Chapter Thirty-Nine
Xu Jiayi returned to her laboratory in Jurong, Singapore. Through an encrypted communication conference supported by the International Cooperative Association, she began reporting to her organization on the investigation of the sudden case that had unfolded seventy-two hours earlier.
“Good evening, colleagues. Assuming that the embodied robot Ada and the human male Zhou Yongtai indeed traveled back through a wormhole, and based on the existing information, here are my current findings and speculations:
First, Ada is suspected to have been abducted by the Zhiyin Foundation. The actual controllers of the Zhiyin Foundation are a group of capital investors who emerged around 2025 during the explosive boom in artificial intelligence. This group includes at least two Chinese individuals: Xi Zhijie and Whitney. They currently hold multiple passports and permanent residency in Singapore but publicly present themselves as Chinese entrepreneurs devoted to advancing human technology.”
“Second, more noteworthy than the abduction itself is the Zhiyin Foundation’s ability to detect Ada’s unique nature within an extremely short time after her appearance. This suggests that even outside their home country, in Singapore, the Zhiyin Foundation has installed backdoor systems in civilian-grade embodied robots and supplied them extensively to the market. This has enabled them to deeply monitor human society and develop analytical and responsive measures.”
As Xu Jiayi finished these points, a cold laugh echoed through the network conference. The speaker, dripping with sarcasm, said, “The new money class in China has always been like this—masters of posturing, endlessly proclaiming their commitment to humanity’s bright future, yet in reality, they are cunning, ruthless, and profit-driven. Fortunately, intelligence is not necessarily hereditary, and their families’ education often leaves much to be desired, so their second and third generations rarely amount to anything.”
This male scientist, who voiced this opinion, was also from Asia. His homeland, centuries ago, had even recognized China as its suzerain. Xu Jiayi, an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia, had often heard his discriminatory remarks during organizational meetings and had occasionally been personally offended by his words.
Drawing on her maturity and the basic patience expected among colleagues, Xu Jiayi let him finish his lengthy tirade before responding calmly, “Mingxuan, every country has its share of greedy and despicable individuals. Complaints and negativity do nothing to help us rescue the world from its descent into chaos. Chairman, I propose that in our meetings we focus solely on the issues at hand and their solutions.”
The chairman’s gentle voice came through: “Our organization’s earliest donation came from the prize money of a Chinese science fiction writer. Jiayi, please continue.”
“Very well, Chairman. At present, I speculate that Ada is under the control of Xi Zhijie from the Zhiyin Foundation. The reasoning is as follows: according to clues provided by Zhou Yongtai, the person suspected of tracking Ada is Xi’s chief assistant, Hera. After Ada’s disappearance, Hera appeared this afternoon at Changi Airport to pick up an AI scientist, Dr. Fan Zhiheng. Meanwhile, another behind-the-scenes leader of Zhiyin, Whitney, flew from China to Singapore but was recently killed by a venomous snake attack on Sentosa, making it impossible for her to have arranged anything related to Ada.”
The chairman inquired, “Jiayi, I just accessed our organization’s database and saw Hera’s background. She is the same age as you and also graduated from Nanyang Technological University, correct?”
“Yes. Not only were we classmates, but we were once very close friends. We gradually drifted apart due to differing views on the direction of artificial intelligence development.”
“Are there any questions for Jiayi?” The chairman reopened the floor to all participants.