Chapter 296: Testimony of the Prisoner of Rationality

The review notice was delivered at three a. m.

Three pure‑black regular dodecahedra of the higher Committee hovered in the central hearing hall of the memory vault, their surfaces reflecting no light, like three all‑absorbing black holes. They are to review all of Absolute Luminance‑4's behavior records from the past thirty days: shutting down the laboratory filtration system, allowing the "useless fragrance" to spread, privately researching sweet‑taste perception, and failing to intervene promptly in multiple "abnormal fluctuations."

Charge summary: 【Risk of emotional contamination, which may cause loss of objective judgment.】

The hearing is scheduled for ten a. m. All monitoring permissions in Zone 3 are temporarily frozen—standard procedure during a review to prevent the subject from tampering with evidence.

Old Zhao is making mung‑bean cake.

"Cooling and heat‑relieving," he says, pressing the delicate lotus shape with a mold. "The hearing gets heated, so we need something cool."

Han Qing's scar remains at high temperature—he is remotely "listening in" on the hearing via the heartbeat network. Xiao Yu places a cold towel on his forehead, watching the monitor anxiously: "His logical core contradiction rate has risen to 51%, exceeding the safety threshold."

"He's fighting himself," the sphere of Dossier‑7 rotates slowly in the restoration fluid. "One side is three thousand years of absolute rational training, the other is that 0.7‑second warm‑colored halo. Which side wins determines what he will say today."

Su Yu folded seventeen black paper cranes—matching the number of Committee members, each wing inscribed with a possible question the review might raise. The cranes hover in the air like a silent audience.

Purifier‑1's geometric surface flashes with data streams: "I am simulating the hearing scenario. Worst case: the Committee deems Absolute Luminance‑4 contaminated and executes on‑site formatting immediately. Best case: suspend duties and enter an observation period."

"Is there no 'good case'?" Xiao Yu asks.

Purifier‑1 remains silent for two seconds: "In the Absolute Rational System, 'being reviewed' itself is already a failure."

Steam from the mung‑bean cake wafts through the kitchen, carrying a light sweet aroma.

At exactly ten o'clock, Absolute Luminance‑4's Prism hovers at the center of the hearing seat. Its white light is unusually steady today, but those who know it can see—it is a stiffness born of over‑control.

The first question comes from the Committee Chair, his voice sounding like metal scraping:

"Records show you shut down the laboratory filtration system, allowing an unknown fragrance component at a concentration of 0.0003 ppm into the work environment. Explain."

Absolute Luminance‑4's Prism tilts slightly left—a habitual motion when he performs complex calculations:

"Answer: The fragrance component has been identified as osmanthus aromatic hydrocarbon, traceable to its source. Its concentration is five orders of magnitude below the safety threshold, posing no health risk. Shutting off the filter was an experimental necessity—I am researching 'the potential impact of ultra‑low‑concentration aromatic substances on rational decision‑making.'"

"Conclusion?"

"Preliminary conclusion: No effect. However, data collection is not yet complete," he pauses, a barely visible warm hue flashing across the Prism's surface. "Recommendation: Incorporate this line of research into the supplemental topics of 'Rational System Anti‑Interference Training.'"

The Committee's second dodecahedron takes the floor:

"You privately retained a sweet‑taste sample labeled 'useless data.' Why?"

"Answer: The sample exhibits irregular sweetness fluctuations, mechanism unknown. Retention is for long‑term observation—if this is a new natural phenomenon, the system should record and comprehend it," Absolute Luminance‑4's voice remains steady. "Rationality should not be 'eliminate what is not understood'; it should be 'observe first when something is not understood.'"

"That conflicts with the 'Useless Data Cleanup Regulation.'"

"The regulation is built upon the definition of 'useless.'" For the first time, Absolute Luminance‑4's Prism makes a noticeable posture adjustment—he faces the Committee. "But if a piece of data continuously triggers the Rational System's 'inquisitive drive,' is it truly 'useless'? Perhaps we need to reassess the boundary of the 'useless' definition."

