Chapter 71: Chapter 68 Harmonious New York

Birdsong.

That was something Night City didn’t have.

Night City had eradicated birds, allegedly due to a bird flu epidemic that had once broken out.

However, this explanation clearly didn’t hold water, because when the birds were gone, the slums of Night City turned into a dumping ground teeming with insects and rodents, yet the mayor didn’t help exterminate cockroaches and other pests.

So why were the birds exterminated?

The real reason was unknown, but from then on, the sky of Night City belonged only to skyscrapers and floating cars.

Having taken immunosuppressive drugs yesterday, Lille fell asleep and woke up in New York the next morning.

"No ads, bright sunshine, and even birds chirping—have to say, life here is much better than in Night City."

Lille got out of bed.

Hell’s Kitchen was much better than the slums of Night City, of course, that’s only in comparison to Night City.

Mom knocked on the door: "Lille—are you up? Breakfast is ready."

"Coming."

He got dressed and started a new day in New York.

It’s just... the immune reaction was a bit severe, leaving him feeling weak.

...

At the breakfast table, Skye whispered mysteriously, "Boss, let me show you this new AI I’ve developed..."

"Nice—very nice, I’ve already tried it out."

Skye was stunned.

Lille took a sip of milk, "Have you thought about expanding this AI? Like, to public safety and civilian internet?"

Lille didn’t elaborate further—more than just having tried it, he had even caused several deaths.

"Boss, great minds think alike! Actually, I’ve had an idea, it’s just that the processors now are not very good..."

"Before we start discussing technical issues..." Lille wiped his mouth, "I want to talk about some moral issues so you won’t get fooled into doing something for some hacker group again."

The framework for the transportation AI was not much of a problem, the next step was to expand this type of AI to other areas.

In the realm of public safety, it could be extended to behavior monitoring, analyzing citizens’ professions, habits, families, and movement patterns to determine their potential involvement in ongoing crimes or even predict the probability of future crimes.

For the civilian domain, it naturally translated to more precise content delivery. If you liked funny videos, you’d get funny videos; if you were into conspiracy theories, conspiracy theories would be pushed to you.

Both these functions faced an issue of usage extent.

On the public safety front, ctOS could predict the presence of criminals, but how should a criminal be defined?

Feudal lords considered runaway serfs criminals, usurers deemed those unable to pay back principal and interest as committing crimes, factory owners thought not working a full 12 hours a day was...

Uh, laziness.

Defining crime is a sociological issue.

Expanding the use of civilian content delivery is similar.

By pushing highly engaging content to increase user retention, inducing users to stay online to earn profits.

But if everyone indulges in false happiness, how can they achieve self-fulfillment in reality?

Easy pleasures are only a minor problem, but what if ctOS conducted intense directional inductions?

For instance, pushing infidelity content to a newlywed couple, tailored to their marital life.

A partner leaving at eight in the morning and returning at ten at night could be going to work or possibly cheating.

Without mentioning work at all, but instead pushing a lot of infidelity content, naturally causes inner turmoil, leading one to slip into a pit of suspicion.

This applies to marriage, but what if the induction was about elections?

It could even be cruder—push the opponent’s messages at crowded intersections, noisy pedestrian streets, stinking garbage treatment plants, and people will start to feel as annoyed with that candidate as baby Albert (Note 1) did.

"...If, the model you’re talking about is completed, politicians will definitely come knocking, do you understand?"

High-tech breakthroughs are political gateways. Military technology represents the more aggressive type, whereas civilian technology is the more benign type, but they’re siblings—or rather, they amount to the same thing.

Skye, eyes wide, nodded his head.

"Boss, what you’re saying makes it sound like we’ll become the shadowy black hands that control the world."

"In August 1942, Oppenheimer was appointed as the head of the Manhattan Project, at that time, he had no idea what he would create—

But we all know now, believe me, this technology, appearing in the most militarily powerful country, is as valuable as the atomic bomb."

"So... what should we do?" Skye asked cautiously, believing Lille was serious.

Hackers are a group that finds it difficult to acknowledge weakness, but once they recognize someone as more formidable than themselves, the greater their skepticism about the world, the greater their trust in that clever person.

In Skye’s eyes, Lille had surpassed the level of "top-tier hacker"; he was a super polymath.

"We..." Lille paused.

Political disagreements are issues that human society has yet to resolve; how could he presume to have solved them?

"We stay neutral, providing only convenience services—even though I can’t be certain which politicians are good, at this point in time,

providing people with better commuting options, pushing meaningful technology to those in need, helping them find employment, definitely isn’t a bad choice—

Oh, and catching criminals. How’s the NYPD doing lately?"

"Uh... there should be news this morning. The NYPD can now hold their heads high, boasting a report once every week."

While saying this, Skye turned on the television.

"According to the NYPD report, the soaring crime rate has been curbed in the past three weeks, with the growth rate dropping from 5.6% three weeks ago to 1.2%.

The case clearance rate has risen from 20% to 39%, and in New York’s hard-hit Clinton District, the crime rate has even experienced negative growth, falling from a previous 14.6% to 5%.

The case clearance rate’s increase is significantly higher than other districts, with an increase of 120%, reaching a 42% clearance rate."

Lille wore a strange look as he finished reading this string of data.

Is this good?

Forget it, this is New York, after all; one can’t be too critical.

"Oh right, Anthony mentioned that Chief Stacy wanted to deepen cooperation by installing our security network throughout the Clinton District, but there is significant opposition from the council members."

Lille raised his eyebrows: "And then?"

"Well... that council member might be falling from grace. He appeared last about two weeks ago, then there was a public opinion poll, and he hasn’t appeared in public view since."

Shrugging, Skye added: "Speaking of which, you should thank Anthony’s loud voice. When that council member was delivering his speech, Anthony was just two streets away.

His crowd, right after listening to Anthony’s speech, ran over and began throwing bottles and cans at the council member. It was quite a spectacle."

Hell’s Kitchen still has lots of good people—too bad there wasn’t someone brave enough to give that old guy a kick.

Lille thought for a moment and then asked, "What about the United Construction Company?"

"They’re pretty honest, busy building houses, but..." Skye hesitated, "Boss, I found something in their emails. That big building across the street is said to sell for millions once it’s up.

The land price has shot up several times over. If the people around here see this..."

"Then they see it," Lille said with a shrug, "You don’t think that in the current situation, it’s still the ordinary folks who are driving up property prices, do you?

Maybe it’s a money laundering scheme of his own. Keep an eye on it, and when the tide rises, just leak some insider info to your old friends."

Skye was momentarily stunned: "Boss, your guess is really spot on. The money is coming from overseas, all shady and unclear."

"We do what we do best. City government, corporations—there’s so much to do. Toss the info onto the rising-tide forums and don’t bother with it anymore."

After speaking, Lille took a bite of his sandwich and wiped his hands.

When he looked up, his mother was watching him with a kindly look, and then she chuckled.

Lille was taken aback for a moment and wiped his cheek with his hand.

"Mom, what are you laughing at, you startled me."

"It’s just... you really do look like a little boss. John left a memo for you—don’t put too much pressure on yourself."

Lille shrugged: "This? This isn’t pressure."

After speaking, Lille looked back at Skye—

"Actually, I’ve already had a complete idea about this technology, but I’m thinking of a... special way to help you understand it."

"What way?"

"Do you like playing games?"