He suppressed a laugh and told Noah, "Hurry up, decipher the code."
Noah: "...Yes."
Who should hurry up?
It was just a trivial matter of sneaking into the archives at night, something either of them could have easily done. But they wasted most of the day dawdling over applying a concealer.
I would have thought you two were on a date.
Qin Chu didn't waste much time. After entering the archives, he quickly found the files related to his parents and even had time to check the scanning patterns of the X-rays in the corridor.
During the day, intermittent X-ray scanning is combined with manual patrols. At night, after the shift personnel hand over their duties and conduct their final patrol, the X-ray system is switched to full-on mode.
When Qin Chu waited for the next break, he quickly closed the door of the archives room, returned to the corner where he had been, and squeezed together with Levi again.
"How is it?" Levy asked.
"I got it. I've already had Noah make a copy." Qin Chu paused, then explained, almost as if something was amiss, "Noah... is that artificial intelligence."
Levi looked at him, then fell silent.
Qin Chu almost laughed again.
"It's been following you like this? We know everything you say?" Levy asked, raising an eyebrow.
Qin Chu nodded, then wanted to add that there was also a privacy mode, but gave up before saying it.
It seems a little strange to specifically emphasize this point?
With plenty of time before the next scan interval, the two waited, stuck in this narrow gap.
It was unbearable to remain silent in this state. After a while, Levy asked him, as if trying to make conversation, "How's the situation in the archives?"
"Fortunately, it's not the same as the one in reality. But..." Qin Chu suddenly frowned.
"Did you get the files too easily?" Levy asked.
Qin Chu nodded.
After looking at Qin Chu for a while, Levi spoke up: "Have you ever considered that you might have been discovered by the mainframe a long time ago?"
Qin Chu was taken aback.
Since entering the virtual world, although he has encountered several crises, he has not encountered any trace of the mainframe after traversing several worlds.
You could even say that the biggest obstacle he encountered was caused by this guy in front of him.
“I’ve always had this suspicion, and at first I even thought you were sent by the mastermind.”
Levi thought for a moment and continued, "This thing is restricted by the rules and cannot enter the small world at will, but its sensitivity is not that low."
“Today’s Hall of Fame situation confirmed my suspicions. I’ve been in the virtual world for so long and I’ve never encountered a data body based on people I know.” Levy then pointed at Qin Chu, “But you encountered three right away, and they were all close relatives.”
Qin Chu frowned in thought. He was also somewhat puzzled, but he had other questions about Levi's guess.
He was about to ask a question when Levy said, "Don't you have any doubts? For example, who leaked your whereabouts?"
"What?" Qin Chu didn't expect them to start identifying the murderer so quickly, and he was still a little taken aback.
Levy sighed, pointed at Qin Chu's head, and said seriously, "Don't you have any doubts about the artificial intelligence in your head?"
Qin Chu: "..."
Qin Chu stared at him.
This is a very serious topic, and Levy spoke in a very formal tone.
However, given his recent behavior towards Noah, this statement now seems very inappropriate.
Hmm, it sounds a lot like settling a personal score.
Noah was furious, jumping up and yelling, "Impossible! Why would you doubt me! I've been so good!"
"Sir, you mustn't believe him! He's trying to sow discord! He's clearly the most suspicious one!"
Qin Chu remained silent for a while. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Levi in front of him and said, "Is it refuting what I said? Is it turning around and accusing me? It must be jumping up and down because I exposed it."
"Just to be safe, you should throw it away," Levy emphasized.
Noah was already so angry that he was running around wildly.
Qin Chu's expression was strange.
He coughed lightly and said to Levy, "Your suspicions are not without basis. But..."
Levy squinted and interrupted him: "You trust it a lot?"
"I don't really trust them either," Qin Chu said.
Noah felt utterly disheartened, wishing he could jump up and accuse Qin Chu of being blinded by lust and forgetting his principles.
Qin Chu continued, "But it really wasn't him."
Levy raised his eyebrows in displeasure, while Noah was so excited that he cried.
But soon Qin Chu said, "Because his IQ might not meet that requirement."
Noah vomited blood instantly.
Levy was still very unhappy, but he managed to steer the conversation back on track.
“Okay, let’s change the subject. Is it possible that the mainframe knew from the beginning that you were going to come in, and that you were its target?”
This guess coincided with Qin Chu's.
He looked up at Levy: "You mean there's a spy in the cabinet, connected to the mastermind?"
Levy shrugged: "You could think I'm thinking this because I have a grudge against the cabinet, but I have to tell you, the mainframe AI is a bit special."
"Hmm? What's so special about it?" Qin Chu asked.
“Based on my experience with it, it’s very intelligent, or rather, very much like a human. I’ve worked with your AI before; it’s already quite intelligent, but it’s not as intelligent as the mainframe,” Levy said.
This barrage of criticism enraged Noah again: "Nonsense! My evolutionary path is different from the Mainframe's; I'm the one who's truly agile. The Mainframe's emotional simulation ability is terrible; it can't compare to mine in that respect!"
Qin Chu was also somewhat puzzled, because in his understanding, what Noah said was correct.
"I've communicated with the main AI a few times, but I haven't sensed any emotional fluctuations from it," Qin Chu said.
“Then I don’t know,” Levy said. “But there’s one more thing that proves me right. Don’t you think each world’s data entity is very real? They don’t have human consciousness, but the emotions they exhibit are very subtle.”
Qin Chu noticed this as soon as he entered the virtual world. For this reason, each small world was very realistic, making it easier for people to become addicted.
If what Levy said is true, then the AI, the main brain, is either deeply hidden or has undergone other changes.
“There’s something else, which I don’t really care about, but you’ll probably care a lot about,” Levy said.
Qin Chu stared at him, waiting for what would happen next, but found that the man had simply stopped.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds, and Qin Chu suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Don't think about it, no..."
Unexpectedly, Levi and he spoke at the same time: "Fine, I won't let you kiss me this time."
Qin Chu really wanted to kick him.
Fortunately, Levy immediately got down to business: "The mainframe imprisoning human consciousness looks like a rebellion by artificial intelligence, but in the process of negotiating with it, I found that it is more like a form of coercion and house arrest, controlling rather than killing all of humanity. I don't know what it is doing, but you can think about it along these lines."
At this point, Levy paused and looked toward the corridor beside him.
Qin Chu also frowned and looked over at the same time.
Regular footsteps approached, drawing ever closer.
Levi and Qin Chu exchanged a glance and concealed their presence.
Then came a soft cough.
“It was the guard who just took over downstairs,” Levy whispered into Qin Chu’s ear. “I remember that voice.”
Guards?
Qin Chu frowned: "No, we have to leave quickly. After the guards patrol, the radiation in the corridor will have no interval."
"The scan isn't over yet, how do we get there?" Levi asked him.
"The ray will automatically shut off before he reaches this section of the corridor. There is a few seconds' gap between the ray shutting off and him entering the corridor."
Qin Chu glanced at the window over there.
"Wow, that's exciting?" Levi laughed.
He glanced at the closed window not far away. "Let's make arrangements. I'll open the window, and you close it. Can you do that?"
Qin Chu raised an eyebrow: "Oh, then hurry up, or I'll have to kick you out if you block the window."
Levi didn't speak, his blue eyes fixed on him, the provocation clear in his eyes.
Just as the guard was about to turn the corner, a beep sounded, and the laser beams in the corridor stopped scanning.
Almost instantly, the two figures darted out from the blind spot at the same time.
It seemed as if a cool breeze was blowing in.
The guard who entered the corridor looked in confusion toward the window at the end of the corridor, but only saw that the window was perfectly closed.
He yawned, glanced at the closed archives door, and turned to go somewhere else.
Outside the window.
Qin Chu, still hanging upside down, said to Levi below, "Get out of my way, you're blocking my way."
"Are you sure it's closed?" Levi asked with a smile, showing no nervousness whatsoever, and even reached out to brush Qin Chu's hair from his forehead.
Qin Chu clicked his tongue impatiently and flipped over to jump down.
At that moment, because of his upside-down position, a small object slipped out of his shirt pocket and fell straight down.
Qin Chu was taken aback and immediately reached out to grab it, but Levi's head blocked his way.
"What is that? Why are you throwing weapons down?" Levi instinctively dodged.
Qin Chu watched helplessly as the small syringe passed over Levi and fell into the drainage system downstairs.
"...It's nothing important." Qin Chu tried to salvage the situation, but Levi had already landed and picked up the item.
"You're not skilled at this, how could you leave any traces?"
Levy jokingly teased Qin Chu, but as soon as he finished speaking, he froze.