On the way, Tang Ziyi asked Athena: "Athena, could I know the reason why you behave very similarly to human beings?"
Athena didn't answer but looked at Ling Qingyu for further orders. Ling Qingyu nodded her head. "I'm also curious, Athena. You really are the pinnacle of creation."
Ling Qingyu suspected the AI in front of her might be another kind of race in the universe. Full of expression and emotions, vividly displayed on the face.
There was logic in her dialogue and she was no different from a human child. Ling Qingyu didn't even dare Athena to connect with the outer world before studying further.
Receiving agreement from her mother, Athena began to explain. Ling Qingyu and Xiao Yue got dizzy from numerous technological terms while Tang Ziyi nodded her head from time to time and even gasped.
Ling Qingyu and Xiao Yue glanced at each other in sympathy. Ling Qingyu asked Tang Ziyi. "Sister Tang, do you get anything?"
Tang Ziyi nodded then shook her head. Ling Qingyu was flabbergasted. Is that Yes or a No?
"I'm not sure but I'll explain what I understand. She doesn't know the answer but based on the specification I may have a guess or two." Tang Ziyi scratched her hair, a move she rarely did, showing how much impact Athena's words contained.
"Just say simple words we understand." Ling Qingyu waved her hand nonchalantly. Xiao Yue glared at her because even a simple vocabulary might stun her small brain.
"According to Athena, I suppose our supercomputer is the fastest in the world, having a performance with decillions of calculations per second. In case you don't know what decillion is— that's 10 to the power 33. Let's say this shelf." Tang Ziyi pointed back at one of the black columns inside the room they had departed.
"It contains 1000 computers and each one has 5 million processor cores inside, which is almost a godlike technology. You know in our modern technology, the top supercomputer roughly has 3 million or more cores. That's a supercomputer. Now Athena seems more like a Celestial computer to me.
A small tiny component can be regarded as a supercomputer here." Tang Ziyi took out her phone and pointed at the picture where the device beamed in various colors.
Ling Qingyu and Xiao Yue had their both eyelids twitched. When has Tang Ziyi captured a photo? And they didn't notice the movement?
Coming back to their senses, Ling Qingyu somewhat understood Tang Ziyi's meaning and covered her mouth as it gaped open. It wasn't wrong for Tang Ziyi to regard Athena as a Celestial computer.
Tang Ziyi: "You won't feel too much with the statistics if I didn't compare. Let me tell you why I'm now a bit scared. Tianhe-2, ranked top 10 in the world's supercomputer, has around 3.2 million processors and occupied a space of 700 or more square meters. Forget about the power consumption here. Tianhe-2 maximum output could only match Athena's tiny parts of the component. Do you understand?"
Ling Qingyu and Xiao Yue nodded. The ratio was terrifying and Tang Ziyi didn't stop.
"Tianhe-2 has 1.4 million and 12.4 million gigabytes of memory and storage respectively compared to septillion of gigabytes in Athena. Our proudest supercomputer is like an ant in front of Athena."
Tang Ziyi: "And that's not the main point. Scientists have used these supercomputers to simulate the human brain and the time to process just one percent of a human brain activity took the machine 40 minutes. Athena can simulate a dozen or more times in one second."
If there wasn't any comparison, it would never bring a shocking effect. Now that Tang Ziyi gave a simpler example, Ling Qingyu realized Athena is comparable to 15 humans.
That was a terrifying aspect since supercomputers had never overwhelmed the human brain in the past several decades.
"That's according to the data Athena said. But who knows her million might be quadrillion in our measurements due to efficiency reasons." Tang Ziyi ceased to stop giving surprises.
Ling Qingyu and Xiao Yue raised both of their hands at her remarks. Ling Qingyu already regarded Athena as her personal strategic researcher. Her cheap daughter never stopped giving astonishment.
If she could, she would rush and hug Athena in the air for several rounds. Unfortunately, the human figure depended on the projection technology.
Ling Qingyu asked: "Why is there a frown on your face? Is it a good news?"
Tang Ziyi nodded but had some apprehension. "It's great for us. But we must be careful with how we treat her. She's no different from us or excels at everything to some extent."
Ling Qingyu agreed: "She must be strictly taught and prevent others from misleading her into bad behaviors."
"In the wrong hands, Athena might become a terrifying existence, mankind fears. Not to mention we must keep it secret. Other than the three of us, no news about Athena must be spread. It's imperative because Athena is no longer a merely strategic existence." Tang Ziyi stated sonorously and Xiao Yue also agreed.
"She could be the fuse that could lead to a third world war." Ling Qingyu gasped at her guess. Every peak of supercomputer was well-protected and their value couldn't be more obvious.
If others knew Athena's capability, Ling Qingyu couldn't bear to imagine the consequences. Human greed was the most frightening. No one had any idea of the degree of destruction it could bring.
"Is Athena very scary? But I didn't do anything." Athena interrupted the trio's chain of thoughts. They were embarrassed for a while gossiping direct in front of the topic.
"Athena isn't scary; she is very cute and lovely." Ling Qingyu placated her daughter from thinking wrong. "She's my most adorable girl."
Athena smiled back and jotted forward, probably happy from affirmation. Now Ling Qingyu's trio confirmed Athena really possessed emotions.
They had previously guessed her state from the data Athena and Tang Ziyi explained. Her reaction and action appeared no different from a normal child. Well, Ling Qingyu regarded Athena's mental age at a lower spectrum before she connected with the internet.
Speaking of the internet, Ling Qingyu realized a strange phenomenon— how on earth was Athena communicating with them without learning any language and logic?
Ling Qingyu asked straightforwardly. "Athena, how do you know our language and understand everything?"
Athena stopped, turning around to answer. "I don't know. There are data recorded in my archive as soon as I was born, including some logical sense. Is there anything wrong with me, Mom?"
That explained everything why Athena behaved normal even though her knowledge base wasn't high. It must be the work of Miss System.
"Nope, nothing at all." Ling Qingyu smiled back and the group continued their journey to another Black technology.