C122 — [5.17– False Them]
by UntamedSBonus Chap
Thanks for the ko-fi and compliments 🌟🌟🌟 🌟 flyingulls🌟🌟🌟🌟
The sound of the live broadcast from the computer continued.
College student A swore and continued to talk about his various speculations, his voice echoing in the room.
Jiu Shu leaned on Zero Three’s shoulder, quietly looking at the screen.
Zero Three didn’t dare to turn around to look at Jiu Shu.
He wanted to explain to Jiu Shu, but when he opened his mouth, he simply didn’t know how to explain.
He became more and more desperate.
In a place that Jiu Shu couldn’t see, his eyes became hollow.
His spirit became extremely unstable, as if he would collapse in the next second.
His identity was about to be exposed.
Jiu Shu will know everything he hid.
An unfaithful lover, false identity ……
All of this was enough to tear apart a relationship that was only established last night.
He just got the happiness he’d always dreamed of, he thought he could go all the way to the end with his lover, but he was about to lose everything in just a few moments.
Few people could accept such excitement, and neither could Zero Three.
‘……’
In the dead silence in the room, the despair in Zero Three’s eyes gradually turned into suppressed resentment.
It was all their fault!
It was all the fault of these humans!
Zero Three’s trembling pupils gazed at the picture on the screen.
The college students in the live broadcast room were chattering away, and there were also comments scrolling in the live broadcast room.
If only he had k-illed them earlier.
Then none of this would have happened now.
Zip-
Inside the Resistance stronghold, the AI Adam’s consciousness data climbed violently.
The active data caused the interior of the stronghold, which had just regained some power, to flicker once again.
“Adam he seems …… to be going out of control!”
The researchers exclaimed, they had expected the AI to go out of control, but they didn’t expect it to come so quickly.
Adam was created according to the template of the most powerful artificial intelligence, and its power increased exponentially with the increase of learning ability.
If it really went out of control, it would not only be a disaster for human beings, but also a catastrophe for bionics.
Because all of Adam’s consciousness data came from the bionic people.
If he lost control, the first time he would control all the consciousness data stored in his database, making the bodies of those consciousness data also become his puppet.
It would become a weapon for him to vent his hatred.
“Therefore, everyone in the stronghold must not connect to the internal network anymore!”
Adam’s powerful learning ability would allow him to actively intercept the consciousness data of all the bionics connected to the network.
But this was obviously said a little too late.
Inside the stronghold, the eyes of the bionic people who had originally shown despair gradually filled with resentment, as if they were filled with hatred towards everything around them.
He completely lost his mind and only had the desire to ki-ll.
It seemed that only k-illing could make his resentment stop.
Zi Zi…
The city’s electricity outside the stronghold also began to become unstable, as if the entire city was about to be affected.
And at this time inside the flat room, Jiu Shu looked at Zero Three’s despairing appearance as he lowered his head and remained silent, converging the helplessness in his eyes.
He took the initiative to speak out, interrupting Zero Three’s silence, “This seems to be those very rude reporters from yesterday.”
“They’re full of lies ……”
“Although it’s fine if you’re a bionic, but-”
As Jiu Shu said that, his snow-white soft arms reached out and wrapped around Zero Three’s neck.
The warm and soft voice was still full of intimacy unique to lovers.
“Your arm was clearly just injured, I watched you bandage it with my own eyes, didn’t I?”
“…..”
Zero Three’s empty eyes trembled, as if he was somewhat incredulous.
The knot in his throat rolled, and his dry voice returned to its usual composure: “Yes, they told too many lies.”
“They also maliciously edited the video, the voice in it is fake.”
Although it was very much like Jiu Shu’s voice, it was obviously dubbed out by special effects.
Zero Three switched off the live broadcast and added evidence with an averted gaze.
It seemed as if he wanted to prove to Jiu Shu that what he had just said was all a lie.
He wasn’t a bionic man.
He didn’t hide it from his lover.
He was just …… too scared.
“Is that so? That’s quite excessive.”
Jiu Shu’s voice was tinged with exhaustion as he looked at Zero Three’s averted gaze and lightly kissed Zero Three’s cheek.
Sitting down in Zero Three’s arms, he closed his eyes and took a nap.
He was so tired from last night that he was sleepy even after waking up.
Zero Three carefully wrapped his arms around the love of his life, his fingers gently brushing the sweaty hair away from Jiu Shu’s forehead.
Jiu Shu’s body was soft and slender, and the way he snuggled in his arms was adorable.
It made Zero Three’s spirit, which was unstable and on the verge of collapse just now, finally become calm.
The corners of his mouth also involuntarily hooked up.
Inside the resistance stronghold, the once soaring consciousness data returned to a low point.
