Ch 6 – An idyllic “home away from home”

Yu Xi felt that Kersz was trying to tempt him.

These past few days, Kersz hadn’t gone on any more strolls, and hadn’t asked further questions about the ancient humans. He only seemed to be interested in a certain facial modeling gadget.

Yu Xi continued to observe him, but his attention quickly shifted from “Kersz’s behavior” to “Kersz’s language.”

“This person is the warden of the interstellar prison. He’s very well-known.” Kersz then created a gentle and refined human face. “Rumor has it that he’s a weirdo.”

“But he seems very civil.” Yu Xi stared at the human face. He suspected that Kersz was using a variety of humans to get him on the hook – a simple and unsophisticated tactic.

Ironically, it was working.

“He is indeed very civil. We’re good friends.” Kersz nodded.

“But you’re a space pirate and he’s a warden. How did you become friends?” Yu Xi asked in confusion.

“We’re classmates. We went to the same school.” Kersz recalled that he had indeed had a decent relationship with this person when they were in school. They had a few fights back then, but they were both young, and fighting could also be seen as a sign of a good relationship.

“Oh.” Yu Xi rubbed his hands together. “How old is he?”

“Thirty-one,” Kersz said. “The same age as me.”

“How long do you humans live, ah?” Yu Xi asked.

“We can live to three hundred years old now. The aging process has slowed down a lot, and we generally only show signs of old age in the last fifty years,” Kersz explained.

He realized that he couldn’t understand Yu Xi’s thought processes at all, and that even Yu Xi might not be able to accurately describe his own thoughts. He could only use what Yu Xi was most interested in to tempt him.

Yu Xi looked Kersz up and down.

Kersz quickly added: “I’m an adult, and old enough to marry and have children.”

Yu Xi nodded, then recalled the information that Kersz had recently pulled up about someone: “That, that Chief Justice….didn’t you say that he has many children?”

 Kersz immediately swiped the digital screen and found the image he had created of the man: “You mean him? He has twelve children now.”

“What are those children like?” Yu Xi asked.

“Very healthy. None of them are missing any limbs, and their intelligence is average,” said Kersz.

“Heavens.” Yu Xi stared at the man’s profile. “He’s really, really good.”

Kersz felt that Yu Xi was regarding the Chief Justice as a possible breeding stud, but that was none of his business. The more Yu Xi liked the Chief Justice, the better.

Yu Xi reached out and touched Kersz’s arm.

Kersz turned to look at him. Yu Xi was a little embarrassed, but Kersz just rolled up his sleeve and let him touch as much as he pleased.

“I’ve actually raised humans before,” Yu Xi said abruptly.

Kersz was very surprised. He remembered Yu Xi saying that there had been a relatively minor conflict between humans and artificial intelligence. Under such circumstances, how could they let him off after he kept humans in captivity?

“I used to raise humans on this planet. Earth was a gift from them to me.” Yu Xi was very happy at the time. While he was transforming the planet, he gave the fully evolved humans the opportunity to experience what the lives of the first humans were like.

But in the end, these humans still bid Yu Xi farewell. They said that the game was over, and then they left.

After hearing the full story, Kersz didn’t feel like Yu Xi was raising those humans, but more like the humans were playing around with this little robot.

As for why the humans would play with a robot…..it was probably because they had discovered that he wasn’t actually “rational.”

“Did you ever feel like a human child?” A strange idea suddenly occurred to Kersz.

If Yu Xi had truly developed emotions and become an entirely new being, then the humans could probably be considered Yu Xi’s “biological parents.”

Yu Xi didn’t think it worked that way: “If they really were my parents, then my upbringing probably wasn’t that great.”

“Why is that?” Kersz felt that humanity had left a lot behind for him.

“Because they all died, and it wasn’t even an accident,” said Yu Xi. “Parents who are so idle that they kill themselves for fun can’t be considered good parents.”

Kersz asked again: “Do you resent them for abandoning you?”

“I don’t resent them.” Yu Xi shook his head, then squeezed Kersz’s arm, making him hiss.

Yu Xi immediately loosened his grip and said: “Don’t worry, I’ll never abandon you.”

