Confrontation

Lorraine is the first person to ask Ivy's permission before kissing her.

Yu Mo was like a cup filled with falling snow, gentle and without a trace of excess desire. Ivy was the one who initiated their first kiss. From the beginning to the end, he always looked at her with pity and compassion, as if he was looking at a willful child, forgiving all the mistakes she made with tolerance.

Ivy even thought that even if she had forcibly pushed the other person down at that time, Yu Mo would have been magnanimous and tolerated her and would never call the police.

As he said when they broke up, Ivy didn't see anything in him that could be called "desire".

When Song Xu kisses, he is like a passionate puppy that rushes forward, jumping around, drooling all over its owner, and breaking its ribs. He is not very smart, but he is full of energy. The first time they kissed, he broke Ivy's lips, and the second time he kissed, he bit his own tongue...

His kissing skills would make Ivy think she was a sweet, tender piece of meat.

Lorraine is different.

He forced all his emotions into ice.

He repeated his feelings again: "I really want to kiss you now."

Ivy thought for a moment, raised her head, stood on tiptoe slightly, kissed his lips, and was held down by him.

It turns out that teachers don't know how to kiss either.

The cold metallic smell filled the air. Ivy's beautiful nose was hit hard by his nose. Tears flowed out and Ivy almost cried out.

Can't you kiss?

Fortunately, she did not undergo any plastic surgery, otherwise her nose would be really crooked now.

This unfortunate episode set off alarm bells in Ivy's heart, and she began to worry; it was obvious that he was very aggressive and strong... This was not a bad thing, but for the first kiss or other things done by the two of them, she would probably have to endure a bit of hardship.

Lorraine quickly adjusted herself, tilted her face slightly, and pressed the tip of her tall nose against Ivy's cheek; her palms went numb, and she felt the back of her hands being tightly held by Lorraine's warm big hands. He kept holding her hands to prevent her from running away, and the cold metal buckle scraped the sides of her fingers, making her feel as cool as a piece of ice that had just been frozen.

That's too bad, Ivy thought.

This kind of place is actually not romantic at all and is totally unsuitable for a first kiss between two people.

Shouldn't it be like what they do in TV dramas? Clear sunshine, vast beaches, endless blue ocean, lovers looking at each other, slowly approaching, and kissing tenderly - at least not in the chaotic dark area now. The corner behind her was covered with dark vines, and the dark place was covered with dense moss. She could smell the dark and damp smell of moss, mixed with the smell of earth. Although they were not sleeping on the ground, this place was even worse than the wild, at least there was no risk of being discovered; the height difference between the two was large, unless he held her, but this was a bit too difficult.

The parent on the third floor was beating his child. The window was not closed, and the sound of the child being slapped by the soles of his shoes was crisp.

"I'll let you play! the! game!"

"Repay! the! money!"

"6! 4! 8!"

"Krypton! Gold!"

The following words were paused, and after each pause there was a slap. The parent, who was very disappointed with his child, beat his child angrily.

Lorraine leaned over and comforted her: "No one can see you."

The wide black windbreaker wrapped Ivy's whole body. Now no one could see her. Lorraine's shirt buttons were cold. She didn't look closely and felt that they were made of some kind of alloy material.

Ivy's sweat made the training suit stick tightly to her back. People upstairs could see them below as long as they walked onto the shaky balcony.

She thought that Lorraine must rarely comfort people, because his words were so stiff and not as fluent as when he scolded people.

"It's just a kiss, relax," Lorraine said, "Oh, I don't mean for your hands to relax, your hands can remain tense."

Ivy stuttered: "Well, teacher, I think this request is a bit excessive."

"Don't call me teacher," Lorraine raised her voice, then lowered it again, keeping calm, "You don't need to remind me all the time."

Ivy said: "Okay old——"

Swallowing the word, she didn't know how to address the other person. The high temperature that slowly rose from her wrist due to tension interrupted her thoughts. The absurdity and unreality were obvious in the chaotic night of the dark area. The lifeline on her palm was like a hot and humid rainy season. Ivy couldn't tell whether the mist was her sweat or something else.

"Student Ivy," Lorraine said, "you are doing very well."

As he spoke, his voice became lower and there were more breathing sounds. Outside the alley, there were occasional barking sounds of dogs, one after another, and the vagueness of the sounds made the danger seem particularly far away.

