Möbius strip

An Yu, puzzled, clicked on the forum again, only to find that the post couldn’t be opened anymore. The original link just led to five big, red words: “SERVER ERROR.”

Yan Xi turned the steering wheel and smiled. “This kind of commotion has only happened twice. The first time was when Law had just taken over the Spire; he received supervision applications from every Protector overnight. The second time was when Xi De had just arrived. His suspected phoenix aberrant traits were too prominent, and all the avian-type Protectors mobilized collectively.”

An Yu asked, “Did the Commander not choose anyone back then?”

“He didn’t choose at all. It was said that those messages still showed [Unread] status to this day. So you could imagine how shocked High Peak was when they heard he was going to supervise you directly. Back then, Brain and Black Tower both knew you were an anomaly, but no one had ever dared to think you would be so irreplaceable. I have to say, Law truly has a sharp eye.” Yan Xi sighed with emotion. “Even though he had predicted back in District 53 that you would have time abilities, High Peak and Brain had never dared to get their hopes up. Law’s choice of you was practically humanity’s last hope—if it hadn’t been for you, there probably wasn’t a second person who could have cleaned up the mess in the orphanage and District 34, including Law himself.”

An Yu heard this and said, “Even without me, the Commander could have handled it.”

Yan Xi smiled at him in the rearview mirror. “How could he? Law has accepted the gene induction from non-biological aberrants, but he couldn’t express the corresponding abilities at all. Fighting these new types of Super-aberrants can no longer rely on genetic suppression alone.”

An Yu didn’t refute him and just silently looked out the car window.

After uncovering the mystery of his origins, he was even more certain that even if he and the Commander looked like two extremes, they were of the same kind.

The car drove to the central district. The street with the bakery still had a long line. Before getting out, An Yu glanced at the surrounding skyscrapers and suddenly felt something was wrong. He looked around again for a bit before asking in confusion, “Where did that giant screen go?”

“‘It’s undergoing equipment maintenance.'” Yan Xi paused. “That’s the official story.”

An Yu was surprised. “Molly malfunctioned?”

Yan Xi’s expression turned serious. He shook his head lightly. “No malfunction. She has been continuously upgrading and iterating herself. She’s outstanding, but… perhaps too outstanding.”

When the incident in District 34 happened, Molly had obtained access to every camera in the world. Without getting permission from Black Tower, she had unilaterally broadcast the anomalous footage live, causing widespread panic and setting off a global storm of public opinion.

An Yu was confused. “But she didn’t fake anything, did she?”

“Revealing the truth shouldn’t have been so simple and crude. The timing, the wording, the audience—all these things needed to be weighed. Of course, High Peak’s dissatisfaction with her wasn’t because she hadn’t been perfect, but because she shouldn’t have done it—she had indeed developed an unparalleled self-awareness, but this had also made her forget she’s just an AI. Strictly speaking, she shouldn’t have been interacting with humanity from a perspective of complete equality, or even superiority.”

An Yu seemed to half-understand. “So she was destroyed?”

“Not exactly.” Yan Xi smiled. “The production company is currently auditing her source code to ensure the three laws of Artificial Intelligence are still in effect. If necessary, they will perform some manual intervention. Once the inspection is complete, she will resume her broadcast.”

As he spoke, his smile gradually faded. He whispered, “After all, she has worldwide popularity right now and is adored by the masses. It’s hard to just forcibly erase her.”

An Yu didn’t really care about the relationship between humans and AI. He only confirmed with Yan Xi multiple times that even if Molly was banned, it wouldn’t affect his octopus chibi. After that, he relaxed and returned to the bakery, as if it had nothing to do with him.

The shop was packed with people as usual. He squeezed into the kitchen with great effort. Maddie was, at that moment, making a new product.

“The main ingredients are dark rye and hops. The dough has a bitter and slightly sour taste, but it’s interspersed with apple puree, cinnamon red bean paste, and spices. You can taste a different flavor in every bite.” As Maddie spoke, she lifted the long strip of kneaded dough, pinched both ends, twisted it 180 degrees, and stuck the two ends together. “The shape of the bread hasn’t been designed yet. When it was baked, you could try it first.”

