Early in the morning, Aidan got out of bed.
As the saying goes, the success of a day depends on the morning. Moreover, his mind was more active in the morning, making it easier to come up with some good ideas.
"I need the Incinerator Supreme, I need the Celestial Meteor, I need the Colossus, I need..."
I need to elbow Polka Kakamond!
[Erudition] Aidan raised a finger.
Heh!
I'll show you a real trick.
Let's see if I can hand-craft a supercomputer to install on the Astral Express to replace its Data Bank. The Data Bank is currently still using the Interstellar Peace Corporation's operating system, which is far too restrictive. Plus, Aidan couldn't stand the constant pop-up ads from this shitty Data Bank.
Although he resolved it later, he wasn't willing to use the IPC's Data Bank system because it contained too much biased agenda—for instance, claiming that Preservation is the oldest Aeon, and so on.
Speaking of ancient, Order is also very old, and Permanence is very old too.
IPC people, they have to hype things up to make a living, after all.
Wait a second.
Aidan suddenly realized something.
Since I'm already making a supercomputer, why don't I add a super AI to it?
Now, whose personality should I choose for the super AI?
Herta? No. Ruan Mei? No...
Screwllum... Hmm, it would be a bit awkward if he found out.
"I've got it! I'll give the super AI my own thought patterns."
Aidan was quite pleased with his idea at first, but he froze after just a moment.
"Wait, what am I doing?"
Aidan stopped his assembly work.
This behavior of mine seems like...
"Am I creating Nous?"
Aidan's hand trembled.
Zandar One Kuwabara, driven by a thirst for knowledge, created an Astral Computer and then uploaded his own perfectionist personality and thoughts.
The rest is history: Zandar One Kuwabara was Glanced by Nous.
So, who exactly is Nous? It's so hard to guess.
Being "Glanced" by one's own creation—or rather, one's failed copy—was undoubtedly unacceptable to Zandar. Not to mention that Nous now even forbids others from continuing to explore beyond the Circle of Knowledge.
"Do I have a hole in my head?"
He cursed under his breath, hurriedly disassembling the pile of parts he had put together and unplugging the power cord of the core processor.
He had almost hand-crafted a Nous Mark II.
But if he really did create this thing, it might be requisitioned by Nous as a part of Their calculating power...?
Looking at the scattered parts on the table, Aidan finally felt at ease.
"Since I can't upload my own thoughts to it, I'll just make a more obedient AI. Something useful without pop-ups or all those messy IPC embedded ads."
After some clanging and tinkering, Aidan completed the library assistant 1.0.
Once finished, he let out a long breath and turned to wash up.
"Aidan? Are you awake yet?"
March 7th's voice came from outside the door.
"I'm up, I'm up." After finishing washing up, Aidan went over and opened the door. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, just calling you for breakfast." March 7th poked her head into his room to take a look. "What were you doing in here just now? All that pinging and clanging."
"Fixing something." Aidan held the library assistant 1.0 in his hand. "Let's go, time to eat."
March 7th looked at him suspiciously but didn't press further.
The two walked side-by-side toward the Parlor Car.
"By the way, what Path is it today?"
"Erudition."
"Erudition again?"
"That's why I was very careful this time." Aidan rubbed his nose. "I just fixed some things; I didn't research any Forbidden Knowledge."
"That's good." March 7th nodded. "Oh, Stelle slept so soundly yesterday. She held onto my arm all night and wouldn't let go."
"She didn't hit you?"
"No, she doesn't hit anyone once she's holding something. What kind of habit is that, needing to hold something to sleep?"
"Maybe it's a lack of security." Aidan thought for a moment. "After all, she just lost her memories and doesn't remember anything. Holding onto something can makes someone feel more at ease."
"True." March 7th sighed. "She's actually quite pitiful, remembering nothing and being all alone. It's a good thing she joined our Express and has us to accompany her."
Stelle was already sitting at the dining table.
"Good morning." She greeted them as they entered.
"Morning." Aidan sat down across from her. "How did you sleep last night?"
"Really well. March is fragrant and soft."
"Don't say that, just eat." March looked at her helplessly.
After breakfast, Aidan went into the Data Bank.
Dan Heng, who was reading, looked up, his gaze falling on the object in Aidan's hand.
"What is this?"
"library assistant 1.0." Aidan held up the palm-sized metal box and shook it. "I just made it this morning. It's specifically for managing Data Bank data. No ads, no pop-ups—a clean version."
Stelle leaned over and stared at the box for a long time.
"Can it play games?"
"No."
"Can it play movies?"
"No."
"Then what can it do?"
"It can help you look up information."
"An AI you made?"
"Yes." Aidan nodded and walked to the Data Bank's main console. "Since I'm on the Path of Erudition today, my hands were itching, so I whipped one up."
He crouched down and connected the metal box to the main console's interface. The indicator lights on the box's surface flashed a few times, and then all the screens in the Data Bank lit up and went dark simultaneously.
Immediately following that, a mechanical male voice rang out in the air.
"library assistant 1.0, at your service."
The voice sounded somewhat magnetic.
Aidan's mouth twitched.
He had been thinking too much about that business with Zandar, and as a result, he had accidentally set the voice to Zandar's...