CHAPTER 72: BUILDING AN AGI (2)

Building the AGI was going to be easy. At least, with his current stats and his science knowledge repositories, building it was going to be a piece of cake.

But the issue was the training part. The training will define the AI and give it an identity. Of course, it’s going to absolutely loyal to Liam due to how he will code it, but it’s personality would be defined by its training.

To give an analogy, it’s like the relationship between a child and the parents. They gave birth to it but the child’s personality would be shaped not only by its parents, but also its environment and life experiences.

Of course, as the "parent" of the AI, Liam already has everything thought out. He will code the necessary instructions into it and give it its prime directive.

Liam’s fingers flew across the keyboard at lightning fast movements, as he started writing the codes.

This was actually the first time that Liam was actively putting his high agility to use, and even he was surprised by the result.

His fingers was moving so fast that if an ordinary person saw them, they would see nothing but blurs.

In a matter of just a minute, he has already written more than 1000 lines of long codes and he only just got started.

Liam couldn’t help but feel grateful for not just the omni-science knowledge foundation package but also to his system for allowing to increase his stats to its current level.

If he didn’t have both, he would be stuck. Because without the science knowledge, he won’t be able to build the AI in the first place and without his current stats, it will take him ages to build one.

But they weren’t the only thing he was grateful for, because without the laptop, well... let’s say that he can forget about the AGI. Though he will still be able to build it with the science knowledge, things will never be this easy. He will be burdened by protocols upon protocols and have to sign contracts. Lots of them.

And so, thanks to the system, Liam has unlimited hardware power in a laptop form — petascale computing, zero-point energy, self-contained networking.

He also has zero bureaucracy, meaning no red tape, no government oversight, no academic politics. And he has the mental and physical capacity to actually build and train an AGI solo.

Time flew as Liam’s was focused on building the AGI. It was already night time and even though Liam has moved an inch from his position since he started, he didn’t feel like he has done anything.

Hours has passed and he has already written than ten thousand lines of codes, but he still wasn’t halfway through.

But Liam wasn’t bothered as what he was currently doing — building an AGI from scratch without training — was something that would realistically in the best case scenario take a huge elite team plus billions in funding 15–20 years before they even have a working "AGI shell" ready to be trained.

But that workload is something that Liam is crunching solo and without breaking a sweat.

Since it was nighttime, Liam decided to pause a bit and have dinner before continuing. He wasn’t exactly feeling hungry but he wants to use the opportunity to stretch his body a little.

With his current stats that’s nearly twice the limit of an unenhanced human, he could probably go for weeks without food or water, and he would still be fine.

Liam picked up the tab and ordered dinner. While he waited for his dinner to arrive, his thoughts drifted to the traits and the samples he asked Daniel to get him.

Actually, the truth was that the eagle’s hyper vision and the starfish regenerative ability wasn’t the only traits he wanted.

He also wanted the traits of his most loved childhood hero. But unfortunately, reality was different from movies. He can’t exactly go around climbing walls and using webs from his wrists.

Yes, it sounds cool and would definitely look cool, especially if he builds the perfect suit to go. But the truth was that the ability wasn’t exactly practical in the real world. Or was it? Liam wasn’t exactly sure.

He sighed softly, shaking his head and his thoughts drifted to the AGI he’s currently working on.

With how fast he’s working on it and if he continues like that, it should take him about a weekto complete it. And after that, he will immediately start working on the ecosystem.

"Ahh... There goes my plan of spending the rest of the week here as vacation," Liam sighed.

He initially had the plan to spend the rest of the week touring Geneva and the neighbouring cities. It was the first time he traveled and he wanted to make the most of it, but duty calls.

Well, I guess it isn’t so bad. I haven’t been doing much since I got the system. I already took a two weeks break from life and all its shenanigans and it’s now time to get back out there.

Liam didn’t bother dwelling on it. He cleared his head of unnecessary thoughts as he waited for dinner.

He didn’t have to wait long as some minutes later, a staff pushed a cart in, after she was allowed by the two standing outside.

She set the table and gave a respectful nod, before taking her leave. Liam started eating and he took his time to enjoy the meal.

After he was done, he sat down in front of the laptop again and continued what he was doing.

***

Frankfurt, Germany. The headquarters of the European Central Bank.

The office of the President was a cathedral of glass and steel — high windows overlooking the Main River, the city lights casting reflections across polished marble floors.

Inside, the atmosphere was thick, not with noise, but with silence. The kind of silence that came only when matters of immense weight were being considered.

A man in a dark suit approached the desk, a slim folder clutched in his hands. He looked uneasy, though his expression tried to mask it.

"President," he said carefully, placing the folder onto the polished surface. "This arrived through the Rothschild clearing channel. A lineage code was presented... XVII-GC-011."

The ECB head, an older man with hair the color of iron and eyes as sharp as glass, slowly opened the folder. The code gleamed faintly on the page, engraved in platinum ink.

For a moment, he simply stared at it. Then he leaned back in his chair. His face didn’t betray much — but his fingers, steepled together, pressed a fraction tighter.

"XVII..." he murmured. "Seventeenth lineage batch. Geneva Crest. Number eleven."

The younger man shifted. "Should we... investigate? The name attached to the attestation was Scott. No known dynasty under that name in our registry. I could order a background sweep. Quietly."

The President’s gaze lifted sharply, cutting him off before he could continue.

"No."

The word was firm, decisive, the kind of order that left no space for argument.

The younger man hesitated. "But sir—"

The President raised a hand. "No. Do not chase shadows. Not this one."

He tapped the code on the page once, as though imprinting the weight of it into the younger man’s memory.

"These codes are not mistakes. They do not appear by accident. Whoever holds XVII-GC-011 is already beyond our reach. To pry would be to invite a storm we are not prepared to weather."

The younger man swallowed. "...Then what are your instructions?"

The President closed the folder with a soft thud. He slid it to the side of his desk, where another stack of identical folders lay — each marked with cryptic lineage codes, each carrying the kind of silent weight that shaped nations without headlines.

"File it," the President said, his voice low but commanding. "File it with the others. When the bearer wishes to reveal themselves, they will. Until then, we wait."

He leaned back again, his expression unreadable as his gaze drifted toward the night sky outside his window.

"Remember this well. The world is not moved by the noise you hear in markets or parliaments. It is moved by the hands you never see."

The younger man bowed his head. "...Yes, sir."

He picked up the folder, holding it as though it carried fire, and stepped out of the room. The door closed quietly behind him, leaving the President alone with his thoughts.

He exhaled slowly, closing his eyes for a moment. XVII-GC-011. Another ghost had awakened.

***

Back in Geneva, Liam remained unaware of the quiet ripples spreading across Europe. He pressed another key, watching as a new function compiled into the AGI’s framework.