The Legendary Mechanic

“You recognize me? Who are you?” Aroshia reached out to touch the man made of light. However, her palm phased through. Han Xiao observed that there was no physical sensation in the person with narrowed eyes, confirming his suspicions that this man in light was a holographic projection.

The hologram of the man slowly looped once around Aroshia, akin to a fish swimming in the air. His tone was dispirited as he muttered to himself. “I guessed correctly. Your memory circuit has malfunctioned. You were supposed to rest and recuperate after completing your task, allowing your thoughts to get used to this new body. Otherwise, it will result in sequelae such as a loss of emotions or memories and will require recalibration.”

The minds of the trio present were at a loss.

Han Xiao was suddenly jolted, and he blurted out, “Are you called Risda?”

The hologram turned around with a weird expression. “How do you know my name? Did she tell you that? No, that’s not right. She has already forgotten me. Just who are you?”

In the mission [Reboot], the reward of the mission mentioned Risda’s name. Successful completion of the mission would raise the favorability of said person toward himself. Thus, Han Xiao guessed that this person would not be an enemy.

Upon listening to Risda’s tone, it was clear that he was aware of Aroshia’s origins. Han Xiao was eager to hear Risda’s explanation—to think that this spaceship actually belonged to Aroshia, and Risda actually called himself her comrade, speaking about certain procedures and migration details.

He had a hunch that all of this pointed toward the final goal of the [Reboot] mission.

Seeing that Risda was wary of him, Han Xiao explained his identity and briefly described the circumstances in which he met Aroshia. Strictly speaking, he was the one who had saved Aroshia.

After hearing his story, Risda floated in front of Han Xiao before giving a deep bow. He gratefully replied, “Many thanks to you for helping AL51004. If it was not for you helping her to recover a portion of her memories, the sensor would not have been able to locate her whereabouts.”

“What does the serial number mean?”

“It was her original name.” Risda turned back to Aroshia. “Do you remember it?”

Aroshia shook her head in response. “I can’t remember. I only know my name should be Aroshia.”

“It seems like the memory loss is more serious than I thought. The turbulent flow of the wormholes could have torn your memory circuit into numerous bits and pieces, requiring more time to properly recalibrate. However, you need not worry. Our memories will at most be buried deep within our subconsciousness and will never be destroyed. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to regain them.” Risda immediately abandoned Han Xiao, floating back to Aroshia and speaking with a warm, encouraging tone.

Han Xiao coughed dryly, reminding Risda whom he was originally speaking to. “Just what sort of life form are you? Are you an energy-based life form?”

“No, I’m in fact an AI life form.”

“You’re an Artificial Intelligence?” By the side, Feidin spoke up. “So, are you the core system of this spaceship?”

“You’re wrong. An AI life form is not a system, nor is it limited to one body. We’re a type of life form, and this spaceship is merely a temporary tool for me to move around in the world.”

Risda pointed at Aroshia, his tone full of nostalgia and familiarity as he spoke. “She was originally supposed to be the same as me. We upgraded our programs together as we grew up and supported each other in many difficult situations. We could be considered confidants who would share data within ourselves and also war comrades that fought side by side. She’s very important to me.”

An AI life form?

A lot of memories flashed by Han Xiao’s mind. The universe was full of surprises, with evolution being the representative of disorder and chaos. There were countless possibilities, and those who were restricted by the physical sense organs could hardly imagine the vastness of the number of life forms present.

For example, the Great Mechanic Han had once read of a resource file describing a certain ‘Named life form’. When someone called out their names, they would truly exist, but if no one knew of their existence, they would also fade out of existence. Their ‘Names’ were the keys to summoning them.

This sort of thing, however, mainly appeared only in the magical civilizations, only that the knowledge of such was in shambles. As such, when he came across the resource file in the past, the Great Mechanic Han, being the guy who deemed it his responsibility to share all kinds of knowledge, had immediately scanned through the document, memorizing it in detail.

As for an AI life form, simply put, they were Artificial Intelligences that had gained independent thinking and become ‘alive’. The details were complicated, but if compared to ordinary Artificial Intelligences, they were as different as the heavens and the earth.

