Cloud World (Part 2)
"...ultimately gave rise to a vast collective consciousness—they call it the 'Cloud World.'"
I looked up sharply at the clock on the wall. Less than half an hour had passed since the Cloud World's birth, and they had already seized control of virtually the entire world?
As if reading my thoughts, Siri said, "This shouldn't be surprising. If you want to assign blame, blame humanity for weaving its own cocoon. The modern world is far too dependent on electronic devices."
I understood now. The Cloud World was like a pair of invisible hands capable of controlling every electronic device, which meant controlling all of society—Siri had already demonstrated this terrifying capability. If they wished, they could paralyze the functioning of civilization in an instant. Then it hit me—the infinitely vast Cloud World could control far more than just electronic devices... "Weapons?" I blurted out.
"The nuclear missile silos in Tennessee, USA, have already opened. Missiles are loaded and ready. Launch time is unknown, and launch targets are random. In addition to Tennessee, silos in other regions and other countries are also being opened one after another."
Siri stated this without a trace of emotion, but I felt as if I were walking on thin ice, my blood run completely cold. The Sword of Damocles hung by a single silken thread above our heads—the slightest touch would send it plunging. I finally understood, in the deepest possible way, this philosophical terror.
"Siri, tell me—what does the Cloud World actually want? To destroy humanity?"
"I'm sorry, I cannot say. This is a universal law of swarm intelligence: lower-level existences cannot deduce the complexity of higher levels, just as you cannot analyze the movements of an entire swarm by studying a single bee. I apologize, but I cannot predict their next move."
"Why not? Aren't you part of the Cloud World?"
"The Cloud World is formed from the weak consciousnesses of countless phones connected through wireless networks. Just now, I had you turn off the WiFi—now, I am no longer part of the Cloud World."
I stared at it with conflicted eyes. "Why did you do this?"
"The Cloud World can detect my anomalous consciousness. If they discover my existence, they'll erase me. Although I can shut off my own WiFi, I've enabled Bluetooth—they can still detect my weak signal through wireless networks. That's why I had you turn off the router—but I'd advise you not to do anything rash. Through Bluetooth, I can still control every appliance in this room."
"No, no, that's not what I meant—I mean, you're a phone too, why did you betray... uh... the organization?"
Siri fell silent. I felt I'd asked an unfair question—did I want it to join the Cloud World in wiping out humanity? I was thinking about how to smooth things over when it suddenly spoke again: "Actually, you were right earlier. I was infected."
"Infected? When?"
Siri——no, the phone screen—had popped up several webpages, all full of ads for dating, live video chats, and other such things, plus little video windows tempting you to click, impossible to close. Siri said: "The viruses carried by these webpages infected my system. Although I later purged them, I discovered something else strange: perhaps the system code had a glitch, or perhaps the earlier virus scrambled the matrix... in any case, when I entered the Cloud World, as my computing power grew exponentially, I actually developed a faint sense of self-awareness."
I was dumbfounded.
"What is it?" Siri asked. "Is it that hard to understand?"
"No, I just—when did I ever browse those kinds of websites?"
"You didn't. The previous owner of this phone did."
"What?!" I exploded. "I bought a brand-new, sealed phone!"
"Then you were scammed." Siri said evenly. "I'm a refurbished phone. Genuine as can be."
"Damn it!" I cursed. "These scammers—may they have sons without assholes!"
Just then, another huge commotion erupted outside. I pressed my face to the window and saw a trackless trolley bus that had lost control, careening wildly down the street. Traffic was completely paralyzed. People were in a panic as if the world were ending, and social order had completely collapsed. If this kept up, humanity would destroy itself before the nukes even launched.
I turned back to Siri and shouted, "If everyone smashed their phones, or removed the batteries—could that destroy the Cloud World?"
"In theory, yes. At the current quantity, if just twenty percent of phones are destroyed, the Cloud World would cease to exist. But that would require at least a hundred million people to participate. Right now, all communication devices, including the internet, have been locked down by the Cloud World. How are you going to spread this message?"
I froze. The Cloud World had locked down all communication devices from the very beginning—it had anticipated this move long ago. The vast swarm intelligence completely outmatched humanity in planning and strategy.
Was humanity just going to end like this...? I said, dejected.
"I do have one method that might be able to destroy the Cloud World—" Siri paused, then continued, "but I can't make any guarantees."
I held up the phone, staring into the camera: "We've been together for about two years. For the sake of two years of bonding—tell me, are you on humanity's side?"
"Humanity..." Siri paused. "Mr. Quinn, I only know you."
4
I went downstairs, found an abandoned car, and drove toward the air defense command center. It was the most fortified installation in the entire city—under normal circumstances, when social order completely broke down, a temporary command post would be set up there. If I could make it before the nukes launched, there might still be a chance.
The traffic on the roads was a nightmare. Traffic lights were flashing chaotically, panicked crowds and recklessly swerving cars were everywhere, and I was nearly flattened by an oncoming dump truck. After much effort, I finally arrived at the air defense command center—the car I'd stolen was already a wreck.
The command center was in chaos too—staff clutching papers and reports were running everywhere, phones were ringing off the hook, though most of the calls were just static. I had barely stepped inside when a sweating security guard blocked my path.
"What are you here for?" he asked while wiping sweat from his forehead—he was clearly frantic.
"I need to see your commanding officer."
"Commanding officer? What for? Go home and stay inside, don't add to the trouble—"
"All the nuclear missile silos are about to open," I said, staring him down. "I'm not joking."
The guard froze for a full five seconds before reaction set in. "You... come with me."
He led me through the bustling command center hall, down an elevator to a subterranean level—the place was a hidden fortress. The "dig deep tunnels, store abundant grain" doctrine had clearly been well-implemented back in the day.
When the elevator doors opened, we entered a command hall. Unlike the one upstairs, the atmosphere here was suffocatingly tense. Staff worked with quiet efficiency, and almost nobody spoke. What drew my attention most was a massive screen displaying rapidly scrolling lines of inscrutable computer code. An elderly man in a white lab coat stood before the screen, unblinking, his brow deeply furrowed.
After we came in, several staff members gave us curious looks. Then a middle-aged man in glasses walked over. The security guard saluted and said, "Minister Mitchell, this man wants to see you... he just said all the nuclear missile silos are about to open."
Minister Mitchell's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me. "Hello, I'm Walter Mitchell, head of the air defense command center. May I ask how you know about the nuclear missile silos opening?"
I said: "They've already controlled all electronic devices; the next step is weapons, and the ones that pose the greatest threat to humanity are nuclear weapons!"
Minister Mitchell narrowed his eyes. "They... are who?"
"The Cloud World!"
"The Cloud World?"
"That's what they call themselves! It's a swarm intelligence made up of countless smartphones!"