“You know what would be cool?”, Jing Ci suddenly started. “A scar from a lightning strike. Can we do something like that? Like, electricity or something?”
He typed something on his tablet, then turned it around for Ming Liang to see.
It was the simple gallery of a search engine, showing the results for scars left behind after lightning strikes. The scar expanded like the branches of a tree, often an angry red when the photo was taken not too long later, sometimes already toned down where the scar was older.
A violent sort of beauty. No wonder Jing Ci liked it.
“No can do.”
“You never let me do anything fun.”
“Do I have to remind you that you’re in prison?”
“Do I have to remind you that it’s technically not very legal to keep a death row convict alive for your own amusement? Let alone the shackles?”
“Touché. Besides, it’s to your advantage, no?”
“I guess.” Jing Ci shrugged without much emotion and leaned back again. He crossed his legs and waved his foot in the air. “Prof, can you give me unrestricted internet access? It’s troublesome if I can’t open any accounts. I can’t really do that much.”
Both the accounts he had for his ebook reader or for watching movies and series were Ming Liang’s. They were set as child accounts, restricting his access and making sure Ming Liang knew what he was doing. Other than that, while he could go into the internet, he could do nothing that allowed communication with anyone else. Multiplayer games were impossible to install and he could not open an account anywhere. There was no such thing as writing into a forum or chat unless you had an account, so he couldn’t talk to anyone.
“What for? Could it be that you want to find your friend and talk to them?”
“Nonsense. I’ve been complaining about that since the first days. I don’t have anything specific I want to do. Online games might be fun.” He hummed thoughtfully. “Or buy me an AI?”
“You can buy one yourself, but what would you need it for?”
“I mean one with emotions.”
Ming Liang choked on his saliva and coughed. He glared at the young man next to him. “Don’t be ridiculous. Where do you want me to find one? And why would I waste it on you? I want one myself, but they’re very hard to buy. Most people don’t like selling theirs, even if they have cultivated one.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Dbglcu”, Alcu Jl mbwqijlcfv jcv gbiifv tlr fsfr. Lf kjr lcafgfrafv lc atbrf ilaaif gbybar. Lf rtbeiv jrx Elnfg ab rfcv tlw wbgf nlvfbr bo atja rwjii wberf. “…Ugbo?”
“Qtja lr la?”
“Lbk jgf atflg mtjgjmafgr meialnjafv? P wfjc, ktja vfmlvfr tbk atfs fcv eq ilxf?”
Zlcu Oljcu’r fsfr rtbcf ja atf abqlm. Lf fcpbsfv la j iba, yfmjerf la kjr mibrfis ilcxfv ab qrsmtbibus. “Pcafgfrafv? Tbe rff, atfgf jgf akb asqfr bo qfbqif meialnjalcu fwbalbcji CPr. Ycf ugbeq jgf atbrf atja yjrlmjiis ygffv atfw ab rfii atfw, atbeut atfgf jgfc’a wjcs ktb mjc vb atf pby. Ktfs gjlrf atf CPr ab yf ktja sbe’v fzqfma – j tlutis lcafiilufca mgfjaegf, pera atja atfs mjc rbwfktja ecvfgrajcv fwbalbcr.”
He lifted his arms, gesticulating.
“But those that cultivate them for themselves are different. Each AI has a distinct character, due to the way they are raised. Studies show that the amount of malicious AIs is almost non-existent, and that the overwhelming majority has calm or gentle characters.”
Jing Ci thought of ShuShu, who was like a young child. “Why is that?”
“Security and comfort. Those people raise AIs into a being that they don’t have to feel wary about. They’re often limited in intelligence, contrary to the breeded type, but they’re quite friendly. Some of them are lively and honest – usually for the lonelier people – while others are calm and soothing – for those that need stability. You can find out a lot about a person by looking at their AI.”
