Chapter 44: Making Amends
In the hallway outside the room, Lockin was reporting to the Supreme Commander of the North Star System.
"Your Majesty, the cub is still recovering. We are worried that there are still rebels lurking near Canghai Star, so we need to take the cub to Canghai Star for a few days."
Allard closed the documents he was looking at, turned his gaze back to the video in front of him, and looked at Lockin, saying, "I want to see the cub."
Lokin nodded, pushed open the door to the room, and walked to the sleeping cub.
Looking at the peaceful sleeping face of the cub in the video, Alain's fingers on the table twitched slightly, then slowly tightened. He maintained a calm expression and said to Locke, "She looks very healthy. I read Tang Ting's report; her bone age is exactly three years old, but her size is still a bit small."
"Yes, Your Majesty, the little one is a bit malnourished and her bones are not fully developed, but please rest assured, we will take good care of her and help her recover."
Aled smiled and said, "You've taken good care of me..."
Before he could finish speaking, he saw the little cub on the bed stir and then open its eyes.
She looked somewhat tired, her gaze fixed on Locke, who was on a communication call.
Lokin sat down beside her, gently stroking her hair and soothingly asking, "Baby, were you dreaming again?"
Anno grasped Luo Jin's hand, half-closed her eyes, nodded, and then moved to the side, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Logan had no choice but to say to Aled, "Your Majesty, I'll put the little one to sleep first, and I'll report back to you later."
Aled: "It's alright."
After hanging up the call, Luo Jin lay down next to Anuo, pulled her into his arms, and patted her back to lull her to sleep.
Feeling the warmth of Luo Jin's embrace and smelling her faint fragrance, Anuo calmed down, closed her eyes, and continued to sleep.
These past few days, she's been having recurring dreams, filled with past events she felt powerless to cope with and that terrified her.
Only when I woke up and saw Lokin could the fear and unease in my heart be soothed.
Lokin hummed a lullaby, gazing tenderly at the little cub in her arms until she fell into a deep sleep again. Only then did she get up and return to the corridor to report to the Grand Consul, Aled.
Once the communication was established, Aled smiled and said, "Commander Lockin, it seems the little cub is quite attached to you."
Lokin paused for a moment, "Your Majesty, it is my duty to take care of the cub. The cub suffered a lot on Casa Star, so it is normal for it to rely on me."
Hearing that the little cub had suffered a lot, the smile in Aled's eyes faded a bit. "The Fire Seed Association has been discussing with me these past two days about creating a file for the little cub. To avoid any accidents, she needs to have an identity as soon as possible. Her genetic code can be uploaded to Skynet now, so you and Tang Ting will be in charge of it."
Lokin hesitated for a moment: "Your Majesty, normally the registration of Fire Seedlings is done after a family is confirmed, but the adoption lottery has not yet started."
Allard: "I just signed the adoption lottery consent form. Tomorrow, all families who qualify for adoption will participate in the online lottery. The lottery emails have all been sent out. You and Tang Ting should sign them after you receive them and get ready."
Upon hearing this, Luo Jin couldn't hide his astonishment: "Your Majesty, are you preparing to draw lots so soon?"
She thought she should wait until the cubs returned to the main planet and settled down before drawing lots.
Aled swiped his fingers across the projection screen beside him, processing government documents as he spoke to Lockin: "Drawing lots in advance won't cause any problems. It's also to find an adoptive family for the little cub as soon as possible, so that we can make arrangements for her sooner and settle her in when she comes back."
After listening to Aled's words, Lockin paused for a moment. The Chief Administrator was right; arrangements should be made for the little ones in advance. However, she was a little afraid of the lottery. She knew that there were too many families participating in the lottery. There were at least hundreds of thousands of families in the entire North River system who were eligible to adopt. Her four lottery chances seemed insignificant in the face of such a large number of families.
Seeing Lockin's expression, Aled understood her worries and said meaningfully, "Commander, this little cub is special. You're right, she has suffered a lot. I hope I can make it up to her. Whatever she wants, I can give it to her."
Lokin was taken aback. What did the Grand Consul mean by that?
What he said didn't seem wrong. The Northern River Star System values the Fire Seed Cubs the most and cherishes them immensely. The little cub has suffered far more than the other Fire Seed Cubs, so wanting to treat her better is perfectly understandable.
But as Locke listened to these words, he felt that something was amiss.
Especially the word "make up for".
After ending the call, Luo Jin went into the room, and Tang Ting called her to the balcony and showed her a document.
It was the baby's genetic code file. Shortly after receiving the baby, Tang Ting uploaded her genetic backup to the gene bank. After the Fire Seed Association created a file for her, they gave the genetic code to Tang Ting for verification to avoid any errors.
Lokin's fingers slid across the extremely long genetic code file, carefully examining its contents.
The genetic code is actually very complex, the document is lengthy, and there is a lot of genetic data that only professionals can understand. She patiently read through the document before clicking on the signing page.
The signing page is much simpler, showing the baby's genetic code and her age, gender, and name.
In the name section, Locke saw it read: Aloo·Swr
Huh? How come this little one has a name?
Moreover, this name is not the naming convention of the Northern River System. It is a transliteration, translated from another language, and then the current name is formed by combining letters according to the transliteration.
Lokin read the name aloud several times, searching her mind for the naming conventions of various races, and found several that matched.
This signed document is for Tang Ting's confirmation signature, not the final version. The name is also handwritten, and judging from the handwriting, it was written by the Chief Executive.
Generally, the naming is left to the parents. The Chief Executive and the Fire Seed Association simply sign off on the Fire Seed cubs to confirm their information and do not interfere with the adoptive families' naming of the cubs.
Luo Jin looked at Tang Ting with some confusion.
Tang Ting simply asked her, "Can you tell what race this naming style belongs to?"
Lokin stared at the name for a while longer, then said, "There are quite a few, but none that match perfectly; there are always some discrepancies..."
She paused, as if she had thought of something, opened the draft paper on the personal terminal, and looked at the name as she traced it on the projection screen with her finger. Next to Aloo·swr, she wrote a few other racial characters, and then crossed them out one by one, leaving only one.
Staring at the remaining line of text, Locke felt it was somewhat absurd.
She checked repeatedly, her hand sweeping back and forth over the line of text, each time wanting to cross it out, but she finally confirmed that the cub's name was a transliteration of this text.
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