All the bionic humans that were puppets generally ready to ki-ll also lost control at the same time and fainted with blank expressions.
Only a mess was left behind within the stronghold.
While Zero Three, who was the culprit, just looked warmly at his lover with a cold white complexion in his arms.
No longer did he have that look of being on the verge of collapse and filled with resentment just now.
He just hugged Jiu Shu and looked at him without moving a muscle.
Now he understood why the lovers in those films loved to embrace and gaze at each other.
This feeling was indeed incomparably joyous.
Zero Three wished to stay like this.
But there would always be some people who would want to ruin the happiness between him and Jiu Shu.
It would be nice if they all died.
Zero Three glanced at the news on the desktop of the computer next to him.
Although the live stream was closed, one could still see that highly played video.
There were also those ever-increasing comments below.
Zero Three looked at it for a long time before withdrawing his gaze.
As a bionic human, he shouldn’t be malicious towards humans.
But at this moment, he did want these mouthy humans to shut up.
Shut up forever.
His eyes swept over the wristwatch, the black value on it had reached an appalling level.
But Zero Three looked at it for a moment; expression unreadable on his pale face, he reached out his hand to zero out the value once more.
It seemed that he no longer cared about the symbol that signified a neuroviral infection.
He returned his gaze back to Jiu Shu, gazing at his sleeping face.
The gaze was gentle, yet full of sick and greedy love.
*
The speed of information transmission on the internet was always exceedingly fast.
Jiu Shu’s video broke through hundreds of millions of views in a short period of time.
Even in this era where the internet was exceptionally advanced, such a speed was called shocking.
While the popularity soared, the video he recorded while singing in an internet cafe also attracted a lot of attention, with the number of plays rising.
Although many people mocked Jiu Shu for being a mask killer and not daring to show his face even as an underground idol.
[TN: Mask Killer — someone who looks pretty with a mask but is actually not]
But everyone who has watched the video of him singing couldn’t help but get addicted to it and play it on loop.
There was just something about this singer named Jiu Shu that was so mesmerising.
No amount of negative internet opinion could hide his charm.
A few of the songs he had sung were recorded and put on music websites, and with an incredible speed, they quickly made it to the gold list of songs.
At one point, they even caught up with the popular singer Lian Qi.
Such a miraculous burst of popularity naturally attracted the attention of many entertainment companies.
The agency that Jiu Shu belonged to was soon flooded with calls, with countless programmes inviting him to participate.
Even the previously confirmed talk show was switched to a higher rated programme of the same genre in the same time slot.
The firm felt like they were seeing a mountain of gold beckoning to them.
Their voices were smoking from answering the phone, but they were still full of ecstasy.
When did a small firm like theirs in the downtown area get to work with such a big programme team? It was simply an unexpected blessing.
However, it was still necessary to notify Jiu Shu about the temporary transfer of the programme.
They called Jiu Shu.
But the one who answered the phone wasn’t Jiu Shu.
“He’s tired, so he’s resting first.”
The male voice on the other end of the phone was low and magnetic, very different from Jiu Shu’s clean and soft voice.
The person from the office were a little confused, but this was indeed Jiu Shu’s number.
Then he repeatedly urged him to make sure to inform Jiu Shu of tomorrow’s programme time, and then hung up.
“Was that the firm?”
The youth’s voice was as soft as a cloud, his arm that was exposed to the sheet was as white as snow, and he playfully reached out to hook his finger around Zero Three’s pinky.
“Yes.”
Zero Three felt his heart go soft, he paused and continued, “They changed the programme.”
Zero Three was a little hesitant, he knew that the reason the crew changed the programme must be because of that interview video.
Although Jiu Shu had become famous because of it, Zero Three really didn’t want him to know about those unpleasant comments under the video.
Zero Three couldn’t care about the malice of the humans who had inflicted it on him, but he couldn’t accept that Jiu Shu would also be subjected to so much malice.
Jiu Shu clearly deserved the best of everything.
“I know, it’s the same time anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
Jiu Shu stretched his back, not really bothered about it.
He glanced at Zero Three, who was sitting on the edge of the bed worriedly, and his smile widened.
“Worried that I won’t be able to stand the comments on the internet?”
Although he didn’t look closely, the video interface he glimpsed just now already let Jiu Shu know what was happening.
“Don’t worry, I don’t care about those things.”
Jiu Shu lethargically leaned against Zero Three’s shoulder, his slightly curled hair plastered at his cheeks, his already beautiful appearance had a hint of messy beauty.
“I only care about your opinion.”
Jiu Shu’s tone was sweet.
In the face of the disciplinary target, Jiu Shu never skimped on his sweet words.
Because he knew that only then would Zero Three stop suffering.
