by Zhttty
Guang Zhen concluded with much derision and anger.
Yao Yuan, on the other hand, sat quietly and listened. After the inspection had been completed, the doctor once again declared Yao Yuan was fit to go but expressed the hope that he would remain in the hospital for further observation.
Yao Yuan declined on the spot. There were simply too many things he needed to take care of. While the inspection was going on, Yao Yuan tried exercising his mind and realized with much relief that the pain was gone. Since the doctor couldn’t provide him with an answer, Yao Yuan speculated that the pain was the result of him exhausting 3 superhuman powers at the same time. Nobody knew what the side-effects of overdoing the All-Rounder state was, so Yao Yuan concluded that this was probably it.
"Ol’ Wong, I know we have to nip these issues at their buds before they unsettle the ship’s societal structure. Rest assured that I will take care of them carefully and firmly, so I hope you can leave them to me… But now we have a bigger fish to fry. I want you to help me train a troop of about 300 soldiers to get them familiarized with space combat. Other than that, we also have to increase the productivity for combat suit prototype 1, Gaussian guns, and space-use shuttles.
If a small exploratory team is not going to cut it, we’re going to overcome these warship husks by the numbers!"
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Chapter117 Rise of the Machines!
"I’m sure everyone present has gone through the video of the exploration many times. It’s true that the team escaped death by the breath of a hair, and we’ve also come across many inexplicable questions. I hope some of them have been answered in the 13 days I was asleep."
Yao Yuan had asked for a meeting at the war-room the afternoon he was discharged from the hospital. Attendees included the rest of the exploration team and representatives from the Academy, Barracks, and Workshop.
Yao Yuan continued, "First, I would like to know why there is a danger zone 300 kilometers around the warship husks. Is it caused by electromagnetic, or radio-signal interference, or some other more advanced hampering technology? And most importantly, is there a way to bypass it?"
All the scientists shifted their heads away from Yao Yuan until the leader stood up and said, "Captain, we’ve fired off 5 more sets of the pilotless airships in the past 13 days using special devices to counter both electromagnetic and radio-signal interference, but they were to no avail. All forms of electronic signals disappeared the moment they entered the danger zone… it was like the area barred the entry of all electronic signals."
"So we still can’t find a reason, huh?" Yao Yuan frowned, but he added conciliatorily, "That’s fine. After all, we’re dealing with a more advanced civilization, so I’m sure the mystery will be solved in time… Well, let’s move on to the next set of questions. How do the robot guards achieve mobility? I noticed that they didn’t have an exhaust or propellers to aid in their movement, so how do they move so easily through zero-gravity space?"
"They rely on some kind of electromagnetic force."
This time it was Bo Li who stood up. She added, "Based on the analysis on the robot samples that were brought back, the circular plate that held them up were electromagnetic products. As long as they are in a metallic environment, they can rely on the electromagnetic tension formed between the plate and the metallic surface for the purpose of movement. Furthermore, there is a mini particle accelerator inside the circular plate to help with changing of directions and speeds.
"Not only that, we’ve managed to unveil the 3 types of weapon these robots carry. The first is a set of high-voltage tentacle arms that are perfect for close-quarter combat.
"Second is a type of medium artillery that’s similar to our own modified space rifles. They are the least harmful because I believe they are designed to be used inside the warship, so they won’t pose much harm to the ship’s structure.
The last is a type of Gaussian electromagnetic weaponry. It is definitely not something that can be used inside the warship. In space, it can fire off bullets that could reach up to the speed of 2840 kilometers per second. That’s almost 1/100 of the speed of light! The ammo for these weapons is some sort of metallic spheres that are about 10 nanometers in size. Its destructive power is immense. For example, it could easily shred the Hope’s walls like they’re made of paper!"
Bo Li’s revelation sent chills down Yao Yuan’s spine. After he collected himself, he continued, "So it is as I predicted. These robots are not only used for defense, they’re used for offense as well… Is there anything else you’ve found out from the robots?"
Bo Li sat down to let another researcher take the floor. Yao Yuan recognized this person. He was the Hope’s expert on computer hardware. He was leading the effort to dissect and understand the Hope’s central mainframe.
"Captain, we managed to salvage some processing chips from the robots’ internal framework. They are slightly more powerful than our conventional CPU, albeit much more compact in size. However…" the researcher paused, scratching his chin. "The chip contains some sort of external lock that destabilizes most of its uses. This lock also acts as a form of cell... something…"
"Cellular battery," Bo Li beside him offered.
"Yes, cellular battery. It could release a contained electrical charge almost instantly if it receives the signal to do so. The charge is powerful enough to create a plasmatic explosion that could easily wipe out the chip and its surrounding structure," the researcher concluded with a sigh.
Yao Yuan was stunned. He was unsure of the chip’s significance until Chou Yue poked Ren Tao in his back, who then lazily added, "We’ve looked over this set-up’s purpose while you were asleep and we’ve narrowed it down to several possibilities. First is to prevent their technology from being stolen, and another is as a self-destructive last resort.
