Bones

Ivy finally knew what she had grabbed.

She immediately let go and apologized: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, teacher, I..."

"You have now fully demonstrated the 'flexibility' of your right hand," Lorraine said. "Thank you. It appears to be not only flexible but also precise."

Ivy's face gradually turned red because of his words.

She explained: "I didn't know I could touch it... because I often help Nana or Congcong to get the communicator, and I have never encountered such a situation... today is very unexpected."

Lorraine's response was still as sharp as a knife dipped in spring water: "It would only be 'unexpected' if you could find it in their pockets."

He lowered his eyes slightly, looking at Ivy's uneasy hand - the right wrist was wrapped in a bandage, and the broken and reconnected bones were wrapped under the skin. If it were an ordinary person, this injury would not even be considered a serious injury. He could use relevant growth-promoting drugs, and within two weeks, the broken wrist bone would be restored to its original state and return to its former health and strength.

Ivy can't.

She is resistant to most drugs on the market. Yu Mo explains that this is due to a small bug in order to create a "perfect body" for her. Just like the Creator cannot create a perfect creature, there must be some flaws. To some extent, she is not as easy to be poisoned as ordinary people. Even if she inhales some toxic gases, she will not be affected. But from another perspective, if she is sick, some common medicines will not make her feel comfortable.

Yu Mo's words, nine out of ten, were lies wrapped around one truth. Lorraine couldn't believe his words completely, but Ivy's drug resistance was real - going to the wasteland to find bone growth agents was probably the only way for her to recover.

After all, Yu Mo's positioning is very similar to that of Ivy's fanatical follower.

He believes Ivy is "the only God".

So he deliberately caused some trouble or created problems to try to "test" Ivy. From these perspectives, Yu Mo would not do anything that would harm Ivy's health.

"When do we leave?" Ivy asked. "I'm ready anytime."

Lorraine said, "I didn't agree to take you."

Ivy felt that he was not disagreeing. If he disagreed, he would have added more severe warnings, such as "Don't make decisions on your own" or "Don't act on your own". Now he sounded quite amiable.

She said, "You know, based on efficiency, you will definitely agree to take me with you."

Lorraine asked, "Aren't you going to have a meal with your parents? They must miss you a lot."

"My hand is like this, I'd better not go..." Ivy shook her right hand, showing this slightly swollen and numb hand in front of Lorraine, "They will worry. The nature of my work has already made them unable to sleep. If they see that my hand is injured so badly, they will definitely suffer from sleepless nights..."

"If they knew the real reason why your wrist was injured, they might not allow you to associate with Song Feng and Song Xu anymore," Lorraine said. "I understand."

"How do you know?" Ivy was surprised, "What does this have to do with Song Xu?"

Lorraine said: "The IQs of both are very inspiring, it's a genetic relationship between brothers."

Ivy realized belatedly: "So you agree to let me go?"

"What else?" Lorraine sighed with a headache, "What else can I watch you sneak into the car? Who are you going to ask for help this time? Xin Lan, or Yu Mo? Are you going to continue hiding in the car full of supplies like a little hamster? Time is running out, and I don't have time to pile a whole car of candy and fruit for you, Ivy Hamster."

Ivy immediately thought of the first time she sneaked into the wasteland.

She lowered her head somewhat shyly.

Lorraine said, "You have two hours to get ready. I'll pick you up in two hours."

"Teacher," Ivy called him and asked, "Just now when you were talking to Yu Mo, you mentioned that all the bones in my body came from - what?"

"Of course it comes from the development of cells," Lorraine had already turned around, obviously not planning to continue talking to her, "After the new cells are formed, they will produce special organic matter, which will gradually become the matrix surrounding themselves. Calcium salts will be deposited in the matrix. I am not your human biology teacher. For more detailed content, you can go to the courseware yourself. If you want to understand more in-depth knowledge, your ex-husband doesn't mind hiring a professional teacher to give you extra lessons."

"That's not what I meant," Ivy said, confused. "You're obviously talking about another secret - well, if I'm really a clone, then why do you deliberately talk about the source of my bones? Did I use another type of cell to differentiate? Or is there something special -"

Lorraine raised her hand and pressed her palm against the top of her head, stopping Ivy from moving forward.

It was like a seal was put on her.

He said, "Stop showing off your eloquent little mouth and pack your necessities, or make a list and send it to Xin Lan's email, and he will help you prepare everything."

Ivy said, "Can't I know the secrets of my own body?"

