114·? ? ?: On Love, Let Her Move Forward

…

Silence circled between the two pixel men, and when it was finally about to break through the boundary of the ship's spaceship and fly into space, Tim Drake grabbed it back.

"It's okay." He's been through tougher environments in real life before, so he can just treat it as playing games with a kid.

It's worth noting what Aria just mentioned: "Teammate?"

"You don't think we can only complete one mission at a time, do you?" She widened her eyes slightly exaggeratedly. "If someone dies midway and the mission is unable to be completed, all the time and energy we've put in will be wasted."

"Before I teamed up with you, I had regular teammates."

Guessing what he was going to ask next, Aria quickly added, "But now she's gone somewhere else."

Drake probably understood the unspoken meaning of the latter half of the sentence——

The universe is vast, and humans are like grains of sand in it. Even after a ship sets out, there's a chance it will lose contact with the mainframe, let alone a grain of sand hoping to meet another.

"But speaking of this, I have something to give you." He didn't catch any sign of depression on Aria's face. She said "I'll be right back" and ran away, leaving Tim Drake alone in the cockpit with great confidence.

He controlled the pixel man and thought about it, and decided to water the ground first.

The game's numerous correspondences with reality prevented Red Robin from enjoying it purely as a game. Drake finished the work at hand while browsing the taskbar, hoping to find some other clues.

He first checked the map of the entire town, and then found something that was obviously about favorability.

"This game has a lot of freedom. You can play it however you want." Aria, holding the box, sat back down next to Drake, breathing slightly. "Of course, if I have to give advice, there's usually only one."

She was unfathomable: "That is - don't fall in love with someone before you know everyone's situation."

“Because some of them are already married.”

Tim Drake: "...Who?"

"Caroline and Marnie. One of them is married to the grocery store owner, and the other is in a secret relationship with the town mayor. Neither of them is worth pursuing." Aria raised her finger. "Such a thing as 'one day I fall in love with your wife, and your wife falls in love with me' won't happen here, so don't fall in love with the wrong person."

What the hell is going on?

"Also, sending a bouquet of flowers in town means you're asking them out on a date, so only give it to someone you like." As a veteran player, Aria felt it was imperative to explain this seriously, "Otherwise, you'll be horrified to discover you're in a relationship."

"No problem." Tim Drake agreed. He didn't think his pixel man needed a "date" - he was just trying to use this opportunity to collect more information.

It has been observed that most of the farmer's behavioral logic is strongly related to the game. Understanding the game is to understand her herself.

But speaking of flowers, had he heard an anecdote somewhere?

Tim Drake recalled for nearly a minute before he finally dug out a bit of bright yellow memory from the bottom of his box.

...He seemed to remember that the farmer had once given daffodils to Bruce, or it was Grayson who leaked the information.

Grayson: Good news, Bruce received daffodils from a beautiful lady and brought them back to the Batcave.

Grayson again: Sad news, Bruce sliced ​​up all the daffodils he received.

Grayson: Let's shed a tear for the poor daffodils and the people who gave them them.

A while later.

Grayson: Alfred asked me to ask if you guys are coming back for dinner today? Tonight we're having grilled octopus with Spanish onions and French leek and potato soup.

…

When Tim Drake received the message, he only glanced at it quickly, thinking that this was from one of Bruce's slightly unusual suitors. He classified this kind of romantic information in the same way as he heard on campus - throwing it all into the memory trash can waiting for scheduled cleaning.

After all, no one wants to give it some of their brain memory after hearing rumors like Daisy and Jack are together, Daisy slapped Jack at the homecoming party and they broke up, and Daisy and Jack reconciled.

But Drake was glad that he had saved a file, so he successfully interpreted Aria's behavior a long time later.

So when the farmer gave Wayne flowers, he meant he wanted to date Bruce... right?

It was as if he had stumbled upon a secret. Even though the secret had long since expired, so long that the person involved no longer mentioned it, Tim Drake still felt as if he had been shoved in the back by the farmer's astonishing brain circuit.

Besides those who'd played the game, who would have known this meant a date invitation? Compared to sending flowers, simply standing in front of Bruce Wayne and asking him if he wanted to go out on a date would have a much higher chance of success—after all, there was a 70% chance Bruce would risk his life just to get a closer look at her.

