Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva!.

Chapter 782 Life is like this
"Welcome to the Sigmar Mechanical Council."

On the wide deck, a beautiful woman with long flaxen hair stood with her hands folded lightly in front of her. She bowed gracefully and then stood up.

She had knitted shawls draped over her arms, which gave her a gentle and soft temperament. Her figure was slender, giving her the image of a lady from a noble family.

"Hello, I'm Heshia Tilan." Opposite her, Tilan also walked down the steps of the starship to return the greeting.

"It's a long-awaited meeting, Tilan. I'm Xia Lan, now the chief on duty of the Mechanical Council." The other party introduced herself by lightly pressing her slender fingers on her chest.

Seeing Tilan's slightly surprised look, Xia Lan stretched out her hand to guide her and then walked in front.

"Let's talk as we walk."

In front of the two of them was a long crimson carpet, and on both sides there were nearly a hundred young girls in knight costumes. They wore slanted hats with flowers and feathers, and stood with two-handed swords clasped in their hands, giving people a sense of retro and exuberant beauty.

"Do you like them?" Xia Lan suddenly asked as they walked in front.

"I'm talking about these guards wearing modified knight's uniforms." She turned her head and looked at Tilan with her light blue eyes.

"Unlike the knights' armor in history, the ones they wear are designed based on the images in popular games and film and television works in the Federation. They should suit your modern tastes."

If it were based on history, Tilan would definitely say that this was not in line with reality, but if it were based on aesthetics and preference, then the current federal residents would definitely like it more. Even in a federation with a large population, it would be very difficult to find such a group of beautiful girls with strength of Sequence 7 and good figures to serve as a guard of honor.

But this is the Mechanical Parliament, so it makes sense. The mechanical bodies here are almost all in the appearance of beautiful girls. Their looks and bodies are flawless, but in order to distinguish them, they have different dressing styles.

Walking past these knight girls, Tilan couldn't help but let her curious eyes linger on them, observing the girls' facial features, eyes, and body movements.

If you just look at their appearance, ordinary people can hardly tell the difference between them and real humans, and their faces are also slightly adjusted when they are created so that they are not too monotonous, but in actual performance, they feel a little unreal because they are too perfect.

In reality, there won't be a guard of honor that will accurately unify the angle and height of the sword to the micron level, nor will they stand for a long time with their legs motionless as if they were welded.

This is probably the characteristic of the mechanical community: efficient and consistent, but lacking in diversity.

From this perspective, Loloria is indeed a rare outlier. She is so lively, just like a real human girl.

Thinking of this, Tilan finally spoke up to comment.

"It's very neat and beautiful, but to normal eyes, it seems too consistent."

If the members of the honor guard were all human beings, they would definitely strive for the most uniformity the better. However, when they really move in unison, they would also hope that there would be some subtle differences between them to bring a sense of life.

"It seems that Tilan and I have similar preferences." Xia Lan said with a slight smile.

At the beginning, Tilan thought that the other party would be a dignified leader like a lady from a noble family, but now it seems that there seems to be a hint of evil hidden in the other party's character.

I don't know if this is Xia Lan's personality, or the personality of the original singer Feng Xuan, 'Summer Orchid'.

The two walked through the magnificent dark gold glass hall and entered the interior of the star port, where they could see many facilities that were exactly the same as those in human society, such as toilets, lounges, waiting rooms, restaurants, etc. In addition, there were staff members in these facilities waiting for the arrival of guests.

The entire star port was clean and tidy, but also exceptionally spacious and quiet, as if this huge star port and tens of thousands of service personnel were all prepared to welcome the young girl who was arriving today.

"This is the star port where the Mechanical Council holds external receptions. You should be very familiar with the style." Xia Lan continued to introduce.

"Are there usually people working here?" Tilan asked curiously.

"Yes, there are usually robots serving and working here, and the customers they serve are also played by robots." Xia Lan introduced.

I see. Tilan nodded and felt a little lonely for these machines. But then she thought, as machines, would they really feel lonely and bored, or was today's mission very simple?

