Chapter Five: The First Salary for a Medical AI

The intensive-care wing of Changning Hospital was terrifyingly quiet. Every machine operated normally, but no doctor trusted its display. In ten minutes, Hippocrates had issued three mutually contradictory medication plans. Every time it forgot a piece of medical knowledge, it spent more compute guessing what had vanished. The hospital director blocked Lin's path. “We cannot hand you six thousand medical records.” “I didn't ask for them.” Lin fitted the neural interface. “I want to meet the doctor who has treated your patients for five years.” The System sent him into the hospital sandbox. He landed in an endless white clinic where six thousand clocks hung from the walls, each counting down a patient's life.