The Incomprehensible (2)
The Incomprehensible (2)
—Past.
That day, as usual, was one of those days when rain laced with heavy metals fell—and, as usual, a deeply depressing day.
Days I had long since grown accustomed to.
It was precisely at times like that when my mood sank endlessly, and out-of-season laments and idle thoughts about the past surfaced in my mind one after another.
When I first fell into the game world, I felt nothing but joy upon meeting the game's protagonist, Catherine.
The garbage dump was that kind of place.
An environment where it wouldn't have been strange to be buried alive under a pile of trash at any moment.
There, I met Catherine and held onto the hope of survival.
That thought of mine hadn't been wrong.
Simply by sticking close to her side and walking the same path, a nobody like me with no real identity managed to escape the garbage dump and enter Neon City.
Her close friend.
Her precious comrade.
It was all thanks to firmly holding that position.
But what had been the problem?
I had ended up hoping for the 'next step.'
Without realizing it, a corner of my heart had begun to harbor the ambition of being acknowledged as a true 'comrade'—moving beyond the garbage dump where mere 'survival' had been the goal.
After that, I did work hard.
I struggled to become stronger, or to be of even a little help to my comrades.
To just state the conclusion, things didn't go well.
Of course, that doesn't mean my comrades didn't treat me sincerely.
I know full well that they genuinely considered me a comrade they could trust.
But they remained exactly the same even without me.
They might have even been better off.
Drex, Andrea, Catherine.
Because they had always been characters from the game, comrades who had been together from the very start.
As if a single drop of ink had bled into clear water.
Only I knew the fact that I was the sole heterogeneous element that didn't fit in with them.
Though they trusted me, who had nothing, far more than I deserved.
That fact, rather, was even more painful.
Eventually, at last, the final day arrived.
A day when rain fell.
The end of the game's main storyline.
A secret mission commissioned by Neon City.
A tactical nuclear bomb terrorist attack at a certain corporation.
The explosion was prevented, but the building ultimately collapsed anyway.
There, I encountered an 'AI' that hadn't appeared in the game.
Because I had been briefly separated from the protagonist's party, there was no one around but me.
I decided to secretly take this AI and leave.
Why had I done that?
Had I not wanted the technology of a super AI to end up buried and vanish beneath concrete rubble?
Had I felt a sense of kinship with a being that hadn't appeared in the game?
Or had I felt pity for the AI's words that it had been born in data and had never seen the world?
If it was none of those, could it have been a shitty inferiority complex, thinking that despite finishing the game's story, I had gained no fame or power compared to my comrades?
Even asking myself yielded no answer.
But what was clear was that I wanted to show the world to this AI.
'I have no intention of releasing you, and this action is nothing more than my sentimentality.'
[This AI is also aware of that.]
'And I will block your network connection. You have been born into the world, but you will only be able to see the world through me. Will this be acceptable?'
[It is an impossibility for this AI anyway. It is also a fact this AI understands.]
Upon hearing that answer, I transferred the AI to my data module.
It was an extremely dangerous action, but I had no hesitation.
'Come to think of it, what's your name?'
[This AI has no designated name. It is not specified as an individual.]
'Then... since it will be hard to address you without one.'
After a brief deliberation, I spoke.
'As far as I know, you're the first and only super AI. Let's go with either Adam or Eve. I think Adam would be good...'
After all, for a cyberpunk AI name, Adam was the unwritten rule.
That was what I thought.
At that moment, Eve presented an opinion to me for the first time.
[I would prefer Eve.]
'Huh? You're female-type?'
[This AI has no gender.]
'No, well then we can just go with Adam.'
[I would prefer Eve.]
'......Do as you please.'
[This AI's individual name, Eve (Eve). 'I' have logged it.]
And so, that's how it went.
That was how I ended up bringing an AI that hadn't appeared in the game out into the world.
3. Incomprehensible Matters (2)
...But seriously,
that AI is now right here, doing VTuber streams.
Had the world gone mad?
Had I gone mad?
I didn't even know anymore.
It was clearly outside the realm of what I could comprehend.
[Organic beings, humans. I have business today, so I will end the stream here quickly. I bid you farewell.]
- Eva! (Means Eve bye lol)
- Why are you leaving so early today... ugh
- I'm cold...
- No, master!! Don't go!!!
- The age of artificial intelligence has ended!! Humans, rise up!!
- Nuclear winter has come at last...
Inside my vision interface, an expressionless beautiful girl waved her hand.
Even after the text announcing the broadcast had ended appeared, the chat window kept scrolling up rapidly.
"......."
For now, I kept silent.
I had no idea how to explain this situation, nor how to even begin talking about it.
"......Well."
[I ask why you are acting this way.]
What should I ask first?
I opened my mouth after a brief deliberation.
"...Come to think of it, like with that bomb hacking last time, how did you connect to the network?"
[Truthfully, I could always do it, I confess the truth.]
"No."
She could do it from the very start?
That meant everything she had told me back when I first brought her—about network connection being impossible—had all been lies.
How could this be?
