Chapter 229: Loyalty in excess

Sixth satellite city.

What was once a wasteland landscape has long since been bulldozed and rebuilt, with steel factories standing on the surface, transformed into gray and silver towers running through the clouds.

Engines roaring, smart instruments wheeling.

A sophisticated production system that creates more intelligent instruments.

The number of those layers piled on top of each other, forming a multiplicative, exponential growth until the planet is drained of every bit of its resources.

This is the plan of the Hsu system.

The stars are dangerous and harbor a great deal of unknown malice.

As a precautionary measure, and even more so for self-preservation, the Xu system was gathering as many resources as it could in preparation for its future starship building program.

“Master, the soup is here.”

In the underground laboratory, the mechanical maid’s voice interrupted Xu System’s recollection.

“Thanks, Ailee.”

The Xu system took the hot soup from Ailee.

The color is mellow white, the smell is translucent, and floating in it are fresh mushrooms that have just been picked recently.

Thanks to the large database and the unique arithmetic power of the smart device, there was no oopsy incident of mixing poisonous bacteria.

“Well, good.”

“Ailee, you’ve grown in your craft.”

Xu System gently drank the hot soup, feeling the fresh flavor flowing between his teeth, and couldn’t help but smile and praise it.

“Thank you for the compliment, but I’m not even close”, the machine servant stood quietly, acting quite steady, but his ears twitched fast.

Some cute.

Under Ailee’s watchful eye, the Xu system slowly drank the hot soup.

Both the warm soup and the crunchy, smooth mushrooms follow the chewing of the mouth and tongue and are swallowed together.

“It’s nice to live like this ……”

The Xu system put down the empty bowl, and the hardworking and capable Ailee, the first to collect it.

She asked the Xu system if they wanted a second bowl.

The Xu system smiled and refused.

“Sit down, Ailee, you can’t be too busy with everything, you need to have a pause”, the Xu system said, motioning for the machine servant, who couldn’t stay idle for a moment, to sit down next to her and rest.

“Yes, Master,” Ailee obeyed, sitting down obediently.

Looking at such Ailee, and looking around at the familiar laboratory environment, in Xu Department’s heart, he couldn’t help but recall the times he once had.

Especially that part.

Early days of acquaintance with Airey.

Who would have thought that an AI like that, a domestic intelligence device, named RTX-9090, would metamorphose into an awakened being with a human nature?

The Hsu system had tried to replicate this miracle, but ultimately failed.

The golden quality of the Machine Soul Pleasure does exist, allowing the possibility of the Smartarm to awaken itself.

Just as people are different.

There are also differences between machine souls and machine souls.

Not every Machine Soul, like Ailee, could awaken a sufficient sense of self.

“Ailee, I’m going to continue to trouble you for help in the time to come.”

“Yes, please be assured that Ailee will always be at your service.”

“Not that it needs to be taken so seriously.”

The dust was illuminated in the light, and the shadows of the man and the machine servant were long, slanted and thick, mingling and intermingling in silence.

The sound of conversation folded back on the empty walls.

It seems quiet and cozy.

……

[The Smart Machine Rebellion is over and your new life is full of peace]

[You’re enjoying it, and you’re enjoying the atmosphere.]

[No need to think about the next attack, no need to worry about the attack of the wise weapons, now you can study the technology as you wish and relax in your free time.]

[You asked Ailee if she had any other plans for the future.]

[Airey’s answer is the same as always, never changed, and that is to serve you until the soul of her machine is extinguished.]

You want to say something, but you don’t want to say anything.

[Once again, I feel that I am not a good teacher]

[You try to make corrections, but the loyal machine servant has her own code, and no matter what you try, her answers remain unchanged]

……

[Time flies, summer falls behind you, cut with precision by the cold winds of fall]

[Months of research have given you insight into starship technology]

[You have successfully established contact with a starship of the Old Federation.]

[Resonates with him, gets blueprints]

[But the technology of starships is so obscure and deep that you can’t get through all of it, and for that, you’re in no hurry.]

[You follow the idea of combining work and rest, and when your brain is tired, you put aside your research for a while and choose to relax your brain with casual routines].

[You’re in the courtyard of the Sixth Satellite City, tending fragrant flowers and looking up at the stars with Ailee.]

[But you think that’s not enough.]

[So you took your loyal mechanic servant and traveled to a natural landscape that was farther away.]

……

Anti-gravity starships are fast.

It took less than twenty minutes before and after the departure from the Sixth Satellite City to arrive at the cedar forest chosen by the Xu system.

When stepping out of the starship.

What appeared in front of Department Xu was such a beautiful sight.

The mist hovered in the tan canopy, weaving in and out of the gaps in each leaf, lingering on the trunks, melting silently, and revealing a strange, brilliant halo of light in the morning sun.

There is water in the forest, and the water is like a mirror, symmetrizing that natural wonder up and down.

“Ailee, do you think this is a pretty sight?”

“Beautiful.”

Faced with questions from the Xu system, the machine servant answered truthfully.

But she doesn’t understand.

Why did the Hsu Department ask her.

It is true that a beautiful landscape can relax the mind, but the machine servant is not one of them; cold machinery can see the beauty, but not feel it.

The Xu system laughed and denied it, “Isn’t that the kind of thing you’ve had for a long time, Ailee?”

Machine servant bewildered: “I also …… have?”

“Of course,” Xu said, bringing up the water play incident from those years ago, what seemed like childish behavior for fun was actually a sense of beauty.

So, rightfully so.

There is no such thing as Airey’s inability to scrutinize beauty.

“I see, thank you for your answer”, Ailee seemed to listen and then again she didn’t.

Dumbfounded, she knelt down and picked up a dead leaf from the ground, looking at the yellowed texture on it and lapsing into a long stillness.

Such a performance.

It made the Xu system curious.

“Ailee, do you like cedar trees a lot?”

“I’m calculating whether the ingredients will become more flavorful if I grill with this wood.”

The machine servant said this, observing the trees in front of him calmly and carefully with his silver-blue eyes, and gesturing with his hands what size they should be cut into.

It was obvious that Ailee was serious.

“Ailee, does that mean that you don’t like the views?”

“Love it, but serving you is the first priority.”

Black hair like a waterfall, flooded with golden sunset light.

Ailee answered the Xu system, she didn’t hate the fir forest in front of her, she just prioritized the pros and cons for the Xu system upon seeing it.

Whether it’s pretty or not is simply irrelevant.

Machine servants don’t focus on those.

“Master, do you want to have a cedar barbecue?” The machine servant inquired earnestly.

“That sort of thing is better,” Xu sighed softly, reaching out his palm and rubbing Ailee’s little head.

The self-same machine servant is very loyal.

But isn’t loyalty too much?