There is no shortage of bread here

At the‌​‍⁠​‍⁠‌⁠‍​‍‍​‌‍​‌‍⁠​⁠​​ same time.

An Yu’s eyes widened as he looked at Qin Zhilu. “I know how to act coy?”

Qin Zhilu closed the window monitoring the real world and continued walking forward, not answering.

An Yu hopped after him. “I know how to act coy?”

“What else could it be?” Qin Zhilu’s tone was faint. He glanced at him. “That conversation just now, if it wasn’t acting coy with your Commander, what else could it be?”

An Yu was baffled. “But those two sentences were fabricated by you—”

“Then what if it had really been you sitting in the shop?” Qin Zhilu’s expression was calm. He even raised an eyebrow at him. “What would you have said?”

“I would have…” An Yu got stuck.

He had to admit, Qin Zhilu had precisely grasped his behavioral patterns. If it had been him, it was indeed highly likely he would have reacted in exactly the same way. But… An Yu lowered his head and rubbed his furry face hard. “Is that acting coy?”

“Yes, that is acting coy.” Qin Zhilu paused, then added, “Don’t be anxious. You had plenty of records of acting coy back in District 53. Although I still found it difficult to distinguish whether those had been natural reactions or deliberate performances.”

An Yu: “…I’m very sorry. I can’t remember.”

Qin Zhilu didn’t say anything, just grabbed his paw again, the corners of his lips curling slightly.

Commander can always suddenly sprout many, many bad intentions, An Yu thought.

He was pulled forward a few steps by his paw, then asked again, “So 21 didn’t learn how to act co… this communication style?”

“Of course not. I didn’t feed it your coy data.” Qin Zhilu replied matter-of-factly. “It’s truly a blank slate, with no hidden arrogance, cunning, or self-righteous little tricks.”

An Yu: “…I’m using its blank-slate brain to understand you are scolding me.”

The curve of Qin Zhilu’s lips deepened. “You are misunderstanding it. It’s just its humanity that’s like a blank slate. Its brain, however, is very clever—in that aspect, it replicates your characteristics.”

“……”

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“Franz Jones, male, 35 years old, died 4 months ago from a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. He was a very talented musician, actively performing until age 30, but faded from public view after a car accident confined him to a wheelchair. Records show his personality was quiet and steady. He lived reclusively for the five years after the accident, taking on two students.” Qin Zhilu quickly extracted the information. “His life was stable and low-key, his range of activity was limited, his social circle was simple. Most importantly, his paralysis could well conceal the slow computation caused by harboring redundant code. Therefore, he has the highest probability of being chosen by Molly to store the core code backup.”

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An Yu stood in front of the bar door. Qin Zhilu, behind him, extended a tentacle and gently pulled the door open for him.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

This was a survival experience unique to AIs.

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His leather glove picked up the glass. He downed the liquor in one go, pushed the empty glass back to the bartender. Soon, the bartender refilled it and pushed it back.

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An Yu lowered his head and took a sip of coffee. The words “bitter, fragrant, and mellow” immediately entered his mind, but his tongue indeed felt nothing.

Don't scrape

Don't copy

The young man in the corner was indeed Franz. Among the crowd gathered around him were the two students mentioned in the records.

But Franz was not in a wheelchair. He was only leaning on a cane, standing among the crowd, talking animatedly. Although his speech was gentle, it was not difficult to perceive his quick wit and active mind.

Soon, a message came back from 716.

-My apologies. Brain has just queried and found that Franz had several video calls with an orthopedic doctor in District 25 a month before his death. Two days before the cerebral hemorrhage, he booked a ferry shuttle ticket to District 25. It seems the AI calculated he successfully underwent surgery by now and escaped the fate of paralysis.

An Yu sighed. He had no choice but to finish his coffee and chew on a tasteless, liquor-filled chocolate.

Before leaving, Qin Zhilu habitually wanted to buy more chocolates for him to keep, but An Yu pressed down on the Commander’s payment card.

“No taste,” he whispered close to Qin Zhilu’s ear. “Don’t want to eat anymore.”

The surveillance footage showed that 21 had already returned to the Spire with 716. As this swap was highly classified, they had to hide it from all the Protectors in the Spire. Therefore, they went straight to the top floor upon returning. 716 rejected several report requests from high-level Protectors in succession.

21 was unfamiliar with An Yu’s bedroom. Interacting with too many unfamiliar humans in one day made him exceptionally anxious. He curled up in a corner without making a sound, so 716 took some human bread to coax him.

In the footage, the moment he chewed the bread, those golden eyes lit up.

Qin Zhilu studied the surveillance footage. “In this aspect, 21 is indeed exactly like you.”

An Yu didn’t react. “What?”

“When eating bread, you’re bright as the morning sun,” Qin Zhilu said softly.

“Is it delicious?” 716 smiled faintly and also sat on the floor, close to 21. He tore off a corner from the bread and tossed it into his mouth. “The real feeling of eating is very wonderful. The simplest things humans possess are experiences we can’t obtain even with all our computing power and imagination.”

21 took large, quick bites of the bread. When only one small piece was left, he hesitated, then offered that piece to 716, saying in a low voice, “After tasting it, I seem to believe even more that this thing can sustain my survival. This is no longer a cognition gained from data, but a belief generated by myself.”

716 smiled and fed that small piece of bread back to his mouth. “Eat up. There is no shortage of bread here with An Yu.”

An Yu watched the surveillance footage for a long time. The interaction between 716 and 21 was much smoother than he had imagined, but this smoothness came entirely from 716’s initiative. His more outgoing personality compared to Qin Zhilu was particularly evident in front of 21.

Qin Zhilu’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “You may be going to see Ling Qiu again.”

An Yu looked up in surprise, “Huh?”