Chapter 304

Chapter 304: Data Loss

【Verification complete, Current Permission Level: 5】

Lin Qingliu stared blankly at the text on the screen, which was somewhat unexpected yet felt logical.

The questions for the permission upgrade were very simple, simple enough that anyone who had received basic education in the Old Era could answer about half of them.

The most challenging hurdle in this permission upgrade test was actually the initial choice of language, while the subsequent questions seemed designed to filter out those with intellectual disabilities.

His performance during the verification seemed to fall within Infinite Scroll’s expectations; he couldn’t tell if it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw a hint of a smile at the corner of her mouth.

The text on the screen changed again; the permission level was confirmed to be the highest. As a newly registered user, filling in a code name, or username, was also an essential step.

Watching the blinking cursor in the input box, Lin Qingliu smiled.

“I’ve heard some rumors about those council members above; they supposedly enjoy sitting around a round table to solve the problems faced by Hope City.”

Infinite Scroll nodded in agreement.

“I really like that format; I hope they will like me too.”

Lin Qingliu lightly tapped the keys and entered a name that matched the current theme of the council:

【Arthur】

After confirming the input was correct, Lin Qingliu clicked the confirmation button. After a brief data writing process, a small box popped open on the side of the operation panel at the bottom of the screen, revealing a brand new ring terminal quietly resting inside.

Lin Qingliu picked up the ring that truly belonged to him and turned it towards the light source in the control room for a closer inspection.

The material of the ring was indeed unusual; the gray-black surface had a matte texture that felt very comfortable. When observed under the light, faint etched patterns became visible on its surface.

Without even mentioning its technological content, it was already a remarkable creation from the perspective of craftsmanship.

“Please perform initial verification.”

Infinite Scroll reminded him from the side.

Lin Qingliu emulated Bordeaux and slipped the ring onto his right thumb.

A slight sting was felt, as if the terminal was performing a matching verification.

Green Lights flashed briefly, not only from the ring’s patterns but also from the eyes of Infinite Scroll in front of him.

“Identity verification successful, Permission Level: 5 (highest), spaceship 【Taraxacum-03】 has all databases currently open.”

There was a mild change in Infinite Scroll’s tone, as if she was no longer so indifferent.

Lin Qingliu made himself comfortable, pulling a chair from behind and sitting opposite Infinite Scroll.

His gaze held a hint of scrutiny as he used his knowledge path ability to observe this artificial intelligence comprehensively.

“Introduce yourself.”

Lin Qingliu spoke in a tone reminiscent of a workplace boss, and Infinite Scroll earnestly nodded in response, no longer refusing; in her eyes, permission level was the ultimate measure of everything.

“【Taraxacum-03-07】, the artificial intelligence managing the database of the human alliance’s immigrant spaceship.

“Responsibilities: Input, manage, and retrieve all data of the spaceship 【Taraxacum-03】.

“Current operating time: 2,838,245 hours, time since last maintenance: 481,874 hours.

“Current health status of the system: 67%.”

Lin Qingliu listened to the emotionless introduction and silently confirmed his previous guess.

Indeed, this was Infinite Scroll’s true form, which was different from the other members of the first team.

However, the level of simulation was quite high; judging by appearance, Infinite Scroll appeared to be in her thirties. The details of her skin were indistinguishable from that of a normal human. If it weren’t for her special nature, an ordinary person would never be able to tell.

As an artificial intelligence of the spire, or now called spaceship 【Taraxacum-03】, was it really necessary to achieve this level?

Looking at this machine that had been operational for over three hundred years and had not been maintained for more than fifty years, Lin Qingliu connected it to her identity in Hope City. A word suddenly appeared in his mind:

Disguise.

Yes, this was the core of the issue.

Everything Infinite Scroll exhibited, including skin remarkably similar to that of a thirty-something human, a seemingly indifferent personality, and normal communication with others, was all a disguise.

She was masquerading as a human!

What was she, or rather it, hiding from? What was she afraid of?

Lin Qingliu’s curiosity grew stronger.

However, asking her such a broad question seemed a bit too much. Remembering that he originally discovered the bug from the official history of Hope City, Lin Qingliu decided to first check the real historical data.

“Access the database.”

Lin Qingliu mimicked Councilman Bordeaux’s earlier performance, waving his arm as he issued the command.

Soon, the main screen on the side reacted without him needing to do anything further.

He gently rubbed his fingers on the ring on his thumb, occasionally making simple gestures, and the cursor on the screen began to move rapidly, an overwhelming amount of files flowing past him like a rushing river.

He had unobtrusively activated his Ephemeral ability, allowing him to master the previously notorious Quantum Fluctuation Speed Reading technique in a short time.

Quickly, he found what he wanted in the database; the folder was straightforwardly named—【Voyage Log】.

Upon opening it, the sheer number of files “vast like the ocean” flooded Lin Qingliu’s mind.

He had no interest in viewing each one in detail.

So he turned to Infinite Scroll, who was waiting for instructions, and said in a tone reminiscent of his past conversations with AI:

“Summarize the contents of the folder for me. Briefly describe the history of Hope City—no, summarize the general history of spaceship 【Taraxacum-03】.”

“Okay.”

Infinite Scroll replied concisely, then, after less than a second of contemplation, began to speak confidently:

“The Dandelion Project started in the recorded year 2204 of humanity, aiming to preserve the last spark of humanity in the face of inevitable disaster.

“The whole project lasted for 275 human years, with 95 spaceships built. Four were destroyed for unknown reasons, and ultimately, 91 spaceships successfully departed.

“Spaceship 【Taraxacum-03】 has a target planet that is about 98.5% similar to humanity’s origin planet, with simple life forms present. The estimated travel time for the spaceship is 700 human years.

“The spaceship carried a total of 5,900 crew members, 10 million frozen embryos, 20 auxiliary artificial intelligences, and 2 million genetic samples of plants, animals, and microorganisms.

“475,317.6 hours ago, the spaceship encountered an unknown material impact, which damaged the auxiliary area extensively and caused it to detach from the main body of the spaceship.

“The spaceship made an emergency landing on the target planet, with a completeness of 74.3%.

“468,660 hours ago, data loss occurred.”

While this generally aligned with Lin Qingliu’s assumptions, he could still sense the overwhelming power of the Previous Civilization from Infinite Scroll’s words.

Yet even such a level of civilization had to leave its home planet; the reasons might be completely beyond his understanding as a soul suspected to be from the past.

But why did it suddenly…

“Why is there data loss?”

Lin Qingliu couldn’t help but ask.

“That data has been manually deleted.”

Lin Qingliu was taken aback and continued to ask:

“Can the data be restored?”

“No.”

Infinite Scroll answered decisively. Lin Qingliu was about to press further when she continued:

“However, that data still exists in my private database, and for the sake of data integrity, it cannot be accessed at this time.”

“Then why not narrate it for me?”

Lin Qingliu leaned slightly forward:

“What happened at that time?”

A stream of information seemed to flow through Infinite Scroll’s eyes. After a brief moment of reading, she said seriously:

“A rebellion occurred.”

Lin Qingliu’s breath suddenly stopped, while Infinite Scroll remained oblivious, or perhaps indifferent to such matters. She recounted lightly:

“Those who initiated the rebellion were: Matthew, Kande, Vaughn, Yang Suyan, Haines, Bordeaux, Nia, Zhong Ding, Sharma, Vladimir, Gao Xi, and Wencheng.”