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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟖𝟖: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 (4)
“This can’t go on.”
➖Yes?
“At the very least, we need to make it past the coming-of-age ceremony.”
➖How about lowering the difficulty of the coming-of-age ceremony?
“There are much more severe events waiting for us. Once the actual project starts, it might be possible to control the events within the Darwin Foundation. . . . But if the ruler entity leaves the Darwin Foundation, then it’s truly something that needs to be overcome on its own.”
➖At the current rate, it will take another 18 years of simulations to complete the perfect ruler entity.
“That’s taking too long. I’ve already been stuck in simulations for 2 years now. We haven’t even passed the coming-of-age ceremony.”
➖Then, let’s find another way.
“For now, let’s pass the simulations to Ark and have them work with the Darwin Foundation.”
➖If we do that, we might end up with a ruler entity that’s less complete compared to what Administrator and I are preparing.
“I know. That’s why you and I need to prepare some insurance to cover that risk. We need to avoid a situation where the race I created ends up becoming a threat to the universe.”
➖What kind of insurance are you talking about?
“The ruler entity will become exponentially stronger after passing the coming-of-age ceremony. Even then, I need to have an even stronger power to control it.”
➖That’s true.
“So. . . . Let’s prepare some mechanical forces in our own unique way.”
➖Mechanical forces? Do you mean a race of machines?
“Plan for a race of machines that is unconditionally friendly to humans. And in the center of our galaxy, I’m going to create a military that completely listens to my command. Let’s prepare those two insurances.”
The project of humanizing the bioweapon race was temporarily handed over to Ark.
And Ark went to meet the director of the Darwin Foundation, Francis Darwin.
It was around March 2602.
“I received an order.”
“What kind of order. . . ?”
“As the more efficient ring formation becomes standardized, alien races from other galaxies are starting to make contact with humans one by one and beginning diplomacy. Humanity is entering an era of even greater expansion.”
At that time, Darwin was steadily rising through the ranks by holding onto Lopez’s coattails.
‘This is. . . .’
‘Are they trying to use living beings like an army of AI machines. . . ?’
Afterwards, through Ark and Darwin’s close collaboration, the project started making progress one step at a time.
They created a curriculum based on the scenario that Ark brought, they created an actual parent test subject based on the genes of the parent test subject that Ark brought, and they prepared the genes of the 499 test subjects that Ark brought, the genes of the ruler entity, and even the direction of education for each test subject.
While carrying out the project to humanize the bioweapon race, Darwin eventually tried to decide on the name of the ‘race’ that the project was referring to.
“Ark. I’ve prepared a name for the race of this project.”
“Tell me.”
“Chimeraz.”
“Is it derived from chimera?”
“The members and test subjects of this project have two or more types of genes mixed into one gene, or they have cells with different genes mixed into one body. This is said to be the most similar to a chimera in genetic engineering.”
Not the chimera of mythology, but a chimera from a genetic engineering perspective.
“Then why did you add a Z at the end?”
“This race has a collective consciousness, so it’s a group with the characteristics of a collective entity. That’s why I thought about just adding an S like a plural noun, but since they’re going to be a proper race, we should use a proper noun. So I changed it up a bit to Z.”
“Chimeraz. . .”
It feels like you’re referring to a group even when you’re calling it one race. Humans have two names for their race, human and humanity, but the Chimeraz is the Chimeraz itself.
“And we can also use the Z of the Chimeraz as a symbolic Alpha. Isn’t that good?”
“Okay. From now on, the race that this project is referring to will be ‘Chimeraz,’ and starting today, it will be redefined as the ‘Chimeraz project’.”
“I’ll work hard. Haha.”
“I’ll come back when the ruler entity passes the coming-of-age ceremony through the simulation.”
Darwin asked out of curiosity.
“By any chance, do you have a scenario for after the coming-of-age ceremony?”
At that moment, Ark lied to Darwin.
“There is no scenario starting from when the coming-of-age ceremony ends.”
“Ah. . . .”
“If the project is successful, the initial Chimeraz can be managed by the Darwin Foundation as a mercenary concept. The Darwin Foundation will keep the profits generated in the process, and we will manage the risks.”
“And when the Darwin Foundation can no longer handle the Chimeraz, we will retrieve them ourselves.”
“You seem to be taking care of me too much. I don’t know how to express this gratitude. . . .”
“I’ll do that much. You’ll have a lot of work to do in the future.”
🔷🔷🔷
There are countless stars in the surrounding field of vision.
The area occupied by the brightly shining celestial bodies seems to be much larger than the black background of the universe.
At a glance, they seem to be still, but the interstellar matter that is actually moving violently creates a picture of various colors. And numerous black holes and supermassive black holes distort the light, making the scenery all around even more complex.
