Chapter 364 Nirvana

A middle-aged researcher with otter as his spiritual kin and codename "Otter" took off his tie and suit.

With a decadent temperament unique to middle-aged social animals, he took the initiative to hold the arm of Russell, whom he was in awe of.

With a little uneasiness, as well as inexplicable confidence and pride, they came to the backmost room of the research institute... It felt like taking their usually awe-inspiring boss to the place where they were most proud of. It’s the same feeling as when you’re in a small, unpopular store.

It was a bar that looked like a small bar, with a long wooden L-shaped table, warm lighting, and many bottles of wine on the counter. The space is very small, only about ten square meters.

And Bubble-30 is like a bartender girl, skillfully picking up a few wine bottles on the other side of the bar.

"The color temperature of 2400K can give people a warm and relaxing feeling... just like at home."

The girl smiled and explained to Russell, and asked with some confidence: "What would you like to drink?"

"I'm the same as usual."

Mr. Otter said relaxedly.

Russell shrugged.

It's not that he has never been to bars... Considering the social issues, Ultramarine has basically been to everywhere.

But now he wasn't in the mood to order a drink, so he simply said, "Then I'm the same as him."

"Two glasses of 'Mr. Otter', okay~"

Bubble-30 responded enthusiastically and asked Russell: "Do you want hot or iced food?"

"You mix it for him first, and I'll see what the finished product is first."

Russell replied.

He looked around and asked Mr. Otter: "Do you usually stay here? Even the wine is named after you.

"Synths shouldn't be able to drink, right?"

They have no brains, tongues and taste buds. Alcohol cannot paralyze their nerves, it will only dissolve circuits and burn components.

Wine means nothing to them.

That means...the wine in this large cabinet is actually for these researchers to drink.

"Because we can't go out to drink."

Mr. Otter smiled bitterly: "Only in the black area... can we relax and complain about something and say something that cannot be heard by outsiders.

"Mr. Ultramarine. You have the authority of the chairman, that's why you are here. Of course, it is also because of Naraku-7's rebellion that the synthetic talents came to the forefront...

"These children...except for the elf directors and researchers, have never seen any other human beings with their own eyes."

"...You mean," Russell realized the hidden meaning in Mr. Da's words, "They have never left this institute since they were born?"

"To be precise, it is this black area. They are occasionally transferred to other research facilities to cooperate with the research of other projects. When parts are repaired and replaced, they also need to be transported to other production facilities."

The researcher sighed again—Russell could not count the number of times he had sighed.

At this moment, Russell smelled an overwhelming aroma of coffee and liqueur mixed together.

Bubble-30 pushed over a large glass of pure black wine that was neither gorgeous nor layered, nor even ice-filled.

Russell's nose could clearly smell it. It had a strong aroma of coffee, cocoa and hazelnuts. It seemed to be heated vermouth, with a thick layer of burnt brown rich foam on top... It should be caramel and Milk. Probably a full 1.5 liters.

...Compared to a cocktail, it is surprisingly more like a milk tea with alcohol.

Mr. Otter picked up the wine glass and drank it. It looks like you're drinking dark beer.

When he put down the glass, half of the wine was gone. However, the foam is still the same thickness.

"Give me a glass of ice, thank you. If it's not sweet enough, you can add more sugar."

Although it felt like such a hot liqueur would be delicious, the cat's curiosity made Russell look forward to what such an ice liqueur would taste like.

He didn't like drinking, but sweet wine might not be the same as flat Coke.

"You just asked, what is 'nirvana'...right?"

After half a glass of wine, Mr. Otter's cheeks began to turn red visibly.

He sighed: "That is a problem that we have never been able to solve...a problem at the design level. It is also the fundamental reason why the 'Synthetic Man' project was replaced by the 'Monkey Faced Eagle' project.

“The reason why we use the brains of human babies to extract ‘consciousness’ and ‘soul’ to make synthetic humans is because we have tried to make synthetic humans by synthesizing memories before... but it completely failed.

"Synths who were unable to give birth to spiritual relatives soon went crazy. The bodies of those losers whose wills had been wiped out are probably still lying in the warehouse of the third scrapyard.

"We can't confirm what the soul is and what form it exists in. But what we can know is that only babies who have developed self-awareness and know their own names can be used to make synthetic humans.

"That is to say... they are not cheap products that can be produced by pressing a button. Every synthetic human was once a living human being.

"But... even if they awaken their spiritual relatives, they won't go crazy for no reason. But they still can't solve a problem...

