The atmosphere at the table instantly turned tense.
Zhu Lingyao's slender fingers flew across the screen, typing a string of gibberish for a full three minutes.
Though he couldn't understand it, Jiang Ye instinctively watched her input. He suddenly noticed Zhu Lingyao had manicured nails with a faint cherry blossom pattern.
Zhu Lingyao finally pressed her palm onto the screen.
A prompt box popped up, this time in Chinese: [Please confirm if you wish to submit your exam results?]
Zhu Lingyao decisively clicked yes.
[Submission successful]
"Examiner Zhu..." Jiang Ye's mouth felt dry with nervousness, "What's my score? I saw you wrote a lot, but there's no score."
"This exam has no scores," Zhu Lingyao smiled, tapping the screen twice to bring up what she had just written. "Shall I read it to you?"
"Candidate Jiang Ye exhibits a clear tendency towards fatalism, not believing that the fate of androids should be his responsibility. However, he simultaneously possesses a benevolent attitude, willing to provide androids with a relatively equal living environment. In terms of management indicators, Jiang Ye displays a distinct dictatorial tendency, though he himself does not believe this, or perhaps has not realized his absolute control. At the same time, he holds a relatively open-minded attitude, with a high probability of accepting differing opinions. Under normal circumstances, he can make relatively sound decisions."
"Ancient philosophies are quite evident in Jiang Ye, alongside his acceptance and adaptation to space society. He possesses both conservative and open-minded attitudes, with both outdated and forward-thinking views. Jiang Ye holds a certain confidence in his own attitudes and judgments, yet also shows a tendency to readily admit and correct mistakes."
Zhu Lingyao finished reading and looked up at Jiang Ye, smiling.
Jiang Ye was utterly bewildered.
"So... does this mean I passed or failed?"
"Of course you passed, isn't it obvious?" Zhu Lingyao said.
"How is it obvious..." Jiang Ye gave an awkward laugh, "I heard a bunch of bad words and a bunch of good words; it seems I'm some kind of paradox."
"Paradoxes are good. In this kind of exam, the more paradoxes, the greater the advantage," Zhu Lingyao said. "One of the evaluation criteria for the exam is that there is no absolute correctness that can transcend all eras, so maintaining diversity is crucial."
"So, this means I can buy androids, right?" Jiang Ye asked.
"No."
"Hmm?"
"You need to pay the Galactic Empire Human Society Ethics Organization an annual consultant fee of five billion yuan before you can make a purchase."
"Consultant fee?" Jiang Ye blinked in surprise. "Will I be assigned a consultant to manage the androids?"
"Yes."
"Who is it? Can I choose?"
"Well... am I suitable?" Zhu Lingyao asked.
"Are you joking or serious?"
"Serious. I have consultant qualifications. I'm tired of my current examiner job and want to develop elsewhere. Birong Star looks good."
"I'm not sure if I can secure Birong Star, and I don't plan to introduce androids to Jiang Ye Star. If I lose in the end, you might become unemployed."
"I bet you'll win," Zhu Lingyao's tone was quite confident.
Jiang Ye fell silent, contemplating.
"Alright, then you will be the android consultant for Birong Star."
"I want an annual salary of one."
"Billion?"
"Is that a lot?"
"Not at all," Jiang Ye readily agreed. "As long as your professional skills are sufficient and you can help me solve related problems, I will increase your salary."
"Then I must respectfully call you Chief," Zhu Lingyao then looked at Cen Yemeng, "Chief's wife."
Cen Yemeng smiled with relief.
"In this exam, what answers would lead to failing?" Jiang Ye suddenly became curious. "You asked questions in so many areas; are there many pitfalls that, if touched, mean you're done?"
"Actually, this exam is quite lenient. As long as you don't treat androids as livestock or slaves, you can pass," Zhu Lingyao said. "Most questions are routine."
"That easy?" Jiang Ye was taken aback.
He felt a sense of anticlimax, like going to hunt a tiger and only finding a kitten.
"Could it be that because the Galactic Empire receives fifty billion in management fees annually, they've relaxed the standards?" Jiang Ye chuckled.
"In your eyes, does the Galactic Empire operate so darkly?" Zhu Lingyao said nonchalantly.
Jiang Ye's smile stiffened slightly. As if remembering something, he tore off the circular chip on his head and placed the metal rod on the table.
"How could it be? I was just joking," Jiang Ye said.
Zhu Lingyao gave him a meaningful look.
"It's getting late, let's all have dinner," Fu Qiuyan suddenly interjected.
Everyone agreed and rose together.
...
Night fell.
Jiang Ye and Fu Qiuyan returned to Mud Spot Company.
The All-Biological Android Product Room.
A massive instrument, like an old-fashioned supercomputer's cabinet host, was entirely gray-black, with various indicator lights emitting yellow glows.
Jiang Ye walked around. "Where are the samples?"
"There are no samples," Fu Qiuyan looked at him in surprise.
Jiang Ye immediately reacted, "Sorry, sorry."
"Let's look at the design panel here," Fu Qiuyan gestured, and a screen as tall as a person rose from the floor.
Jiang Ye stood before the screen, looking at the dazzling array of data and functions.
"What are the main settings?"
"Everything you can imagine, depending on what you want," Fu Qiuyan said. "My suggestion is to set a few broad parameters and let the system randomly generate minor variations. This way, when the androids enter Birong Star society, they can integrate better. Performance that is too good will lead to resentment and isolation; performance that is too poor will lead to exclusion and discrimination. Only being close to the average line is the most stable."
"Broad parameters..." Jiang Ye pondered.
"Adaptation to different climates, does it have this function?"
"Yes, high altitude, cold zones, tropical zones; these are quite common."
"Include all of them," Jiang Ye nodded. "Birong Star doesn't have much high-altitude area, so the genes for high-altitude adaptation should be one-sixth of the total. For cold and heat resistance, average it out; don't make them too resistant, just slightly above normal within the standard range."
Fu Qiuyan quickly made selections on the panel. Mud Spot Company was a star-owned enterprise on Daughter Star, and she was one of its managers, quite familiar with the business.
"Done," she nodded.
"Let's set the age uniformly to eighteen," Jiang Ye saw an option.
"Okay," Fu Qiuyan nodded. "What should the median lifespan be? This indicator is quite important; it relates to the age distribution of the planet, the ratio of training to labor time, and welfare pressure."
"Median... eighty-eight, perhaps," Jiang Ye said. "This batch is just for trial; no need to be too strict. If I place a large order later, I'll find specialists to calculate it in advance."
"Gender ratio?"
"One to one, of course."
"Median height?"
"What's the average height of people now?" Jiang Ye asked back.
"It varies from planet to planet. There are planets with an average height exceeding two and a half meters, and others with an average height less than one point five meters."
"One point seven five meters," Jiang Ye said. "An average height of two and a half meters is too terrifying; are there Yao Mings on every street?"
"Who is Yao Ming?"
"That's not important," Jiang Ye smiled.
"Appearance settings, you can set the median value from extremely ugly to extremely beautiful. Do you want slightly uglier androids or more beautiful ones, or average?"
Jiang Ye pondered.
"Slightly more beautiful," Jiang Ye said. "Not excessively beautiful, just to the extent that the average appearance is pleasing to the eye."