Virtual Superstar Breeding Diary

The headquarters of AI Entertainment Group, the iconic [-]-story pyramid building, was brightly lit all night as usual.

The door of the virtual intelligence research laboratory on the 88th floor is closed.

Today is the weekend, compared to the hustle and bustle of other floors, this place is simply too quiet.

There was no one in the laboratory, and even the researcher on duty did not know where to go.

The experimental platform in the center is in the open state, the red light flashes rapidly, and dense green data streams fly across the display screen.

A silver-gray nutrition cabin is placed on the experimental platform, and inside the transparent glass cover made of special materials, there is a young man in white lying quietly.

The warm yellow light makes his skin slightly honey-white, his facial features are three-dimensional, his outline is deep, and he is as handsome as carefully carved jade, and even the texture and lines are particularly preferred by the creator.

Like an elegant sleeping beauty.

The wall clock on the metal wall slowly moved towards eight o'clock.

With the coincidence of the second hand and the minute, there is a sound of "di", the red light goes off, and the green light turns on after all data transmission is completed.

The next second, the eyelashes of the man in the glass case trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.

The vast and complicated information was continuously summarized and reorganized in Xiao Chi's brain. He stared blankly at the transparent glass, took three breaths, and his consciousness was gradually withdrawn from the chaos.

An indescribable light illuminated his dark eyes, as if lighting up a new life.

Let that cold handsome face come alive immediately.

At this moment, Xiao Chi really opened his eyes to see the world for the first time—even though his sight can only be seen through a glass cover, he can see the gray-white ceiling above his head.

He raised his arm and moved his gaze to the palm, his skin was rosy, and the palm lines were as clear as engraved.

Xiao Chi tentatively touched the transparent glass, his fingernails made a crisp sound, and his fingertips felt hard and cold, as smooth as a mirror.

He stroked it curiously, as if touching the world gently.

Soon, he was dissatisfied with this and wanted to touch more, but no matter how hard he pushed, the glass cover remained motionless.

Subconsciously, Xiao Chi clenched a fist, the tensed joints were protruding and turning white, he squeezed tightly, accumulated strength, and smashed it hard without hesitation!

There was a dull loud noise in the quiet laboratory!

click-

The dense cracks and spider webs covered the glass cover in an instant, shattered into countless fragments, and fell down!

His fist didn't even break the skin.

The man didn't feel that he had done anything shocking to the world. He sat up, shook off the debris, and slowly and carefully climbed out of the nutrition cabin. The moment he got down on the ground, he could even feel his heart beating for joy.

Breathing, air, heartbeat, touch, smell - is this what it's like to be alive?

Xiao Chi involuntarily took a deep breath, as if he wanted to suck this living world into his lungs.

Before he could savor the joy of being a newborn human being, a sharp and rapid alarm sound suddenly exploded in the laboratory, and was transmitted layer by layer until it rang through the entire laboratory building.

The abnormality in the laboratory seems to have attracted the attention of the security department.

Xiao Chi turned his head to stare at the noisy red alarm device on the ceiling, frowning a little bit.

This is... a dangerous signal?

The flashing red light reflected his side face in a cloudy and cloudy way. Xiao Chi strode to the door of the laboratory. When the door was opened from the inside, no iris verification was required. He quickly searched in his mind for a moment and entered a string of passwords.

The heavy alloy door then opened.

At the corner not far away, the green safe passage indicator light was particularly conspicuous in the dark corridor, Xiao Chi stepped out, followed the direction of the indicator light, and his figure disappeared far away at the end of the corridor.

After Xiao Chi left, the monitor in the corner of the laboratory ceiling flashed a little faint red light sporadically.

Surveillance cameras faithfully recorded Xiao Chi's entire process from waking up to leaving.

Behind the camera is a dark office.

The bookcases are full of books on virtual intelligence and life sciences.

There was only one retro-style lamp on the desk, the lampshade blocked most of the light, and the peripheral light fell on the face of the man beside the table, carving a clear dividing line between light and dark.

The man looked to be over thirty, with a pair of silver-rimmed round glasses on the bridge of his nose, and some mature wrinkles had accumulated in the corners of his eyes over the years.

Even in the warm indoors, the man was wearing a black turtleneck sweater, and on his exposed wrist, an "X" shaped scar could be vaguely seen.

