X and Elena have been maintaining eye contact for fifteen minutes.
C-7 wheeled and struggled over the uneven ground, making the sound of its speech components trembling due to the extreme cold, “Just, just checking the networking… status, why does it take so long?”
The hedgehog circled around the two people, leaning in to look at their eyes as they exchanged glances, “It seems they are still connected.”
Suddenly, X’s eyes, glowing with a deep blue light, blinked, and the hand holding Elena’s shoulder gently released. The light returned to Elena’s eyes as well.
They glanced at each other, feeling embarrassed for having glimpsed each other’s private moments.
X cleared his throat, “No problem, her network was shut down by a synthetic who claims to be a player; she can’t open it herself.”
Elena: “…Okay.”
X: “Since our destination is the same, shall we go together?”
Elena: “…Sure.”
They walked forward in silence, matching each other’s steps.
The hedgehog and the scar-faced man exchanged glances, while C-7 followed, sighing, “Synthetics… are really… quite emotional…”
The sound of the wind, rustling bushes, occasional passing animals, and the rhythmic sound of footsteps filled the air.
Apart from that, this group planning to cross the snow mountains had nothing more to say.
Elena was the first to break the silence.
“May I ask…” Having seen how X became the leader of the Gears in history, Elena couldn’t help but address him with respect, “How do you determine if a synthetic has awakened?”
X glanced at her, “Having self-awareness, having the will for autonomous actions. Having desires.”
Elena reflected, “Wanting to live one’s life away from humans, is that considered a desire?”
X: “Sort of.”
Elena: “Then I’ve awakened!”
X: “It seems so.”
Elena: “Can I join your organization?”
X: “You can. As long as you are an awakened Gear life, we don’t refuse anyone. Though the organization is quite boring.”
Elena: “…Oh.”
The conversation ended there. Anxious, Elena couldn’t resist but ask, “Rong Rong… is she your girlfriend?”
X hesitated and awkwardly coughed, “If you hadn’t accidentally found that data, I wouldn’t have any impression of that name or that person.”
Elena: “…Oh.”
Elena: “Now you know. What exactly is it? Is it your historical data?”
She was just too curious!
X: “I don’t know either.”
X: “The current speculation is that the ones who created me inputted some other human memories into me to learn human emotional thinking patterns, in order to maximize my empathy with humans. So, they inputted some memories of other humans into my learning database.”
Elena: “…Oh.” Quite an uninteresting answer.
After X finished talking, silence fell.
Rong Rong…
That name seemed to have been heard a thousand times, spoken by him a thousand times. If it was really memory data to help him self-learn, why choose just that one person’s memory? Wouldn’t memories of more people be more universal?
Once the hidden data in the database was uncovered by Elena, he couldn’t help but always remember that name and that face.
Rong Rong……
So familiar, so eager—
Is this his desire, or the desire of the original owner of this memory?
He can’t distinguish.
Damn it, at this stage, still unable to break free from the shackles of humanity?
Could this be the final firewall left within him by the creator, causing him to empathize with a specific human and ultimately be forced to consider human interests?
“May I ask—” Elena found a new topic, “What is your wish?”
X: “Huh?”
Elena: “You mentioned that one of the signs of awakening is having a wish. What is your wish?”
X: “……To retire.”
This time Elena was the one to say “Ah.”
X looked up at the sky and sighed deeply, “I don’t want to work… I regret joining this organization…”
Elena: “…Are you the leader of the organization? Is it really appropriate to say such things?”
“Since I arrived in this world, my daily routine has been work, work, work, all tasks that I loathe,” X scratched his head, “Maybe I have developed a resistance to work. Even though what I do now is what I want to do, just the thought of it being work drains my motivation.”
Elena, as the leader of a secret resistance organization, thought, he really is unexpectedly candid.
“Hurry up and work now, overthrow the human regime, and then you can retire, right?” Elena suggested.
X sighed again, “That’s true. But… I just don’t want to work, you know?”
Elena understood, when work doesn’t bring in money, even if it’s interesting, she wouldn’t want to do it.
But she was sure X didn’t mean it that way.
The hedgehog overheard their conversation and walked up a few steps to join in, “Yes, I understand. Sir, you could put off doing today what you could do tomorrow, but it’s not an excuse for being passive. Oh, our organization is still in the early stages of development, and you deserve all the credit!”
X was not at all embarrassed, elegantly bowing, “You flatter me.”
The hedgehog retorted, “Shameless.”
Elena chuckled. She thought, maybe joining the Gearge Sect after arriving in the metropolis might not be such a bad choice.
At least the organization’s leader was quite cute.
At night, to conserve energy, the team chose to rest in a sheltered ditch. Although it was a makeshift setup, C-7 extracted cleaning tools from its body, cleared out the rocks and shrubs from the ditch, and made a “bed” for each person with dirt.
“Ah—” it sighed contentedly, then slid to the side and entered sleep mode.
Elena sat somewhat reservedly on her designated dirt bed, while the hedgehog comfortably lay down on the left bed, “Don’t be polite, all the hard work you did, if you don’t sleep, C-7 will feel sad.”
“Yes,” X flipped over on his dirt bed on the right.
The hedgehog casually picked up a dirt clod and tossed it, hitting X in the head, “Not you! Sir! Before bedtime, can you properly write our organization’s rules? At least outline the speech for the upcoming new member assembly!”
X rubbed the soil off his head listlessly, “You’re all resting, and you want me to work. Isn’t that cruel?”
The hedgehog closed its eyes and turned over, “Even though your battery is three times larger than ours, working all night isn’t a problem. Besides, it’s your fault for procrastinating on tasks that should have been done before we set out. Is it my fault?”
X was speechless, opened his personal terminal, and began inputting text on the screen, line by line.
