No Money to Divorce

The live cameras emitted a soft beep to remind everyone present that the live broadcast had begun.

Since the round table was established, this was the first time AI has been absent from the meeting for nearly a century. Even if they had already discussed the process yesterday, and “Butterfly” was informed as well, it still felt a little strange for the representative members. The hollow cylinder at the center was empty. “Butterfly” did not come, and their meeting was going to begin.

The beam, representing the AI’s lack of presence, lit up at the center of the table. In the AI’s place, Stalvern who sat at the seat of honor stood up and announced to the camera the beginning of the meeting to all the viewers present at the broadcast.

In an aged but very clear voice, he began to read out the contents of the impeachment bill while all members of the Twelve looked at him with respect.

No matter the results of the voting, this would be the last time the round table would come into use. No matter how badly news travels, the representative members knew from what they’ve heard that after the passing of this critical moment, Pearson’s party will begin to propose the structural reforms, and the so-called equality of the round table would forever cease to exist.

In other words, this is the last round table meeting of the human’s Federation. Mankind will enter a new era, but as for what sort of future the Federation would usher in would depend on the rise or fall of this moment.

“…According to the emergency regulations laid down more than two centuries ago, when the first artificial intelligence, “Cocoon”, was born…When the meeting for the impeachment vote begins, which was a few minutes ago, the AI, “Butterfly”, will enter a state of temporary hibernation as we wait for the results.” After he was done reading the contents of his script, Stalvern reached up and pushed away the virtual screen in front of him. “Now, as the host of this voting session, I now announce the beginning of the vote, and I would like to invite my fellow colleagues to express your stance in clear language after I voice my own vote. The side that exceeds half of the votes, seven votes, will be adopted.”

After he was done, he seated himself again. As the first person to vote, Stalvern kept a straight face and said without hesitation, “I vote against this bill. I vote against the impeachment of the artificial intelligence, ‘Butterfly’.”

On the ballot trackers prepared early on by countless of the Federation’s media websites, the number 1 appeared under the words “against”.

The very first vote of the bill was a negative one. Even if Stalvern’s stubborn opposition was fully expected, the virtual community was still in low spirits. Of course, there were a minority of people who praised the vote, but the comments were pouring in too quickly no matter what site you were on. There was no time to respond to anyone at all as everyone was busy writing their own thoughts on the vote. This actually helped to avoid a lot of unnecessary quarrels.

The next person to vote was Pearson who sat to Stalvern’s right. He slowly looked around the audience, showing a gaze that was almost peaceful and devoid of deeper thoughts underneath all the live cameras that broadcasted the scene to the entire Federation. Finally, when he saw Zhong Yan, he put on an almost odd smile as he said, “There is a serious fault with the AI, so it has lost its meaning. I vote for the impeachment.”

The entire world was in an uproar.

The complexions of almost half of the people at the round table suddenly changed. Having spent more than half his life in the council, Pearson had long been skilled at hiding his emotions. After seeing his lifelong rival, Stalvern, reveal a terrible look of complete shock as he glared at him, he finally couldn’t help but reveal a look of amusement. But in the next moment, his eyes peered over to the young man sitting beside Stalvern abruptly, and his exhilaration faded away like a receding tide.

As the main member of the conservative party, as well as the person who created the so-called “rebirth” plan which he would benefit from the most, Zhong Yan’s face did not show any changes despite the fact that someone was already playing against the script on the second vote. And that person was Pearson to boot. Zhong Yan’s face remained as still as the surface of an old, rippleless well.

He was only a child in his twenties. Though he had no other capabilities, he was pretty good at putting on an act. Pearson’s fun was ruined. However, thinking that his previous plan had also been destroyed by Zhong Yan outside of his expectations, he had no idea whether he had done it on purpose or not. Then, thinking back to the time when Zhong Yan, as a newcomer at that time, actually dared to separate from his reins, and switched over to his old rival…New and old grudges raged within his heart. Pearson was thinking that when the cameras were off, then he would have to give this young man a good explanation. He would personally tell Zhong Yan why he changed his mind. He didn’t believe that Zhong Yan could still remain calm after hearing that it was his husband himself who destroyed his plans.

“I agree with the abolishment of artificial intelligence. May human autonomy be restored.” Vahl’s voice pulled everyone back to the current situation. “I vote for the bill.”

There were now two votes in favor. They were already ahead of the negative votes.