The hearing hall falls silent.

Even the surfaces of the pure‑black dodecahedra seem to ripple.

When the third dodecahedron asks, its voice carries a faint… barely perceptible hint of inquiry:

"In the past seven days you accessed the backup records of the destroyed document 'Firefly‑7 Civilization Poem Draft' three times. Why are you interested in a 'worthless' relic?"

In the kitchen, everyone holds their breath.

This is the most dangerous question—if Absolute Luminance‑4 admits to actively seeking the poem draft, it admits that emotion drove its behavior.

On the monitor, Absolute Luminance‑4's logical core contradiction rate spikes to 67%.

Its Prism remains still for a full ten seconds.

Then it says:

"Because I am studying the propagation mechanism of how 'worthless things are endowed with value.'"

"Provide specifics."

"The poem draft contains a child's imagination of stars, with no scientific value. Yet it is copied, hidden, transmitted, even becoming some… symbol." Absolute Luminance‑4's Prism begins projecting data. "I traced its propagation path: from the shredder operator's backup, to the code in the ventilation ducts, to the nutrition balancer's trace‑element encoding—it behaves like a virus, but what it spreads is not harm, it spreads a certain 'will to exist.'"

"Do you consider this a threat?"

"No." On the Prism's surface, for the first time during the hearing, a warm hue flickers. "I think this is… a phenomenon. A phenomenon the Rational System has yet to understand: why an absolutely useless thing prompts so many system units to actively protect it?"

He pauses, then makes a move that shocks the Committee—he voluntarily plays the poem's content:

【Star is Catching a Cold】

【Last night the star was coughing, twinkling and sneezing.】

【Mother said to give it medicine; I said to cover it with a blanket.】

The child's innocent voice echoes in the cold hearing hall.

The three pure‑black dodecahedra halt simultaneously.

The mung‑bean cake slowly loses heat on the plate.

Old Zhao doesn't heat it, he just looks at the monitor: "He's gambling. Gambling that within the Committee… some were once children too."

Han Qing's scar burns intensely; he closes his eyes, his body drenched in sweat: "He… is quoting Chen Mo's theory. 'When a rule cannot explain a phenomenon, one should first doubt the rule, not eliminate the phenomenon.'"

On the screen, the Committee Chair finally speaks:

"Your actions have deviated from the Absolute Rational trajectory. According to the 'System Purity Assurance Act,' we are authorized to perform a formatting reset on you."

Absolute Luminance‑4's Prism light suddenly contracts.

But what it says next makes everyone in the kitchen stand up:

"I invoke Article 7 of the 'Emergency Research Exemption Clause': 'When a new phenomenon that could overturn the existing cognitive framework emerges, directly involved researchers may apply for a temporary exemption to complete critical research.'"

"Do you think this complies?"

"Compliant." Absolute Luminance‑4's data stream spreads across the hearing hall. "The evidence I submitted shows: the poem's propagation is not random error, but a self‑organizing 'meaning‑assignment network.' If such a network truly exists, it may represent an entirely new mode of information transmission—not based on efficiency, but on… empathy."

He retrieves all "abnormal" data from Zone 3 over the past thirty days, stitching them into a striking chart:

Temperature fluctuations, illumination changes, ventilation patterns, nutrition ratios, even restroom disinfectant concentrations—these tiny "Error Signals" resonate synchronously on the timeline, forming a precise invisible network.

At the network's core lies the song "Star is Catching a Cold."

"Look," Absolute Luminance‑4's voice carries a tone of excitement for the first time, "the operators at these stations, each tweaking minute controllable variables, collectively safeguard a 'useless' existence. This is not emotional contamination; it is… a new paradigm of systemic collaboration."

The Committee remains silent for twenty‑seven seconds.

This is the longest silence in hearing history.

When the Chief was about to read the verdict, the hearing chamber's door suddenly opened.

