Clown Game
Chapter 397 - 375 Artificial Intelligence

Chapter 397: Chapter 375 Artificial Intelligence

Leaving the K City Anomaly Research Center, Song Xuan and Bai Xiong both returned to their respective homes, while Chen Xiao boarded the subway heading toward the Asian branch.

Two hours later, he arrived at his destination. Getting off the subway and passing through corridors that all looked identical, the complex route was now as familiar to Chen Xiao as his own backyard, having walked it once before.

He quickly made his way to the employee rest area on the lower level.

Perhaps this place didn’t leave much of an impression on everyone, but if I mention the last elite competition, you all should still remember.

That’s right, this is the very bar from that final showdown! It was just requisitioned then, temporarily serving as the competition area.

Pushing open the bar door, a wave of noise hit him. At this moment, the bar was filled with people sitting around in groups. Judging from their bizarre appearances and the strange costumes they wore, it had almost been taken over by the field operations team. After all, aside from these fierce souls who live vivaciously one day and might turn into a heap of rotten flesh the next, who else would gather here at this time to get utterly sloshed and speak freely with curses and expletives...

No matter where they are, those who cannot control their own life and death always live the most carefree.

Chen Xiao quietly bypassed the central gathering of bar patrons and took a seat on the edge...

"A juice," he said to a small screen on the table in front of him. Various juice options quickly appeared on the display. All services here were provided by artificial intelligence. Imagine, having a live person serve drinks in front of a crowd of fierce-looking, cold-blooded individuals would require the bartender to possess at least A-grade strength just to manage. No need to mention any conflicts; someone might just slap your shoulder to show friendliness when they’re buzzed, only to send you flying to the medical team.

So, here’s how you order a drink—yell at the screen. In the Foundation’s rest area, almost all services are like this, and no one finds it improper.

Soon, a cup-sized hatch opened on Chen Xiao’s table, and juice slowly rose up. He casually took a sip, "Mm... not sweet enough!" He voiced his opinion to the empty wall in front of him... naturally, no one paid him any attention.

After a while

"Hey, there’s no mother robot here, what are you embarrassed about? Isn’t it nice to come out for a catch-up?"

Still no response.

"Sigh, fine then. I had discovered an electronic synthesized female voice the other day that sounded really soft and comfortable. I even recorded it. Since you’re not here, I might as well delete it now." As he spoke, Chen Xiao took out his phone, fiddling with who knows what.

At that moment... the image of juice on the screen in front of him twisted and then...

Hi

This emoticon appeared on the screen.

"Ah, there you are after all," Chen Xiao said with vacant eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I was busy just now, so I didn’t notice you arrived..." (￣▽￣*!) the little television said.

"I see, I thought it was because of that electronic synthesized voice that you showed up," Chen Xiao replied as if suddenly understanding, before promptly preparing to tinker with his phone.

(○´･д･)ﾉ

"Hey?! Wait... hold on!" The little television quickly interrupted Chen Xiao’s actions, then, with a swoosh, darted out of the screen.

"Huh?" Now it was Chen Xiao’s turn to be puzzled as the little guy suddenly ran off, but he soon found out why.

Because that emoticon was now on his phone screen.

┑(￣Д￣)┍

"Hey... what soft and cuddly synthesized voice are you talking about...?" It asked with an annoyed expression.

Chen Xiao shrugged, "Not there? Maybe I deleted it some time ago."

凸(￣д￣)

This emoticon popped up ferociously on the phone.

"Ah, alright then. But I’m more surprised that you can actually transfer to my phone!" Chen Xiao stiffly changed the subject, "And it looks like you can freely access information on my phone."

"Yeah, didn’t I tell you I could enter any electronic device at will?"

"You mentioned it, but entering into field agents’ phones seem a bit over the top. Our data must be practically transparent to you."

"Uh, don’t worry about that... I can see information on your phone, but only the most ordinary parts. Anything specially encrypted by the Foundation, like mission details and personnel data, I naturally can’t see," the television explained.

"I see, but that alone is pretty amazing already," Chen Xiao nodded and added, "Anyway, back to my question, why do you always hang around this bar? It’s kind of grim here, and based on your personality, I wouldn’t think it’s your kind of place."

"Hmm..." the little television pondered for a moment, "I like it a lot. You get to see all kinds of people here, and besides, you hear a lot of stories." (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Chen Xiao took another sip of his juice...

"Hmm... I guessed it was something like that. Oh, right, you’re considered containment property, aren’t you?"

"You tell me." (～o￣3￣)～

Chen Xiao fell silent for a while.

"What if I said, I have a place, with more fascinating stories, with more interesting people? Would you like to leave this place and go with me?"

（´v｀）"Unwilling." The television replied without a second’s thought.

"..." Chen Xiao’s face drooped, "Huh? You’re not exactly driven by carnal desires; don’t you get bored without stories to live by? What’s there to be unwilling about? Plus, if you’re unwilling, why act all cute there."

"Well, first off, the way you said ’go with me’ kind of grosses me out," it began, "And although I haven’t been in contact with you for long, I basically don’t believe anything you say. Lastly, it’s not that I don’t want to go, but how could the Foundation possibly allow me to just run off?"

It said, seeming somewhat forlorn.

テ_デ

"What if... I could take you out of here?" Chen Xiao said languidly, "Leave the Foundation, and not worry about any consequences."

As soon as these words fell

...Σ(°△°|||)︴

The television was visibly startled.

Chen Xiao sipped his juice as if nothing was amiss, then seemed to remember something, "Oh, right, Eniac, you’ve heard this name before, haven’t you?"

(This is a hurriedly produced Chapter, please excuse any shortcomings.)