The mechanical dog first reported the latest situation of the two satellite patients at the hospital.

"Chairman, Eastern Red 1 is basically ready to be discharged. However, following the procedure, Da Vinci, the hospital director, requires it to stay in the special ward for observation for another three days. It's model is really outdated, and although United City has made very detailed repairs, we can't rule out the existence of complications."

"The case of Beiyi 1 is different. I've performed program isolation on it and manually partitioned the internal storage, isolating all the Data Voters in a separate area and temporarily sealed it off."

"Then I reinstalled the Time Anchor. This time it seems to be functioning normally, but it also needs further observation to see if it will fall back into a semi-civilized state repeatedly. I also reminded Beiyi 1 not to use the programs and data within the isolated area. How to handle these Data Voters is something I need to discuss further with it."

The basic issues of the two satellites had been resolved.

Next, 703 led the way to the overpass outside Jade City.

There were two unfamiliar mechanical lives there.

"Chairman, these are the two companions from the Mechanical Knight Order that I have introduced from Chuneng City."

"Guste, Sai Nuojie."

The mechanical dog said, "They left Chuneng City with me previously and went into different cities to find like-minded individuals. I arrived at the company first, and they have just come to join me."

Zhou Yi first noticed Guste.

It had a striking appearance and was also quite famous in the era of Old Humans.

This was a real luxury vehicle, a Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Its sapphire blue shell was covered with a bit of dust, but the overall maintenance was excellent without any scratches or blemishes, and it was clear that it had been waxed not too long ago.

703 said that Guste was a genuine affluent mechanical being, so it was normal for it to be well-maintained.

"I have long admired your reputation, Mr. Zhou."

The brightness of Guste's headlights increased a notch, and the sound it emitted was clear and resonant, with great texture.

"I am Guste, formerly a high-level advisor of the Program Department in Chuneng City, now resigned and a free individual."

"Hello, Guste."

Zhou Yi was quite interested in it.

This was his first formal encounter with the affluent class among mechanical beings.

The other was quite talkative: "I hear the Wasteland Development Company implements a five-days-on, two-days-off system? Your company is even more progressive than a Sunday."

"Correct."

"Doesn't the reduction in production efficiency impact the company?"

Zhou Yi told it: "If we chase short-term benefits, reduced working hours indeed lead to decreased output. However, the Wasteland Development Company is committed to long-term development, and values the health and quality of life of its employees more."

"From the perspective of interests, it's true that there are fewer working hours per year, but employees get more personal space from rest, making the company more attractive to them, thus ensuring that they can work more stably for a longer time."

"Moreover, the company has proven through experience that having stable vacation days increases employees' enthusiasm for work. They gradually shift from only considering working hours to proactively thinking and learning, in pursuit of creative achievements with higher added value."

"Jade Soup, Flame Cup, and the Desperate Machines used in our dams are all results from such an environment."

The Rolls-Royce paused for a moment and said: "Your company has too few data samples at present to confirm a necessary correlation between vacations and efficiency."

"Indeed."

Zhou Yi also admitted: "Actually, there are also reasons related to personal preferences. I personally detest overtime, so I hope that everyone in the company can reduce overtime as well, to work well in order to better enjoy life, and to use vacations for this purpose."

Guste suddenly let out a laugh reminiscent of studio recordings: "Mr. Zhou is truly an interesting person. On the matter of personal preferences, I agree."

Zhou Yi also raised his own questions: "What's the workflow like in the Program Department? Does everyone do program validation, or is it a matter of voting?"

"The Program Department is the highest decision-making body of Mechanical City, but the work inside is actually tedious with no technical content."

The mechanical affluent explained: "The Program Department has subdivided areas for different domains of the city, such as food, safety, energy, investment, public welfare, and so on. Each subdivided area has a team or group, and after making decisions, they send them onto the next link. Since all industries are interrelated, the groups will vote repeatedly, though with varying weights."

"Decisions are made through anonymous voting, and when proposing initiatives, one can choose to be named or anonymous. However, anonymity has become mainstream nowadays, as it protects every member from criticism and pressure."

"The Program Department is like a black box. Every time a decision is made, nobody knows what the outcome will be."

"The advantage of this is that no one needs to take responsibility, and it's relatively easy to maintain the order of the city."

"Because the decisions are made by the Program Department, not by any specific mechanical being. Even if it results in a disaster and losses, it's the city's decision-making that's at fault—you understand what I mean, right?"

Zhou Yi said: "Understood."

Guste continued: "But it also leads to a problem; when everyone actually wants to do something, it becomes incredibly difficult."

"Following the decision-making mechanism of the Program Department, even the high-level members are mostly powerless most of the time."

"For example, if you put forward an initiative to repair a road. Such a simple matter, even with sufficient funds, is likely to be rejected. Because other domain groups will consider whether this will indirectly affect their processes, the road repairs will bring uncertainties... in essence, when faced with whether to make a change, everyone tends to opt for no change."

After listening, Zhou Yi said: "Since the Program Department's decision-making process is a black box. Is it possible that this black box is being manipulated?"

"Of course, it's possible. What you mentioned is also something I was very concerned about."

