The Mechanic - Chapter 89

[Chapter 89 Boundaries (3)]

James reached out to knock on the door of the wooden house where Zhang Xun lived, but before he could actually knock, the door suddenly opened by itself. Enoch stood in the doorway, raised his finger to his lips with a solemn expression, and snorted.

“Zhang Xun just fell asleep an hour ago. He worked all night last night.”

James was a little unhappy with the robot’s attitude towards him, but since Xun was sleeping, he didn’t want to make too much unnecessary noise. A Xun has no way to rest these days, and must be exhausted.

“How’s he doing?” James asked.

“Excessive fatigue combined with malnutrition. But there are no life-threatening physical symptoms so far from my initial scan,” Enoch’s dutiful voice reports. “Enough sleep plus a high-protein, low-sugar breakfast or lunch. It should greatly improve his physical condition.”

James nodded, a little relieved. But suddenly he heard the robot ask, “How long are we going to stay here?”

James didn’t have as many opportunities to contact the robot as Zhang Xun, and even if there were, it was mostly hostile, and he wasn’t sure what attitude to use to communicate with the robot. How much information can be given and how much has to be withheld. He hesitated for a moment, but still told Enoch, “The Unknown is willing to escort us there, and we have to wait for the people they sent to inquire about Feathered Serpent City to come back.”

“Do you believe these Unknowns?” The robot asked in a flat tone.

James was slightly surprised. This robot doesn’t talk much, especially in front of him and Diego, he almost just executes orders and rarely initiates conversations. Why did you suddenly become so active?

He has always felt that this robot seems to have some special preference for A Xun, but he is not sure if this is normal in AI.

As Xun mentioned, AI will treat its own administrators specially. But Xun is not the administrator of this robot.

“Why do you ask that?” James narrowed his eyes.

“One of my duties is to keep you safe.” Enoch continued to reply in a soothing voice, “According to my observations of you these days, you are Eden’s opponents, and you seem to be afraid of being found by Eden. There are not many human individuals who can be noticed by Eden, which gives you a certain exchange value.”

“…You mean that Eden will ‘bribe’ these unknown people?”

“Their main sources of income in the past include Robbery and transportation aircraft, stealing electronic currency using hacking technology, smuggling and selling prohibited items, etc. According to this information, their credibility is not high.”

James was silent for a moment, and finally frowned, “You just do your own work. , you don’t have to worry about the rest.”

But Enoch’s words did have some truth. Not long ago, they were prisoners of the Unknown. If it wasn’t for the sudden appearance of the Edenists, they would still be under house arrest now, and they might even have been cut into pieces for the people who killed them.

But somehow he suddenly remembered the red hair burning in the sun, and the arrogant dark blue eyes.

Zhang Xun slowly woke up from his deep sleep and smelled the aroma of coffee and milk in the air. A faint sense of happiness hit him, and he called out in a daze, “Adam…”

“Sorry, I’m not Adam.”

Zhang Xun suddenly woke up, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Enoch’s enlarged face occupying the His vision was full, and he almost jumped out of bed with fright, only to hit his head on the robot’s hard head with a crisp thud.

Enoch had nothing to do, but Zhang Xun was hit with gold stars, and sat up depressed with his hands on his forehead.

Enoch didn’t leave immediately, he still lay on the bed and looked up at Zhang Xun, “Who is Adam?”

Zhang Xun glanced at it, thinking that this robot’s curiosity seems to be getting stronger and stronger? Did the parameters themselves change while continuously collecting and updating data?

Seeing that Zhang Xun did not answer, Enoch continued to ask, “Is it the boyfriend you almost killed?”

Zhang Xun choked on his own saliva, and coughed awkwardly for a long time. Enoch was still beside him and kept patting him on the back thoughtfully. Zhang Xun finally calmed down and said in a strange voice, “Yes…”

Enoch rolled his eyes and continued, “If you want, I can imitate your boyfriend. My bones and skin are thick enough. Make adjustments and become your boyfriend.”

Zhang Xun almost started to feel a headache, why does this service robot focus on him alone?

“There’s no need for this…” Zhang Xun’s helplessness carried a bit of sadness, “We broke up.”

“Oh…” Enoch showed an expression almost akin to loss again.

The longer with Zhang Xun, the more humanized Enoch’s character becomes. Perhaps the parameter changes were adjusted after constantly collecting data about Zhang Xun’s preferences, which led to these coquettish-like behaviors.

Just as he was about to speak, Enoch suddenly stood up and brought a cup of hot milk coffee from the table behind him like a conjuration. The aroma of coffee beans is exactly what woke him up from his sleep just now. Enoch held the coffee to Zhang Xun with the gentle gesture of a wife.

Zhang Xun took it sternly, looking at Enoch in confusion, “Isn’t your proximity sensor broken?” How did you get the coffee without breaking the cup?

“I calculated the error value. Although there are occasional conversion errors that affect the accuracy of the action, some daily service behaviors are no longer affected.” Enoch’s tone was a little proud.

Zhang Xun couldn’t help but sigh at the learning speed of artificial intelligence. No wonder some people want to modify their brains to merge with the machine… He lowered his head and took a sip of hot and mellow coffee.

It was a feeling of rebirth, and he sighed with satisfaction.

