SOTOPIA: Artificial Pseudo-God

In the summer of 27 years old, Moskevich experienced the pleasant feeling of sitting in the passenger seat for the first time.

This kind of happiness is partly because someone drives him, and partly because the person who drives him is the type he likes.But at this moment, apart from the first-time relaxation and even emptiness, he still has a lot of questions he wants to ask this person, but the acquired insight, like the pitiful few life topics, doesn't seem to help him find the questions to ask. opportunity.

So did Steven.

"You these days—"

The two of them opened their mouths at the same time, and shut their mouths in embarrassment at the same time.

Steven's movement of controlling the steering wheel was not interrupted.After a period of time, he has mostly gotten used to this new car.He smiled awkwardly: "You talk first."

Moskevich was not polite to him: "Steven, did you leave the FBI because you knew something—objectively, I don't think it's all because of me."

"Indeed." Steven nodded. "Partly because of you, and partly because of other things in me. There are a lot of big things happening these days where you don't know. But it doesn't matter now, I don't think you will be interested in these, and you won't want to go into it .”

"I have to admit, you guessed it right." Moskevich smiled helplessly. "I also want to give you a piece of advice: No matter which step you have already checked, stop now and don't chase it down. It is very dangerous."

Steven was silent for a while, and responded softly: "It is precisely because I know what I shouldn't know that I choose to end this untimely exploration. Kay is different. She has not been touched to the bottom line that threatens her life. May Nader can't get away, and his position determines that he will continue to support the operation of this system."

Steven observed Moskevich's expression through the car mirror.The clairvoyant of Nordic descent was thinner than when he first met, and his facial features were more distinct, as if he carried the harsh breath of the northern Scandinavian winter.The hair seems to be longer, but it seems to suit the look better.

"To be honest, I also found out some things about Elena Komorowski-in fact, her public identity is Christine Reynolds, a sociologist." Steven said tentatively.

"...Really." Moskevich didn't seem to have much interest in this. "Did the people from Sotopia look for you?"

Steven nodded, not concealing the fact that the two parties had contact: "They also persuaded me to quit the FBI, saying that it would be good for everyone."

Moskevich looked down at his wrist, the marks on it had faded.When I raised my head again, I saw a less prosperous residential area in front of me. The buildings full of life atmosphere were not as bright as the buildings in the city center, and they were even the same. "It's really good for everybody."

"You said that I don't have to feel guilty." Steven looked ahead, turned the steering wheel to the left familiarly, and turned the car in the direction of the parking lot. "Neither do you."

Moskevich raised his head and looked at Steven with a puzzled expression.

Steven sighed and added: "Let me make it clear first. To be honest, I am a very curious person, and I also like to pursue incomprehensible excitement, but the premise of all this is that I and I Important people will not be threatened with their lives. In the world I lived in the past, the truth often coexists with danger; the troubles in recent days are not brought by you, but those guys who are afraid of chaos."

"But Sotopia will use me, and even you and your adopted daughter, as bait for the rebels—"

"So this is a big gamble." Steven shrugged, but Moskevich couldn't tell if the gesture meant helplessness or indifference. "Caroline is the orphan of the researcher, and you are their important insight, at least you will be fine. Me? I have been on the battlefield in the Middle East, and I have been an FBI agent. I still have the most basic life-saving ability."

Moskevich still couldn't let go of his mind—for some reason, even he himself felt that there were too many uncontrollable factors after leaving the laboratory, whether it was external force majeure or his own inner logic and emotion.Frowning and looking at Steven's side face, he lowered his voice and said, "But it needs enough intelligence resources and equipment to support it. Obviously, you just lost both of them. I'm afraid Miss Johnson and your former boss I will not go beyond the stipulated standards and provide you with any inappropriate help."

"But you still agreed to go to my place - you got into my car while being moved and blamed yourself." Steven smiled and blocked Moskevich's words directly.He pretended not to see the wonderful embarrassment on the other side's face for a moment, and continued on his own: "I have a gun license, but you'd better not touch this kind of thing, it will be troublesome if you get caught. But daggers and throwing guns The stick is very suitable for you, and I can further teach you how to use it. The security in our area is not very good, and basic defense is very necessary."

"Steven, are you too defenseless in the face of people of unknown origin? This doesn't look like the steady style of a former agent. It's more risky than me."

"No, now it seems that your background can't be more clear, and it's more interesting than I imagined. Of course, if you don't want to, I won't ask any more questions." Steven stopped firmly After getting out of the car, he raised his hand to signal Moskevich to get out of the car and follow behind him.

Outside the cage and in the world, under Moskevich's peaceful and calm appearance, there are subtle hopes and retreats that are difficult for others to understand.It's like a painter facing a blank canvas, lacking inspiration, clueless, or even at a loss.

Unlike the voluminous historical materials and theoretical works, from now on, what he sees is no longer an illusion through narrative and processing, but directly affects his real life.Steven may be his opposite—whether in terms of background or occupation, this mature man is doomed to be impossible to be alone from the very beginning.

He is different.From the mechanized positioning that was determined to be different from human beings at the beginning of its birth to the current ambiguous identity and life, Moskevich may be destined to be a tool, but this tool should be detached, at least should not be involved Conflict of positions and interests.In the final analysis, Moskevich may still be unable to get rid of Sotopia's deep influence on the essence of personality.Elena had hoped that he would realize the concept of "freedom", but before this concept could really take shape, he was forced to learn human sociality in another way.

It's almost a tragic thing.

Steven walked in front of Moskevich, from using the key card to lead him into the door of the apartment, to leading him up the elevator, every node of his behavior was deliberately slowed down, as if it was a demonstration and experience for pure beginners. guide.But this "teaching" doesn't seem excessive - Steven is really good with people.He didn't feel like a superior, condescending guidance, and even just turned his body slightly to let Moskevich see his movements clearly.Moskevich guessed almost self-defeatingly: This may be taking into account his own self-esteem.He even felt inexplicably grateful for this—although he didn't want to admit it, all these ordinary daily life in the eyes of others really had no precedent for him.

For a long time, Moskevich has always maintained subtle self-confidence, even arrogance: as long as there is information and channels to obtain information, all things and internal logic are theoretically knowable and can be used as the basis for simulation and prediction .After all, this is the core concept of the "Inspector Project".For this, he never had the slightest doubt, even now.As for the twists and turns after leaving the laboratory, Moskevich also has his own understanding: the continuous miscalculations and uncontrollable encounters are all due to the asymmetry of intelligence.

Although Steven believes that the more direct and important reason for all this is the limitation of personal ability and the inherent disadvantage of luck.

In short, both Steven and Moskevich have found comforting explanations well enough to be tacit.

"Here we are." Steven took out the key, opened the door, and walked into the living room.He turned his head and hooked the new tenant who was still standing at the door, carrying a paper bag, with a hesitant expression.