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The algorithm was only one important component of an artificial intelligence. The other components remained to be developed through the system.
This was a rare project with a low barrier to entry.
Truly reconstructing an AI on the level of MOSS would require terrifying resources, far more terrifying than Crimson Typhoon. But if Ryan lowered his sights a little, he found that the algorithms and architecture inside didn't carry that many constraints. The artificial neural network algorithm, for instance, could run on the computer in Ryan's dorm room as it currently was.
Or, with a computer that had a graphics card optimized for parallel computation, it would run just as well.
Ryan had experimented on his own dorm computer. The algorithm the system provided was, in functional terms, considerably more powerful than every algorithm he'd encountered before. It was far more capable than even the assistive operating AI inside Crimson Typhoon.
That day, Ryan had just returned from a morning run, taken on Patricia's recommendation. He wiped the thin film of sweat from his forehead and was about to take a shower, then continue training the artificial neural network on his computer, which was to say, letting it study.
The phone in his pocket rang.
He turned on the air conditioning, stood beneath the vent, and answered the call. "Hello?"
Patricia's voice came through. "Are you in your dorm right now?"
"I am. Just got back from exercising, about to shower. Do you need to come by, Patricia?"
"Then never mind. It's nothing major. I just wanted to let you know that the project's basic information is going to be posted on the Department of Science and Technology's official website shortly. Our media partners will guide the coverage at the appropriate time."
"Understood." Ryan's tone was unbothered. He'd been tracking the project preparations and had guessed the announcement would come within these few days.
Patricia sighed. "If this project weren't so large and so hard to conceal, keeping it unannounced might honestly have been the better option."
The company's leadership had also considered executing the Crimson Typhoon project in secret, but had ultimately abandoned the idea.
The hundred-meter facility alone couldn't be hidden, let alone the large number of personnel who'd be moving into the base afterward. If the media, foreign media in particular, dug up the story first, the country would be put on the defensive internationally.
Better to lay all the cards on the table from the start and seize the initiative in shaping public opinion.
Ryan laughed. "It's good that the project's being announced."
On the other end, Patricia rolled her eyes and didn't know what to say.
"That's all. I've told you the news. Go take your shower. Hanging up."
"Okay. Talk later." Ryan tossed the phone onto the bed and went into the bathroom humming a tune.
And at that moment, exactly as Patricia had said, the Crimson Typhoon project announcement had just been posted on the Department of Science and Technology's official website. Less than an hour passed before sharp-eyed people noticed it.
"A new seven-thousand-meter-class deep-submergence project? Wasn't this already completed?"
On a city bus, a research-industry worker named Sean was on his way to work.
Sipping coffee, he pulled out his phone partway through the commute to check the Department's website for some policy information. He noticed that the major-projects announcement section showed an update.
He clicked in and found, of all things, another deep-submergence project.
"Did the website glitch? That seems unlikely." Curiosity piqued, Sean opened the project listing.
The first thing he saw was the project's full name.
Crimson Typhoon Project: A Seven-Thousand-Meter-Class Crewed Deep-Submergence Heavy Underwater Operations Mech
He nearly spat out the coffee in his mouth.
"What. Did I read that right? A mech?"
Sean muttered to himself, rubbed his eyes, and looked at the title again, confirming that he hadn't misread a single word and hadn't misunderstood the meaning.
Reading further, the project was exactly what the title said. The goal was to construct a large mech capable of operating at depths of seven thousand meters, while also driving the development of the country's upstream industries during the construction process.
And how large was this mech?
Two hundred and fifty feet. Seventeen hundred tons.
Just laying those two numbers out was enough to make a crowd of people's eyes fall out of their heads.
Sean got off comparatively easy. Only his glasses fell off. "Are they insane? Can a mech like this actually be built? It's several times the size of Scrapper."
What he didn't anticipate was that the more surreal part was still ahead.
When he saw the project's chief designer, the coffee he hadn't yet swallowed could no longer be contained. He sprayed it directly onto the bus floor.
He bent down to grab a tissue and wipe it up, while the photo he'd just seen surfaced involuntarily in his mind.
Ryan Mercer.
Putting a fifteen-year-old in charge of a project this large, as chief designer?
Had the world gone insane?
At the same time, the country's major media outlets began reporting on the new project.
"Today, the nation publicly announced a major scientific research project related to deep-sea exploration. The project ingeniously integrates with the mech technology that has recently drawn widespread attention. It is expected to construct a large mech standing two hundred and fifty feet tall, weighing seventeen hundred tons, capable of operating in deep waters at depths of seven thousand meters. The mech is named Crimson Typhoon. Its construction will employ a large quantity of advanced materials and advanced technologies, providing powerful momentum for the progress and development of the nation's related industries. Building a mech of this kind will also be an enormous test of the nation's industrial system and engineering capability..."
The project could not be concealed, and it was destined to generate enormous attention. So the major outlets came out with all guns blazing. Their project introductions focused on the market demand Crimson Typhoon would generate and the way policy adjustments would drive numerous upstream industries.
Or else they promoted it as a test of the country's industrial strength and engineering capability, with the framing that once the mech was built, it would elevate the nation's industrial strength and engineering construction capacity.
In short, every report did its best to downplay Ryan's role in the project.
Also downplayed was the project's budget.
Unlike the announcement document Ryan had seen earlier, none of the reports or public listings mentioned the budget figure. They all glossed over it with careful, evasive phrasing.
Under the major outlets' efforts, the Crimson Typhoon project quickly entered the public's field of view.
Countless people, like Sean, had their glasses knocked off by it.
"Did I read that right? Did they forget the decimal point on this mech's dimensions?"
"This project has The Mech Expert as chief designer? He's still just a teenager. I know mechs are his area, but is this really appropriate?"
"A mech that operates seven thousand meters underwater. That immediately sounds like nonsense. If you'd said a mech that flies seven thousand meters into the sky, I'd find it slightly more believable."
"I genuinely cannot understand this project."
"This feels way too surreal. I can't find the budget figure anywhere, but for a major project posted on the Department of Science and Technology's official website, and a mech that big, the budget has to start in the billions."
"Pouring that much money onto a teenager and letting him build something with no clear purpose, is that really a good idea? Do people know how many people in this country are still struggling to get by?"
The online comments quickly reflected the public's doubts about the project.
There were a lot of clever people these days. Evasive phrasing had little room to survive. Many people had seen straight to the heart of the problem.