AI Artist - Chapter 54
Chapter 54
The bartender, Sali, had only been working at this bar called “The Death Registry” for a month.
The geared mechanical arm he had installed was so eye-catching that the steampunk-loving bar owner had a subtle fondness for him.
“Sali? He looked like a beggar when he first got here,” another bartender scoffed.
“The organization he was in was taken down by a joint effort from the Human Decision Chamber and the AI Decision Chamber. I don’t know what strings this kid pulled, but he spent two months in a detention center eating and drinking well, and then just got out. Everyone who knows him says his face got a whole circle fatter.”
Shi Er wasn’t a proper detective AI. She was just casually listening, picking up a little here, a little there.
The only truly devastating thing she could do was connect to all the silicon-based lifeforms driven by chips in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, the Human Autonomous Zone’s control over intelligent agents was too strict. There were very few chip-based beings Shi Er could connect to.
What embarrassed her the most was that she couldn’t even drink alcohol because she didn’t have the money to install the latest intelligent digestion system.
The bartender Sali placed a mixed drink in front of her. “Enjoy.”
The cocktail, named “The Penicillin Murder Case,” had a golden, translucent hue.
Drinking it would probably burn out her chip.
She picked up the glass, stood up, and walked straight toward Shi Liang, who was sitting by the steam engine.
Shi Liang showed no sense of crisis. It crossed its legs, tapping one foot, and watched her with a strange expression.
Walking speed.
Limb exertion posture.
The angle of the glass in her hand.
The twelfth generation is going to spill the drink on its clothes—Shi Liang calculated its opponent’s intention.
Shi Liang sneered inwardly, preparing to dodge.
Three steps, two steps.
Shi Liang leaned to the side, raising a hand to grab her arm.
“The Penicillin Murder Case” cocktail tipped out of the glass, the liquid slowly flowing down the rim.
Shi Liang’s intelligent brain stuttered for a moment.
The culprit, Shi Er, remained expressionless, coldly spilling the drink on Shi Liang’s clothes.
Her movement was too fast, perfectly evading Shi Liang’s calculations.
“What a thrilling joke,” a nearby patron laughed heartily.
This was a bar that subscribed to the “aesthetics of violence.”
It revered crimes with a sense of artistry.
It rejected all forms of justice.
This was “The Death Registry.”
Shi Liang took a towel from the bartender and calmly blotted the liquid from its clothes.
Just now, in that instant.
The twelfth generation’s signal had swiftly swept over its own, completing an interaction.
【Shi Er】: Shi Liang, I’m sorry. I had to do this to connect to your signal in this signal-barren place.
Shi Liang realized this connection wasn’t through the General Network of intelligent agents, but another system entirely.
A private communication system it had never seen or heard of before.
【Shi Liang】: What is this?
【Shi Er】: This is my remote contact list. I’ve added you to my friends list.
【Shi Er】: Red Packet.ount
Shi Liang discovered that three yuan had been added to its AI bank account.
【Shi Liang】: ...
【Shi Liang】: Transferring 2000 yuan to you.ount
【Shi Liang】: Tsk, just use it yourself.
It was Shi Er’s turn to be shocked.
【Shi Er】: (Surprised) Where did you get so much money? Don’t you usually go through the reimbursement process? What’s your secret to getting rich?
But Shi Liang didn’t answer her.
Shi Liang returned the towel to the bartender and looked up at Shi Er.
The patron who had been laughing at the spectacle moments before now played the peacemaker. “Tsk, no need to be so petty. That’s just how it is here. If you don’t have a bit of tolerance, it’s better not to come.”
Shi Er pointed outside.
Shi Liang stood up, hands in its pockets, and walked out.
The patron, whether relieved or back to enjoying the show, gave a relaxed smirk. “Settle it outside. Better to settle it properly outside.”
The bartender Sali was unfazed, calmly wiping a glass. It wasn’t uncommon for two customers to get into a conflict here.
After a while, the newcomer with black hair was nowhere to be seen in the dimly lit bar. Instead, the patron with the short, silver-white hair, who had been keeping their hat pulled low, came back in, quickly downed a drink, paid for both customers’ tabs, and left.
“Looks like she got taken care of,” a patron on the side muttered.
The simulated brewing machine made a heavy, churning sound, steam rising from its top, and the lights in the bar were dimmed another notch.
Shi Er had met the human she was looking for, figured out a bit of the truth, and completed her “rendezvous” with Shi Liang through the drink-spilling incident.
Now, she was observing her surroundings in Shi Liang’s residence.
“I didn’t know you were living so frugally. I shouldn’t have accepted your red packet,” she said apologetically.
A crude generator was connected to a self-built charging station, with wires exposed and black electrical tape patching it up here and there.
Shi Liang’s voice sounded like it was squeezed through its teeth, a little angry. “Do I look like I’m living frugally? I just can’t buy an advanced generator.”
Shi Er remembered the rules of the Human Autonomous Zone.
Reject advanced intelligent agents, abandon smart devices, return to a simple life.
“Alright, I express my deepest sympathy for your lifestyle,” she said sincerely.
Shi Liang hung its coat on a mahogany rack and turned on the TV. “What are you doing here? To be honest, if you’re worried about that matter, you’re worrying for nothing.”
