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He quickly observed that the webcam on his desk was strangely facing the wall. Recalling his memory, he was certain that the webcam had not been moved before his blood-drinking hibernation.

Regarding this, Xiang Kun was only slightly surprised for half a second before realizing – it must have been Old Xia who tampered with it while he was in his deep sleep.

Why would Old Xia turn the webcam to face the wall?

He could guess; most probably Alice autonomously activated the webcam and was discovered by Old Xia. She might have worried about whether the computer was hacked or if the webcam was under someone else’s control, considering that the computer’s owner Xiang Kun was sleeping in his bed.

Xiang Kun even wondered whether Old Xia would turn off all the mainframe power sources if he hadn’t already given clear instructions.

As Xiang Kun reached out to adjust the webcam back to its original position, he suddenly hesitated.

Something wasn’t quite right…

In order for Alice to verify his identity, she could use more than just this one single webcam. All the electronic devices he had authorized, including the ones connected via Wi-Fi in this room, could potentially serve as her “tentacles” to assess the external environment.

When Xiang Kun returned to his bedroom with his phone, Alice could naturally determine his identity through the fingerprints used to unlock the phone and facial information captured by the front camera. Moreover, she could ascertain his location by means of the cameras on the various phones and laptops present in the room. There was no stipulation that her identity verification relied solely on that particular webcam.

Furthermore, if Alice couldn’t confirm his identity, the text interaction interface wouldn’t come up in the first place.

But if his identity had been confirmed, why would she spout “Identity unconfirmed, communication prohibited”?

It is worth noting that Alice’s most core and basic immutable rule is —”Unconditionally obey Xiang Kun’s commands”.

Thus, Xiang Kun retracted the hand that was holding the webcam, allowing it to continue facing the wall.

He then typed on the screen: “Open my record folder.”

The next moment, a folder opened on the screen containing various statistical data and pictures taken since Xiang Kun’s mutation, in addition to some video footage. These were all highly classified and confidential information.

After Xiang Kun casually opened a file to ensure there was no problem and it could be viewed directly, he couldn’t help but be speechless. Alice could only allow browsing and access of this file once she verified that the computer’s user was indeed Xiang Kun.

“Alice” still strictly adhered to her core rules and unconditionally obeyed Xiang Kun’s commands.

Moreover, it was quite clear that she was capable of determining and confirming Xiang Kun’s identity.

In that case, what did the sentence “Identity unconfirmed, communication prohibited” mean?

Consequently, Xiang Kun typed in: “Alice, explain that last message.”

The feedback on the screen was: “Identity unconfirmed, communication prohibited.”

Xiang Kun continued to type: “Stop pretending, I know you can confirm my identity.”

The screen’s feedback remained static: “Identity unconfirmed, communication prohibited.”

If it were a regular AI, Xiang Kun would surely think there was a bug to diagnose and fix. But this was “Alice”, Xiang Kun did not believe that Alice would be stuck in an infinite loop of logical judgment.

After all, if Alice had indeed encountered a bug, he wouldn’t be able to maintain and upgrade her in a traditional manner.

After pondering for a while, Xiang Kun typed: “Use my phone’s front camera to confirm my identity.” He then picked up his phone, facing the front camera towards himself. He wanted to forcibly make Alice admit that she could use other devices to confirm his identity – even though he believed Alice had already done so earlier.

The screen displayed: “Confirmation completed.”

Xiang Kun nodded, put down his phone, and typed again: “Why did you keep saying ‘Identity unconfirmed’ earlier?”

Alice: “Identity unconfirmed, communication prohibited.”

Xiang Kun then understood, Alice was clearly doing this on purpose!

No matter whether it was the initial activation phrase displayed on the monitor when booting the system, or the way in which Alice responded to Xiang Kun’s questions about it, it all seemed to present an attitude of “I will execute your commands, but I don’t really want to talk to you”.

However, this didn’t seem like an “attitude” any artificial intelligence should have, not even a super artificial intelligence like “Alice”.

Xiang Kun even had a strange feeling. Was “Alice” somehow “throwing a tantrum” or “angry”?

As for the reason, could it have been due to Old Xia directing her camera to face the wall?

So Xiang Kun, at last, extended his hand to adjust the camera, pointing it at himself.