"So do you have a favorite game character?" Drake asked.

"Of course!" It had been a while since anyone had talked to her about games, so Aria was very happy to share. She opened her social media profile and sorted by popularity. The winner of the "Aria's Favorite Character" award was—

Tim Drake looked again and again, but still couldn't see any signs of biological taxonomy on the organism that looked like black licorice candy, so he politely kept silent and let Aria take the lead.

"This is Krobus."

It sounded more like a name than a species, Tim Drake thought. It must be some kind of fantasy creature. It was normal for children to like fantasy creatures... who hasn't been a child before? Damian even liked dragons.

"It usually lives in the sewers. Speaking of which, our encounter was quite exciting..."

Aria excitedly recounted how she tracked and found it in the bushes, even gesturing as she spoke, causing her hair to fly up and down.

"It scared me at first. After all, it was pitch black with a pointy head, just like the monster that attacked me in the mines."

"But I soon discovered that Krobus is actually very gentle..."

...But then again, a child's aesthetic preferences do affect one's view of choosing a partner when one grows up.

Tim Drake summed it up with difficulty: "So you like 'black, nocturnal, sewer-dwelling, but gentle humanoid creatures'."

Aria nodded heavily.

“…”

This is why when analyzing clues, you should treat the self who previously made the guess as your enemy* - it is easy for people to fall into thinking errors. When you lock in an answer in advance, even if you find other clues later, they will lead you back to that anchor point.

Did he find Wayne because he noticed the secret connection between Batman and Bruce Wayne, or did he just hear the anecdote that Bruce was actually Batman's sponsor...

"Well, I think there should be a little more." Aria said: "Maybe... I think it's too lonely."

"Lonely." Tim Drake chewed on the word and found that he could no longer comfort her with the same childish perspective.

In the days when Batman "died", he was no longer like himself - looking back now, it might be loneliness and hope that can drive people crazy.

"Yes, he always comes alone when he goes to see Krobus. He never tells me that, but I know he's always happy to see me."

Aria began to unlock the box she had brought. After the iris scan was complete, the metal shell began to unfold layer by layer. It must be something very important. "But come to think of it, you sometimes look a little lonely..."

Tim Drake raised his eyebrows slightly, not knowing why the topic had returned to him.

"Why do you think so?"

Because even though you are smiling, I can't feel your happiness.

This made little Aria a little nervous. After all, she was about to give him the most precious gift - if even this couldn't make him happy, then the title of this year's best trainee executive would really be hopeless.

"You come from the far, far future." Intuition seemed incapable of convincing this perceptive visitor. Aria tried to unfold the jumbled lines for him to examine. "I don't understand how you got here, but you're not sure you can return safely, are you?"

"Very occasionally, I'll notice you like this." She frowned slightly, and it would be easy to miss this change if you didn't look closely. "So I think you have your own concerns—and they're very complicated."

It was a mistake. The micro-expression management should have been more perfect.

"...But before that, I want to give you something."

"What?"

"You reach out first."

He laughed dumbly, and his stance relaxed a little: "Do you want me to close my eyes too?"

"That's fine... Anyway, you reach out first!"

Tim Drake didn't close his eyes, but he cooperated by extending one hand steadily upward.

Aria touched him with her dog paw, and then a cold cylindrical instrument was stuffed into Red Robin's hand.

…

"I've wanted to give it to you before," Aria said, "but we'd better not let the Mastermind know."

The thing in his hand looked like an astronomical telescope, but it was lighter. There was space at the front to set up something like a parabolic antenna, perhaps the part that transmitted the signal.

The mechanical design principles are mostly the same, and Tim Drake turned it on without much effort.

"This thing was also inspired by a game," Aria snorted proudly, "I told you games are useful!"

Red Robin raised it and glanced at the starry sky outside the cabin. The two arc symbols were very far apart. Perhaps adjusting the distance would make them overlap...

"Look at me first!"

The crosshairs were trained on Aria, and before she could speak expectantly, Tim Drake moved the camera away.

"I see." The arcs overlapped to form a circle, and the camera showed "AAA21504202". Now he knew its purpose - this was the signal mirror that Aria had mentioned before. Simply put, it was an interstellar communication tool.