Lorraine asked: "Why don't you ask Yu Mo?"

Ivy choked.

Lorraine looked at her inquiringly: "Do you trust me more than him now?"

Ivy immediately explained: "It's just because you and I have no conflict of interest..."

She had already been "broken" once in front of Lorraine in a very shameful way, and she definitely didn't want to be broken again.

"Oh," Lorraine pointed out mercilessly, "So what other common interests do you and Yu Mo have?"

Ivy said, “My parents like him very much, and maybe I have something he wants…”

"How do you know you don't have what I want?" Lorraine asked. In the dark, the different color of his eye was more obvious. "How do you know I don't want to get your... benefits?"

His voice was oppressive, and as he approached Ivy, she felt as if he would pick her up and press her against the wall in the next moment. She was nervous and licked her lips, feeling a dull pain. During the competition, she bit her lip while trying to gather all her strength to compete, and the pain came out at this moment.

Ivy asked, "So what do you want from me?"

"Nothing," said Lorraine. "What good can a little wild boar that only knows how to run around bring me?"

Ivy tried to find the original topic: "...So, my bones..."

"Ask Yu Mo about this question," Lorraine pressed his brows, the tired feeling coming back, "He is your guard dog, I really want to know how he will explain it to you. I hope he won't bark like a rabid dog."

Ivy: “…”

"Also, compared to this, maybe you need a bench more right now," Lorraine looked at her injured right hand, "Xin Lan is still in the laboratory. I will send a soldier to bring her over."

Ivy was puzzled: "What do I need a bench for?"

——Ten minutes later, Ivy found that the bench was really useful.

——This is the exclusive medical lounge equipped for Lorraine, in other words, it is his exclusive ward.

Although he opened the ward and allowed injured soldiers from the army or expedition team to apply for its use when he was not using it, everything in the ward was customized according to Lorraine's height from the very beginning.

He is more than twenty centimeters taller than Ivy.

And he had great proportions, with very long legs, so long that Ivy could turn his military pants into a tube top dress.

At first, Ivy didn't think much of the twenty-something centimeters and his excellent height ratio until she first used the bathroom that was customized according to Lorraine's height.

She sat on the toilet and her legs immediately hung in the air. She tried hard, but only the tip of her toes barely touched the ground.

Ivy: “…”

It was her first time using the toilet with her feet off the ground.

After using, she went to wash her hands. The vanity mirror on the sink could only reflect the part above her eyes and her messy head.

Ivy jumped up and bounced to complete the mirror movement.

Taking a shower was even more difficult. It was fine to use a shower head, but Ivy had to adjust the water temperature to the highest setting to ensure that the water would still be warm when it hit her head.

When using the shower, she finally put on her pajamas, silently moved the small stool that Lorraine had someone send over, and stepped on the stool again to get the shower.

For the first time, Ivy, who is 170 cm tall, felt the absurdity of living in the land of giants. She had never thought before that the infrastructure would be incompatible with her, and it was so incompatible.

In addition to the bed, Ivy deeply realized the size difference between herself and Lorraine from another perspective.

Some gaps were straightforward and obvious, like the little coconut she saw in the mirror, the edges of which had an over-blown color because of trying so hard to accommodate each other, as if the poor two pieces of translucent skin were bearing a burden beyond their capabilities and could be extremely enlarged by the tea bag at any time, the throbbing blue veins and her fragile small blood vessels that emerged on the surface due to pulling were another sharp contrast, as if all the dirt was squeezed, not to mention that it had not yet been fully integrated.

It must be because the lounge was filled with the scent of Lorraine that she couldn't help thinking about these things.

Ivy thought.

She blew her hair dry, packed up her things briefly, and tried to lift anything heavier than 2kg with her right hand.

The wrist bones hurt, and there is numbness and a piercing pain.

Ivy silently put down the little fitness mute phone for recovery and stopped trying. Instead, she stared at her right wrist in a daze. The feeling of losing control of her body was terrible.

It was fine before, but after listening to what Luo Lin and Yu Mo said, she suddenly felt a fear -

Could it be that her right hand will never recover to its former healthy state?

Medical technology is very advanced now, and replacing a limb is not a serious surgery. There was a man who was troubled by his height of 168 cm and chose to go to the hospital to replace his legs, which could increase his height by 10 cm (any higher would be out of proportion). Not to mention that there are so many magazines about replacement surgery, what makes you a real man, a man among men...

