the Legendary Mechanic novel - Chapter 492

“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!