C119.2 — [5.14 — False Them]

Even after assembling a large amount of bionic human consciousness data, it led to the complete death of many bionic humans with fragile chips that couldn’t withstand the process of uploading consciousness data.

The intelligence of this half-baked AI still couldn’t reach the level of being able to think on its own, like the bionics created by humans.

Thus ultimately failing after causing a nationwide blackout chaos.
 

Actually, in the original, this stage didn’t come as quickly.

It was strange to say the least; obviously, in this world, after he became the major shareholder of Paradise Technology Company, he started to obstruct the actions of the Resistance.

In the past two days, he had even cut off the source of their supplies because the object of punishment had been injured.

As a result, the resistance army that was oppressed by the crisis had thus stimulated their potential, instead causing them to progress even faster.

Jiu Shu had a slight headache as he thought about it.
 

It seemed that the inertia of the plot was strong.

Jiu Shu’s fingertips flicked on the guitar as his mind wandered, no longer looking at Seven Two.
 

Instead, Seven Two looked at Jiu Shu on the stage in a daze, his face reddening with excitement.

The Resistance’s plan was about to succeed.

If it worked, then humans and bionics would be two races that could coexist.
 

Everything would be as good as it was in the golden age of the last century.

Humans and bionics would love each other without any problems.

Jiu Shu didn’t pay attention to Seven Two, who was caught up in his fantasy.
 

His performance soon came to an end, and he smiled at the reluctant audience before exiting holographic mode.

Removing the headset from his ears and loosening the guitar strings in his hands, Jiu Shu’s slender fingertips flushed red.
 

It wasn’t good that his skin was getting more delicate and sensitive.

Looking at the sky, Jiu Shu knew that Zero Three was probably already waiting for him downstairs, so he didn’t linger too long and simply packed up neatly before heading out the door.

But what he didn’t expect was that Zero Three wasn’t waiting downstairs but was waiting at the door.

“……”

Standing not far from the doorway, Zero Three also seemed to feel that this approach of his appeared too eager.
 

Facing Jiu Shu, his gaze flickered somewhat embarrassedly.

Dropping his eyes to look at the large bouquet of paper roses in his hands, he was silent for a moment before explaining, “The lift, it’s broken.”

Although the relationship guides all said that one should maintain a certain sense of distance on the first date so as to appear decent, Zero Three didn’t want Jiu Shu to climb the stairs the hard way.

This flat was a full twenty floors high.

It would be exhausting.

Dancing and performing were already tiring. Zero Three hoped that the evening’s date wouldn’t at least make Jiu Shu more tired.

Jiu Shu looked at Zero Three and suddenly burst out laughing.

Hearing Jiu Shu’s laughter, Zero Three fell more and more silent, seemingly nervous.

Until Jiu Shu walked next to him and looked up at him.

Jiu Shu could tell that what Zero Three craved most at this moment was his appreciation, so he didn’t mince words.

“Thank you for coming to pick me up; it’s really troublesome that the lift is broken; it’s good to have you.”

Looking at Jiu Shu’s gaze filled with dependence, Zero Three’s fingers on his side tightened, and the tips of his ears flushed red.

“…… It’s fine.” Zero Three’s voice was low.

Jiu Shu could see the shyness in his eyes but had no intention of stopping.
 

He reached out and took the roses in Zero Three’s arms.

There were a hundred roses, each brightly coloured like real flowers.

Squeezing one next to the other in his arms, they filled Jiu Shu’s embrace.

“It’s really pretty, thanks.”

Jiu Shu looked at the roses in his arms, his beautiful pupils filled with the shadows of the flowers.

Zero Three looked at Jiu Shu, who had a surprised expression. The satisfaction spreading in his heart filled him with happiness.

That was the satisfaction of being needed by one’s beloved that the job of hunting bionics could not bring.
 

It was enough to bury all his previous concerns about their identities.

Only after admiring the roses did Jiu Shu raise his eyes to look at Zero Three.

Locking eyes with Zero Three’s pitch-black pupils until Zero Three blushed and lowered his eyes.

It was only then that Jiu Shu suddenly said, “But since the lift is broken, can I trouble you to carry me down?”

This was a request that sounded unreasonable.

But from the gentle tone of Jiu Shu’s voice, it came out as a matter of course.

One couldn’t afford to feel a trace of resentment.

