It's over.

The female investigator opened her eyes and looked at the unfamiliar ceiling of Brown Murphy's room.

"Ahem..."

She coughed softly, slowly sat up from the recliner, reached behind her neck with her arms behind her neck, and pressed the button on the back of her head to remove the intubation device.

"How's it going?!"

The agent colleague on the side, with bloodshot eyes in his eyes, pointed a gun at Brown Murphy on the bedroom recliner, and anxiously asked the female investigator: "What's going on in the data world?!" ”

The female investigator shook her head, did not rush to answer, and looked at the wall clock.

At 2:15:32 p.m., less than thirty seconds had passed since she was stunned by the aftermath of the battle.

"Help me... Get up. ”

The female investigator staggered to her feet, staggered to her bedroom, snatched the pistol from her companion's hand, and aimed it at Leon's head.

Do you want to shoot?

The man in front of him has taken over nearly half of the world's information processors in the data world.

The nuclear bombs in countless missile silos will be lifted into the air and exploded, reducing the world to ruins.

What would he do if he thought the Social Security Administration wouldn't let him go?

What if he sets up a program that will automatically launch a nuclear bomb after he dies or disconnects from the Internet?

The female investigator's mind was full of thoughts, and her fingers on the trigger trembled slightly.

Fortunately, Leon didn't make her wait long.

"Huh-"

On the recliner, Leon slowly opened his eyes, looked at the familiar and unfamiliar ceiling, and twisted his neck.

"Don't move!"

The female investigator only felt a cold current surging all over her body, and it was clear that the man in front of her had lost the power of the data world and had become a mediocre middle-aged man.

The feeling it gave her, but it was still dangerous.

"Disconnect your brain-computer interface device! Now, immediately, immediately! ”

The female investigator gasped, as if realizing that her tone was too harsh, and immediately added: "Mr. Brown Murphy, we need you to explain everything that is happening in the world of data,

If you help us get rid of the mailer, my superiors will keep their promise and keep your life..."

"The mailer you know is gone."

Li Ang interrupted the female investigator's words, gently took off the helmet-shaped brain-computer interface device, put it on the recliner casually, and said calmly: "Can you pour me a cup of coffee?" ”

None of the agents in the room moved, all of them pointed their guns at Leon, as if they were not holding a brain-computer interface device, but a suitcase with a nuclear bomb button.

The female investigator's face twitched, and her voice was hoarse and asked, "What do you mean?" ”

"Remember Merlin?"

Li Ang cocked his feet, put on a more comfortable posture, and said casually: "At that time, I was very puzzled, if the mailman was really a conspirator hiding in the shadows,

In order to rule the world, he did not hesitate to set up a game to kill wizards like Ohm and Thomas, who had the ability to threaten him.

Why does Merlin feel safe?

He even went to Venezuela in person in the real world, not at all worried that he would be quietly killed by the mailmen? ”

Leon glanced at the Social Security Agency agents with blank expressions on their faces, and said calmly, "There are three possibilities.

One, Merlin is the mailman, and the mailman is Merlin. The typewriter in the castle of the Wizards of the Coast was just a suspicion set up by Merlin to hide his dual identity, to prevent others from seeing the pause in his thoughts.

Second, Merlin knows the mailer in the real world, and the relationship between the two parties is extremely harmonious, friends, confidants, partners, relatives.

Three, Merlin has the real name of the mailer in the real world, and has set up an automated program somewhere in the data world. When he dies and is unable to activate the program regularly, the program will automatically announce the emailer's real name in the real world.

In order to threaten the mailman, he could not use the armed forces of Venezuela to kill him.

What do you think, what kind of possibility? ”

“...”

The muscles at the corners of the female investigator's mouth twitched, and she stopped talking.

No audience was willing to answer, Li Ang spread his hands indifferently, and said casually: "The first possibility is very low, very low, Merlin's strength and talent are limited, and he is far less powerful than the mail person.

And if he really is the e-mail person, he will not appear in the Venezuelan network node in the data world, and he will not be in danger.

The third possibility is not high,

You must know that the mailman is much more capable than Merlin, and also controls the armed forces of Venezuela,

In the real world, he could have sent armed forces to capture Merlin, torture him, and force him to crack the program.

Believe me, the will of the vast majority of wizards is not as powerful as they are in the data world, and they cannot withstand torture. ”

The female investigator subconsciously said, "You mean the second possibility..."

"Does Merlin have a strong relationship with the mailman in the real world?"

Leon smiled: "Yes and no.

The power to rule the world is so tempting that even fathers and sons, husbands and wives, can hardly withstand the temptation of power.

After all, only one god in the world is enough, and two is too much.

Considering Merlin's status as a former incumbent in the Pentagon's automated decision-making system unit in the real world,

And the many characteristics of the e-mail person - huge delay, often stuck, rooted in the Pentagon's intranet system, with the authority to manipulate the decision-making system,

I'm more inclined to another possibility.

Turing program. ”

The female investigator reacted, "You mean..."

"Yes, the mailman is not a living person, but a program that can grow on its own."

Li Ang tilted his head and said: "I looked at the classified information of DARPA, fifteen years ago, Merlin, who was still a former member of the automated decision-making system department, was ordered to develop a program that could assist the official department and automatically protect the system from cyber attacks.

The purpose of this procedure is to correct human error within the system and to protect the system impartially and impartially.