Lorraine also appeared to have had surgery on her leg.

Although he never mentioned it publicly, it is not mentioned in the documents.

He had told Ivy that replacement limbs would never be as good as his own.

"Why do I always think of Lorraine's words..."

Ivy thought dejectedly, she thought.

"You're divorced."

"Be more proud"

"Don't think about him anymore. He is just your teacher and ex-husband. From now on, you can only regard him as a teacher."

Stop having unrealistic thoughts.

Ivy moved her almost unconscious right hand.

Don't be greedy and don't have expectations. Without expectations, there will be no disappointment.

…

Lorraine is very punctual.

After the two-hour deadline, he came to pick up Ivy.

Xin Lan forcibly carried Yu Mo, who was still in his pajamas and looked a little disheveled, into the expedition car.

Ivy was surprised to find that Yu Mo's pajamas were embroidered with a large amount of ivy and crape myrtle flowers.

His silver hair was rarely messy, and he asked Lorraine unhappily while smoothing out the wrinkles on his pajamas.

"Why did you set out early?" Yu Mo asked, "Is it your strategy to let Xin Lan take me away from the bed by force?"

"I've informed you," Lorraine said, "Ivy, is it convenient for you to put on your combat uniform? If not, I can reluctantly help you--"

"It's convenient," Ivy put it on immediately and told him, "My right hand can be used." She was really worried that she would be sent back because of the problem with her right hand.

Yu Mo said: "When did you inform me?"

"I emailed you two hours ago."

Yu Mo's smile was a little gnashing: "I blocked you."

"I know," Lorraine said calmly, "it's your own problem that you can't see it."

Yu Mo: “…”

"Now," Lorraine threw something to Ivy, "put it in your pocket. This is better than your toy gun."

Ivy was used to his arrogance - the small pistol she carried with her was issued to her at the base, and Lorraine had always thought it was a plastic toy.

This habit is terrible.

Yu Mo asked another question: "How could you get the application to go to the wasteland in such a short time?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Lorraine said methodically, "Ivy, fasten your seat belt, put on your helmet, and don't look around. If you're hungry, find Xin Lan. If your wrist hurts, find Yu Mo. If you have any other problems, find me."

Ivy quickly put on her helmet and asked, "What are the other questions? For example?"

"For example, what you are asking now," Lorraine said, "except for hunger, thirst, and illness, you can come to me."

Yu Mo, who was wearing pajamas and ivy patterns all over his body, was tying up his long, shiny silver hair with a hair tie. When he heard this, his voice rose slightly and was no longer gentle: "You sound like a responsible parent."

Ivy didn't like this relationship metaphor and even felt a little uncomfortable. She said, "Don't say that, Yu Mo, he is not my parent."

"That's not true," Yu Mo said softly to her, "but he also has the obligation to take care of you, Xiaobao."

Ivy lowered her head and stuffed the bullets in her palm into the magazine one by one.

Love and fun are love and fun. Lorraine is right. You can call it whatever you want when making love. It doesn't matter. It's normal to have some strange habits that don't bother others. But in real life, or in public, Ivy doesn't like to be treated as a weak person and taken care of. She doesn't want to be a weak character who is "pampered", "taken care of" and "hidden all the time".

To be pampered means to have nothing of power.

"Being" is a symbol of loss of power.

She resisted: "I am not his daughter, he has no obligation to 'take care' of me."

"Although it's not raw, but part of it..." Yu Mo hesitated. He looked at Luo Lin's expression in the rearview mirror and saw Luo Lin's livid face. Then, Yu Mo smiled slightly, "Xiao Bao, within your ability, you can accept Luo Lin's help appropriately. After all, he is your teacher and ex-husband."

The word "ex-husband" reminded Ivy again.

Lorraine said to Yu Mo: "I really hope that your excellent language skills can be divided into action skills, so that you can speak eloquently without moving."

Yu Mo sighed: "Yes, in terms of combat ability, Teacher Luo Lin is indeed excellent, unlike me, who cannot risk a hail of bullets to save Xiao Bao; on the battlefield, I am as useless as the waistband of a physical book."

"Don't be so harsh," Lorraine said, "some people are keen on collecting the jackets of physical books, and you -"

He paused and commented harshly on Yu Mo: "You are really useless."

Ivy covered her ears and glanced at Xin Lan beside her with worry: "Can you two stop arguing for a moment? I think the bigger problem we are facing now is how to successfully enter the wasteland, right?"

