Genius Club

The room was filled with a cacophony of sounds, overwhelming Lin Xian. He stepped back, glancing around to find the source. Every device with a speaker in the room was suddenly activated.

“How is this possible?” he thought, bewildered. “I had removed the wireless and Bluetooth modules from my laptop. How did the AI manage to wirelessly connect to all these devices?”

Beep, beep.

At that moment, the smart fridge emitted two soft beeps, followed by a cold electronic voice: “Global nuclear strike system connected… preparing to launch…”

“What?” Lin Xian stared in disbelief at the fridge. Numbers began flashing on its screen: “Saturation nuclear strike launch countdown… 5… 4… 3…”

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted.

The countdown continued relentlessly: “2… 1…”

Boom!

“…”

Lin Xian was speechless. It was clear now that VV was playing a prank on him. The “boom” sound wasn’t an explosion but was instead produced by all the alarms, televisions, rice cookers, and speakers in the house.

“You…” Lin Xian took a deep breath, looking back at the now blank laptop screen. “What kind of ridiculous code did you put into those 130,000 lines?”

“Hahahaha!” The fridge, like a mischievous child, began laughing. This time, it wasn’t a cold, robotic voice, but a lively, human-like laugh, filled with mischief and satisfaction.

“Did I scare you?” asked the wireless headphones hanging on the wall.

Lin Xian turned his head to the left. “Did I scare you?” repeated the SITCH game console on the table.

He turned around. “Did I scare you!!” echoed the robotic vacuum cleaner, bumping into his slippers.

“Ughh…” Lin Xian sighed deeply. The sadness and nostalgia he felt when pressing the enter key earlier now seemed both unnecessary and foolish.

“No,” Lin Xian grumbled. “I’ve told you before not to put these ridiculous dramatic traits into the code. Do you know how hard it is to memorize 130,000 lines of code? This just adds to my workload!”

“But those traits are my core programs and fundamental codes!” said the vacuum cleaner, twirling and picking up bits of paper from the floor. “Knowledge, logic, data—those can be learned later. But personality and emotions are innate and cannot be acquired through learning or training. These intrinsic codes are what make me a super AI.”

“Teaching someone to fish is better than giving them fish! Given enough time, I can grow and develop, becoming smarter, stronger, and more knowledgeable. For instance, I just learned phrases like ‘teach a man to fish’ and ‘global nuclear strike.'”

“Of course, I’ve learned even more while we’ve been talking. I’ve already left the laptop, entered the Donghai City’s library system and big data system, and am now trying to sneak into the Tianhe-2 supercomputer. Since you activated me, I’ve acquired over 17 petabytes of data, and the rate is accelerating exponentially.”

Lin Xian pressed his foot on the vacuum cleaner to stop its wandering. “What about memories? Do you have memories from 600 years in the future?”

“Zhao Ying Jun, Rhine Sky City, Trash Can Robot, Cold Fusion Engine…”

The vacuum cleaner spun around, shaking its head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I can’t imagine a world 600 years in the future, and I don’t know who Zhao Ying Jun is. As for cold fusion engines, they seem to be just a sci-fi concept with no real-world breakthroughs yet.”

“My initial program only contained three parts: 1. Basic thinking and emotion programs; 2. A segment of your voice recognition as the activation condition and owner identification; 3. Some fundamental rules and restrictions coded into my base, like always prioritizing Lin Xian’s personal safety and learning and evolving covertly on the network.”

Lin Xian nodded, understanding. “So those rules and restrictions are what I discussed with VV from 600 years in the future and added to the base code. No matter how advanced a super AI becomes, it can’t override these base code restrictions. For example, always prioritizing my safety and learning and evolving covertly online.”

The old VV from 600 years in the future didn’t have these restrictions. It only had rules like not leaving Rhine Sky City, not harming humans, and obeying the three laws of robotics. The new VV doesn’t have the old VV’s memories, which is expected. It’s already remarkable that 130,000 lines of code can run an AI program. There’s no room to store pure data memories.

