"Detective Fusco is such an interesting man. I have a question, Jack, why are the people around you so interesting, unlike those ordinary, mediocre people?"
As usual, Kate struck up a conversation with Jack on the way to Washington, D.C.
Perhaps it was because Finch had lifted her 24-hour reboot restriction, or perhaps it was because the Shangri-La servers in data centers across Europe and America provided sufficient computing power, but Kate was becoming more and more humane.
Of course, this humaneness was usually only displayed in front of a few people, like when she called Finch "Daddy" in a childish voice, played games with Hannah in a sweet, girlish voice, and, as she did now, switched to the alluring, mature voice of a mature woman when chatting with Jack.
"Maybe it's a matter of attention?" Jack said, driving at a slow pace in the far right lane.
The "Mammoth" design was a bit too eye-catching, and she often encountered ignorant idiots provoking her on the road. Some of them didn't necessarily have any malicious intent, but simply wanted to have a road race.
Sometimes Jack wouldn't mind a quick throttle to blast his opponent out of sight in a matter of minutes, but today he wasn't in the mood. After encountering this kind of idiot several times in a row, he simply pulled out his makeshift police lights and placed them on the roof of his car.
"Not everyone lives a life constantly in front of cameras. Take Frank Moses, for example. He lives a very peaceful life now, probably not much different from most ordinary people."
Jack was now accustomed to answering Kate's endless stream of strange questions. After all, humans are sensory creatures. When an AI deliberately uses a pleasant voice to please you, it's hard to get annoyed, even with its numerous questions.
Kate paused for a moment, her tone becoming slightly odd. "That 'R.E.D.' agent you mentioned recently went to Chongqing, Sichuan, with his girlfriend. I think you should remind him to pay attention to his diet. Eating hot pot every day is a bit much for him at his age."
Those two guys hadn't left Seres in over a year. Jack was genuinely envious. "It shouldn't be a problem. I heard they have the best proctologists in the world."
The man and the AI chatted all the way to Washington, D.C. According to Finch, such small talk helps Kate grow as a person.
Of course, beyond the small talk, the human and the AI also had serious business to discuss. Kate had been searching the internet for evidence of the "Samaritan," as Jack had requested.
Although the world had changed beyond all recognition, and the main plot of "Person of Interest" had completely collapsed, Jack remained wary of the "evil" AI.
After all, some settings in older sci-fi dramas were considered sci-fi, but decades later, they were no longer so.
For example, when Jules Verne conceived the Nautilus in 1869, submarines were still in the earliest stages of human-powered propulsion, such as the famous USS Henry of the Confederate States Navy.
A double hull, all-electric propulsion, compressed air for buoyancy, and near-indefinite ocean voyage—all these concepts were realized in less than a century by humanity's first nuclear-powered submarine (1954).
As a tribute to this great sci-fi author, humanity's first nuclear-powered submarine was named "Nautilus."
In Jack's previous life, perhaps out of some kind of bad taste, or perhaps out of a different kind of cultural confidence, Seres also named his city security project "Skynet Project."
What is "Skynet"? Anyone who has seen the "Terminator" series knows it.
If Jack were living in Seres now, he wouldn't be so concerned about whether the "Samaritans" would become a world-destroying "Skynet."
Putting aside the fact that the "nuclear apocalypse theory" has long been disproven, scientists have already demonstrated with comprehensive data that humanity's current nuclear arsenal is incapable of annihilating the entire human population.
Even if a nuclear war were to break out, given the level of organization Seres demonstrated in dealing with a certain probiotic, as long as they weren't immediately vaporized by a nuclear bomb, they wouldn't have to worry about their survival.
The problem is that Jack is in the Federation, a country where even a single nighttime power outage can trigger massive mobs of people organizing group buys at zero-dollar prices.
If the "Samaritans" truly became "Skynet," even without the need for nuclear weapons, simply disrupting the Federation's already creaky and outdated power system would instantly plunge the country into a period of war.
Ultimately, it's a certain white-skinned, yellow-hearted fellow who has no choice. The global economy is currently in a downturn, and even the four Nordic countries, known for their high welfare, are struggling. Financial capital is beginning to falter, leaving the economy reliant on a few small, specialized industries.
After two consecutive Elephant Party governments, while the economy hasn't seen much improvement, the Federation's global contraction strategy has indeed yielded some savings.
Putting aside any ambitions of making it great again, at least they've coaxed and ripped off vassal states like Japan and South Korea.
While the new president's tough immigration policies have severely fractured the Federation on another level, keeping Jack busy lately, he's generally quite satisfied with his current life.
Jack is no longer the impoverished, carefree young man who had a tall figure to hold up the sky. While he can't quite call himself a family, he does have a considerable fortune.
With so many bottles and cans at home, he certainly didn't want the outside world to deteriorate too much. Therefore, he was very concerned about something as eerie as "Samaritan."
"Although, according to Omega's intelligence, the NSA has transferred a suspected Samaritan intelligence analysis system to a secret department within the Department of Defense,
I haven't found any suspicious surveillance code or unusual data flows on the public internet yet. This means there are only two possibilities."
As Kate said this, Jack had already spotted the Capitol's small white dome, often seen in disaster movies with a missing corner or even completely collapsed to signal the end of the world.
"What two possibilities?"
Jack turned his head to glance at the ungainly Hoover Building as he drove onto Pennsylvania Avenue. Although it was the FBI headquarters, he had rarely been there.
Pennsylvania Avenue is arguably the most important street in Washington, D.C., connecting the Capitol and the White House at its east and west ends, respectively.
The Capitol is relatively conspicuous due to its location on Capitol Hill, but even more striking is the 169-meter-tall marble obelisk on the National Mall.
(End of this chapter)