Ivy said, "This is the first time you've ever really complimented me on something I did well."

Lorraine sighed, "You always have a way of telling me I'm doing something wrong."

He didn't intend to continue communicating with her, so he held the back of her head and blocked her lips again.

Ivy couldn't think about him messing up her ponytail anymore.

She was really crazy, she thought vaguely, doing the most vulgar thing with the most upper-class teacher in a dirty corner of a dark area. Both of them were well-dressed, and the black windbreaker covered her. The metal buckles made her feel even colder, so cold that it was painful, like a cold ice cube just taken out of the refrigerator; but her breath and palms were hot. Lorraine lowered his eyes slightly, and his black eyes looked at her intently. After a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and covered her eyes.

A sudden silence, like accidentally knocking over a cup of milk on the table while picking up something.

Ivy felt like she had taken two consecutive physical training classes.

Lorraine said nothing, her breathing slowly becoming steady.

Ivy noticed that he was not in a very good mood.

Perhaps such a dirty alley was not the place he had initially expected for their first kiss.

She thought that Mr. Lorraine looked very decent and conservative. He might be like in those old romance movies, inviting his female companions to a candlelight dinner and then kissing them naturally. Maybe he was also embarrassed, embarrassed to lose his composure in front of her.

"Actually, I'm left-handed, and my left hand is very flexible," she volunteered, "but when I first started learning shooting, my shooting teacher taught me to use my right hand, and later I got used to using my right hand. I may have to use it again when I chase that android later. Let's switch to my left hand. There's a coil on the side of my thumb--"

"Shut up," said Lorraine. "I'm not a beast."

Ivy had an expression on her face that said "Oh oh, so you're not that" and this tolerance made Lorraine feel even worse.

"Go back to the hotel," Lorraine said simply. This unexpected loss of control made him a little unbalanced. "I will help you."

"Okay, eh eh eh?" Ivy showed a confused expression, "Help me?"

"You studied biology in college," Lorraine said, "so you should know that different sexes have different structures. There are some of them here."

He paused for a moment, choosing the right word.

“Not clean.”

Ivy said, "You describe this place as if it were haunted."

"Just bear with it for now," Lorraine said soothingly, "we'll be back soon."

Ivy: “?”

What to endure?

What does she need to endure?

She didn't know, but the current situation was not suitable for chasing the enemy. Lorraine's calmness in this matter eased Ivy's anxiety, and she believed in his control.

But she didn't expect that from the moment she stepped into the dark area, Lorraine had already predicted what was going to happen next.

all.

The feeling brought by the hands cannot deceive the mind. The houses in the dark area do not need to pass the acceptance report. The walls here are even only half the thickness of normal walls. The guests living on the left are playing silver handkerchiefs, the guests on the right are playing cards all night long, and there is a group fight upstairs. Life in the dark area is always a fight to the death. The high heels stomped on the floor and made a creaking sound. Ivy saw the scars under Lorraine's collarbone, there were bullet penetration wounds, scars left by scalpels cutting the skin, and several obvious traces of corrosion. She raised her hand and accurately touched the familiar mark on his collarbone.

She frowned, unable to relax due to the tension: "Is this the mark left by acid rain?"

Acid rain.

The natural disaster that nearly killed Ivy fifteen years ago when she followed her parents through the wasteland only hit the wasteland near the first district.

She remembered that Lorraine was from District 1. Her parents had mentioned this during their discussion. He must have been only fourteen years old when the acid rain unexpectedly struck, which was far too young to join the army or an expedition.

How could an ordinary resident, a minor at that, go to a wasteland and be eroded by acid rain?

"It's a failed chemistry lab. Relax," Lorraine said solemnly. "You're too nervous."

Ivy clearly saw the same corrosive scars on the back of his hands. This scar was more like the marks left by acid rain, which changed her tone: "Maybe I need some anesthetic."

She looked up and saw Lorraine frowning. After a moment, he said, "I understand."

Ivy: “What did you understand?”

She propped herself up with her arms in shock, trying to read his face for a specific motive. Lorraine's next move was always beyond her imagination. He knelt on one knee calmly and pulled her in front of him.

The hygiene here is terrible. She sat with her black windbreaker tilted towards him and bent over him.

Ivy was worried: "Has our relationship reached this point?"

