Chapter 249: Under the Stars, Only You and Me

“Master, it’s time for soup.”

“Thanks, Ailee.”

The interior is secluded and the furniture is neatly organized.

Accompanied by a calm and steady sound, the machine servant brought in the tonic soup, which was crystal clear and flowing gold in color, escaping its aroma as the spoon stirred it.

There are even plant fragments sinking in it.

Mixed with lean, thin shreds of meat.

It was a very mild flavor, so much like the comfort of being pummeled with warm vapor in the middle of a cold winter.

“Gulp-“, the Xu system gently sipped a mouthful of the special tonic soup, feeling the flow between his teeth and the warmth in his throat, his thoughts dispersing in that silence.

Rumble.

Rumble.

Far away in the lab, the new force field weapon was being tested with a surging, earth-shattering sound.

Weakened by layers.

Finally there was only a faint buzz, arriving at the door of the Xu system’s room.

Ailee mobilized her arithmetic power and activated the room’s isolation shields, isolating that last clamor perfectly.

“How time flies ……”

Looking at Ailee, whose face was calm and indifferent, but was actually serious as hell, Department Xu couldn’t help but recall the time when he first met the Machine Servant.

The Hsu system at that time.

It’s still in the wasteland survival stage.

Faced with the Intelligent Devices that covered the world, there was nothing he could do but choose to hunker down underground in order to thrive.

This includes Ailee’s original body, the Household Intelligence Device GTX-9090, which was also picked up from the ruins of the lab by the Xu system.

Seriously.

Avery was a big help.

If it wasn’t Airey, it wasn’t 9090 at the time.

The Xu system would be stuck with the routine maintenance of the base for most of its life, thus preventing it from delving into technology, let alone the flurry of changes that would follow.

“Gulp-“, another mouthful of hot soup went down, and Xu System felt the discomfort recede a lot.

“Ailee, it’s been hard on you all these years.”

“You needn’t mind, it’s what I should do.”

The Xu system’s sudden thanks caused the loyal machine servant to be a bit surprised.

She sat quietly, shaking her head in a slight amplitude, claiming that she never felt bitter, never felt tired, that machinery was devoid of that physical sensation.

And.

A machine servant obeys his master’s orders, and that’s the way it should be.

There was something cute about her serious expression when she said that.

Ailee had always been like that, always, always putting the Xu system first.

“Ailee, my gratitude has nothing to do with who you are, whether or not it’s a mindless, painless wise device, that doesn’t matter.”

“Because Ailee helped me a lot, I wanted to show my gratitude to Ailee.”

“It’s always been a struggle for Ailee, hasn’t it?”

The Xu system spoke softly.

In Ailee’s mind, such help might be taken for granted, it was not to be thanked in any way, and all she really practiced and wanted was to serve the Xu lineage.

But Xu System’s heart always remembered Ailee’s help.

It was silent companionship.

The flower of warmth that blooms on a cold body.

So.

The Xu system wanted to lead Ailee out of her prison before the end of the simulation, so that after this simulation was over, the machine servant could become a free individual.

“You…are too kind …… Thank you for the compliment…”

The machine servant’s voice stayed calm.

Quiet as a slight tremor, quiet as a fine breeze.

Her hull seemed to malfunction as the energy lines began to glow with a pale red glowing light.

The glowing light was a light layer of cherry color through the anthropomorphic artificial biomass skin.

This is not going to work.

This state does not serve the master well.

So, Ailee debugged the parameters of her machine and tried to keep herself calm until the Xu system had finished its soup, then she left quickly with the empty bowl.

The overly hasty footsteps were suspiciously like fleeing.

“That boy, it seems to have become more humanized.”

Looking at that distant back, Department Xu first froze, then revealed a smile.

The delicate, godless face, the alloy cast skeleton, the lines of energy surging through the body, and the core of the Chiroptera that undulates to feed it, all of these together make up Ailee’s body.

And now, the Xu system saw something more.

It was intangible and elusive.

Yet the pure soul of the machine is real.

Two hundred years is a long time, more than the first three simulations combined, and because of that, Ailee metamorphosed through time, gradually shedding her cold machinery.

“However, it’s really hard to determine whether the increase in human emotion is good or bad in this side of the eternal cage.”

The Xu system shook its head.

If the plan fails and you don’t make it out of the stars.

Then, at the end of the simulation, Ailee would be left alone to face the withering silence and fall into near-infinite loneliness.

“All in all, keep up the good work.”

“I need to make some preparations to try to circumvent that death before the new blow comes.”

“It’s always worth a try, even though it’s a long shot.”

The Hsu system rose.

Moved his muscles in place.

Perhaps it was because, the tonic soup that Ailee had prepared was really effective, or perhaps it was for some other reason, Department Xu felt that his body was in good shape now.

Strength flowed throughout his body and his brain thought fast.

Basically no problems except that my body is slightly stiff from sitting for a long time.

“There is still a need to continue to resonate the soul of the machine in order to do so ……”

“Resonate with Ailee and boost her arithmetic efficiency.”

“Resonance computer, designing a new arithmetic carrier for Ailee.”

“Resonant starships, extremely fast overall sailing speeds.”

“……”

The Xu system shook its head, only to feel the voices of various types of machine spirits, either grumpy or silent, filling its head before it even began to work.

The communication process went mostly smoothly with the help of Machine Soul Pleasure Words.

But repetitive work.

It still makes people tired.

……

Good morning, good afternoon, good night.

[Your time with the mechanic servant is spent in banal greetings, and when you rest, you are occasionally surprised, with hindsight, that time passes so quickly.]

[You’re getting used to the intensity of scientific work.]

[Often, after resonating with the spirit of the machine, one can take the inspiration gained and put it into new experiments.]

[Your research has gotten a little faster]

[You’re happy with this, and you’re gradually losing your fatigue, which you assume is due to genetic modification and the help of Airey’s tonic soup.]

“A little pleasure for the soul, a lot of pleasure for the soul, a lot of pleasure for the soul.

“Ailee’s a little upset, Ailee’s a lot upset, Ailee’s a lot upset.

[You frequently communicate with the machine and soul for future directions, and as technology climbs, your efficiency in getting inspiration decreases]

[You accidentally realize that your own thinking has become more rapid as you resonate with the machine soul more often]

[You’re happy and think it’s a joyous occasion]

[As a result, your already frequent machine-soul resonance counts have now become more frequent]

[Simulating the one hundred and ninety-first year, you are 210 years old, and Airey has been with you for 188 years]

[Once again, you meet the Bugs, who deserve the name of natural disaster, having survived countless neutron battlestars and still managed to grow to massive proportions]

[You’ve honored them and harvested their lives]

[Analogizing the second hundred years, you’re 219 years old, 197 years of Airey’s company]

The engine has been upgraded to make your fleet faster, traveling through the bright starry river and seeing more celestial systems.

[You have met a newborn civilization, that is ancient in its obscurity]

[You’ve met a star’s demise and seen the light grow fainter and fainter.]

[You’ve encountered the running of the planets, the dreamy spectacle of being free of the galaxies and hurtling through the universe.]

[You hold the hand of a servant, stand on the empty bridge, witness the splendor from the universe together, and spend the silent loneliness]