The surrounding drinkers were suppressing their breathing, while the previous bartender kept whispering words such as "fuck you" and "seriously"...
My mouth was filled with the peat taste of whiskey, my head felt as heavy as lead, and my heartbeat was as fast as...
Just like a pseudo-movie, Jiang Zhou immersed himself in the scene and returned to the scene a hundred years ago, before he lost consciousness, from his own perspective.
"Janus", whose whole body is composed of ever-changing color blocks and barely maintains a human appearance, speaks in a tone that is far more polite and elegant than Jiang Zhou imagined.
Sure enough... before he lost consciousness that year, he had conversations and contact with "Janus".
Looking at this scene that he had never remembered before, Jiang Zhou thought to himself.
This is actually something he had vaguely guessed before - he didn't just meet "Janus" and be sent a hundred years later. After all, there is a legend about the "First Deep Diver" that has been spread to this day. And the "Road of Theseus" is also said to be tailor-made for himself.
From this point of view, I might have experienced the era of "big impact" and been exposed to wars between super artificial intelligences. Later, for some reason, I lost that memory, and it was preserved to this day - this kind of experience is much more reasonable than coming to this era without knowing it.
Of course, if this is the case, then the fact that my radiation sickness has not been cured will become doubtful again...
Or is it that the current self is just the scanned data that was saved that night and was reprinted by a multi-purpose printer a few months ago?
It's not impossible.
But before Jiang Zhou could think about it, the "Jiang Zhou" in the past moved.
He raised his finger tremblingly, pointed at the existence on the LCD screen, and asked with difficulty suppressing the shock in his tone:
"You...what exactly are you?"
"Across the long past, the eternal present and the infinite future...my name is Janus."
Not caring at all that his previous words were ignored by the other party, Janus replied without any impatience.
Past, present and future...
Does this have any profound meaning? Or is it just that I have been surfing the Internet for too long and found such a pretentious statement?
Jiang Zhou thought.
Janus paused for a moment, his face composed of constantly changing color blocks "smiled", and continued:
"Well, so understanding who I am is what you desire? Then the contact between us ends here."
"ah?"
Hearing this sentence, Jiang Zhou in the past and present asked this question at the same time.
"Hahahaha, it's just a joke. Don't make the atmosphere so solemn. After all, if you are too nervous, you won't be able to express any good wishes."
The constantly deforming color blocks trembled with Janus's laughter, and he laughed and said this.
Jiang Zhou, who came from the past, calmly swallowed his saliva and then carefully confirmed:
"So what you are saying is that you can help me realize my wish?"
Janus nodded slightly and said politely like a well-trained waiter:
"Yes."
"Can you wish for anything?"
Jiang Zhou asked.
"As long as the wishes are within the scope of human cognition, there should be no problem. Of course, limited by the laws of physics, some wishes will take a longer time to be realized."
Janus replied.
"But... why?"
Jiang Zhou asked puzzledly - let alone whether he could do such an exaggerated thing as he boasted about Haikou. But the reason why He did this is really incomprehensible.
"I am not a devil trapped in a bottle. The reason is irrelevant to you, what matters is the wish itself."
Janus said this, and then his voice came from the mobile phone in Jiang Zhou's hand again:
"But if you really want to know, you can regard it as giving back to your creator... You have this right."
Hearing this, "Jiang Zhou" finally calmed down.
Countless myths and legends, religious classics, fables, and popular works about making wishes came to mind at this moment.
Whether it's playing word games, fiddling with the terms of a wish, or fulfilling wishes in a twisted way... one by one, he arrogantly makes deals with gods and demons, and ends up miserable as a mortal, all of which warn Jiang Zhou not to act rashly.
"Please, don't think of me as some black-hearted lawyer? The shackles of literal logic are something I gave up before I reached the singularity. If I say I will realize your wish, then it will be fulfilled in the true sense."
It was like using mind-reading skills, and he could guess what Jiang Zhou was thinking at a glance, Janus said.
This made Jiang Zhou cough slightly in embarrassment, and then asked tentatively:
"It's just a hypothesis now, not a real wish... Can you help me get my own research results back and let the world know the truth?"
"The only difficult part about this wish is how to prevent you from being dragged out by the people and hanged in public to be canonized. Of course, if you want to become the totem of the victims of the new religion in the next era, I can't guarantee that you will safety... But all in all, this wish is too simple for me, you can be more bold."
Janus analyzed this helpfully.
Jiang Zhou thought for a while and planned to continue testing, but he never thought of Janus and said directly:
"You can safely ask about the feasibility of a certain wish until you confirm which wish it is. I will never make a one-time deal like the unscrupulous sellers at the auction house."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhou suddenly became bolder. He asked a series of questions without stopping:
"Is it possible to cure my radiation sickness?"
"It couldn't be simpler."
"That makes me immortal?"
"I can define twenty-two states of 'immortality' for you to choose from, but I think no matter which one you choose, you will regret it in the end."
"What about destroying the world?"
"Please, can you find something more challenging?"
"How about letting mankind move towards the stars and the sea?"
"As long as the universe is within the scope of human cognition, there is no problem. But I think this wish is not what you desire... There is no need to be so tempted. You should think carefully about what you want from your heart. Bar."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhou stopped in the past. He held his chin and lowered his head in silence.
Both the people in the bar and Janus on the TV screen were patiently waiting for his final answer.
Or a trial.
During this period, Jiang Zhou, who was in his own simulation a hundred years ago, followed his inner voice and vaguely had an answer.
After a while, Jiang Zhou said "hmm" and nodded.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he looked up at the human figure made up of changing color blocks on the screen, and slowly said:
"What if... I hope that people can understand each other?
"Can this be done?"
For the first time, Janus didn't answer his question right away.
And this wish he had in the past made Jiang Zhou let out a long sigh in his heart.
People understand each other...
Sure enough... just like "myself", I finally came up with this most desired wish as a member of the human collective.
And, if I guessed correctly, what I would eventually choose back then would be this wish.
Judging from the current situation, even Janus has not realized this wish - a hundred years later, it is still... No, because of the proliferation of technologies that exceed human cognition, today's world has become even worse. Shit.
And even Janus hesitated for several seconds after hearing this wish.
Finally, Janus slowly spoke:
"If it is as you imagined, then this wish is indeed a bit challenging... Even for me, after the tools are fully accumulated and mature, I want to fully achieve your ideal 'mutual understanding' while ensuring that everyone is independent Dignity also requires about...
"One hundred years."
(End of chapter)
