Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On the 18th of October, in the deep of night on Earth, Chen Jin was busy attending to a very important matter at the camping ground in Haierfa.
Actually, he had been busy because of this matter for more than a week. He sacrificed two to three hours of sleep every night for it. What caused this intense dedication? It was repairing the super calculator that the robots transported back from the City of Tereese. The super calculator that had been in city hall was once used for the purpose of managing the entire City of Tereese.
From Da Li, Chen Jin understood that in this world, this super calculator that could compute up to 100 trillion could not even be described as “super.” It was simply a “large machine” at best. It had an outdated structure and performance capability, and it consumed too much energy. It was a product that was outdated by more than 100 years.
Although according to Chen Jin’s standards, a calculator that had a computing ability of up to a maximum of 100 trillion could definitely be termed as a “super calculator.” It totally trashed any large calculator on Earth. Of course to Chen Jin, this calculator that consumed 100 kilowatts with a combined size of five refrigerators was ahead of Earth’s technology by at least 20 years.
Chen Jin planned to repair it and let it finish some of his work. However, even if he did understand how the calculator worked, did he really have the ability to repair it? Speaking frankly, Chen Jin did not know how it worked. He had never come into contact with one and was a total layman.
He was, however, rather proficient at assembling the components of a desktop. The desktop at home was wholly the result of his DIY efforts. He understood the process of putting various hardware together like the back of his hand. The computers in Haierfa were similar to the ones on Earth because they too had the major hardware like a motherboard, CPU, internal memory storage, and a hard drive. Both types of computers shared a lot of similarities.
The super calculator was based on a similar home computer, but was heaped with a great amount of nuclear power, internal memory storage, and hard drives. Naturally, the components that made up the super calculator were more complex. Only a minority of professionals could understand how those components worked. But Chen Jin could do similar tasks such as changing the CPU, the internal memory storage, and the hard drives. He was not worried about messing up the calculator.
After charging the super calculator, areas that were ok would emit a green light, and areas with faults would emit a red light together with a faint buzz. It was made with a fault-checking design. So, according to the red light indicators, Chen Jin took down 13 faulty CPUs, 35 internal memory storage units, and six hard drives. In addition, he removed 2 modular motherboards before finally eliminating all of the red light indicators.
However, the super calculator still refused to start. Unfortunately, it was because the power supply was insufficient. Even the largest output from the cable connected to his home was not enough to satisfy its lowest energy requirement needed to switch on.Chen Jin could only continue to remove its CPUs, internal memory storage units, and the like (except for the remaining hard drives) to reduce its power consumption.
After almost half of its original number of modular motherboards and CPUs had been removed, the super calculator finally started up, the movement of the cooling fan causing a whizzing sound to be heard.
“This is too awesome!” Chen Jin was so excited that he quickly jumped up. He had actually repaired the super calculator! After two minutes, it finished starting up. Chen Jin sat in front of a slightly curved 49-inch screen. Holding the mouse in one hand, he prepared to operate the calculator. As Chen Jin could not understand a single character on the screen, he could only allow Da Li to interpret from his side. Whenever he did not understand something, he would ask it.
“Master, do you see the logo of the little girl on the table? She is the artificial intelligence (AI) management system of this calculator. You can put on the interconnected smart goggles and communicate with the AI management system via voice chat. It is not necessary to employ traditional methods of interaction with a computer. If she does not understand the language you speak, I will send a Chinese Language package to her.”
Da Li also explained that this calculator was installed with wireless signals for receiving and sending.
“Ok.” Chen Jin knew that in Da Li’s opinion, the motion of using the mouse to operate the calculator was somewhat unsophisticated. He should put on the smart goggles and awaken the AI management system before proceeding with voice chat interaction. Thus, he put on the goggles and connected with the super calculator. A humongous screen appeared in front of his eyes, displaying many 3D stereoscopic icons.
In one of the icons, there was a 12- or 13-year-old girl with blonde hair who seemed to be in a deep sleep. She wore a princess-style dress, white over-the-knee socks, and princess shoes with pink bows on them. She had fine and adorable features and was currently sleeping soundly.
Chen Jin shifted his vision behind her and saw a prompt box by her side. “Does this mean awaken?”
Da Li leaned over and said, “My Master, it means ‘To awaken – Yes/ No’.”
“Awaken!”
Chen Jin stretched out his right hand and selected the virtual “Yes” button on the left-hand side.
The cute and delicate little girl moved. With a tremble of her eyelashes and a chirp, she slowly awoke. She stood up and faced Chen Jin. A string of words appeared by her side, signaling a successful startup.
However, after getting a good look at Chen Jin, the iconic and adorable smile on the blonde girl suddenly morphed into an extremely stern expression. With a chilling voice, she said, “Chinese facial features are detected on the user. The user does not possess the authority to utilize this AI system. Leave, immediately! AI system will issue an intruder alarm!”
Chen Jin was astounded. This… Was this racial discrimination? Even AIs could be like this?
At that moment, Da Li let a ray of green light flash over its electronic eyes. Many lines of code seemed to be included in that ray of green light. The signal light on its chest also flashed once.
“Intruder alarm has been deleted. You have gained the authority to come into contact with the system. Please enter your account password to log in and access the system.” An iconic smile appeared on the little girl’s face once again.
The signal light on Da Li’s chest flashed again.
“Master, you’ve gained the highest authority to use the system. Please use it freely.” The little girl’s attitude changed again. Not to mention her reference to Chen Jin as “Master,” her voice also became sweet and childish.
Chen Jin turned to Da Li and asked in surprise, “Da Li, what did you do?”
Da Li said, “I broke into her hyper-security system.”
“How did you come to have this function? You’re not a computer hacker, you’re only a normal robot.” Chen Jin was extremely shocked. Maybe a god-level hacker spirit had been sealed within Da Li’s body?
“This is a function gifted to us by the virus reboot, Master.”
“Oh…” Chen Jin understood. He had never thought that the virus reboot could bring about such an awesome function. It could actually make a cold and arrogant little girl call him “Master” in an affectionate and sweet manner.
Chen Jin let Da Li send over a Chinese Language package. After receiving the entire package, he allowed the little girl to translate the entire operational interface into Chinese, which he was mostly able to read. Then, he requested that she talk to him in Chinese. She followed all of his instructions.
Chen Jin said, “Do a self-introduction and let me understand you.”
“Yes, Master. I’m called Alice 1507. I am the AI management system for the City of Tereese. I am fully responsible for the power, water supply, traffic, medical, education, and security monitoring systems in this city. I am an AI assistant of critical importance to the residents of the City of Tereese. Because of my existence, the residents lived happy, convenient, and safe lives. They called me “Alice the Little Angel.” I provide a higher level of support to the residents than even Mr. Mayor. Master, don’t you think that Alice is very useful?”
Alice pursed her small cherry-like mouth and displayed two cute dimples as she played with her two pigtail plaits.