“…… Hmm.”

Zero Three froze for a moment, then nodded and crouched down with his back to Jiu Shu.

Every move was so well-behaved that it seemed as if he wouldn’t refuse any request from Jiu Shu.
 

Although he couldn’t tell if he liked him or not on the surface, Jiu Shu knew that Zero Three was very happy right now.

Jiu Shu held the roses and placed his white jade-like arm onto Zero Three’s shoulder, then whispered in Zero Three’s ear, “Alright.”

Light as a feather sweeping over his ear.

The tip of Zero Three’s ear that wasn’t covered by his short hair became even redder.

“Hmm.”

He gave a seemingly calm hmmm and carried Jiu Shu.

Only he himself knew how violent his heartbeat was at this moment.

The height of twenty floors was nothing to Zero Three.

The human on his back was even lighter than the unknown amount of bionic human corpses that he usually had to carry.

Logically speaking, his heart shouldn’t have jumped so fast at all.

So fast that he felt his breathing become heavy.

Especially when Jiu Shu leaned his chin against the nape of his neck in boredom and his breath hit his cheek, the rose-like fragrance made Zero Three unable to resist looking at Jiu Shu.

Jiu Shu was relaxing with lightly narrowed eyes, and when he saw Zero Three’s gaze, he arched his eyebrows and smiled softly.

It was the sincere human smile that Zero Three had longed for the most in the past.

Zero Three stared blankly for a while before withdrawing his gaze.

The roots of his ears reddened, and he didn’t dare to look at Jiu Shu again.

He actually wanted to explain the previous misunderstanding of the long-term friend to Jiu Shu.

But at this ambiguous moment, it didn’t seem appropriate to say it.

Let’s talk about it later.

He’d make it clear to Jiu Shu that he didn’t have that kind of intention of coveting his body.

“Do you want to come to my house after the amusement park later? To take a rest.”
 

Jiu Shu’s voice, with a smile, was clear, with the youthful characteristic of a young person.
 

The fingers placed in front of Zero Three’s neck intentionally swept over the knot in his throat.
“……”

Zero Three’s hand resting in the crook of Jiu Shu’s leg stiffened a little.

He should refuse.

After all, by the time they left the amusement park, it would be very late, and going to Jiu Shu’s house to rest would basically be the same as doing that kind of thing by default.

“Don’t want to go?”

Jiu Shu’s smile dissipated, and he sighed, his tone of voice sinking.

“I want to go… ”
 

Zero Three replied subconsciously.
 

Afterwards, Zero Three stopped talking amidst Jiu Shu’s light laughter.
 

Sluggishly, he finally realised that Jiu Shu was teasing him.
 

But he didn’t seem to have any intention of trying to resist.

Just like that, he carried Jiu Shu on his back all the way down.

He was silent, but a soft light shone in his drooping eyes.

It was a great contrast to the indifference and coldness of the past few days.
Emotions of shyness and joy were intertwined in his heart.
These emotions, which originally didn’t belong to a bionic human like him, made his heart beat ever faster.

For a moment, he actually wished that this staircase could become longer.

But eventually, he reached the bottom of the building.
The amusement park that Jiu Shu had booked was located at the edge of the uptown area and was a moderately priced amusement park.

It wasn’t far from here, and the two of them could walk there.
 

 

After going downstairs, Jiu Shu seemed to have forgotten that he could come down now.
 

Zero Three didn’t remind him either.

Instead, he just carried on, with the young human idol behind him.

 

It was like the human couples he’d seen on TV before—intimate.

Bodies were pressed against each other, and they could feel the temperature of each other’s skin.

Along the way, there were also many couples walking together in company.

Occasionally, there were also those who carried their lovers on their backs, just like Zero Three.

Therefore, Zero Three and Jiu Shu were not considered notable.

After all, this road led to the amusement park, and every holiday, there were many couples going on dates.
 

Of course, some who only had a physical relationship were also included.

Zero Three didn’t know what kind of relationship he was currently considered to have with Jiu Shu.
 

But he knew that he was in love with Jiu Shu.

He was so in love that he couldn’t help himself.

Then why did Jiu Shu tease him just now?

Zero Three didn’t know.

Maybe there was a bit of love there too.

It wasn’t his human delusions; Jiu Shu really did like him.