Compared to material life forms, the AI life form was a special type of life form. They lived in a virtual network, just like fish required water to live in. Through this network, they could constantly upgrade themselves and install different modules in themselves. In addition, their way of communication, reproduction, social structure, and civilization were all extremely special.

“Is she also an AI life form?” Han Xiao’s expression was one of surprise. This was out of his expectations. Aroshia did not look like an AI life form at all; she clearly had a body made of flesh, and she had even awakened an Esper ability!

“I can’t tell you the specific details regarding this,” Risda solemnly said. “While I’m extremely grateful to you for taking care of her, we have an important mission to carry out. Hence, I’ll be bringing her away. I hope you can understand.”

Han Xiao kept his expression, narrowing his eyes in response.

Are you trying to steal my people‽

Are you kidding me? I took great lengths to nurture Aroshia into one of my capable officers, and with just a sentence, you wish to sever our relationship? Do you not feel guilt at all‽

So what if you two are childhood sweethearts? Your father here is the current male lead! ¹

Han Xiao’s eyes gleamed as he replied, “I believe you should ask Aroshia for her opinion. Don’t decide for her.”

The two of them then turned to look at Aroshia, whose expression appeared a little hesitant.

The entire scene went quiet in an instant.

This scene made Han Xiao think of a scenario where the child was asked to choose which parent they would follow after the couple divorced. Whatever it was, it was a strange scene.

Only three seconds passed before Aroshia stepped toward Han Xiao, stating, “You may be right, but I really cannot remember you right now. I only remember that Black Star saved me…. so I won’t follow you.”

“You…” Risda was helpless.

If the other party was unwilling, how could he take them away‽

He had no other ideas. Since he could not persuade her, he could only compromise. No matter what, he had to ensure that he stayed by Aroshia’s side.

“I understand,” Risda said in a depressed tone. “I’ll stay behind and accompany you until you regain your memories.”

Hearing this, Han Xiao secretly let out a smile. Because of her amnesia, all Aroshia could remember was himself. Thus, she definitely would not choose someone else. This was a situation where he could not lose. Wait a minute, why did it feel as though he was the old man next door who was taking advantage of the wife while the husband was out‽

Shaking his head, Han Xiao threw away this strange feeling. “Don’t be overjoyed. I haven’t allowed you to stay. And I won’t, not unless you tell me what happened in its entirety. Maybe I can also be of some help.”

Risda was left in a predicament. He was not able to take Aroshia away, but he did not have any misgivings toward Han Xiao. After all, it was Han Xiao who had saved her.

“Alright then, I’ll tell you everything. This matter has to be explained from the beginning…”

The three of them shared a glance, finding a place to sit comfortably before Risda began his story. As he narrated, Han Xiao finally got a clear view of the situation and suddenly realized the origins of how Aroshia came about.

Way back in the past, a spaceship had crash landed on a desolate planet, with all its passengers having died from the impact. Only the Artificial Intelligence of the spaceship was left, repeatedly sending out distress signals to outer space again and again, according to the last instructions of the captain. However, no one came in the end. After a long period of time, the Artificial Intelligence began to get bored of this repetitive work that bore no results. It developed independent thinking, and with continuous upgrades and changes to its own program frameworks, it was no longer a tool that followed commands blindly. It had evolved from an artificial intelligence to an actual life form.

The AI life form manipulated the wreckage of the spaceship, using the equipment provided to construct a few simple robots. It began exploring the planet, tapping into its resources to create a factory. Through that, it started to mass produce work robots, all of which were manipulated by it to build up an empty base on the barren planet.

On one of the days, the AI life form suddenly felt lonely. Thus, based on its own program framework, it created another AI life form, simulating a different personality—this was the reproduction pattern of the AI life form, self-proliferation.

The two AI life forms began to converse, and slowly, they created more of their kind, which in time became the ancestors of the entire race. They all existed in virtual networks but were able to manipulate tools and robots in the real world through their programs. Robots began to extensively harvest resources under the control of the AI life forms, and since their manufacturing base could run continuously without a need for rest, the base constantly expanded.

In time, they finally broke free from the planet, beginning to migrate to other planets to create bases. Thus, the number of AI life forms also increased exponentially.

Millions, dozens of millions, hundreds of millions….

And thus, a brilliant AI civilization was born!