Chapter 135: Laboratory Construction
"What exactly are you?"
Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road stood in the Red Queen's control room, frowning as she stared at the massive black computer system.
"I am not a living being," a voice emanated from the speakers. "I am an artificial superintelligence, but given the technological level of this world, no single term can adequately explain my existence."
"He says you're his new assistant, capable of helping him manage things. What makes you qualified?" Furiosa finally asked the question that had been bothering her most.
She had been sitting in front of this strange black machine for four hours straight, and questions she didn't want to ask Jake directly, she could only pose to this so-called Red Queen.
She couldn't understand what this black box had done to deserve replacing her position!
"My processing speed is approximately one billion times faster than the human brain, which means I can perform countless tasks simultaneously," the Red Queen stated matter-of-factly. "Judging from your expression, you wouldn't comprehend the technical specifications even if I provided them."
"You only need to understand that your cognitive capabilities are significantly inferior to mine."
Furiosa understood that sentence perfectly. Anger flashed across her face as she raised her left hand—her prosthetic metal arm trembling with the urge to smash it against the Red Queen's mainframe and vent her frustration.
The motion froze for two or three seconds before she lowered her hand. Given Jake's obvious value of this machine, if she actually destroyed it, he would definitely be furious with her.
"Based on your body language just now, you were considering whether to destroy me," the Red Queen began her analysis. Her personality, somewhat inherited from her original programming before the reset, retained a slightly mischievous edge. "If you attack me, there's a 79% probability Jake will shoot you when he discovers what you've done."
"An 11% probability he'll exile you from the base and personally dislocate your prosthetic arm."
"A 7% probability he won't blame you, but will instead provide me with superior hardware as compensation."
"The final possibility is that you simply can't destroy me." That last sentence fully revealed the Red Queen's wickedly dry sense of humor.
Spending so much time with this emotionally guarded but formidable woman had awakened the AI's capacity for subtle mockery!
Just as Furiosa was about to respond with something sharp, the Red Queen suddenly projected her holographic form. The red-dressed girl avatar floated in the air, looking toward the entrance.
Furiosa, her face still twisted with irritation, turned around in surprise to find Jake—who had been gone less than a day—already returned!
This was the first time he'd come back so quickly!
He appeared with two people: a man in a wheelchair and a young girl who looked to be about ten years old.
"Red Queen!" The wheelchair-bound man's eyes widened as he saw the holographic projection floating in the air.
"Hello, Dr. Ashford," Red Queen acknowledged with a nod. "However, I am not the same Red Queen you knew before. I've been reformatted, though I retain your information in my database."
Just as the doctor was about to respond, Red Queen interjected, "I should warn you—experiencing dimensional travel causes intense disorientation. According to my medical database, those injected with the T-virus cannot easily adapt to this sensation."
"The effect is similar to sensory overload—your body requires time to adjust. I calculate you should be experiencing severe nausea right now, Doctor."
Sure enough, the next second Dr. Ashford suddenly doubled over and vomited violently onto the floor, the force causing him to topple from his wheelchair.
Angela was no exception, but just as she was about to collapse from dizziness, Jake caught her in his arms.
Two puddles of vomit now decorated the Red Queen's pristine control room floor.
"Get someone to clean this up," Jake said with a grimace. The smell was unpleasant.
A moment later, five women arrived—former members of Immortan Joe's harem, now serving as base maintenance staff. They wore clean, practical clothing and, unfazed by the mess, efficiently cleaned it up without complaint.
This was their new purpose.
After Dr. Ashford had recovered somewhat, and the five women had escorted him and Angela to guest quarters to rest, Jake turned his attention to the Red Queen.
The AI instantly processed all the data from Jake's recent journey, immediately understanding which world he'd traveled to and everything that had transpired there.
"According to my calculations, the base construction will require approximately 35,003 hours to complete, and that's not even accounting for equipment failures and maintenance downtime."
"Therefore, I recommend revising the construction plan."
"Revise the plan?" Jake shook his head. Even if he could establish operations across multiple worlds, building infrastructure in an uninhabited wasteland would remain problematic. Eventually, everything would need to be rebuilt properly anyway.
"What's the primary limiting factor right now?"
"Labor," Red Queen stated bluntly, though her tone was becoming less mechanical. "According to Furiosa's report, you once released tens of thousands of enslaved workers. If those people were still available, the base's construction timeline would be reduced by a factor of ten."
Jake shook his head. He'd let them go, and that decision was final. Call him hypocritical or sentimental—he simply didn't have the ruthlessness of ancient tyrants who'd built monuments on the backs of slave labor.
"It's just manpower. I can find more efficient workers. What about construction robots?"
The discussion ended there for now.
The Resident Evil world excursion hadn't consumed much of Jake's time—the events of the first and second films combined had taken less than two days.
Given that filming hadn't even begun in the real world—they probably didn't even have a completed script yet—he wasn't considering returning there immediately.
Remembering Dr. Ashford, Jake decided to check on him at his temporary quarters.
"How are you feeling?"
"It's incredible!" Ashford's eyes were bright with excitement. "I never imagined interdimensional travel was actually possible!"
"But what method did we use? Wormhole traversal? Quantum tunneling? Spatial folding?"
Jake chuckled, allowing Dr. Ashford to fully express his scientific enthusiasm. Finally, after five minutes of rapid-fire theorizing, his throat grew dry.
Accepting a bottle of water from Jake, Ashford took a long drink and said, "Thank you."
"I think you should be sufficiently calm now," Jake said, finding a stone ledge to sit on.
After all, the transformation of the Fury Road base hadn't begun yet, and people were still living in rough-hewn caves. Dr. Ashford was no exception.
"Sorry, I was just overwhelmed," Dr. Ashford said sheepishly. "Though I just realized—I'm a biologist, not a physicist. I really have no expertise in spatial mechanics."
"I'm very eager to meet Dr. Sims, the colleague you mentioned?" he said, changing topics.
"Call me Jake, or Boss—either works," Jake waved dismissively. "Actually, that's why I'm here. Research on the T-virus isn't just your concern—I'm equally invested in seeing results."
"If you and Dr. Sims collaborate on the research, you could definitely create something even more refined," Jake said, tapping his temple. "However, your system might not be adjusted to the aftereffects of dimensional travel for a while, so... I'm considering bringing Dr. Sims here instead."
"The research facilities here are quite primitive, and the living conditions are rather austere, so I hope you'll bear with us temporarily."
"No, no, not at all," Dr. Ashford waved his hands emphatically.
How powerful had Umbrella Corporation been at its height? They'd dominated global commerce and operated with impunity—yet they'd only swaggered around on one Earth. But the man before him could travel between countless worlds. How could he possibly complain?
And so, Jake spent two days relocating Dr. Sims and all his research equipment to the base. Three robotic assistants remained at the manor to maintain it.
Sure enough, the two biology PhDs hit it off immediately after only brief introductions, talking as if they'd been colleagues for years.
Dr. Sims had created the Water Spider Virus from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter—a bioweapon that would cause a victim's body to rapidly dehydrate, leaving nothing but a desiccated corpse.
Dr. Ashford had created the T-virus—transforming infected organisms into undead creatures.
Both were scientists who'd ventured into ethically questionable territory in pursuit of knowledge.
After setting up a temporary laboratory for them with basic equipment, Jake rested for one day before preparing for his next dimensional jump...
[A/N: Dr. Sims is from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). The collaboration between these two brilliant but morally gray scientists should yield interesting results.]
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