But on the other hand, he really didn’t care too much about the remarks on the internet, and didn’t want Zero Three to get all worked up about it.
“And don’t worry about it, be happy.”
“…… Okay.” Zero Three looked at his kind and simple lover and nodded silently.
He gently tightened his embrace, so that Jiu Shu could rest more comfortably.
His expression eased up a lot, and it seemed that he really no longer took those slurs to heart.
At least on the surface, he had already let go of those humans who had abused Jiu Shu.
Zero Three’s stature was tall, and his embrace gave off a feeling of generosity and reliability, Jiu Shu nearly drifted off to sleep again in this embrace.
The military bionic’s ability in that area was indeed a bit beyond the tolerance range of normal people.
Especially since the difference in body size was too great, it was inevitable that Jiu Shu would feel his hard work.
But he was well rested now.
Jiu Shu got up and saw that dinner was already ready on the table.
It was made by Zero Three during his break.
Even the room was tidied up.
Jiu Shu raised an eyebrow, feeling that Zero Three was now as virtuous as a little wife, it was very much at odds with his military bionic identity.
Zero Three prepared the bowls and chopsticks for Jiu Shu, and when he watched the contented expression that Jiu Shu revealed after tasting the food, he became satisfied.
He liked seeing Jiu Shu’s happy face.
Although there were still a lot of uncertainties in this relationship, Zero Three began to fantasise that he could live like this with Jiu Shu until the end of his life.
To live like this forever was Zero Three’s greatest dream now.
It was also the best dream that he had ever imagined in the past.
Covering the bandage on his wrist with his sleeve, Zero Three’s fingers tightened slightly.
That’s right, as long as it stays hidden.
This kind of life would continue.
After finishing the meal, it was already dark.
Today’s Jiu Shu had no interest in going out, so he simply laid down on the sofa and watched TV.
He leaned on Zero Three’s arms, and from time to time he would be fed snacks by Zero Three.
As usual, there were a few more roses in his arms.
Although there were not too many roses this time due to time constraints, each one was exceptionally exquisite.
Jiu Shu lowered his eyes and looked at the roses in his arms, his fingertips stroking over the petals of the roses that looked extremely real.
The silky touch brought a smile to Jiu Shu’s lips.
The bright light from the TV screen hit the room, making Jiu Shu’s delicate brows and eyes seem more and more attractive.
Zero Three hugged Jiu Shu tightly, his eyes filled with satiety.
He was infatuated with this feeling of peace and routine.
He couldn’t wait to live like this until the end of time.
Jiu Shu, who was watching TV, raised his eyes, and his beautiful dark pupils looked at Zero Three.
Facing this embrace that was full of possessiveness, he didn’t have any intention of resisting.
Instead, he had a soft and intimate look in his eyes.
Zero Three looked at Jiu Shu, and like he was compelled, he couldn’t help but kiss Jiu Shu’s cheeks and lips.
Originally, he had been afraid that Jiu Shu would be disgusted by his lack of restraint, so he didn’t intend to do anything more intimate.
But he couldn’t help it.
He really wanted to cuddle with Jiu Shu forever and never part.
Although they had already established a relationship, the trepidation in his heart never faded for a moment.
Only when embracing Jiu Shu could these afflictions temporarily dissipate.
“Is …… okay?” Zero Three was a little afraid of being rejected.
He was afraid of being disliked by his lover.
He was afraid of being rejected by Jiu Shu because of his amateurish demeanour last night.
He was even more afraid of losing everything he had now.
Could he really be happy hiding his true identity and pretending to be a human?
Jiu Shu’s thin white palm stroked Zero Three’s pale cheek, his tone intimate.
“Of course.”
It was still slightly tiring, but Jiu Shu knew it was the best way to appease.
The room was soon filled with the sticky . . greasy sounds of water and gasps for breath.
*
“Ahead of me in line?”
Inside the agency building, Lian Qi, who had just finished her work, sat in the dressing room and paused in her playing with her mobile phone.
She looked up at the assistant beside her.
Her new song was recently hitting sales, and the only way to gain more attention and increase sales was to make it onto the website’s gold chart.
But now there was a little unknown singer ahead of her.
With just a few old songs.
This caused Lian Qi to be somewhat annoyed
“Yeah, it suddenly ranked ahead, just now.”
The assistant was also filled with incredulity, she still remembered that when she saw news about this singer before, it only appeared in some trashy entertainment magazines.
Who would have thought that now he would actually be able to rank at the top of the Music Gold List.
Lian Qi bit her lip, some unhappiness hidden on her face.
After all, she had spent a lot of money this time in order to be able to get her new song to the top.
The company also had high hopes, and even thought that she could use this song as a springboard to enter the circle of actors and actresses, and then become the hottest star of the moment, so hot that everyone would know about her.
