Lowering the car window, Yvette sat in the driver’s seat, quietly observing the chanical girl beside her. Her dark red eyes showed neither sadness nor joy, providing no indication of a response.
An awkward silence settled around them. After waiting a mont, the chanical girl spoke again, slightly awkwardly: “Um… kind lady, could you please give a ride?”
“I’ll agree if you answer a few questions,” Yvette’s voice was calm and steady, betraying no emotion.
Her earlier silence had been an attempt to hack into the chanical girl’s systems, but, surprisingly, there were no accessible ports on her body. It was unclear whether they were turned off or malfunctioning, but either way, she hadn’t been given an opportunity to invade.
Thus, verbal communication remained her only option, though she was unsure of how this chanical being—who appeared to have gained self-awareness—viewed humans.
“Sure,” the chanical girl readily nodded.
“Where are the human survivors?” Yvette asked.
“Humans? Haven’t they been extinct for a long ti? Where would any survivors be?” The chanical girl looked puzzled. “You don’t know this?”
“I’ve been isolated on a very remote island,” Yvette chose to reveal a portion of the truth selectively.
“Oh, I see.” The chanical girl accepted this explanation without skepticism.
Noticing her nonchalant deanor, Yvette squinted slightly, uncertain whether the girl was simply adept at hiding her emotions or if she genuinely hadn’t noticed that a living being was right in front of her.
Yvette decided to push her still further: “What do you think I am?”
“Another machine, of course,” the chanical girl replied matter-of-factly, as if the answer was obvious.
“Don’t you think I resemble a human?”
“Well, you’re kind of like , right?” The chanical girl tilted her head to scrutinize Yvette, before saying, “Hmm, you do look a bit similar. That’s impressive. I wish I could look like that too.”
From her tone, it seed being human-like was a good thing? Yvette felt a flicker of confusion in her mind but chose not to affirm anything imdiately.
It appeared that the chanical puppets were in the process of forging a new civilization, and revealing her human identity would likely lead to unnecessary complications.
She continued her questioning: “Why are you called the chanical Race? What about the term ‘chanical magic puppet’?”
“Isn’t that our ancient na?” The chanical girl tilted her head in confusion to the other side. “Call it whatever you like, I suppose.”
“You ntioned you ca from the Silver Mirror Continent. How did you cross the sea?”
“I prayed to the great chanical god in the sanctuary, and a ssenger from the Kingdom of Rentu, or Rift Kingdom, brought to the Black Tide Continent.”
“Which god… is that?”
“The Great chanical God. How do you not know this? Haven’t you received any divine ssage?” The chanical girl’s tone now held a hint of skepticism.
“…My island is too isolated.”
“Oh, poor lady,” the chanical girl added a slight note of pity, “But that’s alright. With my help, you’ll quickly return to the embrace of the divine.”
“…Next question, please tell about your identity.”
“My na is Ice Rain, and I am a citizen of the Kingdom of the Sky, a free traveler.”
“Kingdom of the Sky? Is that your country?”
“Yes,” Ice Rain nodded.
“Are there other countries?”
“From what I know, there are only the Black Tide Kingdom, the Ashen Scar Kingdom, and the Rift Kingdom. This is my first ti leaving the Silver Mirror Continent, so I don’t know much about the others.”
Upon hearing this, Yvette fell silent, lost in contemplation.
The Black Tide Kingdom, Ashen Scar Kingdom, Rift Kingdom, and this Ice Rain’s Kingdom of the Sky were clearly nad after the four major companies from the origin civilization: Black Tide Company, Ashen Chemical, Rift Enterprise, and Heavenscape Technology.
Unlike the other four super corporations, however, these four entities all engaged in chanical puppetry, magical soldiers, and Mind Core operations. Among them, Heavenscape Technology and Rift Enterprise were the strongest, followed by Black Tide Company and Ashen Chemical.
Could it be that these chanical puppets were the remnants of these companies left after the apocalypse, that over the long years of existence, they had gained intelligence and ford social bonds through their creators? The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the NoveI(F)ire
In a way, was this the “national identity” of the chanical race?
