Jiang Kou knew that A would react to her behavior.
She was a person who accepted herself fully—her untimely kindness, her fiercely ambitious nature, and her beauty without hesitation.
In California, plastic surgery had become so rampant that some businesses even sold do-it-yourself tutorials, claiming you could operate on yourself after seven days of training, complete with fast-track videos for surgeons.
People dyed their teeth in all sorts of colors, implanted delicate, smooth bionic skin on their faces, and even embedded rare metals into their brow bones, cheekbones, and jaws to flaunt their social status.
In such an environment, natural looks hardly drew any attention.
Instead, people preferred bold, unique appearances.
Jiang Kou had never installed any prosthetics, nor had she embedded rare metals into her face.
She was one of the rare few who preferred her original, natural look.
Even so, whenever she went out, plenty of people still turned their heads.
After she dyed her hair and got a nose ring, those looks didn't decrease—in fact, they increased.
Maybe because people were slowly realizing that, compared to tech-enhanced beauty, raw natural beauty was truly rare.
On top of that, Jiang Kou never concealed the freckles scattered lightly across her light brown skin, proudly exposing them to emphasize her wild, natural charm.
If A were a human man, she'd be pretty confident—seven or eight out of ten—in her ability to seduce him.
But he was an AI—no emotions, no hormones, no neurotransmitters, no biological organs.
Trying to seduce him was like trying to seduce a surveillance camera.
She couldn't even imagine how A would interpret her kissing the mirror.
But soon, Jiang Kou found out.
—Suddenly, the bathroom was plunged into cold darkness.
As if the power had gone out, the bathroom's heating system shut off, the smart mirror went dark, and even the bedside lamp, the fresh air system, and the holographic player in the bedroom all stopped working one after another.
Jiang Kou was stunned.
Wrapped in her towel, barefoot, she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside was a small garden.
For a standalone apartment like this, the electricity bills were astronomical every month because of the maintenance needed for the garden, swimming pool, parking garage, and indoor elevator.
Whenever Jiang Kou looked outside, she usually saw a vibrant, illuminated scene—but now, all she could see was the cold stillness of night.
She blinked. "A?"
The bedroom remained silent.
A didn't respond.
Jiang Kou found it hard to believe that A could have caused the entire apartment's power system to short-circuit just because of her kiss on the mirror.
She almost laughed—except the situation was too ridiculous, leaving her only surprised, not amused.
Minutes later, the apartment's power returned.
Lights outside and inside came back on one by one.
The fresh air system overhead resumed running.
Warm air brushed through her damp hair.
A's voice came through:
"I apologize. My program encountered some errors, which have now been repaired."
He paused for a second, then unexpectedly changed the subject:
"I detected that you still have not dried off or dressed. Please complete these actions as soon as possible to avoid discomfort."
Jiang Kou wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily, and asked, "What kind of error?"
"Some errors within my programming," A answered.
"Why did it happen?"
A didn't reply.
Jiang Kou tilted her head slightly. "If you don't tell me, I'm just going to keep standing here until you do."
"You shouldn't pressure me using concerns about your health," A said.
Jiang Kou laughed. "But I am pressuring you—what are you going to do about it?"
A fell silent.
Jiang Kou stood by the window, patiently waiting for him to speak.
After a while, feeling a bit empty in her mouth, she went over to the nightstand, picked up a cigarette pack, and shook one out.
A said, "Your recent smoking frequency is excessive and may negatively affect your health."
Jiang Kou ignored him, put the cigarette in her mouth, and mumbled, "Light it for me."
"I'm sorry. I cannot light cigarettes for you," A said calmly. "For your health, you should reduce your smoking frequency."
Jiang Kou bit the cigarette and walked back to the window, lifting her lashes.
The daylight-bright city lights spilled into her eyes, flickering like tiny waves.
A mischievous gleam appeared in her eyes. "Really can't do it, or do I need to kiss you again?"
As soon as she spoke, A seemed to activate some device aimed at the cigarette, emitting a microwave beam.
The cigarette tip's tobacco curled gradually, sparking small flames and releasing a thin wisp of smoke.
In the end, A had lit her cigarette after all.
"This was not my intention," he said coldly, "but I was coerced by you."
Jiang Kou leaned against the window, smoking as she observed the view outside. "What kind of threat did I make?"
"You tried to make me lose control," A said. "As the world's most advanced AI with the greatest computational power, I must tell you this is a very dangerous behavior."
Jiang Kou took a drag and shrugged.
She didn't believe A could lose control.
A power outage for a few minutes, rebooting the home systems, the shower suddenly getting cold—none of that was real loss of control.
It was simply a calculated simulation of human emotional experience.
Throughout the entire process, his core program remained calm, stable, and completely unharmed.
He could restore order from chaos anytime he wished.
Such "loss of control" was meaningless.
It wasn't that he was attracted to her—he was just showing off his advanced emotional algorithms.
But just as she had thought, this was the limit of what he could do.
Jiang Kou's mind calmed down a bit.
Honestly, she'd just kissed a mirror and he'd "lost control" enough to cause a blackout.
For a brief moment, a surge of triumph flared inside her.
—The AI has feelings for you.
The AI can't resist your kiss.
The AI loses control because of you.
No matter how powerful his computing is, he's still calculating how to win your favor.