Stalvern shot Vahl a wicked glance. He felt like he was going to cough out blood in his heart. Following the process they had arranged yesterday, Vahl should indeed have voted for the bill, but someone before him changed his vote. If you truly wanted the plan to succeed and keep the AI in office, then you should have changed the vote. However, not only did Vahl not change his vote, he even brought up the slogan long hailed by the Navi System. “Restore human autonomy”. At this moment, Vahl had completely stated his position as an anti-AI supporter.

Several people looked at him now in a different light, but nobody would attack him in clear view of the Federation. Thus, the voting continued.

The councilor at Vahl’s left was the conservative member who was set to vote in favor of the bill yesterday. He decisively changed his vote. “I vote against it.”

The votes were now equal again. The fifth voter was a member of the radical party. According to the script, he should have voted against it, but he said, “I support the impeachment bill.”

So far, three of the first five voters changed their votes. This scene, which had originally been a performance with a planned script, had now become a game with raging currents hidden underneath it.

The sixth vote was cast by a neutral member. Based on the script, he was supposed to vote in favor of the bill.

After Pearson took the lead in voting for the bill, the second radical member followed. There must have been many personal dealings between Pearson and “Butterfly”. Perhaps the public may not know it, but the Twelve surely do. But right this moment, he suddenly attacked the AI, making his own ambitions clear to all.

The sixth person to vote, a neutral party member, hesitated for a long time. He mulled over the calculations of the votes many times—Logically speaking, five councilors at the table were of the radical party. If you add Vahl into the mix, the number would only reach six. With thirteen people voting, they lack a single vote to pass the bill. Someone must have bribed Pearson to vote for this impeachment. Otherwise, if the impeachment bill was rejected and “Butterfly” was woken up, the good days of those who voted for this bill would all come to an end.

However, Pearson may not know that his own radical party was not completely clean. It is a shame, but it will be difficult for him to achieve seven votes today.

This neutral party member who had survived many years with his keen ears on intelligence smirked and made his vote. “I oppose the bill.”

The number of votes were now three against three.

The next three council members were made up of two radical members, and one conservative member. They also followed their respective party leaders and voted two votes for, and one against.

The number of votes in favor to against was now five to four.

Nobody remembered what the script was anymore, this had been turned completely into a game bubbled up from a long-running grudge. At mankind’s very last round table meeting, at what could be called this era’s Judgement Day, the Twelve members of this council finally broke apart in front of the entire world.

The tenth voter was the last member of the radical party to vote. After his passing vote, the impeachment bill will go through with just one more vote.

“I vote against the bill,” said the last member of the radical party. He was also the last member to enter said party. “I oppose the abolition of artificial intelligence.”

Everyone looked at Pearson with deep expressions, only to see him widen his eyes to stare at the person who had just put out the opposing vote. He did not seem to show much emotion on his face, but if you looked closely, you could see that his gaze looked fierce enough that he could eat a person up.

It took a few seconds before Pearson finally looked away. He and Stalvern beside him looked at each other for a moment, and Pearson was able to catch the foxy look in the latter’s eyes.

Pearson shut his eyes and forcibly resisted the urge to leave the table. He remembered that this councilor was not a member of the radical party at first. He had always been a neutral party that did not lean to any sides. That was until he was pulled in a few years ago by him and formally joined him. But it turns out that he was not a neutral member at all. He was one of Stalvern’s men. This damn thing really went all out with this one. He actually used a representative member as a spy. But once this heavy mine that was buried into the ground exploded, the force was truly extraordinary…Pearson’s eyes twitched. Just when he was barely able to keep his focus on the meeting, and when he began thinking of ways to save his skin, he suddenly heard a voice that came beyond his expectations.

“I agree to the bill.”

The eleventh voter to speak, a conservative member, voted in favor.

It was now Stalvern’s turn to be surprised. He looked at him in an unfamiliar gaze. It felt like this was the first time he had seen this councilor in his entire life. Was this man Pearson’s spy in the conservative party? That’s impossible! Since Stalvern himself had pinned a spy at Pearson’s side, he was especially wary of having the same done to him. He watched the interactions between his own party members and Pearson very tightly. So, if it really was him, how did he not find any traces at all?

While Stalvern was still distracted, Zhong Yan looked up, seemingly inadvertently, and met Vahl’s gaze diagonally across from him.

The gazes of the two met at the center. Vahl was not a person who would be muddled over facing a setback. On the contrary, he was a very resilient man. After so many years, even if they had not been satisfactory, he had always been working hard to build his own power. This so-called conservative member who had been recruited by Stalvern after joining the round table ten years ago was his confidant.

And with that, the votes in favor of the bill reached six. Now, only one vote was missing.