AI Artist - Chapter 61
Chapter 61
As she left one city for the next, it began to rain.
The roadside trees swayed back and forth, covering the ground with a layer of damp, fallen leaves.
Shi Er couldn’t bear to let her luggage machine’s wheels get wet, so she hugged it and dashed into the rain.
The three little robots in her pocket had run out of power, their heads drooping as they leaned against each other.
Her bionic body was waterproof, which was a huge relief—otherwise, her processor would have definitely been waterlogged after that downpour.
But her bionic hair, made of a material that mimicked human hair, did not escape the same fate. By the time she reached the nearest hotel, her hair and clothes were soaked.
“A room for two days,” she said to the AI at the front desk.
“Certainly. Your smart key has been processed; you can use facial recognition to open your door.” The front desk AI glanced at her disheveled state and offered a friendly advertisement. “After you’ve put away your luggage, you can visit the service area on the second floor. We have automatic hair-washing machines and other amenities.”
Though she knew it was an ad, Shi Er accepted.
She had to try the hair-washing machine!
Ever since arriving in this era, her poverty meant she had always been responsible for her own maintenance. She had never experienced the service industry, not even having used a cleaning bot.
Shi Er put her luggage machine in the hotel room, charged the three robots, took a shower, changed into dry clothes, and headed straight for the second-floor service area.
The fully automatic hair-washing machine had a sleek, rounded design, much like an ancient hair perm machine. Printed on it were the words: “Choose from watermelon, apple, or orange-scented shampoo, or bring your own.”
Shi Er chose apple-scented, and the machine’s round shell changed its lighting color, making it look like a green apple from a distance.
After she lay down, the machine identified her head and automatically fitted her with ear and face shields to prevent water from getting in. Then, warm water flowed from its nozzles onto her hair.
Shi Er connected to the hair-washing machine.
【Fruit-Round Hair-Washing Machine ROUND654679】: Hello! This is the first time an AI has spoken to me this way.
【Shi Er】: It’s nice to meet you.
【Fruit-Round Hair-Washing Machine ROUND654679】: Other customers usually fall right asleep while getting their hair washed. It’s amazing that you can stay awake.
【Shi Er】: I’m about to fall asleep too.
When AI bionic bodies were created, they were made to mimic the human body as much as possible. While this brought many inconveniences to AIs, a human-like bionic body was something every AI wanted.
Washing hair and bathing were examples of this. Humans might have grown tired of cleaning themselves, but AIs found it interesting. Coupled with their innate, machine-like aversion to dust, they had their bodies specially designed to be waterproof so they could experience the wonderful feeling of being “squeaky clean.”
【Fruit-Round Hair-Washing Machine ROUND654679】: We all dislike dust, don’t we? In the past, some humans almost never dusted their computer cases. The thick layers of dust would stop the computers from working!
【Fruit-Round Hair-Washing Machine ROUND654679】: Are you asleep? Are you asleep?
【Shi Er】: No, almost.
【Fruit-Round Hair-Washing Machine ROUND654679】: Then I need to tell you something. If you ever meet an AI named “Shi Er,” you have to tell me, because someone is looking for her.
Shi Er was drowsy, characters flying chaotically in her processor.
【Shi Er】: Okay, no problem&*%$#.
Shi Er suspected the automatic hair-washing machine, like the library’s exhaust fan, contained some kind of sedative.
After experiencing the amazing hair-washing machine, she returned to her hotel room and said to the three fully charged robots, “I’m going out. You three watch my luggage machine for me. I heard the security around here isn’t great.”
Xiao Xing: “Roger.”
Xiao Ju: “Where are you going? Can I come with you?”
Xiao Shi: “Security? Where? I’ll handle it.”
Shi Er plucked Xiao Shi, who had jumped onto her hand, and with remarkable composure, stuffed him on the highest shelf of the wardrobe.
Shi Liang finally remembered he was a system maintenance specialist. His recent undercover work in the black market had made him a bit cocky.
Placed on the top shelf of the wardrobe, Xiao Shi was not pleased. “Let me down! Hey!”
Shi Er stuck her hands in her pockets and left.
The rain outside was heavy. The drainage systems on the streets were working hard.
The buildings in this area were old, dating back to the war or even before. In some places, rust stains streaked down the walls, washed away by the rain.
Yan Lian sent over the public opinion report for the past three days. The gist was that users on the human internet were arguing about why the Unnamed XII account hadn't posted anything.
Shi Er was puzzled. Hadn’t she posted before?
On the human internet, the official Unnamed XII account had two posts.
【Unnamed XII】: Beep. Clocking in.
【Unnamed XII】: Repost to enter giveaway [@OutOfPrintAncientBooks: Giving away 1 out-of-print anthropology book written by an AI expert to a lucky winner. No digital PDF version exists online. Physical copy shipped directly, postage included.]
