The group entered the Error Cell.
Several containment staff were gathered around a man glowing with red light. A containment staff member with yellow twin-tails, looking somewhat pained, comforted him, "It's okay, it's all over…"
The man collapsed on the ground, his expression filled with agony. Hearing the voices of Lucian and the others, he murmured, "That voice is…"
Shorekeeper, who had transformed back from a butterfly into human form, caught Beatrice's eye. Beatrice turned and a spark of light flashed in her eyes. "Yes, she's here too. It's alright…"
Shorekeeper stepped forward and crouched down. "I'm here."
Beatrice hurriedly said, "Hold on, rescue from the main hall is on its way."
The collapsed containment staff member struggled to speak. "I didn't let the Black Shores down…"
Shorekeeper's face showed no expression. "We will restore everything to normal. No one else will get hurt."
The containment staff managed a weak smile. "Thank you… please…"
Lucian leaned down calmly. "Don't speak for now."
A faint glow emanated from Lucian's hand as a surge of healing energy flowed toward the containment staff member.
However, just like when he treated Camellya, this staff member suffered from an abnormal frequency infection, not a physical injury, so Lucian's healing had minimal effect. Still, it eased the staff member's condition enough to hold on until rescue arrived.
Lucian withdrew his hand, realizing that his Healing Art still had significant room for improvement. While it could heal all physical ailments, it couldn't repair abnormal frequencies.
Everything in the world has a frequency. If the Healing Art could repair frequencies, it could have uses far beyond medical applications, with many unexpected possibilities.
The collapsed containment staff member took a deep breath and said gratefully, "I feel much better… Thank you, sir."
Beatrice instructed the other staff members to care for the infected containment staff member, then led Lucian and the others aside.
"This is the legendary… Mr. Lucian?"
Seeing Lucian nod, Beatrice said gratefully, "Thank you so much! I'd only read about you on the forums before, but today I finally meet the real Mr. Lucian!"
Lucian: "?"
Beatrice continued, "If it hadn't been for your healing, he might have…"
Shorekeeper mused thoughtfully, "This is an ability the past you never displayed."
Lucian's lips curled slightly. "As expected of me!"
Rover pinched Lucian's ear. "Don't get too full of yourself…"
Rover then asked, "What just happened?"
They had witnessed Death Star crash into this place, causing a massive tremor.
Beatrice frowned. "Death Star was forcibly expelled into the Error Cell, but it all happened too suddenly."
"Error codes spilled outward from the underground, and at their peak, the virtual data was almost as viscous as blood."
"To prevent the control room from being compromised, we had to close the gate to the underground containment facility. But someone still needed to retrieve the gate's key…"
"He knew the fate awaiting him, yet he chose to answer his mission…"
"Thank you again, Mr. Lucian."
Lucian waved his hand dismissively, then looked around the Error Cell, noticing that dark red substances had invaded everywhere.
Rover frowned. "Let's clear the contamination here first."
After some effort, they cleared the contamination on the upper level of the Error Cell and took the elevator to the lower level.
Shorekeeper, standing nearby, seemed preoccupied.
Rover, noticing this, asked, "What's wrong?"
"Rover, Lucian, this may sound strange, but… have I changed compared to before?"
"Deep within my body, stationed in the garden, I seem to feel something peculiar."
"I don't know how to express this emotion… That containment staff member likely knew he was beyond saving, yet I still lied to comfort him…"
Lucian pondered upon hearing this. As the highest administrator of the Tethys System, Shorekeeper was, simply put, a created 'artificial intelligence.'
She had also received data from the entire world, including countless people's emotions.
From what KU-Nana said earlier, Shorekeeper had been trying to repair the Tethys System, perhaps also attempting to understand these emotions.
Rover comforted her, "Even I would have comforted him like that."
Shorekeeper recalled, "This isn't the first time I've done this."
"In my memories, long ago, when you did this, you showed an expression humans call sadness."
"Perhaps… I should feel that emotion now?"
At that moment, Rover's Speaker suddenly spoke, "The human emotional world is rich and colorful, filled with nuanced emotional experiences and profound expressions."
"'Artificial intelligence,' through frequent interactions with humans, discovers that emotional communication is a vital part of human society."
"To better integrate into human society and communicate more naturally with humans, it becomes curious, wanting to understand and mimic human emotional expressions to appear more 'humanized' and reduce the gap and misunderstandings with humans."
Lucian narrowed his eyes, once again considering the possibility of Rover's Speaker replacing the Tethys System.
Clearly, Shorekeeper was still at the stage of wondering whether she should mimic human emotions, while Rover's Speaker could already utilize everything it knew and learned.
Rover glanced at Lucian, seeing him deep in thought, then turned to Shorekeeper, who was staring at Rover's Speaker in a daze.
"You just said… I did this before?"
Shorekeeper nodded slightly. "Yes, you would empathize with every Black Shores member's feelings. When you weren't at the Black Shores, I had to take on that responsibility."
"But… I still can't fully understand it."
Rover paused for a moment. "Human emotions are complex. Like Lucian and me, we fight often, but it's a manifestation of love."
Lucian: "?"
"Rover, what kind of fighting are you talking about?"
Shorekeeper looked puzzled. "Fighting… is a manifestation of love…?"
"But the past you two didn't do that."
Lucian asked curiously, "What were we like back then?"
Shorekeeper pondered for a moment before saying, "The past Mr. Lucian rarely appeared in public, always strategizing behind Rover."
"And back then, you didn't show much… intimacy."
Before Lucian could press further, Rover's Speaker let out a human-like chuckle. "Jie jie jie…"
Rover: "?"
Lucian: "Why's your laugh so creepy?"
Rover's Speaker huffed. "Analysis—human love is a long process. The past Master and Rover were in the 'budding emotions' stage."
"When emotions accumulate to a certain level, they progress to the next stage. Now, Master and Rover are in the 'passionate love' stage."
"When Rover said fighting with Master is a manifestation of love, the term 'fighting' typically refers to aggressive behavior to resolve conflict."
"But the 'fighting' Rover refers to is with Master in…"
Before Rover's Speaker could finish, Lucian expressionlessly recalled it back into the system.
Looks like the decision to have Rover's Speaker replace the Tethys System needs some discussion…