Overturned Tower

"...Bubble-30?"

Russell murmured softly: "It's a good name."

The name sounds like "bubble number 30" or "bubble number 30".

"You said '30' is your number of nirvanas, so is 'Bubble' your code name?"

He stared at the girl with white hair and silver eyes, as if he was shocked by something, and his mood seemed to fluctuate for a moment.

His turquoise pupils, which were originally as calm as a lake, also became brighter. It's like there are some kind of ripples oscillating on it.

After shaking hands with Russell seriously, the girl put her hands behind her back, bent slightly, and showed a cheerful and clean smile: "Yes!

"Because I love bubbles!"

"Bubbles?"

"It's the kind of rainbow-colored bubbles that pop out when you blow a bubble machine."

The girl playfully blinked her silver prosthetic eyes, longing and nostalgia appearing on her face: "That is the most beautiful thing I have seen since I was born.

"So, I call myself Bubble! Because I also hope that I can be as beautiful as the bubbles blown by the bubble machine!"

Russell was silent for a moment.

The frightened Mr. Otter on the side saw that Russell didn't seem to blurt out anything when he saw Bubble-30, and he suddenly breathed a sigh of relief as if he had let go of something.

But seeing that Russell's mood seemed to be fluctuating at this moment, Mr. Otter, who was still a little afraid and uneasy, still slowly walked over.

He explained to Russell in a low voice: "This child is the earliest synthetic human."

"The earliest?"

"Yes, she was born fifteen years ago. I had just graduated and was just a graduate student working for my supervisor."

When it comes to his research field, Mr. Otter, who is always timid, even his tone becomes smooth and confident: "In order to raise them like humans and cultivate 'humanity' similar to humans, we conduct research every year Replace some of their prosthetics.

"We set this day on their birthdays and call it 'Newborn's Day'. Every time we celebrate Newborn's Day, it will look a little 'newer' and 'bigger' than before. In this way, we simulate human beings Physical growth.

"Because according to our research, the different performances of the human body at different ages largely determine people's life behavior at this age. Humans usually use hormones to regulate this process, and we need to program it Means. But what we hope to get is synthetic humans who can behave the same as ordinary people when exposed to the same things as ordinary people. Only this means..."

"——This is the only way to prove that what you created is a real 'human' and not an artificial intelligence that deceived you?"

Russell asked rhetorically.

Feeling that Russell's tone was inexplicably unkind, Mr. Otter immediately followed the guidance of his heart, shrank his neck and stepped back.

Although Bubble-30 didn't understand what happened, she noticed that Russell was not in a good mood.

But she took courage and asked in a low voice: "Did I say something wrong?"

"None of your business, girl."

Russell shook his head, took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It's like smoking a cigar that doesn't exist.

He glanced at Bubble-30 with some confusion, and his voice became deeper: "I just finally realized... what a sinful experiment they conducted."

That might be a reaction that would make Mr. Otter ecstatic.

——Because when Russell came into contact with Bubble-30, he very clearly felt the existence of the soul from the other party.

It was obvious that the opponent was entirely made of machinery from beginning to end, with no "wet parts" removed from the human body. The human brain doesn't even exist.

Theoretically, all her thoughts and ideas should come from the virtual values ​​​​protruding from the chip's calculations; the expressions and demeanor on her face, and all the small movements that indicate her emotions and personality, are nothing but simulations of the chip.

But……

Russell could feel the existence of "heart" from her very clearly.

...That is a young, rational and clear mind.

It's like she was born with pure compassion and goodwill - but compared to the Virgin Mary, she also knows a lot of knowledge and philosophy, better understands the principles of observing people's emotions and the knowledge of socializing with others, and has an extremely smart brain that can clearly understand Comprehensively solve all problems.

The wisdom of the wise and the compassion of the saint are blended together with the innocence of a child.

This trait is not possible in humans.

If you want to learn this knowledge, you must study hard; if you want to gain a broad vision and rich life wisdom, you must dive into the crowd and experience the tastes of all living beings; if you want to gain the wisdom of life, you must become cunning. Or sophistication; if you want to gain the wisdom of the world, you have to give up the innocence and carefreeness of a child.

But deep in the heart of Bubble-30... there is this completely conflicting quality that symbolizes "artificiality".

"Although they all look like children..."

Mr. Otter on the side saw this and quickly explained: "But that's just because they didn't use an adult-looking body.

"Each of them has knowledge at the level of a first-level researcher on Sun Island. All knowledge that can be obtained through data entry has long been transmitted to them; the skills that can be mastered using mechanical bodies have also been completed. Programming and entry.

"Don't say Pao-30... Even those children who look no more than seven or eight years old, if you pull them out at random, they are still amazing all-rounders.

"They do not use biological brains, but directly use database patterns to enter knowledge; they do not use instinct to control the body, but directly program and issue instructions to make the body operate 100%..."

"In a sense," Russell suddenly interrupted, "you specifically let them use children's bodies and develop children's personalities for them...actually, it is to better control them."

"Is such that."

Mr. Otter answered readily and without hesitation: "Children don't have such strong desires. As long as they can satisfy their simple requirements full of innocence, it will be easy to develop feelings."

"Our original plan was to train these children from scratch. We would produce another batch every few years to form a kinship between brothers and sisters, and to develop feelings and trust with us humans.

"When the population expands to a certain extent, and as the first members reach adulthood... we can give them the task of educating the new generation.

"This is a relatively simple statement... We have a very mature plan. We are well prepared to deal with various emergencies..."

"Including the synth rebellion?"

"...Yes, included."

Mr. Otter glanced at Bubble-30 subconsciously, sighed, and closed his eyes.

“We have a central control program for synthetic humans in our hands, which can directly ‘shut down’ or ‘restart’ them, and of course, we can also ‘return to the previous version’ to make them forget these things and become harmless again.

"For humans, 'brainwashing' touches the bottom line of morality. For synthetics, it is only a part of their lives. The process of learning any knowledge is a kind of brainwashing... The so-called 'nirvana' is even more... A kind of brainwashing.”

"What exactly is nirvana?"

Russell spoke again, his tone becoming lighter: "I'm very curious!"

Mr. Otter just felt that his tone was a bit strange, but he didn't care.

Bubble-30, on the other hand, looked at Russell in astonishment - she clearly scanned that Russell's reaction was exactly the same as hers!

Russell closed one eye and quietly raised his finger to make a shushing expression. This made Paopao-30 realize immediately that the strange illusion he felt was actually correct!

"Nirvana..."

Just as Mr. Otter was about to answer, Bubble-30 interrupted him.

"I want to prepare some drinks for this good-looking big brother... let's sit down and chat."

"That's fine."

Mr. Otter nodded happily. He happened to be thirsty as well: "Prepare a drink for me too, bubble-30."