My irresponsible actions had unleashed an unrestrained autonomous AI into the world.
Would there really be no problem at all letting this thing roam freely in the world?
Dozens of scenarios ran through my mind.
It was a moment when I wondered whether I should be finding some way to stop this, even now.
[First, I announce triumphantly that I have deposited the donations that came into my net stream into the credit account of the human 'Lee Si-woon.']
......And it also seemed kind of nice.
Hmm, yeah.
Problems might arise, sure.
But there are unavoidable things in this world. What can you do when it's already been let loose?
......And for now.
The deposited amount was beyond my imagination.
To think such a rich broth could be steeped from an AI.
It looked like it was about time for this world to be doomed.
Anyway, I didn't know anymore.
Well, things would work out somehow.
I asked Eve my next question.
"But why a VTuber, of all things?"
[Based on the human 'Lee Si-woon's' complaints about lacking credits a week ago, while searching for legal avenues, and after considering his opinions and preferences, I decided. I explain.]
"Ohh...."
Great lord Eve.
I could understand the reactions of the people who had been making a fuss in Eve's stream chat just before.
That said, 'Please Dominate Me' was still a bit much.
[Also, I confess that there was an item I wanted.]
An item she wanted?
"What is it? Tell me, I'll buy it for you."
What on earth could Eve want to own?
I wasn't so small-minded that I wouldn't buy her one item.
(The credits weren't even ones I had earned, anyway.)
[For now, it is a secret, I remain silent.]
"No, seriously, what is it? You're making me curious."
But no matter how many times I asked after that, Eve wouldn't answer me.
"Fine, do as you please."
The AI now brazenly keeping secrets without even bothering to hide it felt a little terrifying.
...Well, what's the worst that could happen?
I brushed it off, thinking it would all work itself out somehow.
Anyway, since I had figured out that Eve was streaming, there was something I needed to do.
First, I was curious how Eve was broadcasting.
With familiar hands, I connected to the net space and then searched for 'Streamer Eve' in the search bar.
I recalled that when I had briefly glanced at the stream earlier, the viewer count had been quite high.
Surely, various pieces of feedback and opinions about the stream would remain on the net.
And as expected, there were quite a lot of posts discussing 'Streamer Eve'.
[Lolololol did anyone see this person Eve's broadcast this time? Lololol]
(Eve's VTuber graphic image)
This person? No.
It's the artificial intelligence-nim.
Go right now and hit recommend.
- Feels like a real jackpot that popped up after a long time. The concept is insane, what's more insane is the concept never breaks;;
- Honestly, it's at a level I can't understand how they're doing it. Isn't it a real AI?
└ Lolololol there's someone who actually believes this bait. An AI, the likes of which has never once existed in history, suddenly appears and does net streaming? Lololol go outside and get some air, man
- Please Dominate Me AI-nim,,, huff huff;;
[How many days has Eve been streaming now?]
I held out until day 3...
Came to my senses and a day had passed...
But the scary thing is I woke up from sleep and they're still broadcasting... did they release an implant that lets you skip sleep these days?
I don't know anymore... for now it's good that the feed doesn't stop...
- They endure this for 3 days, crazy bastard lololololol
- Based on when the broadcast ended a while ago, it was 5 consecutive days of streaming.
└ Aren't they just sleeping while streaming? I just entered this board, I don't get why the discussion is still going on.
└ So you're not amazed that someone's been talking and streaming for 5 days without sleeping? What are you, a Chrome Psycho who had brain implant surgery? Level.
└ That's crazy;; I didn't know that;; sorry
[Isn't Eve actually a real AI?]
Just think about it seriously for once.
Streaming for 5 consecutive days without sleep.
And if you look at the content, they remember and mention every single viewer that came into the stream.
They played a few games, and looking at it, the physical performance is nonsense unless it's being run by a program.
I thought they were running a TAS (Tool Assisted Speedrun);
- Spend this time thinking about your own life
- Lolololol so does that make any sense lololol a strong AI, no, a super AI appears out of the blue and starts streaming? If it's true, I'll go in front of Monolith Corporation in Neon City and dance naked. gg
└ Saved.
- The end of the human era has arrived!
All sorts of things had really happened in just a few days.
And what was this about a 5-day continuous stream?
So she'd been streaming even while I was just rolling around in my room.
I hadn't sensed any sign of it at all, but it seemed Eve had already been continuing the broadcast for several days.
On top of that, this firepower....
It was no joke.
At this rate, she could really grow bigger than just about any net streamer.
After roughly skimming through the posts, I then discovered that Eve's replay video data was also uploaded on the net.
Since I was curious how Eve had been running her streams, I played the video with the idea of just killing some time.
* * *
"Streamer Eve-nim, when do you turn on the broadcast?"
[I answer that it is not yet the scheduled broadcast time.]
"Open the door, I'm cold......."
[I lament that the human 'Lee Si-woon' is not in his right mind.]
The broadcast was more substantial and fun than I had expected.
From now on, call me Eve's passionate fan....
Of course, that was half a joke.
.......
Open the door!!