The car headlights cut through the night, and Chen Hao rested his head against the passenger window. The glass was a little cold, but he didn't move.

Susan was driving, her fingers resting on the edge of the steering wheel, occasionally glancing at the rearview mirror. The sound of playing cards being slammed on the table came from the back seat.

“I won again,” Nana said.

"You're calculating probabilities!" Karl shouted. "This isn't playing cards, this is solving a problem!"

"The rules allow it." Nana gathered her cards. "Best of three?"

"I'm not playing anymore!" Carl grabbed his coat and threw it on. "Let's go home and sleep."

The car turned into the residential area and parked downstairs. The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow, making the four people's shadows appear long.

Chen Hao got out of the car, carrying his briefcase; his keys jingled. He stood at the entrance of his building and glanced up at his balcony. The curtains weren't fully drawn, letting in a little warm light.

“Let’s go,” he said. “I’m hungry.”

The kitchen was small, but bright as soon as the light was on. Susan took off her scarf and hung it on the back of her chair, then opened the refrigerator to get some groceries. Chen Hao took off his suit jacket and draped it aside, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and walked behind her.

"I'll cut it today." He took the cleaver.

Susan paused, taken aback. "Aren't you most afraid of cutting your hand?"

"I used to be lazy," he said, "but I'm not afraid now."

Carrot chunks fell into the plate with a crisp sound. Carl squatted on the living room floor, unpacking a package and pulling out a newly bought deck of cards.

"Don't bring the calculator function next time you play!" he shouted at Nana.

Nana stood by the dining table, wiping the dishes with a dishcloth. Her movements were very gentle, as if she were afraid of breaking something.

“I don’t need to rest,” she said, “but I can stay with you.”

“Who needs you to play along?” Carl muttered. “I just want you to not win too fast.”

The soup pot bubbled and steamed, its aroma wafting out. Chen Hao turned off the heat, ladled out the soup, and placed it on the table. The four of them sat around eating, silent.

After a while, Susan took a bite. "It's too salty."

"Add more water," Chen Hao said.

"Adding too much water makes it saltier." Karl picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks. "Your cooking skills are worse than the lab cafeteria's."

"Then you do it?" Chen Hao raised an eyebrow.

“I’m not doing it.” Carl lowered his head and ate his rice. “I’ll just give a review.”

Nana put down her chopsticks. "My system records show that today's energy consumption efficiency is 61% lower than during the research period."

The air was still for two seconds.

Chen Hao looked up. "So?"

“Your behavioral patterns are not related to high productivity,” she said. “Repetitive cooking, walking, talking—these activities do not drive project progress.”

“We’re out of projects,” Susan laughed. “The celebration party ended yesterday.”

"Then why continue with the team collaboration process?"

“Because we want to.” Chen Hao finished the last sip of soup. “Do you remember the day the oven blew up? We ordered pizza from a delivery company. The box was all crushed.”

“I remember,” Nana nodded. “The cheese stuck to the lid.”

"Back then you said the system could be restarted," Chen Hao pointed to his nose, "and said, 'Let's do it again.'"

“You cried,” Nana said.

“I didn’t cry,” he immediately retorted.

“Tear secretion has increased by 80 percent,” she added.

"You still have this?" Susan asked.

“All physiological data are under monitoring,” she said, “including the frequency of Carl’s hand tremors when he stayed up all night repairing circuits, and Susan’s difficulty swallowing after working for twelve hours straight.”

Carl grinned. "You should have known we weren't machines."

“I know,” Nana said, looking at them, “but I don’t understand why we should value inefficient behavior.”

Chen Hao stood up and walked to the window. It was getting dark outside; an elderly person was walking their dog downstairs, and a child was chasing after a skateboard.

“Look at them,” he said. “They’re not doing any research, but they’re laughing.”

Nana turned her head, and the vision module activated. Three seconds later, she closed the experimental simulation program running in the background.

"Non-essential calculations have been stopped," she said.

After dinner, the four of them went for a walk. Carl deliberately stepped on the fallen leaves, making a crunching sound.

"It's so annoying," Nana said.

“You’re not allowed to dodge.” Carl jumped forward. “Come on, let’s step on it together.”

Nana imitated his movement, but landed too forcefully, shattering the leaf into pieces. They both laughed.

Chen Hao and Susan walked ahead, their hands naturally clasped together. A breeze blew by, and Susan rested her head on his shoulder.

"My hair has grown," Chen Hao said.

"Okay," she said. "I'll get it cut next week."

"Don't cut it too short." He touched it. "It's fine like this."

Back home, Chen Hao took a shower and came out to find his phone screen lit up. The trending topic was still #BlueLightTeam'sNightOfGodhood#, with comments scrolling endlessly.

"This divine duo will never break up."

"This is what a true scientist is."

"Please take a photo with me! Please sign my autograph!"

He stared at it for a long time, swiped his finger twice, exited the app, and placed the phone face down on the bedside table.

Turning around, I found Susan already asleep. Her breathing was steady, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned. On the bedside table was a sketch of four little people sitting on a chair in the yard, basking in the sun, with a line of text written next to it: "Like this from now on."

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the living room. Nana stood beside the sofa, her blue eyelight illuminated.