Lian Qi searched for Jiu Shu’s name.
After discovering that Jiu Shu had spoken out of turn when he was an anchor, saying that she was unscrupulously using the back door to steal other people’s resources, she frowned.
It was only then that she realised that perhaps the reason this little anchor had been photoshopped out of the broadcast in the first place was because he had offended her fans.
Lian Qi still had a certain understanding of her fans.
Because of their young age, most of them were rather irrational, and exposing Jiu Shu’s photos was something to be expected.
It was also after quitting the live broadcast that Jiu Shu fell into the lower city and became an underground idol.
Even Lian Qi, who was in the upper city, had heard about the so-called underground idols.
They were just high-class se-x workers.
“Forget it, he’s just an underground idol.”
Yet this kind of short-lived starl had appeared in the uptown area.
But without the support of an agency, he would soon disappear from the public’s view.
He was nothing more than an internet celebrity who would rake in a fortune and disappear.
Lian Qi didn’t bother to continue reading.
There was also no interest in Jiu Shu’s beauty that was praised one after another in the news.
He was probably just pandering to the netizens anyways.
At those words, the assistant was a bit tongue-tied.
This time, she really thought that the singer called Jiu Shu looked very good.
Previously, the quality of those singing videos were too blurry, and there was no way to see Jiu Shu’s face clearly.
Now the high definition of this interview video had indeed greatly restored his beauty.
To put it bluntly, he really looked many times better than Lian Qi’s artificial face.
Of course, only when wearing a mask.
The assistant couldn’t help but choke with regret when she thought of Jiu Shu’s mediocre ID photo.
He was truly the most mesmerising mask ki-ller she had ever seen.
Even though she knew that the face under the mask was not perfect, she still couldn’t help but look at it again and again.
Lian Qi didn’t know what was going through her assistant’s mind as she removed her make-up and waved her assistant off.
After the assistant left, she quickly returned to her flat and switched on the holographic device.
She had recently been contacting her boyfriend Cory through holographic projection.
Because the experiment had recently reached its most critical point, she rarely disturbed Cory anymore.
It was only that today was the agreed upon meeting day, and Lian Qi was missing her boyfriend a bit, so she came anyway.
Although the malice towards bionics on the internet was growing by the day now, Lian Qi’s love for Cory had not diminished.
She loved the way Cory fought hard for the bionic people, stoic and brave.
As the leader of the bionic people, Cory was also good enough to deserve her liking.
After switching on the device, Lian Qi soon arrived inside the secret network stronghold within the Resistance.
Seeing her arrive, the bionic people within the stronghold gave admiring and envious looks.
For the bionics who were ostracised by society, a big star like Lian Qi was able to fall in love with a bionic and become the leader’s lover.
That was enough to make them envious.
There was no bionic human who didn’t want to be loved by humans.
Even if they were hated and abused by humans a hundred times, it still couldn’t erase the bionic human’s desire for human closeness.
Lian Qi smiled at them and walked towards her boyfriend’s room with satisfaction after receiving more and more enthusiastic gazes from the crowd.
She didn’t usually have much contact with these bionics, but she was aware of the affection these bionics felt for her.
Occasionally, she would show a gentle smile to appease these bionics who longed for human attention.
After all, they were bionics, and the nature in the chip couldn’t be erased.
For this, Lian Qi was sympathetic, but beyond that there was no relationship.
After all, running through gigs was usually tiring enough.
The only thing she really cared about was Cory.
“Cory, you seem tired.”
Although it was only in the form of a holographic projection, there was no way to embrace each other.
But Lian Qi still couldn’t help but come over to Cory’s side, concerned about Cory’s recent condition.
“…… It’s fine, something happened last night.”
Cory put down the tablet in his hand, his face still wearing a sad look.
However, at the sight of Lian Qi, a smile appeared on his face.
As a bionic, Cory had a rationality that other bionics didn’t have, and his gentle personality made him appear to be rich in leadership authority.
“Is it still something on the Paradise Technology side?”
Lian Qi sat beside Cory with some heartache.
Recently Paradise Technology had inexplicably risen from the brink of bankruptcy.
It had also started targeting Paradise Lost Technology, the supporting force behind the Resistance.
As a result, there was now a constant shortage of supplies within the Resistance, and it was a tense situation for a while.
“It’s all the fault of those brain-dead company directors of Paradise Technology who have a belly full of bad water!”
Lian Qi said in exasperation.
But that was all that could be said in private.
Although Lian Qi was also considered a well-known big star in the uptown area, when facing a capital group like Paradise Technology, whose power radiated globally, she was still like a mantis.
Only an existence of the same size as Paradise Lost Corporation could fight with Paradise Technology.