Xin Lan was very considerate. He took the initiative to say, "You can just pretend that I don't exist, or I can go into hibernation mode right now. Even if someone has a party next to me, I won't have any feelings or memories."

Ivy screamed: "Why did you use the metaphor of silver bed?"

She looked at Xin Lan in disbelief.

Although I already knew Xin Lan's true identity, it was still strange to hear such straightforward words from him; in Ivy's impression, Xin Lan was clearly a polite and gentlemanly robot -

"He read Yu Mo's chip this morning," Lorraine said coldly, "Thanks to his 'clean' emotional chip, Xin Lan was infected with the virus and is still being cleaned up - Xin Lan, you can hibernate now."

No longer hiding in front of Ivy, Xin Lan said okay, immediately closed his eyes, and sat steadily, not moving.

Ivy asked: "What? What emotion chip?"

"Not only emotions, but also a lot of important information." Yu Mo's smile disappeared, and his tone became heavier. "I have said it before, you should return the chip to me earlier, otherwise, I would not be unable to find the material cultivation method to repair Ivy's wrist..."

Ivy forced herself to calm down.

She asked Yu Mo directly: "What is the relationship between my bones and Lorraine?"

Lorraine looked ahead without saying a word.

In the rearview mirror, Ivy was staring at Yu Mo with a vigilant look, just like the way she looked at him with caution when she first learned that "Xin Lan was a bionic man".

Lorraine found that when she looked at others with this kind of eyes, her expression had a kind of cold and beautiful look.

Yu Mo was really stumped by Ivy's question. He lifted his soft silver hair and told Ivy gently: "Xiaobao, because the chip was lost, I can't remember a lot of things——"

"Don't talk nonsense," Ivy raised her voice, and the tone was very similar to Lorraine before, "Tell me, Yu Mo, what else have you hidden from me? You know my true identity, right? You even participated in my 'production', what role did you play in this matter?"

Yu Mo said: "Xiaobao, I——"

"Speak," Ivy emphasized, "Don't ramble on."

Lorraine was in a good mood.

He liked this moment when disaster was imminent but had nothing to do with him.

Especially Yu Mo.

Yu Mo wanted to say something more, but Ivy's angry look prevented him from opening his mouth. After a while, he sighed and reluctantly admitted it.

"Yes," Yu Mo said, "I do understand, but only a little."

Ivy stared at him intently.

She thought.

I knew that no one would really love me.

Yu Mo's gentleness is all fake, and he is also fake, he has a mission.

Promising to be in love with her was also fake; the fact is that I can no longer have sexual desire.

"...I can't tell you more," Yu Mo lowered his head, his long silver hair covering his icy green eyes. He said, "The memory chip that contains the most important things was destroyed by Lorraine..."

"It's full of dirty viruses. Xin Lan has been infected and started talking nonsense," Lorraine said. "It's not destroying the chip, it's cleaning it up."

"Then tell me what you know," Ivy asked. "Who am I?"

Yu Mo turned his head and looked at her.

"From a physiological perspective," Yu Mo said, "Xiaobao, I only know your body. That poor little girl who died in the desert due to acid rain..."

He looked very strange now.

Without the halo of “the big brother next door”, Yu Mo at this moment is like another monster in Yu Mo’s skin.

An indescribable monster.

Although Ivy often had this illusion a year ago, Yu Mo now truly, nakedly, and without any cover, tore off his human skin in front of her, revealing the monster underneath.

She couldn't avoid it.

"She is Ivy," Ivy said. "I know that my face, my limbs, my genes, all belong to that Ivy - what is the purpose of breeding me?"

When she said this, she felt a little sad.

yes.

The face, the limbs, the strong genetic attraction, all belong to the original Ivy.

Little Ivy died in the desert before she could grow up.

She was just taking over someone else's nest.

"I was also bred together with you," Yu Mo smiled bitterly, "Ivy, I am your mother——"

"Nanny," Lorraine said with disgust, "be careful with your words."

"——Nanny, I will take care of your growth and train you into an excellent warrior according to the established training plan," Yu Mo looked at Ivy, "covering your clone identity and allowing you to smoothly integrate into human society."

"Who gave you the order?"

"Yuan."

Ivy understood.

No wonder, no wonder that strange robot called himself mother and called her daughter - and that low-level fraudulent email -

"But I have completely severed my relationship with it," Yu Mo frowned and explained, "because it intends to completely wipe out humanity - we are all its test subjects. As long as you can successfully join the expedition team and get promoted smoothly, it will also start more training programs to train more 'clones' who will quietly enter human society, launch wars at the right time, and work together inside and outside to completely eliminate all safe zones - this plan is named 'Eden'."

