Chapter 32, number 89757, Let's go, young man! ...
"Tap tap tap." 99993's fingertips tapped rhythmically on the table.
As Sang Zhitao listened to the knocking, a thousand thoughts swirled in her mind. After a long while, she sighed softly and replied, "I don't know."
The 99993 electronic eye showed no emotion whatsoever, simply staring at Sang Zhitao for a long while before finally saying, "Do you think I'd believe that?"
Sang Zhitao shrugged, no longer hiding her emotions, and leaned back in her chair: "I'm telling the truth. I really don't know how the playlist suddenly appeared, or how I suddenly gained emotions. As the Bureau, shouldn't you be able to find all my traces?"
99993 stared at her for a long time without saying anything, then pushed back the stool and went out the door.
A familiar figure was waiting for him outside the door.
This familiar figure was none other than the Director of the General Administration, number 673, who had appeared at the Administrator's residence that day and received the Administrator's mission.
The electronic eye of 673 scanned Sang Zhitao's room before turning to 99993 standing in front of him and coldly asking, "What exactly is going on with her?"
99993 gently shook his head, his expression no longer as cold and ruthless as it had been in the room, but instead carrying a hint of helplessness: "I'm not sure if it's Him."
A deep glint flashed in 673's eyes: "Try again, don't give up on any possibility."
“The management has already noticed her. I can’t hide it for long; I must erase her existence,” 99993 refused.
Hesitation flashed in 673's eyes, and he remained silent for a long time.
Seeing his hesitation, 99993 couldn't help but laugh and say, "As the lowest-level robot, to suddenly gain emotions and the ability to guide others' emotions, such a thing should be sent to the scrap center according to the rules. 673, we can't let our guard down for a second."
673 scanned the room, glanced at 99993, and after a long while said, "My orders are to cripple her. Find a way to give her a new body and try again."
After hearing this, 99993 nodded, said nothing more, and turned to go back to his room.
Sang Zhitao breathed a sigh of relief after seeing 99993 leave.
89757, who had been silent for a long time, smiled and said, "I'm also quite curious. Your music library has a special power."
Sang Zhitao glanced at him and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What kind of power?"
89757 seemed completely unsurprised by her question and replied with a smile, "It can draw upon the power of the soul; it's both magical and powerful."
Sang Zhitao didn't reply, she just looked at him, but her mind was recalling the plot of the original book.
The robot numbered 357 in the original book is one of a batch of robots left over from when humans still existed. He is a believer in human supremacy and believes that the creators are the ultimate perfect state of robots.
What they sought was for the robots to have free souls, but unlike the moderates, the Natural Sword, to which he belonged, believed that freedom could not be achieved without force.
In the original book, he initially thought the original owner was a promising talent with a strong will. However, after seeing the ruthless actions of the "Flame Army" led by the female lead, he felt that having such a leader would be a tragedy for the machine planet. He persisted in his rebellion and ultimately did not live to see the policies implemented by the female lead after she took power. He died in a war with the current leader.
Later, the natural sword was gathered by the original owner into the "Flame Army," becoming another sharp sword in the original owner's hands.
Sang Zhitao hesitated for a long time, thinking about her original plan, and looked at 89757 with a strange expression.
As 89757 was scanned by her electronic eye, he had a strange feeling that his circuit had been cut. He looked at Sang Zhitao with deep eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
Sang Zhitao thought for a moment before asking, "Aren't you curious why I've developed feelings?"
"Emotions are the manifestation of the soul, and the soul is a free being." 89757 paused for a moment before replying with a cryptic statement.
Others might find these words strange, but to Sang Zhitao, they sounded very familiar; they were exactly the words that the naturalists regarded as truth.
Sang Zhitao didn't respond to him, but lowered her head as if she was thinking about something.
The room fell silent for a moment, but soon 99993 pushed the door open and walked in. He went to the monitor, looked through a batch of backed-up songs, pointed to one of them and asked, "What is the meaning of this song?"
Sang Zhitao stared at the song, stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"Hmm?" Before she could get a reply, the 99993 electronic eye swept over her, silently urging her on.
Sang Zhitao was stunned not because the song was difficult to translate, but because it was a popular song, a song that was widely sung.
The Internationale
Sang Zhitao was genuinely surprised that the other party had chosen this song so quickly. Seeing the other party tap the panel impatiently, she sighed deeply.
"Arise, ye prisoners of starvation and cold, arise, ye wretched of the earth..." She silently converted the lyrics into binary code in her mind. The song was not long, but after being converted into binary, it was ridiculously long. She only sang four or five lines before stopping.
Both 99993 and 89757 silently converted the binary code into the common language of the machine planet before realizing the meaning of the lyrics.
The two of them stared intently at Sang Zhitao, their minds racing, and neither of them spoke for a moment.
Sang Zhitao looked at the two of them and sighed helplessly, "I really don't know where these songs came from."