Though it was a liking that was only there because he hid his bionic identity, to Zero Three, it was a blessing that he could look back on for the rest of his life.

Being able to be cared for by humans was the greatest fortune for bionics.

Zero Three didn’t want to worry about it for the time being; he just wanted to enjoy the time he had with Jiu Shu.

“Here we are; put me down.”

Jiu Shu patted Zero Three’s broad and sturdy shoulder.

Zero Three, who was tall in stature, looked even taller and stronger when put together with him.

Jiu Shu’s gaze swept over Zero Three’s ever-reddened ears, a smile at the corner of his mouth.
 

Only then did he set his eyes on the park in front of him.

Located at the junction of the Upper City and the Lower City, this park wasn’t considered high-end.
Many residents of the Upper City didn’t bother coming here.
 

However, it had become a gateway for many residents of the lower city to experience life in the upper city, feeling as if entering here would allow them to obtain the extravagant and wealthy days that the upper city had.
 

“Let’s go to the Ferris wheel.”
 

Jiu Shu pointed towards the tall Ferris wheel in the middle of the playground.
 

The Ferris wheel was nearly two hundred meters high and looked spectacular.
 

The neon lights that wrapped around the Ferris wheel’s cockpit flashed with a muddy, eye-catching light at night.
 

It was said that couples who kissed while sitting at the highest point of the Ferris wheel could be together forever.

Could he and Jiu Shu be considered a couple now?

“Then what do you think we count as?”

“Couple ……”

Zero Three swallowed his words back.

Somewhat uneasily, he looked at Jiu Shu’s smirking face.

He shouldn’t have said it out loud.
 

Zero Three kind of suspected that Jiu Shu had the ability to read minds.

Jiu Shu looked into Zero Three’s frightened dodgy eyes and helplessly lost his smile, casually buying two cones from the stall next to him.

This overly shy object of discipline needed a little prompting to get it right.

“Taste it.”

Zero Three glanced at the couples’ package written on the stall and took the cone, his fingers trembling slightly.

When the answer appeared close at hand, he was a little afraid to try it.

 

Now that he thought about it, if it was just a long-term friend relationship, according to what the internet said, there shouldn’t be too many intimate conversations or mannerisms other than bedtime activities.
 

But Jiu Shu was different; he was gentle with him from start to finish.

He was so gentle that it made the delusion in Zero Three’s heart grow until it was about to explode.

The amusement park was filled with couples holding hands and laughing.

Zero Three looked at them for a while, and his gaze turned to Jiu Shu, who was walking on his side.
 

Then, for the first time, Zero Three took the initiative to extend his hand and carefully hold onto Jiu Shu’s fingers.

Jiu Shu’s palm had a warm softness that was different from bionics.

The touch when the fingers were interlocked was extraordinarily warm.

Jiu Shu removed half of his mask; his pale red tongue licked over the cone, then he glanced at Zero Three, who didn’t dare look at himself at his side, and returned the grip.

 

Zero Three’s body stiffened, his original calm demeanour collapsed, and when he looked down at Jiu Shu, his eyes were full of bright light that he couldn’t hide.

If it weren’t for the fact that the new model of bionic human didn’t have the function of glowing eyes, Jiu Shu would almost think that Zero Three’s eyes were really glowing.

Jiu Shu couldn’t hold back his smile and reach out his hand to gesture for Zero Three to lower his head.

Zero Three was unsure, but the next moment he felt something cold and soft touch his cheek.

The lips that had just eaten ice cream were cool and smooth.

With the aroma of vanilla ice cream.

Zero Three froze in place, his expression going from blank to blushing cheeks.
 

The emotion control system was almost in full control, but fortunately, the quality of the new model was still okay, and Zero Three eventually calmed down.
 

He was silent as he continued to walk with Jiu Shu with their fingers clasped tightly together, but he inexplicably gave off a feeling of shyness like a young wife.

When Jiu Shu didn’t notice, Zero Three looked towards the distant ferris wheel, and in his mind, he had already planned out when he should confess.

According to the online relationship guide, one should confess when the ferris wheel is at its highest point; that way, one could kiss in passing.

It was just that he hadn’t prepared a gift, which was a bit bad.
 

The roses had already been given to Jiu Shu; now where to find a new gift as a courtship gift?

Zero Three was in a dilemma.

And at this moment, someone was conducting a street interview not far from them.

