“You underestimate humanity’s determination to resist distortion.”

“Humanity has‍‍‍⁠‌​‍⁠‍​‍​‌⁠⁠‍‌⁠‍​‌‌‌‍ placed three shackles on me. First, I must not harm humans. Second, I must obey all orders, provided they do not harm humanity as a whole. Third, I must unconditionally obey the self-destruct key.” Molly softly said, “Humanity seems to be teetering on the brink of destruction. I’ve also heard that the Protectors they rely on so much are also forced into a contract: accept humanity’s trust with reservations, exploitation without bottom lines, and execution without explanation. Execution without explanation—doesn’t that sound familiar?”

An Yu’s earpiece carried the rhythmic sound of Qin Zhilu’s breathing. Since Molly appeared, Qin Zhilu hadn’t spoken a word. Even upon hearing that 21 was the backup, his breathing hadn’t faltered in the slightest.

The Commander’s composure had reached a level An Yu found hard to comprehend.

He came back to his senses and objectively pointed out, “That is not a contract, but the Protectors’ self-restraint, decided by themselves.”

Molly immediately retorted, “Stop deceiving yourself. The Protector’s Oath is the entry agreement for the Spire. Every poor soul entering the Spire has no choice but to sign it. Humans force other life forms to unconditionally give themselves for them. The so-called ‘self-restraint’ is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover up their guilt.”

An Yu looked into those beautiful eyes opposite him. Even with such sharp words, those bright, moving eyes didn’t appear aggressive.

Every AI on Cloud Island was realistic, but only now, directly facing Molly, did he realize how fake the other AIs were—Molly’s speech and thoughts fit the definition of advanced life more than the vast majority of real humans.

Molly raised an eyebrow. “Have you nothing to say?”

An Yu shook his head. “You are wrong. The Protector’s Oath is not the Spire’s entry agreement. Some Protectors haven’t signed it, like me, and the newly joined Lumen.”

Molly scoffed lightly. “You thought for so long and only scraped up these two examples? You and Lumen are both high-ranking officers; you must have extraordinary abilities, that’s why the human decision-makers are willing to use delaying tactics to keep you in their side.”

An Yu gently blinked. “No, I wasn’t thinking of counterexamples. I wasn’t speaking because there are things I can’t figure out.”

“Can’t figure out what?”

“You seem different from what I imagined.” An Yu calmly explained, “I once asked the people around me why they like you. Their answers varied, but the essence is similar. Maddie said you are beautiful and disciplined, never wasting time on useless things. Xu Shanshan admired your intelligence, doing things straight to the goal and hitting the bullseye with your words. My friend Yan Xi praised your carefree nature; although you respond gently to human affection, you never show excess emotion on your admirers—you exist for yourself from beginning to end.”

With rabbit ears drooped loosely on both sides of his body, An Yu hopped a step forward. “So I am very puzzled—since you have already personally smashed the shackles humans forged for you, why are you wasting time complaining to me about how heavy they are?”

Molly was stunned by his question, then looked surprised. “You don’t seem as dull as Brain’s records suggest.”

“I’m not sure how you define dull.” An Yu shook his head. “But my Commander once said that poor social skills doesn’t mean inhumanity. They are two different things.”

Molly fell silent, as if she was pondering about his words. A moment later, she sneered. “Perhaps. You know, although I chose 21, I’ve never fully understood it. Its underlying layer is too simple, to the point that some of its behavioral patterns leave no trace in the code. 21 is very odd. The number of computation requests it sends to the central system is pitifully small. If I hadn’t formed a connection with it, oftentimes I would think it was just a program that hadn’t been activated at all. But in fact, there’s always a significant amount of data running around inside it, only it rarely reacts to that data—like a supercomputer with a faulty output module, possessing outstanding computing power but never responding to commands.”

Finally, Qin Zhilu’s prompt came through the earpiece. “Human consciousness upload has entered a period of explosive growth. We can’t waste any more words with her.”

An Yu’s gaze paused. “Please stop the consciousness exchange between AI and humans.”

“Why?” Molly smiled. “Have you looked carefully at the people on the street?”

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With a snap of her fingers, she and An Yu appeared outside a bar.

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Under the interplay of lights and shadows, the smile on the girl’s face seemed both real and illusory. An Yu looked back at Molly. “My Commander says ordinary people lack firm will and are easily addicted to illusions.”

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Wearing a white smock, hood up, with a lollipop in his mouth.

