SOTOPIA: Artificial Pseudo-God

Walking out of the hospital, Steven saw Maynard waiting in the car, smoking a cigarette.

"Compared to the time in Clovis, is there anything unusual about him?" The little man's boss said flatly.

Steven clenched the hidden military dagger tightly in his trouser pocket, and replied with a natural expression: "No, he has been very cooperative."

Maynard exhaled a smoke ring and said indifferently: "That's good." He looked up at his subordinates standing outside the car who were sweating profusely, and rarely said "I've worked hard these days" with a smile.

"Maynard," as if he had made up his mind on the key issue, Steven took the initiative to throw out a question that had nothing to do with him: "How long will he be controlled? At present, as an experimental sample, he really has no more Important information. It is better to release him first, and then use it to observe Sotopia's movements."

Maynard didn't comment on this, but replied ambiguously: "It depends on Mr. Greert's opinion, and I can't do anything about it."

Steven felt a little headache: "Mr. Greert will not come to Los Angeles in person, right?"

"I was going to see him. Also, how's your car?"

"It's basically broken, and the repair shop can't help." Steven spread his hands innocently. "Kay said she won't be able to drive in the near future, so she just lent me a car for a while. I have to take her home later."

"For the problem with the car, we will have compensation internally, and it will be much better than your old car." Maynard waved goodbye to Steven, watched the other party pick up Kay and left, and then drove to Roberts Greer The hotel where I stayed.

Roberts Greert looks like a good elitist leader.The appearance is meticulous, upright and solemn, the expression is gentle but not overly enthusiastic, the attitude is serious but not too harsh, and the sense of distance and intimacy are just right.A clean family background, a stable style of work, a glamorous job performance experience, plus an excellent wife and excellent children, make the whole persona look like an illusory aggregation of all the images of social elites.

For each subordinate, this is probably the best situation that can't be met.Except for the inevitable over-reliance under the charismatic authority, even officials at Maynard's level suffer from insufficient information and narrow operational authority, and everything seems to be functioning normally like other institutions.

For the most part, Maynard thought so too.As for why a Sotopia "victim" who accidentally came into view could alarm Roberts, he is not without hypotheses, and these dangerous assumptions are often linked to Agreement 23.

It was here that the secret talks between Roberts and Maynard began.

"Maynard, first tell me your views on Agreement No. 23." The 56-year-old man's voice was mellow and steady, full of reason and prudence enough to overflow.

After thinking for a moment, Maynard began to answer in a regular manner: "Although you are the main force in promoting this agreement, it seems that there are indeed some problems in it. Take the object of our supervision as an example, Sotopia involved in the agreement is in the United States. The institution also includes the Society’s Social Investigation and Experiment Center, as well as their International Intervention Branch. They put the center’s council and the Society’s headquarters in Geneva, not to mention—after all, it is not difficult to understand from the historical background of the Society’s predecessor ——The 'Ethical Review Committee' they established after the agreement was signed has surpassed us in terms of internal supervision powers and responsibilities, and is not within our scope of work."

Roberts listened intently, nodding with a smile of a loving mentor, motioning for Maynard to continue.

"For a long time, the annual report and research filing information submitted to us by the society have been reserved, and even on-site review can hardly reveal any violations. In addition, Sotopia's armed intervention often does not point to us in the United States. At that time, the bank The Fort Building is just a 'control tower', and often directly throws security issues to us according to the agreement. The gun case transferred from the laboratory before was completely left to our investigation. I don't know whether it is to prove our innocence or to avoid trouble. Secretly, he is well-informed, stepping on the loopholes in the agreement to do some dangerous things."

"This is also one of the keys." Roberts took over the topic in due course. "You must be wondering why we signed such an agreement full of flaws, and neither party intends to follow the rules."

Maynard nodded honestly.

"This is because the No. 23 agreement itself is not only a product of compromise, but also a two-way trap. The 'agreement' can only work in a relatively stable situation; for the status quo full of variables, there is no such constraint at all. Practical significance. Sotopia has been stationed in our country for nine years. Whether it is us or they, they have tried to use this as the starting point of the war from the very beginning, and calculated how to destroy the other party on the premise of gaining a moral advantage. Now, we are in this At the critical point. Giving them a certain degree of freedom is not so much a concession, but rather a reasonable and legal excavation of the details that can make it collapse from the inside in the space we give up.”

"Is that why we maintain a conservative attitude? However, judging from the situation of the society alone, the degree of participation and the resources contributed by our country are already considerable. At least it should be able to influence the trend of Sotopia."

"You can't say that." Roberts stood up and poured Maynard a cup of black tea.The finely crafted ceramics collided slightly, but the melodious sound failed to serve as a natural adjustment to the serious atmosphere. "At least in the scientific community, those idealistic pedants and cosmopolitan radicals are on the same front, full of enthusiasm for the reorganization of this order. 'Knowledge sharing and usage guidance', what a high-sounding rhetoric and name As far as the first half is concerned, I have no opinion; but the latter directly means the subversion of the existing situation. The United States is not the same as it was half a century ago. If even the authority of knowledge and technology disappears in the deconstruction— —Oh, it doesn't even need to be 'disappeared', even if it is only weakened, the consequences will be unimaginable. The results of their so-called 'international intervention' are actually similar to this, but the picture presented is more intuitive."

Maynard frowned and expressed his doubts without reservation: "Even so, the authorities still acquiesced in Sotopia's landing. In addition, there is only one Sotopia, but there are many voices and even formed organizations that oppose it."

Roberts laughed: "I know what you're trying to say. But it has to be said: The 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' rule doesn't apply when it comes to Sotopia. We rushed to get through after Silver Castle." A series of agreements to legitimize some of their actions, and even guarantee the safety of their institutions and personnel under certain circumstances, are actually for the interests of the United States. Those opposing organizations do not consider your position when they create chaos. Control After this part of the loose organization, we have a way to concentrate on dealing with Sotopia, the 'culprit' who introduced variables."

After several years, Maynard finally heard the confession of the superior who was hidden under the false peace.

"In the next few years, some people may evaluate us as 'conservatives' who hinder the progress of history, state-centrists who turn their backs on globalization, and murderers who kill human beings' attempts to advance society in the cradle. Such Notoriety can come to anyone, after all, the country's "safety valve" is needed at any time. But they may not be able to recognize the fact that this country was indeed the backbone of the world's integration, but the motivation for its behavior was from the very beginning. It is impure. Interests, who can deny the interests of the country? Now, she has lost the ability to fully control the situation, which is a more dangerous situation than being on the sidelines. To be honest, I don't know the conclusions made by Sotopia Right or wrong, even willing to affirm to some extent their preservation and development of knowledge, but we are not ready for all of this.”