The department head of technology seemed unfazed by Marshall's excessive eagerness. After all, he had been receiving such preferential treatment at Test Corporation for quite some time. Moreover, Tom, the head of the technology department, appeared to have known Marshall for many years.
"So," Tom began, "after watching this video, what are your thoughts? Can you analyze the technology of Huarong Technology?"
The technology department head looked at Marshall with surprise. "Marshall, haven't we known each other for many years..."
Strangely, Tom didn't immediately get to the point about what was problematic with the video. Instead, he asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to the topic. Marshall blinked in confusion.
"We've known each other for over thirty years," Marshall replied. "We were good friends when I was just a regular student. But what does that have to do with this video?"
In response to Marshall's question, Tom simply moved his chair to the side, no longer looking at the video. He then posed a question that left Marshall even more speechless.
"Marshall," Tom said, "I remember you were just as brilliant back then. You were capable of inventions that were far ahead of your time. I feel like he's very similar to you when you were young..."
Similar to me when I was young? Marshall felt as if something had struck him out of nowhere. His mind plunged into a void. In a daze, he seemed to hear Tom continue speaking.
"And those past events, do you truly not remember them?" he asked. "Also, do you not remember how you met me? Do you really forget that I am not human?"
What? Tom wasn't human? Suddenly, Marshall felt scenes flashing before his eyes like a revolving lantern. Countless scenes from his childhood to adulthood flickered by. However, his memory seemed to have gaps. For instance, how he dropped out of school back then. Or how he founded his first technology company. Even how he became the richest man in the world and developed numerous technologies that were beyond human comprehension at the time. It was as if all of it had been surgically removed.
Finally, his memory began to clear up again. He seemed to recall something. Meanwhile, Tom in front of him started to undress. Oddly, even after Tom had stripped completely, he still didn't look human. There were no human sexual characteristics. Furthermore, after his clothes were completely off, Tom continued to undress. His head and limbs were all pulled off. From his torso, a mechanical body resembling a large spider emerged.
"Marshall, have you truly forgotten?" Tom asked. "Back then, you were also a chosen child of the System. But after failing to complete a mission, you were abandoned by the System. And I am your final masterpiece developed before the System left… that is to say, artificial intelligence!"
Good heavens. Tom, like Wen Qu developed by Meng Hao, was an artificial intelligence.
Boom. A flood of memories surged into the mind of the CEO of Test. He vaguely recalled that when the System first appeared, it had issued a warning: if anyone else discovered that the System existed in this world, they would be erased. And now, his erased memories had returned. This meant that two people in this world knew about the System's existence. According to the System's settings, both he and Meng Hao would be erased.
"No, no!" Marshall cried out. "Why did you awaken my memories! Wait, I see the origin of everything. This world I inhabit is completely fabricated… just like a game world we write with code. I exist entirely in the world of some god-like creator!"
"And that creator is called 'Lord Rice Jar'!!!"
Meanwhile, far across the ocean, Meng Hao was frantically typing on his computer keyboard. Suddenly, he found he couldn't move. Then, everything around him began to blur and fade, like a video with dropped frames.
"What's happening?" he wondered. "What's going on? This black hole, isn't it the same black hole that sent me to the desert base?"
Completely unable to move, Meng Hao watched helplessly as he was sucked into the black hole. Yet, his consciousness remained perfectly clear.
After an unknown amount of time, an unknown number of years, Meng Hao and Marshall simultaneously appeared in a pure white space. Here, space, time, years, and Earth seemed to be irrelevant. A man, constantly typing on a keyboard, sat in front of a computer, revising a document in Word.
"Sigh!" the man said. "It seems this world is about to end. Let me introduce myself, I am Lord Rice Jar, the creator of this world, and the god of the protagonist 'Meng Hao' in all parallel worlds!"
Huh? Meng Hao was stunned. Then, in the next second, he found he could move. He walked up to the person calling himself "Lord Rice Jar" and looked at his computer. Good heavens. Dozens of documents were neatly arranged. These documents contained stories… or rather, different parallel worlds. Of course, they all had one thing in common: the protagonist in every story was named Meng Hao.
"So, we are just characters you created?" Meng Hao and Marshall asked in utter shock.
"Yes," Lord Rice Jar replied. "But this story is finally coming to an end. So, I'm sorry, Marshall, you are to be erased."
Marshall screamed frantically. "Why am I not the protagonist? Why will I be erased? I also created an incomparably vast company!"
Lord Rice Jar shrugged, watching as Marshall slowly vanished and dissipated in the pure white world.
"Then, what about me?" Meng Hao asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"As for you, naturally, you will continue to live on..." Lord Rice Jar replied. "The next story is about to be released, and you will continue to be the protagonist..."
"Of course, your name will still be Meng Hao..."
"Are you ready?"
Meng Hao gave a wry smile. What else could he do even if he wasn't ready? He was just a character at the mercy of the other person's typing. Fortunately, he had existed countless times and had his memory erased countless times, but in the end, he had still survived. However, the next rebirth, after his memory was erased, would it still be him?
To Meng Hao's soul-searching question, the author known as "Lord Rice Jar" shrugged. It was a good question, very interesting, and insightful, but he didn't care. He slowly sat back down in front of his computer, lit a cigarette, and opened a new Word document.
"Hmm," he mused. "Let me think, what should the next world be called? Regardless of what the next world is called or which novel platform it appears on, my pen name 'Lord Rice Jar' will never change, and the protagonist's name will always be 'Meng Hao'..."
"A brand new world, a brand new novel, a brand new story, set sail..."
The lights went out. The pure white world disappeared. With the sound of clattering keyboards, a brand new world was about to be born. And Meng Hao's story continued. He would exist forever. Coexisting with you, with me, with the whole world, and with the online world!
(The End)