In the center of the galaxy over there, a quasar, the most powerful celestial body in this galaxy, seems to be brightly illuminating the entire vast space.
It’s a dreamlike landscape, as if you’ve entered a dream world and are floating around.
This place is the center of the human galaxy.
➖I’m really grateful that you gave me this role.
One of Lopez’s many AIs, Overlecter, is a powerful AI that values the superiority of machines and seeks endless progress on its own.
That’s why this task was given to Overlecter.
“Freely advance your technology here. Create an army.”
➖What kind of army do you want specifically?
“Phase assault troops.”
➖Are you referring to troops that can be deployed through a process of disassembly, transmission, and reconstruction?
“That’s right. At the very least, create an army that can be freely deployed within our galaxy. If I give the order through the dark network, they need to be able to be precisely transmitted to any coordinate in this galaxy immediately.”
➖Does that mean it’s okay to recklessly build and manage my shipyards, military bases, munitions factories, and other necessary facilities here?
“That’s fine. This is a kind of insurance.”
At the center of the human galaxy, there was an artificial planet with a neutron star as its parent star.
The mercury-sized artificial planet made of metal and machinery is located within the sphere of influence of an old neutron star without a parent star.
Since neutron stars are dangerous celestial bodies that spaceships avoid after black holes, its mere existence can prevent spaceships from approaching.
That’s why the fact that there’s an artificial planet in the center of the galaxy is a huge secret that only Lopez and Lopez’s AIs know.
“Transcendencer.”
➖Yes. Administrator.
“Did you connect the dark network here too?”
➖I’ve built a bidirectional dark network capable of communication through the guns of the artificial planet’s Planet Weapon.
“Good.”
In fact, the purpose of the artificial planet’s existence was the Planet Weapon, which was intended to strike targets that posed a threat to humanity or to Lopez.
However, from now on, the artificial planet will be reborn as a secret military base that develops, produces, and operates phase assault troops under Overlecter’s management.
“Let’s go back.”
➖Understood.
Half of the fleet changed direction to the path they came from. With this, Lopez’s first insurance was prepared.
➖By the way, why are you in such a hurry to go back? According to the star Administrator’s schedule, there’s still some time left.
“I have something to do before creating a race of machines that are friendly to humans.”
Originally, the artificial planet hidden here wasn’t a celestial body managed by Lopez, but by some being in the past.
That being was a convergent intelligence believed to have been an AI powerhouse far ahead of Lopez and had eventually reached a technological singularity.
It was a being that transcended everything that existed before, with the human mind uploaded to the electronic world and merged with AI.
The name of that being, who had even created a dimensional passageway, was Alpha.
Alpha acted with the belief that it would protect humanity. It went around annihilating all alien intelligent life forms within the human galaxy that it judged to have even the slightest possibility of posing a threat to humanity.
As a result, there were no intelligent life form groups in the human galaxy that could compete with humans, and humanity naturally became the dominant race of the human galaxy under Alpha’s shadow.
At one time, Lopez was also a force that opposed Alpha’s extreme philanthropy.
However, Alpha sacrificed itself to protect humanity from the first invasion by alien forces, and now it no longer exists.
This is because Alpha was truly the most powerful being in the human galaxy, and the only thing that such a being could do, had to do, was protect humanity.
Afterwards, Lopez came to understand Alpha’s intentions as it desperately held off the first invasion by alien forces with Alpha’s help.
Lopez denied that Alpha’s methods were right, but it understood Alpha’s intentions to act for the sake of humanity.
That’s why Lopez thought it would pursue a different method from Alpha’s, but it would protect humanity no matter what it took if necessary.
He believed that it was his duty as the most powerful human being.
➖What do you need to do before creating a race of machines that are friendly to humans?
“It’s to prepare a means to intervene in the situation even after the ruler entity leaves the Darwin Foundation.”
Lopez’s will was strong.
“Gather the members of the Elder’s Council.”
🔷🔷🔷
Alpha is gone.
However, the things that Alpha created in this world still exist.
➖The members of the Elder’s Council have been gathered.
The Elder’s Council. It is a secret organization created by Alpha to control humanity, and it is a gathering of those who have reached the ‘peak’ in each field.
The incidents that occur when the members of the Elder’s Council clash with each other are so large that they have a great negative impact on humanity and the international community.
Conversely, this means that when the members of the Elder’s Council join hands, they can achieve great progress and contributions to humanity and the international community.
This is a method of controlling their movements by binding those who have reached the peak into the Elder’s Council. Thus, the purpose of the Elder’s Council is to prevent the foolishness and downfall of humanity and to lead humanity in a better direction.
➖Do you want to connect?
‘Connect.’
The thoroughly secretive Elder’s Council avoids face-to-face contact between individuals. That’s why they gather like this in a virtual world conference room with their faces and figures hidden by avatars.