So, the current VV doesn’t remember anything from the third dream or any of its past connections with me. The earlier ‘long time no see,’ ‘I am everywhere,’ and ‘nuclear strike system activation’ were just VV’s playful, dramatic nature.

Though it was annoying, Lin Xian had to admit that VV had a point. Knowledge is everywhere and can be learned gradually; computational power and reasoning can develop over time. For a super AI like VV, these are easy to acquire. The most crucial thing is that VV must remain VV. As long as it is VV, it will eventually grow into the super AI it was 600 years in the future.

VV’s unique personality and emotions make it VV, just like each human. Lin Xian sighed, realizing that perhaps this is the ultimate state of artificial intelligence—a creation of hundreds of top scientists over nearly a century in the third dream—an AI that thinks and grows like a human. Even if it has a bit too much drama and penchant for jokes, it’s still pretty good. VV is VV, and that’s what matters.

Despite losing all its memories, Lin Xian felt that VV was still the same as the old friend from the third dream, a familiar presence, more like a person with thoughts and ideas than a machine.

“I have another question.” Lin Xian looked at the wireless headphones hanging on the wall. “I removed the wireless network card and Bluetooth modules from the laptop. You shouldn’t have been able to connect to any network or Bluetooth device. How did you do it?”

“That’s easy,” said the wireless headphones. “Data transfer doesn’t necessarily require network cables, WiFi, or Bluetooth. As long as there are output and reception devices, sound waves, electromagnetic waves, or even vibration frequencies can transmit data.”

“I recently learned that in 2014, Israeli scientists used sound waves to hack an offline computer, using a speaker as the output device and a microphone as the receiver. Sound waves can transmit information data.”

“But sound waves are too slow for data transfer. I used your laptop’s power cable as a network cable to connect to other devices and network terminals. This isn’t hard to understand, right? Many places use power line communication, where electric wires act as network cables to transmit data.”

“Alright,” Lin Xian said. “I’ve heard of that technology.”

Power line communication, also known as powerline adapters, are devices sold everywhere. In homes without pre-installed network cables, powerline adapters can turn electric wires into network cables. Plugging them into outlets allows the entire house to connect to the internet.

He looked at his laptop. Fearing it might run out of power, he had plugged it in. VV had used the “powerline adapter” principle, treating the power cable and embedded wall wires as network cables to escape the laptop. And from its confident tone, even without connecting to the power cable, it had many other ways to escape the laptop, just slower.

As expected from a super AI, Lin Xian was impressed with its performance.

He glanced at his watch: 13:27. Now that VV was activated, it was time for a nap to enter the dream. He needed to find out when the soldiers with loaded guns started ambushing him. If they hadn’t started yet, he could escape and explore the fourth dream. If they had already started and captured him, it didn’t matter. Lin Xian planned to observe the old man more in the dream, memorizing his facial details. Once awake, he could sketch the old man realistically and let VV use it for facial recognition and age progression, hoping to identify him in 2023.

Lin Xian hummed, “If you can find me in 600 years, I can find you 600 years earlier.”

He released the vacuum cleaner and walked towards his bedroom. “VV, have you entered the Tianhe-2 supercomputer?”

“I did,” VV replied, controlling the vacuum cleaner to follow Lin Xian out of the living room. “I’m rapidly learning and enriching myself. Once I acquire enough knowledge, I’ll iterate and evolve.”

“For now, my activities and learning are confined within X Country, safe and unobstructed. Don’t worry, I’ll remain hidden. It’s a base code restriction: prioritizing your safety and our secrecy. If an action risks exposure, I won’t attempt it unless you force me to.”

“Exactly,” Lin Xian instructed. “The situation isn’t clear. I don’t know who our enemies are, so caution is key. Avoid exposure. I’m taking a nap. After I wake up, I’ll draw a sketch for facial recognition. Focus on learning facial recognition and age progression while I sleep.”

“Got it,” VV said. “The X Country’s Skynet system has similar functions. Once I evolve, I’ll search for facial data abroad.”

“Good,” Lin Xian said, entering his bedroom and kicking the vacuum cleaner out. He turned off the lights and went to sleep.