The land of Eden.

The beautiful paradise in the Bible has no worries and no sorrow.

There lived the first ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve.

After hearing the words "eliminate the safe zone", Ivy's heart sank, and her first reaction was to turn her head to look at Lorraine.

The latter is very peaceful.

"How can Yuan be sure that the people he cultivates will obey his orders?" Lorraine said, "What else are you hiding?"

"Nothing is hidden," Yu Mo said, "This is all I know."

His silver hair shone in the light, and his expression was a little sad: "Xiaobao and I are just chess pieces... How much can you expect a chess piece to understand?"

"Then I..." Ivy's voice was harsh, "What's wrong with my bones?"

"After the little girl's bones were corroded by acid rain, defects were soon exposed," Yu Mo said frankly, "She was born with bone defects, and her bones are more porous than others. So, 'Yuan' used the stored sample library to find the strongest and most perfect bones."

Ivy had guessed it.

She couldn't believe this was the truth.

"…That was a young boy's leg bone. It was solid, tough, and not easily damaged." Yu Mo said slowly, "So, Yuan found the right opportunity, set a trap, and lured the young boy over."

"Unfortunately, the boy's friends were more alert, and two of them chose to accompany him."

"In fact, Yuan admired the boy's body and thought that keeping his flesh and blood would be more useful, so he only planned to cut off one of his legs."

"His friend is not so lucky. His physical condition is not top-notch, and it is not worth preserving as an important specimen."

"So, 'Yuan' cut off the boy's legs and the heads of his two friends in the trap—"

"That's all," Lorraine said. "You don't have to describe it in detail."

He deadpanned, "Just tell me what Ivy needs."

"I think she would also like to hear this part, right?" Yu Mo said, "Xiaobao, 'Yuan' got the perfect leg bone, and used its cells to cultivate and proliferate, and eventually became all your bones - so, we need to go to 'Yuan's' base to get the bone growth agent that can completely restore your wrist bone."

Ivy felt every bone in her body itching, and she could hardly hear her own voice: "So, my bones...all come from Lorraine?"

"Well," Yu Mo said, "you can say that."

A hurricane of wind swept past Ivy's ears.

Lorraine's dead friends, Hector, Xin Lan...

She was almost unable to breathe. The source of the suffocation was Yu Mo's narration, the truth about her own bones, and the tragic experience of Lorraine and his friends.

"So," Yu Mo said, "from a certain perspective, Lorraine does have the obligation to take care of you, Xiaobao, you are a part of him; you can also call him..."

"Don't use such perverted descriptions," Lorraine said coldly, "Ivy, stop listening to the devil's cries. He is trying to pollute you with his inferior qualities."

"I'm just telling the truth," Yu Mo said, "So, Ivy's attraction to you is not just a matter of genes, but also because she has your bones in her body - from this perspective, can I think that you have a certain degree of narcissism, Admiral Lorraine?"

"Yu Mo," Ivy's mind went blank. She asked, "Then who do my memories belong to? I mean, my brain—was it transplanted by you, too?"

——During the first solitary interrogation, Lorraine pointed out sharply that Ivy’s “daddy issue”, some of her “lack of care in childhood”, some…

It turns out that it is all true.

She even suspected that the other party was preparing to pua her.

"Well," Yu Mo said, "it was indeed transplanted, but I don't know the donor - I don't know who your brain belongs to. The only thing I can be sure of is that girl - that is, you, your brain is very smart."

——She originally had her own body, she was originally a human being, she could have lived happily as a complete human being, not some weird clone!!!

——She is a human being!

——Maybe I don’t have the healthy body I have now, maybe I don’t have such strong bones, maybe I don’t have such nimble limbs, but everything can be trained, everything can be achieved through hard work.

——But her head was opened, her brain was taken out, and put into an "excellent body" carefully and pieced together by artificial intelligence.

——She is not a human, not a clone, not a bionic person, and not a robot.

——No one asked for her consent.

"Very smart," Ivy murmured, "So he was chosen to have his brain taken out? Is that what Yuan is like, stealing at will?"

"It sounds like Phantom Thief Kidd," Yu Mo said, "right?"

"Thief Kidd?" Lorraine could no longer bear it, his voice was icy, "You have no morals at all."