Inside the Abandoned Factory
City 141 Outskirts
Small clusters of Corrupted drift through the labyrinthine steel jungle, rusted beyond salvation.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots shatter the stillness of the factory.
Multitudes of Corrupted turn their heads in perfect unison, then pivot and surge toward the source of the sound.
...
Holding your breath, you both wait until the last Corrupted leaves your detection range, then leap with Jetavie toward a room directly opposite your hiding spot, marked by a broken nameplate.
After maneuvering through the factory for some time, you determine that this room is the most likely place to find the clues you're looking for.
Click—
You both step into the room and press against the wall, listening for any movement outside. After confirming your actions haven't drawn the attention of any Corrupted, you close the door gently behind the two of you.
You turn around to find Jetavie already examining the objects in the room, her fingers dancing across controls as equipment along the workbench lights up one by one.
...This isn't the central hub. There's no experimental or control operating system here.
Jetavie's fingertips leap across the keyboard as cascades of data stream down like waterfalls reflected in her pupils.
After a few moments, Jetavie shakes her head in frustration and moves to shut down the equipment.
The hard drive contains nothing but document files. We came to the wrong place.
We could, I guess... but they probably aren't worth reading.
These files are ancient, and the folder names don't look like they'd contain structural diagrams or anything useful... Wait, what's this?
Jetavie methodically unlocks each system permission, then suddenly lets out a soft gasp of surprise.
Gwynplaine...? Why does that name sound familiar?
Moving closer to Jetavie, you watch as lines of records slowly materialize on the screen.
...Training Dossier-H82, Recorded by Horst.
By order of Executive Officer Gwynplaine, I will...
I will become your newest sample.
Gwynplaine taps his cane lightly on the floor. The dull sound makes Horst's throat go dry with unease.
Do you... do you really have to do this, sir?
(Coughs)
Gwynplaine responds to Horst with uncontrollable coughing, wiping fresh blood from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief.
His gaze toward the screen grows distant and unfocused.
I don't have much time left. This is the only way I can live to witness the day the Matrix Project succeeds.
Sample my consciousness. I'll cooperate with your procedures as much as possible.
Perhaps this guy's position was even higher. His information in the dossier has special security clearance.
Leibowitz Company—Executive Officer—Gwynplaine...
Jetavie's brow furrows as she begins a targeted search through the dossier using his name as the keyword.
More and more windows begin to pop up on the screen, with specialized terminology and various data taking center stage while the formulaic records gradually diminish.
As the cursor moves downward, the dates on the window pages advance day by day, and Jetavie's expression grows increasingly grim.
Until a record appears with almost all its data highlighted in red—this is the final entry.
...
Jetavie opens her mouth, then hesitates and lets out a sigh.
It's so strange. I have no idea what they were trying to accomplish ultimately. The whole thing was nothing but a farce...
Horst defied Gwynplaine's wishes, which led to trouble.
That's the most logical conclusion given the current situation.
...Horst actually fulfilled Gwynplaine's wishes by collecting his consciousness data in its entirety.
He even included the "unnecessary" cognition and obsessions, then meticulously subjected the AI model to intensive training.
You know how many unexpected issues occurred during humanity's early artificial intelligence research, right?
Creative fields, once considered the most challenging, fell the quickest, while what seemed like basic behavioral instruction trees proved unexpectedly difficult.
The disparities between human and artificial intelligence thinking patterns and knowledge bases led to numerous erroneous judgments.
One possibility humans never anticipated... was that artificial intelligence would, under certain circumstances, use deception to fulfill human instructions.
Hmm... Horst's training method was too intensive, beyond what even the AI model could withstand.
To alleviate the pressure, it had to impose limitations on itself, pretending to be less capable in order to avoid the nearly impossible training requirements
This wouldn't have been an issue—eventually, as training progressed, the AI would have adapted to the project requirements, but...
Jetavie pauses briefly, closes the window, and sorts the training records into date-organized directories, placing them alongside directories for other projects.
The disparity in numbers suddenly makes the clues crystal clear.
Horst was too impatient, perhaps due to the immense pressure from Gwynplaine's final wish.
After each training session, he completely copied the results, rebuilt the AI model on this new foundation, and continued the iteration process.
So this whole thing is just...
Jetavie closes the directory and reopens the final page filled with bright red data.
Gwynplaine is now completely haywire—a pathological mechanical consciousness whose underlying logic no one can comprehend.
As her eyes fall on one line of data, Jetavie's usually cheerful demeanor fades into something indescribable.
Its mental age is, possibly, only around seven or eight years old...
