Officer Maloney muttered incoherently over morning tea. He looked up from his refreshing drink and lazily glanced at a row of monitors in his cramped office. As usual, there was silence in Dave-156's room. Then he stared intently at a screen. Instead of reporting that there is no criminal activity or showing some entertainment, it is filled with police notes about a certain case. Perhaps it would be more accurate to use the word "event". Technically, it was a criminal charge, but some military figures he had never even met exerted influence to force his captain to erase all official records of the incident. Considering the highly automated nature of the society they live in, this means that it may not have happened as well.

However, Ma Hongsheng did not let go of this matter. He didn't know why. Maybe it's because it's the first real puzzle he's encountered in his six years as a police officer? Maybe it was his sense of justice that was nagging him that something wasn't right. It could also be his stubbornness, or his unwillingness to give up halfway. It is likely that it is a combination of these factors. Whatever the reason, there was always something that drove the officer to dig deeper and uncover what really happened to that strange girl named Maggie. or magazines. He never knew her real name, and it was unlikely that he would know it through official channels, so he could only use nicknames and aliases.

In fact, this is not entirely true. She does have an accomplice or a boyfriend or something. There's nothing suspicious about Joe Mulligan, but Maloney's instincts tell him that this guy should be investigated anyway. He didn't seem to have much else to do, so he used his security clearance to pull up Mulligan's personal records. The man, 22 years old, was born and raised at Dave 156, never worked, and both parents were alive and as unremarkable as their son. Everyone says that this person is just a drop in the sea of people living in this big city. However, his transaction history shows some very suspicious activity.

Investigating Mulligan's past expenditures didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary, until a few weeks ago, when he donated a large sum of money to a man named Dave Willabong. Maloney immediately investigated the man and found that he had received similar gifts from dozens of people. The full amount he received enabled him to purchase an old abandoned factory building. Considering that Willabon doesn't have a job, and he appears to be crowdfunding for a business, that's pretty impressive.

However, he and all of his financial backers (for no better reason) have reportedly been detained or killed for conspiring against the state. These are serious allegations, certainly not expected by Maloney. Then, he vaguely remembered hearing about it from a colleague who worked in a nearby substation. He made a note for him to follow up with his colleague later, but for now he was more concerned about whether Mulligan was involved in the mess. More specifically, how it failed just two days after his donation, and how he was the only one to leave.

Officer Maloney wasn't really sure how to make sense of the information. The only thing he knew for sure was that Joe was involved in something he couldn't understand. After meeting and talking to this man, it's hard to imagine that he's a die-hard criminal mastermind or some secret agent sent to infiltrate this group of potential people. It's not just because of his overly casual and indecisive demeanor, but also because of his physique. Undoubtedly, this is the physique of a commoner who has never lifted anything heavier than a teacup. Even the laziest police forces require their members to maintain a minimum level of personal health. A government spy would surely be at least as fit as Officer Maloney, otherwise they would have gasped for breath in the split second when anything inconsequential happened.

That was the police's initial judgment, but investigating Joe Mulligan's finances further revealed a completely different problem. His account was involved in thousands of transactions with an unbelievable number of people, which were then immediately refunded at the sender's request. The numbers alone are distressing, but the amount of money involved is simply incredible. The funds that are actually transferred back and forth are so small that Butte

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The banking software of D-4 treats it as zero. However, Mr. Mulligan's personal account had an extra 200 pounds, even though it should not have been exchanged for any money.

Officer Maloney had a strong premonition about what was happening. He underwent a mandatory, fairly detailed course on various aspects of computer science and virtual reality during his time at the Academy. This knowledge is essential for law enforcement officers to fully perform their duties in the over-digitized society in which humans live, especially in the Third British Empire. Thanks to this, Maloney was able to deduce that the trades triggered a fuzzy round-off error, resulting in the funds actually appearing out of thin air.

The officer was reluctant to admit it, but the man who discovered and exploited this flaw was an absolute genius. His memories of the banking system taught him that personal finances were handled in a robust and complex manner. It is impossible for a person to just enter a bunch of numbers and get free money because the system's audit of their past transactions will immediately detect tampering. Not only does this distributed rounding error method bypass these protections, but it doesn't trigger any automatic alerts because the affected individuals' balances aren't technically altered.

So, is this Joe Mulligan a super smart hacker? Definitely not. Ma Hongsheng is sure that this is not the case, mainly because all these transactions happen in a matter of seconds. The human brain can't do so much in such a short amount of time, and the brain doesn't have room for automatic scripts or third-party software to alter input to the machine's banking interface. The only plausible explanation Officer Maloney can think of is that this feat of processing power somehow involved artificial thinking, a hint that cannot be taken lightly. It's one thing to control factory machines and low-level logic blocks of non-player characters in virtual reality games, but what about fully self-aware AI? This is very illegal in the 3BE space. So much so that the police stipulate that law enforcement officers notify the military as soon as they notice even the slightest sign of the situation.

And so things went back to square one. Seed. At least, the puzzles that Maloney had collected were gradually becoming clearer. As far as he knew, either the military, the government, or some of the big corporations they supported were conducting extremely shady experiments involving artificial intelligence. Considering that all the suspicious banking activity is coming from Joe's virtual reality pod, this seems like the most logical next step to investigate. Mahoni could easily imagine a scenario in which the machine, with or without Mulligan's consent, has become a host of some sort of self-aware digital consciousness. He was trapped in the middle of it all, and the girl named Maggie was right next to him.

In a moment of clarity, the officer stepped back from the terminal and looked down at his cup of tea, which had already cooled. Is he really going to get involved in something that is clearly outside his purview? It would be very unwise to do so, given the potential risk to his career or even his life. And, even if he uncovers some huge conspiracy, what can any random cop do? If the government intervenes, there is nothing. Considering the situation at the time, absolutely. Even so, there was something that drove him to ignore his own better judgment and go and see for himself how deep this rabbit hole was. It has nothing to do with responsibility, money, justice, or public safety. Not really.

