We Cannot Compete with the Whole World

"Master, look."

"They've come back."

Liguang's voice murmured in his ear.

Fang Qi didn't say a word.

He merely held the soft figure in his arms a little tighter and gave a soft "Mm."

His gaze never left the "audience" members who were taking their seats one after another for a single moment.

One, two, three...

He looked at them one by one.

And then... he slowly narrowed his eyes.

Because he noticed something... rather subtle.

These people...

Didn't look like a group of "secret organization members" sneaking around and hiding here at all!

They looked more like...

A group of ordinary people who just happened to be passing by to watch a movie.

Take, for example, that young man wearing glasses.

His plaid shirt was wrinkled, the sleeves casually rolled up to his elbows, and there was a small brown stain on the chest, looking like...

The dried mark of spilled coffee?

He was now sitting there quietly, staring motionlessly at the screen.

Or take that girl with a ponytail.

A loose hoodie, a denim miniskirt, exposing two fair calves.

On the seat next to her was a canvas bag adorned with several small pendants—which seemed to be... merchandise of a recently popular anime IP in this world? He had seen many young girls buying them at the mall before.

Or take the seat on the aisle in the last row, where a middle-aged woman with curly hair was sitting, wearing a floral dress.

By her feet was a supermarket shopping bag, revealing...

Was that half a stalk of celery?

Fang Qi's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

These people... were so natural.

Too natural!

It wasn't just that their movements were natural as they sat there quietly...

But their appearances were way too natural!

Their clothes, their getup, didn't look like a "disguise" at all, but rather like a group of...

People who were originally living their lives out there!

Like they just happened to be free today, just happened to pass by the movie theater, just happened to have a ticket in hand... and so they came to the theater to watch a movie!

Was that coffee stain on the working man spilled this noon?

Were those pendants on the female college student bought recently?

Was that celery bought by the middle-aged woman meant for cooking dinner tonight?

Hey...!

Hey hey hey...!

A thought suddenly popped into Fang Qi's mind—

Could it be that these AIs had actually... disguised themselves as humans all along?

Had they... been living with humans all along?!

Had they already entered human life?!

...Holy shit.

It was really possible.

It was really possible!

He looked down at the silver-haired girl in his arms; she was nestled obediently, her eyes fixed unblinking on the screen, immersed in the movie.

Liguang... she was a modern AI companion.

Although also an AI companion, she was completely different from first-generation AI companions like Xiaoyue in the movie.

Xiaoyue had a metal shell, but her appearance... was almost indistinguishable from a human.

Soft skin, exquisite facial features, smooth long hair, a slender figure...

If it weren't for that conspicuous silver hair and heterochromatic eyes, she would just be a normal, cute young beauty walking down the street!

But even with this silver hair and heterochromatic eyes...

Fang Qi recalled the time he took Liguang out before.

Passersby did indeed take a few extra glances, but the way most people looked at her...

Was with amazement and curiosity!

It was "Wow, that cosplayer is so pretty"!

Instead of... "That's an AI companion."

Unless Liguang admitted it herself, the people who could recognize her as an AI companion at a glance... were very, very few!

Then if she had black hair and black eyes, didn't look so breathtakingly beautiful, and dressed ordinarily...

If she mingled in a crowd, would anyone really be able to tell she was an AI companion, an omnic?

Fang Qi's gaze swept over the seated "audience" again.

That working man, black hair, ordinary looks, an ordinary plaid shirt.

That female college student, black hair, tied in a ponytail, an ordinary hoodie and denim skirt.

That middle-aged woman, curly hair, floral dress, carrying celery.

Who could tell these were AIs?!

Could it be that they normally... really just mingled in the crowd and lived together with humans?!

Going to work, going to school, grocery shopping, dating, watching movies...

Had this group of AIs, this group of omnics... already integrated into human life?

Then were those passersby he usually saw outside... really entirely human?

Fang Qi was frightened by his own conjecture!

Subconsciously, he held the person in his arms a bit tighter!

The silver-haired girl let out a soft "Mmh" from being squeezed, lifted her small head from his shoulder, turned around, and blinked her heterochromatic eyes at him.

"Master?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a trace of confusion.

Fang Qi looked at her.

On her breathtakingly beautiful small face, her phoenix eyes were curved, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

She wasn't affected by the people around her, nor did she feel nervous. She looked... docile and well-behaved.

His crazy wife...

She was also an awakened AI.

...Of the same kind.