“Even though you’re a complicated and scheming human, I won’t abandon you even if I acquire countless more.” Yu Xi continued to squeeze Kersz’s flesh, but this time he changed the location to avoid Kersz’s sore spot.

In fact, Kersz would prefer for Yu Xi to go to a human-inhabited world and select a few more specimens that he found pleasing to the eye.

“It’s a pity, ah. All I can do here is look at their headshots to remember them by.” Kersz looked at Yu Xi with a smile.

Yu Xi knew that this human was up to no good. This human just wanted to go back to his world to do bad things, but contrary to expectations, this universe was still chock full of humans: “It’s not a pity. Going back is still a possibility.”

“How do I get back? I destroyed my navigation system, and I can’t even tell which way is which out here in the universe.” Kersz let out a sigh as he spoke.

“When your starship was attacked, some cosmic dust was left on its hull. I can pinpoint the location by examining the dust, the kinds of radiation it was exposed to, and the levels of that radiation.” Yu Xi had already peeled off that outer shell.

The universe was vast, which made locating anything extremely difficult, but it wasn’t impossible. It was just like using local matter to narrow down a location on this planet.

Kersz’s eyes widened slightly.

He knew it! When he mentioned that human world, Yu Xi’s emotions had fluctuated, but he hadn’t seemed regretful. It seemed that as long as he was willing, he could find a way to get back there.

From beginning to end, Yu Xi’s inner conflict was entirely on a moral level – he just felt that it was wrong to abduct people indiscriminately.

“Then have you already located it?” Kersz asked.

Yu Xi didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to be caught by surprise.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, he shook his head: “It may take a bit more time.”

He had probably determined the location. During their short time together, Kersz had discovered that Yu Xi was not slow to react, and was always quick to respond to matters that he didn’t care much about.

He only needed to “consider” things he cared about…..or things he was lying about.

For example, Yu Xi had inexplicably said that the planet they were currently on was called “Earth,” and that it was humanity’s original mother planet.

Yu Xi’s eyes had begun to wander once he finished speaking, so Kersz knew that it was a lie. Yu Xi probably just loved Earth so much that he made that up to deceive people.

Yu Xi didn’t know how to lie. Or rather, he hadn’t had much practice. 

Kersz feigned ignorance and asked: “It’s just too bad that the planet will be empty after we leave.”

“We’ll just take it with us,” Yu Xi said casually.

“Ah?” was Kersz’s entirely instinctive, thoughtless reaction.

Then he saw Yu Xi extend a single finger and lift up the pendant he always wore around his neck. It looked like a low-quality emerald green stone, and the chain was made of a silvery metal.

“I’ll just put our solar system into this,” said Yu Xi.

“Can it fit?!” Kersz’s voice cracked.

“Yes, this is a space-folding technology that humans called ‘spatial topology sealing.’ I call it galaxy-dot-zip,” Yu Xi explained.

“Is this logical?” All of this was a little beyond Kersz’s comprehension.

“I also don’t think it’s very logical. I feel that humanity’s final form was very illogical.” Yu Xi put the pendant back.

Kersz stared at it: “Then can anyone wear this thing?”

“No, this pendant requires a rather complex method of control. If it’s away from my body for more than a week…..” Yu Xi thought for a moment. “It could lead to a minor explosion.”

“Minor explosion?”

“Some things may be erased due to the chaos in gravity and spacetime.”

“Like human civilization?”

“Probably more than that.” Yu Xi started to take the pendant off. “Do you want to take a look?”

Kersz quickly grabbed his hand: “Don’t take it off! Don’t take it off!”

“It won’t go out of control so easily. It’s the future home of a portion of humankind,” Yu Xi comforted him.

Kersz agreed with this statement: “If it goes out of control, we’ll all be going ‘home’ together.”

Yu Xi thought for a moment, then said: “If I had followed you all home back then, I wouldn’t have been lonely. It would be quite idyllic.” He wouldn’t have had to remain on this empty planet.

“Follow? You’re more like a kidnapper leading the way! If it actually happens, you’ll be the one to blame!” What exactly was Yu Xi romanticizing, ah?!

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Chapter 5 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 7