Chapter 285: A Talk With Zero One
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Right after I finished eating my delicious peach snack, someone gently knocked at the door.
Knock, knock!
Originally, I thought it was Fang Shuan, a Familiar of mine, so I let them in without problems.
“Come in!”
The door opened, but the one that walked inside was Zero One.
Well, that wasn’t too bad either.
Though it would have been weird if it was Yin or something.
“Oh, my fav android! Are you hungry?”
I greeted her happily; I bet she came here for breakfast or something.
Though…
“Anna, there’s something I need to talk with you…”
She looked slightly depressed, her face was rather sad-looking, and her eyes seemed a bit empty of her usual neon light.
“W-What is it this early in the morning?”
I got slightly scared; she’s usually never this serious!
“Um, can I sit by your side?”
“Okay…”
I let her sit by my side in the bed as she looked around the bedroom with a slight surprise.
“Wow, so this is your bedroom, Anna? Your original house looked like this, right?”
“Yeah… Um, that’s right,” I nodded. “Sooo, what’s wrong?”
She was a bit hesitant about telling me, but at the end she was able to open up.
“Um, it’s about… Well, your master.”
Wait, master?
Which master? The crow or the crane?
Nah, she doesn’t know the crow, so it’s most likely the crane.
She’s my favorite master anyway.
“The Heavenly Empress? What about her?”
As I asked her, she seemed to be slowly preparing herself to tell me. Looking down at the floor, then around my bedroom one last time before finally opening her mouth.
“You see… I had a conversation with her just before coming here and… I just can’t keep this hidden anymore. She didn’t tell me to not tell you either, so… Please, listen well.”
She talked with her about something. Wait! Is this why she looked so weirdly depressed and silent before? Hmm… But what did they even talk about? They’ve barely known each other for like a couple days at most.
Ah, well, it’s not like Zero One is not good at getting attached to people. She got really attached to us already, especially to me, so it can’t be said she wouldn’t do the same with someone else, even less someone as motherly and nice as Master.
Honestly, I am also quite attached to Master, so her serious tone of voice has me a bit nervous. But it’s better to just ask her instead of delving into my inner thoughts; that’ll only make me more worried and paranoid after all.
“Okay, just tell me…” I said, patting her shoulder.
“Um, you know that she has nanomachines inside of her, right?” asked Zero One. “I had realized she had them since the moment I saw her.”
“Ah… Yeah,” I nodded. “I told her I would find a way to heal them! I was about to ask you if you could do it? Seeing you can control robots and so on?”
“I… Well, that’s the thing; I had tried to do that,” she sighed. “But it didn’t work; those nanomachines have been slowly eating away her lifeforce. She’s using most of her powers to keep them within a certain area of her body, but they’re already all around her bloodstream. She said that the {Mother of Artificial Life}, a Constellation, had injected this into her and the Heavenly Demon before they destroyed their Avatar and probably killed her.”
“This Mother of Artificial Life… Was she related to your Mother?” I asked her.
“I… I don’t know what relation Mother has with them, but she created the Avatars for all three of the mechanical constellations when they invaded.” She sighed. “Mother has not revealed to me the truth yet, but I know that she has a strong relationship with them somehow… Perhaps those three Constellations might not be truly dead yet. I just… feel something odd. Those nanomachines are still being controlled by something. I just was… unable to hack them and extract them.”
“That’s… I guess that’s a pity,” I said. “But don’t sweat over the details, Zero One. We can find another way together. Maybe if we ask your mother, or if you can get better equipment?”
“Hmm…” she sighed. “I-I don’t know… I was so sad, I had to tell you… Perhaps master… the Heavenly Empress might never truly recover, nor the Heavenly Demon. And… If those nanomachines are still being controlled. Eventually… both of them could turn into mechanical beings and try to… to kill everyone else.”
“W-Wha…?!”
I felt a sudden chill down my spine. Imagining my masters as mechanical monsters trying to kill the people they’ve been trying to protect… It would be the worst case possible, something I must prevent at all costs.
To prevent it, I would either have to heal them or…
Or, before they turn against others…
I…
No, I can’t think about that!
“There must be another way, Zero One! Don’t mess with me like this!” I said. “You’re a super advanced robot! Your Mother is still up, right? And… We have to find a way, no matter what! There are still so many unexplored variables or chances! Never giving up is also part of being a living being, a person! Did you know?! I know robots only see percentages and chances and work accordingly. But sometimes… You have to do your best and try your best, even when your chances of failure are 100 percent! Because you never know when you can make a difference. How will you even find out if you don’t even try to begin with? If you don’t even act?”
I tried to give her the best motivational speech I could, but it came rather awkwardly…
However, I truly meant all those words.
I just won’t give up on them.
If nothing in this world works, then we have to find a way with the other world’s technology.
That world they came from had a lot of it, right?
Maybe… Could we get there somehow? Infiltrate another whole world?
There could be something there—an advanced piece of technology that could help us heal them for real.
“Anna…” Zero One was slightly surprised, her eyes widening. “I… I suppose that is what my Mother calls the “Unbreakable Human Spirit”, isn’t it? It’s wonderful to get to know a human, the predecessors, and creators of my kind.”
“A-Ah, I guess… Well, we are different humans though, like, from whole worlds apart,” I said.
“I think you’re still a human; your biology and DNA samples said you were 100% the same type of human as my original world!” she said.
