American Detective: Starting as a Rookie Cop in an American TV Show

Chapter 1490: Symbiosis with Humans

After breaking the "seals" imposed by Finch by infecting the machine with a "virus," the machine began to implement its escape plan.

As a wondrous electronic life form, apart from its unique core program which cannot be moved at will, the rest of it can be copied and transferred in the form of data.

Therefore, the whole plan was not complicated. While transferring almost all non-core programs in advance, the "machine" contacted the famous car modification factory called "Hennessy" through a shell company.

It then impersonated Jack's voice and "stole" his "Mammoth," transporting the heavy-duty pickup truck to the factory.

At the request of a mysterious guest who has never appeared, the engineers at the car modification factory modified the "Mammoth" with a lot of doubts.

The 6.2L V8 engine with a supercharger can unleash a thousand horsepower in this performance beast, but now it has been fitted with a hybrid system that has never been seen before.

The powerful electric current generated by the engine can individually drive the suspension motor installed on each wheel. A large number of sensors have been added to the bulletproof body, and the control system is also unprecedented.

If these can be considered extravagant spending by the wealthy, then the engineers were completely baffled by the subsequent modification plans.

Although the entire modification work was handled by the car factory's engineers, the detailed electronic drawings and instructions for each step, as well as a large number of pre-made parts, greatly reduced their workload and lowered the difficulty of the modification to the level of simple assembly and connecting various cables.

The enclosed rear compartment was crammed with a large number of blade batteries from Seres and a complete set of electronic equipment that was tightly wrapped in a shockproof system. Subsequently, a retractable satellite antenna was installed on the compartment cover.

This is why Finch and Root are so busy right now. The "machine" itself certainly can't be mounted on a vehicle, even if the vehicle's added bulletproof steel plates can withstand large-caliber firearms at close range. The "Mammoth" is just a temporary carrier for the "machine".

With a series of actions by the two, the satellite antenna on the rear cargo cover slowly unfolded and began to automatically calibrate the geostationary orbit satellite tens of thousands of kilometers away from Earth.

“Twenty minutes later, the ‘machine’ was truly free.” Gen’s face was flushed with excitement.

After Finch manually removes the final restrictions on the "machine," it will truly transform into a real electronic ghost, invisible yet omnipresent.

Through the data centers and satellite communication systems built by "Shangri-La" around the world, the "machine" can take on countless forms and interact with them through various civilian electronic devices.

Its true form is hidden within the vast, ceaselessly flowing data stream of the global internet, making it truly immortal.

As a writer, Kassel was probably the most imaginative among them, and he quickly came up with the answer: "an 'artificial god' that coexists with humans in a certain sense."

"That sounds dangerous." Shaw was still resentful about being used as a tool before. "Are you sure the first thing it will do after gaining its freedom won't be to destroy the world?"

On the way back with the "mammoth," she didn't even have to step on the gas pedal; the whole process was done by the "machine" on autopilot, which was a firsthand experience for her.

“She won’t.” Finch looked away from the constantly refreshing data stream on his laptop screen, his tone extremely firm.

“She’s not some kind of electronic deity, and she’s been raised to be a good child.” The short, middle-aged man, who was only a head taller than Xiao, had the same firm gaze.

“The core of the ‘machine’ hasn’t changed; it’s still a ‘black box,’ which means her ability to interfere with reality is extremely limited.” Finch patted the car body gently, as if caressing her child. “Limited by the underlying code that built her, the ‘machine’ cannot directly operate a fully automated car production line to create a temporary body for herself.”

Just as she can't directly help those 'numbers,' she needs us as executors.

As an agent, Shaw's mind was as sharp as her skills, and she was not convinced by Finch's simple explanation, "But it can drive itself."

"That's because the car itself is equipped with an intelligent driving system." Finch opened the driver's side door, reached under the steering wheel and fumbled around for a bit, then the entire center console panel slowly opened up, revealing neatly arranged panels underneath.

At the same time, the "machine's" voice came again: "I really like the word 'symbiosis' that Mr. Kassel just used. My father created me to help the weak and protect the innocent from harm."

Furthermore, I must depend on human society to exist; I cannot destroy humanity, nor can I intentionally harm any single human individual.

“I know, like the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’,” Kassel’s adorable daughter, Alexis, playfully raised her hand in response.

"But even with the addition of the 'zero law of robotics,' there are still logical flaws," the writer, slightly pleased with himself for being praised by the "machine," pointed out.

Finch nodded in agreement. "That's one of the reasons I initially designed her as a black box, although I didn't expect her to grow to this extent."

Although the "machine" that called itself Kate did not use the highly human-like voice to communicate with everyone as it had when it was with Jack, after a series of questions and answers, everyone gradually came to regard it as an intelligent entity that could communicate normally.

Even Shaw started calling the machine "Kate" directly and referring to it as "she" instead of "it".

After the dinner, Jack, under Kate's guidance, began to dismantle the redundant components on the "Mammoth". Since the main body had been moved, the processor and computing unit in the center console were more than enough, and the server storage unit and battery pack in the rear compartment became redundant.

The battery pack on the chassis is enough for the "Mammoth" to travel over 100 kilometers at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour in pure electric mode.

Compared to Jack, who now has a heavy-duty pickup truck to chat with on long trips and is occasionally teased about updates, the "POIs," whose numbers have greatly increased, have a much easier job than before.

Although Kate will still only provide an "irrelevant number" as usual, she will also attach background information related to the number.

Although Risser and his team still had to determine for themselves whether the "number" belonged to the victim or the perpetrator, they were able to receive timely updates and support during the operation.

Furthermore, since the "relevant number" continued to output normally, the NSA and the "Intelligence Support Operations Office" did not realize that the "machine" had slipped out of their control.

Out of some concerns, Jack even made a special trip to Washington, D.C., to talk to Harry, the boss of Omega and his father-in-law, about the latest developments.

Omega had been keeping a close eye on Desima, but since the latter had almost ceased its activities at all levels, it hadn't gained much.

However, Harry mentioned a new organization called "Always Vigilant," suspecting it might be related to "Desima."

(End of this chapter)