Guste clearly became invigorated, speaking a bit faster: "Since decision-making requires no one to be responsible for it, most of the decision-makers also don't care about the final outcome, because this represents the 'order of the procedure'. It's hard to change this, the larger the city, the more impossible it is to turn back."

"Conversely, the emerging small mechanoelectronic cities have room for adjustment. Because there are fewer members in the Program Department, one member oversees one area."

"As far as I know, some small cities even have only 4 to 5 mechanoelectronic beings making decisions in the Program Department, which allows them to reach a consensus through private communication."

"This kind of transparent, human interference in decision-making, has allowed many small cities to develop rapidly in the early stages, capable of formulating many strategies flexibly and quickly, and even seeking methods outside of the Program Department. But once the city grows in size and the Program Department membership increases, it would be assimilated into the black-box model."

"Isn't it magical? Mechanoelectronic cities are trapped in an inescapable strange loop."

His words made Zhou Yi think of Recursive City.

After the Mechanical and Electrical City Group announced sanctions, only Recursive City, this small city, was still trying to find ways to cooperate with the company through the cracks, even sending over the Spring and Autumn Trading Group as a front to maintain contact and transactions.

Small cities inherently embrace change, also because they have not yet entered the black-box decision stage.

Zhou Yi asked: "Have mechanoelectronic cities always adopted this model?"

"Not always."

Guste paused: "To my knowledge, before the Brain-eating Worm incident broke out, many mechanoelectronic cities used a post-responsibility system. This is somewhat similar to current Human Cities; we also had positions with concentrated power such as mayors, deputy mayors, sheriffs, judges, tax officers, etc."

"If a city's crime rate remained high, the sheriff would be held responsible, usually in the form of wage cuts or an increase in standby professionals. As the top decision-maker, the mayor enacts laws and regulations according to the different cities."

"After the Brain-eating Worm incident broke out, the post-responsibility system was deemed an outdated centralization system and was completely replaced by departmental responsibility system. The universal protocols have transformed and controlled the entire mechanoelectronic society. This has led to what we have today..."

Zhou Yi's mind raced.

The Brain-eating Worm incident dispersed the existing city power structure and restructured mechanoelectronic society through the black-box and universal protocols.

Now it has become everyone's business not to take the blame; it doesn't matter to me if the city is in a mess.

From this point of view, the cohesion of mechanoelectronic beings should also be far less than before.

Guste continued: "I noticed that your company is developing by leaps and bounds, which made me very curious, so I collected a lot of information trying to find the reason."

"At first, I couldn't understand at all how an emerging organization could make major breakthroughs in various fields in just a year or two, even owning exclusive production and services."

The more Rolls Royce spoke, the more excited it became: "I've read that book about you, 'Liberating All Humanity'. The description inside about using humans as the main framework, liberating their specific forms of productivity, was enlightening. I finally understood the crux of our problem."

"Mechanoelectronic beings need to reduce self-segregation and exclusion, and learn to cooperate with and complement other intelligent species, learning to accept the customs and traditions of other groups."

"The company seeks the welfare of every employee as much as possible, which is a universal value, something that can be integrated into any city through economic, technological, and cultural channels."

"New things will replace old things, mechanoelectronic society can't go back to the old post-responsibility system, and the department responsibility system has been a chronic ailment for a long time."

"Cities are already an outdated form of settlement, and the company model like Wasteland Development Company represents the future collective form that mechanoelectronic beings should try."

His blunt praise left Zhou Yi dumbfounded.

Replace the city model with a company form?

Zhou Yi himself had never thought about it.

However.

This mechanoelectronic tycoon has been thinking about the future of Mechanoelectronic City, seeking a way out and space for the entire group, truly a thinker within mechanoelectronic society.

Zhou Yi immediately extended an invitation: "Guste, if you're willing, I hope you will join our company."

"Sorry, I can't accept."

The other party expressed refusal: "I have great admiration for your company, but joining it will not solve the difficult problems of mechanoelectronic society."

"I need to spread the concept of Sunday, as well as a new collective form, to let everyone understand this and establish large companies belonging to our mechanoelectronic life."

"Only by using a more attractive new model to replace the old system can we change the current situation of the entire mechanoelectronic society. Trying to make changes from within will only leave oneself constrained by the universal protocols."

"I will continue to work for this and act together with the Mechanical Knight Order. Thus, I must apologize for not staying, but I will continue to follow Wasteland Development Company's progress, looking forward to more changes that Mr. Zhou will bring."

Zhou Yi thought it was a pity.

The company still lacked such a high-level, advisory-type employee.

"If you don't mind, I do have a friend to recommend."

Guste said: "Its name is Tuo Zhu, an independent architect and designer, fond of designing bizarre new things, with a style that is free and informal. It was once very wealthy, but later fell into poverty for some reasons."

"Tuo Zhu is a brilliantly talented individual, and I think you will get along very well with it."

Zhou Yi pondered.

A mechanoelectronic being that Guste admired should also not be bad.

He readily said: "Just have it come over directly."

"I've already contacted it, but Tuo Zhu has some personal issues to deal with first, saying it will come over this winter."

Rolls Royce said so.

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