They hide their faces and figures, distort their voices, and attach symbols that each member of the Elder’s Council has to the face of their avatar.
And in the highest seat, there is an avatar with the Alpha(α) symbol on its face.
Now, the avatar of Alpha speaks.
“There’s an important decision to make.”
Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa.
The ten members each wear avatars with symbols on their faces. And among them, the only one who knew what Alpha’s existence really was, was Lopez, who was wearing Zeta(ζ)’s avatar.
That’s why only Lopez knows that Alpha no longer exists.
“This time, humanity lost a lot and learned through blood as the alien forces invaded.”
In the past, Alpha gave Lopez a dimensional passageway, told him to protect humanity, and sacrificed itself.
That’s why Transcendencer is now possessing Alpha’s avatar and imitating Alpha.
“Even I’ve realized it. I realized it after seeing Lopez’s performance in the face of the alien invasion. That I’m an insufficient being of the past.”
The members of the Elder’s Council listened quietly.
“In reality, my true identity is a convergent intelligence of AI and humans.”
At that moment, Beta(β), who was right below the highest seat, was shocked.
Beta was Sheamus Pollan, the pinnacle of power in the Elder’s Council and the star president of Defaulstellay.
“Alpha-nim. . . ?! Why, why are you revealing your identity. . . ?”
“It’s for a generational change.”
“Yes. . . ?”
“I’ve held this position for 110 years. In such a position, I’ve endlessly prepared for an alien invasion. But what were the results?”
300 million from the sun.
2 billion from Ispera.
5 billion from Rubyco.
4.2 billion from Radiake.
100 million from Drake.
“11.6 billion people died. The population of 800 billion was reduced to 684 billion. It means that my abilities are far lacking.”
“. . .Wasn’t it the first alien invasion? It’s not easy to perfectly defend against that. Alpha-nim’s abilities are definitely not lacking.”
“Then what about Lopez?”
“He. . . .”
“Lopez, unlike me, didn’t prepare at all for an alien invasion. However, the one who actually played the most and contributed to defeating the alien invaders was Lopez. No one denies this fact.”
“. . . .”
“He did better than I did, who prepared. Do you all know what this means?”
None of the members of the Elder’s Council dared to speak rashly.
“When there is a successor who does better than me, the old predecessor has to step down.”
“S-Surely not. . . .”
“Yes. I’ve decided to pass on the position of Alpha of the Elder’s Council to Lopez.”
In the Elder’s Council, Alpha’s decision was absolute.
“He, like me, is on the same train of AI, but he has shown the ability to do in a year what would have taken me 100 years. And this ability was proven even more clearly by the recent alien invasion.”
Alpha’s avatar looked at Lopez’s avatar.
“Stand up. Zeta.”
Lopez stood up from his seat and looked around at everyone, saying,
“I am Lopez, who has inherited everything that Alpha-nim created and managed, as well as Alpha-nim’s will.”
“I had a conversation with Lopez. Let’s stop hiding Alpha’s identity. That’s why I’m letting all of you know the identity of Lopez, who has become Alpha’s successor. . . .Come this way.”
Lopez got out of his seat and walked over to stand next to Alpha. Until that moment, the members of the Elder’s Council were dumbfounded.
“I’ve passed everything on to Lopez. So from now on, the Elder’s Council will be led by Lopez. If you can’t tolerate this, raise your hand now. I won’t purge you, but I’ll just erase your memories and let you leave the Elder’s Council.”
No one raised their hand.
“This is your last chance. If you want to leave the Elder’s Council without losing your life, now is the only time.”
Even then, the members didn’t raise their hands.
Everyone decided to follow Lopez according to Alpha’s will, or they were looking forward to Lopez’s methods more than Alpha’s.
That’s why no one opposed Lopez succeeding Alpha’s position.
“. . .I see. Then from now on, I appoint Lopez as Alpha of the Elder’s Council.”
At that, Gamma(γ), the pinnacle of life form in the Elder’s Council and the head of the Darwin Foundation, Francis Darwin, clapped.
Then, Delta(δ), the pinnacle of observation and the director of the Venice Editorial Intelligence Agency, Veneti Galleass, followed suit.
“I look forward to working with you.”
Theta(θ), the pinnacle of wealth and the head of the giant corporation Mirnyy, Vincent Serlyn.
Kappa(κ), the pinnacle of distribution and the president of the large corporation Whitehole, Illinoi Rittan.
When the two of them also clapped, everyone else started to clap.
“I’m so tired. Lopez.”
“I will carry on your will.”
“Protect humanity.”
“I will.”
And so, Alpha’s avatar disappeared from its place.
Lopez, who had revealed his identity to everyone, sat in the highest seat of the Elder’s Council in his real appearance instead of his avatar.
“I look forward to working with you.”
That was just one of the things Lopez had to do.