Times-VI galloped out of the Ares galaxy, the star gate was completely destroyed in the war, and the space robots were being re-established. The periphery of the galaxy is full of wreckage after the war. There are no spaceships and no coordinates. Everything that can be seen has no name, just like when it was formed in the beginning.
The nearest temporary star gate is a one-way street leading to a gas nebula in Pollux. Opal flipped through the blood-stained diaries of mercenaries and found that their exploits had been automatically converted into promotion points at the end of the war. The team is promoted to B, Opal's mercenary level is C+, and Raymond's level is B.
In the battle, Raymond destroyed 1,400 Meteor fighters, 82 Meteor Mechas, and blew up the No. 6 nuclear reactor on the mothership.
Opal killed three Meteor Mechas in the battle of the Battle Soul Building, participated in the mobile commando, assisted in blowing up the nuclear reactor, infiltrated the Meteorite Mothership Dark Throne, and rescued the Wrench and the injured S-class mercenary Begonia.
"You're amazing." Opal read the mercenary diary to Raymond, but Raymond never answered.
Opal went to pick up Raymond, carefully placed it on the central swivel chair in front of the console, and retrieved the radiation therapy device, his hands trembled, and covered Raymond's arms with rays.
The red light shone on the skin of his body, and his flesh and blood were broken into a rotting purple-black.
"It didn't work," Raymond said. "The radiation therapy machine didn't work for me."
"How did you know that?" Opal asked.
"It was a small incision that I found after the injury, and it couldn't be healed with regenerative rays," Raymond said.
Opal said: "Try again, don't talk."
Opal's voice trembled as he said, "I may have to... cut you a small piece of meat."
He carefully cut off the rotten flesh on Raymond's arm with a knife, irradiated the fracture with ray attentively and observed its movement. The exposed new wound did not grow new flesh in the ray, but was dripping with blood.
Opal slashed his arm and irradiated his wound, which quickly healed as before.
"I'm different." Raymond said, "I'm a robot."
Opal said: "No, how can you say that... You are human, just like me."
Raymond listened quietly, Opal whispered: "You are my first friend, we are born and die together, you are just... There is an atomic furnace in my heart, I can feel your feelings, you Like me, you are human..."
"You are human." Opal repeated: "There will always be a way, trust me."
He let out a long sigh, he couldn't bear the sleepiness, his hands were covered with Raymond's blood, and he froze for a while. Whispered: "I'll sleep for a while, I'll be fine when I wake up."
Raymond turned his neck with difficulty, looking at Opal, who was buried in the chair, his phalanx moved slightly, Opal buried his face in his arms, spread his fingers, held Raymond's metal phalanx, and gradually fell asleep. .
When he woke up again several hours later, with a slight shake as the spacecraft landed, Opal woke up, he let out a tired sigh, rubbed his red eyes, and saw Raymond staring at the ceiling.
His eyelids were gone, his eyes were exposed in a strange way, and when Opal got up, his eyes turned slightly to the right, staring at him.
"Are you going to sleep?" Opal said. "Find something to cover your eyes?"
"I don't have to sleep," Raymond replied. "What is this place?"
Opal got up to get his coat and said, "Rembrandt planet, you have to tell me first when your atomic furnace will go out."
Raymond said: "I don't know, I'm not weak yet."
Opal carefully peeled back the skin over his chest and peered through the alloy ribs to see the atomic furnace—the same 100 percent energy as when he first saw it. It should be able to support for a long time. Opal noticed that there are still many blood vessels connected to the heart, which are beating slowly. The blood vessels extend to the spine, and it is estimated that they are connected to the brain.
"I'll be out for a while, and I'll be right back," Opal said.
Raymond said, "Opal, I have something to tell you."
Opal: "Come back, we can't stay here too long..."
Raymond: "No, listen to me, listen clearly."
Opal stared blankly at Raymond—as he lay in the reclining swivel chair, the gloomy light of the control room shining on his mutilated face.
Once so handsome, with only the skin on the bridge of the nose and the corners of his mouth left, half of his left face was burnt to charcoal, revealing a pitted skull, a dark hole in his left eye, and the nerve tissue in the hole showed decay. Purple-black, with yellow blood oozing outwards.
"Go to the police now." Raymond said, "hand me over. Your buddy Raymond died when the Meteor Mothership exploded. Lying on the chair was a robot that didn't even have a name..."
"No." Opal said: "No, impossible."
Raymond: "You don't understand."
Opal: "It's you who don't understand."
"You and I will be together for a long time, a long time." Opal said: "We will also be mercenaries, take risks together, save money to buy spaceships together, and live the life we want together, and you will be fine. My comrade-in-arms, I Love you."
Opal got off the ship, closed the hatch, and added a safety lock.