It's the first time in Grant Maloney's life that she has such a strong feeling about something, and the thrill of solving this mystery is intoxicating.

As a result, the officers began an unofficial, not strictly illegal investigation into the couple's activities. His first thought was to take a closer look at Mulligan's virtual reality pod. When he brought the suspect into the police station, he didn't get a chance to see it, and he didn't think it was related to the case at the time. It was a missed opportunity because as long as they lived in that apartment, it was impossible to enter that apartment without any of the residents realizing it, and it was almost always the case. I've been more nervous lately than usual. When Mr. Ma first met Mr. Mulligan two days ago, Mr. Mulligan said he was exhausted to death from a big tournament in a few weeks. It is unlikely that he will leave here until this is all over.

So, the dangerous and curious officer took to the streets and began to inquire in the neighborhood. He thinks people – especially shopkeepers – will remember seeing someone like Maggie with a unique look. Even if they hadn't seen her in person, they might have heard some rumors about her. His instincts were accurate. Within an hour, he heard the news of a so-called "Pale Goddess" that had recently circulated on a community message board. Following this clue, he found a grocery store called Lyfe Haxx.

As soon as the police entered the door, they attracted the attention of the four people inside, because it is very rare for law enforcement officers to appear so suddenly.

"Oh! Hello, officer! The old gentleman behind the counter greeted him.

"Hello, sir. I'm Officer Maloney," he said, brimming his hat. "Are you the owner of this shop?"

"Yes, Mr. Eugene Charles, I am at your service." He lowered his head slightly. "Are you interested in hand-held teapots?" Or are you here to solve the case?"

"I'm afraid it's the latter. Can I speak to you privately?"

"Of course. Please go this way. ”

Mr. Charles said goodbye to the three potential customers in the store and led Maloney into the back warehouse. The shopkeeper's businesslike smile immediately disappeared and was replaced by a genuinely concerned expression.

"Officer, what's going on?"

"I assure you, it's none of your business, sir. I'm just looking into someone who has been to your office recently. ”

"I see." He relaxed a little. "I don't know how I can help, but I'll do what I can to help you. Who are you looking for?"

"A pale-faced girl. Black hair, black eyes, all have a genetic pattern, in their teens or early twenties. It's called Maggs, sometimes Maggie. Sound familiar?"

"That's true. In fact, I have a feeling that this might be about her. ”

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, take a step back, she's such a weird girl. She has an exotic appearance and speaks very verbosely. I can't think of anyone else who will catch the attention of the police. ”

"Hmm. Can you tell me about her?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. As far as I know, she is a recent visitor. There seems to be no clue about how the empire works. When I told her she needed to implant P

She was really sad when P was able to buy something. ”

"Sad? Really?"

"I ...... May be an exaggeration. She was disappointed. I felt sorry for her, so I offered to barter. She agreed, and to be honest, it was fine for me. ”

"Can you tell me the details of this barter?"

"Absolutely, officer. Give me a little time......"

Charles rummaged around the table for a minute before finding the written agreement and handing it to Maloney.

"Signed hard copies of things like bartering are pretty rare, aren't they?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, of course. Miss Maggs, however, was quite persistent. He must have been worried that I would break my word. ”

The cop turned his attention back to the file and skimmed through it. The suspect appears to have carried out some personal marketing services in exchange for a pet package containing a baby round python. Well, that certainly explains where her snake came from, but the sight of her signature raises more questions. Instead of using the initials of her name and not writing her name in cursive, she drew a series of strange and delicate characters that looked more like scribbles than letters.

"Any idea what's going on?" He pointed to the suspicious signature.

"No, sir. It's as foreign to me as it is to you. ”

"Don't you think it's strange?"

"Oh, it is. However, this is only a promissory note. I don't think it's appropriate to question this girl's strange customs for such a trivial matter. ”

In fact, calling this piece of waste paper a legally binding document is like calling water a hydrogen-based corrosive substance. Still, the suspicious handwriting is a promising clue. Deciphering these symbols allows Maloney to know the girl's full name, if nothing else.

"Is it okay for me to take this?" He asked.

"It's okay on my side, officer. I've digitized the protocol, so I don't need the original. But, let me ask, is she involved? You just mentioned one thing. ”

"It's not about you, sir. It was just a public riot and she ended up with some rhetoric to a law enforcement officer. The matter has been settled and I'm just following up with her because we're having some trouble with background checks. ”

"So she didn't get into any trouble?"

"Not at the moment, no."

"That's great," the man said visibly relieved.

"You haven't met yet, but you seem to care about her," the officer said.

"Yes, she's a lovely girl. Strange, but sweet. And politeness, calmness, and surprisingly professionalism. She helped my business get off the ground, and it was worth more than the £500 Pondington article I gave her. I was so impressed with her that I offered to ask her to be my assistant. In fact, if she had changed her mind, I'd love to do it. And, of course, implant P

P。 ”

"Mr. Charles, this is indeed a glowing compliment. In any case, I appreciate your input and I won't take up your precious time anymore. ”

"Please, no trouble at all, officer."

"Oh, and besides, can I ask you a favor?"

"What's that?"

"If you happen to see that girl, please don't mention what we said. I'm just filling in some gaps in my report, and I don't want her to worry about that. ”

"I understand, sir. I'm tight-lipped. Let's take an analogy. ”

The two men stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, and the police understood the meaning behind the unnecessary clarification.

"She's serious, isn't she?" Ma Hongsheng couldn't help laughing.

"Huh. Yes, sir," said Mr. Charles, giggling.