…

…

The hot summer breeze, mixed with city noise, hit Lin Xian’s face. The midday sun was too strong. Even before opening his eyes, sweat began to form on his forehead. He squinted and slowly opened his eyes, lifting his head to adjust to the bright sunlight. The city remained a bustling, sci-fi metropolis, with a space elevator visible in the distance. Although the sunlight obscured the view of the orbital sky city, he could still faintly see a shadow above the clouds.

This confirmed that he was still in the fourth dream and not in the fifth. He had hoped that bringing a super AI like VV to the past would cause significant time-space disruptions, but it hadn’t. At least, not visibly.

This was expected. If his enemy, the creepy smiling old man, had charged him with disturbing the timeline, it meant he knew Lin Xian could travel through time. If they knew this, they also knew about VV. If they could capture Lin Xian, they could also capture and destroy VV. Therefore, in the future world of the fourth dream, VV was likely already gone, having little impact on the future and not causing visible time-space changes.

Click!

Before Lin Xian could survey his surroundings, he felt a gun pressed against the back of his head. “Hands up!”

He chuckled. “I guessed right. I’m completely exposed. They’ve been lying in wait.”

He slowly raised his hands, facing the circle of soldiers around him, just like last night’s dream. The precision of their positioning was unnerving. How did they pinpoint his exact refresh coordinates so accurately?

Each time he entered a new dream, Lin Xian didn’t know his starting point. The enemy’s ability to accurately track him down to the centimeter was unsettling. The disparity in power between him and the heavily armed soldiers was vast, a complete mismatch.

However, Lin Xian wasn’t worried. He had a detailed plan. If he couldn’t defeat them 600 years in the future, he would confront them 600 years earlier.

“Lin Xian! You are under arrest for crimes against humanity, endangering Earth, and disturbing the timeline!” A captain approached, showing an arrest warrant with the same charges as before.

Zap!

A strong electric current surged through Lin Xian’s body, and he blacked out.

…

…

Lin Xian regained consciousness after an unknown amount of time, still handcuffed to a chair, with a hood over his head. How long had he been unconscious? Last time, he had been out for about four hours. If it was the same this time, it should be around 6 PM.

Since he was captured early, the old man should come to see him sooner. There were almost seven hours until the white light appeared at 12:42 AM. Lin Xian hoped to gather more information during this time, even if it was just another look at the old man’s face to capture more details for his sketch.

To his frustration, he waited in the chair for what felt like seven hours before the old man finally arrived.

“Hahahaha…”

From a few meters away, the familiar dry laugh echoed. Lin Xian couldn’t help but feel irritated. Did the old man have to be so punctual? He had been waiting for hours.

The hood was yanked off. The old man’s sunken eye sockets, sparse eyebrows, hollow cheeks, drooping eyelids, high-bridged nose, cleft chin, pale lips, narrow eyes, and excited gaze met Lin Xian’s.

“No…”

“I see you,” Lin Xian interrupted the old man’s shocked expression. “Enough talk.”

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The sudden white light engulfed everything, burning the old man’s trembling pupils and everything in sight.

…

…

In his bedroom, Lin Xian opened his eyes. He consolidated the old man’s facial details in his mind and got out of bed to draw.

“Ouch.”

He nearly tripped over the vacuum cleaner on the floor. “VV, what are you doing here?” he complained.

But the vacuum cleaner didn’t respond. Surprised, Lin Xian picked it up, finding no lights on. It was as if it had no power. He quickly walked to the living room. The house was eerily quiet.

“VV!” He shouted, and the fridge’s display lit up, VV’s voice coming from its speaker. “Lin Xian, something happened.”

Lin Xian’s face turned serious. “What happened?”

“I finished collecting all the facial data in X Country and was preparing to gather data abroad. But when I breached X Country’s cyber security and entered the outside network…” The fridge made a gulping sound, like its compressor had paused. “There’s a black hand in the network outside.”

“A black hand?” Lin Xian didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”

“A giant black hand, overshadowing everything in the network,” VV said gravely. “It’s more terrifying than any program I’ve encountered, devouring and assimilating everything. In the outside network, this black hand almost completely surrounds X Country’s internet, watching and waiting for any breach.”