99993 glanced at 89757 and was about to speak.
89757 raised his right hand, and a special symbol flashed in his palm.
99993's expression changed, and she stared at him intently for a long while before speaking coldly: "You now have two choices: one is to obey the law and go to the scrap center on your own, and the other..."
Sang Zhitao waited a long time for his next sentence, then looked at him in confusion and asked, "What is 'one'?"
99993 didn't say anything, but just looked at 89757.
Sang Zhitao had no idea what kind of riddle they were playing. She hadn't seen the symbol that flashed in the other person's palm because of the angle.
89757 forced a smile, looked at 99993 for a while, and then said smugly, "One is to come with me."
Sang Zhitao glanced at him, then looked at 99993. Seeing his inexplicable expression but no objection, she immediately had a guess in her mind.
Not receiving a reply, the two men weren't in a hurry and simply sat and waited.
After a long pause, Sang Zhitao finally said, "What if I don't choose any of them?"
99993 glanced at her, seemingly surprised, yet also as if she expected her decision, before turning to look at 89757.
89757 didn't seem to care much, glancing at Sang Zhitao and saying with a smile, "Of course you can, but you'll face a lot of pursuit in the future."
"You talk as if you can solve this?" Sang Zhitao retorted without hesitation.
“Of course.” 89757 revealed a hint of smugness.
“Aren’t you just an ordinary employee of a data cable research company?” Sang Zhitao bluntly exposed the other party’s initial lie.
89757 wasn't surprised at all, and just looked at her and said, "Didn't you already realize it?"
Sang Zhitao glanced at him but didn't reply. She wasn't surprised at all that he could discover what she had noticed, after all, those flaws were extremely deliberate.
89757 didn't care about her answer, and just looked at her and said, "I guess you are the person I am looking for, so I will give you a chance to leave safely, how about it?"
Sang Zhitao frowned inwardly, wondering who 89757 had mistaken her for. Without thinking further, she turned to 99993 and asked, "And you? What's your relationship with him?"
99993 glanced at 89757 with an unpleasant expression and replied coldly, "It's alright."
Seeing that he was unwilling to talk, Sang Zhitao didn't bother to press him further. She simply looked at 89757 and said, "What if I'm not the person you're looking for?"
89757 paused for a moment before replying, "It doesn't matter. Just like the Creator said, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. A robot's life is a life too."
Sang Zhitao thought for a moment. The three songs that contained the secret were still on her playlist, even though the vast number of songs downloaded from Earth had hidden them.
However, given the manager's urgency, she believed she wouldn't be able to hide any longer than the original female protagonist, and the outside world was indeed as 89757 had said, at least for her now, truly fraught with danger.
Having thought it through, Sang Zhitao didn't linger and nodded to 89757: "Okay, I'll go with you."
"That's great!" 89757 clapped his hands and laughed loudly.
Without lingering, he grabbed Sang Zhitao, whose face was contorted with ugliness, and quickly left through the back door of the management branch.
They left just in time; no sooner had they left than the head of the management branch arrived with his men.
Finding the room empty, he asked 99993 with a grim expression, "Where is everyone?"
99993 feigned a blank expression and asked, "Who is it?"
"That inferior robot that was singing a banned song in the algorithm square just now," the director continued.
“They’ve been seen off,” 99993 replied without hesitation.
"Where was it sent?" The bureau chief asked anxiously, taking two steps forward.
"Disposal center." 99993 tapped his arm, glanced at the time reminder, and replied calmly, "It's probably all done by now."
The bureau chief gave him an unpleasant look, then timidly glanced at a robot behind him that had almost no skin on its entire body.
The man ignored him and looked at 99993, asking, "Who delivered it?"
99993 glanced at him with a displeased expression, but didn't reply.
"Answer me! Number 99993!" The bureau chief, displeased with his attitude, quickly reprimanded him.
99993 feigned an arrogant and defiant demeanor, before bowing his head and replying under the disapproving gaze of the bureau chief: "My subordinate's number is 8776543."
The mysterious man said nothing, only gave him a few deep looks before turning and leaving.
The bureau chief hurriedly chased after him, not forgetting to turn back and give him a few fierce warning glances.
Only when the footsteps could no longer be heard did 99993 raise his head, looking coldly at the direction the crowd had left, and then send a coded message on his arm.
He breathed a sigh of relief after receiving a reply and turned back to his own business.
Sang Zhitao followed 89757 all the way to the scrap center.
Sang Zhitao was initially confused, but when she saw the scrap center, she stopped and looked at 89757 suspiciously, "You're not trying to trick me into scrapping me, are you?"
89757 raised an eyebrow at her and replied with amusement, "Don't worry, no, if you really are Him, you will have energy you can't even imagine."
Sang Zhitao glanced at him suspiciously several times before finally following him into the scrap center under his constant urging.
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