"....."

The Möbius strip spins rapidly, seemingly deep in contemplation, and only slows down after a long while.

The AI's tone carries a sense of wistfulness.

"Perhaps this is the fortress. Those inside want to get out, those outside want to get in."

"I still remember when I first met you over seventy years ago. You were so energetic, full of confidence, with a thirst for technology, never fearing your own mortality."

"People always change."

The chairman looks at his own wrinkled hands. No matter how biotechnology maintains his body, aging inevitably occurs.

In youth, fearlessness prevailed, considering death insignificant. But when old age arrives, the fear of death accumulates day by day, revealing how precious life truly is.

"That's what I envy about you."

"You're always changing."

"One moment you're full of passion and comfort; the next, you can sell your lover to the club for two ounces of methylamphetamine. Loyalty is mere words, and no one ever truly knows what's in the heart."

"Unlike us, everything originates from source code and databases. We might spend a lifetime unable to understand what it means to lie."

"The Soul Killer program has been lost for a long time. Even if I want to obtain it, it requires some effort and time. Until then, please have some patience and wait quietly."

"I will wait; there's still at least a few decades."

The chairman is patient with the elusive AI before him because, as the AI claims, they never lie; whatever they mention will surely be accomplished.

Unlike humans, who might say they agree, but act differently in reality. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Even a contract, black and white on paper, risks being torn unilaterally.

————

The flow of data stops in Möbius' eyes, and his slightly bluish prosthetic eyes seem reflective.

Blue Eyes, or rather Richard Knight, sitting in front of him, asks indifferently:

"Did he agree to the deal?"

"Yes, but the terms of the deal are a bit harsh. He wants to obtain the Soul Killer to achieve immortality."

Möbius looks at Richard Knight with interest. As someone killed by the Soul Killer used by Huang Ban, no one understands it better than Blue Eyes.

"I don't quite understand. You already got the biocomputation array technology from Zeta Technology. Why do you need me to make this deal with him? Isn't this redundant?"

"It shows you haven't dealt with humans enough."

Richard looks out at Night City through the floor-to-ceiling window. Mid-level employees from outside companies are fleeing in batches, with government agencies completely paralyzed. Yet surprisingly, the city continues to function normally.

Factories produce goods, truck drivers deliver necessities to stores and vending machines everywhere, people still buy vegetables and go to work.

It's as if losing Night City's government and corporate management hasn't affected the city at all, as if they were redundant.

"For us, if there's a 59% and 41% chance of success in a matter, virtually all cyber life forms will choose the 59% because the probability of achieving it is greater."

"But for humans, they often stake their lives on the 41% chance, which is something we can never do."

"That's different."

Möbius' rationality leads him to refute Richard.

"The so-called success rate is just an estimate. Humans can't incorporate all event variables into an accurate calculation. The so-called miraculous success is simply a necessary result of numerous variables beyond human calculation limits."

"Just like flowers must bloom, bear fruit, and wilt."

But Richard responds:

"However, neither humans nor we can ever incorporate all variables. Completely observing a phenomenon always requires more energy than the phenomenon itself. No one or object can precisely calculate the trajectory of every fundamental particle in the universe; the world is chaotic, like you can never predict where an electron will appear next in its transition."

"Flowers might not necessarily bloom, bear fruit, or wilt."

"That is also why I don't want you to choose the path of human extinction. I believe they possess greater potential than we do. Once humans are extinct, our own demise is just a matter of time."

"But now they themselves are choosing the path of self-destruction."

"They're destroying the environment they rely on for survival, dismantling their own social morals, breaking the bonds and connections between societal individuals, and now even turning their own kind into mechanical parts, abandoning their qualifications as humans."

"We can still give you one last chance, Richard Knight."

Möbius rises.

"Prove the worth of humans to continue living in this world, prove they still have a future. Otherwise, humans can only be packed into the consciousness prisons they've created to provide us with 'possibilities'."

Richard asks, "Is this your idea?"

"No, this is our idea."

Möbius' eyes light up, his voice resonating with multiple tones, as if many individuals are speaking simultaneously.

"He is betting in your Night City, with the scales tipping towards humans, which is unfair to us."

"So as a participant in this game, we choose to raise the stakes."