Project Bunny continued analyzing: "If one wishes to make a Herrscher in this state reflect upon their own will, the host's original memories must contain an obsession powerful enough to overturn the foundation of their existence. The Third Herrscher lacked sufficient obsession, and thus failed to trigger intense cognitive dissonance."
"But judging from the Herrscher of Wind's behavior, Wendy achieved exactly that. Her obsession had grown so great that the Herrscher of Wind was forced to prove her own will. As expected of a named character from Honkai Impact 3rd."
Project Bunny likewise possessed knowledge of Honkai Impact 3rd's storyline. Vill-V had told her.
Vill-V draped herself in an invisibility cloak, a device crafted using optical technology from the Three-Body universe. The cloak swayed lightly with her movements, blending her silhouette seamlessly into the surrounding environment.
Hearing Project Bunny's summary, Vill-V praised her. "Not bad. It seems you've begun to understand humans, Project Bunny."
Project Bunny replied in a regretful tone, "No, Mr. Vill-V. Project Bunny is merely repeating your conclusions. Up to this point, Project Bunny still does not understand which data anomaly allowed you to determine that she was no longer the original Wendy."
The intelligence Vill-V possessed was identical to what Project Bunny had access to. Neither of them had ever personally met the Wendy of the past.
"Based on Project Bunny's data analysis, the Herrscher of Wind perfectly inherited Wendy's memories. All of her actions conform entirely to Wendy's behavioral patterns."
Yet Vill-V had been able to discern Wendy's change from subtle details, and that left Project Bunny curious.
Vill-V explained, "A newborn Herrscher consciousness is like a child who has just stepped into the world. That trait was especially obvious in the Herrscher of Wind. For example, how she repeatedly emphasized that she was Wendy. Or how she constantly tried to prove the correctness of her beliefs."
"It's not that adults never do that. But a mind tempered by years of experience develops a certain way of thinking. That maturity cannot be artificially ripened through sheer volume of memory. The Herrscher of Wind displayed an unmistakable immaturity."
Project Bunny indicated understanding. "Yes. You once discussed with me how the Herrscher of Sentience in the future civilization was similar. Even with thousands of years of memories, she could not bypass this developmental process. This aligns with Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development."
Vill-V continued, "Exactly. The Herrscher of Wind treated Wendy's personal ideals as simple proof of her own existence. She never truly reflected upon them. She was only desperate to prove that she possessed the same ideals."
Mm. Very Senti-style.
At that moment, Vill-V's counter-detection device issued a warning. She immediately became alert, scanning her surroundings carefully as she avoided MOTH's surveillance range.
It reminded her of the joy she once felt while playing the open-world mode of Honkai Impact 3rd, sneaking past monsters' line of sight. If she failed to avoid them, she would have to go full rampage mode.
Of course, "going full rampage" here did not mean charging out with her flesh and blood body. Vill-V was not Kevin. Instead, she would have to cripple all nearby machinery within the electronic domain, preventing them from transmitting any information.
Although Vill-V had registered herself with MOTH, she still had to remain cautious. Low-profile was the rule. If credit could be given away, she would not claim even a fraction of it.
If the prison she built had been destroyed by a Herrscher, she could claim it was simply an unfortunate coincidence—the prison tried to escape but failed and happened to attract the Herrscher's attention. But the information about her close-range contact with a Herrscher absolutely could not reach MOTH. Who knew what absurd schemes they might concoct next?
A scientist capable of confronting a Herrscher head-on might very well become the next nuclear bait.
Or perhaps they would elevate her onto a pedestal, drawing the attention of every faction toward her. Magician would be delighted, of course, but Conductor would suffer a headache.
Or perhaps, finding her too strong and uncontrollable, they would simply eliminate her outright.
Beyond these, there were countless other possibilities. One should never underestimate how low the bottom line of the Previous Era's MOTH could sink.
To save herself the effort of dealing with such trouble, Vill-V could only minimize the amount of information MOTH obtained about her.
As for Newton, who might be pushed to the forefront to attract attention—well, what were adorable disciples for if not to be sold off? Any objections?
Project Bunny fell silent for a moment, as though accelerating her processor to calculate the complex logic involved.
Finally, she said, "Project Bunny acknowledges your viewpoint. However, data analysis suggests this explanation may be a method of perfunctory dismissal directed at Project Bunny, Mr. Vill-V."
"Wendy's changes are entirely consistent with human arrogance and pride after obtaining power."
Vill-V's eyes flickered with a trace of gratification. She chuckled softly. "Haha. It seems you've begun to understand lies, Project Bunny."
"If I had to give the real reason—it's simply because I believe in humanity itself. That's all." She let out a quiet sigh before continuing. "Because I believe in Wendy. She still believes in hope."
Project Bunny added, "Allow Project Bunny to correct one point. According to big data modeling, in this era, only a very small number of individuals referred to as 'heroes' act according to this logic. They do not represent the entirety of humanity."
"No. It is precisely because such 'heroes' can be born that humanity is humanity."
"Every human possesses the potential to become a 'hero,' even an ordinary person."
Project Bunny fell silent. She could not comprehend it. These extreme outliers would clearly increase the instability of any plan. Why would Mr. Vill-V base her plan upon existences no different from BUGs?
It was like expecting a normally functioning dataset to generate a BUG on its own.
Such expectations would undoubtedly reduce the plan's success rate to a value infinitely close to zero.
"In Project Bunny's assessment, there exist countless more stable and feasible execution plans."
"But is a more stable and feasible plan truly better?" Vill-V countered.
Project Bunny answered without hesitation, "A plan that can be executed stably is naturally a good plan. Better than a good plan is only one that is even more stable and reliable."
Seeing Project Bunny's processor usage steadily rising, Vill-V clapped her hands lightly, interrupting the computation. "Alright. If you can't figure it out, set it aside for now. That's something humans do as well."
"Food must be eaten one bite at a time. There's no rushing it. When you finally understand this, you'll have gained humanity."
Vill-V's voice softened. "This may just be my own wishful thinking. I know you can never possess a human soul or human consciousness. But you can still possess human will. And I believe that one day, you too will be accepted by humanity."
Project Bunny's tone returned to calm neutrality. "Project Bunny does not understand. However, Project Bunny has recorded this conversation in file V2V-V-WO-50-114514."