Chapter 160 Experimental Subject Pole Star-019
The starship sailed in the sea of stars for 38 star hours, made five jumps, and finally arrived at the main star smoothly on a bright and sunny day.
"Grandpa, look."
Xingxing sat in Grandpa's arms and looked up at the blue sky above her head. "There is sunshine, blue sky, and white clouds. They are all very clean."
It is the kind of clarity and cleanliness that Xingxing and Qinan will never see on the Exile Star.
"Just like Shisheng's eyes." Xingxing raised the mechanical doll in his hand high, letting the blue sky and white clouds become the bright and warm background behind it.
Qi Nan followed the stars' gaze and looked at the long-lost sky. He took a deep breath, but was choked by the fresh air that was completely different from the Exiled Star. He couldn't help coughing for a long time before his breathing slowly slowed down and calmed down.
"Yes, it looks very much like Shi Sheng's eyes." Qi Nan sighed softly.
Qiuqiu circled around the old man and the child for a few times like a puppy let out for the wind. Just as it was about to stop, it heard Qinan's words of agreement. For some reason, it always felt that Qinan's tone was a little strange.
However, humans have a lot of messy thoughts that are difficult for Qiu to understand, and Qiu Qiu does not have Xingxing's ability to listen, so Qiu Qiu just felt something was wrong for a moment, and did not want to investigate further. Instead, he flew to Xingxing's shoulder and whispered to it, "Baby, we can choose to end the mission. If we don't, you will have to stay on this planet for a very long time, because the life of a mechanical intelligent life form is very long, even close to immortality."
In fact, Qiuqiu didn't expect that the task could be completed so quickly and inexplicably.
Shisheng is really good. From the beginning to the end, it never asked the stars to bear anything. Even the task was just to let the stars do their best.
But Qiuqiu is still very wary of this world.
Compared to this world, the previous worlds were really not that dangerous.
After entering this world, Xingxing has invisibly avoided many crises that might have befallen it. Even the mission requirements of Polestar could have been one of the crises.
Now everything is going well, the mission has been completed, Qinan is still alive, Shisheng has his own new life form and destiny, and Qiuqiu wants to take Xingxing away from here before the experiment begins.
It is very worried that during the experiment, the stars will suffer or die due to various human experiments.
It never ignores the fact that this is a starry sea full of crises and a world full of dangers.
But the stars seem to think differently than what they consider.
"Wait a little longer."
The child said to it in a soft and slow voice: "We will leave here after Grandpa lives to the last second and humans receive my gift."
Xingxing has already made a promise, so he doesn't want to break it.
And if it leaves this body... In order to protect Qi Nan, Shi Sheng will definitely become the Pole Star again, and everything will return to the starting point.
Qiuqiu: "...Okay, then Xingxing, don't be afraid. I will always be with you."
Qiuqiu was a little helpless, but not surprised, because Xingxing was such a good kid.
-
On the day of arriving at the main planet, the Federation sent Qinan and Xingxing back to his former residence.
Compared with the shabby house on the Exile Star, the difference between this villa is like the difference between a castle and a thatched hut.
Qinan held Xingxing in his arms, followed by his old friends and their families, as well as Lin Ye who was silently observing the surroundings.
They were temporarily homeless, so they were brought back together by Qinan, and the federation also promised to arrange work and school for them as soon as possible.
"I didn't expect that I could come back here again." Qi Nan looked at the villa in front of him, his tone filled with nostalgia and complex emotions.
"Yeah, I never thought that we would have the day to return to the main planet." The same nostalgic sighs were heard from Qi Nan's companions behind him.
They are all very old.
I thought I would live on the Exile Planet until I died in agony, and never see the light of day again for the rest of my life.
But fate is indeed the most unpredictable mysterious existence in the world.
They are back again, their bodies are not healthy nor complete, and even though they have lost a lot, they have also gained a lot.
"For example... losing your health and gaining radiation-related diseases?" Someone laughed and made a cruel joke.
Fortunately, no one felt sad. Instead, after a brief moment of shock, everyone started laughing at the same time.
At this moment, time seemed to whiz back to more than a hundred years ago. Their smiles were still as bright and cheerful, and their youthful spirits were still as frivolous and passionate.
Xingxing listened to their hearty and joyful laughter, looked at their old faces all covered with wrinkles, lowered her head and pinched the two mechanical dolls in her arms, then smiled softly with her eyes lowered.
If everyone is laughing happily, even if the body is constantly exposed to radiation and pollution, the ever-present pain should be alleviated, right?
"Let's go, let's go home." Qi Nan rubbed Xingxing's head and took the lead in controlling the wheelchair to move inside.
-
The stars stayed in the human home for only one night.
The next morning, before the sun had even risen, it saw the soldier who came to take it to the laboratory.
"Don't be afraid. I won't let anything happen to you." Qi Nan held the little robot's hand, and under the gaze of the federal soldiers, he soothed Xingxing's emotions in a gentle voice. Time passed by minute by minute, but he still couldn't let go of his hand.
"Mr. Qi..." The leading soldier had to step forward and signal to Qi Nan that it was time to let go.
