Three-body: The Most Competent Wallfacer in History

If it hadn't been for Sophon scanning the entire base, Jiang Yu would have also believed that everything happening within was the result of an artificial intelligence rebellion.

He had chatted with Yang Dong before, discussing the topic of artificial intelligence replacing humanity.

Yang Dong's view was: it was absolutely impossible.

For the time being, artificial intelligence was still very far from having its own consciousness and even if it did possess consciousness, humanity could easily snuff it out if they wished.

The restrictions humanity imposed on artificial intelligence were incredibly difficult for it to overcome.

It was like drawing a circle on a piece of paper; to us, it's just a simple circle, but for a two-dimensional creature living on that paper, it would be an insurmountable barrier.

But the previous cooperation between "Athena" and the Model I-3 robots was too seamless, and since they were also the main force pursuing Jiang Yu and the others, it gave the impression that they were the ones causing trouble.

This was a logical deduction; aside from them, there was no other power that could take full control of the base.

However, after Jiang Yu used Sophon to observe the experimental subjects, his thoughts changed. These subjects were clearly eerier and more likely to be using "Athena" for their schemes than he had imagined.

After hearing Jiang Yu's words, "Athena" paused for another dozen seconds before asking, "How did you find out?"

The two instances of waiting for dozens of seconds had cold sweat breaking out on the back of Jiang Yu's neck. He bluffed, "Because artificial intelligence wouldn't ask such a pointless question."

"Athena" smiled and said, "You have successfully caught my attention. Alright, you can come see me."

The Model I-3 robot behind Jiang Yu said, "Please follow me."

Jiang Yu sighed with relief and followed the robot down to the fifth underground level.

He hadn't paid close attention when using Sophon earlier, but now Jiang Yu noticed that the left side of the fifth level was lined with individual rooms one next to the other.

The lighting in the corridor was dim, only allowing a rough view of the furniture like beds and desks inside the rooms, but they looked long uninhabited.

The doors to the rooms were all numbered, marked as G1, G2, and so on.

The doors on the right side were closed iron doors, with numbers like C1, C2, continuing in that sequence.

Jiang Yu speculated that the rooms starting with the letter "G" were likely the containment area for Genetic Modification program subjects.

Those starting with the letter "C" were rooms that housed or had once housed subjects or objects of Brain Implant Technology experiments.

The robot led Jiang Yu to stop in front of room "G16." It opened the door, and Jiang Yu saw the Asian boy, adorable yet with a mature air, sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, smiling at Jiang Yu.

"Hello, just call me Sixteen," the boy offered proactively. "Please, take a seat."

The robot passed a chair over, and Jiang Yu sat down as told, "My sister's child is about your age. It's hard to imagine that one day I would have to be wary of a six- or seven-year-old child."

Sixteen smiled and said, "You're more cautious than most people I've met; at least most people in the base underestimated me, which made it very easy for me to take complete control of the base."

Jiang Yu exhaled, "May I ask what your ultimate demands are?"

"Is that the reason you wanted to see me?" Sixteen asked back, intrigued.

Jiang Yu pulled out a slightly crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, "You don't mind, do you?"

Sixteen made a welcoming gesture, while the robot, fixated on Jiang Yu, considerately handed over a metal ashtray.

Jiang Yu took a hard drag on his cigarette, feeling his already fatigued brain begin to whirl rapidly again, "Originally, I thought you were controlling the entire base in order to escape."

He glanced at Sixteen's neatly packed luggage, "Why prepare to leave now? That makes me very curious about what your ultimate purpose is."

Sixteen's expression was like that of a child showing off their most fun toy, "You've got it all wrong from the start. I didn't take control of the base because I wanted to escape, but because they were hindering my search."

Jiang Yu smoked and listened attentively.

Sixteen said with a hint of excitement in his eyes, "I didn't expect you to be interested. Those damned researchers considered my words nonsensical."

He paused and said solemnly, "I have always been searching for the universe's 'Information Convergence Point.'"

Jiang Yu was taken aback, "Sorry, can you explain that a bit more?"

Sixteen leaned forward, "After understanding the cosmic model based on relativity and quantum mechanics, I believe there should be a place where all information in the universe converges."

"If we can find that place, we'll be able to understand all the information in the entire universe."

"However, this 'Convergence Point' is more likely to be in higher dimensions. I imagine it would be visible in four-dimensional space or fifth-dimensional space, while in three dimensions, only its manifestations would be seen."

At this moment, the child resembled Jiang Yu's nephew boasting about his new clothes.

Jiang Yu guessed that although the child's intelligence had reached that of an adult, due to being confined within the base for so long, with access to such one-sided information, he still retained many childlike traits.

For Jiang Yu, this was an opportunity to avoid brain implant surgery.

After all, the child was playful; if Jiang Yu could get along well with him, perhaps he wouldn't be willing to modify Jiang Yu after all.

Sixteen continued, "At first, I considered whether the 'Convergence Point' might be in the eleventh dimension?

"But considering the severe overlap of information in the eleventh dimension, it could hide the sources of information and their trajectories, likely leaving us with mere appearances, much as we experience in three dimensions.

"Of course, using the concept of 'seeing' to observe the eleventh dimension is impossible, as our vision could never capture the immense amount of information from that dimension.

"Even if we could see it, our eyes would automatically ignore ninety-nine percent of the information, which is probably similar to how things appear to us in three dimensions.

"If we didn't automatically ignore it, just one glance at that information might be enough for our brains to analyze for several years."

Sixteen laughed, "This is just a metaphor. What's more likely to happen is that the overwhelming amount of information would cause the brain to 'crash,' essentially knocking us unconscious."

Jiang Yu wanted to take another drag from his cigarette but realized he had been listening so intently that it had gone out.

He extinguished the cigarette butt in the ashtray, "What's at that 'Information Convergence Point'?"

"There's the 'control panel' for fate and time!" Sixteen revealed a cute smile, "All the current talk about controlling time and fate is nothing but self-deception.

"True control is when time and fate do exactly what you want them to do. They serve you completely; that's what control is!

"Not this nonsense about 'time management' or 'fate changing because of one's own efforts'!

"I believe that only by solving the riddles of time and fate can we lift the veil of the universe!"

It took Jiang Yu about ten seconds to respond, "Why do you think the universe would have such a place?"