NOVEL NEXT Chapter 010: How Could An AI Understand Love?
“Boss, can we talk about my salary raise?”
“But you’re just an AI. Why would you need a salary?”
Luo Ming responded to Ai-chan with her own words, and he clearly saw a cabbage head in the projection screen stomping her feet energetically.
“Let’s step back for a moment. Don’t you steal electricity all the time?”
“Ummm…”
How did the Captain find out about this electricity stealing thing?
She quickly retorted with confidence, “Stealing is stealing, and a salary is a salary. They’re clearly different. Furthermore, don’t they often say that only high salaries can keep one honest?”
Luo Ming shook his head with a smile and didn’t pay any more attention to Ai-chan.
Practice had repeatedly proven that the amount of money paid and the amount of electricity stolen had no correlation. No matter how much was paid, she still had to steal electricity when needed.
He began his search.
In reality, traveling from one world to another wasn’t just about collecting energy for Hyperion’s continuous operation.
They shuttled between worlds, appearing carefree but essentially fleeing.
They had escaped the final trial of civilization, the Honkai, but they couldn’t escape the mark of Honkai. Honkai would chase after people and bring the final trial to these escapees equally. Every time this happened, crossing into a new world was like washing away the scent on their bodies. The final trial of Honkai needed to be repositioned, and the Captain of Hyperion, the mysterious and powerful Ferryman, was just a pitiable person struggling in the cracks.
When Luo Ming first started crossing, he had to read the Captain’s log every day, and his mood became quite heavy.
That should have been the lowest point in Luo Ming’s life.
Similarly, during that time, his loneliness gave rise to a desire for love. Luo Ming was eager to find a companion, but all he got was solitude.
At that time, there were too few Valkyries aboard the Hyperion and a lot of them were into each other.
But now, the low point had passed, and Luo Ming had officially entered the honeymoon phase.
The bitterness of the past had turned into cherished memories. As he thought about it, Luo Ming suddenly let out a few light laughs. People in the honeymoon phase all seemed to be the same.
Oh, right, there’s one more thing.
Luo Ming suddenly leaped from his chair and brought up the Captain’s log.
“Ai-chan, make a record. Starting today, add a sub-entry to the Captain’s log. Let me think, let’s call it ‘The Captain’s Love Diary’… hehe.”
He thought carefully, and in his mind, Elysia’s smile flashed by. With every expression, it seemed to carry a touch of pink.
How about calling it “The Captain’s Rosy Love Diary”?
No, it should be more plain.
“Isn’t this a bit too much, boss?”
Ai-chan waved in the virtual projection screen. “It interferes with work.”
“What does an AI like you know about love?” Luo Ming shook his head.
Ai-chan stomped her foot and replied, “That’s right, Ai-chan is an intelligent assistant, an intelligent AI transplanted by the captain from a crashed spacecraft. How can an existence like Ai-chan understand something as complex as love?”
Ai-chan waved her hand again.
Two round cabbage heads swayed back and forth as she shook her head. Her voice sounded a bit sharp due to distortion.
Love? How could I possibly know about that!?
The captain spoke, Ai-chan recorded the voice, and she also helped convert the recording into text, adding punctuation based on pauses and tone.
Transcription complete, the content was displayed in front of Luo Ming through the projection.
“Tsk.”
Luo Ming stared at it for a while, slightly dissatisfied as he pursed his lips.
“Is it all wavy lines and little hearts? Was my tone really that wavy just now?”
“Yes, it was.”
Ai-chan nodded firmly.
“Although Ai-chan doesn’t understand what love is, the results of tone analysis don’t lie. This is your embarrassing side, boss.”
Luo Ming was about to re-record it when a notification sound suddenly rang out. The visual doorbell was working, and a real-time video projection appeared on his screen.
Elysia was standing outside, blinking at the camera and waving her hand.
“Hi~.”
This is the fabled girlfriend’s surprise visit!
The Captain’s heart was pounding; this was truly a groundbreaking event that he had never even dared to think about before.
Stay calm… He needs to keep a calm demeanor.
Luo Ming took a deep breath and shot Ai-chan a smug look, then pointed at the screen where Elysia was waving gracefully. The message was clear.
Ai-chan sighed with a hint of melancholy. “Alright, alright, I get it, boss. You have a girlfriend now. No need to show off everywhere. Do you want me to help you hide ‘The Captain’s Love Diary’ and make it look like you’re seriously working?”
“I am actually working.”
Luo Ming nodded and replied shamelessly. He also confirmed the door opening and the airlock slowly opened. Elysia entered gracefully.
Elysia had come to do some checks.
She was worried about the Veliona event and needed to confirm that no other women were interrupting the Captain’s work.
Elysia elegantly walked into the Captain’s quarters, like a graceful swan surveying her territory. In the end, her gaze fell on the small projection screen, the artificial intelligence.
The girl quotient went up.
“Hello~ to this lovely young lady.”
Elysia leaned in front of Ai-chan’s eye, that pitch-black global camera, and greeted her warmly.
Due to the height difference, she had to tiptoe.
“From your eyes, I see a lively and adorable girl.”
“…”
Is this the boss’s girlfriend?
She felt so elegant, so beautiful, so interesting, so feminine, so… imposing.
As an AI, Ai-chan could easily change her anthropomorphic appearance, but she still couldn’t help feeling deeply insecure.
If the Captain were stolen away by this woman, it didn’t seem… unacceptable.
“Oh, hello…”
Ai-chan responded, somewhat dumbfounded.
Elysia sat down gently, also thinking to herself.
If Veliona had formidable combat abilities, to the point where one of her personalities would fight Elysia directly, then Ai-chan’s combat ability was extremely weak. She would automatically surrender in Elysia’s presence.
But Ai-chan was an AI.
A highly anthropomorphic AI, bordering on having intelligence, which didn’t quite fit with the rest of the Hyperion passenger.
Most importantly, Ai-chan clearly liked the Captain.
However, her affection was still in its budding stages, or rather, Ai-chan’s level of artificial intelligence wasn’t high enough to move beyond that stage. It hadn’t developed any further.
For Elysia, this was certainly lucky.
But how to maintain this luck?
Her arrival was undoubtedly a catalyst, accelerating the formation of this affection.
On the first day, it wasn’t very apparent, but once affection took root, how could one compete with a rival who covered the entire ship, was available 24/7, and could be with the Captain at any moment? Even someone as beautiful as Elysia would find it challenging.