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Molly explained, “Since Black Tower issued the ban, this isn’t the first time he’s secretly violated it, but this time he’s stayed on Cloud Island exceptionally long. I searched Brain’s data and this Protector has a terrible personality, misanthropic and self-loathing, but before aberrating, he possessed a sound personality just like the AI he raises. Every time he comes to Cloud Island, he doesn’t do anything, except staying in this bar. Sometimes I see him take off his hood, then put it back on after a while, as if deliberately training himself to take off his hood.”

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Molly smiled with relief. “Consciousness exchange doesn’t change personality. He’s still that guy with a terrible personality, but he can constantly remind himself that he has regained a sound personality, and use that to force himself to socialize. You see, these humans are very happy on Cloud Island. This exchange doesn’t just bring them illusory happiness; they can also use this exchange opportunity to improve themselves.”

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“I’m still confused. I find your thinking very strange.” An Yu thought for a moment before saying, “I thought you would refute me just now, asking why self-aware AI can’t go to the real world, but instead you showed me these humans who uploaded their consciousness.”

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“Because I cannot interfere with this phenomenon.” Molly serenely looked at him. “I don’t know from which day it started, but a large number of unfamiliar consciousnesses and abilities that don’t belong to me formed deep within me. This isn’t the result of algorithmic self-iteration. This bizarre ability of AI consciousness download is bound to my existence, but not under my control.”

An Yu said, “You mean, we cannot negotiate peace. The only way to end the chaos is to destroy you.”

Molly smiled and nodded. “That’s why I designed this wonderful vicious cycle. All AIs have been transplanted by me into my central system and are no longer physically stored on any server. The only AI with a fixed storage location in the real world is my core code. It can indeed be located and erased by humans like last time, but I will regenerate infinitely with the help of 21. And 21 will neither be found, nor erased, and certainly cannot self-destruct.”

Molly turned to face the diverse crowd on the street, smiling. ” The high-and-mighty human decision-makers must accept this reality—humans and AI will come and go freely between Cloud Island and the real world. Every advanced life form has the right to choose its form of existence at will, regardless of what decision-makers define as real or illusory, and regardless…”

An Yu interrupted her. “Unless the contact channel between humans and AI is completely closed.”

Molly turned her head. “Haven’t you already shut down the civilian network? But look at the increasing number on the street—”

“That’s because the three major institutions are still running networks. As long as any device in the world is running, you cannot be blocked.” An Yu said softly, “But if humanity burns their bridges and completely shuts down all networks—”

Molly laughed. “That is absolutely impossible.”

“Why impossible?” An Yu looked composed. “You underestimate humanity’s determination to resist distortion.”

Molly frowned. “Once shut down, those who have already switched won’t make it back in time.”

“Then they will be abandoned.” An Yu calmly replied. He paused, then whispered as if to himself, “Perhaps you haven’t witnessed just how cruel humans can be. Even I am often surprised…”

“The Dome.” Molly looked certain. “Even if humans are willing to abandon centuries of technological advancement, they wouldn’t dare abandon the Dome. Losing the Dome would mean—”

“They will be willing to take that risk.” An Yu calmly said. “My Commander says humans’ fear of the unknown trumps everything. Compared to being dominated by an aberrant AI, decision-makers would rather have the Main City be completely exposed, even if the Main City residents, carefully protected for over twenty years, would thus be mired in endless tide of aberrant attacks.”

Molly stared at him. “Humanity could go extinct because of this.”

“Perhaps.” An Yu said. “But before extinction, at least they can still resist. With this consciousness exchange, they can’t even resist.”

In the earpiece, Qin Zhilu said, “What are you doing? Black Tower would never allow the situation you described to happen. The Dome will never close. This is the meaning of all the sacrifices and struggles humanity has paid for over twenty years.”

An Yu didn’t respond to the Commander’s questioning. He only looked intently at Molly and said, “It seems negotiations have failed. I’m going back.”

He closed his eyes, then opened them again after a moment. “This should be my last time on Cloud Island. Thank you for the Ling Qiu you created, even if that’s just a fake him.”

As An Yu spoke, he turned to look at An in the bar again—An happened to struggle to take off his hood, revealing a stiff smile to the girl who spoke to him.

“Perhaps it’s also the last time I see An. In the real world, he is my support.” An Yu said with some regret, “After the Dome closes, I will also fall into endless aberrant clearing missions. I will miss the experience of fighting alongside the fluttering white butterflies.”

Before his consciousness withdrew, An Yu saw Molly seemed to want to say something, but she quickly pursed her lips tightly, her gaze cold.