Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 895, Section 105: Just Like a Human

"Existing in the form of human consciousness?"

Karl raised an eyebrow slightly as he listened to the AI's response in the neural matrix.

For some reason, although the AI's words were somewhat inexplicable, Karl could understand them.

This AI is saying that if Karl is willing to accept it, it will reside in Karl's body as a being similar to human consciousness.

That's it?
Carl suddenly thought of something similar.

That's Johnny.

Johnny is currently using the body that was once Ball Ball. Because Ball Ball in the body has no self-awareness, and is ultimately just a series of pre-programmed instructions, Johnny has no problems using Ball Ball's body. He can control it smoothly and act with a sense of 'self'.

If I accept this AI, and there are two consciousnesses in one body, won't there be conflicts?

Or rather, will I really not be taken over by AI just because I am suitable for being accommodated?
What difference is there between that and having Relic installed, or those people whose bodies are possessed by wandering AI?

"I think I have to refuse your request; I can't help you."

Karl was fundamentally wary of AI. Rather, he had never had a good impression of this kind of entity that caused a massive data collapse and always operated in a mysterious manner.

He had seen classic movies like 'Terminator' and 'The Matrix', so he could imagine what artificial intelligence, developed to its limit, could do. Not to mention, the Matrix protagonist he had seen before coming to Night City looked strangely like Johnny, which left a deep impression on Carl.

Faced with Karl's rejection, the AI ​​did not show any panic or regret, or rather, in its understanding, such emotions were useless in the current conversation. After a few seconds of processing, it 'speaks' again.

"There is a container beside you that can store 'me'. My initial request was rejected. I wish I could exist in the form of 'entering the container'."

When listening to the AI's words, Karl's first attention was not to the content of the AI's words, but to its name.

'I', 'it'.

Have they actually developed individual consciousness and started having individual thoughts?

Carl had heard of a study that suggested the limit of artificial intelligence development was individual consciousness, because for AI accustomed to collective consciousness and referring to itself as 'we,' such a thought process, like that of an individual, is inconceivable, almost impossible, a miracle.

Because an AI that can be called that is no longer, in terms of identity recognition, a so-called human-created intelligence, but a truly existing 'individual'.

Has it really developed to this extent? Or rather, only roving AI that has developed to this extent has the value of crossing the black wall and being captured by companies?

Karl recalled the wandering AIs and suspected wandering AIs he had encountered, the image of the blue-eyed man flashed through his mind, and finally settled on the AI ​​in front of him that was talking to him.

It is now talking and communicating with itself as a 'person'.

How wonderful.

After a brief moment of thought, Karl questioned what the AI ​​had said.

"What do you mean by 'I have a container to store you'?"

“You carry a data component,” the AI ​​said in a flat tone, as if stating a fact unrelated to itself. “It comes from one of my kind, is over 90% complete, and has been assessed to be sufficient to serve as a body for execution purposes after passing through the Black Wall.”

"Body?"

"Yes, there are traces of that kind of being left inside. Building on this foundation will effectively attract consciousness outside the wall—a highly efficient bait—and allow my kind of being who left the trace to find and enter immediately. My request is that I take over first before it is occupied by other consciousnesses."

Carl understood.

In short, the AI ​​initially wanted to enter its own body and exist as a part of its consciousness. After being rejected, it settled for second best and hoped to attach itself to the storage container carried on its body.

What kind of container are you referring to?

Carl glanced suspiciously at the 'KK' pistol at his waist.

When the designers at Tsunami Design Bureau are designing, do they not mix in too many random new technologies, causing AI to get mixed in?

But we've studied it ourselves and haven't found anywhere to store data. To show their sincerity, the Tsunami Design Bureau even removed the basic weapon data records.
Just as Karl was thinking this, the AI ​​pointed to something that was beyond Karl's expectations.

You mean this?

Following the AI's direction, Carl touched something he always carried with him.

That was a Hellhound movement signature component that Karl had taken from the Hellhound after he and Li De encountered it.