Wait, it didn’t necessarily have to be post-apocalypse…
Suddenly, Yvette recalled her exploration of the Abyssal Base over two hundred years ago, and the logs she had seen from the maintenance personnel there, which clearly recorded that the core control intelligence of the base, the Firefly Core, had shown signs of having “co to life.”
In other words, before the apocalypse, situations involving intelligence awakenings had already existed!
At that ti, she had suspected the Firefly Core had mutated, but now, it seed that it truly had developed self-awareness!
Given this context, knowing that the aberrant factors could infect machines during the apocalypse, how had these chanical puppets managed to survive until now?
Pure luck? Coincidence?
Or could it be, as the ultimate winners, the chanical race played so subtle role during the human apocalypse?
…
“Hey, kind and beautiful lady, do you have more questions?” Noticing Yvette staring blankly in thought for several minutes, Ice Rain waved her hand.
Snapping back to reality, Yvette glanced at Ice Rain and said, “Get in the car.”
“Oh! Thank you, kind lady.” Ice Rain imdiately hopped into the vehicle, even rembering to buckle herself into the passenger seat.
Under Ice Rain’s guidance, the motorcycle began to move slowly in a specific direction. After traveling about two kiloters, Yvette noticed a small vehicle parked by the side of the abandoned road.
It was a motorcycle that looked battered, covered in welding scars and patches, evidently a patchwork of countless discarded parts.
Though Yvette could directly recharge the motorcycle’s power board, restoring its depleted elents, she didn’t want to showcase that ability; instead, she allowed Ice Rain to tie the motorcycle onto the roof of the larger vehicle.
Returning to her seat, she asked, “What’s this sanctuary you ntioned? Where is it?”
“It’s a place to pray to the great chanical god for help; all the kingdoms have one,” Ice Rain replied matter-of-factly. “I prayed before coming to the Black Tide Continent, and the god indicated that there was a kingdom nearby in this region, and that I’d reach a supply station when I landed, just south of the Agash City ruins.”
“A kingdom… how many people does it typically have?”
“I don’t know. The people in our Kingdom of the Sky are quite nurous, around a thousand,” Ice Rain shook her head. “Other kingdoms are smaller, with only two or three hundred people. But I don’t know much about the Black Tide Continent; I only know there are believers of the god here, probably just a few hundred.”
A thousand? Two to three hundred?
Yvette was taken aback. In their earlier conversation, she had envisioned these chanical kingdoms as a silicon-based civilization that would gradually rise from the ruins and could soon sweep away aberrant creatures and venture into the universe…
Yet the population of a kingdom was so small? Wasn’t that the sa as a village?
No, it might not even compare to a village!
…
Driving the vehicle toward the nearest chanical kingdom, after covering about four or five kiloters, the outline of a small town comprised of crumbling walls and ruins erged on the horizon. As she drew closer, she began to see slowly moving figures among the dilapidated buildings.
When she got near enough to see clearly, it beca apparent that these stumbling figures were all old, rough chanical puppets. Their shells were riddled with welding scars and patched with rivets, and magical wires twisted out in the open, rusted power boards creaking under the weight of their fras with each slow step they took, exuding a sense of weariness and impending collapse.
“Hello, may I ask where this is?” Yvette remained seated in the driver’s seat, delaying her descent until she saw Ice Rain step down and cheerfully greet them.
Then, an old chanical puppet with a cracked shell and large spiderweb-like fissures in its lenses approached, speaking through its worn-out speaker, “This is Agash branch of the Black Tide Kingdom. Welco, distant travelers!”
Indeed, the puppets with the Black Tide Company logo were presumably linked together in this way, Yvette mused. She wondered if this might lead to brand discrimination, where the four major corporations appeared more prestigious while the lesser-known, smaller companies’ puppets faced scorn.
Then, noting that there weren’t many of these chanical kingdom puppets— perhaps only a few dozen—and observing their amiable deanor, she felt sufficiently safe and decided to step out of the vehicle as well.
But as soon as she did, she was startled to find that all the chanical puppets’ gazes seed magnetically drawn to her, locking onto her figure as if paralyzed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)