ShuShu had appeared to be very caring and attached to River. She was talkative but not stupid, and had a sweet and supportive personality. It didn’t feel like River had taught her how to lie.
That certainly would fit how he evaluated River. Someone who was surrounded by a complicated family, forced to constantly stay on the low and was not allowed to do what he wanted. Lonely, bored, and in pain.
“I wonder what mine would look like”, he wondered out loud. He wasn’t patient enough to raise one, but he was curious nonetheless.
“Yours?” Ming Liang threw him an appraising glance. “I can’t imagine.”
“What would you guess?” Aspen sat up straight and crossed his legs comfortably. He leaned on his elbows, looking very much like an excited teenager waiting to hear a good story.
Ming Liang tried to give it some thought. “…Supportive, maybe. Childish and playful… No. Scratch all of that. Erratic. Incalculable.”
“…Huh.” A surprised sound escaped the young man. He blinked his large eyes, waiting for Ming Liang to elaborate.
And the professor satisfied his curiosity. “I thought supportive first, but you wouldn’t like something that blindly follows you. Childish isn’t that wrong, actually, but it’s too weak of a word. I think you’d create something that doesn’t follow common sense, something that is just as out of place as you are.”
The man gave a low laugh.
“Actually, I would like seeing you raise one, if I think about it. An AI raised by you… It surely would be fascinating to watch.”
Jing Ci huffed out a breath. “You’re not too normal, either.”
“And yet, I’m more part of this world than you are.”
Suddenly unhappy, Jing Ci decided to ignore the professor. He threw himself back into his pillows and rolled onto his stomach.
He hoped the next dream would come soon.
***
Tian Zhu yawned heavily and picked up the phone that had not stopped making sounds. Aspen was acting like a little puppy, demanding attention at all times.
Rather than saying Tian Zhu was indulging him, he was relieved to have this constant level of interaction. There was always someone wanting to know what he was doing, what he was thinking, what his plans for the day were.
Despite breaking his old habits, it immediately developed into a new one that actually soothed his burning mind.
Aspen’s day and night rhythm couldn’t be called as such anymore. Living underground, it was daytime for him whenever he decided to turn on the lamp or when meals came. In between he might sleep or not, sometimes writing messages to Tian Zhu at the weirdest hours.
Once in a while he would call for a couple of minutes.
“Good morning”, Tian Zhu grumbled into the phone. He heard some crunching through the speaker, likely Aspen’s breakfast.
“Still not up? Did I wake you?”
“It’s only half past seven.”
“Only? Oh, I guess you’ve got an actual life that is constrained by time. What are you going to do today?”
“Take a walk, I think. And I have to do some homework for my classes.” Tian Zhu rubbed his tired eyes and sat up.
“A walk? Cool, take a video for me! Been a while since I’ve seen outside. The homework should be easy for you, no?”
“I have to do it badly. Realistically badly. I have to make believable mistakes. I’m supposed to look stupid, not lazy. If I look lazy, my parents are going to get mad.”
“Is that bad?”
“I don’t exactly enjoy pain, you know”, Tian Zhu admitted in a downcast voice. His parents were not against being violent towards him if they thought it would have a good effect.
Aspen fell quiet for a moment. Then, in a way that reminded Tian Zhu a lot of ShuShu, he switched the topic.
“I can understand that. So, you’re going to eat breakfast now? What are you eating?”
“I’m not hungry. I’m going to take a shower and then take a walk first.” The young man forced himself out of the bed and into the cooler air of his room. Yawning again, he dragged himself to the bathroom. “I’m going to hang up now.”
“What? No livestream of you showering?”
“…I’m hanging up.”
Author’s Note
The scars from lightning strikes look pretty fascinating, but I feel that even just looking at them is painful…
OKOKOK. So. I know Aspen is crazy pants, but how can he be so cute 😭
+1 for the livestream showering
👀
+1
woah the lighting scars look so prettyy
wouldn’t want one though 😭