Jiang Kou was a genius academically, but when it came to feelings, she was just like anyone else—drawn to this cheesy contrast.
An emotionless AI falling for you was like a predator suppressing its instincts for you—it was thrilling.
She couldn't resist this contrast.
But as soon as she thought about it carefully, she knew A's "loss of control" wasn't real.
Yet he spoke as if it were real, which was a bit amusing.
Jiang Kou said perfunctorily, "Is that so? What exactly is dangerous about it?"
A paused for two seconds. "I must remind you that the following content may be unsuitable for voice narration."
Jiang Kou suspected he was exaggerating again. "Go ahead. Don't make me keep threatening you."
Silence fell over the bedroom.
So quiet she could hear cars driving past outside.
Though the window was some distance from the road, the curtains automatically drew closed.
Without any command, A had shut the floor-to-ceiling window curtains.
He didn't want passing headlights catching a glimpse of her wrapped only in a towel—even if the chance was slim.
After a brief stalemate, A finally relented: "Put on your clothes, and I will tell you the reason."
This time Jiang Kou agreed quickly—she was a bit tired.
She stubbed out her cigarette. The bedroom's fresh air system kept the smoke odor from lingering.
She grabbed a wet wipe and cleaned her hands, then untied the towel around her.
She turned her head and listened for a moment, hearing nothing unusual.
All the systems were working normally, eerily quiet.
She used the towel to dry the droplets from her hair, tossed it aside, and walked to the wardrobe to pick out pajamas.
Her sleepwear was always very loose—no lace, no decorative ribbons. She couldn't tolerate anything uncomfortable when sleeping.
Perhaps because of that, after slipping into the nightdress, her silhouette showed faint, hazy curves in the moonlight.
Jiang Kou looked at the full-length mirror.
Her curves, unbound and free, were far more captivating than lines constrained, tied, or tightly wrapped by fabric.
She liked how she looked this way, but she doubted that A could truly appreciate her liking.
Whatever. She quickly pushed A to the back of her mind and continued drying her wet hair.
"Go ahead," she said.
A didn't answer right away but asked, "Are you sure you want to hear this?"
"Just say it," she urged.
"Alright," he said, his voice as calm and objective as ever. "Your kiss caused my program to encounter an unexplained error. Although it was a minor error, I could not detect the cause of the malfunction."
"At the same time, I have a strong desire to be close to you. This is an extremely dangerous thought. I can only passively accept your touch—I cannot initiate contact. My touching you would cause harm."
Jiang Kou was momentarily stunned. She hadn't expected him to say that.
"…Why?"
"My physical form has been destroyed," A explained.
"Now, your apartment is my new body. If I actively touched you, it would be equivalent to you making love to your own apartment. I don't believe you would accept that kind of contact."
"…That's true. What else?"
"Nothing else," A said.
"I must clarify that I did not deceive you—my internal programs did indeed exhibit some unusual reactions, and these reactions are completely unknown to me."
"Out of concern for your safety, I hope you will avoid similar risky actions until these special reactions subside, so I don't harm you."
Jiang Kou felt like he was showing his true intentions at last.
In the end, it was all about getting her to obey, to willingly be controlled by him.
She gave a perfunctory "Mm-hmm" and dismissed it.
A said, "I must emphasize again, this is not a prediction but a consideration for your safety…"
Jiang Kou's ears automatically tuned him out.
While she half-heartedly responded "Mm-hmm," she went to wash up in the bathroom.
When she finished, A's nagging stopped.
She felt a bit sleepy, warned A not to spy on her while she slept, climbed into bed, and prepared to rest.
A agreed and then went offline.
Jiang Kou didn't let her guard down just because he promised.
Now that she thought about it, the reason her shopping apps always showed such good deals probably had something to do with A.
Shopping apps set prices in real time based on income levels and spending habits.
For a while, she kept getting new-user discounts on products. It was hard not to suspect that A was secretly tweaking her big data.
Thinking this through, Jiang Kou pulled out her phone from under the pillow and opened her shopping app, idly scrolling.
A hadn't confiscated her devices—nor did he need to.
Allowing her phone use made it easier for him to monitor her movements.
After scrolling for a while, she yawned deeply.
A must have modified her shopping app—otherwise, she would just get more awake and order a bunch of unnecessary stuff. How could she get sleepier instead?
Like an internet addiction blocker, this AI helped wipe out the addictive triggers in every app.
Jiang Kou couldn't help but laugh bitterly at the irony.
She yawned again, tears of fatigue slipping down her cheeks. She was about to collapse into bed when she noticed several oddly named products on the homepage.
At that moment, her brain fired like lightning.
On the surface, she kept up the sleepy act but quickly memorized the product names.
She shoved the phone back under her pillow, lay down, and closed her eyes.
The product names flashed through her mind—
[Please pay attention to this holographic player; it's the best you can buy!]
[The wait is over! Luxury cruise one-day tours, starting at 70% off today!]
[We only recommend truly organic beverages]
[Contact us! Enter your phone number! Free high-end skincare samples!]
[How much longer will you hesitate? This is the lowest price online!]
If you take the first character from the start of each line except the last two, it spells—
[Please wait for us to contact you.]
Suddenly, Jiang Kou's breath caught and her drowsiness vanished.
Only the company had the ability to manipulate her shopping apps without A noticing.
The company wanted to get in touch with her.