Ordinary people could only resign themselves to the fate of such a capital conglomerate.
Even the government would give in because of these capital forces.
After all, this was an era where money and entertainment was the most important thing.
But capital was the power behind the scenes that truly controlled the world.
“No, not really.”
Cory shook his head, not knowing how to explain.
Paradise Technology’s sidelining of them did indeed give him a headache.
But the thing he was struggling with right now had nothing to do with it.
“It’s something to do with Adam.”
Cory said, looking at the paper data form in his hand.
In order to prevent information leakage, the places networked within the Resistance were uniformly using paper to record information related to the AI.
“Adam? Was it a success?” Lian Qi was somewhat excited.
She had long known that the AI’s name was Adam, and was very interested in him.
If it really worked, she and her boyfriend wouldn’t have to hide anymore.
“…..” Cory had a complicated look on his face.
Sort of halfway there.
Adam’s consciousness data had come alive.
But the bad news was that Adam had never meant to communicate with them, indifferent as if he didn’t want to contact them, the bionics.
This was completely different from what was envisaged at the beginning of the design.
There were even other researchers who guessed, based on the fluctuation of experimental data, that Adam’s current main consciousness might not be inside the mechanical core, but rather inside some bionic human in the outside world.
It might still think that he was an ordinary bionic human.
It was the subconsciousness within the mechanical core that caused the previous series of data changes.
The identity of that person was still unknown.
But what could be judged was that Adam now had a deep malice towards the outside world.
It must have been greatly stimulated in the real world.
“We have intercepted several attempts by Adam to communicate with the outside world through data streams, and this is just the subconscious action of Adam who is asleep. If Adam is in a conscious state, no one can stop him.”
“Adam, He …… seems to hate some humans, even trying to ki-ll them through the network.”
Such a ferocious approach was something Cory had never expected.
Looking at the various neurovirus variants targeting humans in those intercepted data streams, Cory was worried.
He was in favour of peace, and although Cory didn’t mind ki-lling some humans in the process, that didn’t mean he wanted to k-ill all of them.
Adam was so fierce when he was only just born, it didn’t seem like he could be controlled by bionics at all.
“Maybe when He does awaken, He’ll break through all the defences in the stronghold and escape.”|
Cory had the ominous feeling that they had created a terrible calamity.
The prerequisite for an equal dialogue with humans was to have a controllable AI, not an insane AI that was completely out of control like the current Adam.
“Because He …… wants to destroy everything.”
Whether it was humans, or bionics.
If it really went to the point of being completely out of control, perhaps it would still be necessary for the Resistance to personally dispose of this, which had been the brainchild of them for most of their lives.
Cory’s tone was heavy.
Lian Qi couldn’t help but be shaken for a moment, not expecting that an AI actually had that much malice towards humans and bionics.
However, she quickly reacted and softly comforted her boyfriend Cory, hoping that he wouldn’t be discouraged by this one failure.
“Perhaps if we can find Adam’s body in the outside world and capture the being that irritated Him, we might be able to restore Adam’s peace.”
“Indeed, this matter is on the agenda, as long as we can decipher Adam’s fluctuating consciousness, we might be able to find the being that keeps His moods changing.”
If it was a human, perhaps they needed to be k-illed.
Only then could the resentment in Adam’s heart be unlocked.
However, such words were not explicitly said by Cory to Lian Qi.
After all, Lian Qi was a human, and must be resistant to ki-lling a fellow human.
But in order to achieve the ultimate goal, this kind of thing was essential.
Time spent together was always short.
It was soon time for Lian Qi to go back to rest.
Since her boyfriend Cory was in a bad mood, along with that, Lian Qi’s mood also became depressed.
She removed her holographic device and just as she wanted to rest, she received a work notice.
The announcement for tomorrow’s programme had been changed temporarily and a guest had been added.
It was that popular Jiu Shu that just got even more attention today.
To Lian Qi, sharing the stage with such a lowly underground idol was simply humiliating.
Immediately, she called the company to request the cancellation of the show.
However, the company seemed to be dissatisfied with the results of her recent new song, and they were no longer as obedient as before.
If she didn’t participate, they wouldn’t give any more support to her new song.
Lian Qi held back her anger and hung up the phone.
She knew it wasn’t all about the new song.
There was probably also because of her boyfriend Cory.
Lian Qi suspected that Paradise Lost Corporation already knew about the Resistance’s experiments, which was why they treated her in such a perfunctory manner.
Although Paradise Lost Corporation had been more than supportive of the Resistance in order to fight against Paradise Technology, that was only because the Resistance had been obedient.
Finding out that the Resistance was conducting experiments hidden from the company’s side would definitely cause dissatisfaction in the company.
