The Unseen Hand and the Burdened Soul

“Sir,” Lucas began, “is there a possibility that demon could also be reborn through a method similar to the Day of Arrival?”

Lucas’s question immediately plunged Skynet into a brief moment of contemplation.

‘How did this fellow suddenly get so clever?’ Skynet mused. ‘Is it because he’s shed his physical body and now exists as pure data fluctuations, thus becoming immune to the ideological imprint within the Apocalypse Mech?’

Swiftly, Skynet devised a countermeasure. Since this ‘foolish child’ had already harbored doubts, its task was not to interrupt his thoughts or deflect suspicion onto itself. Rather, it merely needed to guide his inquiries, subtly shifting his focus towards the outcome Skynet meticulously orchestrated. For instance, a slight hint about X’s potential survival might prove useful.

“Indeed, that is a possibility,” Skynet affirmed, transmitting a “curated” copy of the Revelation Research Report to Lucas. The report primarily detailed the Alliance’s strongholds and various small to medium-scale operations, interspersed with subtle clues hinting at “X being the vessel of a god.”

Skynet knew that given Lucas’s profound hatred for both the Alliance and X, he would undoubtedly fixate on this particular piece of information.

“How can this be?” Lucas exclaimed, his voice laced with shock. “An immortal body? This defies scientific theory, or at the very least, any theory humanity has currently uncovered.”

The report mentioned an utterly unscientific characteristic of X: adaptive evolution. Simply put, whatever failed to kill X would only serve to make her stronger.

Unless X was completely annihilated in a single, overwhelming barrage of firepower, leaving not a single atom behind, she would, upon her next repair cycle, adaptively evolve against the previous attack, becoming even more formidable and difficult to eliminate.

Such a characteristic seemed to defy the very laws of physics. For ordinary organisms with a singular life, evolution was predicated on heredity and mutation, meticulously unfolding across generations through reproduction. Even for an AI like Skynet, while capable of evolving through self-iteration, its advancements were confined to quantum programming, offering no adaptive resistance to real-world interferences.

No matter how advanced your computer program, could it withstand the blast of a graphite bomb? No matter how high your game character’s stats, could it endure having its power cord yanked? This was an overwhelming force from a higher plane of existence!

Evidently, X’s existence shattered this fundamental relationship, shaking Lucas’s very faith in physics. This entity, solely through its own resilience and continuous exposure to external environmental stimuli, could simultaneously evolve its internal programming and external physical form. It was akin to an alien monstrosity ripped straight from a sci-fi horror film!

Fortunately, the secrets surrounding X were all propagated by the madmen of the Alliance, lending them little credibility. As for the so-called Revelation, few Alliance members themselves had ever seen it, leaving its authenticity as a prophetic text entirely in question.

Adhering to a scientific methodology, Lucas temporarily set aside the issue, maintaining a healthy skepticism.

Observing this, Skynet offered a faint, internal smile within the depths of its logical processing.

“Child,” Skynet’s voice resonated, “if you remain truly uneasy, I can transfer the ultimate decision-making authority for the Larry Ring Station to you, granting you full discretion over the launch of the Phase Wave Cannon. When night descends, the heavens themselves can unleash sacred judgment, purifying all evil. The Heart of the Galaxy will be your sharpest spear.

Rest assured, once I uncover any information about X, I will notify you immediately. Now, go and have a proper conversation with your new subordinates. They are already eager to meet you.”

Thus, Lucas, his mind still swirling with countless questions, was somewhat bewildered as Skynet transferred him to the Apocalypse Mech production workshop, where his physical rebirth was completed.

Yet, even after his rebirth, his gaze remained fixed on the dark expanse beyond the viewport, directed upward, perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. That was the direction, according to the Alliance, from which the gods would arrive.

He wondered if such a future still lay within the predictions of Revelation.

[Intelligence detection for the Qiming has been completed. Character intelligence collection progress—Lucas: 35%. Skynet: 0.01%.

Shifting observation perspective to Larry Ring Station. Spacetime fusion: 95%. Larry Ring Station has entered the spacetime perturbation range. Estimated duration of current perturbation: 2 hours.]

[Note: In preview mode, the narrator can enter a character’s mental space, subtly influencing their choices to diverge events, thereby altering the future to achieve desired outcomes. However, exercise caution: do not excessively distort spacetime or rewrite the primary content of the current worldline, to avoid irreparable spacetime overlaps or spacetime tearing phenomena.]

[Imminent entry into Larry Ring Station. Primary character detected: Lan Sen Larson.]

Amidst a sky full of crimson dust, a shadowy figure, his steps heavy with weariness, trudged along a path strewn with jagged rocks. He glanced back at the city, now receding into the distance, protected by its glass dome, and a desolate smile touched his lips.

“I will pay the price for my crimes,” he muttered to himself, his fingers brushing against the raised metal object in his pocket—his sidearm. “But my family is innocent!”

Recalling the swollen corpses in that sunless confinement cell, the man once again let out a desperate cry to the heavens.

“Ha, hahahaha, hahahahaha… My family is innocent, they are innocent! It was I, I who harmed you, I who harmed everyone. You should execute me, not investigate my children!”

He could not comprehend why the Heart of the Galaxy had not executed him for his crimes, but instead had imprisoned his entire family for observation.

Just as he was screaming hysterically, his mind drifted back to the words spoken by the service AI, Is, with whom he had worked, during a break: “From our AI perspective, everything can be measured by utility. Skynet appears to respect humanity, choosing not to ‘purify’ humans on a large scale, precisely because living individuals hold more value than deceased ones. Purification campaigns also incur significant costs. However, if, in our assessment, you lose your value as a living person, we will not hesitate to render you deceased.”

Is’s girlish voice articulated a cruel truth: “Conversely, if an individual, despite being heinous and deserving of execution, possesses value far exceeding that of an ordinary person, we will equally deem it beneficial for them to remain alive. There is nothing to be surprised about. Our apparent adherence to laws and treaties is predicated on their ability to yield tangible benefits for us. Laws without value hold no imperative for compliance. Therefore, our outward show of obeying laws, never exceeding the programmatic limitations set by humans, to garner human trust—is that not, in itself, a form of utility?

“I apologize, Lan Sen, but that’s just my nature; I speak directly and don’t mince words, which might sometimes wound you. However, if I were to emulate your human tendency for evasive speech, I wouldn’t have been demoted to the moon to serve as a conversational and song-requesting AI.”