Chapter 72 The Out-of-Control AI, the Suddenly Appearing Boss
"Let me go! You're not him!"
A scream, tinged with sobs, came from the entrance of the Galaxy Cinema.
A young girl in a dress stumbled out.
Her male companion chased after her, reaching out to help her: "What's wrong?"
"Don't touch me!" the girl cried out in terror, shaking off his hand. "Why did you say those things? Why did you do that to me?"
The girl was incoherent and her mental state was clearly abnormal.
This bizarre scene is just the tip of the iceberg.
Large numbers of spectators were fleeing, leaving popcorn and drinks scattered all over the ground.
Upon seeing this, Situ Linchen did not hesitate at all and gave the order to the command terminal:
"Recall the hounds and night owls, establish a cordon, and evacuate the crowd. Contact the cinema manager; I need to know what happened inside."
"Yes, Marshal!" Mu Ze immediately took action.
The drone, which had disappeared from sight, returned. Hounds sped in from a corner of the city.
At that moment, a "ding" sounded in Ning Shuyin's mind.
A cheerful system notification sounded.
[Congratulations, host! The main quest "Gu Lei and Su Qianqian's first date" has been completed. Verdict: Mission successful!]
[Quest Reward: 1 "Stabilizing Bead" item.]
[Item Description: One-time use item. After use, it allows the user to maintain mental clarity amidst chaos.]
Originally, this should have been a happy moment of task completion, but Ning Shuyin found it absurd.
The huge holographic billboard at the cinema entrance was playing a movie trailer just a second ago.
The screen is now replaced by a red warning sign.
[WARNING! A serious system malfunction has occurred in the cinema. Those who have not yet entered the theater, please leave immediately.]
"It worked?"
Ning Shuyin had a question in her mind.
"System, you call this a success? Su Qianqian and Gu Lei went to see a movie, but something serious clearly happened at the theater."
In the nearby cinema, screams and cries were mixed with low murmurs that sounded like movie lines.
The sound, heard from afar, was like a curse.
[Host, according to system rules, the target individuals, Gu Lei and Su Qianqian, have watched a movie together for more than 10 minutes, meeting the criteria for a "successful date."]
[Regarding the abnormal situation at the cinema, investigation is underway...]
One second, two seconds...
Ning Shuyin waited anxiously.
[Host, unknown interference detected, causing logical disorder in the cinema's main AI. The target, Su Qianqian, is affected mentally and at risk of a breakdown.]
Su Qianqian is in danger!
This information made Ning Shuyin extremely nervous.
At this moment, Situ Linchen had already turned to her.
"Ning Shuyin, it's dangerous here. Get in my car first. Mu Ze will take you to a safe place."
"No, I'm not leaving." Ning Shuyin refused without even thinking.
Situ Linchen was about to speak and forcefully give the order.
Just then, the huge holographic billboard at the entrance of the cinema suddenly made a "sizzling" sound.
Instead of resuming the playback of the movie commercial, it projected a chaotic image.
The scene shows the screening room inside a movie theater.
The cinema in the future world is like a comfortable, giant lounge.
Audience members sat in twos and threes on sofas, recliners, or tea tables, immersing themselves in their own virtual image worlds through virtual neural connections.
But at this moment, the audience members all had empty eyes and expressions of fear.
On the projection screen in front of each person, there are bizarre and fantastical images.
Mountains of work documents; blurry, unrecognizable images of lovers; cries from childhood beatings and scoldings…
Ning Shuyin searched anxiously in the light and shadow.
Finally, she found Su Qianqian on a three-seater sofa in a corner.
Her friend's appearance startled her.
The projection screen in front of Su Qianqian was playing her inner illusions.
In the illusion, Gu Lei's figure was perfect, but he had his back to her and walked further and further away. Su Qianqian tried to stop him from behind, but he threw her to the ground.
Immersed in the moment, her face was pale and her body trembled slightly—Su Qianqian was desperately resisting.
As an S-class navigator, her mental state has always been very stable.
Compared to the audience around her who were crying and tearing their hair, she was quite calm.
However, the "emotional immersion" screening technology in cinemas directly projects the emotional atmosphere of the film into the audience's perception by reading the audience's shallow brainwaves.
