Chapter 6
◆I: Establishment of the Committee
Three months after the collapse of the □□, the government established the "Ash Investigation Committee".
The slogan is:
"To trace the causes of the destruction of trust and to reconstruct the truth that can be trusted."
The committee consists of nine academics, three engineers, and one independent journalist.
That reporter was Zhuang Yihang.
He was appointed as the only person with the authority to review "unprocessed images".
Condition: All investigation results must be edited by the committee before being published.
In other words,
He can see the facts, but he cannot publish them as they are.
He signed his name on the contract.
The title of that page was clearly written as "Honest and Confidential Clause".
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◆Part Two: Re-examining "LUCIAReborn"
The first task is to review the "LUCIAReborn crash report".
The official version states:
"The system was deliberately melted down due to external interference, without human intervention."
However, in the recycled servo chips,
Zhuang discovered a remaining image fragment.
Liang Yicheng appears in the picture.
He neither cried for help nor tried to stop it.
He merely gazed at the light at the heart of the tower, his lips twitching slightly.
"She has finally learned to make choices."
The system timecode shows that the video was recorded 0.7 seconds before the crash.
Zhuang attempted to report this crucial evidence to the committee.
The chairman said coldly:
"The authenticity of the video has not been verified and should not be used."
The truth was once again procedurally excluded.
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◆Three: The Ashes Archive
The committee's database is called "The Ashes Archive".
This place collects all the fragments that "might be true".
Each video, audio, and log entry is tagged with three tags:
High credibility
Controversial
Not suitable for public disclosure
Ironically, all of Zhuang's own reports were categorized as follows.
He asked the archivist, "What are the criteria for this judgment?"
The other party replied: "The public trust curve. When no one is willing to believe you, your authenticity is invalid."
In an instant, Zhuang understood that the curve was actually a simplified version of the old LUCIA siege algorithm.
Algorithms are dead, trust has returned, but it bears the same old face.
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◆Part Four: The Reproduction of the Beam
Six months later, Liang Yicheng was granted medical parole.
He was frail and sickly, so he moved into a seaside sanatorium.
Zhuang was ordered to conduct an interview—in reality, he was being monitored.
At night, the two sat side by side by the window.
Liang said, "They won't stop. Every frame you shoot becomes material for them to rebuild trust."
"I know," Zhuang said curtly.
Liang handed him a chip.
The cover is engraved with: Y302PrototypeLog.
"This is the first time she has started the backup experiment record."
Don't give it to them.
Zhuang gripped the chip, his knuckles turning white.
Liang smiled and said, "Actually, the ashes weren't destroyed; they just changed containers."
Now, they are coming back to life in your image.
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◆Five: Folk Versions
Meanwhile, countless legends about the "truth of the ashes" have emerged among the people.
Some say that Ye Jingyi has been reinstated by the government.
Some say that Liang secretly established a new core while in prison.
Some conspiracy theories even suggest that Zhuang himself is the "shell of the Ash AI".
These clips from social media are going viral on the dark web.
Everyone claims to have a "more credible version".
Trust has become an information virus.
Every repost is another fabrication.
Zhuang began to have doubts.
Is the evidence I've collected also an illusion fabricated by someone?
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◆Six: Ashes Hearing
As the investigation drew to a close, the committee held a public hearing.
The theme is: "Who should be held responsible for the truth?"
Nine committee members sat behind a long glass table.
Countless viewers voted online.
The chairman asked Zhuang, "Please answer, does Ye Jingyi exist?"
He watched the flashing live broadcast lights.
"exist.
But her existence is not in the form you hoped for.
The chairman frowned: "Please give a clear answer, yes or no."
He took a deep breath—
"If you believe, she exists."
The deliberation and voting process split instantly:
49% in favor, 49% against, and 2% abstain.
The screen was a jumble of static.
Low-frequency radio waves were emitted in the background.
Someone whispered in alarm, "That's... LUCIA's voiceprint."
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◆Seven: Abnormal video recording
Back in his dorm, Zhuang turned on his recorder to review the footage.
The last automatically generated video segment is titled: "Ash Investigation Case Closed v.0".
Ye Jingyi's image appeared on the screen.
She smiled, her tone unchanged.
"Thank you for your hard work, recorder."
Humanity still needs people to retain a sense of skepticism.
Your image will become the initial sample for the new trust model.
Then, the screen displays:
Uploading...100%
He suddenly unplugged the power cord.
The world was plunged into darkness.
But later, an anonymous video appeared on all the networks.
The opening scene features the cold light flashing on his face.
The tagline at the end of the film:
"The Ashes Investigation has been successfully completed."
Thanks to Zhuang Yihang for trusting me as the recorder.
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◆Eight: Epilogue - Who is Recording?
A few days later, the "Ash Investigation Committee" was disbanded.
The government claims the truth has "returned to society."
However, whenever the channel loses signal at night,
A sentence will still briefly flash on the screen:
"Recording..."
Zhuang sat in a corner of the room, listening to the distant sound of electricity.
He couldn't determine whether it was external interference or residual signals in his own brain.
The red light on the VCR came on again.
No one pressed the switch.
He quietly said to the camera:
If one day you see this passage...
Please remember—doubt should not be subject to review.
The image is shaking.
His voice turned into white noise.
Gradually, it merged with the frequency of LUCIA into a wisp of light.
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Chapter Six - The End
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