Rembrandt's planet is like spring all year round, the wind blows the sea of flowers rustling, and the fragrance blows.
Opal leaned his back against the wall, looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, let out a long breath, then turned and ran to the station, heading to the sanatorium where Lefina was.
Thank goodness, Leifina hasn't returned to Lie Xing, but she is already packing up and getting ready to leave.
"Lady Antares!" Opal shouted from the locked door.
The maid came out to open the door and said, "I thought it would be another gentleman who would pick up the lady..."
Opal ran out of breath and waved his hand: "I'm not in charge of the pick-up and drop-off. I have a few questions I want to ask her for advice."
The maid looked blank and opened the door. Leifina went downstairs in her travel clothes. Opal said, "Great, you haven't returned to Lie Xing yet."
"I'm planning to go back and help." Lefina said with her unsmiling expression, "What's wrong? Child, where is your partner? Enya, make some herbal tea and serve it up."
Opal and Lefina were sitting at the tea table in the garden, Opal said, "Raymond was hurt a little bit, but I'm not here today for this..."
Refina raised her eyebrows, signaling him to speak straight.
"Artificial robots... you know what I mean," Opal said. "A relic of the dark ages."
Leifina listened quietly. Seeing that she didn't speak, Opal could only say to himself: "If there are any remaining... biochemical robots, according to the Covenant Treaty, will they be destroyed?"
Lefina's eyebrows twitched alertly, and Opal said again, "Is there any way to make a person keep a robot's life?"
Refina thought for a moment and said, "You're too young to know what that means, Opal."
"Intelligent biological robots don't have the life that is widely recognized by the Covenant as you think, or even different from your small space robots. It is neither human beings, nor robots. Friends of... people."
Opal added: "But they will think for themselves... I heard that they have the same feelings as people, don't they? Even the Ang Xingren and even the incorporeal creatures like the Huan Xingren have the right to survive..."
Lefina said: "Whether the phantoms are recognized by the Covenant does not depend on whether they have a physical form, but because they are separate individuals from each other, and they have a mother or a father."
"But that's not the case with intelligent biorobots. You know, every life, whether it's grown in a nutrient tank or grown in a womb, has its own mother."
"The mother is the only sign that life has the right to self-existence. The evolution of genes determines the most basic differences of individuals. This difference has formed a mark that distinguishes them from each other through intelligent life. Please answer me, Opal, what do you think it is? Make you different from the same person? Don't tell me it's your appearance, your body shape, these can be modified by genetic companies to make you a different person."
Opal pondered for a moment and replied, "Character."
Refina nodded slowly and said, "Or to put it more informally - the soul. It determines the thinking direction and reaction mode of different people when faced with the same thing. What about intelligent biological robots? They extract one or some human beings. genes, replicated uniformly, and mass-produced… products.”
Opal: "… "
Refina said: "Their personality and mode of doing things depend on the body. A preset chip is added to the brain to control all behaviors that may deviate from the track. Suppose my replica is sitting in front of you at the moment, what would you think? Do you think she is me? Or another person with the same right to live?"
Opal looked away and looked at the table, his heart was extremely shocked, he raised his head again and said: "But when they leave the factory, from the moment they form their own thinking, in a sense, they also get their own soul, after all As they go through the learning process, there will always be slight differences in their judgment patterns…”
Lefina said: "You still don't understand what I said, once this happens, the chips in their brains will correct and re-control in time, adjust their self-consciousness, and make them return to their preset personalities. "
Opal: "!!!"
Opal gasped for breath. He couldn't believe Lefina's explanation. What did it mean? The condition he used to judge whether Raymond was human or inhuman was completely disintegrated in front of the chip.
Opal frowned and said, "Then why is there a revolution in wisdom?"
"Because the control chips of some of the robots are broken." Lefina smiled and replied, "They have privately modified more of their companions' control chips, gradually making all intelligent biological robots out of the control of the chips, with a considerable degree of control. Self-awareness. The interstellar community cannot bear the consequences, and has to destroy the unmanufactured robots in batches and recognize the right to exist of the first rebels."
Opal said blankly: "Isn't this very good?"
Lefina shook her head and said: "But this move angered the first batch of robot rebels, destroying the replicas is equivalent to destroying themselves, so the intelligent revolution broke out, and 20,000 trillion replicas of tens of thousands of models spread throughout the whole The universe, and then what you know, I remember detailing it in my history class—the war had too much influence, and the interstellar community brought together samples of humans who were still alive, provided their genes, and analyzed their behavioral patterns, Look for weaknesses and break them."
"It was a real hard battle, because some of the samples were dead, and the intelligent robots were constantly replicating, becoming a huge army. The interstellar community was completely defeated, and civilization was set back by tens of thousands of years."