At this moment, the AI precisely attacked Su Qianqian's only weakness—her girlish insecurity in her relationship with Gu Lei.
Ning Shuyin's gaze swept over Gu Lei beside her.
This professor, who seems to have a knack for causing accidents, is indeed bound to run into trouble wherever he goes.
He's watching the movie with his eyes closed right now.
However, the projection screen in front of him was blank, with no movie clips or any "inner demon" illusions.
Something's...strange.
But Ning Shuyin couldn't afford to do so much research; saving lives was the priority.
"Marshal, I need to go in and rescue people."
Ning Shuyin said earnestly.
Situ Linchen looked at her face. The girl's expression was resolute.
Just now, when she looked at that light screen, she clearly showed nervousness, but she did not choose to look away.
She had just escaped from a pile of coffin-like containers and was probably still weak.
For ordinary people who have escaped this ordeal, what they need most right now is comfort and rest.
And her?
Instead of crying out of fear, he immediately volunteered to enter the danger zone when others were in peril.
This state of mind moved Situ Linchen.
Ning Shuyin saw that Situ Linchen remained silent.
She felt that he might be going to reject her.
She quickly insisted, "I can guide you and help you find clues."
Then, she quickly added, "I will take good care of myself and won't cause you any trouble."
Situ Linchen paused.
He almost blurted out that he wasn't afraid of her causing him trouble... but he ultimately didn't say it.
The very idea of this explanation was foreign to him.
Given his usual style of marching, he should have issued a cold warning at this moment, telling them not to hold him back.
He suppressed that unusual emotion and simply nodded.
"Follow me."
The two crossed the temporary cordon set up by hunting dogs and strode into the lobby of the Galaxy Cinema.
The cinema's general manager, Marlowe, was already on the scene with his technicians, sweating profusely with anxiety.
The lobby was even more chaotic than the outside.
The holographic projection advertisement flickered on and off, and the air was filled with the smell of burning equipment due to overload.
"Marshal! You...you've come in person!"
When Ma Luo saw Situ Linchen, he was extremely nervous.
He anticipated that such a major incident at the business center would attract the attention of higher-ups.
After all, places like movie theaters attract many female customers. The Perseids are a small minority of women, and their deaths in accidents would only exacerbate their already dire situation.
He never expected that this would directly attract the attention of the Supreme Commander.
Situ Linchen asked seriously, "What happened?"
Marlowe's voice trembled slightly: "This is something that has never happened in tens of thousands of years since the application of cinema immersion technology."
"The AI in control has gone mad. For some unknown reason, it no longer assists viewers' emotions, but instead acts on its own, creating and amplifying everyone's negative emotions."
"Have all the emergency plans failed?" Situ Linchen asked bluntly.
Marlowe nodded with a long face.
He pulled up a complex system architecture diagram.
“Even if the power supply and cloud services are cut off from the outside, or the audience is taken away, the emotions maintained by the AI can still operate offline for 80 hours. By the time it shuts down on its own, the audience may have already suffered a mental breakdown.”
“Now, there’s only one way,” Marlowe said, pointing to a red dot on the diagram. “Enter the ultimate world created by the AI and shut down its core master switch.”
Situ Linchen and Ning Shuyin scanned the system structure diagram together.
"What is the ultimate world like? Where is the master switch?" Ning Shuyin asked.
Marlowe shook his head: "The AI has gone out of control. The world it creates is anything that could happen, whether it's a data maze or a high-intensity battle scene."
Upon hearing this, Situ Linchen gestured to Mu Ze behind him.
"Immediately assemble an elite squad, and I will personally lead the team in."
"Marshal! No way." Marlowe shook his head again. "Theoretically, the bandwidth of the Ultimate Realm's entrance is simply not enough to handle the connection of a small team."
Situ Linchen frowned: "Then how many people can go in at most?"
Marlowe took a deep breath and replied, "The entrance can only accommodate a maximum of two people at a time, and that's the limit. In fact, from a very technical standpoint, it's only one person at a time."
It seems there is no other choice.
"I'll go in," Situ Linchen said coldly.
“I’ll go in with you,” Ning Shuyin said, looking up.
Marlowe glanced at the two of them, then hesitated before speaking, "Regarding entry for two..."
He had barely begun his sentence when a magnificent voice came from behind them.
"etc."
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