The Mechanic [BL]

[98]

Chapter 98 – Feathered Serpent City (4)

Zhang Xun stood beside Tian Yu, a former senior engineer for Genesis and a current senior engineer of the R&D department of Feathered Serpent City. Together they watched as the metal doors in front of them, inscribed with many mysterious runes, opened to either side.

Beyond the doors was a hall filled with a pale blue light, the light spreading like water to Zhang Xun's feet. His eyes locked onto a cylindrical, transparent vessel, with a large lump of flesh suspended in a pale blue solution, its translucent membrane covered with dense veins, contracting with an unclear rhythm.

This was where the core module of Phoenix, the main AI of Feathered Serpent City, was located. A new bio-computer built using DNA and amino acid molecules to store information, just like the one they had seen in Feathered Serpent City's underground base. This one had a slight difference in its shape, but perhaps that had something to do with the different coding of the DNA.

Countless tubes twisted around the flesh, radiating out from the top of the vessel like a giant inverted umbrella, like dense, intricate veins transmitting information to all areas of the city. All the walls were lined with screens displaying data and graphs and researchers in white research suits were walking around with paper-thin tablets in their hands, looking at the data.

"Phoenix's source code combines evolutionary and quantum algorithms and it consumes a lot of energy, but if you consider the capabilities it has, it's almost as little as a grain of rice." Tian Yu led Zhang Xun over to the cylindrical container, the blue light reflecting on the lenses of her glasses, "Not only can it detect potential threats quickly, but it can also predict them and on a few occasions it has even predicted the direction of Eden's decisions."

Zhang Xun asked, "Has it ever communicated with Eden?"

"Yes." Tian Yu lowered his eyes, "Three times in total, each time for no more than ten minutes."

"To them, ten minutes is as long as ten years." Zhang Xun sighed and asked, "If you had already defected, why did you let it communicate with Eden? You should know what Eden is capable of."

Tian Yu said, "I had no choice."

Zhang Xun took a step closer to her and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "You didn't really defect, did you? You were sent here."

A look of shock flashed from behind Tian Yu's lenses for a moment and then a look of anger rose up, "You're calling me a spy?!"

"Of course not. You may indeed think you're here as a refugee, but in reality, you being here is within Eden's plan." Zhang Xun looked at her meaningfully, "Just like our god descent plan. We thought it was evidence of our victory over Eden, but in fact we were merely acting in accordance with what it wanted."

Tian Yu's brow furrowed and she opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She turned her head and changed the subject, "You said you wanted a similar bio-computer, but a bio-computer of this magnitude takes time to self-replicate and shape and you only have one week."

"I don't need it to be fully formed, just enough to serve as a carrier for an artificial intelligence. How long would that take?"

"If that's the case, I have one in my possession that has been self-replicating for three days, which should be enough for you."

Zhang Xun nodded, "In addition to that, I need some precision instruments that can operate at the nano level and some special materials. Here's the list." He said, handing a piece of paper to her.

Tian Yu probably hadn't seen something as primitive as paper for a long time and flipped through it with some curiosity for a moment, "You Lost Paradise people are really..... vintage."