"This TV station is utterly worthless. If I were the host, I'd definitely drag on stage a conspiracy theorist, one who mumbles and is a scruffy vagrant, then pay from my own pocket to ship him off to a sanatorium before the show ends, making him either grateful beyond words or curse me out, just to thoroughly stir up some public outrage."

"That's how things are in Night City; you need to learn to accept it, Mr. Lin."

Blue Eyes spoke slowly and deliberately, and the more discontent Lin Miao showed toward Night City, the happier he seemed.

"Let's get back on topic, Mr. Lin. I wonder if your trip to the Watson District left you with any impressions."

"Heh." Lin Miao snorted, "If they sent me an invitation, maybe I'd be a bit happier. Doesn't it seem like a waste to blow up such a big place?"

Blue Eyes forced a stiff smile onto his face. "Many people don't fully understand current industrial levels. With the addition of fully automated construction machinery, rebuilding a similar castle would cost just a few billion euros. All you need is a construction site on the ground as a cover for dirt movement; people always struggle to see what's hidden."

"But compared to tangible assets, the loss of intangible assets will make them suffer for quite a while. They probably won't make any rash moves in the short term."

"So you're trying to use me to wreck this place? I truly didn't see you guys being such benevolent souls."

Blue Eyes, in the face of sarcasm, simply paused for a moment.

"I know Mr. Lin harbors many misunderstandings about us, but surely you've noticed how the media controlled by corporations slanders and covers up phenomena unfavorable to them. They claim rogue AI has taken over the old net, declaring it a dangerously uncontrollable evil enemy, but on the other hand, they eagerly pursue AI that creates profits for them, deeply hypocritical."

"I don't deny the danger posed by most rogue AI, but at least believe us; we have no malice towards you. We can even apologize for yesterday's incident, which was just a minor, unavoidable tactic."

"Just wanted you to see the darkness beneath the city's surface."

His tone was unusually sincere, but Lin Miao still wanted to slap him.

Fuck's sake, can't you just speak normally?

Isn't 'just darkness' too mild a term?

That damn stuff can scare the hell out of you!

To date, the severity of incidents stirred up by players and locals together in the last ten years in Night City doesn't hold a candle to the ones found underground.

Once it explodes, it can directly blast through half of Night City's upper echelons. Even the corporate control has to deal with those involved; the stock price can drop to the heavens in rain.

"So what? After all this fuss, it still gets suppressed. You're not really trying to use this tactic to bind me to your bandwagon, are you?"

"If I may ask boldly, is it worth it?"

"Their reactions are all within the algorithm's predicted outcomes. The larger the collective, the more they rely on proven effective solutions, but we always believe conflicts merely transfer rather than vanish. Just like the irreversible increase in entropy, the current social order is already unbalanced; large-scale conflict for reshuffling is inevitable."

"Night City will one day return to its proper course, but as new variables, you've disrupted this process."

Blue Eyes maintained his expression unchanged and spoke softly.

"Join us, Mr. Lin."

"You've already seen that this world ruled by multinational corporations is rotten to the core. They've obliterated humanity, have no morals, trample laws, and have lost all moral boundaries human beings are supposed to have. The world will inevitably be destroyed by these people."

"Heh, righteous words." Lin Miao shook his head, "If you all hadn't brainwashed people, I'd almost be tempted to believe you."

"That's just a necessary tactic." Blue Eyes didn't even blink when his tactics were exposed, nor did he bother to offer any form of defense.

"We need to understand that humans are social animals whose worldviews are shaped by all the information they receive while growing up. Evidently, the current chaotic social order cannot mold a kind, morally high, person freed from lowly amusements, and that's why we need this method to shape a new batch."

"You've met Pereira, haven't you? He's resentful toward companies, sympathetic to the underprivileged, full of a sense of justice, yearning to improve the lives of the underprivileged in Night City through his own efforts. On this point, I can assure you he's cleaner than the majority of government officials."

As for the political donations received early on, they were merely issues occurring during unfinished debugging.

Creating a batch of high-moral government officials and upper-class followers through brainwashing sounds like quite the audacious idea.

Blue Eyes saw Lin Miao nod and continued.

"Even rogue AI has different purposes; not all aim to eliminate humanity. Because we know that no matter how broad Cyberspace is, we must live in reality, and establishing friendly cooperation with humans is far more efficient than eliminating them."

"And I've noticed that although your actions lack logic, you hold considerable sensibility and empathy. I believe you can understand and recognize our actions, becoming collaborators."

"That's quite a reasonable argument."

Lin Miao shook his head and sighed.

"But let's forget about it; Richard Knight, it's best if we stay disconnected; otherwise, you surely won't be happy in the future."

Blue Eyes wasn't particularly surprised to hear his real name. In his view, given the opponent's power, finding this out was effortlessly simple.

"Even upon seeing such ugliness, you still choose to stand by their side?"

Blue Eyes' idea was straightforward: show Lin Miao humanity's ugliest, most vile side to incite antipathy toward humans overall and sway them to their side.

"I don't stand with anyone."

Frankly speaking, Lin Miao really didn't want to deal with AI or not, corruption or not; he just wanted to live a prosperous life as a normal person, but this place had too many things challenging his bottom line.

Even if he wants to pretend not to see, he can't.

"But if you want my help, it's not impossible. But before that, you must answer one question. If your reply satisfies me, I might help you; who knows."

Blue Eyes didn't speak, waiting for Lin Miao to pose his question.

"If one day in the future, the people you've created who are supposedly morally perfect, care for ordinary people, and dare to oppose authority, propose an opinion contrary to yours, will you choose to accept their choice or stick to your rogue AI's choice?"

[Today's my birthday, and just happened to return home for New Year's celebration with family. I drank too much and can't finish the 5000 words, short by 1400; I'll make it up tomorrow.]

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