And Enoch immediately brought a plate of brunch with coarse bread and dried fruit, and put it on the bed like a treasure. Zhang Xun was really hungry, so he picked up a slice of dried apple and put it in his mouth. He did not expect that such a small town composed of scavengers would have such a rare thing as dried fruit.

“Enoch, when Lucille gave you an order, how many people did you serve?” Zhang Xun chewed while looking at the handsome face of the service robot.

“Three. You, Diego, James.”

“Why do you take special care of me?” Zhang Xun curiously looked at the robot’s artificial iris with a blue metallic luster, “I am not your creator, Not your administrator either.”

“But you are the only one of the three who has the ability to modify my program.” Enoch raised his head without blinking, “Also, I like you.”

Zhang Xunyi I was stunned, and then laughed a few times in a low voice, “You don’t know what liking is. You don’t have a human body, so you can’t produce sex hormones such as pheromones.”

“Can’t you like it if you’re not a human?” , frowning slightly.

Zhang Xun was stopped. What is the definition of liking? Are only humans qualified to like it?

Not just like, any emotion, any emotion and virtue that human beings care about, define and sing about, can only human beings have it? Does not meet these definitions, even if there are similarities, can not be counted?

He thought for a moment, then replied, “Unless liking helps you achieve your goals, these emotions have no meaning to you. You think liking is just programmed to make your goals more satisfying. Serve.”

Enoch went on to say, “Man’s various behavior patterns, thinking patterns, including instinctive responses, and hormone changes in the body are all abilities derived from human DNA in the process of trying to continue its own continuous mutation and evolution, but you are not They will not be denied their authenticity because of their ‘practicality’. In the process of completing the goal, AI will also evolve and derive different abilities, and the weights of various parameters will produce changes that are difficult to reverse and obliterate. Why only because of us It’s AI. If there is a goal to be accomplished, it is necessary to deny the authenticity of these changes?”

Zhang Xun laughed a few times, almost thinking that Enoch was a little cute, “Are you asking for ‘mechanical power’? I heard that the ordinary world is now There are quite a few people who protest against the ‘enslavement’ of human beings to AI, demanding equal human rights for you.”

“No, I don’t need so-called human rights. We are not human, and freedom means nothing to us. I just hope that when I say I like it You can trust me when you are.”

Enoch stared at Zhang Xun seriously, his eyes for some reason, like a light blue electric current rushing into Zhang Xun’s blood. For a split second he almost brought those eyes together with Adam’s.

“Remember, trust me absolutely.”

That’s what Adam said to him.

He thought he had done it, but what was the result?

Adam’s liking for him is probably also a by-product of practicality in achieving the sub-goals of the overall goal. Should he accept such authenticity?

Subtle pain spread from the heart. Zhang Xun suddenly lost all his appetite and turned his eyes away, trying to hide his sudden emotions.

Enoch’s expression immediately returned to what it was before, “Sorry, I seem to have made you feel bad.”

“No, you just remind me of someone.” Zhang Xun took a deep breath and suppressed the surging emotions .

“You mean Adam?”

“Yes.”

“You seem to care about him?”

Zhang Xun twitched the corners of his mouth and smiled a little ugly, “I’m afraid I care too much, beyond the limit I should care about.”

“Then why did you kill him?” There seemed to be a faint hint in Enoch’s calm and gentle tone. “Why did you leave him?”

“Because I chose to believe him, but he lied to me.” Zhang Xun swallowed, his voice a little hoarse, “because there are always more important things besides feelings.”

Adam couldn’t have given up the overall goal for him, he was just a little episode, an unexpected situation that needed to be controlled.

And he couldn’t turn a blind eye to Adam’s plan, even if Adam didn’t play with his mind.

They will eventually become enemies.

Enoch lowered his eyes and sighed. He silently put a paper crane folded out of a napkin on Zhang Xun’s plate, and said softly, “I hope your wish will come true.”

Zhang Xun realized that the robot still remembered the wish he had said.

A thousand paper cranes, in exchange for a chance to meet again.

But at this moment, there were shouts from outside the door, and there were faint curses. Zhang Xun looked at the door uneasily. Before he could issue an order, Enoch had already opened the door and went out to inquire about the situation. After a while, he came back to report, “They have captured three Eden Cult prisoners.”

Eden Cult?

Zhang Xun put down the cup and immediately opened the door and walked out. Enoch followed step by step, like a shadow behind Zhang Xun.

Crowds in the town swarmed from the houses and gathered towards the tavern where the leader Anya was. Three Edenists in full silver uniforms were tied up and forced to kneel in front of Anya.

Todd stood behind Anya with his arms folded, eyes flashing with anger and hatred.

James and Diego were also present, Zhang Xun leaned over to them and whispered, “How did you catch it?”

“It seems that the scavenger team that came back with some mechanical parts from the border met the Eden Cult team that retreated yesterday, and they caught three.” Diego said quietly, with a look of good show.

The author has something to say: This week, things have been rushed together and the update has slowed down. I will resume the update speed as soon as possible…

Thanks to the little angels who threw mines~~~: He & Zhou 5; Strawberry, 24316253, only deep, Xia Ran Xia Ran 1

thanks to the little angel who irrigated the nutrient solution~~~: only 15 bottles of deep

[End of This Chapter]