A, a college student dressed in fashionable clothes, obviously dressed as a uptowner, was making his own interview videos.

He was very good at capturing social hotspots, and most of his videos used various eye-catching and controversial topics to ask questions, so he had gained quite a few fans on video websites.

Since his fans were all interested in people’s reactions, they couldn’t be gripped by any content that wasn’t exciting enough.

His channel became more and more aggressive.
 

This time, he even made a special trip to the amusement park that the people in the lower city often came to, ready to satisfy the curiosity of the people in the upper city and their desire to look down from above.
 

“Come see that one! He looks pretty good; hurry up and follow him over for an interview!” College student A was searching around for someone to interview.

Having interviewed a few couples just now, the process was boring, as the overly nonchalant questions pissed the viewers off.
 

But that wasn’t enough.
 

 

More excitement was needed to make it work.
 

Recently, the channel’s hit rate had been declining, and he was anxious.

If it continued like this, the dream of staying in Uptown during graduation would be dashed, so he had to work harder.

After seeing Jiu Shu’s side face with the mask on, he thought that this must be a beauty.
 

If you’re out on a date and you’re wearing a mask, there must be something hidden.

The tall man next to him also had a wonderful and harmonious feeling when paired with Jiu Shu, which was very eye-catching at first glance.

As soon as he thought of it, he jogged to stop the two men in their tracks.
 

“Excuse me, sir, can I delay you for a little while for an interview?”
 

“It won’t take long! May I ask what you think about bionics? Please watch this video!”
 

He spoke like a bullet, and without waiting for Jiu Shu to agree, he clicked on a video.

Inside was a somewhat gory image, but not so gory upon closer inspection.

Because the image was just a disassembled bionic man, not a human.

The limbs and torso were placed together, and the head was placed at the other end of the screen.

The bionic man’s head, with obvious signs of mechanisation, was giving a forced smile to the camera.

This was a very old model of a bionic man.

“This is a video that has recently become very popular in the uptown area; it is said to be a bionic human star that was very popular in the last century; can you recognise it?”

Although nominally a star, after experiencing the radiance of time, the bionic man in the video no longer had a past star’s glamorous appearance; even the essence in his eyes had been dulled.
 

He had obviously experienced the cruel torture of human beings.

It was the male protagonist from the film he had seen before.
 

The male lead, who was running towards a happy future with the female lead.

 

 

As Zero Three watched the video, his pupils dilated, and his eyes became hollow.
 

It turned out that the so-called happy future was just illusory.
 

“……”

Jiu Shu looked at the video, and before he could say anything, he suddenly glanced at the object of discipline beside him.
 

“Are you okay?” Jiu Shu took Zero Three’s arm with concern.

Zip-
 

ZiZi–
 

The world in front of Zero Three’s eyes continued to distort, becoming grotesque and ghastly like the world of a mentally ill human.
 

Zip-zip-zip.

He wanted to say that he was fine to Jiu Shu, who was full of worry, but a roaring sound began to continuously ring in his ears.

It was a little hard to distinguish between reality and illusion.
 

It was as if his consciousness was split into two parts, each part being himself and each part not being his complete self.
 

Even the lights in the playground began to dim and flicker for unknown reasons.
 

Somewhere in the distant lower city.
 

Inside the Resistance stronghold, the crowd watched the activating AI with nervousness.
 

“The mental fluctuations are strengthening! It’s succeeding! We’re almost there!”
 

Being bionics, they would be creating their own creation as well!

The crowd couldn’t help but look excited.
 

Zigzag: The sound of electricity intensified.
 

The giant mechanical brain located in the centre of the stronghold was connected to the circuitry of the entire stronghold and would also automatically connect to the network of the entire city, and even the entire country, upon success.

The artificial intelligence that was set to evolve from the very beginning of its design would be an intelligent being that could learn and evolve itself.
 

It would be able to control everything in the cyber world, whether it was the factory that made the bionics or the entire city, the army of mankind, all of them included.
 

And It would fear the Bionics as much as the Bionics feared the humans, following the Bionics’ commands and seizing a piece of equal ground for them in human society.
 

Thinking of this, the crowd was thrilled, looking forward to seeing the scene of the birth of artificial intelligence.
 

However, they were destined to be disappointed.
 

“Zero Three, wake up; let’s go take a rest.”
 

