dmims Chapter 40 - Database: A Point of Moral Examination
Chapter 40 - Database: A Point of Moral Examination
He sat down at the table, flipped to the five preliminary frameworks in the memo, and reviewed them again.
The memo is a running record. This is something he only confirmed after twelve years—on the construction site, the function of the memo is "recording," not "analysis"; it's "archiving," not "retrieval." You write down all your observations and inferences on-site, without considering structure or logic, just writing, because the site waits for no one. After the site visit is over, you sit down and reorganize the contents of the memo, building a searchable "database" with a logical framework.
Two things, two tools, cannot be used interchangeably.
He closed the memo, pushed it to the side of the table, and then took out a new notebook—one he had bought at a stall in Yuan City. The paper was thicker than the memo, and the cover was gray and unmarked. In the lower right corner of the cover, he wrote two words in fine pen: "Database."
Then he turned to the first page and wrote in the header: "Entry Number: DB-001 | Type: Cross-copy rule | Node created: #003 Post-settlement · Tier 1 promotion"
He paused for a moment, looking at the three words "DB-001".
Article 1.
He built many databases on the construction site—material testing database, construction node database, hidden danger investigation database—the first entry of each database was the most difficult to write, not because he didn't know what to write, but because the first entry determined the "granularity" of the database: if it was too coarse, the subsequent entries would lose precision; if it was too fine, the database would become another memo.
He wrote below "DB-001":
Moral Checkpoint
Definition: Within the historical context, when the combined conditions of "players' action capabilities are impaired + a player proposes an efficiency-first solution (abandoning the impaired player)" occur, a special evaluation mechanism is triggered by the constitutive.
Known data point: 1 (#003·Construction site on an isolated island at sea)
Triggering conditions:
—Required condition A: A player's mobility is impaired (in this case: Fang Yuan, with a fractured ankle and a movement speed reduction of approximately 60%).
—Necessary condition B: A player proposes an efficiency-first solution (in this case: Xu Kai, C-0019, solution: abandon Fang Yuan and complete the level using the optimal route with the existing personnel).
—Observation: Both conditions must be met simultaneously; neither can be missing. Condition A (player is injured) alone will not trigger; condition B (efficiency solution) alone will not trigger.
Xie Chengzhou's response: He did not accept the efficiency-first solution and sought a third way (building a temporary passage).
Constitutive response:
—Settlement score: "Construction avoidance strategy" was marked as a "Special Record".
—Score weighting: Confirmed (specific weighting value unknown)
—Attribute panel changes: "Construction Willpower 91/100" is now tracked, "Cooperation Trust Index" increases by a certain amount (specific value to be verified).
Conclusion (current data point): The constitutive model recorded Xie Chengzhou's choice at the moral dilemma node and provided a quantifiable rating response.
He paused here.
When he prepares test reports at construction sites, he adheres to a principle: conclusions must match the data points and cannot exceed the scope of those data points. A single data point can only yield a "preliminary trend," not a "pattern." A pattern requires at least three independent data points, and the triggering conditions between these data points must be sufficiently similar to exclude interfering variables.
He currently only has one data point.
This means that his "conclusion" is, strictly speaking, only an "assumption." He added parentheses after the "conclusion": "(Note: There is only one data point currently; the following are all assumptions, pending verification by subsequent copies)".
Then he continued writing:
"Assumption 1: The moral interrogation node will appear in every copy."
Basis: None (Currently there is only one data point, which cannot be verified)
Verification path: Observe whether similar triggering conditions occur in #004.
Confirmation threshold: Requires at least 3 independent data points with similar triggering conditions and consistent constitutive responses.
Hypothesis 2: The constitutive response mechanism of the moral interrogation node is "recording + scoring" rather than "punishment + reward".
According to the settlement data in #003, "Construction Avoidance Strategy" was marked as "Special Record" rather than "Extra Reward" or "Punishment". The system did not directly give Xie Chengzhou extra items or resources because he chose "Not to Give Up", it was only reflected in the score and attribute panel.
