Bai Youwei’s agreement pleased Hans, and his demeanor softened considerably.
He nodded and said, “Exactly. Human knowledge reserves are gradually replaced along with memories, whereas artificial intelligence knowledge storage systems have no concept of forgetting — they are constantly accumulating, and cannot comprehend what humans call ‘forgetting.'”
Molin couldn’t help but say, “But in those interference options just now, there was the phrase ‘don’t remember.'”
“That refers to things happening to other people.” Hans explained, “In some artificial intelligence cognition, humans can easily forget the joy or pain experienced by others, but if something happened to oneself, one would never forget it — for instance, where on the body one was injured, what fruit one likes, what things one has done… And humans are particularly fond of emphasizing the significance of ‘firsts,’ so anything or anyone related to a ‘first’ leaves a deep impression.”
For example…
The first time going abroad.
The first date.
The first job.
And, the first tooth that fell out.
Five answers were now displayed —
【A: It’s naturally the lower central incisor.】
【B: Lower jaw, primary central incisor.】
【C: I don’t remember.】
【D: The front middle tooth.】
【E: The primary central incisor — I hid it under my pillow.】
Bai Youwei let out a soft sound: “Wow.”
She’d actually gotten it right.
Hans let out a sigh of relief as well, smiling: “It seems the true answer is C — the other four are all interference options.”
Easy enough to say, but when it actually came time to open the door, one still felt nervous.
Hans stood before the door of answer C, hesitating for a moment, then suddenly drew a triangular talisman from his chest, rubbed it between his fingers for a moment, and tucked it into his breast pocket.
Bai Youwei guessed it was probably some kind of life-saving item — its specific effect unknown.
Hans gripped the door handle and murmured quietly, “Dim… could it be you…?”
He opened the door.
Behind the door stood a man with a dazed expression. Upon seeing Hans’s face, his eyes immediately lit with recognition.
“Dim!” Hans let out a great sigh of relief, moved forward with deep feeling and embraced the man, then patted him lightly on the back. “It’s alright now. You’re all finally safe…”
“Congratulations~” The clown grinned and shuffled over. “You’ve completed all your questions. As long as the opposing side gets eliminated in the next round of questioning, the victors of this battle will be you!”
Hans and his teammates turned as one to look at Bai Youwei.
Bai Youwei was sitting on a cushion with her knees drawn up, chin resting in her palm, languid and unhurried.
She felt it was a pity.
Because Hans had not only avoided elimination, he had also kept three of his subjects — meaning that when they entered Zone B, she and Hans would face each other at a two-versus-four disadvantage. They were still outnumbered.
Yes, Bai Youwei believed this Chinese Room game existed specifically to balance numbers — to give the “minority” a chance. The real battle game was in Zone B.
The group of men across from her continued to watch her, as if waiting to enjoy a spectacle.
Only Hans’s eyes held a trace of sorrowful compassion.
And that compassion made Bai Youwei especially nauseated.
“There’s only one person left.” Hans said lightly. “Asking questions now should be quite simple. You could ask about private topics that only the two of you would know.”
As if surviving was an opportunity he was granting her out of charity.
Bai Youwei smiled.
She stood up, lightly brushed off her skirt, and asked the clown beside her: “That joke you told earlier — how did it go again?”
The clown was momentarily stunned, then narrowed its eyes. “Which joke? I know lots of jokes~”
“The one you told when we first came in.” Bai Youwei said.
“Ah~ that one~” The clown said, “It was so hot that a sheep couldn’t stand the heat and went to shave its wool — after that it could never sleep again, because it had lost its fleece!”
—