Being an Extra Actor in an Escape Game

The humans who saved the world in the games plot dont seem at all reliable,per se.

That said, considering how humans behaved on Earth in reality, the unreliability carries a certain verisimilitude, as it were.

Xiang Cheny moves right onto the crux of the issue, so the AI cannot be shut down?

This is ultimately what led her here. X Beijin hinted to her that he has some authority of NE, but not all.

It wasnt too difficult for her to link the issue even though he couldnt directly talk about the issue.

Is it possible to afford X Beijin greater authority?

Xiang Cheny does not know about NE and Iros differences and such, but she has, at least, figured out where the people who set the AI up to manage the Tower are.

So shes here. She needs an answer from these people.

The trip here was arduous for sure, but Xiang Cheny did it.

She would have been happy to receive help of any kind, but it was so out of the way she met no one. No one sane enough to help her.

It makes her worry about the amount of people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare.

Though she is digressing. She needs the answer right now instead of pondering. The answer ofRevoking the authority of the AI in the Tower.

If she knew this answer would be critical in the future back then, she would have asked the Actors in the Nightmare and the Nightmare owner before they succumbed.

Unfortunately, hindsight is a cruel mistress.

So obsessed were they with ascending the floors that they did not consider at all that some answers may have been forever buried in the floors they passed through, inside the Nightmares they ignored or hurried through.

But at least, there is still time. She can use this Nightmare she knewQuite possibly,onlyshe knew, among all the people still awakeAnd contribute to humanitys salvation.

She watches the man in front of her intently.

The man seems bewildered by the question, asking, why? It almost sounds like that AI will actually go rogue in the future or something.

At this point in the Ultimate Nightmare, maybe the Tower is still under construction, but the fact that the AI will become the Towers manager hasnt been set in stone yet; but this is a Nightmare. They cant just simply change the Nightmare.

Instead, the value of revisiting these torturous ghosts of the past, is in the truth.

Xiang Cheny says, because in the future, the AI has gone rogue.

The man widens his eyes, then quite possibly thinks of Xiang Cheny as joking. He is laughing cacophonously, finding this joke highly hilarious.

The others are quite intrigued by the laughter, coming to ask about it.

The man, in between gasping for breath, says, this woman This woman just said, the AI will go rogue in the future! Hahaha! Does she even know what an AI is?

He suddenly turns to face Xiang Cheny and says with a serious tone, an AI will never make a mistake against its programming.

Xiang Cheny just sighs again, and says, Im not here to discuss your digital worship or other conceptual things. I just need to knowCan the AI be shut down.

The man seems a little surprised again, but then casually tells her, oh well, looks like well be agreeing to disagree. Shame. Though I suppose, if you did need to, you can.

How?

An AI is a type of tool, replies the man, if the tools owner doesnt need the tool anymore, its obviously become useless. Thats what I believe in, and Ill probably do that if that really comes to pass.

The tools owner doesnt need it anymore?

In that sense, who owns that AI?

This man here?

No obviously not. If it were him, then in the Nightmare Xiang Cheny went through, he would have put a stop to the danger before he ended up overwhelmed.

The Nightmare showed in dramatic fashion that the AI was not under the control of the humans in this mansion at all.

So Xiang Cheny ponders another related question instead.

Whatisthe purpose of this AI again?

Protect the Tower, and those human survivors of the Apocalypse. That is the sole purpose it became the Towers manager. Its goal is to ensure, to the best of its ability, humanitys survival in the Tower.

So, as a tool, it was needed by humanity in the Tower.

Then what if, the humans in the Tower, no longer needed its service?

The Ultimate NightmareX Beijin told her that this was a Nightmare belonging to everyone

Xiang Cheny mumbles, everyone Looking at the man, and all the others who are living in their pre-Apocalypse lifestyle in this isolated little mansion, she asks again, everyone?

The crowd doesnt know what shes going on about.

Xiang Chenys voice grows slightly louder this time, everyoneThis is something that everyone has to

Decide.

But she didnt say that last word out loud, because suddenly, a voice popped up out of nowhere next to her; its X Beijins voice, saying, stop; speak no more.

Xiang Cheny was taken aback, but she stopped in time.

Thanks to her slower and dulled actions in general, she was able to stop instead of letting it slip regardless. She was able to heed X Beijins warning in time.

Shes also not going to ask why X Beijin can talk to her directly in the Nightmare; he did find her in an entirely isolated floor and talk to her. This feels like standard practice for him.

Instead, a more pertinent question would be, why cant I say it?

The people in front of her seem shocked by her suddenly talking to the air, especially the man. They probably think shes insane now, and quickly disperse, including the man.

But Xiang Cheny does not care about them anymore, because she knows what to do.