Inference: Constituent is more like a "recorder" than a "judge." It observes, quantifies, and archives—but it does not explicitly state that Xie Chengzhou's choice is "correct."
To be verified: If Xie Chengzhou chooses the efficiency-first approach at a certain morally challenging juncture, how will this organization respond?
He paused for quite a while in the "Pending verification" line.
This was the first time he had written this question in the database.
It wasn't because he considered prioritizing efficiency—he didn't, it wasn't an option in his operating procedures—but because he realized that if he never prioritized efficiency, he would never know how the constitutive model would respond to an alternative. This is a data blind spot. Engineers dislike data blind spots because they mean there's a variable in your model that you can't control.
He added an asterisk after this line and then wrote in the footer: "★Note: This problem may not be verifiable through active experimentation because 'efficiency first' fundamentally conflicts with Xie Chengzhou's operational guidelines. Alternative verification method: Observe other players' choices and constitutive responses at moral dilemma nodes."
He looked at the line and felt it was the most honest record he could currently keep.
He then proceeded to write the third hypothesis:
Hypothesis 3: The choice of the "third path" at the moral dilemma node is related to the "construction will 91/100".
in accordance with:
—After the settlement of #003, the attribute panel displays "Construction Willpower 91/100", marked as "Abnormally high value, exceeding the average of the same level by 3.2 standard deviations".
The solution to node #003, the moral dilemma, is to "build a temporary passage"—a construction action.
—This constitutive work includes a separate "special record" of this construction process.
—Inference: The constitutive study of "construction behavior" may not merely be a study of "problem-solving," but rather a study of the pattern of "Xie Chengzhou using construction behavior to resolve moral dilemmas."
To be verified: If Xie Chengzhou resolves the issue at the next moral hurdle using non-constructive actions (such as modifying the route or exploiting rule loopholes), will the constitutive response differ?
He put down his pen and looked at the three hypotheses.
Three hypotheses, three verification paths, and three "to be verified" statements.
This is what an engineer's database should look like: not answers, but a structured arrangement of questions; not conclusions, but a verifiable framework of hypotheses.
He sat at the table for a while, then stood up, walked to the toolbox, took out the iron testing hammer, and weighed it in his hand.
#001 The item he received during settlement. He noted the weight of this hammer in his memo—it was about 20% lighter than real-world tools of the same specifications, but the texture was different. The rebound when struck was slightly different from that of a real hammer, as if the material density was uneven, or the material itself was something he didn't recognize.
He put the hammer back, returned to the table, and reopened the database.
At the end of "DB-001", he added a "Further Observation" paragraph:
Further Observation: The Hidden Rules Connecting the Points of Moral Examination
In the settlement data of #003, there is a detail that Xie Chengzhou had not paid much attention to before: the label of "Construction Avoidance Strategy - Special Record" is not in the "Pass Score" column, but in the "Constituent Tracking Project" column.
The difference between these two sections:
— "Completion Score": Measures Xie Chengzhou's performance in this dungeon, affecting Source Coin and Item Rewards.
— "Constituent Tracking Project": Constituents are continuously observed, long-term data points across replicas.
This means that the response mechanism of the "moral interrogation node" is not only effective in a single copy, but is incorporated into the framework of "long-term tracking across copies" by the constitutive framework.
Inference: The constitutive assessment of Xie Chengzhou is not based on scoring each instance individually, but rather on establishing a "long-term archive" spanning all instances. The point of moral questioning is a specific tracking dimension within this long-term archive.
This relates to the "Reconstructor Fit: ██/100, Current Class Not Visible" in the "Constituent Sample Evaluation Report":
If "Reconstructor fit" is a long-term, cumulative indicator across instances, then the choice of each moral dilemma node could potentially affect this hidden value.
He paused after the line "the obscured values".
Then he added in parentheses: "(This is an inference, not a conclusion. It cannot be verified at present.)"