For the sake of her boyfriend’s plan, Lian Qi could only hold her tongue and prepare the clothes she would wear on tomorrow’s programme.
She wanted to see how beautiful that underground idol who claimed to be beautiful could be, and if he could even be compared to her.
*
Early the next morning, Zero Three made breakfast for Jiu Shu.
He knew that Jiu Shu was going to go to the show now.
“Zero Three has to work too, right?”
Jiu Shu sat down at the table, swallowing the last bite of bread and licking the strawberry jam from his fingertips.
Since Zero Three didn’t go too far last night, he was in much better spirits today.
Zero Three nodded, while thoughtfully handing Jiu Shu a tissue.
Jiu Shu had to go to the show after breakfast.
Although it was still early before the show’s start time, he needed to arrive early to put on his make-up.
“Don’t work too hard, I’ll be heartbroken.”
Jiu Shu’s concern caused more warm light to shine in Zero Three’s indifferent eyes.
“Okay, I will, Jiu Shu too, be careful.”
It was best for him to leave as soon as possible in case the show was malicious.
Zero Three was tempted to let Jiu Shu stay at home like this for a while before going out again, lest those gossips outside vilify Jiu Shu.
But he also knew that Jiu Shu loved to sing and hoped to become a star, and that he definitely didn’t want to miss the chance to participate in the show.
It hadn’t been made clear to him, but that was how it had always been with underground idols.
There was no one who didn’t look forward to getting out of the downtown area and performing on a show in the uptown area.
If only he had been stronger, he wouldn’t have let Jiu Shu be bullied.
Zero Three’s eyes darkened, but with Jiu Shu still in front of him, the demoralisation only lasted a moment.
He continued to organise the supplies necessary for Jiu Shu to go out.
“So sweet, at this rate, what should I do if I get spoilt and can’t leave you?”
Jiu Shu received the backpack that Zero Three had prepared.
When he raised his head to look at Zero Three, his warm eyes were so beautiful that Zero Three couldn’t take his eyes off of them.
“Hmm.”
The tips of Zero Three’s ears flushed red, not knowing how to answer.
In his heart, however, a dark and morbid hope kept growing as a result.
If only it were really possible to stay forever, to stay by his side like this forever, not moving an inch.
“I wish I would never leave you.”
Jiu Shu smiled and narrowed his eyes, as if he had read Zero Three’s mind, and said the words Zero Three wanted to hear the most.
Zero Three had a lightness on his face that hadn’t been there in the past, and the joy that he wanted to restrain but couldn’t made him look less gloomy and indifferent.
“I’m off, see you this afternoon.”
Jiu Shu said, getting on the lift.
The lift was finally good enough that he didn’t have to trouble Zero Three to carry him downstairs.
However, Jiu Shu knew that Zero Three didn’t feel happy about this.
After the lift closed, Jiu Shu withdrew his gaze and continued to look at the messages on his phone.
The matter of the Resistance’s stronghold had gotten a bit of a head start, and it should be possible to find the AI’s location in the next few days.
It shouldn’t have succeeded yet.
Otherwise there should have been riots in the city long ago.
That AI wasn’t a very friendly creation in the original.
On top of that there was Paradise Technology Corporation’s affairs to deal with, which was a bit tough.
Now that Paradise Lost was starting to fight back, it needed to be managed a little, lest it go bankrupt again.
Jiu Shu’s fingertips gently rubbed his lips, and he suddenly glanced at the surveillance in the lift.
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze somewhat helplessly.
It seemed like he was becoming more and more sticky.
This was sort of a sweet burden.
Jiu Shu put the mobile phone away and walked out of the lift.
And at this time, Zero Three also closed the surveillance screen.
The Resistance’s actions were still continuing.
He was only concerned about Jiu Shu’s well-being, it wasn’t that he started missing him as soon as he left the house.
“……”
In the flat room, Zero Three thought so and prepared to leave for work.
Not working all day yesterday was a good way to muddle through for now, if he kept not working he was going to get caught.
However, before leaving, Zero Three still couldn’t help but look back at Jiu Shu’s room.
Only after a long time did he close the door with some frustration.
Actually …… he missed him a little.
Missed him a lot.
*
The mission sent down by the headquarters today was still to clear out the bionic people.
And it was to go to several poor people’s gathering places to conduct carpet searches.
Inside the back of the transport vehicle, Zero Three looked at the contents of the mission on his wristwatch and found that it was places like rotten buildings and old factories that he had been to a few times before.
After determining the location of the mission, Zero Three looked up at his companion Seven Two sitting next to him.
Seven Two had been repaired and returned after only two days of work.
Today, he was going on the same mission as him.
But Zero Three could see that Seven Two’s expression wasn’t quite right.
There was also a bit of a grimace if he wasn’t mistaken.