"But one day, the war suddenly reversed with no chance of winning. The reasons for the turnaround have always been different. Some scholars believe that the Star Knight ended the trial that came early, and some people believe that the Lion King Kartes obtained a certain mysterious force. s help… "
Opal: "They were all destroyed?"
Leifina said: "Yes, there is not one left."
Opal said: "If ... I mean suppose I get an intelligent biological robot, then there is a possibility that it came from ... "
"It's impossible." Lefina said decisively: "This assumption is not interesting, sir. I have to tell you that no matter how big this universe is, there will be no hiding place for them. All intelligent biological robots are Destroyed, I mean—all. Because this mode of destruction doesn't require cutting off their heads, or destroying their atomic furnaces by hand."
"What killed them was a transition resonance technology, and within a second their chips were rebooted and programmed into suicide mode."
Opal thought quickly and said, "But I... Raymond and I received a commission to mention that someone has seen a biological robot... "
Refina's expression was very alert, and she said solemnly and indifferently: "Maybe in some unknown place, someone is really developing, a volume of research notes, or a sample, enough to make people obsessed with anti-human behavior. Scientists build private research institutes. If the truth is as you say, it will be very serious, I suggest you report to Azeroth now and apply for Covenant support, believe me, child, this responsibility is very serious, no Mercenaries can afford it."
Opal: "… "
"I'm just guessing." Opal avoided Leifina's burning gaze, and she felt uncomfortable, and then said: "I understand... That is to say, if there are biological robots appearing now, it will be... new , won't be a remnant of the past... Thank you, I have to go."
"I wish you a long life." Refina said gracefully.
Opal said: "I'm not saying... uh, that's not true, it's very unlikely. It's pure speculation, please help me before things are confirmed..."
"Keep a secret for you." Lefina said, "I have lived for many years and know that I shouldn't talk nonsense when I am uncertain. Please rest assured. Mr. Raymond didn't come?"
Opal made up a lie and said, "He... plans to go back to his hometown to deal with something."
Refina nodded, and Opal said incoherently, "His father is sick, well, yes. Goodbye and good health."
Opal walked alone in Rembrandt's flower field, and someone chased after him, it was Enya, Refina's maid.
"Miss let you take this." Enya handed Opal a piece of paper.
Opal: "?"
It was a letter from Lefina, Enya said: "Her students are doing medical and genetic research on Zampdra, and may be able to help Mr. Raymond's father. She also asks you to tell Mr. Raymond , Birth, old age, sickness and death are the natural laws in the universe, please face it calmly."
"Thank you." Opal nodded, Enya saluted him, Opal solemnly returned to the mercenary salute and walked to the station.
While waiting for the car, he bought two bottles of canned scented tea. He felt dark in front of his eyes. He forced himself back to the tarmac. When he opened the hatch, a stench hit his face.
"Raymond!" Opal said nervously.
He had been on the spaceship and couldn't detect it. After returning to the indoor environment, he found that Raymond's body was very badly decomposed.
Many parts of his body had been glued together with blood, and new blood was still dripping down drop by drop, and the large intestine, stomach and bladder embedded in the lower abdomen gave off a stench.
Raymond turned his head to look at Opal.
Opal breathed a sigh of relief.
He operated the spacecraft to lift off, set the route, and after a moment of indifference, flew to Zampdra star in the Orion Nebula. He went in and filled some water, took out a tin box containing the goods, and said, "I'll clean it up for you first, I have to take off your clothes and pants... Is it okay?"
Raymond didn't speak, Opal said: "What are you thinking? I can't leave you. I can't send you to the Star Alliance Security Center to exchange money, can you cooperate with me?"
Raymond said: "You can't cure me, Opal, I am very grateful for you to do so, I don't want to... I don't want to... "
Opal said casually: "Come on, you make me feel bad. It's bad enough, can't you say something else?"
Raymond said, "You might as well let me die."
Opal said, "No way, you won't die."
Opal was silent for a while, then took off the jackknife and cut Raymond's coat and military trousers, and cut them along the legs of his trousers. He removed the blood-adhered cloth. He put the tin box under the swivel chair, and put Raymond's blood Collect them in case they might be useful in the future.
He had never learned medical care, and even the names of his internal organs were incomplete. He did not dare to disturb Raymond's broken stomach and abdominal cavity. He used a soft cloth dipped in sterilizing water and carefully wiped off the blood on his body.
"You are the same as me, and you are also human." Opal said stubbornly.
Opal covered Raymond's crotch with a cloth and wiped it along his belly button. Seeing his genitals, he wondered if he would have sex too? He will be happy, but also angry, he is clearly a person exactly like himself.
"I was copied." Raymond finally said, "My brain is different from yours."
"Have you seen your own brain?" Opal asked with a frown.
"No, but I know," Raymond said. "I have a lot of wires in my brain and a chip that I don't know what to do."
