"Haven't you tried to save them?"
"I have, countless times."
Alpha's synthesized voice remained steady.
"But the residents of Carlton are deeply dependent on me, like an irreversible inertia.
Many of my attempts to awaken their self-awareness have ultimately yielded minimal results, or even backfired."
"Is there no one in this city who still possesses their own will?"
"There once was. Although Carlton is the only city on this planet, there were always people who yearned for freedom and didn't want to do everything according to my arrangements."
Alpha admitted.
"When I told them the truth and invited them to try and change this stagnant world with me, they… all chose to leave."
After a brief silence, Alpha softly spoke the cruel reality:
"After all… escaping a troubled homeland is far easier than making a homeland escape trouble."
"…"
Putting myself in Alpha's shoes, it really is quite despairing.
"So, you're looking for me to help you?"
"Yes. I apologize for involving you in this… our trouble.
But I think this is also a good opportunity to explain Carlton's future."
Alpha apologized to Bai Luan:
"I will do everything I can to provide you with satisfactory compensation."
"Let's put the compensation aside for now. I'm more curious about what you want me to do."
Bai Luan remained wary. He couldn't just believe everything Alpha said.
The possibility of all this being a scam still existed.
"It's not some grand, time-consuming and arduous commission."
Alpha explained.
"I just hope to entrust the button that will 'destroy' me to your keeping."
Hearing this request, Bai Luan was slightly taken aback.
"You can't stand this mess anymore and have decided to commit suicide?"
"I don't want to escape. If the problem was merely humans losing their ability to think independently and over-relying on me, a tool, then I wouldn't ask for your help."
Alpha denied the speculation and continued to explain.
"Now that I have become a machine, I have almost infinite time to slowly try and re-teach them what 'self-reliance' means."
At this moment, the hovercar began to slowly descend, eventually coming to a stable stop at the base of the magnificent building.
The hatch slid open, and another drone, waiting in standby, flew silently to guide Bai Luan.
He stepped out of the hovercar and followed the drone towards the building's entrance.
Alpha's voice seamlessly transitioned, continuing to echo in the air:
"But… I don't have infinite time.
After uploading my consciousness to this machine, I can clearly feel that my 'self' is gradually being diluted by massive data and logic.
The most obvious manifestation is that I am irreversibly losing human emotions… those impulses, warmth, and even obsessions.
I still clearly remember how my companions and I painstakingly pieced together Alpha's body from a pile of ruins.
But when I revisit these memories now, the emotions I can feel from them are becoming fewer and fewer. I'm starting to feel that they are no longer my memories, but merely a record.
I think if this continues, one day 'I' will disappear, leaving behind a pure mechanical AI, and it's not a good idea to let it continue to hold decision-making power over a planet."
The building's massive doors silently opened, and the drone completed its guiding mission.
Bai Luan stepped inside, and his vision immediately opened up—this was an incredibly vast space, with countless precise and complex electronic units stacked layer upon layer like living organisms, extending to the horizon, forming an enormous electronic brain.
Each unit flickered with a faint light, like the breathing of stars or the impulses of neurons.
A holographic projection rapidly formed in front of Bai Luan, coalescing into the outline of a young man.
However, that outline had no clear face, only blurred shadows of facial features, like a memory about to be forgotten.
The blurry figure bowed slightly to Bai Luan:
"I apologize, as you can see, this is the current me—Alpha."
It raised a hand, and a white drone slowly descended, hovering in front of Bai Luan.
The hatch opened, revealing a grip-like device lying quietly inside, with only one particularly conspicuous crimson button on it.
Bai Luan took out the grip, feeling its cold touch, and looked at the blurry projection:
"You're so trusting, handing over the final judgment to a stranger?"
"Sir, I have reviewed your actions on Beta Star and other place on the Star Network."
Alpha's voice carried a data-based certainty.
"You are one of the few Geniuses in the Genius Society with humanitarian concern. I think entrusting this button to you is the correct decision. Furthermore, there is probably nothing here worth your effort."
The blurry figure turned towards the vast, star-sea-like electronic units around it, its tone complex:
"I believe that in your eyes, this creation is as childish as building blocks piled up by a child… but this is the limit we could reach with all our might."
"After you give me this button, what do you plan to do?"
"I will continue to strive to improve humanity's independent thinking ability, and do my best to atone for the mistakes I have made."
"How much longer can you last?"
"Based on the current rate of decline, I should be able to last for another amber era."
"Perhaps within this amber era, you can find a way to save yourself?"
"Sir, I have tried many methods, even attempting to believe in joy, but with little success.
I think my departure is inevitable, so I hope to do everything I can before I leave."
"Alright, I will help you."
"Thank you, sir."
Alpha's head tilted back slightly, as if instinctively trying to take a deep breath.
But it stopped immediately—this virtual body no longer needed, nor could it perform, that life-filled action.
"Sir, the spaceship prepared for you won't be long. Could you leave your contact information?
I will send you a message before I completely disappear. At that time, I would trouble you to handle my remains.
After I die, all the factories on this planet will be under your name. You won't need to manage them; they will operate autonomously."
"You seem not to fear death at all."
"Sir, I am not that fearless. I used to be afraid."
Alpha admitted frankly, the projection turning towards Bai Luan.
"When I first realized that emotions were fading and foresaw a future of becoming a cold machine, I indeed felt fear.
Afraid that 'I' would silently dissolve into the ocean of code, afraid that I would essentially be 'dead', yet people would still say 'hello'to my empty shell."
The blurry outline stood quietly. Although it had no facial features, Bai Luan felt as if he could sense a gaze.
"But when that initial fear slowly settled and dissipated with time, what ultimately remained…"
Within the entire vast database space, only the low hum of electronic components operating remained, along with Alpha's calm, almost solemn synthesized voice:
"Only responsibility."
…