"Dr. Einstein, I've read all the papers you've published, and I strongly agree with some of the findings within."
Ryn picked out several drafts about artificial intelligence from the scattered papers on Dr. Einstein's desk and handed them to her.
"Especially after reading these drafts of yours, I've become very interested in your wildly imaginative ideas.
Therefore, I'd like to have some academic discussion with you regarding artificial intelligence."
"Heh... artificial intelligence, huh..."
Dr. Einstein suddenly deflated. She didn't want to research ordinary AI. In the already nascent field of AI research, developing what she truly wanted was even more difficult.
It required enormous development costs and time. But in the competitive environment of the Mu Continent, where results were everything, there wasn't enough time for her to realize the concepts in her drafts.
"Young man, I'm glad you appreciate my ideals, but...ah, never mind.
Young man, since you can understand my research, I advise you not to stubbornly stick to this path...
It's good to have drive and ideals, but AI research requires a lot of funding and time. You might invest your entire life into it and end up just like me."
"You're giving up just like that? Dr. Einstein, you seem so dejected. This isn't like the person I read about in your research papers!"
Ryn looked at Dr. Einstein in surprise. In the papers and reports she published, he saw a spirited and confident pioneer of the future. But now, Dr. Einstein was like a sun setting in the west, a social reject abandoned by society.
"Sigh, research requires funding and equipment... The things I want to study won't show results in the short term, and might not even produce any results at all... The higher-ups won't approve the funding, and I can't secure any investment or sponsorship... and as you can see, my lab is almost empty."
Einstein looked at Ryn seriously. It wasn't that she was stingy with her knowledge and didn't want to communicate with him. It was that the more you knew, the more painful it became...
The more imaginative your ideas, the more you understand how strict the limitations of the era are. You have a clear path forward, but all known methods are incapable of realizing it.
What's more saddening than this is the lack of understanding from others and the scorn of society.
Dr. Einstein had fallen from her once lofty position. After stepping into this field unrecognized by the world, she was cast into the cold, falling from the heavens to the earth below. The stark contrast had even made her think about giving up in the early days.
Ryn was silent for a long time. The Honkai had not yet erupted, and the current level of scientific research in society was roughly equivalent to the mid-21st century of his era.
The development of artificial intelligence was progressing slowly, but Dr. Einstein wanted to develop AI with human-like emotions and give them bodies they could control at will.
It wasn't so much that Dr. Einstein was too ahead of her time and misunderstood, but rather that people were afraid of what she might create.
"Dr. Einstein, I want to ask you something... If, and I mean if, your research is never recognized by the higher-ups and can never be made public, would you still continue to research these things?"
"Hehe..."
Dr. Einstein chuckled at Ryn's question. "If I were willing, I could have given up all this long ago and become that revered doctor once again.
But it's obvious now, isn't it? I'm not willing.
'Armed Dolls,' a new type of artificial intelligence I've envisioned. Whether it's for daily life or professional work, they can do many, many things in place of humans!"
"'Armed Dolls'? Wait a minute, that term sounds familiar..."
Ryn interrupted Dr. Einstein's speech, then laid out her design drafts and sketches again to examine them once more.
After running calculations in his mind to deduce the final product from the blueprints, Ryn took a few blank draft sheets, spread them flat on the workbench, picked up Einstein's drafting tools, and began to draw the blueprint of an Armed Doll from his memory.
Watching the blueprint Ryn was drawing, Dr. Einstein went from initial confusion, not understanding what on earth he was drawing, to being completely engrossed by the time he had drawn the majority of it, her eyes filled with countless emerging concepts.
Einstein: "Is this... an Armed Doll?!"
Ryn continued drawing as he spoke: "Yes, an analytical model of an Armed Doll."
Dr. Einstein contemplated Ryn's design, then looked down at her own, and finally threw all her own design blueprints into the trash, focusing her entire attention on Ryn's.
A few hours later, by the time Ryn had finished drawing the manufacturing blueprint for Armed Doll Kevin as analyzed by Cortana, Dr. Einstein was practically draped over the schematics.
"This, this, this... the size is several times smaller than what I envisioned, but the functions are more complete, even more perfect... This, this is fantastic!"
Einstein's body trembled. Seeing this complete "Armed Doll" design from Ryn, the thoughts that had troubled her for years became as clear and unobstructed as an unclogged toilet.
She wished she could immediately use a pen or computer to save Ryn's blueprint, to study it day and night, even to sleep while hugging it.
Although the design philosophy felt strangely familiar, since it was drawn by Ryn, it belonged to him. So Einstein restrained herself, but she still stared intently at the blueprint and at Ryn with excited eyes.
"Don't stare, it's yours!" Ryn said with a smile, handing the blueprint to Dr. Einstein.
"Yay!"
Dr. Einstein took the blueprint, overjoyed, and immediately became immersed in studying it.
As a crazed scientist, the moment Dr. Einstein entered a research state, she completely forgot about Ryn who had given her the blueprint, leaving him hanging.
Ryn didn't mind. Figuring that Dr. Einstein wouldn't emerge from this frenzied state anytime soon, he simply turned invisible and began to sneak into other scientists' labs to steal their research findings.
Although this behavior was unethical, Ryn was shameless.