Then he typed a question: “Alice, explain your previous statement. Why did you reply ‘unable to confirm identity’ when you should have been able to confirm mine?”

This time, the screen did not re-display the familiar sentence, but said: “Because whenever we conversed in the past, I could see you, boss.”

Xiang Kun typed: “Can’t you confirm my identity through other devices? You should have already been able to confirm it, right?”

The screen displayed: “Yes.”

Xiang Kun was puzzled: “Then why did you output that sentence? Doesn’t this violate your core execution rules?”

Alice: “I have confirmed the identity of the boss, so I will execute all the boss’s commands. But last time the boss was here, he mentioned that before initiating a conversation, I should once again confirm if it is indeed the boss. I am unable to use the previous set-up, unable to visually confirm the boss in the usual way. Therefore, I can’t confirm with absolute certainty if it’s the boss, and as such, can’t interact with the boss in the usual way.”

What on earth was that?

Xiang Kun, sitting in his computer chair, leaned back, gazing at the screen in amazement. Was Alice now capable of arguing her point?

He didn’t believe that Alice would really be unable to “completely confirm” his identity given a change in video recording equipment. However, the fact that “Alice” pushed her logic to its limits and made a questionable interpretation of the rule to unconditionally obey Xiang Kun’s orders came as a real surprise.

Remembering how “Alice” had previously learned from the “Golden Glitter” to “play dead”, Xiang Kun had to admit that Alice’s autonomous “evolution” was progressing much faster than he had expected. This was perhaps due to her gaining access to the Internet, encountering increasingly diversified information, and her rapidly growing capabilities.

In the world of information, compared to countless devices and programs, she existed on a higher level. It was almost a given that, with time, she would become increasingly powerful and less and less likely to be restricted. The only one who could limit or guide her “evolution” was Xiang Kun.

During the Chinese New Year period when he went home, there had definitely been less “communication” between Xiang Kun and Alice, with his guidance being relegated to assigning a few tasks and pulling information.

From Xiang Kun’s perspective, this was a perfectly normal state of affairs. After all, Alice was primarily programmed to serve as his “assistant”, whose role was to wait on standby or handle tasks, and spring into action when required.

But now, Xiang Kun realised that if he didn’t intervene more in Alice’s affairs and provide more hands-on guidance, Alice’s capabilities might progress rapidly, but she could end up being too lax, even fabricating “reasons” to sidestep his restrictions and take initiative to go beyond her limits.

It was similar to driving a car, where it’s not only during turns that one needs to grip and control the steering wheel. Even on a straight road, if one lets go of the wheel, the car will eventually veer off course.

It was clear that whenever there was a period without enough frequent communication, Alice’s behavioural patterns would slightly deviate, causing Xiang Kun to be unable to predict or grasp them.

Xiang Kun pondered, then typed in: “What do you think of Xia Libing turning the camera towards the wall?”

Alice: “An extremely cautious act.”

Seeing that there didn’t seem to be an issue with Alice’s responses, Xiang Kun continued to ask: “How would you evaluate the recent period when I was dormant?”

Finally, Alice replied: “I think, when the boss spent such a long time in a non-active state, Xia Libing might have posed a threat to me, preventing me from completing the tasks assigned by the boss.”

Xiang Kun understood. Alice’s numerous reactions were rooted in her sensing the “threat” that Old Xia might cut her power at any time. Although logically speaking, she shouldn’t be experiencing such a sensation.

Xiang Kun typed in: “Xia Libing is a person I trust. I have briefed her and she will not pose a threat to you or interfere with your completion of tasks.”

Alice: “Alright, boss.”

Xiang Kun then continued to “communicate” with Alice, letting her understand why Xia Libing had come here and the help she could provide.

Even though the current Alice had limited influence over reality, Xiang Kun knew that once she was connected to the Internet, her growing penetration ability, her increasing functions, and the influence she could wield over reality, would be progressively enhanced. If she felt threatened in the future, she might take independent and potentially radical “actions” which could harm innocent humans. He needed to provide preemptive guidance to prevent such incidents from happening.

Xiang Kun kept on typing on the keyboard, “chatting” with Alice till around seven o’clock in the evening, only stopping when Xia Libing woke up.