"However, there are obvious logical loopholes in these 2 hypotheses. For the first, this civilization is, like the Hope, a space nomadic race, but with technology that’s far more advanced than ours. The Academy predicted them to be in a stage that’s equivalent to our fourth or nearing fifth industrial revolution. It’s unlikely for them to be afraid of technological thievery because the enemy they would face would either be drastically backwards like us, or so much more advanced that their technology would be worthless. So unless they are shielding their technology from themselves, the first scenario is quite unlikely.
"The second scenario is hard to believe as well. Even though the battery could create a plasma explosion, its range would be too small to cause any actual harm. The size of the explosion is only as big as the robots themselves, so… this set-up is more likely to harm the robots themselves than their adversary!"
"Self-harming?" The concept crossed Yao Yuan’s mind and initiated a strange train of thoughts, but he quietly waited for Ren Tao to finish.
Ren Tao resumed, "As I’ve said, the civilization’s incredibly advanced, and this could be seen from their military make-up. It is completely automated. A military that has no fear of death or fatigue, it could be said to be the perfect future version of military.
"This might sound like I’m peddling science fiction, but its supremacy could be seen from our foray into the warship husk. A completely destroyed warship that’s not even part of the main fleet still contained so many defending robot guards. One could only imagine the number of robot patrols during the civilization’s golden era. I bet even a single warship contained tens of thousands of these robots back then.
"Obviously these robots could be used for war, but during peace times, they could be converted to become manual laborers that maintain the warship as well. It’s a perfect combination of civilian and army."
Here, Ren Tao’s mouth curved into a chilling smile. "Logically speaking, this insurmountable amount of robots couldn’t possibly be manually controlled. There has to be a central server that control everything, and that most likely will
be the central mainframe residing in the gigantic battleship. And I suspect this alien civilization might have even already invented… fully functioning AIs.
"And if one is to follow this supposition, they will arrive at an interesting supposition."
Caught up in the excitement, Ren Tao leaped out of his seat and started pacing around the room. In a conversation that looked suspiciously like he was the sole participant, the elaboration continued. "Invention of AI and robotics must have helped greatly to relieve the citizens of physical labor. It’s not hard to imagine that robots of more diverse functionalities were invented so that the citizens could relegate more time for study and recreation. In other words, the hard part of life, which is work and labor, was cut out thanks to the automated robots…
"However, unlike humans, there is no end to an intelligent robot’s learning capability. As time went on, it is not hard to see them achieve singularity [1]. Yes, there might've been limitations like Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, but as creatures born out of pure logic, it would not be hard to argue them away. This could only lead to… The rise of the machines!
"…Now, it’s hard to say how this robotic uprising plays into this civilization’s overall history, but I have a few speculations in mind. For one, perhaps the alien race came out on top in the war between them and the robots, but the results of that war made their home planet ultimately inhospitable and they had to escape into space to find a new home. I mean, our atomic bombs already had century-long impacts on Earth, so just imagine the weapons of mass destruction for this race. The difference between us and them though is that we have space-warp as a trump card. So perhaps finally admitting the impossibility of survival in space, they seeked a self-destructive end…
"Of course, it could be that the robots were the party that came up victorious in the war. The people had built this battleship to escape the fate of being hunted down. So this battleship might be the survivors that finally got caught up to by their robotic pursuers…
"Either way, these are my inferences from the unique set-up of the internal chip.
"This is a civilization that both depended on and was wary of the use of robotics…
"A civilization that was cornered by its own creation!"
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Chapter118 Sacrificial Lambs
After the meeting, Yao Yuan had second thoughts regarding further exploration into the junkyard. His doubts came not only from the things discussed during the meeting but also the long conversation he had with Ren Tao after the meeting.
Yao Yuan was on his way back to the reports that awaited his signature and approval in the captain’s room when the normally happy-go-lucky Ren Tao forcefully accosted him by the entrance to the war-room. "You have something to tell me?" Yao Yuan asked, rather impatiently.
Ren Tao nodded firmly. "I do, but this is only meant for the ears of… the exploration party, Black Star members, and definitely not these government officials. Oh! Right, Chou Yue, you’re not supposed to hear this either."
Before Chou Yue could even flare up, Yao Yuan had already ordered all the non-related personnel to leave the room. Out of her wits, Chou Yue resorted to stealthily pinching Ren Tao on his waist before reluctantly following the rest out. Only Guang Zhen and a few other Black Star members remained.
Rubbing the sore spot, Ren Tao laid his cards on the table. "I didn’t mention any of this during the meeting because I don’t want to cause unnecessary panic, but… Yao Yuan, I have to ask you to stop exploring the junkyard, especially plans that involve the main battleship."
"Hmm." Yao Yuan did a double-take. "So you’ve figured out my next course of action."
"It’s not that hard, actually." Ren Tao ventured cautiously. "You’ve asked for 500 prototype 1 combat suits and 500 Gaussian gun prototype 2s in the next 2 months. It’s not hard to see where you’re going with this."
"Really? Do tell." Yao Yuan feigned innocence.
