It was now four o'clock in the afternoon—behind them lay the scorching noon, and ahead, the chilly night. According to Lu Youqi, the vaccine would most likely be fully developed tomorrow between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM.
All Zhang Beihai and the others could do now was wait, so as to handle any other variables. Needless to say, everyone knew that waiting was the worst possible strategy; it meant surrendering the initiative and remaining trapped within the current framework of the game.
While Zhang Beihai put on a display of anxiety, he acutely noticed that Li Geyu and Lu Youqi—two clearly shrewd figures in this situation—remained remarkably calm. Couldn't they sense that this was a precarious moment? Why weren't they suggesting a proactive counterattack? Did they have other cards up their sleeves? At this thought, Zhang Beihai was taken aback and grew genuinely worried. He had to understand their thoughts and keep complete control over the entire process.
Zhang Beihai first approached Li Geyu. "Geyu, BAT Corporation has an encrypted private line leading to the government office. I had them overhaul it yesterday, and we should be able to get through to Chairman Zhu Ban today. Do you want to ask him about the situation on his end?"
A spark seemed to instantly ignite in Li Geyu's eyes. "Okay. There won't be any danger, will there?"
"No. As long as the call is kept under thirty minutes, BAT can mask the call records with noise."
"Will you come with me?"
"Me?" Zhang Beihai was somewhat surprised.
"I'm afraid Chairman Zhu Ban might have some impromptu strategies, and I won't be able to make a decision on my own."
"Okay... that works. I also happen to want to contact Chairman Zhu Ban so that he and the Cabinet can be among the first to receive the vaccine."
Li Geyu nodded. Staying close to Zhang Beihai, she walked into the special communications room. A blue light came on, highlighting the sharp, clear contours of her cheek.
Zhu Ban appeared on the screen before them, wearing his trademark smile.
Zhu Ban said, "I'd almost forgotten there was a private line in this office. Zhang Beihai, you must have gone to a lot of trouble to connect it, haven't you?"
"BAT Corporation helped with it."
Zhu Ban turned his head toward Li Geyu. "You've worked hard these past few days."
Li Geyu smiled and said nothing.
The smile faded from Zhu Ban's face as he said, "Zhang Beihai, you have been with the Eleventh Coalition Government for a month now. Over these past few months, you've made tremendous efforts for the cause of humanity and the happiness of the people of Earth. I just watched your press conference—you've done everything you possibly could. But you're still a step short. You can't stop Jiao Huanqi from using artificial intelligence. I imagine that's why you're calling me. I have already..."
"No! Chairman Zhu Ban," Li Geyu interrupted anxiously, "You can't do this. Our goal hasn't been achieved yet..."
"Listen to me," Zhu Ban shook his head. "At a crucial moment like this, we must shoulder historical responsibility. The means to achieve an ideal cannot conflict with the ideal itself. If I cling to power just for the sake of power and destroy the very foundation of my political ideals, I would rather surrender that power."
Zhang Beihai quickly chimed in, "Chairman, all you need to do is lead by example and get vaccinated. Don't rush into making such an important decision."
Zhu Ban still shook his head. "No. This is a critical juncture. You and I both know that what's being played right now is a faction game. We need to create a herd effect so that people will no longer fear Wade's violent threats. Only then can we build momentum in favor of our side—the side of ideals and justice."
"No. Although I know doing this would benefit us, I can't bear it in good conscience. I'm not someone who seeks power."
"That is precisely why I must hand the reins over to you," Zhu Ban said.
He then added, "Time is running short. Let me arrange this: according to procedure, after I resign to take responsibility, Cabinet Secretary-General Li Geyu will take over as Chair of the Coalition Government Presidium, and Zhang Beihai will be appointed Premier of the Emergency Transitional Cabinet. I will issue this presidential decree in five minutes. The two of you must cooperate closely and strive for the future of humanity."
Zhang Beihai saw a crystalline shimmer in Li Geyu's eyes.
Zhu Ban smiled and said, "I never imagined a day like this would come—or rather, I have always been preparing for its arrival. Don't feel any regret; this is the choice that has to be made. We all know how dangerous Wade and his people are; we cannot afford to gamble. In one hour and forty-five minutes, we will act in concert: I will first instruct the Artificial Intelligence Committee to delete a batch of AI technical data, simultaneously announce that I am among the first to be vaccinated, and at the same time accept leadership responsibility and resign. Moving on all three fronts at once will catch Wade's side completely off guard."
Standing before the large screen, Zhang Beihai nodded in agreement with the plan.
After the call ended, Li Geyu zoned out for a brief moment before immediately throwing herself into the handover work of the government. She called the Cabinet members one by one, skillfully inquiring about their assessment of the situation while taking notes on their potential support for us.
At that point, Lu Youqi contacted me and asked, "Did you instruct BAT Corporation to use nanorobot technology? Why didn't you inform me of something so important?"
"The v-2100 protein in this virus causes severe depression, and the manufactured vaccine naturally must contain the v-2100 protein as well. After mass vaccination, everyone's emotions would become unstable at this critical moment. The potential risks involved are simply too high and must be avoided. As you know, due to the blood-brain barrier, we cannot use hormones to affect the brain directly. By using nanorobots, we can help deliver certain hormones directly to the brain to lift people's depressed mood and maintain social stability."
"Nanorobot technology is illegal! Article 351 of the Lisbon Act explicitly prohibits it! You and BAT Corporation are committing a collective crime!"
"Brother Lu, we have already used so many machine learning algorithms, repeatedly violating numerous clauses of the Lisbon Act. One more won't make a difference. I know you are an idealist who cherishes your reputation, which is why I didn't tell you when making this decision. I will bear all the responsibility."
"Can you shoulder the weight of history? We've already put robots into human bodies! How are we any different from Wade now?"
"As for the technical details of the nanorobots, you can go to BAT Corporation to check them out. As for the ethical concerns you have, they aren't necessarily that grave. Take the electromagnetic ID cards that virtually everyone carries today—isn't that an alteration of the human body? Cardiac pacemakers, minimally invasive tumor robots—who knows how many of those we've already used? Why quibble over this now? As for Wade, you recognize how terrifying he is even better than I do. We must use the devil's tools to defeat the devil. You're too kind-hearted, so the dirty work can only fall on me."
Lu Youqi fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
Zhang Beihai continued, "Once all of this is over, I want to retire. Even though I am a Common Era human, I get tired too; I get exhausted."
Hearing this, Lu Youqi looked at Zhang Beihai and said, "Let's work together to bring prosperity and peace to the world."
He extended his hand with an earnest gaze, and the two shook hands.
Just then, Li Geyu walked over and said to Zhang Beihai, "The transition work is about to begin. Right now, your safety and mine are of paramount importance. Why don't you move your office to my residence for now?"
Zhang Beihai hesitated for a moment and said, "Right now? Why not wait until the vaccine is administered? In another hour, the vaccine will be cleared for production. It'll be better to leave then; we can't let any word leak out prematurely."
Li Geyu nodded. The three of them looked up at the clock together: 19:26. In another eight minutes and seventeen seconds, everything would unfold.
Night was truly descending, and the moon had risen.