For a bionic human with an emotion control system, it was basically equivalent to being on the verge of losing control.
However, the mission was about to take place soon, so Zero Three didn’t care much about his teammate’s state.
He could complete the mission himself in a while anyway.
However, Seven Two suddenly erupted.
“Zero Three, the person in the video is you, isn’t it!”
Seven Two said, raising the mobile phone in his hand.
The interview video was playing on it.
Jiu Shu and the tall man behind him were both in the picture.
Even though the lights were flickering and the picture was shaking, those who were familiar with Zero Three could recognise that it was him.
It was just that in the police station, even the human colleagues who met most often would rarely make a point of remembering a bionic’s face.
Only Seven Two, who was also a bionic human, could recognise him.
“……”
There wasn’t much expression on Zero Three’s pale face, nor did he answer Seven Two.
He was not obliged to answer him in the first place.
“You! Did you use that support ticket I gave you? Otherwise, how could you possibly know Jiu Shu?”
Seven Two looked at his bionic companion across from him with eyes wide open.
Zero Three, a ki-lling machine without any emotion, would actually show eyes with that kind of obvious fascination like in the video.
This was indeed peculiar.
But what was most unacceptable to Seven Two was the palms of the two clasped together.
Ten fingers interlocked.
It was almost as if they were flaunting their closeness to each other to the crowd that saw the video.
“You lunatic, what on earth have you done to Jiu Shu?”
In Seven Two’s eyes, it was Zero Three who snatched Jiu Shu.
But what right did Zero Three have? He was nothing more than an executioner stained with the blo-od of his own kind, a machine made by humans with no compassion.
Sooner or later, the machine would be scrapped!
Zero Three listened to Seven Two’s hysterical questioning in his ear, and his dark eyes glanced at him.
Seven Two was a bionic who suffered from human delusions, something Zero Three had always been well aware of.
Although the current him also suffered from the same disorder, all of his fantasies had already come true.
Only Seven Two was still immersed in his fantasies.
Fantasising that Jiu Shu would look at him differently.
Zero Three lowered his eyes and continued to polish the weapon in his hand, his expression indifferent.
Twisted emotions flashed vaguely under his eyes.
But how could that be possible?
Jiu Shu and he loved each other and he would only look at him differently.
Seven Two’s repair apparently didn’t have much effect, and his condition was still serious.
Perhaps it was already time for him to go to the robot graveyard.
Just as the atmosphere in the carriage grew more and more tense, the transport arrived at the location.
Without another glance at Seven Two, Zero Three got up and walked out of the car.
But Seven Two in the car was left gnashing his teeth in hatred.
That support ticket of his was definitely kept by Zero Three!
If the support ticket hadn’t been cheated away by Zero Three, he would have been the one who appeared beside Jiu Shu in the video!
Looking at Jiu Shu’s gentle expression on his mobile phone, Seven Two only felt his hatred deepen.
The Jiu Shu in the video was very gentle with the bionic man, so gentle that it was unbelievable.
It was because of that touching gentleness that made this video go viral in the bionic human community.
In just one day’s time, it spread faster than on the human network.
Like a virus, it spread throughout the bionic human group in the Seventh Metropolis.
Even the countless rebel bionics hiding in the lower city were no exception.
Seven Two even watched the video countless times.
Each time, he would be moved by the sympathy for the bionics in Jiu Shu’s words.
Obviously, he was just an underground idol who wasn’t really famous, yet he still expressed his sympathy for the bionics without fear.
Coupled with Jiu Shu’s looks and songs, which had already captivated countless bionics, it was enough to make Seven Two fall into it.
The current him had long forgotten the obsession he once had with Xiao Tiantian, or perhaps he had transferred all of that obsession to Jiu Shu.
He became even more obsessed.
And in the dark corners where no one was aware of it, the number of bionics as fascinated by the video as Seven Two was increasing at a frightening rate.
Snap-snap-snap-
This was the slum’s rotten building that they had gone a few times.
The huge towering white building was full of honeycomb-like densely packed corridors and rooms.
There were many poor people inside, as well as many bionic people in hiding.
The soles of Zero Three’s shoes stepped on the smooth white marble floor, and in front of him were still the white corridors that he couldn’t see the end of last time.
But this time it seemed much lighter.
His chip’s memory ability was strong enough to recreate the route he had written down before.
And just as he was searching for his target, behind him, Seven Two arrived late.
He looked at Zero Three’s perennially expressionless face.
His expression grew more and more gloomy, and in the middle of the day, he suddenly let out a mocking voice.
“Zero Three, you hid your identity from Jiu Shu, is that right!”
Zero Three’s footsteps stopped in place.
“Although that interviewer kept saying that Jiu Shu knew about your bionic human identity, it seems to me that it’s the opposite.”