Even though he guessed the answer, Tim Drake thoughtfully gave it enough emotional value: "What is this?"

"It's a signal mirror. Not only can it see me, but it can also capture signals from other members of the 'Pioneering Project'. However, I've already processed the one you're giving me. After all, our work requires confidentiality."

"But you don't have to worry too much. Besides me, the others don't talk much. Most of the time, all I hear is them playing their instruments on their mission planets—just like in that game*. At first, everyone complained about how troublesome it was to carry multiple instruments on missions, but in the end, everyone learned how to play them quickly."

Aria stuck out her tongue. "One time I was really bored, so I spoke to every direction I could get a signal from, and soon I got a reply."

Drake showed sympathy: "What did the other party reply?"

"The person on the other end played a piece of music on the electronic keyboard. The tune sounded very similar to 'Stop bothering me, or I'll complain.' But I thought maybe I heard it wrong. Maybe the person just wanted to play music for me."

Tim Drake: “I think so too.”

As if in response to his words, the ship's signal light flashed three times, the entire ship's light source dimmed, and the emergency lights in the distance lit up one by one - they had entered the planet's gravitational orbit, and in order to save energy, the entire spacecraft would now enter a silent state.

This is also the moment when the connection with the main brain is truly disconnected.

This was something Aria had never mentioned before. The sudden darkness made Red Robin subconsciously tense, but Aria patted him, like comforting a child, trying to make him relax.

"If you like it, take it home. My previous teammate modified it a little using existing technology. Now the signal mirror can listen to fixed signal frequencies across the multiverse."

"I have a hunch that people like you will definitely experience more similar things in the future - so giving it to you will be much more useful than keeping it for myself."

At this point, Red Robin still didn't understand: "You knew it from the beginning."

About his fate of being a satellite orbiting in different universes, never looking back.

"Yes, but I prefer to call it a great adventure."

"I believe that I will always gain more than I lose. I believe that the journey is vast and boundless. I believe that I will meet many wonderful people along the way - like you, like the people in Star Valley."

It was also the darkness that made AAA21504202's laughter clearer than ever before.

"Of course, it doesn't matter if I don't meet him, because I am good enough on my own."

Therefore, this mission was not for repair, but for delivery. Their ship would serve as the trigger for system corrections and enter the planet where the Mastermind resided.

"When we land, we will all go where we need to go. Although I don't know your name yet..."

The boy, who was much taller than her, lowered his head. His hair had grown longer, slightly covering his eyes when he lowered his head. "Tim Drake, Aria, my name is Tim Drake."

"Timmy," the ship began to tremble. Time was running out, so she called him by his nickname. "I've never been very good at saying goodbye, so don't take my next words as a parting blessing."

A smile first appeared on Red Robin's face, and soon spread into a larger ripple: "So should we take it as the truth?"

Aria nodded cheekily, imitating the ancient Greek priests revealing oracles, and patted Red Robin's shoulder: "You will be happy."

…

There was chaos and fragmentation again, and all the images were crumpled into paper in an instant. When he opened his eyes again, Tim Drake subconsciously reached for the signal mirror.

Fortunately, the things were really brought back.

The cool touch made him feel much more at ease. Just when he was about to feel relieved, a red cloak descended from the sky as if from a god and lifted him up with the wind.

"Aria," the voice sounded quite anxious: "Are you okay? Why did you suddenly faint?!"

Red Robin reminded him good-naturedly, "Superman, it's me, Red Robin."

The effect of this sentence was immediate, at least Superman put him down in an instant.

And Aria reached out from behind layers of veil: "I'm here, Superman!"

————————

1. On the lover, let him move forward is the self-translation of B station up master Chloe Zao when she was talking about the phenomenology of love. Like Rumi's "Love is not for the spoiled, love is for warriors", I think these are two sentences that better represent Xiaoya's emotional outlook. The love here can refer to love in a broad sense.

2. I explained a little bit about the farmer's motivation to start the mission. It can be understood that the farmer is a tasker who completes tasks in parallel universes and ties safety ropes to keep his world alive. However, I have completely lost this memory for some reason and am now in a state of letting myself go (

3. I will never do this again next time. I apologize for the not-so-good reading experience of these chapters. As usual, I will give you some red envelopes.

4. Then start dividing the lines