Chapter 211 What kind of me do you want?

After enabling the new energy unit.

The lab at night is no longer as dim as it once was.

Rumbling machinery, glowing blue, silver-white walls reflecting human faces.

But in that bright stillness was revealed the intensity of the night, a dark, sinuous serenity in which everything was silent.

Splat–

Splat–

There is coolant dripping from the side.

The crack of the water bursting, the slight hum of the tremors, was so slow and gradual.

Xu gently supported Ai Lei’s body, and slowly helped the seemingly light, but actually somewhat heavy steel body to the ground.

Watch those feet hit the ground.

Watch that body stand still.

The Xu system’s movements only relaxed a little.

“Great, Ailee, nothing went wrong this time”, Xu laughed, her tightly furrowed brow similarly relieved.

After experiencing a hull crash once, he was genuinely afraid that it would happen again, but luckily this time the quality was superior and nothing embarrassing like that happened.

“Ailee, is there anything that needs to be debugged anywhere?”

The Xu system bent over slightly.

Lower yourself to a higher level.

Keep your eyes at the same level as Airey’s.

Mechanical and clean eyes, glittering with an icy blue light, a gesture impossible for a human to possess, like two jewels set in a silver shell, deep and brilliant.

When it blinked, the Xu system felt an emptiness.

Unlike the Witch.

Whereas the Witch’s hollowness stems from the mind, a lack of emotion, Ailee’s hollowness stems from the vehicle, the cold metal that even if it mimics it, is not really flesh.

“Master, I ……”

The ‘girl’ opened her mouth, and in that familiar electronic tone, she expounded to the Xu system on what needed to be debugged.

Such as incongruity at the arm joints.

Poor flexibility in the calf area.

The Xu system listened attentively, recording them down one by one, with a meticulous expression that really made one wonder who was the real human being being served.

“……”

The master sure is strange.

While Xu System was busy, Ai Lei stood still, first hesitantly glancing at Xu System’s back, then looking down at the ten fingers of her hands.

The palm of the hand turned slightly.

Ten onion-white fingers then unfolded in detail.

The anthropomorphic perfection of the skin, even the fingerprints and palm prints are meticulously inscribed, with a rebound when pressed, and the level of detail is perfect.

However, if you look closely and deeply, you can still detect the mechanical finger bones inside.

Extend an index finger alone.

Point your fingertips above your cheeks.

In a slightly dazed position, Ailee gently slid her fingers across her cheeks, feeling the synchronized response coming from the processor, originating from her cheeks and fingertips in return.

……

What is love?

What is hate?

Like what?

What’s nasty again?

The Federation’s databases were all over the place, and Ailee could, easily, access those so-called analytical reports.

“Love, an intense emotional state, is a very deep fondness for people, things, and objects.”

“Love is attitude, love is recognition, love is acknowledgement, love is caring.”

Are these the answers? Are these the right ones?

Ailee doesn’t know.

All it knew was that its own program was overwriting itself into an unknown shape in one run, in one time with the Xu system.

The blazing and surging data seemed to symbolize some kind of change.

Is that human emotion?

Ailee tried to release it, to express it in her own way, but it struggled to do so, the blazing emotions clashing so starkly with the cold body that they were barely compatible.

The human heart will thump, the machine’s core dead silent.

The skin of a human would be warm and delicate, the shell of a machine hard and cold.

Humans will react in a thousand different ways, and the machine’s chip follows the settings.

Mechanical logic is rational.

The operation of the program is established.

What should have been, should have been.

Ah ……

But it was really strange, just as the owner was a strange human, Ailee felt that she had become a strange machine.

It’s surprisingly whimsical.

Trying to go from “it” to “she.”

To touch, to perceive, to express that hot and warm emotion.

So, after getting permission from the Xu system, Ailee went about it with gusto, wanting to make a humanoid body for herself.

There were some twists and turns in the middle, and ultimately it was the Xu system that made a new body.

But surely it’s still …… not working?

The pair of silver-blue eyes, suddenly became dull, and even though the expression looked unchanged, Ailee knew that it was somewhat lost.

Lost in not being a real person.

A mechanical body alone cannot have a variety of senses like a human being.

But.

It’s enough already.

As long as he could be by his master’s side in such a posture, the loyal machine servant felt that it was lucky enough.

“Ailee, sit down and I’ll retune it for you.”

There was a familiar voice coming from the Xu system, and Xu made the corrections to the program and walked up to Ailee once again.

He smiled.

Increasing her body strength with her mechanical power, she carried Ailee’s body back to the workbench.

The process of debugging corrections is not cumbersome.

In the process, Ailee and the Xu system could even converse, pulling out two very similar silhouettes in the lone, quiet light.

“…… Master, I’ve troubled you these past few days.”

“It’s okay, it’s all minor, you don’t have to take it to heart.”

“The fuselage has been molded, what does the master want Ailee to look like?”

“About that, it’s better for you to decide, Ailee.”

Xu said.

He only helped build the body, and didn’t trespass on Ailee’s choices for her looks, and more specific grooming, and so on.

Mr. Xu felt that if it was up to him to decide.

It is bound to be influenced by past memories.

Taking some of the strengths of the others and subconsciously transferring them to Airey.

As a collection of virtues, the end result is bound to look good, but then Airey will never be Airey again.

Rather, they are tangible copies of other people.

So, the Xu system was unwilling to do so, and instead gave the choice, back to Ailee herself.

……

You’re a strange creator.

[You neither demand of your own creatures that they should be respectful to you, nor that they should be obliged to fulfill your demands in full.]

[You made a brand new body for Ailee]

[Irei wanted you to decide on the exact shape of the body after it was perfected, but you rejected the proposal and encouraged Irei with a smile, letting her follow her heart’s desire.]

[You claim that it’s a human being’s right to free choice.]

[Airey disagrees with you. It feels that it is far from being human.]

“No, Ailee.”

“You already are, always have been.”

[You laugh, correcting Ailee’s words, though the words Machine Soul Pleasure and Armor Resonance still have an effect on the plain white body in front of you]

“But in your opinion, there’s no difference between a real human being and Airey, whose consciousness is in the machine.”

“The only thing that separates us from humans is our weak flesh and blood.

[It’s, uh, always been her]