He had done this many times on construction sites: in a test report, a certain data point would be crossed out, a page would be torn out, or a column would be marked "Confidential, not available to the construction company." His reaction was never anger, but rather to write in his memo: "The data is here, but it's not visible. The existence of the data itself is information—it shows that someone considers this data important enough to be hidden."
The "Reconstructor Fit" data is obscured not because it doesn't exist, but because the architect believes it shouldn't be visible at this stage.
This in itself is information.
He wrote in the database:
Constitutive Information Management Strategy (Preliminary Observations):
—The constitutive approach employs a "delayed disclosure" strategy for certain data: the data exists, but is not visible to certain social classes.
— "Reconstructor fit" is the only known data item whose disclosure has been delayed.
—Inference: The value of "Reconstructor Fit" may change depending on Xie Chengzhou's behavioral choices; the constitutive model does not want Xie Chengzhou to make behavioral choices knowing this value, in order to ensure the "natural state" of the data.
—Analogy: In engineering inspection, if you inform the construction team of the inspection standards in advance, they will optimize their work according to those standards, rather than accurately reflecting the actual construction quality. This approach may aim to avoid the same problem.
After he finished writing this, he leaned back and rested his back against the chair.
There are no windows outside the window. This space has no exterior, only an interior.
He spent many years on construction sites overseas, some of which had no windows—basements, mines, sealed construction areas. These places shared a common characteristic: you didn't know what was happening outside; you could only focus on what was in front of you. This focus could sometimes be an advantage, sometimes a danger—you might miss changes in the external environment because of your concentration, and those changes were often more important than the problem at hand.
He added a final line to the database:
"To be verified: Does the constitutive model contain variables that Xie Chengzhou cannot observe 'externally'—outside of personal space and experience? If so, would these variables affect the value of 'Reconstructor Fit'?"
Then he closed the database.
DB-001, first record, creation complete.
He picked up the memo, flipped to the five preliminary frameworks, and wrote a small "→DB-001" in the upper right corner of the first one with a fine pen, indicating that this content had been officially archived into the database and the draft in the memo could be discarded.
His habit developed on overseas construction sites: once a draft is completed, it must be marked with an archiving number on the original and cannot be deleted directly, because sometimes there are details in the draft that were missed during the archiving process and need to be traced back.
He put the memo back on the table and glanced at the database cover.
The word "Database" appears on a gray cover in the bottom right corner.
Every database he built on the construction site started with only one entry. Eventually, some grew to hundreds of entries, while others had only a dozen—not depending on the amount of data, but on the quality of each entry. He had seen people cram everything into their databases, resulting in databases that were more chaotic than a memo pad, with nothing to be found; he had also seen people maintain their databases like a meticulous blueprint, with each entry having a source, verification path, and update history.
He wanted to build this database into the latter.
He stood up and put the database into the inside pocket of his coat—a pocket closer to his body than the one for his memos, making it less likely to get lost. This was something he'd learned on the construction site: the more important something is, the closer it should be to your body.
Then he walked to the door, pushed it open, and headed towards Yuan City.
There were more people on the main street of Yuan City than last time.
As he passed the information stall, he glanced at it out of the corner of his eye—the papers on the stall had been replaced; some were new, the handwriting fresh, the ink not yet completely dry. He paused and looked at the new papers.
Most of them were realm numbers and rule information that he didn't recognize, with prices ranging from thirty to one hundred and twenty source coins.
He paused on one of the cards for a relatively long time.
The paper didn't contain the rules of the realm, but rather a line of text: "Moral Torture Node - Verified Copies: #003, #007, #011, #019. Trigger Condition: Consistent. Stereotype Response: Consistent. Price: Two Hundred Source Coins."
He read the line twice.
Four copies.
He currently has only one data point, while this piece of paper lists four. The triggering conditions are consistent, and the constitutive responses are consistent—this means that his "hypothesis one" (the moral interrogation node appears in every copy) has already been verified by someone else, and with three more data points than he has.
He went over the matter in his mind.
Two hundred source coins. He mentally went through the number—he had six hundred and forty source coins, enough to buy it.