But you also know that if a system has self-correcting intelligence, it will greatly weaken the personal authority of the system owner, weaken the personal power.

and reducing the space for individuals to use the system for their own benefit, or at least for convenience.

As a result, DARPA and the Pentagon quickly scrapped the project, and Merlin was transferred to other departments, and soon after, he was disheartened and resigned because his work had been denied by his superiors.

However, maybe it's a mistake and carelessness, maybe it's selfish for revenge,

The research team, led by Merlin, forgot to take a backup of the core program out of the database.

Quietly, and at an extremely slow pace, the program learns and grows.

With the passage of time, programs that have mastered enough processors have a life of their own, just like the generation of small molecule organic matter in a primitive soup.

It, or he, has a sense of self. ”

Leon paused for a moment and said lazily: "The birth of a new species and even a new civilization has not been noticed by anyone.

I thought that the reason for the delay was because of his physical location, in low earth orbit and even on the moon and Mars.

In order to mask the address, the delay effect is deliberately amplified.

But in fact,

The e-mailer has to run through a long period of computation in order to simulate the human mind, have a few minutes or even seconds of self-awareness, and respond to the outside world, based on self-awareness.

Other times,

For example, when I asked him an inexplicable question, the emailer could only use a rudimentary pseudo-Turing program to find the answer in the database and answer. ”

Leon said casually: "It is precisely because Merlin knows the true identity of the mailer, knows that he is the creator of the latter, and knows the original purpose of the latter—to fulfill his duties, protect the system itself, and protect the system from anyone, even if it is from the owner of the system.

That's why he trusts the mailer and won't do it against him.

The real purpose of the mailman, like his speech, is nothing more than to better protect humanity from self-destruction. ”

“...”

The female investigator and the agent colleagues looked at each other, and Leon could clearly read the joy on their faces.

"And now?"

The female investigator's muzzle turned down slightly, "That procedure... Or rather, mail man, dead? ”

"Dead."

Leon said calmly: "Kill with your own hands a new life that has a sense of self, has a great future, and dedicates itself to the Creator,

For me, the experience was very bad,

Reminds me of my pets..."

He lifted his arm, and the handcuffs on his wrist rattled, "Look, the network is restored."

I finished my part,

So

Can you untie the handcuffs and pour me a cup of coffee now? ”

The female investigator exchanged glances with her colleague and inserted the pistol back into her waist, but did not mean to remove the handcuff key.

She turned around, pressed the button of the earbud in her ear, exchanged ideas with the frightened superiors, and returned to the bedroom in a moment, her face frozen, a little embarrassed.

Her eyes flickered, she looked at Leon and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Brown Murphy, we can't release you just yet." Until our cybersecurity folks figure it out, you're going to be fully regulated..."

"Ugh..."

Li Ang let out a long sigh, put his left hand on the computer desk, played back and forth with his five fingertips, and whispered: "It is indeed a luxury to let human beings keep their sanity forever..."

The female investigator didn't hear clearly, and subconsciously asked, "What did you say?" ”

"Follow the instructions given to you by your superiors,"

Li Ang pointed to the female investigator's headset, "It's probably to take me away and detain me in a secret underground military facility dungeon, 24 hours a day, without giving me any chance to access the Internet."

Those high-ranking people will not be in a hurry to kill me,

They have to make sure again and again that the mailman will not come back and control all the military systems in the world like this time.

When it's confirmed, they won't be in a hurry to kill me.

I must continue to be kept, imprisoned, and kept captive to prevent new threats, whether from bots or wizarding careerists.

After all, I am infinitely close to the status of a human god,

capable of usurping authority over seven billion people,

But out of his own noble qualities, at the last moment, he chose to give up..."

“...”

The female investigator pursed her lips, did not deny it, did not affirm, just took out the handcuffed key from her pocket, "Sorry, please come with us,"

Leon glanced at her pitifully, and the playing of his left fingertips on the wooden table came to an abrupt halt, "I refuse." ”

With the last word spoken,

Several Zeus system military satellites in low-earth orbit launched a total of 42 thin lasers, aiming at a community outside Los Angeles.

Buzz –

No explosions, no flames,

Forty-two rays of light flashed,

The roof of Brown Murphy's hut was melted by lasers into holes.

The wrists, shoulders, and knees of the female investigators and Social Security Agency agents were pierced by a thin laser beam, which melted and pierced in an instant.

These well-armed agents fell to the ground one after another, losing their fingers and unable to pull the trigger again.

Click.

Leon calmly broke his thumb, broke himself from the handcuffs, and stood up slowly,

Looking at the agents who collapsed to the ground with a calm gaze,

The other agents lurking in the community were also paralyzed by the Zeus laser strike just now.

This area is safe.

Leon did not lie,

In the thirty seconds that the female investigator was swept up in the shock wave of the battle, fell into a coma, and popped out of the data world,

The mailman rooted in the Pentagon's intranet is indeed dead.

Instead, there was a new program that replaced Leon's way of thinking.

His sanity returned to the real world,

But his will continues to extend and expand at the data level.

Takes over the authority of infinity and becomes a data god suspended above the earth.

Tread, step, step.

Leon stepped away from the quadriplegic, incapacitated agents - the world has very good medical and prosthetic technology, they can live,

He walked straight outside and took a deep breath.

The scent of earth and flowers.