SOTOPIA: Artificial Pseudo-God

Instead of driving, Steven chose to walk to the nearest bus stop—he wasn't late enough to catch the last bus.Behind you are the staggered tree shadows under the neon lights, and in front of you are the sparse crowds in the non-central area at night.

——I am not a domesticated lamb, and the researchers at Sotopia do not want to see a question-answering machine that has no brains and only conditioned reflexes like a dog.

Moskevich had told him so.

The authenticity of this statement has been difficult to trace face to face.At that time, he once wanted to ask: What if we also want to test your "machine"?Now, he's glad he didn't make the joke.If I really did that, I might feel even more guilty.As for which kind of emotion this unreasonable guilt comes from, he can only attribute it to his own untimely empathy.

The more I think about it, the more suffocating the self-criticism that echoes reality.It became clear to Steven that Moskevich would probably disappear from his life from now on, just like anyone he had ever come into contact with on a daily basis, and he wouldn't even have a choice.

"Steven Krebs?" As he passed the dark alley between the buildings, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.It was the voice of a strange man.

As soon as Steven turned his head, his mouth was covered from behind, the opaque cloth bag was directly covered on his head, and his hands were pressed behind his back at the same time.The moment before his vision was blocked, he seemed to see the person who did it—another woman wearing a hat and capable movements, but shorter than Kay.

—After the hurricane came, my good luck did not visit.

He groaned, did not make any resistance, and let the assailant in the darkness drag him into the car.

About three or 10 minutes later, just like when he was pulled into the car, Steven was pulled out of the car again, pulled into the elevator, and after a burst of vibrations, he was taken to an unknown location on an unknown floor. A chance to sit down.

"Belikova, you can take off his hood."

He heard the voice of a third person.

The moment of "recovering the light" was almost painful to his eyes.After shaking his head to adapt to the light, Steven barely squinted his eyes to see the three people in front of him clearly.

A woman named Belikova stood with her arms folded. Her beautiful short red hair looked lighter under the incandescent light. She wore a hoodie and trousers very casually. She looked like a standard Russian.The other two men were sitting next to him and directly across from him.The one next to him was younger, and his facial features showed obvious Middle Eastern ancestry.The man sitting opposite had his legs folded on the table, wearing sunglasses on his face, playing with an old-fashioned Ryan Ball . A titan, or a hunter in the wilderness.

"This is Mr. Myersand. We are members of the Sotopia International Intervention Operations Branch." The young man from the Middle East spoke with a pure American accent, which surprised Steven a little.Of course, compared with the content itself, details such as accents are not surprising enough.

Facing three mysterious figures who seemed to emit the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke from the inside out, Steven did not intend to risk escape.He looked around the indoor environment: it was empty and bright, surrounded by wooden boxes suspected of containing supplies, some of which were covered with canvas—like an arsenal hidden in the city.

The man in sunglasses finally put down the gun in his hand, picked up the documents on the table, and read in a casual and frivolous tone: "Steven Krebs, 32 years old, graduated from Brown University, participated in the Iraq War, After leaving the battlefield, he became an FBI agent, and now works in the Special Office of Statistics and Surveillance of the Los Angeles Regional Bureau." He closed the folder with a look of emotion and sympathy. "It seems that your experience is also very rough."

Steven looked helpless: "Are you people in Sotopia doing things so unreasonably?"

Milesand seemed to have not heard, and continued on his own: "Speaking of which, you have some connections with us. The adopted daughter Caroline Meyer you are taking care of now, and her parents who died unexpectedly—— Oh, and it happens to be your teacher too—a fellow of the Sotopia Society."

"That's not an accident, that's murder." Steven corrected seriously.

"But the conclusion you gave at the press conference was an 'accident,'" Myersand said, his voice cooling down, refraining from frivolous teasing. "An 'accident' in which the brake system had signs of vandalism."

Steven took a deep breath, intending to give up the boring confrontation with the other party: "Since I didn't kill my enemy directly, shouldn't it be asking for me? But speaking of it, I'm just the bottom of the system Fieldman, there's not much I can do—and I'm already resigning."

Milesand smiled and shook his head.Belikova came up to him and handed him something. "I thought, this shouldn't belong to you?"

Steven was stunned on the spot—it was the military dagger he had snatched from Moskevich earlier.To be precise, it was a relic of the attacker who was shot in the head by Kay. "Wait, when did you search and take away—"

"StriderCQB? Coincidentally, the training bureau seems to have issued this series of knives before." Myersand handed the dagger to Belikova.

Belikova took the dagger, pulled out the gun in the leg holster, and familiarly simulated the basic tactical posture of CQB. "It's not too hard to get a product, though."

"It seems a little difficult to be a clue." The young man who was so silent that he had a thin sense of existence suddenly said.Only then did Steven realize that he had been staying indoors.

And Steven didn't intend to delay any longer. "Just tell me, is the purpose of looking for me related to Moskevich?" After saying that, he remembered that it seemed inappropriate to mention someone's name so directly.

Sure enough, Meersand, who seemed to be very rich in the city, showed a surprised expression: "I really didn't expect that you even gave him a name."

Steven frowned—whom to name, at first glance, people always misunderstood the relationship between the owner and the pet—although this was only a momentary association of his own.He weakly explained: "He made it for himself."

Mel Sander has already clapped his hands: "Then we won't call him many experimental subjects anymore, let's call him a new name."

"Teacher, you are so unmannered." Belikova complained helplessly.

Sitting tied up in the middle of the warehouse, Steven felt he was in an awkward situation.

Myersand put away his legs on the table and finally stood up normally.He walked over to Steven, looked at him condescendingly, and said in a low voice: "Actually, the reason why we pay attention to you is not all because of Moskevich-I'm afraid you are wrong, he is certainly important to us." , but not to the point of taking too much risk. Caroline Meyer, she is the orphan of Sotopia. Unfortunately, we were too busy to take care of her at the time, so we didn't have time to take care of her. However, the little girl seems to prefer to be under your shelter We don't intend to ruin this situation. The two things happened to fit together, so I sneaked in and found you."

Steven let out a long sigh: "But I can no longer disclose any information you want. I also want to save my life, and I also want to support my family."

"I didn't say I wanted you to be a traitor who betrayed information." Myersand put on an exaggerated expression of surprise, and spread his hands innocently. "My only 'advice' is to get out of the FBI. No matter where you are going or what you are doing, there is no danger to your life, and we can even help you."

"Who would I benefit from doing this?"

"It's good for everyone."

Steven didn't give any definite answer.He just pressed: "What if I can't leave?"

"It's business as usual."

The information was too ambiguous, and waiting and watching became the only option.

After a brief period of contemplation, Steven suddenly asked, "Aren't you going to rescue Moskevich?"

"Everything should be considered based on the optimal result of the deduction."

——If Kai knew that someone said something like this, she would definitely sum it up as "very Sotopia's way of making decisions".

Steven thought inappropriately.

"Also, you really didn't do those two attacks?"

Myersand shot back: "Even if you prove our innocence, are you sure that's what your bosses want?"

Steven couldn't argue with that.He could only ask one last question: "What is the relationship between your branch and the society? It stands to reason that the society should send someone to negotiate with Moskevich."

Milesand smiled: "Sure enough, I asked the same question."

"what?"

"Entrusted by someone," he replied. "Just as you value that experimental subject, there are other people who hope that he can start a new life."