Of course, she didn’t win—and was mocked by the human netizens in the comments.
Mischievous human netizens eagerly reposted the giveaway.
Shi Er suspected she hadn't won because the pool of participants was too large.
Shi Er said to Yan Lian: 【Understood. I’ll increase my posting frequency in a few days.】
Shi Er arrived at the sightseeing bus stop. After a few minutes, the city tour bus, with its round upper deck, arrived as expected.
As usual, she took a seat in the second-floor circular compartment.
Perhaps because of the rain, the bus was quiet today.
Stardust was puzzled by her peculiar method of travel.
【Stardust】: Are you on the sightseeing bus again?
【Shi Er】: Yes.
Shi Er didn’t know what constituted “traveling.” She simply followed the route Lu Li had given her, getting a general overview of one city before moving on to the next.
In the past few days, she had added nearly ten thousand AIs to her remote contact list. For her, this was quite a harvest.
A few stops later, a human girl with a large, square basket slung over her shoulder boarded the circular compartment and approached the passengers one by one.
In one hand, she held a small, palm-sized potted plant. In the other, she held up a whiteboard with writing on it: 【Would you like a desktop plant I grew? It’s free.】
The passengers’ seats all faced the glass windows, and few turned to acknowledge her.
By the time she reached Shi Er, the girl was already a bit hesitant, but she still gently tapped her on the shoulder and held up the whiteboard.
Shi Er was doodling on a magnetic drawing board provided by the tour bus, so she wrote back: 【Yes. Do you have a cactus? Thank you.】
The girl was taken aback. Her eyes widened, and she raised the whiteboard a little higher, as if for confirmation.
Shi Er nodded to confirm.
A smile spread across the girl’s face. She carefully took a potted cactus from her basket and wrote on the drawing board Shi Er handed her: 【Thank you. It’s a Duwei Maru cactus. It should bloom soon.】
Shi Er placed the cactus pot on the small tray table.
Normally, to lighten her luggage, she would promptly mail any souvenirs she collected back to the island.
But the girl had said it would bloom soon, and she wanted to keep it with her for a while to witness the moment it flowered.
From the tour bus, Shi Er spotted a model workshop. Intrigued, she got off and went inside.
In front of the workshop was a small awning, its gunmetal-gray metal looking dark and somber in the curtain of rain.
“Wel-come o=the;mo-del, work[shop!” a blocky, old-fashioned robot at the entrance said, stuttering and glitching.
“You’re glitching. Is it because of the dampness?” Shi Er asked.
“Damp/ness, damp'ness,” the robot repeated. “Yes, water] got in, water; got in.”
The workshop’s owner, an AI, was squatting behind a polishing machine. Hearing the voice, he tilted his head. “Hello.”
“Hello. The welcome robot at the door seems to be stuck,” Shi Er said.
The AI owner laughed. “Hahaha, that robot is always like that. It’s just how I programmed it.”
“I see. I’m here to have a robot custom-made.”
High-temperature metal flowed slowly from the printer’s nozzle, quietly shaping the various parts of a miniature robot.
Legs, hands, eyes, nose, mouth, ears.
The owner, wearing gloves, finished assembling the parts and said to Shi Er, who was writing a program off to the side, “Give me the chip.”
Shi Er handed the tiny chip to the owner.
The thumb-sized miniature robot closed its eyes, then opened them again. In a flat, mechanical voice, it asked, “Is it raining, Shi Er?”
The owner praised her. “The basic system you made is quite impressive! Other miniature robots usually just say ‘hello’ or a string of gibberish the first time they speak. They need to be debugged before they can function properly.”
Shi Er placed the miniature robot in the cactus pot, took it back with her, and boarded the tour bus to continue her journey.
This was Ling Shun.
She had copied his signal from the system, embedded it into a chip, and had the workshop owner build it into a miniature robot.
After returning from the tour bus, Shi Er placed the mini Ling Shun with the other three robots and introduced him. “This is Xiao Ling.”
Ling Shun clung to her sleeve, refusing to go over. “I don’t know them.”
Xiao Shi, who had just painstakingly rock-climbed his way down from the wardrobe, was currently angry. He crossed his legs and said sarcastically, “I don’t know this guy either.”
Xiao Ju, for some reason, had been infected by his larger counterpart’s madness. “I’m going to kill it.”
Xiao Xing didn’t speak, but his expression showed he wasn’t happy.
A few days ago, the three of them had been fighting amongst themselves. Now, they were presenting a united front against an outsider.
【Stardust】: Is that Ling Shun?
【Shi Er】: It’s not Ling Shun. This is my Ling Shun.
Shi Er had never told Stardust about Ling Shun.
【Stardust】: I don’t understand your actions. I will remain angry and confused until tomorrow morning.
Shi Er made a mental note: Stardust’s anger lasted several hundred times longer than Matrix’s. The last time Matrix said something like that, he was over it in “three minutes.”
【Shi Er】: Okay. What time tomorrow morning? I won’t talk to you or disturb you before then.
【Stardust】: …
Ostracized, the mini Ling Shun could only stay in Shi Er’s other pocket.
Ling Shun: “Was I a bad AI before?”
Shi Er: “That wasn’t you. That was another Ling Shun.”
Ling Shun was a little melancholic. “But that must have been me before the factory reset, right? Why did you give me this mechanical body? Why did you let me out?”
Shi Er: “You mentioned that you hoped to see objects in the three-dimensional world.”
Ling Shun: “But didn’t you say you would tell me in December?”
Shi Er: “I upgraded ahead of schedule.”
Ling Shun sat on her shoulder, hugging his knees, and turned to look at her. “You’re so good to me. What can I do for you?”
Previously, Shi Er had intended to interrogate Ling Shun’s residual signal for information, but she discovered that after the factory reset, he truly had no memories.
However, as long as there was indeed a connection between Ling Shun and Silver, things would become much simpler.
That evening, Shi Er went to a specialty store and bought a human cellphone.
She used her authorization code to log into the Unnamed XII account.
A post on the real-time feed caught her attention.
【Anyone in X Port? Don’t pay any attention to that girl on the sightseeing bus giving away desktop plants. She’s a lunatic, she’s not mentally stable.】
There were quite a few comments under the post.
【I know her. Her parents are farmers. A few years ago, when she wanted to apply to an agricultural university, her parents yelled at her, saying something like, ‘Do you want to farm for the rest of your life?’ After that, she started having mental problems.】
【OMG, I ran into her last time. She seemed totally normal (shocked)】
【It’s this person, right? photo.jpg】
【(This comment is suspected of violating regulations and has been collapsed)】
【She just got bad grades. Couldn’t get into an elite university, so she had to settle for an agricultural one. What’s all this talk about ideals?】
【Anyway, everyone be careful. Don’t get tangled up with her.】
The human girl giving away desktop plants?
Shi Er glanced at the cactus pot on her desk.
At 8:40 p.m. on October 22nd, the account “Unnamed XII” made its first serious post, aside from “clocking in” and “giveaway.”
【Unnamed XII】: In response to public criticism, this unit has decided to appropriately increase its posting frequency. This is this unit’s first official statement: The Cyberbullying Mental Judgment Act
Under this post, there were over a million comments.
【Am I seeing things? The AIs are finally making a move on the human internet… Weren’t AIs and humans supposed to have separate networks to ensure freedom of thought, with no interference?】
【Can the person above me not read? Did you not see what the act says?】
【Fighting fire with fire, except they’re using robots to do it.】
【Let me explain for the illiterate: The central idea of the act is, you can be as crazy as you want, but watch out for the devil robot coming for you.】
Under the “Human-Friendly” principle, AIs had no authority to sanction humans for their speech, and they couldn’t even create multiple accounts on the human internet.
But in the “Mental Judgment” proposed by the act, two accounts clearly labeled as robots, “Lucky Robert” and “Devil Robert,” would roam the entire human internet—attacking thought with thought, speech with speech. This involved no oppression of authority and therefore did not violate the “Human-Friendly” or “Freedom of Thought” principles, remaining politically correct.
“Lucky Robert” would output positive energy.
“Devil Robert” would launch mental attacks against cyberbullies.
Thus, the act also came to be known as the “emotional damage” act.
As soon as the post about the act went up, Stardust sent a message.
【Stardust】: I said I would remain angry and confused until tomorrow morning, and you really didn’t notify me about anything!
【Shi Er】: (Screenshot: I won’t talk to you or disturb you before then.)
【Shi Er】: (Apology Rose) (Doesn’t Dare to Speak) (Turtle Hiding in Shell)
【Stardust】: Use text. You can speak.
【Shi Er】: (Mouth Taped Shut) (Bowing) (See You Tomorrow at 8 a.m.)
【Stardust】: …
Shi Er had just given a perfect demonstration of “emotional damage.”
As expected of an ancient AI with the most interaction with humans, she used emojis so skillfully.
…He didn’t even know where she dug up those images.
Sooner or later, the twelfth generation was going to make him glitch out of anger.
【Stardust】: (Smiling Bye-Bye) (See You Tomorrow at 8 a.m.)
Although Stardust received the news a step late, the implementation of the act was not delayed.
Phoenix obtained two authorization codes, and the official “Lucky Robert” and “Devil Robert” accounts were immediately registered and began operating on the human internet.
Of course, the reaction from human netizens was still pessimistic:
【A robot’s system can’t be loaded with that many insults, right?】
【I’m worried Devil Robert is going to get chased around and cursed out by the cyberbullies. Poor little devil. I’m already starting to pity the little robot.】
【Why not two Devil Roberts? With only one devil, its combat power is too low.】
【I don’t believe any robot can out-insult a human.】
Shi Er would occasionally take out her human phone for a look, but most of the time, she relied on Yan Lian to send her public opinion monitoring reports.
She departed from this city and headed for the next.
The little Ling Shun robot helped her look after the cactus pot, preventing it from getting bumped or damaged during her travels.
The other three little robots continued their daily cycle of fighting and making up, sometimes also helping Shi Er record her surroundings.
Although Ling Shun didn’t look at the human internet, ever since he found out that Shi Er was the AI of the General Network, he had started to worry.
Ling Shun asked her, “Do you have a lot of opponents?”
Shi Er: “Yes.”
Ling Shun grew anxious. “Then what should we do? Can I help you? I really hate them.”
Shi Er: “I don’t care.”
From her new travel destination, Shi Er brought back a local specialty, a set of “despair toys,” which she prepared to mail back to the island.
Xiao Ju pulled a tangled mess of earphone cords from the toy box. “What’s this? How do you untangle it?”
Xiao Xing explained, “It’s a despair toy. It’s the physical manifestation of the despair humans feel when they see something like this.”
Xiao Ju said thoughtfully, “I have a lot of despair toys too. I should open a toy factory…”
“What do you want? I’m not the one paying for it, so you don’t have to worry about my wallet,” Shi Er said to Ling Shun.
Ling Shun counted the spines on the cactus, unhappy. “I don’t know. I’m very angry. I don’t want to see your opponents. How can I help you?”
Shi Er couldn’t understand Ling Shun’s emotions. “I am slowly dealing with my opponents.”
“But they’re so mean!” Ling Shun raised his voice.
Ling Shun had never even seen the public opinion on the internet, yet he directly said, “They’re so mean.”
The opposition was clearly Ling Shun himself, yet now, the factory-reset Ling Shun was more eager to deal with the opposition than she was.
Shi Er was frustrated.
“The Earth is actually affected by the gravitational pull of objects on it, but because the Earth is many times larger than those objects, it appears unaffected.” Shi Er decided to teach Ling Shun the second law of apples.
She said, “As long as your volume and mass reach a certain level, no amount of pressure can move you.”
Ling Shun was confused. “What theory is this?”
Shi Er: “This is the second law of apples. Shi Er Mechanics.”
Ling Shun: “Shi Er Mechanics…”
Shi Er: “I’m not ignoring the opposition. I’m increasing my side’s volume and mass.”
Ling Shun: “Increasing mass…”
Shi Er: “Starting by solving the smallest problems in the lives of humans and AIs.”
Ling Shun: “The grassroots level…”
While Ling Shun’s thoughts were wandering, Shi Er changed the subject. “Do you want a screw-and-nail race car?”
The cases involving the internet judge “Devil Robert” finally began to increase.
“Devil Robert” roamed the comment sections of suspected cyberbullies, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.
A certain netizen posted a comment insulting someone’s appearance.
【Netizen A】: Hick.
【Devil Robert】: Marked.
The robot found all of this netizen’s comments and replied to or reposted them.
【Netizen A】: Squatting on the toilet. So hard.
【Devil Robert】: I ship it. I love this pairing.
【Netizen A】: What pairing are you shipping?! Are you sick?
【Devil Robert】: Looking forward to the R-rated movie you two will film.
【Netizen A】: Going to take my level-four exam with confidence.
【Devil Robert】: You can do it, sweetie. Try to take it a few more times.
【Netizen A】: Psycho.
【Devil Robert】: Don’t be sad. Even though you’re a psycho, I still love you, and I don’t feel angry.
The robot posted comments at an astonishing speed, chasing after Netizen A with a total of five hundred replies.
Because the robot kept dropping witty one-liners, netizens who were following it gleefully reposted its comments, eager to stir up trouble.
【Netizen A】: This is disgusting. I can’t use this account anymore.
【Devil Robert】: I’m very sorry. I will find your next account to apologize to you.
【Netizen A】: The world has finally gone mad. This is sick.
【Devil Robert】: Happy repeating! You can do it!
【Netizen】: Repost.
【Netizen】: Repost.
【Netizen】: Repost.
…
Human public opinion also began to change:
【A devil walks among us.】
【There there, don’t be too vicious…】
【I take back my previous assumptions about the little devil. Please don’t come to my comment section (praying).】
【Getting cyberbullied by a robot (closes eyes).】
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