Although Chu Bamboo was already fairly certain the base beneath his feet was one of the Ancient Ruins, he never expected an AI to be lurking inside.
Moreover...
'Nuwa No. 17? Why does that name make me think of calling for Xiaoi...' Chu Bamboo was griping internally. Especially since Li Kang had used flawless, standard Chinese to call out for Nuwa No. 17.
"Please allow him to stay here for one day and receive basic amenities." Li Kang cupped his hands, his expression shifting to one of piety. This time, he was using the common tongue of the dreamscape.
"Acknowledged. Temporary visitor permissions set (valid for one day)." A pale white light projected from the wall, scanning Chu Bamboo thoroughly from head to toe.
"There." Li Kang let out a breath. "You can look around here. Don't think one day is too short—this is as far as my authority goes! To grant you higher-level permissions, I'd have to file a formal report, submit it to the Celestial Capital, and wait for their approval."
"That's not important! I want to ask about that language you just used. And this..." Chu Bamboo really wanted to ask if Li Kang understood Chinese, but in the end, he suppressed the urge.
"Language? What language?" Confusion filled Li Kang's eyes.
Chu Bamboo: "?"
"Wait, you think," Li Kang said, the realization dawning on him with a start. His mind raced as he chose his words carefully. "No, that's not right. You're guessing that what I said before, 'Nuwa No. 17,' is a type of language?"
"I want to ask... what do *you* think it is?" Chu Bamboo stared directly into Li Kang's eyes.
"It's a prayer!" Li Kang looked even more dumbfounded than Chu Bamboo. "As long as you recite the words of prayer and make a request, you can receive the grace of a Divine Being."
"The base beneath our feet is a gift from a Divine Being, and the one I pray to is part of the Great God!"
Li Kang said it with such matter-of-fact conviction.
Chu Bamboo's heart skipped a beat. He thought for a long moment before laughing out loud. 'So that's how it is! No, it's just as I suspected... If they think a cell phone is a creation of a Divine Being, then it's not so far-fetched for them to see an AI as a Divine Being itself!'
'But a prayer... a prayer! That was hilarious.' This was too absurd! It was just too absurd! An AI created to serve humanity was actually being worshipped as a god by the people of a post-apocalyptic civilization?!!
Suddenly, an alarm blared.
"What's this!" Li Kang's expression changed. He pulled a phone from his clothes and, with a quick swipe, a set of coordinates appeared on the screen.
He turned and began to walk away briskly, calling over his shoulder, "I have to go. You stay here! If you want to leave, just go to the door, repeat the prayer I said earlier, and state that you want to go out. The door will open."
He wasn't the only one.
Several other doors slid open silently, and a few people rushed out.
They gave Chu Bamboo an odd glance but said nothing, quickly following after Li Kang.
'Familiar faces!' Chu Bamboo muttered to himself. He'd seen these people before. 'Considering the time... The dog-headed man... have they started the bank robbery?'
'Based on my experience from the last few resets, they should be back in about three hours!' Chu Bamboo counted on his fingers. 'That means I have plenty of time!'
After waiting calmly for ten minutes, Chu Bamboo confirmed that Li Kang and the others were long gone. He glanced at the remaining doors, gritted his teeth, and prepared for a reset in case something went wrong. Only then did he take a deep breath and speak, enunciating each word clearly.
"Nuwa No. 17."
He spoke, of course, in flawless, standard Chinese.
"I am here."
"Please give a brief introduction of yourself." Chu Bamboo forcibly suppressed his excitement. 'Talk about finding a new path just when you think you're at a dead end.'
'I don't even need to clear the bank dungeon, get the key item, search for the next area, and then clear the nuclear reactor dungeon!'
'I can communicate with the AI directly!'
'Score!'
"I am Nuwa No. 17, the seventeenth sub-unit of the Nuwa Mainframe. I was created on... System busy. Please try again later."
Chu Bamboo: "???"
Chu Bamboo almost wondered if he was hallucinating. 'No, you've got to be kidding me... Holy shit, were you created in 202X with DS as your master? Is this some kind of sick joke?'
"Briefly explain what happened to the Red County Divine Continent—or rather, this land—that caused civilization to reset."
"Searching database... Beginning deep analysis... In 21... System busy. Please try again later."
Chu Bamboo's expression grew strange, but he wasn't angry. He was starting to realize something. '21... Does that mean the 2100s? If so, does that mean the cataclysm didn't happen for at least another seventy-odd years?'
'Besides, is the database really busy... or is it...'
Chu Bamboo recalled times in the Real World when he'd asked an AI about sensitive topics. The AI would start to answer, then suddenly retract its entire response. 'It's not that the information isn't in the database! It's that it *can't* be said.'
Chu Bamboo chose his words carefully, this time taking a more tactful approach.
"Ignoring any information you are not permitted to share, please tell me what you *can* about the ancient civilization!"
"Nuwa is a permission-restricted artificial intelligence system created by the Divine Continent civilization's National Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd.—abbreviated as the National Intelligence Company. Its functions were later restricted, and it was repurposed into an AI for the continuation of human civilization!"
It sounded like it hadn't said much, but the implications were terrifying.
'A state-owned enterprise, huh,' Chu Bamboo sighed softly. 'And according to it, Nuwa is an artificial intelligence. But clearly, this "artificial idiot's" capabilities don't seem much better than the AIs back in the Real World...'
'And considering it mentioned restricting its functions... Good grief, something must have gone wrong later on, so they were forced to dumb the AI down, regressing it back to a more basic level, right?'
'And an "AI for the continuation of human civilization"...'
'Don't tell me there was really a robot rebellion sometime in the 2100s? That would be some seriously bad luck!'
Chu Bamboo couldn't help but wonder, 'Was it really an AI that destroyed human civilization? But something about that feels... off. Something isn't quite right...'
Shaking his head, Chu Bamboo's expression turned serious. "I am Chu Bamboo. I was born on June 15th, 20XX! My ID number is..."
Chu Bamboo recited his personal data from the Real World in detail, then concluded, enunciating each word, "Nuwa No. 17, if you are truly the Divine Continent civilization's AI for the continuation of humanity, then your database should have my information! Please give me a summary of my life."