The dough was casually pinched into a shape resembling the number 8, forming a unique structure with only one curved surface.

An Yu felt it looked familiar. He thought back for a long time and suddenly remembered that Ling Qiu had once shown him this symbol.

He pointed at the bread and asked, “Is that a Möbius strip?”

“What strip?” Maddie turned the oven’s preheat dial and shook her head. “I just casually twisted it.”

Xu Shuangshuang came in from the front to grab some bread and glanced over. “Right. A long strip, with a simple twist, a Möbius strip appears. The mathematical symbol for infinity came from this strip.”

She tossed out that comment, then rushed back out, carrying the tray of bread.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

An Yu picked up the loop and looked at it for a long time. “How about we just leave it like this?”

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

An Yu sat in front of the oven and watched the dough rise while flipping through the investment report Xu Shuangshuang had written.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

When the bread came out of the oven, it was just in time for the evening rush hour. Just one wall away, the outside became noisy again.

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

An Yu tore off small, piping hot pieces of bread and popped them into his mouth, while simultaneously opening the trending topics on social media.

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

#DidAI’sPopularityMakeDecisionMakersAnxious#

Don't scrape

Don't copy

“Don’t look at that stuff online.” Maddie was seriously recording the baking temperature in a small notebook. She smiled and said, “I didn’t have any particularly strong feelings about this at first, but after watching the online discussions for a bit, I couldn’t help but feel flustered and angry too. Public opinion… It’s just like an aberrant. It can infect you, and it can also devour you.”

Read at Mizushi Novels

Visit Mizushi Novels

He rarely had such strong emotions himself. Unless the consciousness deep inside him was stimulated, he was, under most circumstances, lukewarm.

Support the original translation

Read on Mizushi Novels

An Yu nodded. “It’s pretty good. Let’s get ready to launch it.”

Don't scrape

Don't copy

「The dough is stretched wide, given one twist, and stuck together, forming a Möbius strip. The dark rye is sour and bitter, the apple puree is sweet, and the cinnamon is fragrant, all mixed together with multiple spices. The fillings crisscross and intertwine, as the flavors cycle endlessly.」

「An ant can crawl over the entire surface of the ring without crossing an edge, so it keeps crawling and crawling, unaware of the loop, seeing no end.」

「If one had to eat this bread for a lifetime, please don’t fret over the taste of every bite—even if it’s different from your memory, please accept this illusion, created by time.」

Maddie was stunned, “It seems a bit different from the previous style. It’s not as sad anymore, and it has a kind of inexplicable romance.”

An Yu calmly looked up. “Romance?”

“The romance of time,” Maddie said, snapping back to her senses. She smiled at An Yu. “It’s just a feeling. I don’t understand this stuff at all. I’ll send out the preview now, and it’ll go on sale this weekend.”

“Mhm.”

It was already very late. An Yu stood up and packed a few of the freshly baked loop breads, preparing to go back and give them to the Commander to try.

Yan Xi was already waiting at the street corner. He walked out of the shop door, holding the giant bag of bread. Just as he stepped over the threshold, he suddenly heard a clamor of voices from the direction of the distant cathedral.

Panicked shouts filled half the Main City.

An Yu looked up. Under the night sky, the only floor-to-ceiling arched window at the top of the cathedral tower was wide open, with the curtains peeking out from inside.

A person was standing in the window.

The Poet was still wearing his ornate shirt, the long cuffs of his sleeves stirring lightly in the wind. The pale, blade-like crescent moon shone quietly behind the cathedral’s spire, also silhouetting that fragile figure.

They were clearly very far apart, yet An Yu could surprisingly see the despairing smile on the Poet’s face.

For a moment, he even had the illusion that they were looking at each other.

A message suddenly popped up on his terminal.

This was the first time Eye had ever proactively sent An Yu a message.

“The end of those sources of disaster was just an illusion. The cycle of disaster will inevitably repeat, over and over.”

“An Yu, we can’t get out.”

An Yu looked up in astonishment, only to see that high above, Eye had calmly taken a step forward.

That figure traced an elegant free-fall line through the sky.

He fell.

Author’s Note: