Crazy, all crazy.
He Chen didn't know whether he was crazy or the world was crazy. He just felt that he was hallucinating again, as if the quasi-space army officer he was chatting with was no longer a young man, but an old superior who was idle and clocking in in the training room every day.
He resented wasting time with those people. Time was precious to him, worth every second; but for them, it was boring and tedious, far less interesting than the awkward banter with the younger crowd. He was now certain that his vacation had been a complete mistake, and the military's decision to completely hand over administrative matters to an AI was even more of a mistake. He regretted entrusting vacation arrangements to an AI. Even if that titanium brain, a dozen astronomical units away, never made mistakes, it could never predict the actions of humans who were always making mistakes.
Just as it could not have predicted, if it picked up anyone at random on the street, it would be a retired cadre who wanted to talk to him about his ideal life!
That damned old bastard refuted all his points, and even used such a preachy tone, that He Chen immediately wanted to end the conversation. Instead of answering the foolish question, he simmered down his anger as he passed Vasily on the left and climbed back up the slope, saying in a urging tone, "Let's go! What's so interesting about a pile of broken rocks? Only old men and women with one foot halfway in their coffins would want to look at it!"
"Stay a little longer!" Vasily's answer this time sounded like a sincere request, but it couldn't stop the determined soldier.
"Why should I stop?" He Chen muttered to himself as he quickened his pace. "Because there is no reason for me to stop, so I can't stop."
Vasily sighed forlornly as he gazed at the words "Communication Terminated" on his helmet display. He knew he had, after all, been a little too eager, scaring off this "lovable" youngster. He couldn't blame anyone; after all, no one was obligated to provide emotional support for anyone, not even blood relatives. The man who called himself "Lao He" was similar to most of the middle-aged people he'd encountered in the community. They typically possessed a complete and independent perspective on the world, life, and values, and were extremely resistant to influence. This could perhaps be called stubbornness, but it was actually the product of turbulent times. If they had chosen to simply go with the flow, they would have struggled to survive the harsh environment between Star Year 3 and Star Year 15.
If we extend Vasily's own idea that "life has meaning", then being stubborn also has its meaning.
All in all, those people are not worth his pursuit in a high-profile manner. After all, even if they are on similar paths, there is still a high possibility that their ideas will conflict with each other.
He squatted there for more than half an hour before he stood up due to thirst and hunger, left the cemetery, and returned to the bustling museum exhibition area.
The exhibition area looked almost unchanged. Vasily could even see the unchanged figures in Area 2. While admiring these fanatical enthusiasts, he ordered two cans of liquid food through online shopping on the museum's public service platform.
Within a few minutes, the crawling drone carrying his cargo accurately located his position along the overhead network, and smoothly used its robotic arms to install the two cans on the module interface on the exoskeleton's chest.
Afterwards, Vasily ended the day's journey by tasting the flavors of his hometown.
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