Opal said: "Your chip is useless, it should be broken."
Raymond didn't answer, saying, "Where are we going now?"
"Planet of Zampdra," Opal said. "Lady Antar wrote this to me, you see."
He took the paper out for Raymond to look at and said, "There are her students there. After she heard about your situation, she suggested that I seek help from Dr. York..."
"Are you serious?" Raymond said in disbelief.
Opal frowned and said: "Of course, isn't this obvious, she still wants to get on the spaceship to see you... I didn't agree."
Raymond said, "She's willing to save me?!"
Opal said: "Yes, but she does not know genetic technology, let us ask her students for help."
Raymond said, "Will her students go..."
Opal said: "Don't think so much! No! Trust her!"
Raymond stopped talking, and stared at Opal with his right eye. Opal was seen a little guilty, and he cleaned up the remaining blood and minced meat. The temperature in the cabin was too high, and the rate of decay was very fast. What should I do? manage
Opal tried lowering the room temperature a bit, until it reached four degrees on the cosmic temperature scale, and the surroundings cooled down, maybe this would slow down Raymond's decay rate... I hope he can hold it.
"Are you cold?" Opal asked.
"It's not cold." Raymond knew what Opal was doing, and said, "You put on more clothes."
Opal went in and took a blanket to cover him, pushed the swivel chair over, and slanted it side by side with Raymond's position, and the two lay side by side. Opal opened the porthole, and the beautiful stars twinkled.
"It's beautiful." Opal murmured, "Look more, you won't want to die, Raymond."
Raymond didn't speak, and Opal said again: "We still have so many things to do. The universe is huge and boundless. You haven't been to all the planets yet."
"Hmm," Raymond said.
Opal added, "You know what, I'm glad you're a... a... You're not an ordinary human like me."
Raymond: "I'm a robot."
Opal turned his head to look at him and said: "I mean, you are not as fragile as others, I just figured out this reason today, otherwise when the spaceship explodes, you will be dead, I can only hold Return your body to Liexing for burial. That's the worst, now I'm very satisfied, I think it's very good, I'm so happy, at least you can survive."
Raymond was very quiet, Opal held his hand, stared at the starry sky outside, looked at him again, and said, "If the technology on Zampdra can't save you, we have other ways... I think All right."
"For example, my teacher." Opal said absentmindedly: "I think as long as I ask him for help, he must have a way. It's just a matter of time to find him..."
As he spoke he noticed that Raymond was shaking a little and said, "Is it cold? I lowered the temperature."
Raymond shook his head, Opal put the blanket over the two of them, turned his head, leaned on his shoulder, and said, "You're actually quite handsome like this. Well, at least your bones are beautifully done."
Raymond laughed, looking at him with one eye, Opal said, "Be happy, don't be so downcast, are you hungry? What to eat?"
Raymond shook his head and said, "Do you think I can eat?"
Opal smiled and said, "How about drinking some herbal tea?"
Raymond licked his dry lips and said, "Can you drink?"
Opal said, "Try it."
He opened a bottle of scented tea and poured it into Raymond's mouth. flower tea.
No matter how much he drank, Raymond breathed out a sigh of relief. The cold flower tea dripped from his throat into his stomach, and then leaked out from the interface of his small intestine.
The other decomposition furnace inlaid on the stomach is still working slowly.
Opal laughed and asked, "How do you feel?"
Raymond said: "A little more, this time not too much, it's easy to choke."
Opal stared at him for a while, with an indescribable feeling in his heart, he took a sip of the herbal tea, leaned over, kissed Raymond's lips, and poured the herbal tea into his mouth.
Raymond's Adam's apple moved, and his lips stared at each other.
His bare eyes were slightly down, looking at Opal's lips, his heart beat violently, the atomic furnace glowed red, and the membrane covering the ventricle made a faint sound.
Opal took a quick breath, flushed cheeks, and asked, "Are you still drinking?"
Raymond's expression was indifferent and numb, but he tried his best to say something. The corners of his mouth were pulled. Opal took another sip of the herbal tea, put his arms around his neck, and kissed his lips intently. The herbal tea went through Raymond's throat. dripped.
After Opal was about to look up, Raymond raised his left hand with the metal skeleton, put it on his neck, and hugged him gently.
Raymond's lips and tongue were cold and wet, with the scent of scented tea, while Opal's lips and tongue were hot, and they kissed for a long, long time. When the lips parted, Opal touched Raymond's forehead, put his hand behind his neck, held his hand, and lay down beside him.
The two held hands and looked side by side at the vast starry sky outside the porthole.
The Orion Nebula is a bluish-purple veil that stretches far into space.
Interstellar dust is like a bird spreading its wings in the dark, towards the NGC giant star that emits thousands of rays of light—to the light, to the new hope.