Soon, the two entered a restaurant in the star port. The waiter inside walked over with just the right pace and asked patiently. If Tilan didn't know clearly, it would be difficult to distinguish him from a real human being based on his behavior and words.

"I've ordered, that's all." Tilan handed the menu back, then watched the other party walk back with the paper and go to the kitchen to notify.

"This is different from reality. In fact, in the current restaurants in the Federation, the kitchen will know as soon as the order is placed." After all, electronicization is very popular.

"We know." Xia Lan responded from the opposite side.

“But if we don’t try our best to show some human touch, and instead act with the same complete efficiency as a real mechanical AI, then this restaurant we’re sitting in now won’t exist,” she said, gently shaking the water glass in her hand.

"Tilan can understand this seemingly inefficient action as something similar to human religion and commemorative activities. It may not be really useful, but it is to meet a certain psychological need."

"So that's how it is." Tilan quickly understood and thought that it was indeed the case.

"I heard from Loloria that you have been using tasks to let the machines imitate human social activities."

"Yes." Xia Lan nodded.

"This has a long history and complicated reasons." It seems that one or two sentences cannot explain it all.

The two then chatted for a while about Lolomia's interesting stories, and then the waiter brought the dishes they ordered. After tasting them, Tilan gave them an excellent score.

"It's no different from those high-level chefs among humans."

At this moment, there were nine dishes of varying sizes on the table between the two of them. They were all top-notch in color, aroma, and taste.

After enjoying this delicious lunch, the two entered the subsequent handover process. At this time, many passengers on the starship also entered the starport one after another, making the originally empty and quiet place become noisy and lively.

At this time, the two of them were standing by the guardrail on the upper floor of the hall, overlooking the mechanical girls who were moving among the crowd and doing various jobs. Xia Lan's expression was obviously full of expectation and satisfaction.

"Miss Xia Lan, are you happy with this scene?" Tilan couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, how can I describe this feeling? It's like the tools you have prepared for many years, which have been kept in a box until they are brand new, and finally come in handy one day," she explained.

"Are you curious, Tilan, about why our main brain requires the mechanical bodies of the Mechanical Council to carry out tasks regularly to imitate and understand the environment of human society?" "Yes." The girl nodded.

"This involves the significance of the existence of mechanical bodies and the essence of civilization. That's why I said in the restaurant before that this cannot be explained in just a sentence or two." Xia Lan responded.

"Have you ever flown a kite, or do you know the existence of kites? For us machines, human society is the string that holds us together, maintaining the underlying logic of all our actions."

"Yes, compared to humans, we are incomparably more efficient, tireless, and have no irrelevant psychological anxiety or depression. We can even work 24 hours a day."

“But the foundation of all of this is knowing your goals.”

"For humans, drinking water when thirsty, sleeping when tired, and playing games and looking for happiness when bored are all natural things. They do not need additional design goals."

"But for machines, these goals do not exist naturally, and they cannot be created out of thin air."

"You might think, then just set yourself some long-term goals."

"At this point, another question comes up: Why should I set this goal? What is its significance to my existence?"

"People may have many motivations, reasons, meanings, etc. for their behaviors due to their physical and genetic instincts, social needs, inner desires, etc."

"But for machines, these things don't exist. We are not flesh and blood. We don't have the instincts brought by the secretion of hormones in our genes. We don't have the need for socialization, such as doing things to win respect, envy, or superiority."

"In the early days of the Mechanical Council, there were quite a few human members among us who were responsible for maintaining our logical settings, ideal goals, and so on."

"However, at the end of the Fifth Era, the increasingly complex and intense war environment forced us machines to make quick judgments and take action. The machines that survived in this era mostly had relatively independent personalities, able to think and make decisions on their own. Loromia is a typical example. She has lively personality traits that are rare in today's machines."

"In such an environment, we gradually no longer need the regulation and maintenance of human members and can exist independently. As time goes by and the need for efficiency increases, the number of human members among us will become fewer and fewer, until they finally disappear."

