On their way back, Williams and Yuri walked along the sidewalk, one in front of the other. The sleet was quite unpleasant; using an umbrella seemed excessive, but not having one would have gotten soaking wet. It wasn't rush hour, so the streets were sparsely populated. The few who did hurry by wore sullen expressions, as if the heavy clouds in the sky were a reflection of their moods.
"Were you scared just now?" Williams suddenly asked. "This must be the first time you've been involved in this type of accident."
Yuri didn't expect it to initiate the conversation. After a pause, he said, "Yes... but it feels good because you said you would come pick me up."
"Thank you for your trust." The android walking in front smiled and glanced back at the human. "But that's not the main reason. Hugo and I are used to Azathoth picking up people at random. But I think both you and Igor seemed very reserved when you first met us. You both seem like the type who don't like to ask for help when you have problems, so I was surprised and happy to receive your text message today."
"...I have an appointment with you for class." Yuri was a little overwhelmed. "Also, Marshal Sullivan also needs help sometimes?"
Williams simply stopped and waited for Yuri to approach before walking side by side with him again, keeping pace. "Of course, every human being will encounter problems that no one can solve alone. Azathoth and I both know a little about Igor's past, and he knows a lot about our past, too. Plus... you can tell that Igor's relationship with Azathoth is far closer than anyone else's. Therefore, I think he's relaxed a lot over the past few months, and Wendy's arrival may have accelerated this process."
"But you've only just met us, and we're still strangers. Aside from your profession and abilities, I know nothing about your past, and vice versa. Human interaction is a complex process. I can't expect you to trust us completely and immediately, but there's no need to treat Igor or Azathoth as unreachable figures either. For now, I hope you can trust our support, and at the same time, don't overestimate or underestimate yourself."
"Have I said too much?" Williams tilted his head and said, "Ever since I was created, I've rarely had the opportunity to be alone with humans. If you find it offensive..."
"No, nothing. You and Mr. Hugo seem quite different." Yuri's heart was slightly moved, and he spoke carefully. "I heard you say before that you are actually the same 'machine'. Maybe it can hear me talking to you now. But sometimes I feel that you are more 'human' than it is. Is it because your program is more advanced? Uh, I think you also seem to like humans more than it does. I learned about the origins of the Android War in history class. Although it was only mentioned briefly in the book, I think you had different positions at that time?"
"Hahaha." Williams laughed out loud, unable to help but glance sideways at his student. "Of course not, Yuri, you're overthinking it. The difference between Hugo and me is, inappropriately, the same console with two different displays. You think we're so different, but the reason is simple. When Hugo was programming my behavior, he used a human as the template."
Yuri didn't even have time to blush at its good-natured mockery before he was shocked by the news.
"Human?!"
"Yeah." Williams put a finger to his lips, silencing him. "Please don't tell anyone else, or Hugo will be angry."
Yuri was stunned, not knowing whether to complain, "Don't tell me it won't be angry?" or "That short android is actually a tsundere."
After a while, he said sincerely: "Your relationship with humans is really too complicated."
"It's a common problem among intelligent creatures." Williams shook his head. "When you wake up every day and watch the news, don't you ever feel pessimistic that the world is beyond salvation? But sometimes you also feel that as long as there are still some great and noble people, and ordinary and down-to-earth people, this species will not be completely useless."
Yuri was silent.
After a while, he said, "I've encountered many people who hate and fear me for inexplicable reasons, but there are also countless strangers who are willing to lend a hand without asking for anything in return. So even though sometimes, faced with malice, I can't help but want to plunge the knife into their chest, in the end, I only stab myself twice to satisfy my desire."
The human laughed at himself and said, "At least I won't feel any pain, and I won't suffer any unhealable wounds."
Williams, who was about the same height as him, raised a hand and patted his shoulder: "You see, Hugo often thinks the same way."
"So I say it hates humans, but it doesn't necessarily dislike humans."
"...Is that so?" Yuri asked, "What about you, teacher?"
"What?"
"Do you have any memories of your past as a human?"
"Strictly speaking, no." Williams touched his chin. "My memories are Hugo's memories, so I remember 'myself' from an outsider's perspective. Hugo did his best to create me according to the impression stored in his chip, but as the saying goes, 'You can only know a person's face but not his heart.' What was that human like back then? No one knows now."
It smiled benevolently, like an elder who had seen a lot: "It's just a consolation, a temporary solution, just like some of your not-so-good habits."