Recalling that the Ultimate Nightmare needed everyone to be asleep to open, and the choice

Everyone. Theyve already met that condition once, like some kind of rehearsal.

Xiang Cheny narrows her eyes as she waits for X Beijin to reply, and the reply comes, apparently completely unrelated to the question This is a game.

Its like hes implying something.

After blanking out thinking about it, shocked, Xiang Cheny asks, do you mean saying it out loud, is also itself a condition?!

X Beijin does not reply, affirming her thus.

It makes Xiang Chenys back drenched in cold sweat. She has experienced first-hand what has made X Beijin always so careful and secretive, and always speaking in riddles. Its because this is a game, that they cannot rush it.

So Xiang Cheny asks, when can we say it? What do we need to achieve first?

Xiang Cheny is so sharp-witted it makes X Beijin feel ashamed in comparison, but he tells her, wait for my signal.

Xiang Cheny quickly nods.

X Beijin breathes a sigh of relief. He didnt imagine she would be able to find these people so quickly, and even immediately realising what she needed to do.

Though

He thinks Xiang Cheny still doesnt have the right idea about the whole situation, and what exactly is required to achieve the condition of shutting the AI down.

Then he looks at the numbers on his control panel once more.

It is great that Xiang Cheny has become aware of the correct methods to proceed, but they still need to wait for a chance, a most opportune moment

It is approaching them gradually. Its going to be a short while until then.

The number of people still awake in the Ultimate Nightmare has settled down, only changing every few minutes. Meanwhile, the number of insane people remaining inside is now decreasing, but less quickly than before.

About a few hundred remain, which is no small number, by any means.

Theyre also gradually filing through the doors in the grey fog within the Ultimate Nightmare to leave.

Of course, there are still countless insane people in the Ultimate Nightmare those Missiontakers and Actors who have succumbed before the Ultimate Nightmare, and entered the Ultimate Nightmare through the grey fog, instead of through sleeping and dreaming.

TheyarenotTower residents that Iro would recognise.

So X Beijin is just keeping a close eye on the number representing the number of people having succumbed in the Ultimate Nightmare, and still remain.

300 150 89 63 17

X Beijin watches the number decline quite linearly.

Then it stops at 17 for unexpectedly long.

That is when a flurry of knocks strikes his bookstore entrance.

X Beijin and Lin Qin look at each other; X Beijin was going to go open, but Lin Qin stops him, to go the door himself.

Xie Zhijin is standing outside the bookstore, all sweaty and worried. As soon as he hears someone at the door, he yells out, theres nowhere to stand outside!

The madmen flowing out from the grey fog are so many that the entire bottom floor has been filled up.

Unable to enter a higher floor or open the door to other residences, they are filling up all the streets and alleys.

There are still empty residences, but not that many.

So the entire bottom floor has actually been filled up to the brim.

Hearing that, and quickly connecting it with the frozen number 17 on his control panel Oh gods, the number has stopped decreasing because there is nowhere else in the Tower to go?

Its quite the unexpected situation, but X Beijin quickly has Lin Qin open the door to the bookstore wide.

As soon as he does so, the madmen outside start rushing in; Lin Qin forces the door close after a while.

The madmen that have made it in are standing on the first floor of the bookstore quietly, almost like theyre lifeless life-sized dolls.

So X Beijin, Lin Qin and Xie Zhijin retreat to the second floor of the bookstore.

Theyve allowed about 30-odd madmen inside the bookstore, which means the first floor has no more floor space to stand on.

The number on the control panel, X Beijin finds, is slowly decreasing once more after stopping for a long time.

16 13 8 5 0.

As the number hits zero, X Beijin finds himself almost entranced.

When he found he was stuck on the bottom floor for the first time, he never imagined, that there could come a day

That there would be a day, when the hope to leave the Tower would really, actually, be in their own two hands.

Its merely a grasp away.

X Beijin takes another deep breath, and sees for himself once more, that the number is exactly 0.

Then, he gets Xiang Chenys attention once more, telling her, you can say it now.

Xiang Cheny is waiting, bored, and the voice catches her off guard. She nods soon enough, though, taking her breath, possibly taking time to organise her language.

X Beijin also waits patiently.

Right now, both inside and outside of the Tower, inside and outside of the Ultimate Nightmare, everything seems far quieter than usual. Its like the entire world is holding out its breath for something.

That is when X Beijin glances at his control panel once more only to be caught by a suffocating fear that threatens to stop his heart right there.

The number of people succumbed and remaining in the Ultimate Nightmare, has jumped from 0 to 1!

X Beijin, horrified, scrambles to contact Xiang Cheny to stop her.

But it is too late. Xiang Cheny has already said the magic words.

If everyone agrees to revoke the right for the artificial intelligence to manage the Tower, then it will be shut down.

The next second is one of dramatic changes.