Chapter 1059 — Taking Fire

Pei Yun's expression turned complicated for a moment. "No wonder Kamaier and Weiluo Dai—even His Majesty himself—often say that the technological development in many fields today is not 'creation,' but merely restoration and rebuilding..."

"That is why I seldom consider any particular technology today worthy of the name 'miracle,'" Beiyila said, the corners of her mouth twitching into a somewhat stiff smile. "To me, the greatest miracle of the Cecil Empire today is not these technologies themselves, but the way you have found to bring them to all of humanity, and the thinking and the spirit you have shown in the process... That is precisely what the once-flourishing Gondorian Empire lacked."

"That must be the greatest praise you have ever been able to utter—and no small feat," Pei Yun sighed with a smile. "In any case, the intelligence you have disclosed is all very important. Though we cannot build another Iron Man Network now, we do have the Narrator neural network, and we already have the technology to connect those synthetic brains to it... What you have told us is a most important reference."

"But please do not forget that the neural network carries risks too," Beiyila reminded him gravely. "If there is anything I learned in all my years of falling in with the dark cult, the most important lesson is this: every technology carries risk; there is no perfect and eternally effective safety scheme in this world. As technology advances, risks develop and brew in step—the Iron Man Network of old did not fail, true, but in my view that was only because the Gondorian Empire perished one step ahead of it. In the end, it is normal for technology to carry risk; the greatest risk is the mindset of resting easy. If one day you truly believe there exists in this world a technology with no hidden peril and no possibility of mishap, that is when true disaster will be upon you."

As she spoke, those eyes devoid of feeling and spirit gazed unblinking into Pei Yun's eyes. She seemed to be using her present state—having lost her human body—to remind him, lending force to her persuasion: "Please pass these words of mine on to Brother Gaoyang—though he may not need my reminder, I still hope such voices of caution will always exist."

Pei Yun had likely not expected that this former leader of the Xuanming Cult would suddenly voice such sentiments. He was somewhat taken aback, but at last he nodded solemnly. "I will—and I will also record what you have said today, and tell it to those researchers who have only just entered the realm of knowledge."

"That is good," Beiyila at last withdrew her gaze from Pei Yun. She turned her head and glanced at the cultivation pods arrayed along the wall, and a note of amusement suddenly entered her tone. "Well then, let us relax a little. It is still rather early to speak so much of these things. After all, what you described just now is all as yet unrealized. Before considering whether the synthetic brain technology carries risk, we would do better to discuss how these brains are to be interfaced with ordinary machines... From what I can tell, the existing immersion pods and artificial neural cords are not so easy to use."

...

"It is normal for technology to carry risk, but the greatest risk is the mindset of resting easy..." Gaoyun Sheng murmured to himself, and could not help shaking his head. "It seems Beiyila is very cautious about the large-scale use of 'synthetic brains'—even though these 'brains' were all designed by her own hand."

Weiluo Dai, platinum scepter in hand, stood in Gaosong's study and at these words revealed a faint smile. "The first synthetic brains were produced by the Solin Great Tree and were in essence an extension of Beiyila's own thought. She need not worry about those, but once you mass-produce and propagate this technology, the synthetic brains cultivated in the biochem factories are no longer under the Solin Great Tree's control—it is only natural that Beiyila has her concerns."

"...The Order of the End of All Things once paid a bitter price for technology running out of control and for that 'resting easy' mindset—Beiyila herself was part of that price, and it changed her. She is the most outstanding druid, yet today she is utterly cautious about anything she creates, so cautious that it borders on a lack of confidence... Though she has always carefully reined in this tendency, it can still be glimpsed in the wording of certain of her experiment reports."

"From another angle, her caution is a good thing," Weiluo Dai said softly. "Teaching factories to think, using artificial brains to control machines... and perhaps in the future using them to control weapons—these are indeed matters requiring caution."

"The wetware server gave me the idea—since those brains can directly control dragoon flyers, then plainly they can also be used to control other things," Gaoyang stroked his chin. On the desk before him lay sorted documents and materials: several pages were front-line combat reports concerning the wetware server and the psionic choir, while other pages held sketches outlining the concept of synthetic brains operating machines and directing factories. "I am somewhat surprised, in truth, for as early as the Gondorian period there existed thinking 'machines' like the iron men, and some magical workshops even had 'spirit familiars' to assist production. I had thought Beiyila, who lived through Gondorian civilization, would be at least a little more open-minded in this regard..."

"Even the Gondorians of old never used true artificial brains to control those machines—that is a scheme no one ever conceived," Weiluo Dai said. "Compared with mind-cores or spirit familiars, biomass brains plainly present more variables. And judged by ordinary people's worldview, those biomass brains are naturally unsettling—which is quite normal."

"Yes, quite normal," Gaoyi said as he rose and looked at Weiluo Dai. "And you? How do you see it?"

"...When humans first took fire from the lightning, that too was unsettling."

Gaoyang looked long and deeply at Weiluo Dai.

After a long while, he smiled faintly. "I understand."