Ch 8 – Why do you want humans?

Yu Xi hugged his knees, isolating himself under a corner of the table.

Kersz piloted the starship to evade attack and initiated another jump.

Yu Xi hadn’t taught him how to pilot it, and although Kersz originally hadn’t intended to expose his ability, doing otherwise just make them a stationary target.

The second jump was more fortuitous, and their starship was the only one adrift in the empty void of space.

Yu Xi stared blankly at the ground.

Kersz crouched down, and Yu Xi looked at him: “Humans are not friendly toward wanted criminals.”

“Nonsense. I have no prejudice toward wanted criminals.” Kersz considered himself to be a human too.

“You’re a wanted criminal.” Yu Xi’s lips trembled. “You’ve ruined me.”

Kersz hadn’t expected such a strong reaction.

Yu Xi wanted to get along well with humans, chatting about life and hobbies every day before gently luring them to his planet.

Now that he was a wanted criminal, how could any of the good humans like him?

And those humans had looked so fierce. No human had ever been so cruel to him before.

Kersz continued to observe Yu Xi, puzzled as to why he had become so human-like and strongly reactive.

As he watched, he noticed that Yu Xi’s eyes seemed to be brimming with tears.

Kersz: “Huh? Is there something wrong with my eyes?”

Kersz rubbed his eyes and shook his head. Then he looked closely and saw that Yu Xi’s tears had already slid down his cheeks to his chin.

The tears fell, and Yu Xi himself was momentarily stunned: “Am I broken?”

Kersz: “You might be crying.”

“No, I’m a rational robot.” Yu Xi’s voice trembled.

Kersz: “Do you hear yourself right now?”

Yu Xi kind of wanted to go home. Perhaps he could wait until this generation of humans died before coming back, and then he could be a clean robot again. But then he thought about his remaining lifespan and began to lose his composure.

“Hey, hey, hey, why are you crying even harder?” Kersz was at somewhat of a loss.

“I don’t have enough time. My reputation is ruined,” Yu Xi choked out. “How can you be so bad? How could I have discovered such a wicked human?”

Kersz: “Well, I’m a space pirate. Did you steal a starmap when you connected to the enemy starship? Shall I take you to see some other places?”

“They said they were going to attack me, and then they just opened fire on me.” Yu Xi wasn’t listening to Kersz at all. “How bad-tempered. How vicious.”

Kersz: ……

Kersz began to ponder Yu Xi’s abnormal behavior again. Was he not accustomed to dealing with malice? It was the same as last time – when Kersz’s tone became cold and hard, Yu Xi’s first instinct was to run away.

But he had been alive for such a long time. He must have witnessed a great deal of human evil, and he was even able to tell that Kersz was a deeply scheming person.

“Why did they attack me? They could have listened to my explanation, or even asked me to hand over the evil space pirate, ah.” Yu Xi grew increasingly upset the more he thought about it. “I clearly haven’t done anything, so why am I being made a criminal suspect too?”

“Aren’t you being a little too quick to sever ties with me? And aren’t there some things that are better said behind my back?” Kersz said with a hint of helplessness.

Yu Xi looked up at a 45 degree angle from under the table. He had never been hated by so many humans before.

Kersz finally picked up on a clue: “…..Have you never truly integrated into human society?”

He finally realized what had been so odd. Yu Xi did have a lot of theoretical knowledge, but he seemed to be inept at dealing with human emotions.

He was like a child raised in an ancient human family. Many people tried to reason with Yu Xi, but he only needed to understand the cause and effect, not to experience things firsthand.

“I can no longer integrate into the human world.” Yu Xi felt that there was no hope of survival. “They all think I’m a bad guy!”

Kersz: “So you’re more used to being a good baby?”

Yu Xi finally looked at Kersz.

Kersz shrank back.

“Please wait a moment,” Yu Xi said to him.

What? Had Yu Xi decided to cherish Kersz, the only remaining human?

Kersz didn’t understand.

The stone pendant around Yu Xi’s neck lit up, and then something about the length of a finger and as thin as a hair appeared between Yu Xi’s hands. This thing floated mid-air, emitting a faint glow.

It then proceeded to grow bigger and longer.

“What kind of treasure is this?” Kersz asked in puzzlement.

Yu Xi gave the now half-meter long object a couple of swings, then launched himself straight at Kersz.

“Huh? Ah! No! Why are you hitting me?!” 

Yu Xi lashed Kersz’s bottom with the blue whip: “You naughty boy!”

Kersz covered his rear as he ran, and the thing stung his hand as it lashed him: “If you were just going to beat me, why did you say ‘please?!’”

“I’m a robot. That’s just how I’m programmed.” Yu Xi felt that Kersz’s question was nonsense.

