Ch 20 – What Did the Cruel Robot Do?

“Take a look at Tau.” Yu Xi adjusted the semi-transparent screen so that it faced Kersz. Displayed on it was a photo. “I think our relationship has improved significantly.”

On the holographic screen, Tau sat with his back as straight as a board. He was wearing a pink formal suit covered in goose-yellow polka dots, with a large yellow bowtie secured around his neck. Perched atop his head was a cute little tophat. 

This was the outfit Yu Xi had picked out for him, as today was the birthday of his fabricated persona.

“In consideration of his favorite color being purple, I gave him purple dress pants and silver-white shoes.” Yu Xi zoomed in on Tau’s lower body.

Kersz felt as if his eyes were being assaulted by that pair of gleaming silver shoes.

“We celebrated his birthday together. His heart started racing and his face turned bright red, so I knew he was feeling shy.” Yu Xi sighed. “Tau is really becoming more and more lively.”

Kersz: …..

Kersz suspected that Tau had wanted to pummel Yu Xi, but considering the disparity in strength between the two, all he could do was grit his teeth and bear it.

Surely Yu Xi wouldn’t dress Kersz up like this for his own birthday. Right?

“This outfit is a little odd,” said Yu Xi.

Kersz: “Ah?” Yu Xi thought it was odd? Shouldn’t he find it adorable?

“But Tau himself likes it. It’s his birthday, so his preferences matter most.” Yu Xi wondered whether he should hang this photograph in Tau’s quarters.

“What do you mean it’s his own preference?” 

Kersz finally realized that something wasn’t right here.

“I prepared several outfits.” Yu Xi exited the photo and showed Kersz the array of garments he had selected.

Those formal outfits looked very elegant, and Tau would certainly look good in them.

“When I asked him to pick out his clothes, he looked rather conflicted. Then I jokingly said that if all else failed, I would just tie a big bow on his head and be done with it. And he actually said okay!”

“I designed some clothes for him, and he selected the sketches for this particular set,” Yu Xi explained. “Actually, he didn’t point them out. It’s just that once the sketches were ready, his eyes lingered the most on this particular set.”

Kersz was deeply shaken: “So he actually prefers this?”

“I got the feeling that he really liked it.” Yu Xi recalled that when the little top hat had begun to fall from his head, Tau had reached up himself and straightened it again.

Kersz wore an incredulous expression.

“And he also prefers children’s cartoons to those heavy, complex stories intended for adults.” Yu Xi had discovered this by perusing Tau’s playback history.

Kersz was even more shocked.

“Do you think I should give him a teddy bear? I think he’d like it.” Yu Xi asked for Kersz’s opinion.

Kersz raised a hand to his temples: “I suppose…..he really likes this stuff?!”

“Everyone has their own little hobbies.” Yu Xi patted Kersz. “By the way, I’ve secretly tapped into your civilian computer network. I’m striving to understand your social structure. You now have unrestricted access to the network, and no one will be able to trace your identity.”

“I can access the network?” Kersz frowned.

Yu Xi nodded.

“What about Tau?”

“He can too,” said Yu Xi.

“No way! He’ll send information outside!” Kersz was alarmed. “His father is the Supreme Governor. The military of the Interstellar Alliance is going to come knocking on our door.”

“He wouldn’t do that, he’s an honest child,” Yu Xi reassured him.

“He might like those cartoons, but he hasn’t been successfully reformed. It’s not that easy.” Kersz worried that Yu Xi might suffer a loss at Tau’s hands. “He will absolutely reveal your situation to the Interstellar Alliance.”

“He can’t determine the exact location of our starship,” said Yu Xi. “Your equipment here isn’t able to do so either.”

Kersz: “He doesn’t need to know the exact location. He only needs to transmit your identity and goal to the outside world.”

“So he’s going to say that a robotic relic of an ancient human civilization wants to round up humans solely for the purpose of raising them in a healthy and scientifically sound environment, ensuring that they live out their lives in health and contentment until they die of old age?” A smile spread across Yu Xi’s face. “Wouldn’t you take this as a joke?”

Kersz: …..

He had nearly forgotten how absurd Yu Xi’s goal would seem to ordinary people.

Kersz’s suspicion turned out not to be baseless. Upon discovering that he could access the network, Tau indeed began to transmit information. However, he was very cautious, and waited a long time before sending his first brief message in a rather roundabout manner.

After all, he couldn’t be sure if Yu Xi was spying on him or not.

In reality, his best course of action at the moment was to do nothing at all, but Yu Xi’s tactic of using his father to threaten him had left him feeling a little anxious.

On the capital planet of the Interstellar Alliance, a man with long golden hair closed a file and removed his gloves before rubbing the tip of his nose.

Just then, a message suddenly popped up on his communicator.

[Supreme Governor, we have received a message from 152.]

Number 152? The blond man raised his teacup.

He recalled that Number 152’s identity had already been exposed by Kersz. Given Kersz’s deranged nature, he had assumed that Number 152 was already dead.

[Send it over.] The blond man’s brow furrowed. He wondered if this could be a trap set by Kersz.