"You want to build an army for space war, right? The Hope’s current military, while trained, have no experience in zero-gravity combat and doesn’t have the necessary equipment to do so. This sounds harsh, but for your future plan, our military at its current state is practically useless." Ren Tao continued, "Therefore, you need to fix that fast because I believe your plan is to conquer this junkyard one warship husk at a time. Since the robots are programmed to limit the use of their most powerful weapon inside the warships, you intend to lead this army of, I’m guessing, 300 to 400 people to storm the warships and overpower the robots using sheer numbers and combined firepower. Am I wrong?"
Yao Yuan stood in quiet contemplation and retrieved a pack of cigarettes from within his coat and flicked one over to Ren Tao. "You’re right, not missing even a detail. With your intellect, surely you understand how valuable this junkyard is to the Hope. An innocuous music box alone has managed to improve our technological level by so unbelievably much, could you even imagine how much progress the whole junkyard could provide? The most conservative prediction puts it at several centuries worth of development and research. How can you possibly ask me to give that up?!"
Ren Tao returned the cigarette kindly back to Yao Yuan. "Thanks, but I don’t smoke… What you said is all true, but one first has to be alive to enjoy all of that! By the way, have you seen the Terminator series?"
Yao Yuan furled his brows. "As a matter of fact, I have."
"Then you should know what the basis of an AI’s existence is. The entity that makes us human, or a kind of conscious existence, is our brain. What is the equivalent for AIs? Is it its hard-drive, CPU, or something else? We wouldn’t know because our own creation hasn’t achieved Singularity. That knowledge is literally beyond our intellect!" Solemnity entered Ren Tao’s voice as he continued, "There is another possibility behind the chip’s self-destructive set-up, and that is to prevent the malignant AI from hacking into the individual robots. In other words, even though the central mainframe is destroyed, the AI remains unharmed because, like Skynet, it is a virtual existence. It doesn’t need the mainframe to exist because its existence is anchored in the virtual world, and that world is not only maintained solely by the central mainframe but also separately by individual network servers."
"So what?" Yao Yuan took a deep drag of his cigarette and asked rather impassively, his previous impatience gone.
"Are you serious? So, we have a big problem!" Ren Tao argued. "How can you be certain there aren’t such network servers remaining in the bigger warship husks? If the smallest warship husk could manage to preserve its power, what are the chances that the bigger ones won’t have their servers still intact?"
Ren Tao raised his voice to emphasize, "You’ve heard the arsenals these robots carry! They are killing machines specialized in space combat, with extremely fast flight speed and incredibly powerful Gaussian weaponry. If they wish the Hope any harm, this ship will be torn into pieces in a matter of minutes! Therefore, we need to leave this star system this instant, warp out of here as soon as possible! I believe our presence is still undiscovered because the battleship fleet has already been destroyed, but I’m sure our existence will be exposed when we venture into the battleship itself! If the malignant AI is awakened, I doubt even this 10,000 kilometer distance will save us from its wrath. It’ll be too late by then, so I beg of you, please don’t toy with the future of humanity!"
Ebon, who stood behind Yao Yuan, had been trying to keep his anger in check, but at this juncture, he finally lost it. Unleashing a loud roar, he lunged at Ren Tao, but thankfully, Yao Yuan had the presence of mind to first knock him out of the way. He shook his head at Ebon to calm him down before turning to face Ren Tao. "I’ve thought of everything you said, and indeed I’m aware we’re technically sheep waiting to be slaughtered if the AI means to do us harm, but… I can’t let this precious opportunity slip through our fingers!"
Provoked by Yao Yuan’s stubbornness, Ren T
ao too lost his composure and yelled, "Is taking this shortcut so important to you? What is so wrong with allowing progress to move on its own accord, one gradual step after another step? I swear we only need 1 or 2 more generations to reach the fourth industrial revolution! It could be done with the alien products we currently have on board!"
"It’s sadly not fast enough…"
Yao Yuan did not respond in rage. Instead, he replied with a certain melancholy in his voice as he turned to look out the dark abyss that was space outside the ship’s window. "Ren Tao, you’re right about most things, but I’m curious whether you’ve noted one particular detail."
"What detail?" Ren Tao asked, still fuming.
"There was no dead body on the warship husk…"
"…I’ve noticed."
Yao Yuan nodded. "Logically speaking, a carcass will last literally forever in space unless it is met with human tampering or a space-related disaster. This is due to the cosmos’ vacuum environment and low temperature. So, how come there is not even one carcass on the warship?"
Yao Yuan paused and turned to address Ren Tao directly. "If we had the unfortunate fate of stumbling into this civilization in its golden age, we would be instantly crushed like an insignificant bug. There wouldn’t be any skirmishes, negotiations, or even struggles, and this is only because they were 1 industrial revolution ahead of us!
"However, such a powerful civilization has somehow fallen into our speculated fate. Even though their whole base has been shredded into pieces, there is not one trace of foreign influence. This could only represent 1 thing! Another more powerful civilization has in turn crushed them like a bug!