“You just wanted to beat me! You were only polite so that I didn’t run away!” Kersz shouted as he ran. “If you’re so afraid of humans treating you badly, then why are you still so hung up on them?”

Kersz had initially meant to feign concern, but Yu Xi’s two lashes had ignited his temper: “You should know what humanity is like at this stage. We’re all a bunch of self-righteous, short-sighted fools.”

Yu Xi chased right behind Kersz: “Of course I know what you’re like!”

“Then why are you crying?!” Kersz asked him.

“I’m not crying, I’m just malfunctioning!” Yu Xi retorted.

Yu Xi chased Kersz to the point of complete exhaustion before he stopped.

Kersz sat on the ground, panting heavily. He accused Yu Xi of being a human-abuser, then muttered that he really didn’t understand why Yu Xi didn’t just create another robot with feelings like himself for company. Two equally matched robots would be much more enjoyable. Then he started pulling at Yu Xi’s pendant. He feared that he might become a sinner against humanity in the future, but if all of humanity were to die out, there would be no one left to condemn him.

Yu Xi felt that he had finally grasped an aspect of Kersz’s true nature – he was a bad boy who couldn’t hold his tongue.

Kersz grumbled to himself until his throat was dry. Once he calmed down, he looked at Yu Xi’s unchanged expression and reorganized his thoughts before once again tempting Yu Xi with his greatest desire: “A reputation can be whitewashed. If you’re really that worried, how about I take you to capture a human to practice on first?”

“But I’m a wanted criminal now,” said Yu Xi.

“Even wanted criminals have wanted criminal friends.” Kersz’s voice was a little hoarse. “I have a lot of wanted criminal friends, and they’re all destitute and homeless.”

“I need to relax.” Yu Xi felt that he must adjust his mental state before facing more humans.

He also came to the realization that he was prone to “malfunctioning” when humans were angry with him.

Kersz blinked: “How long do you plan to relax?”

“I don’t know. I’ll get some sleep first.” Yu Xi turned to leave.

He heard Kersz get up, and then heard Kersz’s footsteps following behind him.

Yu Xi turned his head: “Find your own room.”

“I thought you might want human companionship,” Kersz said.

Upon hearing this, Yu Xi gave him a gentle smile: “Oh~ You’re so cute.”

Then the smile dropped right off his face and he went into his room.

Kersz: …..

Was Yu Xi being sarcastic to him just now?

Would he refuse to visit human communities out of shame?

Back in his room, Yu Xi let out a long sigh. He pressed a hand to his chest, feeling a bit stuffy.

However, this would not affect Yu Xi’s rest. All he had to do was adjust his system to sleep mode.

Yu Xi decided to clear his mind first.

But just as his mind began to fall silent, he seemed to hear Kersz’s question again – have you never fully integrated into human society?

Yu Xi frowned, inexplicably resistant to this statement.

Then he entered sleep mode and fell into a dream.

He dreamed that someone was crying.

All sorts of people were crying, regardless of gender or age, and they were all hugging Yu Xi.

Choking with emotion, those people all asked Yu Xi “why does the concept of separation exist?”

Yu Xi used the same words to appease them all.

He told them that this was the law of nature, that accepting separation was something that each individual must learn how to do, and that the pain of separation was proof of how much they cherished those who were gone.

He repeated this truth to the elderly, the young, the women and the men. He embraced each human being, witnessed countless partings, and guided them through.

Yu Xi even created a romantic fantasy for these people, telling them that they would “meet again” when they came to recognize the imprint the deceased had left on their souls.

Those who cried in Yu Xi’s arms appeared and disappeared one by one.

In the end, Yu Xi’s arms were empty.

He sat atop a high-rise building. The planet was brightly lit, but there was only one “smart butler” around – Yu Xi.

Yu Xi gazed up at the starry sky and the boundless universe beyond it.

He knew that people eventually dispersed, scattering throughout the universe.

Suddenly, he felt that something wasn’t right. After some thought, he turned on loudspeakers all across the planet, and the words he had once used to comfort humanity sounded through them.

This is the law of nature, something everyone must learn, proof that you cherished those who are gone, and you will one day be reunited.

At last, there was no longer silence in his ears.

A nighttime breeze was blowing. Yu Xi rubbed his hands together, then clasped them tightly. He hunched his shoulders, clamped his clasped hands between his thighs, and bowed his head.

Was something missing?

Yu Xi looked left and right, then lowered his head again.

He waited for a moment, then looked left and right again.

Humans always appeared at times like these to receive his hugs.

The more he hugged, the more humans appeared.

Yu Xi swung his legs, recalling the silly crying faces of those humans.

He really liked squeezing together in a ball with them, ah.

Hahaha.

Yu Xi’s legs swung slower and slower, before finally coming to a stop.

He looked around himself again.

There was nobody there.

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Chapter 7 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 9