But he paused in front of the stall and went over the message in his mind.
Four copies, identical triggering conditions, identical constitutive responses. That's the conclusion. But this paper doesn't specify the verification method, the original data, the method for eliminating interfering variables, or the criteria for judging "identical triggering conditions" and the error range. He doesn't know if the four data points were verified by the same person or by four different people, whether the historical conditions during verification were comparable, or whether the "identity" in "identical constitutive response" refers to exact or approximate consistency.
On construction sites, he'd seen far too many reports like this: the conclusions were beautifully written, but the original data was missing, or the original data existed but couldn't be verified, or the original data was verifiable but the verification methods were flawed. He'd send these reports back immediately during on-site reviews, demanding a resubmission. This piece of paper gave him a conclusion whose source he couldn't verify. That wasn't what his database needed.
He glanced at the stall owner. The stall owner was a middle-aged man wearing dark overalls, with the number C-0156 on his left wrist, which he didn't cover. He was flipping through a new stack of papers, not looking at Xie Chengzhou.
Xie Chengzhou stood in front of the stall for about fifteen seconds.
Then he continued walking forward.
Why should his own database start with things that others have already digested?
但他在走开之前，在备忘录里记了一行：「源市摊位·道德拷问节点信息·已验证副本#003/#007/#011/#019·两百源币·摊主C-0156。待核实：此信息是否可信？摊主的验证方式是什幺？信息来源是否独立？」
He closed the memo and walked on.
At the end of the main street, there was a stall he hadn't noticed last time—not selling information, but "dungeon item materials." The stall displayed dozens of items of varying sizes, some of which he recognized, others he didn't. He paused in front of the stall and glanced at them.
He stared at one of the items for about five seconds.
It was a section of steel pipe, about thirty centimeters long and about two centimeters in diameter. The surface had a coating he didn't recognize, and it was dark gray in color. When he touched it, the texture was like something between rubber and metal; it was a little elastic but not soft.
The stall owner was a young woman who looked to be in her twenties. The number on her left wrist was C-0334, which was pressed down on her cuff but not completely covered.
"What is this material?" Xie Chengzhou asked.
"Vibration isolation tubes," the woman said without looking up, "have a surface coating of damping material and an inner core of high-strength steel, used to isolate vibration transmission. They are useful in environments sensitive to vibration."
Xie Chengzhou picked up the steel pipe and weighed it in his hand.
It weighs about 200 grams, which is almost half the weight of a regular steel pipe of the same specification.
"How much," he said.
"Eighty Yuan coins," the woman said.
He put the steel pipe back. "Thank you," he said.
"You work in engineering," the woman said, this time looking up at him. "The calluses on your hands aren't in the right place. You're not an ordinary worker; you're a supervisor."
Xie Chengzhou remained silent.
"Engineers, living in environments sensitive to vibration," the woman said, "live longer than most people."
After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and continued rummaging through her things.
Xie Chengzhou stood in front of the stall for a moment, then walked forward.
He noted in his memo: "Source City stall, vibration isolation tube, damping coating + high-strength steel core, 80 Source Coins, stall owner C-0334, observation: the stall owner recognized Xie Chengzhou as the project manager (the location of the callus on his hand). Information: 'Those who do engineering live longer in vibration-sensitive environments'—is this an empirical observation or verified data? To be verified."
He closed the memo and headed towards the exit of Yuan City.
The beams of light on the main street are still there, and the dust is still moving.
As he walked out, he touched the inside pocket of his coat—the database was still there, the hard cover's corner rubbing against his ribs, causing a slight discomfort.
He did not make any adjustments.
That feeling reminded him that the database was there. It reminded him that DB-001 had been created, that Assumption 1, Assumption 2, and Assumption 3 were still waiting to be verified, that the number in the "Reconstructor Fit" line was obscured, and that #004 had not yet started.
He walked toward his personal space.
#004, Dam.
He had seen this word at a stall in Source City: 150 Source Coins, a fragment of rules. He didn't buy it.
His self-built database never starts with second-hand information.