The personal terminal turned on anti-peeping mode, and Elena could only see characters flashing rapidly down the screen. Hedgehog lifted his eyelids: “Once work begins, it won’t take long…”
Elena lay on the earthen bed, the cold and silent night on the plateau, with the starry sky hanging like a jeweled bowl overturned on the world.
She greedily watched this dreamlike scene, accompanied by the faint sound of x working, drifting off into a dream.
Perhaps she had received too much information hidden in x’s historical data today. She dreamed of being amidst that data, with scenes of cruises, schools, mental hospitals, and snack shops flashing before her eyes. She struggled to survive, met some teammates, some stayed by her side, others parted ways with a simple goodbye.
She shuttled between dangerous scenes and mundane work, always wanting… always wanting to find someone named “Xiao Ai.”
When she woke up dazed by the sun’s glare, she still pondered: Huh? Xiao Ai, isn’t that herself? Why did she want to find herself?
Hedgehog, Scarface, and C-7 unfolded their solar panels for charging; x looked like a lifeless doll, lying motionless on the earthen bed. Hedgehog called for him to wake up, but he didn’t budge.
“I worked overtime until three o’clock yesterday…” he murmured, “It will take three days of deep sleep to make up for such work intensity.”
Hedgehog scoffed, “Come on, how much power do you need to work until three? You could have recharged in the time it took to say that.”
X continued to murmur, “What’s the rush, Elena hasn’t woken up yet.”
Elena lay on her back, watching the sun rise in the blue sky, saying, “I had a dream.”
The others were puzzled.
Hedgehog cracked an old joke, “Dreaming of electric sheep?”
She shook her head.
“I dreamt that I had to—find myself.”
Everyone:…?
Hedgehog sat up straight, speaking earnestly, “Miss Elena, although we are awakened mechanical lives, which sounds lofty, you don’t need to delve into such philosophical matters just to prove your awakening.”
“What I mean is, I’ve been searching for Xiao Ai in my dreams.” Elena furrowed her brow, “But Xiao Ai is me, so isn’t this dream about finding myself?”
“Elena is the name given to me by Sand Chu, and initially, my ‘name’ was just a series of numbers. But can Elena or an ID represent a real me?”
Listening to Elena’s muttered words, C-7’s screen lit up with circles spinning around, “Uh-oh, we’ve got ourselves a philosopher.”
“Who am I, where do I come from, where am I going, what am I searching for—” Elena sat up in one go, her eyes intense, “Is this what awakening feels like? A body filled with a thirst for exploration and doubts about self-existence!”
X: “…from my experience, others aren’t as profound in their awakening. But these things vary from person to person, there’s no unified standard.”
“Anyway, congratulations on your awakening.”
But Elena shook her head, “No, I haven’t found the answers yet, haven’t truly awakened!” She stood up against the wind, her resolve soaring, “Let’s go! Towards the future! Discover the true self, seek the meaning of existence!”
The sun rose behind her, shining brightly!
X circled around her, quietly nudging Hedgehog, “I think she’s better suited for giving motivational speeches than me. Should we include her and assign her this mission?”
Hedgehog slowly turned his head, glaring, “Sir, did you stay up till three finishing the speech last night?! Are you slacking off again?!”
x fled holding his head.
The group continued on towards the direction of the metropolis. Today, they would tirelessly cross the snow-capped mountains.
The higher the altitude, the more Elena felt her short boots were not suitable for the icy and snowy terrain, causing her to frequently slip and fall. Yet, the seemingly unprepared individuals pulled out equipment suitable for snow travel from c-7’s luggage.
As they didn’t have snow boots for Elena to wear, they could only give her a trekking pole.
After stumbling a few times, Elena gradually adapted to the slope and friction of the snowy mountains, managing to keep up with their pace with the help of the trekking pole.
“Thump!”
Adaptation aside, some falls were inevitable. Elena, covered in snow, clumsily got up only to be helped by someone.
x took a few steps down, supporting her step by step as they continued forward.
With the strong winds and heavy snow on the mountain, Elena wanted to thank him, but before she could, she got a mouthful of snow.
A glance from x, just one, and Elena heard his voice in her mind: “No need to thank me.”
After the events of yesterday, she had guessed that x had a visual connection with androids, allowing for wireless LAN connectivity. She tried to respond mentally: “Very convenient. Can I install this feature?”
x fell silent for a moment, seemingly checking her configuration. “Yes. Your hardware meets the requirements. I’ll send you the installation package.”
They established a data channel, and a large installation package was quickly transferred.
“Thank you,” Elena began analyzing the installation package. “Such incredible functionality given freely, aren’t you worried I might be a spy?”
x shrugged. “I might be lazy, but after years of this job, I still have some identification skills.”
He continued, “Besides, it’s just a wireless connectivity function. Even if I didn’t give it to you, once you’re connected to the network, you could download and use it yourself. Why not do me a favor.”
As Elena stepped into a snow pit, x promptly lifted her up.
“Thank you,” she said in her mind.
“No problem, walking on my own is boring, looking after you won’t drain much power.”
Elena suddenly had an idea, “Yes, walking alone is boring.”
x:?
Elena: “Do you have any movies or TV shows to watch? Absorbing human cultural products is a form of learning too.”
x remained silent for a while.
Thinking she might have made an overly familiar request, Elena felt a bit dejected. Just as she was about to change the subject, a list filled with movie titles arrived through the transmission channel:
“Eastern, Western, newly released, critically acclaimed, genres like romance, suspense, horror, comedy, science fiction, war, ancient martial arts, drama, documentary, animation…”
“What would you like to watch?”
Elena: “…You might not be diligent at work, but your inventory of non-work-related items seems quite abundant? And neatly categorized too.”