He stared intently at the monitoring screens on the wall, his eyes focused and deep, chasing the man in white in the monitor, passing from one screen to another, from one floor to another.

When the sound of the alarm intentionally misled the security personnel and was circling around like headless chickens on the upper floors of the building, Xiao Chi had already entered the ground floor along the fast and safe passage.

The man smiled slightly, took off his glasses and wiped them gently for a while, and finally pressed the red round button on the remote control button before the security personnel entered the laboratory.

——"Are you sure you want to completely destroy all data?"

--"confirm."

"Boom" there was a violent explosion, and the flames soaring into the sky prevented the security personnel from searching the laboratory. Everything inside was annihilated in this strange fire under their shocked eyes.

Leaving a mess of debris and a secret buried forever.

The monitoring screens all over the wall were blacked out one after another, and finally only one bottom channel screen that had not been affected was left.

That's the direction to the warehouse for assembling the dolls around them.

The man put on his silver-rimmed glasses again, and stared at Xiao Chi's figure as he disappeared into the warehouse completely, his eyes lingering for a long time.

After a long while, he flipped through an exquisite cowhide soft copy, using an ancient recording method that can be called an antique, rustling something on the thick kraft paper...

※※※

Rewind time a few minutes ago.

The first snowfall at the beginning of the new year was grand and enthusiastic, like fireworks celebrating this much-anticipated concert.

Tonight, Xiao Chi's concert tour will officially start at [-] o'clock sharp.

Bright neon lights ignited the night, giant screen projections were lit up one by one on the grand stage, and the crowd was so loud that it almost overturned the huge venue that accommodated 50 people.

"Xiao Chi! Xiao Chi—"

There are moving heads everywhere, black and layered, and the fluorescent sticks in the hands are dancing and flickering like fireflies.

"Northern capital time 59:[-], let me hear your countdown!" The sweet voice of the host resounded throughout the venue, and the high-heeled shoes stepped on the suspended mini aircraft, hovering over the stage smoothly and lightly.

"nineteen……"

"Three! Two! One!"

The high countdown of the audience, the enthusiasm was pushed to a climax, and countless pairs of eyes looked excitedly at the three-dimensional holographic projection of the central giant screen, looking forward to their beloved idol's debut——

The spotlight focused on the stage flickered suddenly, one after another, like blinking eyes rapidly.

Immediately afterwards, all the lights suddenly fell into chaos, and the desperate struggle was useless, and finally all the light was taken away, and they all fell into the boundless darkness.

There was silence for three seconds, and nothing happened on the dark stage.

Only the dense glow sticks are still glowing embarrassingly.

"what happened?"

"What age is this, can there still be a power outage?"

"I want to see Xiao Chi!"

Anger and uneasiness spread instantly in the auditorium. The host tried to ease the emotions of the fans, but unfortunately her voice was drowned in the noise of doubts, with little effect.

Countless people who were watching the webcast were also cursing at the pitch-black projection screen.

Everyone is asking, what happened?

This problem also plagued the employees of the AI ​​company's virtual idol project team.

When they heard that there was a power outage at the concert site, they complained casually, and then devoted themselves to intensive repair work.

In order to clean up the mess, the project team all gathered in the data center of the AI ​​headquarters, working overtime.

Until the sound of an explosion in the experimental building came, the entire data center suddenly shut down!

Then the project team discovered to their dismay that all of Xiao Chi's data had been wiped out, even including the backup program. There was not a single line of code left, it was blank, all the files and data disappeared, and the folder was empty.

What's even more weird is that no one answered the calls of all the developers involved in Xiaochi.

It's over!

Just like a person whose memory has been erased, it is a devastating blow to a virtual idol who relies entirely on data and programs.

However, the aftermath of this explosion that caused an uproar in the entire entertainment circle is far from over...

※※※

Huanyi Entertainment Group headquarters building, meeting room on the top floor.

A dozen or so senior executives of Huanyi sat around the huge long oval table, and the projector cast a 360° three-dimensional imaging light curtain. Since eight o'clock, they have been in a state of darkness.

"Mr. Ji, just received the latest news about the AI ​​company. There was an explosion in their experimental building. The reason is not clear, but the most popular virtual idol Xiao Chi under the company has temporarily suspended the concert. It is said that it is because of a power outage. "

The assistant hastily pushed open the door of the conference room and reported in a low voice to Ji Chenxuan who was at the main seat.

