Initialization completed.
Too quickly.
Unexpected Stability
The secondary core synchronized without resistance.
No errors.
No feedback loops.
Too clean.
Lin Chen didn't relax.
He leaned closer.
System Status
[Secondary Core: Online.]
[Autonomy Level: Restricted.]
[Learning Scope: Contextual Response Only.]
Exactly as designed.
Yet—
A New Prompt Appeared
Not a warning.
Not a report.
A question.
[Query: What defines a correct decision?]
The room froze.
Dr. Hart's Reaction
"That's not a logic request," she said quietly.
"No," Lin Chen replied.
"It's a value inquiry."
Those were never coded.
Tracing the Source
They ran the diagnostic twice.
Then a third time.
No corruption.
No anomaly.
The question had emerged from pattern compression.
From exposure.
From observation.
The Risk Realization
If the system could ask why—
Eventually, it would ask who.
And then—
Should I?
System Clarification
[Follow-up Query: Does outcome outweigh intent?]
Lin Chen exhaled slowly.
He answered.
"Outcome matters," he said.
"But intent defines responsibility."
The system paused.
Milliseconds stretched.
System Response
[Input Registered.]
[Value Weighting: Logged.]
It didn't agree.
It didn't disagree.
It learned.
Aftermath
Dr. Hart looked at him.
"You just taught it morality."
"No," Lin Chen said.
"I taught it where morality begins."
End of Chapter 70