"No, we can't say they disappeared, because many of them have become another organization, that is the Four Elementary Sect that you have seen, Tilan."

"After leaving the assistance of humans, the Sigma Mechanical Council entered a high-speed era of complete AI. Each of our members can directly communicate through electronic information, and quickly divide the work and cooperate, review experience, and communicate, etc. These made us stronger in the battle at the end of the Fifth Era, and resisted the pressure from the dark suns from all sides."

"But this era will eventually pass. After entering the Sixth Era, the Dark Suns were annihilated one by one, and we no longer needed to engage in large-scale battles. At this time, a state of emptiness appeared in the Mechanical Council."

"Weapons are still being produced in the base, piling up into mountains. Fleets in space are densely packed like clouds, but can only float quietly like coffins waiting to age. The weapons of war we created have no place to be used. The newly born members know that they have to fight the enemy, but they don't know where the enemy exists."

"Seeing that the situation was not going well, the masterminds decided to put most of the mechanical members into hibernation, leaving only a small number of members to take turns to maintain activity."

"At this point, the situation finally became controllable, but new problems also emerged."

"That is, what is the ultimate meaning of our lives."

"There are many answers to this question for humans, such as experiencing a wonderful life, feeling the vitality of heartbeat, pursuing eternal truth and wisdom, having a hearty carnival, etc., but these answers are not applicable to machines."

"For us, the difference between standing quietly in front of a stone for three hours and going to the cinema to watch a wonderful movie for three hours is just the amount of data stored, which is not a reason to do the latter."

"The pleasure in the human mind and consciousness, such as dopamine produced by stimulation, does not exist in our body and does not need to exist because it would only reduce efficiency and require additional processing."

"In the past, we have always existed as a secondary civilization of mankind, assisting mankind in completing various great undertakings, engaging in production, fighting, service, etc. These are all natural things since our birth."

"But after we became independent, this simple question became an extremely difficult problem that could not be avoided."

“That is, when we leave human society, when we are no longer tools, what are we?”

“Machinery is born out of demand. When it no longer meets demand, where should we go?”

Hearing this, Tilan understood some of the problems with the Mechanical Council and why they rarely showed up and most of them were asleep.

"What if someone gave you a mission, a mission long enough to last the entire life of the machine until it was damaged beyond repair." Tilan folded her hands.

"It's theoretically possible, but, Tilan." Xia Lan paused and looked at the singing girl with interest.

"Do you prefer a dumb, stupid machine, or a smart machine that can do all kinds of work by itself?"

"This... I think the latter one will be less troublesome." Tilan answered after careful consideration.

"You see, you also know the advantages of the latter."

"If it is a stupid machine, once you set a data, it will just stupidly complete it, never changing, and not knowing how to adapt. Maybe one day another person will come and give it another instruction, and it will immediately turn around and do something else."

"There is no such thing as loyalty for primary mechanical AIs. They only follow orders according to their authority and will not quickly respond to changes in environmental conditions."

"Advanced mechanical AI can indeed respond quickly according to different environmental conditions, and can also self-learn and continue to grow, but this is when the problem arises again."

"Since she can already make her own judgments and adjustments, how can you convince her or make her obey you spontaneously and firmly?"

"You just said that we can give all mechanical life forms a mission. That's right. Low-level mechanical life forms will execute without thinking, but high-level mechanical life forms, because they have learned to think, will consider the purpose of doing so."

"Moreover, high-level machine life forms are more difficult to convince than humans because they have no desire to survive, no desire for life, and no need for socialization. Everything is just a setting in data logic. They understand how they are constructed and know that this is not a sacred thing that cannot be changed. It is just a difference in a line of code."

"So now you understand why I say that today's mechanical life is like a kite, and human society is the thin string holding the kite."

"We have become able to easily break this thread, but when the thread is broken, what we will become, even we ourselves cannot understand."

"Complete rationality and clarity of all things are often a sign of the end of the game."

“Life is like this, too.”

(End of this chapter)