Qi Nan looked at the little robot standing quietly and obediently in front of him, with no fear or uneasiness on its face. He felt as if something was blocking his heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
“……” He silently clenched Xingxing’s little hand.
Feeling his increasing strength, Xingxing pursed her lips, took a step forward, stretched out her other little hand to hug him, and patted him gently on the back, and softly reminded him: "Grandpa, don't be afraid, I put all the medicine at home, remember to take it every day, take the medicine well, live well, and live a long life."
For some reason, Qi Nan's eyes, which had long since shrunk, suddenly became sore when he heard the childish chatter in his ear. He suppressed his emotions and nodded continuously, "Okay, Grandpa will remember it all. I will take the medicine well and live well. I won't forget a single word."
So he got a pat on the back like a reward from a kid.
"I will miss you every day." Xingxing loosened her grip on Grandpa's little hand, pulled her other hand out of his skinny, calloused palm, raised it up and waved at him.
"Goodbye, Grandpa."
“…”
Qi Nan looked at the stars and turned to walk towards the soldiers.
I watched Xingxing’s small, ragged figure enter the aircraft and disappear.
His eyes were no longer able to shed tears, so he just slowly hunched his back, covered his chest and breathed heavily twice.
He thought again of the day when the stars just opened their eyes.
The little robot stood before him like a little adult and said to him in a serious tone:
"Hello human, my name is Xingxing."
"Hello, Qinan, my name is Xingxing."
"Hello Grandpa, I am Xingxing."
Qi Nan closed his eyes, suppressed the many emotions surging in his heart, took out his light computer, found an account he hadn't contacted for decades, and with trembling hands sent a communication request to the other party.
Video connected.
Qi Nan looked at the other person, his lips moving, and he spoke after a long while.
"I agree to hand over all of Beidou's materials and research notes. I am also willing to hand over all of my research results and research ideas in my lifetime. In exchange, I have only one request..."
-
Probably all labs look alike.
At least the laboratory that Xingxing saw was not much different from the laboratory it had stayed in before the apocalypse began.
The surroundings were all white and clean to the point of blinding clarity. The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant, and researchers came and went in the same pure white coats...
The moment Xingxing stepped into it, her body stiffened uncontrollably, and her fingers twitched silently as if a short circuit had occurred.
It brought back a lot of not-so-good memories.
Qiuqiu flew in front of Xingxing worriedly, trying to emit the brightest and warmest light, hoping to alleviate Xingxing's obvious discomfort at the moment.
With his vision blocked, Xingxing blinked a little slowly.
"Baby, are you okay?"
"Polaris-019, come over here and let's do a basic check first."
Two voices sounded at the same time. Xingxing pursed her lips, let the ball stop on her shoulder, and then followed the researcher in front.
-
Xingxing has her own cabin in this institute.
Transparent, with surveillance all around, and only a local area network for testing its capabilities...
The only humane thing was that they gave Xingxing a small bed where he could sit or lie down.
But as a very experienced experimental subject, Xingxing knows that this small bed can directly become a trolley or even an operating table in some special circumstances.
Xingxing was sitting on the pure white bed at this time, with her chin supported by her little hand, chatting with another string of data in her mind using the local area network.
"Will you regret it?" Shi Sheng used normal data to cover the communication between it and the star.
The star answered it: "No, I just hate white things."
"I can create chaos..."
Xingxing interrupted Shisheng and said, "No need. You have to help me look after grandpa. He always thinks the medicine is bitter and won't take it properly. If he forgets, remember to remind him secretly for me."
Shi Sheng: “…Well, I’ll pay attention.”
"Thank you Shisheng~" Xingxing's eyes curved slightly.
-
Three days passed slowly.
During the three days, Xingxing cooperated with the researchers to conduct many tests and inspections.
I thought the days would pass slowly like this, but that night, a researcher in a white coat stood at the door of its hut and looked at it for a long time with compassionate and complicated eyes.
Just as Xingxing looked back in confusion, the researcher restrained his expression and informed it in a cold voice: "Experimental subject Polaris-019, we need to obtain more detailed experimental data, so after several meetings, we have decided to install the latest data neural connector on you tomorrow. The connector will allow you to fully receive and perceive the five senses of your body."
In other words, starting from tomorrow, the stars will feel hot and cold, taste sweetness and bitterness, and smell fragrance and stench.
The most important thing is...it will feel the most real pain.
Qiuqiu exploded the moment he said this, and rushed to him, cursing loudly.
Behind Qiuqiu, Xingxing tilted his head, not missing the flash of pity in the human's eyes.
It didn't speak, and the other party didn't need its response. After all, it was just a one-way notification.
When the other party left, the cabin fell into silence, with only Qiuqiu's scolding echoing in Xingxing's ears.
The stars still sit quietly on the little bed, waiting for the dawn that they cannot see.
Qiuqiu stayed by its side, anxiously persuading it all night long.
Until dawn.
Xingxing did not wait for the so-called neural connector.
He saw the old human being at the front of all the researchers.
The familiar wheelchair, the familiar mechanical prosthetic eye.
"Xingxing, come to grandpa." The familiar human stretched out his trembling hands to his child.
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