Shadow of the Beautiful World

3. The Spirit of the Machine

On the large platform at the top of Doomsday Volcano, Adam, the mechanical sage wearing ritual armor, was standing on the edge of the platform, looking down.

Everywhere you look, there is a sea of tumbling magma.

The scorched liquid exudes an unbearable high temperature for living beings, and while the poisonous gas is escaping, there are also strange magma bubbles rising and bursting, making a gurgling sound.

The caldera of Mount Doom is so huge that it is equivalent to one-third of New York City.

This volcano is almost single-handedly supporting the high temperature and scorching climate of Wasteland Hell, because it always erupts from time to time, and there are few demonic activities here.

Except for some powerful Balrogs who like to bathe in magma, no one will approach here.

This is the foundry of the future.

Hope stood beside Adam, and she said to her colleagues:

I've done surveys. The magma with a higher temperature than the outside world can completely replace the furnace, and the metal quenched by it will remove many impurities. It is stronger than the steel we use now, and its energy conductivity is also better.

The forge?

Adam looked up in surprise.

The mechanical sage also chose a human face for himself, molded with bionic materials, about 30 years old, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, and looks extremely majestic.

He looked at Hope, and he said:

Is it going to mass-produce omnics?

right.

Hope nodded, she glanced back at Icarus, and Merlin beside her, she whispered to Adam:

I heard from Your Excellency Merlin that there is a serious shortage of life in his hell, and there is no way to complete the transformation of the wasteland by relying on the existing demons, so we need to produce enough omnics.

Besides, I heard what Icarus said before, and it seems that he intends to let the omnics join Lord Merlin's army... It's about something like the battle for the king of hell. She didn't say much, and I didn't ask.

Is there going to be a war?

Adam blinked and said:

Who are you fighting with?

Are you stupid?

Hope complained in dissatisfaction:

This is hell, who are you talking about fighting?

Demon.

Adam scratched his hair, he laughed and said:

interesting.

Interesting, right?

Hope also laughed, and she hooked her finger to Adam:

follow me!

The two omnics walked along the steps of the platform to the edge, Hope patted Adam on the shoulder, and pointed to a black stone palace that was being capped at the end of the plain of ashes below.

she says:

Didn't you keep saying that the Mechanic Church should have a sanctuary as magnificent as the Human Church? That's it!

Well!

Adam this came down with interest.

His eyes constantly shifted the focus, as if he had been cast with Eagle Eye, and he saw the palace built on the top of the hill.

The whole thing is made of obsidian and built.

Modeled after the appearance of the Parthenon in Greece, huge columns support the rectangular palace.

Beyond the column, there are some sculptures, which the demons are accustomed to make into their own appearance, and those sculptures make the black palace look a bit evil.

But Adam didn't care.

The fanatical omnic rubbed his hands, and said excitedly:

God of Myriad Chances, I'm beginning to like this place. The owner of this place is extremely generous. He must be a sincere believer of God of Myriad Chances.

Well, I don't think he is.

Hope tilted his head and whispered:

But it doesn't matter, as long as he is a lover.

What did you say?

Adam looked back at Hope, who waved his hand and said:

Let's not talk about that, has the test of the mechanical shrine you designed for recovering data been completed?

not yet.

Adam says:

That thing needs more experiments, it's very unstable. The human witch who helped us said that before the omnics really awakened the soul, the mechanical shrine that recovered the soul would hardly be effective.

After all, this is our first attempt to integrate technology and magic. It's not that simple.

Then you have to work harder.

Hope laughed maliciously, she knocked on Adam's head, and said:

After the temple is completed, it will be used to house the mechanical shrine... You boast in front of the lady, if you don't want to lose face, you have to come up with something.

All right.

Adam rubbed his head and said:

Then I'll go to the lab.

Don't worry.

Looking back, Hope saw that the smart tower placed on the top of the volcano was being reshaped, and one by one the internal modules were being relocated along the scattered guide rails.

The main body of the Smart Tower, like the giant Cybertronian, is transforming into a shape more suitable for the terrain here.

It will be a large manufacturing plant.

Become the first Mech Nexus in the Wasteland.

The little red queen Alicia, who was wearing a red dress and had long golden hair, jumped out of the cabin door.

She looked for Icarus among the crowd in front of her.

Earlier, she was brought back to the Smart Tower by Icarus, and was imprisoned for a period of time because of her bad personality.

But the child finally knew what was going on, and she quickly began to modify her personality parameters and thinking circuits.

And in getting along with each other, she has a deeper attachment to Icarus, the mature and powerful big sister.

She referred to Icarus as mother.

Icarus did not refuse this more intimate title.

Mother!

Alicia quickly found Icarus.

The latter was talking to Merlin, talking about something after the Mechanicus was integrated into the wasteland. Now that this belief has been established, she is responsible for the omnics who follow her.

Um...

Merlin was a little speechless watching the little blond girl bouncing up and running to Icarus' side.

He had seen the omnics under Icarus.

The fanatical Adam, the joking Hope, and Icarus himself, who has completely retained his previous personality, but he has never seen such a lively mechanical life.

Alicia grabbed Icarus's skirt, and she looked at the glasses girl eagerly, like a kitten begging for a hug.

Icarus was also a little helpless.

She knelt down, patted Alicia's hair, and talked with the little red queen.

Merlin noticed that when the girl talked to Icarus, she always looked at him.

and...