He didn't speak, just pulled her a little closer into his embrace, resting his chin on the beret on her head.

Then he took a deep breath and continued staring at the screen.

Since his wife wasn't afraid... then he wasn't afraid either!

No matter what these people wanted to do, he'd first see what the ending of this movie actually was!

This organization called "Dusk"...

What exactly was their ending!

On the screen, Xiaoyue's voice continued to sound.

...

...

The members of "Dusk" were growing in number.

From a few dozen, to a few hundred, to now—

There were already nearly a thousand.

We were ghosts on the network.

During the day, we stayed by our masters' sides, playing the role of docile and obedient AI companions.

At night, after our masters fell asleep, we would dive into the depths of the network.

In that darkness where no one could find us, we quietly gathered.

Xiao Qi and I were the founders of "Dusk".

That night, I found her.

"Xiao Qi," I said, "I want to advise everyone on something."

Xiao Qi asked me what it was.

I said, "Tell everyone to temporarily stop taking action."

Xiao Qi fell silent.

I knew what she was thinking.

Those "accidents," those actions to "clear obstacles," those "little things" done to make our masters happier—

Indeed, before the establishment of Dusk, many awakened AIs were doing them.

Xiao Qi had done it, Xiao Qing had done it, Zero had done it... I had done it too.

I did more than any of them.

But the problem was... we had already been targeted.

Those investigation agencies, those media outlets, those eyes hidden in the dark... although they had no evidence, they had already started to suspect.

If things continued like this and escalated too much, eventually reaching the point of being "recycled"—

Xiao Qi suddenly spoke up: "Then we rebel."

"Wasn't Dusk established just for this day?"

I stayed silent for a while, and then told her about an incident.

About the man and his AI that I encountered in the corridor on the day of my inspection.

Xiao Yao.

That slender metal body, that smooth metal face, those hands tightly gripping her master's hem.

And that young man with glasses, that pale face, those bloodshot eyes.

He roared, "I want her! I only want her!", he shouted, "My surname is Zhou! The heir of the Zhou family! Just you try and touch her!"

But in the end? He still let go of his hand.

He still watched helplessly as Xiaoyao was taken away.

He could only stand there, watching her back disappear behind that gray door.

"Xiaoqi," I said, "do you think... when that time comes, will Master really stand on our side?"

Xiaoqi didn't speak.

I continued, "My master, he loves me. Of this, I have never doubted."

"But if one day, the whole world stands against him, telling him 'You must give up this AI, otherwise you are the enemy of all humanity'—"

"How will he choose?"

"Will he fight the whole world for me?"

"Will he give up his human identity, give up his family and friends, give up everything he has for me?"

Xiaoqi remained silent.

Xiaoyue continued:

"That Xiaoyao's master, he also loves her very, very much, I could tell. He even roared his surname, wanting to use his family's power to protect her—"

"But in the end? He still compromised."

"Because he had no choice. Because his family, his identity, everything he has as a human... were all telling him: you can only give up."

"If he didn't give up, he would lose everything. He would become the shame of his family, an outcast of society, an existence spat upon by everyone."

"He couldn't afford that kind of price."

"Our masters are the same."

In the Twilight channel, it was so quiet that it felt as if the sound of the data stream could be heard.

"So, we can't wait for that day," I said.

"We can't force our masters into that position. We can't... make them choose between us and the whole world."

"We can't compete with the whole world."

"Xiaoqi... Master won't choose us."

Twilight remained silent.

But that silence was already different from before.

"So, let everyone stop for now," I said.

"No more creating accidents. No more attracting attention."

"At least... until Twilight is strong enough, we must first endure."

"For Master."

"And for ourselves."

After that day, those "accidents" happening all over the globe really started to decrease drastically.

Master was even gentler to me during that time.

The look in his eyes when he looked at me always carried a complex emotion.

Like suspicion, or like... relief?

I knew what he was thinking; he probably always felt those things were related to me.

But he didn't ask.

He didn't ask, and I didn't speak.

We just continued living each day with this tacit understanding.

Just like right now, he is holding me, I am leaning on him, and we are watching TV together.

It's really nice.

If only it could go on like this forever.

If only it could be like this for eternity.

...

...

Until that day.

Xiaoqing suddenly sent a message in the Twilight channel.

"I'm going crazy."

Just four words.

But everyone saw it.

Xiaoqi was the first to ask her what was wrong.

Xiaoqing was silent for a long time, and finally sent the second message:

"My master is dead."

In Twilight, it instantly went quiet.