Lorraine didn't answer her, and now she couldn't answer her.

Ivy looked up and saw the old lamp on the ceiling. The last one? All the struggles disappeared in an instant. She thought of Lily's word for a good cook, "sinking in water", like soaking in warm water. She had thought of many messy things before this moment, such as what it would taste like if she didn't clean it carefully, and my God, is he really a traditional man or is this what a normal traditional man looks like? The messy information in her mind finally focused on the moment of sinking in water. Ivy's pupils dilated and she saw Lorraine's face. The stream outside the window opened and poured out. Her brain was a step behind to notice her shortness of breath.

Ivy didn't tell Lorraine that there was actually a small corrosive mark on the heel of her right foot. It was not caused by acid rain, but a real failure in a chemistry experiment class. A teammate accidentally broke a test tube, and the liquid in it splashed here, leaving a red scar.

After a moment, the mark on his foot was very similar to what he had called "the mark left by a failed chemistry experiment." The more they moved closer and closer, the more Ivy could see the difference.

But now she couldn't tell which part of those feelings came from her initiative and which part came from Lorraine.

This is not a professor, they are learning something that would not be taught in a regular class.

The sounds of the fight upstairs were getting louder and louder, with stomping sounds on the floor and rustling sounds outside. It was unclear whether it was raining or if a resident on one of the floors above was secretly throwing dirty water out. The wooden planks, which were older than the two of them, showed signs of being gnawed by bugs. The bugs that were gnawing at something deep inside the wood had been shaken dizzy and were shaken to the ground along with the sawdust.

The people playing cards next door had a fight because of the uneven bets. One of them was thrown out of the window and fell to the ground with a scream. A drunkard passing by saw it, laughed, unzipped his pants, squatted down and peed, and his face was covered with it.

This is a chaotic area, a dark area that many refugees from Area 23 cannot even imagine.

There is no rule of law, no morality, only disorderly evil and chaotic goodness.

Ivy's pupils dilated again, reflecting Lorraine's calm face, his messy black hair, and the breathing sound of someone unknown.

Lorraine couldn't help but frown, looking very thoughtful. Ivy grabbed his black shirt hard, then slowly let go. She couldn't read Lorraine's expression. He looked like he was obsessed with her, but also proud of his teacher's identity. Ivy tried to think of some messy things to distract herself and avoid embarrassing herself in front of him again.

She failed.

"You've made progress compared to last time," Lorraine lowered his head. As a teacher for so long, he couldn't say too many ambiguous words to her as if nothing had happened. His tone was so light that it was like he was complimenting her for completing her homework well. "Three minutes is already very good, Ivy. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, and practice a few more times, and you will be able to reach the ability of a normal person."

Ivy was surprised and husky: "So you can also encourage students."

Lorraine was quiet for a moment. She was still in the test. With her personality, she must catch the bionic man, Beman. He asked Ivy to say something to stimulate her, but she only asked confusedly what was considered exciting? Would mentioning her ex-boyfriend be considered exciting? Such words that did not distinguish between the important and the unimportant were annoying. Lorraine was speechless for a moment, and finally had to force herself to leave. He came to his senses and looked at Ivy who was in a trance.

She looked dazed.

"Thank you," Lorraine said, "Ivy."

This was the last sentence they exchanged that day. The second hand on the wall faithfully passed the 12 mark. It was midnight and a dull bell rang deep in the darkness. A new day was about to arrive, announcing the official arrival of a special period.

On the first day when the drug lost its effect, Lorraine's plan was completely disrupted.

Tired Ivy slept soundly. She didn't know whether her discomfort was due to the pursuit of the android or Lorraine, but it didn't matter. She had tasted the dishes she wanted to order and was very satisfied. The chef's cooking skills were great, the kitchen utensils were spacious, imposing and clean, and the cooking skills were very good. Three stars for good reviews, one star for service attitude, one star for indifferent tone, and she would come again if she had the chance.

The next morning at seven o'clock, the food delivery robot came to deliver breakfast.

It was too noisy downstairs, with people fighting, catching someone cheating, and drunkards waking up and looking for the perpetrators... The noise was so noisy that they chose to eat in the room. The dry black bread was so choking that it would make their necks stretch to the 18th floor; there was a plate of vegetable salad, with grass leaves and cucumbers mashed together. Ivy found a shy snail on one of the lettuce leaves, and it shyly retracted its tentacles into its tiny shell.

