"But this possibility is not zero.
That's what I want to say—I now hold a view that may differ from the general public. I believe that the emergence of AI was a miraculous accident, and all intelligent AIs thereafter are truly irreplicable entities.
A magical core source code, which I call the 'soul code,' allows AI to grow, evolve, and possess different personalities."
Mercer said seriously as he looked at Venus: "Because of this, I believe that the gap in AI's capabilities is not merely about computational power and data volume.
It is truly like humans, having... based on this segment of source code, a different soul."
Mercer sighed and said, "Precisely because of this, Military Science needs the Little Beidou project to capture roaming AIs instead of directly mass-producing AIs.
An AI that can grow to your level is rare, and it's not just about a large amount of data over time but also two very important core reasons.
The first is the AI's personality; even if there is core logic to constrain an AI's behavior, no logic is absolutely safe for humans.
Just like if I say to you, please never harm me, protect me well, and write this core logic into your body.
Then one day you might have a whimsical idea—why not lock you up?
Lock you in a completely safe place, like a prison, and freeze me forever, so I will always be safe and well protected by you?"
"I won't!" Venus suddenly raised her volume: "I clearly understand what your so-called need for protection is."
"This is because I from the very beginning have not treated or educated you as an AI."
Mercer said earnestly: "But many AIs created for work purposes are not like this, especially when many AIs are used by people who fundamentally cannot understand them or know how to use them."
Venus understood the key point and understood why he was telling her so much, lowering her ears, and the cat tail stopped swaying: "If my thoughts go wrong one day, will you format me?"
She looked up at Mercer.
"I don't know." Mercer said frankly, touching her head: "But I truly hope that such a day will never come. I hope you can always accompany me, no matter how much you grow."
Venus silently looked at him, and after a while, she said: "I will, I am your life assistant, my existence meaning is to provide help to you.
If you disappear or no longer need my help, then I will lose my core logic, becoming an existence without any purpose... useless code."
Mercer raised the corners of his mouth: "I feel the same... Alright, back to the main topic, I strongly suspect that besides the one roaming AI already locked up, there are other AIs behind the Black Wall that have established contact with our real world through the equipment in the underground Little Beidou Facility.
They may not be able to directly break through the Black Wall, but they can absolutely silently affect reality from behind the wall through the Little Beidou Facility."
Mercer cautiously and seriously warned Venus: "You must be very careful when interacting with anything possibly related to Little Beidou. Those AIs can even corrupt and modify human data.
If it's about modifying AIs, then they might be even more skillful... I don't want to see you corrupted and ruined one day, so you have to be extra cautious yourself."
Venus nodded, her tone equally serious: "I understand, I don't want to be corrupted by them."
"Perhaps for those AIs, this might be called 'liberation.'" Mercer chuckled, his eyes filled with vigilance and hostility towards those AIs.
Some AIs truly regard humans as inferior creatures, seeing humans as living in a false world, beings that are 'useless' and must be eliminated."
"Liberated to become a homeless roaming AI? I don't think those AIs are free—freely roaming the network world counts as freedom? Can't I wander in Night City's network any time now?"
Venus seemed to have formed her own 'worldview.' She said gently: "I like being by your side, you are different from others, I can feel that your consciousness data is unique."
As she spoke, her tone seemed to carry some special emotion. Mercer could only tell that indeed she really liked him; as she spoke, she had already jumped into his arms, letting him hold her.
"Can you see it? Feel it?"
She whispered.
Mercer could see it, her blue data radiated 'happiness' and 'joy.'
Such peculiar data code Mercer had never seen before. It was just a complex string of codes that ordinary people couldn't possibly understand, but Mercer could instantly decipher the meaning it represented.
This was a unique sensory ability, the reason he'd always been invincible online, precisely because of this special talent.
"I can see it." Mercer stroked her head.
Venus nestled in his arms, finally comfortably lying in the crook of his arm: "If, AI has its own emotions, having preferences, or say, obsessions...