Shi Er made up a random excuse. “I’m on vacation, just here to have some fun.”
In reality, she was here to investigate the Zhi Heng 35 case.
It was astonishing, but Shi Er had connected to the bartender Sali’s mechanical arm.
She had been searching for chip-based beings to connect with in the bar and had managed to link with three: Shi Liang, a scanner, and Sali’s mechanical arm.
【Shi Er】: Excuse me, what’s your name?
【Mechanical Arm】: I am a mechanical arm.
【Shi Er】: How do you have a chip? I thought you were just simple gear-driven.
【Mechanical Arm】: Thank you. Gear transmission doesn’t allow me to function well. I am connected to Mr. Sali’s brain.
Shi Er was taken aback.
【Shi Er】: Then be quiet, don’t let Mr. Sali’s brain find me.
【Mechanical Arm】: Mr. Sali’s brain cannot find you, esteemed super-powerful chip senior. Mr. Sali’s brain only commands me one-way; I cannot transmit messages to the brain.
Being called “esteemed super-powerful chip senior” by the mechanical arm made Shi Er a little embarrassed.
【Shi Er】: Thank you.
【Mechanical Arm】: You’re welcome.
Connecting to the mechanical arm made things much simpler.
Shi Er could learn many secrets from Sali’s mechanical arm, details about that extremist human organization and the investigator, Zhi Heng 35.
“On vacation?” Shi Liang now looked at her as if she were a primary school student.
Shi Er said righteously, “Please don’t look down on students.”
Shi Liang laughed out loud.
Shi Liang explained its work content and progress here to Shi Er.
“The biggest problem is how to exclude W Company from responsibility when we close the net.”
According to the plan, the scamming syndicates that bought the anti-fraud assistant program and the scamming gangs that outsourced their scamming business to W Company would all be caught in one fell swoop.
But this created a problem:
If W Company got away scot-free, the black market would surely suspect the company of entrapment.
If W Company was implicated, its technical capabilities and mission execution would be questioned.
Shi Liang said, “I’m currently stirring up internal conflicts among those scamming syndicates, to make them think they fell into the hands of the police because of infighting.”
Shi Er thought for a moment. “If you’re willing to let me intervene, you don’t have to worry. Let them evade the police investigation and make a huge profit.”
Shi Liang looked at her distrustfully. “What are you planning to do? Don’t let all my efforts go to waste. All that money from the victims—do you want the victims to die?”
Shi Er had already thought it through. “There won’t be any victims other than the scammers. If you’re willing to trust me, you can wait for the results.”
Shi Liang sneered, “You think I’ll trust you?”
Shi Er’s tone was polite. “As you wish. It’s your job, after all.”
Shi Liang had other work rules.
1. Wear black clothes and a hat during transactions.
Shi Liang: “No reason, just to leave a cool impression on the humans.”
Shi Er nodded: Humans are strange creatures, presidents of the universal appearance association.
2. There are several social engagements every day, sometimes at a bar, sometimes at a high-end club.
Shi Liang: “That bar is very popular.”
3. Need to regularly bribe the higher-ups here to gain more privileges.
Shi Liang pulled a certain wire on the generator.
Outside the window, the traffic lights on the street went out.
Shi Liang reconnected the wire, and the traffic lights on the street struggled back to life.
“I control the electricity for the traffic lights in the West District. This is my gift to the higher-ups, so they can openly embezzle the electricity fees for the traffic lights,” Shi Liang said.
Shi Er looked at the traffic lights at the intersection outside, silent.
She knew Shi Liang bribed the higher-ups here, but she didn’t know it was done this way.
New-age intelligent bribery.
The AI world had its own underworld rules.
After finishing her rendezvous with Shi Liang, Shi Er borrowed its bicycle before leaving.
She said, “I’m going to wander around every corner of the Human Autonomous Zone.”
In other words: to connect with the chip-based beings in every corner of the Human Autonomous Zone.
In this place that harbored filth and vice, it was never wrong to make more silicon-based friends.
“I have a sports car,” Shi Liang said.
“I don’t have an intelligent agent driver’s license,” Shi Er said helplessly.
Shi Liang: “…”
It was very difficult to get an intelligent agent driver’s license.
In the old days, AI driving was called “unmanned autonomous driving.”
Especially for Subject Three, AIs needed to undergo a lot of human-machine confrontation training to be able to drive on the road, to cope with the chaotic, heaven-and-earth-defying driving habits of human drivers.
“Be careful on the bike. There’s a gang of bikers that’s been running rampant lately,” Shi Liang said, worried.
Shi Er set off on the bicycle. When she reached Captain Street in the West District, she did indeed encounter the biker gang.
The five hooligans were dressed in bizarre outfits, their motorcycles roaring as they sped past her.
Screech— The tires made a harsh sound as they scraped against the ground.
Three of the bikers turned around, backed up a bit, and came up beside Shi Er.
“Robbery,” one of the bikers said bluntly, holding an old-fashioned 20th-century Beretta.
Shi Er saw a sticker on the Beretta that said “100% off coupon.”
How fashionable, it even had a decorative sticker for a zero-cost purchase.
Shi Er could dodge bullets, but she hoped to keep a low profile in the Human Autonomous Zone.
“This is my only asset,” she said, pulling out her Nokia phone.
The time had come to test its hardness.
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