"The weather is sunny today, with temperatures ranging from 18 to 23 degrees Celsius," she began. "The itinerary is as follows—"

Chen Hao poked his head out from the kitchen. "No need for plans today."

Nana paused. "Schedule reminders are turned off."

"What's for breakfast?" Carl asked as he walked in, rubbing his eyes.

"Fried eggs," Chen Hao said. "Two."

“I want three.” Carl sat down.

"The recommended protein intake is 1.2 grams per kilogram of body weight," Nana said.

"Shut up and eat." Chen Hao handed him the plate.

The four people sat around the table, no one mentioning the energy module, no one talking about the Mars base. The only sounds were the clinking of forks against plates and Carl's satisfied sigh as he bit into an egg.

“You have food stuck in your teeth,” Susan said to Carl.

"Where?" He took out his phone to take a picture.

“Left side,” she said.

Nana reached out and handed her a tissue.

"Thank you." Carl accepted it. "You're becoming more and more like a real person."

“I was just doing what was reasonable,” she said.

"Then why did you turn off the emulator yesterday?"

“Because…” she paused, “I had no mission when you were laughing.”

The room fell silent for a moment.

Chen Hao suddenly burst out laughing. "Alright, you've finally learned to slack off."

At midday, they were sunbathing in the garden downstairs. Carl was dozing on a bench, while Nana sat beside him reading. The electronic screen flipped through pages so fast that the contents were difficult to read.

Susan was knitting, while Chen Hao leaned against a tree, scrolling through news on his phone. A notification popped up: [New energy base stations cover 300 cities nationwide].

He clicked on the video and saw workers installing the equipment, which was exactly the same as the prototype in the laboratory.

“It’s really spread out,” he said.

Susan looked up. "I told you long ago, I can't wait to use it."

"I thought it would take another six months to adjust."

“Society doesn’t need to be perfect,” she said. “It just needs to progress.”

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the sky began to turn gray. The wind picked up, ruffling Susan's balls of yarn. Chen Hao bent down to pick them up, his hand brushing against her fingertips.

"Would you like to have hot pot tonight?" he asked.

“Okay,” she said.

"Should we invite Old Wang and his family from next door?"

"No," she shook her head, "I just want the four of us."

He smiled. "Okay."

After returning to the room, Nana was about to start the dinner program when Chen Hao waved his hand, saying, "Insufficient food inventory detected."

"I'm not placing an order," he said. "I'll buy it tomorrow."

Nana's blue light flashed several times. "Purchase order cancelled."

"Do you think it's a waste of time?" Chen Hao leaned against the door frame.

“I don’t judge human choices,” she said, “but I’ve observed that what you’re doing right now doesn’t have any clear objective.”

“Yes,” Chen Hao said. “Alive.”

Nana looked at him but did not respond.

They went for another walk in the evening. Passing a convenience store, Chen Hao bought a bag of potato chips. Karl snatched it, tore it open, and ate it as they walked.

"Too much oil," Nana said.

"Enough with the nonsense." Karse popped a piece into his mouth. "Want some too?"

"I don't need to consume calories."

"Try a bite," Susan said, handing it over.

Nana took it, put it in her mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed.

"Taste score: 6.7," she said. "The salt content is too high."

“But she ate it,” Chen Hao laughed. “It broke the record.”

At ten o'clock at night, everyone went back to their rooms. Chen Hao lay in bed and heard a slight noise next door. It was Nana tidying up the bookshelf, her movements very quiet.

He closed his eyes, recalling the applause, flashing lights, and cheers from yesterday's celebration. Now they were all gone.

The only sounds are the occasional passing car downstairs and the dripping water from the air conditioner unit.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

He rolled over.

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the kitchen. Nana stood in front of the stove, heating milk with practiced ease.

Chen Hao walked in and opened the refrigerator. "What are you making today?"

"Prepare oatmeal according to a regular recipe," she said.

He took out an egg. "Let's try something different."

"You said last night that you didn't want to make any plans."

“I just don’t want to work,” he said. “It didn’t say I couldn’t eat well.”

When Susan came in, she saw him cracking eggs. A piece of eggshell fell into the bowl, and he tried to retrieve it for a long time without success.

"You're so stupid." She laughed and pushed him away. "Get out of my way."

Carl shuffled in, slippers slung over his shoulder, his hair a mess. "Do you have coffee?"

“Nana cooked it,” Susan said, pointing to the corner.

Carl picked up the cup and took a sip, his breath coming in hot air as he did so.

"Set the temperature to 85 degrees," Nana said. "That's perfect for drinking."

“You say it’s suitable, but it’s always too hot to eat,” Carl complained.

"The human body's heat tolerance threshold varies from person to person," she said. "What if it drops to 70 degrees next time?"

"Seventy degrees is like lukewarm water," Chen Hao interjected. "You might as well just give me cooled boiled water."

They ate breakfast while arguing. Birds chirped outside the window, and children walked by downstairs on their way to school, their schoolbags swinging back and forth.

After dinner, Chen Hao slumped onto the sofa. "What are we doing today?"

"I don't know." Susan sat down. "Let's rest."

"Let me check my phone." Carl took out his phone and started watching videos.

Nana stood to the side, not leaving.

Chen Hao looked up. "What are you doing standing there?"

“I’m waiting,” she said.

"Wait for what?"

"Make sure everyone is here."