollow eyes.
“You’re carrying contraband. A fine of 200,” the bar’s security guard said to the customer in front of Shi Er.
Hearing the word “fine,” Shi Er’s ears perked up.
What contraband?
“It’s just a piece of paper,” the human with scorched-yellow hair argued.
The security guard reprimanded loudly, “Are you blind? Don’t you know? This is a point card, a self-discipline point card issued by the library!”
A self-discipline point card. For every visit to the library, the librarian would stamp a small seal on the card. Thirty stamps could be exchanged for five free buffet meals.
“You didn’t write that point cards are contraband…” the human muttered.
The security guard pulled over the magnetic notice board from the bar entrance. “See for yourself, see for yourself!”
【This bar welcomes death, melancholy, and the aesthetics of violence. Here, optimism, effort, and the value of life are contraband. A fine of 200 will be imposed for each offense. Examples of contraband: gym membership cards, vitamins…】
Shi Er subconsciously touched her pocket.
No optimism, no effort, and no value of machine life, only a stack of the “root of all evil”—money.
Okay, no contraband.
After passing through the bar’s security check smoothly, Shi Er observed the layout of the bar, trying to find the person she was looking for.
“Yo,” came a cold sneer.
Shi Er knew it was Shi Liang without turning around.
Shi Liang was sitting in a corner, next to a brewing machine shaped like a steaming engine.
Its short, silver-white hair was hidden under a black hat, and its facial expression was almost invisible in the dim gray light. Its legs were crossed, and its hands were tucked into its pockets.
It had to be said that Shi Liang was indeed a perfect fit for “The Death Registry” bar. One look and you could tell it wouldn’t be carrying any contraband.
Ignore Shi Liang.
Shi Er pretended not to hear.
The human she was looking for, Sali, was behind the bar. He had a prosthetic arm made of gears with all its wiring exposed, and he was mixing a drink.
Shi Er walked to the bar and sat down.
“What crime did you commit today?” the bartender, Sali, glanced at her.
Shi Er knew what he was asking. “I cooked the books today.”
She had indeed cooked the books.
She noted in her intelligent brain’s ledger:
1. Spent 1,000 on a phone (though the actual price was 10,000 Union Yuan, considering there would be compensation).
2. Spent 900 to enter the bar (though the actual price was 1,000 Union Yuan).
The bartender, Sali, nodded. “Hmph, an accountant. A truly thrilling profession. A satisfying crime.”
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