Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 50 - 48 Mr. Delusional, The Fear Legend_2

People hoisted him onto a pedestal, and William felt he had lost something. He looked at his own titanium steel hands, perfectly remodeled, and the excitement was gone, the excitement that used to accompany the unveiling of a perfect masterpiece.

William considered himself an artist; he should strive for higher realms.

He also grew tired of just modifying parts according to others’ requests, even if he made that part beautiful, stitching it onto someone else, like fixing a state-of-the-art engine onto a pig.

William Wyran wanted to create the most perfect form in the world with these eyes that sought beauty, with these hands that sculpted beauty.

Soon, a group appeared before him, a group he had never encountered.

Candy, a model of artificial intelligence, was designed to please humans. Not a single Candy had undergone William’s modifications, for they were already beautiful. After the Human Rights Act was passed, these social machines gained freedom, a lonely freedom without reliance, a few became idols through their appearance, but the majority were lost and confused, taken by themselves or others back to their familiar jobs.

Alcohol, narcotics, and Candy became the solace for the desperate at the bottom.

Yet William was filled with disgust for these Candies; he pounded on the desk violently, roaring like a wild beast, considering it a desecration of beauty.

One day, he saw a Candy with very beautiful lips, tempting like freshly ripened cherries.

After she had sent away a client, William approached, like performing a sophisticated surgery, his fingers extended the usual surgical tools and perfectly peeled off her sensual lips.

The screams of terror echoed through the City of Tears.

William got what he wanted, and the next day, he received a charge of harming artificial intelligence.

When he thought he would be held accountable by the justice of the law, he was acquitted; a former client’s husband bailed him out, to him, the favor of a skillful cosmetic surgeon was far more valuable than the fear suffered by a tin toy.

When good and evil can be measured by money, what value does morality have?

It was said that the Candy was eventually disposed of, because she lacked the wealth to repair her bodily injuries, and the bodily injuries prevented her from earning wealth. Before her body was ruined, she chose to upload her data, hoping her data could be reused in a new body.

Artificial intelligence was granted human rights and became the lowest class of people.

William did not stop his "art."

He plucked the most beautiful parts, letting the remaining pieces corrode in fear. He was brought to court more than once, but the capitalists obviously didn’t like these disobedient toys either.

Time after time of being acquitted, William accumulated enough legal knowledge, he could even defend himself.

Andy wouldn’t die, and their fears would not be forgotten.

Someday, a newly manufactured Candy might tremble and weep at the mere mention of the name William.

William had become the terror of the death-defying Andys, the horror legend of the City of Tears.

Those humans found a better way to control the Andys, and William even received commendation from the security department.

But William didn’t care.

He had collected precisely thirteen thousand and twenty-one components, integrating the perfection into one perfect being.

It was a very beautiful Candy, William felt he had sculpted an angel, and he named her Dorsey.

When Dorsey opened her eyes, she wept, "William, murderer, monster..." All sorts of filthy words tumbled from Dorothy’s lips.

Dorsey not only embodied the beauty of those Candies but also their resentment and fear towards themselves.

And when he reached out his hand, Dorsey trembled there.

"Work mode, execute."

Work mode, a privatization program for artificial intelligence, forces AI to execute set tasks, akin to a compulsive command from humans.

As he desired, Dorsey embraced him, declaring her love, a smile on her face. William looked into her eyes and knew, in those sky-blue pupils, a soul was imprisoned, one that cursed him.

William revealed a smile, a mad smile.

Dorothy’s performance had proven the transferability of emotions.

After the appearance of Dorsey, William felt some changes in himself, both physically and psychologically.

It was like boarding a carriage en route to hell, and yet he was atop, laughing madly and cracking his whip.

William felt he could do something.

Today, a portly gentleman came to his clinic.

He was a judge; he judged nine hundred and thirty-six cases of abuse against artificial intelligence, and also nine hundred and thirty-six times slammed the gavel against the AI plaintiffs. William, with his outstanding legal knowledge, knew his verdicts were nonsensical, fanciful.

He was broken.

William cut off his right hand, the one he used to sign verdicts, and threw the severed limb into the incinerator.

As the judge screeched like a slaughtered pig, "Your error has been removed."

William did not win the ensuing lawsuit.

He had over ten thousand victories against artificial intelligence, even when he tore them to pieces, riddled with holes.