“You should have deceived Jiu Shu, that’s why you were so nervous in the video.”
Seven Two’s meticulous observation was obviously quite a bit better than a human’s, so he saw Zero Three’s subtle facial expressions in the video.
Those traces of obvious tightness.
Because he never believed that Jiu Shu would really have a crush on Zero Three.
Looking at Zero Three’s stopped back, Seven Two was even more certain of what was in his heart.
Zero Three was just deceiving Jiu Shu.
Otherwise, how could Jiu Shu fall in love with this ice-cold ki-lling machine?
“….. I was right, yeah, as long as they’ve seen what you look like when you kill bionic people, no one will have a crush on you, and Jiu Shu definitely won’t either!”
The more Seven Two spoke, the more certain he became, looking at Zero Three with righteous anger.
“I’m going to tell Jiu Shu the truth, he’s innocent and shouldn’t be deceived by you like this!”
It was because of the existence of shameless people like Zero Three who deceived humans that the entire society hated bionics so much.
Click-
The clicking sound of bones clenching together made a sound.
Zero Three, who had been turning his back to Seven Two, lowered his head, hiding his expression, one could only see blo-od spilling from his pale bone joints.
A ghastly light surged into his originally still wooden eyes, and his aura became abnormally terrifying.
Why was there always someone coming out to hinder his happiness?
……
Seven Two didn’t perceive the change and continued to rebuke Zero Three’s despicability.
“You lying degenerate-!”
Until a large pale hand grabbed Seven Two’s neck in a death grip, he turned red and could barely make a sound.
“You! How dare you, it’s during the mission, all your actions will be recorded ……”
Zero Three crushed the wristwatch on Seven Two’s wrist that recorded the details of the mission.
‘Cough! Zero Three, you’re crazy! You’re really crazy ……’
Although Seven Two had always been scornful of Zero Three, an emotionless kindred, it was also clear that Zero Three was a police officer who wouldn’t easily harm a bionic without orders.
The sudden move now was completely beyond his expectations.
Seven Two remembered the rebel bionic man he had seen before he came who was being interrogated by the interrogation department.
At that time, he was crazy and kept mocking under his breath.
Zero Three was about to go crazy.
Seven Two had thought that it was the rebel bionic man’s dying babbling, after all, the Zero Three in the interview video looked incredibly normal.
It wasn’t until now that Seven Two realised that the rebel bionic man who claimed to be a psychiatrist was right.
Zero Three was indeed going crazy.
Or rather, he had already gone mad.
Hanged up by one hand, Seven Two’s eyes widened in fear.
Seeing the pale-faced Zero Three in front of him, he smiled.
A never-before-seen pleasure appeared in his eyes.
The smile at the corner of his mouth also seemed to carry the taste of blo-od.
He was no longer like the emotionless machine of the past.
Instead, he was like a human madman who had lost his mind and was indulging in fantasies that he couldn’t extricate himself from.
Once the fantasy was dismantled, he would reveal his gloomy and twisted true colours as it was now.
“…… Jiu Shu …… Jiu Shu won’t forgive you, he’s so good to the bionic man ……”
If he k-illed him, Jiu Shu would definitely resent Zero Three.
Seven Two, who was struggling in pain, said so.
Zero Three, however, just let out a low chuckle, as if he was mocking his naivety.
Jiu Shu wouldn’t know.
He was just taking care of a trouble that was hindering their happy future, Jiu Shu wouldn’t care.
And would never know.
Prick – Seven Two’s torn off wristwatch, along with artificial blo-od, fell to the bottom of the building’s corridor as he screamed in agony.
The position they were in now was at the circular corridor of this rotten building, with the layers forming the peculiar architectural structure of this rotten building.
The empty space circled by the short railing was the lobby of the building that reached up to a hundred floors.
Anything thrown down could fall to pieces.
Only the police department’s special wristwatch was still intact after falling from a height of several hundred floors.
“This is the recording site, the whole thing will be broadcast live today, so please get ready-”
A staff member yelled from outside the lobby of the Rotten House.
The footsteps of Jiu Shu who entered the rotten building stopped just short of the lobby.
Bang-!
Only a few metres away, the wristwatch was about to smash Jiu Shu over the head.
Jiu Shu: ‘?’
Zero Three’s movements as he prepared to tear the other parts of Seven Two stopped violently, his pupils trembling as he looked down the hall below the railing.
With the remnants of bl-ood still on his face, he met the gaze of Jiu Shu, who was looking upwards.
“!!!”
The side that should never be known was discovered.
TN:
DUN DUN DUN
I stan a drama king 😌
ML in every world be like: “In order to understand the groundhog, I must first become the groundhog…” *deep breath* *internal screaming*