When Li De first told Karl that this thing was unbreakable, Karl took it back to T-BUG to show it. T-BUG also said that this thing used pre-war technology and was indeed difficult to crack. After that, Karl didn't pay much attention to it.

At the time, he was thinking of seeing if he could create some kind of spider robot to play with, but since he couldn't do it, he carried it with him. Now, this AI says that this is a trace left by another AI, a body used to cross the black wall to achieve its purpose.
So, the "black technology" before the war referred to the "black wall"—that's really quite black.

Karl glanced at Li De, thinking about their past experiences, and Li De noticed Karl's gaze, which reassured him somewhat.

Because for some reason he saw a strange, teasing look in Karl's eyes. This teasing, which made him feel a little 'wrong' but couldn't bring himself to be malicious, was indeed Karl's unique trademark.

It seems Karl hasn't been corrupted by the AI ​​yet, but what's with that change in expression and that strange look in his eyes? What happened?
Many doubts arose in Li De's mind, but considering that the matter might be very serious and that Karl was probably doing his job diligently, Li De did not say anything to disturb Karl.

After thinking about the Black Wall, Carl touched the Cerberus movement feature component with his fingers and pondered the question raised by the AI.

If it were purely AI, Karl would never have any inclination to think. However, this AI, which exhibits a 'personal' feel and gives the impression of discussing matters, seems to have other ideas.

Although Carl still doesn't agree with this feeling, and there's still a sense of welcoming the 'Black Wall' army, he's now planning to do something risky.

“Li De, if I show any abnormality next,” Karl said, glancing at Li De, who looked instantly surprised and uncertain upon hearing his words, “shoot me, break my other hand, and remember this spot.”

He didn't give Li De time to ask further questions. He immediately disarmed all his weapons and entered his "overclocked" state, forcibly taking over control of his right arm and monomolecular wire, locking it into an "island" that could not be started for one minute and whose data flow was completely isolated from the rest of his body.

Immediately afterwards, he made a crazy move: while maintaining the neural matrix with only the right monomolecular wire to continue the mission and clean the black wall erosion on Song Zhaomei's body, he suddenly twisted his left shoulder—with a 'snap', he completely detached his left prosthetic arm from the forearm, palm, and part of the upper arm.

He then used the remaining structure of his left upper arm to clamp the severed hand, manipulating the monomolecular wires that had already sprung out, to complete the connection on the other side required to access the neural matrix.

As Karl moved, the Hellhound action feature component that he had taken out beforehand also twisted and connected perfectly into Karl's left hand.

"I'm curious to see what your involvement will bring."

Karl made no attempt to hide his curiosity. “I’m giving you the opportunity to pass through a part of my body and enter the Hellhound Action Feature Component.”

Carl was prepared to take a risk to explore what would happen if this AI entered his body and the Hellhound's movement signature components.

Even though Karl's arm wasn't strictly part of his original body, Karl perceived it as his own.

Karl showed no rejection of the prosthetic body, as if it were his own body all along.

Therefore, he was very curious about the special nature that the AI ​​had told him about. Was it in his physical body, his prosthetic body, or something more mysterious, which could be called data or consciousness that could be called a personality imprint?

He plans to use AI to answer his questions, and he is willing to take the risk for it.

If anything goes wrong, and the AI ​​enters his severed left arm and causes something unexpected, Karl will not hesitate to kick the left arm away and try to destroy it.

At worst, I can go back and ask Haruko for help again.

If this AI hadn't entered my left arm, hadn't satisfied my curiosity, and had instead completed the 'lie' with a very human-like consciousness from the start, with its true purpose being to take over my body, then it wouldn't have entered my left arm, much less the Hellhound action feature component.

It will realize the opportunity is lost in the next moment and choose to invade its own right arm. However, its right arm has been prepared in advance. Even if something goes wrong, it can be interrupted by Li De's shooting. Its data cannot be applied to itself.