As Jiu Shu’s soft voice rang out, Zero Three finally broke free from the trance he had just been in, his pitch-black eyes refocusing.
 

The AI in the Resistance stronghold lost control of his consciousness and regained its calm.
 

The lights in the amusement park also returned to normal.
 

“What the hell! This broken playground, it’s time to fix it! How can the voltage still be unstable these days?”
 

The college student really wanted to curse; the images recorded just now were all ruined by the disturbed lights.
 

After complaining about the amusement park, college student A saw Jiu Shu turn around to leave and hurriedly stopped them, and Zero Three beside Jiu Shu was also stopped.
 

“Hey, you guys, don’t go. Ah, you haven’t answered the question yet. Say a few more words, this gentleman, why are you wearing a mask?”

 

 

“Could it be that there are scars on your face? You’re ugly, so you don’t dare show people?”

Jiu Shu frowned slightly, avoiding the college student’s palm reaching towards his mask.
 

Zero Three moved in front of Jiu Shu.
 

The college student was a little afraid of Zero Three’s size but couldn’t help but continue, “What are you stopping me for? I’m just simply interviewing. I want to ask you guys what you think about bionics, and if either of you were in fact bionics, would you still be with each other?”

 

 

“Hey, you still have a bandage on your hand. I heard recently that there are bionics hiding their identities by covering the codes on their wrists. What do you think?”
 

Saying that, the college student tried to untie the bandage on Zero Three’s wrist.

The fingers had even touched the bandage, and the code underneath the bandage was revealed.

“!!!”

The pupils of Zero Three, who was already mentally unstable, dilated and grew darker.

About to be discovered.

He was about to be discovered!

It had been so hard to make it this far, so hard to be with Jiu Shu.

What would he do if his identity was discovered?

Can’t! It couldn’t be discovered!

It absolutely couldn’t be discovered!
 

The curse of the rebel bionic echoed in Zero Three’s ears, cursing him to lose everything after revealing his identity.
 

If Zero Three had never gotten it, he might have been able to lose it openly.
 

But now, losing everything just moments before he was about to get it all and was about to confess, he simply couldn’t accept it.
 

“Why are you so nervous? Is there really something fishy going on?”

Looking at Zero Three’s gloomy expression, A, who had only been tentatively unwrapping the bandage, became curious and directly and nonchalantly tried to grab the bandage on Zero Three’s wrist.
 

Zero Three was a bionic human who was loyal to humans in his bones.

In the face of a human’s request, he shouldn’t and couldn’t refuse, but this time, for the first time, he wanted to refuse.

Bang-!!!
 

The amusement park was plunged into a stretching darkness.
 

Countless people screamed.
 

College student A unceremoniously cursed, feeling that it was really bad luck.
 

“What kind of shitty amusement park is this? It stopped again in such a short while… Ahhh!!!”
 

The playground’s age-old power lines fell down, hitting college student A squarely.
 

 

Amidst the sound of electricity, he wailed in pain.

“What happened?”

Everything happened in a flash of light, and Jiu Shu took a step forward with some curiosity.

But he was stopped by Zero Three.

“It seems like the power is out; it’s dark here; be careful.” Zero Three gathered Jiu Shu carefully in his embrace.

Jiu Shu nodded and touched Zero Three’s arm.
 

“Are you alright?”
 

The object of discipline’s mental state was very off just now.

“I’m fine.” Zero Three’s voice was deep and calm as usual.

“Was someone injured next to you?” Jiu Shu asked as he listened to the fading screams in his ears.

“It seems like it; I can’t see clearly. Let’s quickly get out of here.” Zero Three’s voice still carried the weakness that had not dissipated earlier.
 

Jiu Shu raised his arm in concern.
 

Zero Three obediently hugged Jiu Shu, his force tightening as if he were extremely insecure.
 

However, in a place where Jiu Shu couldn’t see, Zero Three only focused on Jiu Shu’s expression which was full of concern.
 

His gaze was almost greedy.

When he looked around, his pitch-black pupils reflected the agonised face of A lying on the ground next to him.
 

As a bionic human, he should have gone to help the human

But all Zero Three had on his face at this moment was a slowly curved mouth with a twisted smile.
 

There would be no more noise after he fell.

What he was hiding would never be revealed.
 

Even if it were only illusory, Jiu Shu would only ever be his.

Forever.

 

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