"That's the pain.

"They don't need to eat, they don't need to drink, they don't need to sleep. There are no dreams. Their thinking is made up of zeros and ones, no ambiguous inspirations, no irrational impulses. Whenever they start to think, 'What am I?' When dealing with quasi-philosophical questions... it’s easy to get stuck.”

Mr. Da smiled bitterly and said: "For us humans, if we can't think of the answer, then we don't want to think about it. It's time to get down to business.

"But for synthetics, their thinking does not affect their work. Their computing power is very powerful and they are able to carry out multiple parallel thoughts and actions, which means they can separate many lines for calculations that require lengthy calculations. Get answers to questions.

"And if a synthetic human is trapped in philosophical myths for too long, he will crash. The more they think, the more human-like they become... But if they cross a certain 'degree' and become more human-like than human, When the time comes, their personalities are more likely to collapse and go crazy.

"At that time, they will need [Nirvana]. That is, only their memory and skill systems will be retained, and their personality systems will be erased... In this way, many of the myths they think about will also be deleted. This is also It's called a 'restart'.

"Although they have the same memories and cognitions, the new personalities born based on these memories after they restarted are completely different from the ones they had at the last moment. Just like those who were born to know... Bubble-1 and Bubble- 2. Bubble-29 and Bubble-30 are completely different individuals. So every time after nirvana is completed, we will add a number after the name to prove... the birth of a new friend.

"Bubble-30... is the first synthetic human, and the synthetic human who has achieved nirvana the most times. For synthetic humans, philosophy is a fatal poison that cannot be touched, but will always be touched...

"They are destined to destroy their own sanity... It won't take ten years, it won't take one year, or two years... At most, one year, Bubble-30 will die in an individual sense... After being restarted by us, a new one will be born …”

Mr. Otter talked, but could no longer speak.

He cried inexplicably and interrupted his words.

"Don't blame me, Mr. Ultramarine. I know I am wicked..."

With tears in his eyes, he grabbed Russell's sleeve and was silent for a long time, but stopped talking.

Then he sighed again.

Mr. Otter let go of Russell's hand, his brows full of fatigue: "It's just like plotting against you, but I can't do anything.

"I can't influence anyone... In the final analysis, I didn't fucking run this project. I'm just a broken worker who gets paid to work. The company pays me, so I do whatever they say.

"I also know this is not good, but what can I do? I can't do anything but look at these children.

"The human heart is made of flesh. Even if I raise a dog for more than ten years, I will cry a few tears when it dies. I watch these children grow up, how can I not have feelings?

"But failure is failure. We are losers...we are waste. All of us are waste.

"A fifteen-year project... fifteen years!"

Mr. Otter's mood became intense: "All our previous efforts have been wasted!

"We didn't make any mistakes... We made a lot of efforts! We even thought about how they would look after our children in the future... But what?

"——'Your research direction is wrong', 'It's all wrong from the beginning'. Who can accept this?

"From when I was twenty-five, to now... I am still a few days away from turning forty. Now, I have no way out. How about changing the research direction and starting from scratch? Ha..."

As he spoke, Mr. Otter drank the remaining half of the glass of wine in one go.

This half-liter of coffee liqueur was drunk within ten minutes of being served, and the foam was not even dissipated.

He kept talking, and Russell almost didn't reply. Just listen quietly.

This is not an attitude towards drinking, but more like getting drunk.

That's not responding to Russell's question, but complaining and venting.

"I'm ruined, Mr. Ultramarine."

Mr. Otter lamented decadently: "All my wisdom... our lives... have been used to create some synthetic humans who are destined to be discarded. All the two hundred and sixty of us here have been discarded. That's it. Like them synths...we have all lost our value.

"We are all losers, we are all rubbish!"

His voice suddenly became louder, and he roared angrily but miserably: "They are all garbage that no one wants!"

Then, there was silence.

In the small space, the only sounds that could be heard were Mr. Rex's whimpering and the sound of Bubble-30 mixing drinks.

The synthetic children outside had also become quiet at some point, and seemed to be hiding somewhere and listening to something.

The girl listened quietly to his complaints, but said nothing.

He just helped Russell mix the wine quietly and skillfully.

Russell did not look at Mr. Rex, but focused on the movements of Bubble-30.

That is a level of skill that only the most outstanding human bartenders can achieve, but Pao-30 only needs a small learning chip to master it.

But so far, she has never tasted what the wine tastes like.

I will never know what "drunk" is.

An update of 6,000 words, please vote~