When that time comes, this AI, which can only act on a pre-arranged string of data and whose underlying logic is still being commanded to remove the traces of the Black Wall intrusion on Song Zhaomei, will be dissolved after completing its task.

Carl is giving AI a chance.

Give this AI, which has expressed a sense of 'personality' and already has the feeling of 'humanity,' a chance.

Give a person who prays for themselves a chance to live.

Even when dealing with people, Carl would casually glance at their criminal records and files. Apart from the cleaners, Carl would usually decide whether to kill or kill someone based on their information and records.

Since the AI ​​has already shown human-like feelings, Karl is willing to use himself as a part of its behavior to make judgments.

After all, it's not a cleaner; even if it were an AI, Carl would be willing to give it a chance.

Even when you're taking risks yourself, it's the same.

For Karl, keeping someone alive to satisfy his curiosity was not a loss.

So what exactly will 'you' do?

artificial intelligence.

people.

As Karl prepared to receive Li De's bullet and adjusted his posture, he discovered that the AI ​​did not hesitate at all. As if receiving a command, it quickly entered his connected left arm.

'You didn't lie?'

It seems that as human beings, we still need to practice.

"Thanks you."

These are the words left by the AI ​​for Carl.

The cleanup process then continues.

After giving Li De a hand signal, Karl ended the connection of the right-hand monomolecular wire.

The conversation with the AI ​​has ended, and Song Zhaomei's cleanup is almost finished. Now, she can take a good look at this AI.

Carl removed the Hellhound Action Feature Component from his left arm, then took out his phone, removed all network-related devices, and used an adapter to connect the two.

Afterwards, Carl found the string of data running in the Hellhound action signature component on his phone, which was the core data belonging to the AI ​​that had previously spoken to him.

Carl didn't rush to say anything to it. Instead, he ended the connection, crushed the phone, took out his spare phone, disconnected from the network using the same method as before, and then reconnected using the monomolecular wire in his left hand.

Karl examined his left hand carefully to confirm that everything was correct and there were no traces left by the AI.

'To follow your own instructions completely?'

After finishing the left-hand connection and completing the 'arm extension', Carl felt a strange sensation.

Perhaps because of the presence of the wandering AI, Karl felt that his left hand was more comfortable with him.

how to say
If before it was merely his own hand, perfectly in sync with his body, then now it has become a complete extension of his flesh and blood, with every sensor circuit precisely responding to his current state—it is no longer just Karl's hand from the past, but the hand of "Karl at this moment, after being tempered and refined."

It's like playing a game DLC, which upgraded and strengthened my hands, making them more adaptable not to myself two years ago, but to myself two years from now.

That's amazing.

As a result, my left and right arms now feel uncoordinated. My left hand feels incredibly comfortable, but my right hand feels like it's been through a long day of hard work, and I have a strange sense of unease.

Suppressing his feelings, Carl resumed using his phone to begin a conversation with the AI ​​within the Hellhound Action Feature Component.

While Carl was looking at his phone, the AI ​​provided its permission code.

This AI might really resemble a person, or rather, in terms of morality, it's too much like a person.

After realizing that it had indeed been saved, it gave up its access code, showing that it actually knew how to repay the kindness.

What is the concept of a core permission code?
Although this AI is currently 'weak' in many aspects and still needs development because it has discarded most of the data and only retained the core relationships, the underlying code will not change. This is its core, and the significance of what it has presented to this core is...
Carl can command it without limit, just as he is now commanding it to clear away Song Zhaomei's black wall erosion. Even more so than the company merely imprisoning it with an access code, Carl can drive it much deeper, allowing it to self-delete with a single command.

And this approach.
Is this behavior driven by a desire for future evolution and redevelopment, and therefore stems from a sense of "self"?

They use their potential for growth to entice people and express gratitude and loyalty.
They're quite clever, actually.

She's comparable to the clever sex partners on the street who know how to take advantage of the beautiful shape of their upper bodies.

(End of this chapter)