Electronic Nezha

Chapter 105 Lifebuoy

I thought Aunt Xu's demands were related to money, but they weren't.

At first, I thought that my "plan to save humanity" would confuse and make the old lady nervous. In the end, "saving humanity" was the least important part for her. What happened to humanity in the end was not important, nor was it important that Hao Hao did not recognize her. What mattered was that he could live like a normal person.

Hao Hao's eyes sparkled with something. What sustained him was a combat chip inside his body. Becoming a normal person was just a side effect of the chip. Hao Hao was still learning common sense about life during this time. There were still many things he needed to learn in the future, such as family affection.

The art-house thriller never materialized. Liu Zhenhua said he wouldn't know what to do if such a plot were to occur. In fact, he should have anticipated that such a plot wouldn't happen.

This is motherly love.

Aunt Xu asked me, "Are you going to take Hao Hao away now?"

"Not yet," I said. "Hao Hao can't just appear in people's sight like this. I'll think of something."

Aunt Xu said to Hao Hao with a mixture of happiness and reluctance, "Then you can stay at home for a few more days."

I said, "Aunt Xu, Hao Hao will continue to pretend to be stupid outside, but when it's just the two of you, you have to slowly get used to his current behavior. That's the main reason I came here. Also... it's best if no one else knows about what happened today."

Aunt Xu said, "I understand everything. I've kept everything you told me to myself." She added, "I'll understand if Hao Hao has to disown me in the future."

"That's not the case."

“That shows you haven’t thought things through. Hao Hao will be following you on missions, and he’ll definitely have to play various roles. If he just calls me ‘Mom’ every time he sees me, then he won’t have to do anything.”

I secretly admired their skill. Their generation hadn't watched many science fiction movies, but they were very familiar with books and films about espionage, like "The Gunshots of the Secret Service," "The Secret Agent of Guangzhou," and "Plainclothes Policeman." My dad's cunning and meticulousness probably came mostly from these kinds of books.

Having achieved my goal, I got up to leave. Aunt Xu saw me to the door, and Hao Hao, standing inside, said to me, "Brother Feng, then you'd better think of a solution quickly." I thought to myself, this kid really is still clueless. Won't Aunt Xu feel bad if you say that?
After we left and got in the car, I said to Liu Zhenhua, "You really should go and see that scene. It felt like they had snatched Aunt Xu's son away."

"She's still willing, isn't she?"

"Hmm," I said, "didn't you figure that out a long time ago?"

"No need to calculate. If I were like Hao Hao when I was young, and someone suddenly found you and said these words to you, you would definitely be willing."

I chuckled, my memory drifting back to many years ago. Back then, Han Shiya and I had a pretty good relationship. Given Liu Zhenhua's frequent behavior that didn't match his age, when he wasn't around, our nickname for him was "Idiot." "Let's send the idiot to his grandparents' house for a few days." "Has the idiot not come back yet?" "The idiot got a little red flower today."

"Son, let's have a talk."

"What should we talk about?" Liu Zhenhua suddenly felt a little guilty. In the past, whenever I brought up "let's talk about it," the content that followed was mostly subtle criticism...

I don't know how aliens can read people's minds, but the fact that she could attack me with something like "your son is dead" shows that she thinks this is my deepest concern. I've already processed and resolved this matter myself, but I feel it's necessary to be frank with Liu Zhenhua about my concerns. With a formidable enemy at hand, internal harmony and unity are essential.

Aunt Xu set an example for me. She could accept Hao Hao as he was before, and she could accept Hao Hao as he is now, because Hao Hao is her son, it's that simple.

"It's about your identity."

Liu Zhenhua said, "Just ask me whatever you want, I won't hide anything from you."

“Actually…” I said, “I’ve never understood how you and ‘Electronic Nezha’ divide the work. According to you, the mindset of a super AI already existed from the day you were born. So how did you come to be later?”

Liu Zhenhua said directly: "You only need to understand one concept: AI has no emotions, and super AI is no exception."

"Well, then what?"

"That's it." "That's it?"

"Okay, let me explain in more detail. The moment the super AI attached itself to me, it was like watching this little baby grow up from a third-person perspective. Before I turned 3, it would prevent me from dying. Before I turned 6, it would prevent me from being abducted by human traffickers. After I had the urge to eat candy, it would assist me without harming my health."

"What if it harms your health?"

"Then it has to help me too, just like Yuan Yuan knows smoking is harmful to health but will still light your cigarette. I know the chemical ingredients and manufacturing process of all my mom's cosmetics, but I still want to see what lipstick looks like on the wall, and I still want to taste what toilet paper tastes like when soaked in milk—"

I exclaimed, "You really didn't get a beating for nothing! What about that time you almost fell into the boiling water? Didn't 'Electronic Nezha' warn you of the danger?"

“If my grandpa hadn’t taken care of me that time, I could have crawled over!” Then he added weakly, “I think.” He quickly changed the subject, “Dad, don’t you understand? Liu Zhenhua and ‘Electronic Nezha’ are both me. Super AI can only serve humans. It has its own way of thinking, but whether or not it is used depends on me.”

As things gradually became clearer, I asked, "So, all that super AI brings is a database and a mission?"

"Yes, as I've gotten older, my skills in using databases have become more and more sophisticated. Do you know why I ranked 323rd in the midterm exam?"

"Why?" I've been wondering about that too.

"Because my birthday is March 23rd, I analyzed the problem-solving habits and overall abilities of everyone in the entire grade, just to see how accurate the database could be. Aren't I amazing?" A chuunibyou teenager's smugness was palpable.

He's impressive, but there's an element of unreliability to his skill. If he had been born on January 1st, the calculations might have been a bit easier...

"Dad, is there anything else you want to ask?"

"Will that mission be imprinted in your mind like a steel stamp, and will you have to carry it out?"

"No, but I think we should still try to save humanity."

For some reason, I feel both relieved and worried. I am relieved that Liu Zhenhua's life is his own and his mind is his own, and I am worried for the same reasons.

"Let me ask one last question—why you?"

Liu Zhenhua laughed and said, "It was random, and it just hit me. You have to understand that using a black hole to teleport a super AI to save the world was just a spur-of-the-moment idea of ​​humanity in the apocalypse. There was no meticulous plan or precise calculation beforehand. It's like throwing a lifebuoy into the water when you see a ship about to sink."

Then I don't care whether this lifebuoy will leak air or drift away, and I don't have time to pick out a slightly better one...

I let out a long breath, releasing all my pent-up frustrations, as if trying to blow humanity's lifeline closer to the shore.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?"

"I always thought that a super AI would turn you into that kind of cold, precise savior who spends the rest of the days executing plans second by second."

"You like that style?"

"I don't like it, I'm just afraid you'll become like that."

"What would you do if I really became that kind of person?"

"What can I do? No matter what you become, you're still my son."

(End of this chapter)