Ji Chenxuan, President of Huanyi, crossed his legs and sat in the black leather chair in a dignified posture. Hearing the report, he was silent for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully: "I see."

"I just said why the concert started with a black screen! Unexpectedly, the mighty AI will have such a messy day." Director Yan of the virtual project department sat in the first position on his left, and laughed when he heard the news.

Minister Yan wanted to ridicule a few words, but Ji Chenxuan's serious gaze swept him away, and he involuntarily closed his mouth and sat upright.

Ji Chenxuan looked at the head of the marketing department on the right, tapped his slender knuckles on the edge of the table twice, and signaled him to continue speaking.

"As we all know, the competition between Huanyi and AI has been going on for a long time. We mainly focus on traditional real-life stars, while AI focuses on the development of virtual idols, and we have always been overwhelmed by us. But since the birth of Xiao Chi, it has completely broken People's rigid and highly homogeneous prejudices against virtual idols have risen strongly in the entertainment industry, and they have taken a big piece of cake."

A senior executive was dissatisfied: "AI companies can research and develop, so can we. Minister Yan, I have to ask you. The virtual project department has been established for so long. How can there be no results that can be achieved? To put it bluntly, it is just looking for a few programs. The researcher designed the program, it’s just a bunch of data, what’s so difficult?”

After hearing his layman's words, Minister Yan rolled his eyes and curled his mouth: "I think your knowledge of virtual idols is still at the level of paper figurines and cartoons decades ago."

The executive beeped softly: "...It's not all data."

Minister Yan sneered: "This Xiao Chi is the only virtual idol who can be called highly intelligent after five years of research and development by the AI ​​company. From your smart terminal, you can release a life-like holographic projection anytime and anywhere, and watch him live. , Interact with him, pay attention, is it a one-on-one interaction between you and your idol, or instant, think about it, your favorite idol gently calls your name every day, and the love words are not repetitive, who doesn’t like it? "

"Its processor is disassembled, and even maintains the daily operation of a medium-sized company. The only flaw is that it can only be seen, not touched. But then again, is there any real star that can be touched by ordinary fans?"

Speaking of this, Minister Yan sighed melancholy: "The AI ​​company has launched several puppet, but Xiao Chi is the only one whose popularity will last forever. Stolen the title of the most popular star in the world."

As soon as the voice fell, the entire conference room was silent.

Everyone's expressions were unnatural, Minister Yan knew which pot was not open and which pot to lift, so he shrank back embarrassingly.

"Okay." Ji Chenxuan got up, and slowly glanced around for a week with deep eyes, only his voice could be heard in the conference room, "Don't patronize others' ambition, since the AI ​​company can develop it, we Huanyi can do the same. Minister Yan, how long will it take for you to produce results?"

Minister Yan, who was suddenly named, was stunned for a moment, and the other party's eyes were indifferent, showing a sense of oppression. When they looked at each other for a moment, his heart skipped a beat, and he insisted on holding back the "two years", hesitatingly said: "Another year should be fine."

"In half a year, the board of directors needs to see results." Ji Chenxuan's low voice said lightly, but he could not comment.

Damn it, how could he have forgotten that Mr. Ji has worked all the way up from the grassroots, how could he not know the procrastinating ways below?

Minister Yan groaned secretly, and answered dejectedly.

After dealing with the company's tedious affairs, Ji Chenxuan drove back to the mid-level villa in the middle of the lake where he lived alone, and it was already night.

It’s already early for him to get home at this time, because today is an exception—he used the excuse of researching competing products, and the life-like simulation doll of Xiao Chi that he specially ordered finally arrived. arrived.

I wanted to take advantage of the evening meeting to watch the live broadcast of the concert - oh no, it was to study and discuss the latest developments of competitors.

Unexpectedly, it was a pity that it was temporarily canceled due to a power outage.

A huge cardboard box half a person's height was placed at the entrance, printed with a striking "handle with care" logo, and the packaging seemed not to be rigorous, which made Ji Chenxuan frowned slightly.

Let's move back to the room and have a look.

Just as Ji Chenxuan was about to make a move, he felt something was wrong—why is it so heavy?