[….Please try not to get angry when you read it.] The other side suddenly sent this remark.

The blond man’s displeasure deepened. The other’s words seemed a little excessive.

Fortunately, the other party didn’t display any further extraneous sentiment. Instead, they simply forwarded the intelligence transmitted by Number 152.

Number 152 had left varying comments across different websites, and they had to use a secret code to identify specific characters, deconstruct them into their constituent strokes, and then based on the numerical values of those strokes, reassemble them to construct a new message.

The file sent by the other party contained all of Number 152’s comments, and in the process of deconstructing the information, these fragments coalesced into a single statement: [A robot is coming to capture Father and use him as a breeding stud.]

“Pfft! Cough, cough, cough!” The blond man spat out the tea in his mouth. After coughing for quite a while, he shifted his gaze back to the message.

Then he went back through every message sent by Number 152, scrutinizing the decryption process. He felt that something must have gone wrong during one of the steps.

He read them over once, twice, three times…..

…..Was this message posted by Kersz under the other person’s account?

That must be it. The space pirate was probably just indulging his twisted sense of humor.

*

*

Kersz sneezed.

“Are you sick?” Yu Xi reached out and touched Kersz’s forehead.

“I don’t think so.” Kersz didn’t know why he had suddenly sneezed. “Let’s continue our discussion.”

“Oh, oh, okay.” Yu Xi had been speaking to Kersz about the little animals in his dream. “Humanoid extraterrestrial beings are extremely rare. In the dream, they referenced ‘supreme apes,’ and said that I resembled them. So I figure that their facial features must at least be human-like, or that human features must represent a substantial portion of their appearance.”

“The animals spoke the same language as me, so they must have originated back when the original humans still existed. It’s highly probable that they are artificially created beastfolk,” Yu Xi continued to analyze.

“That makes sense. Actually, back when I was a miner, I used to think to myself: if only my little mouse could live a little bit longer.” Kersz nodded.

“Oh~ You wanted companionship, right?” Yu Xi took Kersz’s hand and stroked the back of it.

“I guess so.” Kersz knew that Yu Xi was susceptible to this kind of thing. His words were sincere, but he wouldn’t usually bring up such trivial matters.

“Do you want to come into my arms?” Yu Xi opened his arms to Kersz.

Kersz embraced Yu Xi quite naturally, resting his head on his shoulder.

Yu Xi stroked Kersz’s head: “You really are a cunning human. One who knows how to act cute, too.”

Had Yu Xi figured out what he was thinking? Kersz smiled, knowing that Yu Xi would fall for it next time as well.

“In any case, it’s highly probable that those little animals originated from the ancient humans. But I’m not exactly sure what ‘Facai’ is, or why it established a connection with you.” Yu Xi petted the human beside him as he spoke.

Yu Xi typically wouldn’t be so impolite to a human. Even when dealing with the mentally unstable Tau, he wouldn’t directly lay a hand on him.

It was precisely because Tau’s personality was so maladjusted that Yu Xi worried about leading him down an even more misguided path, and always conducted himself with caution and courtesy.

But Kersz was different. Kersz was very warm and enthusiastic.

Yu Xi suddenly let out a sigh. He set the topic of the dream aside and proceeded to lament: “Good-looking, sweet-talking humans are very dangerous.”

As he spoke, Yu Xi gave Kersz a squeeze.

Then he let out a world-weary sigh.

Kersz was too generous, and couldn’t bring himself to push him away.

Yu Xi continued to pet him, and their postures shifted slightly. He began to nuzzle his way deeper into Kersz’s arms, stroking him all the while, as if preparing to stake out his territory.

He groped around with a sigh, as if helpless in the face of his own exessiveness.

Kersz’s face went slightly red.

This robot really knew how to push boundaries.

Kersz could feel his heart beating faster and faster. Yu Xi, who had been nuzzling him all this time, went still and lifted his head to gaze at Kersz with those cyan-blue eyes.

Great, the robot had picked up on his emotions again.

Yu Xi smiled somewhat sheepishly, then asked politely: “Can I touch more?”

“Go right ahead~” Kersz continued to feign composure, still maintaining his smile.

Yu Xi stared at his face, then carefully reached out to touch it.

Kersz felt that he ought to interrupt Yu Xi.

He really should put a stop to this.

But Yu Xi looked so happy right now.

He couldn’t help thinking that if he stopped Yu Xi right now, it would be tantamount to committing a crime.

Meanwhile, Tau tentatively sent a second coded message: [There is a powerful robot that wants to abduct humans and keep them as livestock. He possesses a vast amount of resources and provides the humans with three meals per day, as well as countless forms of entertainment. He says that one can even acquire any knowledge they desire here, and intends to use these means to break the humans’ will and satisfy his obsession with keeping and raising humans.]

The person who decoded the message: …..

Was this a scam advertisement?

A hustle?

Someone with a human abduction fetish?

And where was the registration portal?

Having just sent this message, Tau hugged the teddy bear beside him.

Yu Xi’s tactics were truly terrifying.

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Chapter 19 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 21