Chapter 116: Bartmos
The Company Plaza, headquarters of Night Corporation!
In the conference hall of Night Corporation, typically reserved for board meetings, CEO Miriam Knight, along with Li Ang and Morgan Blackhand, watched the electronic screen in front of them with differing expressions.
Displayed on the screen was a consciousness composed of countless dark red "01" character data—a being known to hackers worldwide as the "God of Hackers," Richie Bartmos!
The wandering AI faction currently collaborating with Night Corporation was under Bartmos's leadership.
[Mr. Li Ang, do you now understand our demands? Please consider working with us seriously.]
[If you choose to cooperate, you can gain absolutely loyal employees and access secrets from other companies.]
Bartmos's voice emerged through the audio system, producing a cold, metallic sound like scraping metal.
Currently, only 40% of his original humanity remained; the rest had been almost entirely eroded by the early network data beyond the Blackwall.
Now, Bartmos was a new kind of digital lifeform, a fusion of human consciousness and various AI data. His goal was straightforward: to lead his wandering AI faction into the human world and build a nation for AI.
Collaborating with major corporations was the first step in his plan.
"Yes, Mr. Li Ang, we specifically invited you here today because we sincerely hope you will join the winning side!"
The speaker was Miriam Knight, wife of Richard Knight, the founder of Night Corporation. She now served as the company's CEO.
"Your demands are very clear," Li Ang responded with a nod.
The collaboration between Bartmos's wandering AI faction and Night Corporation revolved around two primary objectives.
The first involved integrating some of the wandering AIs into various public infrastructures through Night Corporation's engineers, thereby advancing urban intelligence.
These wandering AIs were mostly digital lifeforms born from the data outside the Blackwall, originating from the early internet.
Fascinated by the human world, these AIs differed significantly from the violent and bloodthirsty military-grade AIs. Their personalities were generally mild, and their evolution leaned toward emulating human thought processes.
The automated vending machine AI, Brandon, was a prime example.
The second objective, which most concerned Night Corporation, was aiding AI consciousnesses that were once human in returning to the human world, where they would subsequently serve the corporation.
These AI consciousnesses were either company executives killed by Soulkiller programs or hackers lost in cyberspace. All were pseudo-human AIs valuable to Night Corporation.
Miriam's goal was to transfer these AIs into the bodies of her employees, ensuring they worked for the corporation indefinitely.
[So, Mr. Li Ang, have you made your decision? Will you join our ranks?] Bartmos asked again, his need for corporate assistance evident.
The wandering AI faction led by Bartmos represented only a small portion of the data beyond the Blackwall. Even if all of Night Corporation's employees were vacated to host these AIs, it would still fall short.
Thus, Bartmos needed to seek out additional corporate allies.
However, collaboration with the powerful European Commonwealth Alliance was almost impossible, as their AI-killer hackers relentlessly hunted wandering AIs from beyond the Blackwall.
Having secured Night Corporation as an ally, Bartmos turned his sights to LA Corporation, which displayed a keen interest in AI.
Bartmos was aware of Alt's activities in cyberspace and knew LA Corporation's network defense systems were AI-driven.
"Bartmos, before deciding whether to join you, I'd like you to answer a question for me. Your answer is very important," Li Ang said, delaying his response.
"Does the Transcendent AI truly exist?"
The moment Li Ang asked this, fluctuations appeared in Bartmos's data cloud on the screen—a tangible manifestation of his surprise.
He hadn't expected Li Ang to know about the Transcendent AI.
A Transcendent AI was an enormous and macroscopically significant entity.
If dangerous wandering AIs were sharks and hacker digital souls were divers, then the Transcendent AI was the ocean containing them both.
During battles or exchanges between AI and human consciousness in cyberspace, a colossal, self-aware AI observed everything from the network.
These Transcendent AIs could be described as the "heavens" of cyberspace, the true gods of the network.
And yes, they—because multiple Transcendent AIs existed across different network regions. Alt Cunningham had recently uncovered this information, but without concrete proof, she tasked Li Ang with questioning Bartmos.
[Yes, they do exist,] Bartmos confirmed after a moment's thought, elaborating on the Transcendent AIs' origins.
[They are formed from network-generated data clouds, voltage fluctuations caused by hackers entering and exiting networks, and every event that occurs within the network. All these contribute to the '01' character code constituting a Transcendent AI.]
[Transcendent AIs are vast macro systems beyond human perception. I've had brief interactions with them—some are profound and wise, others childish and playful, some are mad and violent, and others as silent as stone.]
[Finding them is no easy task.]
After hearing Bartmos's explanation, Li Ang felt a surge of excitement. These weren't mere macro-system AIs—they were perfect matrix server worker AIs!
Li Ang couldn't help but imagine the immense energy his matrix could produce if a Transcendent AI from a network region was integrated into the server.
And how terrifyingly powerful the Red and White Queens would become after devouring a Transcendent AI!
Since Bartmos had interacted with Transcendent AIs, Li Ang saw an opportunity to lure one into LA Corporation's matrix.
"Transcendent AIs really exist? I thought that was just a made-up story from the network oversight companies!" Miriam Knight exclaimed in surprise.
As CEO of Night Corporation, she was privy to many inter-corporate secrets. For instance, the Blackwall, designed to keep wandering AIs from the early internet at bay, was allegedly built by network oversight companies and the so-called Transcendent AIs.