Alice paused for a second, then, as if she hadn't heard anything, turned around with a smile and asked, "Why do you say that?"
She neither admitted nor denied it.
Mary clenched her hands repeatedly in front of her, gathering her courage before continuing, "When we first met, I felt that you were being a bit too enthusiastic for a noble family. The Sweeney family has always considered themselves superior and is not very willing to associate with ordinary city residents, let alone become friends with a suburban immigrant."
Alice nodded thoughtfully: "Is that all?"
"Of course there are more!"
Because the previous sentence hadn't elicited any negative reaction from Alice, Mary's second reason flowed more smoothly: "If it's just because that girl named Christine is exceptionally talented and the Sweeney family is interested in recruiting her, then while it's somewhat unusual, it's understandable. However, it's strange that you were equally enthusiastic towards me afterwards."
Although it sounds strange, Mary has a very thorough understanding of herself.
She was never a genius, and the Su family was merely an obscure minor noble family in Wisdom City. While Miss Sweeney was renowned, Mary was just an ordinary high school student who buried herself in her studies every day. If there was anything special about Mary, it was perhaps that she had a rebellious streak, unwilling to obediently follow the path her parents had laid out for her, and wanting to lead the Su family further, closer to the upper class.
Most people in the smart city have long since resigned themselves to their fate, because no matter how hard they try, without enough opportunities, they will only stagnate or even regress throughout their lives.
As for opportunities, of course, they were noticed by important figures.
Mary had never expected to be taken seriously by those nobles, so when Alice appeared and was very kind to her, Mary knew something was definitely wrong.
In other words, she always knew that her excellence was insufficient to attract nobles.
Does she deserve it? She doesn't deserve it at all!
"……puff."
Alice was amused by her reasoning and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Mary was uneasy, because if the other party dared to steal Miss Sweeney's data and wasn't afraid of being discovered, they must be someone who was not easy to deal with.
The fact that she dared to enter Slote High School so brazenly, without any fear of being exposed, suggests that she must have made ample preparations. At the very least, the AI of the Smart City should already be unable to do anything about her.
This is also why Mary decided to confront the other party.
She needed to demonstrate her abilities to the person who had stolen Miss Sweeney's identity, forcing them to reassess her and see if she could gain more from the situation. Not to mention, in their previous conversation, Mary discovered that Alice knew more about the world's past than most people did.
As is well known, most information in a smart city requires universal points to unlock, while more advanced content requires additional permissions.
Many of the things Alice said, even the identity of "heir to the Sweeney family," may not be easily unlocked. Some things are directly sealed by artificial intelligence, making them unknowable to humans—such as the strange tales about the rules that led to the arrival of the planet Weisi.
This period was not mentioned at all in school textbooks; when Mary searched online, only anonymous forums mentioned it briefly, and the specific reports almost always glossed over it without going into details; Mary had older relatives in her family, and it was from her great-grandmother that she heard about the unspeakable struggle between humans and the unspeakable, but because of the long time that had passed, her great-grandmother had only heard about it from her elders and then relayed it to her.
Even with the "personalized recommendation" mechanism, Mary has almost never received any content about strange rules or supernatural tales. This is not a problem with the mechanism itself, but rather because there isn't that much information publicly available to humans.
But just now, Alice recounted that past very clearly, as well as the subsequent struggles among humans.
To make her point more convincing and to make it easier for Mary to understand, Alice even added pictures and videos, which only confirmed Mary's guess: this person was definitely not Miss Sweeney.
Alice nodded. "Yes, that's quite convincing... However, I am Miss Sweeney, and whether it's genetics or anything else, I'm exactly the same as Miss Sweeney." While emphasizing "I am Miss Sweeney," the unspoken message was clear to Mary—she was not.
After all, most people wouldn't say "I am exactly the same as myself" when chatting.
"Could it be... you're a Kobie?" Mary suddenly had a flash of inspiration and a certain guess came to mind: "You used a virus to infiltrate artificial intelligence and replace all your and Miss Sweeney's information? Including your appearances as seen by the smart chip?"
"...You're so stubborn, aren't you?"
Alice was still smiling, but Mary had already noticed her teeth clenching in anger, and quickly tried to salvage the situation: "I won't tell anyone, after all, no one would believe me even if I did..."
Suppressing the urge to beat Mary up, Alice took a deep breath, adjusted her mindset, and regained her calm smile: "Whether you say it or not, I am Alice Smith de Sweeney, without a doubt. You don't need to dwell on this issue." However, in Mary's eyes, this smile was not only eerie, but it also seemed as if Alice had grown devil horns and a tail, exuding endless evil.
“I understand, I understand,” Mary nodded repeatedly.
"You don't know anything..." Alice decided to change the subject and not continue to dwell on that issue: "The Kobet people have been oppressed by the Smart City from the beginning. They have no right to enter the Smart City at all. So the virus that is spreading now does not come from the Kobet, but is a strange influence left over from the legend of the rules."
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