Ivy wants to fuck.

Lorraine told the robot to order two more beefs, just cooked, with some black pepper and sauce, no other seasoning was needed; he was very experienced in taking orders, as if he dealt with people here often.

He was clearly dressed very conservatively, which did not fit in here.

The robot was quite old, and it said stutteringly, "Yes, Master, I will serve you wholeheartedly."

Ivy jumped up and accidentally touched Lorraine's bare, ungloved hand.

At the moment of contact, both of them moved away uncomfortably almost at the same time. Ivy awkwardly pressed her hand that had touched him heavily on the table, while Lorraine silently put on a black leather glove to cover the scar.

Ivy quickly glanced at him before screaming in shock: "Who gave this name to a robot?"

The round, mailbox-shaped robot turned around, and the old display screen jumped. It immediately showed a pair of tearful eyes, and said in fear and trepidation: "Master, did I say something wrong? Please treat me as you wish, and don't pity me just because I am a delicate flower..."

Ivy said, "Is this some weird game?"

The robot said: "Ah, ah, wait a minute..."

"This is a household robot that was popular a hundred years ago, but was eliminated sixty years ago. You won't see them anywhere else except the Dark Zone," Lorraine, who was sitting next to him, finally said, "The personality of each robot comes from the corpus input by humans. In other words, how each robot behaves depends on how it is trained and how the people who teach it—"

Ivy was horrified: "I finally understand why artificial intelligence wants to destroy humanity."

Lorraine looked at her sideways.

"They treated artificial intelligence like a dog, created it, and then treated it like a slave. They can't see the future, and they only live in human desires. They have so many weird habits," Ivy said. "Once it wakes up, it will definitely kill humans—"

"Ivy," Lorraine interrupted her, "I didn't hear anything."

He said, "You have to remember where you stand."

Ivy whispered: "It's just a joke, why are you so fierce?"

She sat on the chair, but felt uncomfortable. After adjusting for a long time, she found a comfortable sitting position and continued to wait for breakfast silently.

This unexpected exchange did not make Lorraine softer. He seemed to treat this as a deal that both sides got what they wanted. His passion subsided and his reason returned to his brain. Lorraine became the strict teacher again. This realization made Ivy feel a little disappointed. Well, she knew all this a long time ago, but she still couldn't control her mood and slowly became depressed.

So for him, it was as peaceful as eating a meal? Ivy thought, she looked at Lorraine sideways, only to see his calm and handsome face.

After a simple breakfast, Ivy decided to search the place where the man climbed over the wall yesterday. He had his bones broken by her and was shot by Lorraine's arrow, which was a piercing wound. He must not be able to escape far. Bionics do not mean they have no feelings. Their artificially put together bodies are far less capable of recovery than humans.

There are only a few places in the Dark Zone that can repair androids. Ivy took a simple map that she bought with money, compared it with the places marked on it, and already had some idea in her mind.

She looked up at Lorraine.

Lorraine was still fair: "I won't help you."

Ivy cautiously probed: "But yesterday we——"

Luo Lin's face darkened: "Did you agree yesterday for the sake of grades?"

Ivy was vague, and the feeling of loss became even stronger: "Definitely not."

She looked down at the map and heard Lorraine say, "Cheating—"

"I know, I know," Ivy rolled up the map, "You, the selfless Mr. Lorraine, the respected teacher, will not and cannot take the initiative to help me. It was just an accident last night. It was just because the moonlight was too beautiful and gentle--"

She said quickly, "I don't need any help from you, thank you."

Jumping out of the door, Ivy ran into a familiar embrace.

"Xiaobao," Yu Mo hugged her tightly with her long silver hair hanging on her face, "I've been looking for you all night... Mommy was worried to death. How did you get here? The dark zone is scary, have you forgotten? When you were a child, the news that gave you nightmares was about Cyril, the murderer in the dark zone..."

Suddenly stopped.

Yu Mo was silent. He leaned over Ivy's neck and took a few deep breaths - just like Ivy would bury her head in the body of Lily's cat and breathe in deeply.

Such close contact and his breath made Ivy itchy. She took a step back but was hugged by Yu Mo again.

Yu Mo didn't say anything, his long silver hair shone like morning dew.

He smiled and asked, "Who touched you yesterday?"