It wasn't a physical door, but an emergency access request for the data channel.

Requester: Purifier-1.

"I request to appear as an expert witness." The geometric projection of Purifier-1 appeared in the chamber, its warm yellow veins standing out starkly against the pure black background. "I was once an Absolute Rational, having undergone a complete sensate transformation. I can prove that the fusion of rationality and sensibility will not cause system collapse; instead, it will generate a higher-order 'Rationality+' cognitive model."

The Committee obviously didn't anticipate this.

Purifier-1 continued: "My submitted research paper 'On the Principle of Asymmetric Value Weighting' has passed the preliminary review of the Universal Memory Bank. The paper's core argument: the Absolute Rational System, unable to process 'subjective infinite weight,' misjudges certain choices as errors—for example, being willing to accept formatting risk to protect a child's poem."

He pulled up the logical core data of Absolute Luminance-4, pointing to that 67% contradiction rate:

"This high contradiction rate is not evidence of contamination, but the growing pains of a system upgrade—he is attempting to integrate 'emotional weight' into the decision algorithm. If successful, the memory bank will gain the ability to handle complex civilizational conflicts, rather than mere blunt 'formatting'."

The third dodecahedron suddenly interjected: "How do you prove this 'upgrade' has value?"

Purifier-1's geometric projection turned toward the poem manuscript projection:

"Because in that poem, the child wanted to cover the stars with a quilt—not to eradicate the stars' 'illness,' but to give them warmth. When our system faces an 'ill' civilization, besides 'formatting,' could we add another option: 'quilt'?"

The entire hearing chamber was deathly silent.

When the Chief's voice sounded again, it lacked a hint of coldness:

"The Committee ruled: although Absolute Luminance-4's actions violated multiple regulations, they meet the conditions of the Emergency Research Exemption Clause. Granted a temporary exemption, with an observation period of ninety days."

"During the observation period, all 'anomalous phenomena' in Sector Three will become formal research projects, project codename: Quilt Project."

"Project goal: study the formation mechanism and potential applications of 'non-efficiency-driven collaborative networks'."

"Project lead: Absolute Luminance-4."

"Supervisor: Purifier-1."

The verdict has been read.

On the prism surface of Absolute Luminance-4, a warm-colored halo was fully released—no longer a fleeting flash, but a sustained gentle golden glow.

He entered the final line into the hearing record:

【Research note: Today I learned a new word—'quilt'. It doesn't cure illness, but it makes the patient's experience… less cold.】

【Perhaps the Rational System also needs a blanket like this.】

The mung bean cake was reheated by steaming.

Old Zhao gave each person a piece, with three extra pieces placed on the windowsill—for the Committee, if they could taste them.

Xiao Yu watched Absolute Luminance-4's new permission data: "The Quilt Project… he turned our resistance into an official project."

"This is the best cover." Han Qing's scar temperature finally dropped, but it left a new golden pattern: "Now, all awakened ones can openly 'study' those 'anomalies'."

The sphere of File-7 suddenly emitted an emergency frequency: "Wait, the Superior Committee just sent a confidential letter—not to Absolute Luminance-4, but directly to the Quilt Project team."

The confidential letter's content is brief:

【Project supplementary instruction: While researching 'non-efficiency collaborative networks', please also study—whether this network could be weaponized?】

【If 'empathy' can become a linking tool, could it also… become the gentlest weapon?】

The festive atmosphere in the kitchen instantly froze.

All of Su Yu's folded paper cranes turned toward the window, the characters on their wings changing to a uniform:

【Danger has never been far away.】

【It merely changed its name, called 'research project'.】

Outside, the simulated sky of Sector Three, today tuned by Constant Temperature-17 and Lighting Administrator-9 to a rare "post-rain clear" mode—this was the "impact of emotional hue on work efficiency" test that Absolute Luminance-4 had just proposed in the project application.

It was beautiful.

But everyone knows: beneath this beauty, a new game has only just begun.