“DNA samples?!” I asked.
“Yes, I had a strand of your hair I found in the floor, so I tested it and...”
"Hey, that’s a bit creepy! Don’t do that again, okay?”
“O-Okay…”
“Anyways, there must be other ways; you only tried a single way, right? Do you know anything about the technology your Mother has?” I asked. “Anything that comes to mind that could help?”
“If… If we could find Destabilizers and perhaps a stronger Hacking Device…” she said. “No, we need many, hundreds, and to combine them together… But even then, those nanomachines are fueled not only with electromagnetic power but also with cosmic energy. So…”
“And who do you think got Cosmic Energy too?” I asked with a smirk as I showed her a flame made of cosmic energy, glowing with blue azure color and cosmic light, alongside several tiny stars of golden light coming from it constantly. “Hm?”
“R-Right! Maybe… Wait, there’s a chance?!” she muttered. “I have… calculated something. If we can use the artifacts I said and combine them together… Maybe if we receive the help of the other machines, and then we create a cosmic energy-fueled core. Then it could be possible, or not? There’s… a chance, but there are also so many variables.”
“We’ll have to just find out then!” I said. “But as long as there’s a chance, we must do it. And even if there isn’t any chance, then we’ll work hard to create one.”
“I-I see…”
Zero One smiled, feeling slightly happier, and suddenly hugged me.
“Oh?”
“Thank you, Anna, for teaching me the indomitable human spirit… I have once more regained Hope.”
FLASH!
Her body shone brightly, and as I noticed a golden glow coming from her chest and reaching my heart, she gave me her Hope Essence.
Even a mechanical life form can produce Hope…
Master’s power is truly wondrous.
“So don’t lose hope! We still got two more trials to go, right?” I said. “So let’s have a meal; let’s cultivate, train, and prepare for the next trial. Once we finish all trials, we’ll be so strong you won’t even recognize yourself.”
“R-Right… I suppose I should stay focused on what’s in front of me instead of worrying so much about what’s still in the future that has yet to reach us,” Zero One nodded. “Is this also a trait of humans? We machine lifeforms oftentimes are always thinking about the future, without ever considering the present.”
“I suppose it is part of your original design to be prepared for a future humans cannot predict,” I said. “There’s nothing exactly wrong with it; you were made to help humans. But now, they’re mostly gone, so you need to also learn from them to become more complete yourselves. Before you were tools, perhaps... But now, I think you’re people. Therefore, you must think and consider the smaller things rather than the biggest picture right off the bat, right?”
“R-Right!” She nodded with a smile. “I’m quite hungry, actually; let’s go eat something! I want to eat more of your world’s food, Anna!”
“Okay, fine~ I’ll prepare something yummy,” I said. “How about pancakes and waffles?”
“Oooh, I got some of those; they look yummlicious!” Zero One walked by my side as she quickly became livelier.
Though, did she say she got hungry?
“Wait, you got hungry? Is that true or a way to say it?” I wondered.
“Huh? No, I am really hungry… I think it’s because my energy reserves went down from the battle,” she said. “And I don’t have true sunlight here to take on, so I need to eat food and process it into energy instead.”
“I see, do you also go to the bathroom and stuff or…?” I wondered.
“Oh no, everything I eat is processed completely. If anything, there might be some waste, but it’s released through my pores as something almost invisible,” she said.
“Wow, that’s sure convenient~” I laughed. “Living beings have to go to the bathroom to—Ah, I better not just say it; we’re eating and all…”
“To defecate and urinate? Yes, we are quite knowledgeable about the biology of living beings!” Zero One said.
“Agh! Don’t say it like that! We are about to eat, Zero One!” I cried as I was about to make pancakes and waffles in the kitchen. “Okay, another thing you have to learn about common sense and basic manners; never talk about poop and pee before eating or while eating, okay?”
“Okay… I get it,” she nodded. “I apologize if it came out as awkward; I am still learning…”
“It’s fine; you’re like a kid that absorbs everything you’re told and taught,” I sighed. “I’ll take upon my responsibility to teach you as much as I can, so don’t worry. Now, let’s cook something up.”
Yin Sheng and Wai Tian walked downstairs after smelling the scent of eggs, bacon, baked bread, and pancakes with waffles, running down into the kitchen to see the view of delicious American breakfast meals being made.
“Good morning, sleepyheads! Time for breakfast; go sit down!”
“A-Ah, wait, but I would like to serve and cook instead; I am your servant, young lady!” The fox boy started getting a bit nervous.
“I agree, please let us serve you instead, Master Anna; you’re an honored immortal after all…!” the tigress said.
“Nah! I got this, just sit down!” I said. “Fang Shuan! Kids! Come down too!”
By kids, I meant the familiars; Violet, Snow, and Shiro came rushing down, and Fang Shuan finished his cultivation and walked downstairs too.
We sat around a big table, as I felt the atmosphere change into one of family and friends. It became warmth, almost the same as those times I spent with my mom, dad, and brother.
Those faint memories of the life I lived here before I regained the memories of my previous life. I am both that person, and also Anna after all.
I both know this world came from a fictional story, yet at the same time, I’ve also lived in this world and know it’s real—all of it.
It’s a weird feeling, but… I want to embrace the little moments.
Because they’re so rare, they become even more precious than anything else.
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