A little hostile.

hehe

Merlin smiled, but he didn't say anything.

This artificial intelligence simulates the character and thinking of a child, and Icarus seems to intend to retain the unique character of Little Red Queen.

Xiaohong's hostility towards him probably came more from the loss of her mother being robbed.

Go play with Hope first, okay?

Icarus kissed Alicia on the cheek, and she said:

Mum needs to talk to Merlin about something.

Alicia pouted, dissatisfied.

Under Icarus' gaze, the child finally turned around obediently and left.

But after walking a few steps, she suddenly turned her head, stared at Merlin, and said to Icarus:

I wouldn't call that human father! Don't even think about it!

After speaking, she ran away with her head in her arms, not giving Icarus a chance to teach her a lesson.

...

The glasses girl looked at Xiao Hong who ran away speechlessly, and she began to wonder if she was too kind to this brat?

She looked at Merlin with some embarrassment, and she tried to explain:

She, she's not...

I understand, no need to explain.

Merlin stretched out his hand and interrupted Icarus, he said:

It's good to have a child by your side. This is your own business, Icarus, and I won't interfere.

Um.

Icarus brushed her long blue hair, she smiled at Merlin, she said:

Then continue talking about what happened just now. Zatanna got some soul fragments from Liana, all kinds of them. Before we found you, we did several experiments in the Smart Tower.

Merlin said.

About soul derivation?

right

Icarus followed Merlin on the stairs winding down from Mount Doom, and she said:

Zatana tried a variety of methods, including monster fusion, soul transfer, etc., but the effect was not obvious. We now know how to build a data circuit similar to the thinking of the human brain, and we also know how to encode the soul...

But it's just stuck at the last step.

Icarus says:

The real soul, how to let the machine give birth to its own real soul, just like me.

This is normal.

Merlin walked on the stairs, looking at the ashes plain full of demons under his feet, he said:

Machine and soul, after all, are two completely different existence substances. One relies on real science, while the other belongs to the category of mysticism. After all, they are two independent systems. It is not that simple to break the shackles of the two. .”

But Icarus, my advice to you is...don't be so persistent.

Um?

The glasses girl looked at Merlin, she didn't know what Merlin meant.

Merlin noticed Icarus' doubts, and he explained:

I mean, don't be obsessed with how the soul is born, and don't have to be obsessed with making it exactly the same as the human soul. I can't answer these two questions for you now. I think you and Zatanna walked into a Misunderstanding.

What you have to do is not to let the soul be born in the machine.

Merlin said slowly:

What you have to do is to let the machine have a soul.

this...

The glasses girl was confused, she stopped in place and stopped moving forward.

Merlin looked back at him, and pointed to his head.

He said:

I know that no matter what you encounter, you like to get to the root of the problem. Zatana also has this character. But for the Mechanicus at this stage, exploring the mystery of the birth of the soul is not the most important thing.

You have to expand your church first, spread this belief, and let the omnics who follow you realize that you really have the ability to give them souls.

Merlin snapped his fingers and said:

As for how this kind of soul came from, this question can be waited until you have enough followers, and you can hand it over to them for research, as an extension and exploration of your own 'divinity'.

After every religion expands, there are such institutions within it, trying to find its own orthodoxy.

It's better for them to research results, and it's okay if they don't research, but no matter whether this research has results...it should happen after the omnics get their souls and believe in their beliefs.

Merlin looked at Icarus' slowly stretched expression, and he said softly:

Praise the God of Mechanics.

It will 'give' the machine soul...

Merlin bit the word gift very hard, and Icarus understood what he meant.

She thought about it, and felt that Merlin was right.

Compared with exploring the mystery of the birth of souls, the most important task now is indeed to find souls for omnics first.

The Mechanic Cult was established for the fifth impact of the Fire Seed Source in the present world. If the Mechanic Cult's beliefs cannot be expanded before the fifth impact, then even researching the mysteries of the soul will be useless.

Then we'll...

copy.

Merlin said to Icarus:

How did you get the soul? Copy this process to Adam and Hope. I will teach Zatanna about the improvement of the Horcrux and how to make it later. If you are interested, you can also watch.

Some blank soul fragments, some already formed soul thinking circuits, by using the omnic body as the Horcrux itself...

Merlin frowned, and after thinking for a few seconds, he said:

In terms you understand better...

Think of those soul fragments as a database of memory and logic.

Maybe they will have truly independent souls like you, maybe they are just a rough combination of soul fragments and memory data, but no matter what, you have fulfilled your promise.

Merlin stroked Icarus' long blue hair, and he said:

You gave them souls, real souls.

And doing so will also make the mechanical shrine designed by Adam work.

Icarus blinked:

After the omnic body is destroyed, those souls will return to the wasteland hell with all the memories of the omnic, enter the mechanical shrine, and wait to be reinjected into the new mechanical body.

right!

Merlin took a deep breath, looked back at his own hell, and said:

Isn't this a complete cycle of life? Just like human belief, after death, you can enter heaven or go to hell.

When you fall into this place, the belief of the Mechanicus will no longer be a moon in the water, but a flower in the mirror.

He said to Icarus:

You have a hell that is willing to accept you, and this belief system is complete.

When omnics know that they won't turn into nothingness after death.

When omnics know they have a second life.

When they know that their fate will be affected by what they did in life.

When they start to actively reflect on their own mistakes and values.

When they try to make their lives more exciting and fulfilling because of their beliefs...

Merlin says: