—-
Cat Girl Café.
After ordering a cup of hot chocolate, Renji found a seat by the window. Not long after, a middle-aged woman in professional attire entered the cafe and quickly walked over to Renji’s table by the window upon seeing him.
“I’m so sorry professor. I didn’t expect you to arrive so early. Have you been waiting long?”
The woman continuously apologized until Renji waved his hand several times, signaling her to sit down across from him.
“Mrs. Geront, before we get down to business, may I ask you a personal question?”
“You mean…?”
“Don’t be nervous. I’m just curious. I heard from William that your position in the Fantasy Supervision is quite high, and you’re a department manager. With that being the case, why does your husband still…”
Renji didn’t need to finish for the meaning to be clear. In his view, Mrs. Geront’s family, if not wealthy, must at least be middle-class, So why then would her husband choose to become an explorer in Dream Zero, engaging in such dangerous work that risks life for money?
The woman across paused, clenched her fists then released them, shook her head, and bitterly smiled:
“Professor, you are from Sin City, so you might think that someone in my position in the government has a lot of power. But in reality, we don’t have much decision-making power. The real control over the Supervision is still in the hands of the major corporations.”
“Major corporations?”
“Yes, the Mechanical Alliance was originally managed by the super AI Lady Zero, so there was no traditional government. The current government was established after lady ‘Zero’ went into hibernation, funded by the major corporations and tycoons of that time. The taxes in the Dream City are very low and cannot support the government. Our expenses and financial sources mainly rely on donations from companies and enterprises.”
After hearing Mrs. Geront’s explanation, Renji realized his presumptions.
Indeed, the role of the government seems perfectly replaceable by a super AI like ‘Zero’, possibly even more fair and just, covering all aspects. But the consequence is like the present situation, without ‘Zero’, the inexperienced new government directly became a puppet of the corporations and tycoons. .
“My husband and I both worked at the Fantasy Supervision. For our marriage, we took out a loan with our savings to buy a house. The combined salary of the two of us was just enough to pay the mortgage every month, sometimes even saving a little.”
“But after we had David, my husband didn’t want David to lead a mediocre life like us. He wanted to provide David with a good education, so that one day David could also become an employee of the corporation. So, we sold our house and took out a loan several times larger to secure a school district house next to Kael College. This way, David would be eligible to attend the primary school invested by Kael Technology. As long as his grades were good, he could follow this path step by step to Kael University and then join Kael Technology.”
“However, whether it’s the tuition fees of these private schools, the high mortgage of the school district house, David’s daily needs, no longer eating cheap, nutrition-less synthetic food, needing to purchase the high-grade teaching equipment required by private schools, these kinds of expenses are simply unbearable for two government employees like us. Seeing our savings running out, Bill had to use his remaining connections at the Fantasy Supervision to submit an application to Kael Technology.”
Hearing this, Renji couldn’t help but interrupt: “Wait a moment, apply for it? Such work requires an application?”
“Yes, if it weren’t for my husband being from the Fantasy Supervision, having relevant experience with ‘dreams’, and being able to get in touch with high-level executives like Mr. William through the Supervision, he wouldn’t have been selected.”
“Although the job is dangerous, its weekly compensation could be more than what both of us could earn in a month combined. Countless people are breaking their heads trying to get this job. I think my husband was afraid that if he took leave, his job would be taken by someone else, so he—”
Mrs. Geront’s voice grew softer and softer, and the sorrow on her face seemed to age her many years, her whole back bent as if life had pressed her down, unable to stand straight. This also explained why Mrs. Geront often showed such a humble attitude—because their family was already at its limit, and just a slight mishap could be the last straw.
Through Mrs. Geront’s microcosm, Renji got a better understanding of the current situation in the Dream City. To live like a human here, there are only two paths: either completely be a bottom-level person, owning nothing, not aspiring for anything, and instead rely on the high technology of the Dream City to live in a drunken stupor of dreams; or join a company and become an employee of a super enterprise or a tycoon.
People like Mrs. Geront, caught in the middle, are the most tormented. But actually, these are the most numerous in the Dream City. Most of their endings are likely declaring bankruptcy and leaving this bustling city in desolation. But Dream City does not care, after all, this is the core of the Mechanical Alliance, with countless young people with fresh blood coming from all over every year to chase their dreams, in a continuous cycle.
“Thank you Mrs. Geront. I believe life will get better. After your husband’s work is over, if it’s convenient, I’d like to treat you to a meal. After all, it’s my honor to meet someone with rich experience from the old world like your husband.”
“No, no, no, how, how could we let a professor thank us, thank you so much. It’s Bill’s honor to meet a professor of ancient studies like you. You’re willing to lower your status to dine with people like us, how could we possibly—”
In Mrs. Geront’s eyes, Renji was someone who could be personally introduced by the general manager William, and also had the title of professor. These were all unattainable, high-
status figures to ordinary people. So, seeing Renji being so polite made Mrs. Geront somewhat flustered, thanking Renji incessantly, her face turning red with nervousness, not knowing what else to say.
Renji quickly changed the topic, easing Mrs. Geront’s discomfort.
Renji first asked some other basic questions about Dream Zero, such as its appearance time, scale, and the regulatory policies at the time, as if he was really conducting market research for the Quis Group.
It was only when Mrs. Geront mentioned the concept of “Dream Expansion” that Renji seemed to be intrigued and asked for more details. Mrs. Geront nodded:
“Yes, when this phenomenon was discovered, it initially caused panic among the Fantasy Supervision and the companies because, according to experts’ estimates, once it exceeds a certain threshold, it would lead to everyone being forcibly digitized into life forms, sucked into Dream Zero. Fortunately, later on, an anomaly in Dream Zero was also detected, and two hundred AI intelligences actively communicated with us and entered Dream Zero to contain the expansion.”
“These two hundred intelligent mechanical life forms, according to records, are replicas produced by Lady ‘Zero’ a hundred years ago, imitating itself. We don’t know their specific use, and it seems that such life forms exist not only within the Mechanical Alliance but all over the world.”
“After the two hundred intelligent machines handed over their core chips to us for storage, they infiltrated into Dream Zero. Afterwards, the expansion trend of Dream Zero indeed immediately stopped, and the crisis was averted. Later, every once in a while, research personnel from the company would come to maintain these chips, keeping Dream Zero stable.”
Listening to Mrs. Geront’s information, Renji silently pondered.
There were two key points: first, the number “two hundred,” but according to the data he got from Control Unit One, there should be at least tens of thousands of mechanical servants in Dream Zero.
The number that matches the “two hundred” should be the “Control Machines” series of mechanical servants.
Combining this with the information previously obtained from 86, the number of observers deployed worldwide by Zero should match the tens of thousands, clarifying the situation.
All the “observers” on the continent have “entered the dream” and become mechanical servants, but only the two hundred observers closest to Zero in the Dream City retained high-level computing power, serving as intelligent “Control Machines” command models.
The rest of the observers mainly follow orders and do not possess autonomous consciousness, serving as combat bodies or other logistical models.
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