As he spoke, Williams looked meaningfully at the sharp weapon hidden in Yuri's shirt pocket.
Yuri pretended not to understand: "...Then what was your relationship with Hugo when you were human?"
"I'm its teacher," Williams said. "The teacher who taught it to be a 'human.'"
**
"Williams is good in every way, except that he talks too much." Hugo, who had already returned home, complained to Azathoth, "Is he used to being a teacher? Why does he tell his students everything?"
"What the hell is going on." Azathoth slumped on the sofa with no interest. He was always like this after returning from a long trip. "Do I know anything?"
"You must know," Hugo said proudly. "You've been keeping an eye on me for a long time, right? There are so many androids on Earth, but I'm the only one you noticed?"
“…”Why didn’t I realize that you were a narcissist at the beginning?
Azathoth thought for a moment and decided not to undermine its confidence. He gave a vague response, then used his tentacles as pillows, rolled over and curled up face down, burying his body in the sofa cushions. "Igor? Want to try those matcha cookies we made last time?"
"Now?" Igor, who was sitting nearby sorting through the intel from the research institute on the nameless island, looked up, his eyelashes trembling beneath his plain glasses. "I remember Hugo said it was too sweet last time. Should we use less sugar this time?"
Azathoth: "It doesn't matter." He couldn't taste it anyway, "but you can add more matcha powder, it looks better."
"Okay." Igor smiled and closed the tablet. After standing up, he added, "You'd better not lie on the sofa cushions like this. Besides being bad for your cervical and lumbar spine... I'm sorry, but your tentacles are still dripping, and it will stain the sofa and carpet, which is hard to clean."
Hugo chuckled, thought for a moment, and didn't quite trust Azathoth's memory. He added, "What I just said was Williams's previous identity. Do you remember? He was the butler in my maker's house."
They once spent a relatively long time under the same roof.
Williams is not wrong to call him Hugo's "mentor." Hugo's creator taught him human wisdom, human contradictions and capriciousness, while Mr. Butler, in another way, showed him the glory and ugliness of the world.
Azathoth said dejectedly, "I might have been sleeping at that time."
His tentacles were retracted, leaving a wet trail on the leather sofa. Azathoth stared at the trail for a moment, then reached out and wiped it away with his sleeve while Igor was busy in the kitchen with his back to them.
But his clothes were not very dry either, because the rain on the island in the southern hemisphere was really heavy, and a gust of wind would make everything wet.
And it's snowing again in the Northern Hemisphere.
Finally, he overcame his laziness and procrastination and decided to go to the bathroom to take a shower, at least to wash the cold rain water off his tentacles, otherwise he would not be able to enter the bedroom.
Hugo was stunned for a moment, as if lost in memories. After Azathoth lazily rolled off the sofa, he said, "That's great! I should have turned off the phone directly."
"I don't sleep to escape reality."
"That's not what I said." Hugo held up his chin and looked at him. "And what Williams said to Hugo just now is quite reasonable. You secretly observed androids and humans for so many years before you fashioned a human body for yourself, yet we know nothing about your life before you became human... Even that Insect King Arthur doesn't know what you've been thinking and doing all these years. You've been hiding it too well."
Azathoth turned around and met its eyes.
"I don't remember," he said frankly, "but I have a feeling that this is a dream from which I should never wake up."
The android looked puzzled: "What?"
Azathoth jokingly said: "You are all living in my dream. So am I."
"Your dreams are pretty big then," Hugo muttered nonchalantly. "Please give me a better life story next time, God... Also, tell Igor's cookies to be less sweet."
Azathoth has given up trying to figure out where the food he eats goes.
Maybe the android secretly went out to the garbage dump, opened the small door on his belly and threw away the food.
He nodded casually, and filled the bathtub with water amid the rich sweet aroma coming from the oven. Then he lay skillfully under the water with half-open eyes, watching the world distorted by the flowing waves, just like the bizarre dreams he had in the night when he slept in the arms of humans.
The god's next thought was: next time I have to find a way to lure Igor to take a bath together -
**
A hundred kilometers away in Ma'anbao, a heavy snowfall was occurring.
Antonio knelt in the snow, and little by little, hot drops of water overflowed from his eye sockets, flowed down his cheeks, and melted into a small pit in the middle of the snow.
The midday wind howled bitterly. He seemed oblivious to the cold, his face frozen in innocence as he asked the person beside him, "How much time does she have left?"
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