orthopedics

Apples don't suddenly rot.

Neither do people.

It is impossible for Yu Mo to suddenly become bad because of a few words, and it is impossible for him to become bad because of Luo Lin's few questions and doubts.

It turns out that there has always been a stranger hiding under his gentle shell.

Although she called herself "Mom", Ivy didn't feel any warmth from her...she just felt scary.

Very scary.

And the source of the "bones" in her body. If "Yuan" had not created her, he would not have wanted to get Lorraine's leg bones. Lorraine would not have had a leg bone amputated, and his friend would not have been killed.

"Don't let your imagination run wild," Lorraine looked ahead. "It's stupid to feel guilty about something you can't control."

Ivy said, "Are you talking to me?"

"Otherwise?" Lorraine said, "I don't think the other person in the car right now would feel 'guilty'."

Yes.

Ivy could feel it.

When recounting how Lorraine's legs were amputated and his friend was beheaded, there was no trace of mercy in Yu Mo's voice.

She knew that the two of them hated each other, just as Ivy hated Song Feng - but if Song Feng encountered any misfortune, she would not use that tone.

"It would be nice if I didn't exist"

An idea flashed through Ivy's mind.

Her eyeballs were dry, like a fish that had fallen onto the beach after the tide receded and was scorched by the sun.

"Even if you weren't there, there would be others, like Alice, Ally, and Allen." Seeing that she didn't respond, Lorraine suddenly asked, "Ivy, do private schools offer a course on 'Ethics of Biological Cloning'?"

"Yes," Ivy said, "there is."

Lorraine said: "Then you should remember that a hundred years ago, humans once carried out similar commercial activities under the name of 'pet cloning'."

Ivy's eyes moved and finally focused again. She saw Lorraine's neatly folded military collar, which was smooth, quiet, but reliable.

She answered smoothly, the contents of the textbook deeply engraved in her memory: "Yes, in name it is cloning dead cats or dogs, but in reality it is to screen pets with similar fur and eye colors at a high price..."

Take kittens as an example. After each cloning order is placed, the relevant pet cloning company will select a healthy female cat, give her an ovulation injection, retrieve her eggs, and then implant the cell nucleus of the original cat into the new one...

Before the relevant laws came into being, most cats that served as "oocytes" often died from exhaustion or side effects after excessive egg retrieval. In order to increase the success rate, several egg cells would be transplanted at the same time. After the mother cat successfully gave birth, one kitten that looked most similar to the cloned mother would be selected from these kittens. The rest would mostly be "disposed of harmlessly."

This cruel method has been criticized.

Ivy understood the deeper meaning of Lorraine's words "even without you".

"The cloned kittens are innocent," Lorraine said. "She should not bear the guilt of the donor cat."

Yu Mo asked: "Are you describing yourself as a donor cat? You already consider yourself a mother--"

"Shut your mouth," Lorraine said sternly, "You're polluting the air in the whole car."

Ivy's heart did not feel relieved. She leaned forward slightly and looked through the glass window at the city getting farther and farther away. Their car passed through the factory and did not go to the wasteland according to the original checkpoint, but turned to the "new safe zone".

Lorraine was going to go through there - was it because he didn't have time to get the application to go to the wasteland?

The time was so short and it was night. Lorraine had mentioned in class the complicated application process for the base. The military and government should have similar situations...

Lily complained about this and even lost a social forum account because of it.

"The people who did these things are at fault," Lorraine stared at Yu Mo coldly, looking like she was going to shoot him to death, "You are the victim, Ivy, don't torture yourself because of other people's mistakes."

Ivy said, "Thank you, teacher."

Yu Mo asked: "Admiral Lorraine, I'm glad you have such a just judgment - may I ask, what do you think of the acid rain?"

His words were still gentle, but at this moment, Yu Mo's expression was definitely not gentle. His long silver hair drooped down behind him, and he asked, "The acid rain must have left scars on your body - have you been using the excuse of 'injury in the laboratory' to cover it up?"

Ivy no longer wanted to know why Lorraine was in the wasteland when the acid rain came. Her heart was filled with cruel facts. She looked down at her hands and wondered, what was the mindset of the original creator when he created her? Was it like a child playing with Lego blocks?

There are also two friends accompanying Lorraine. It turns out that Lorraine really has human friends... Counting on it, Ivy's continuous memory began when she was five years old. Lorraine should have been only fourteen years old at that time. The good friends at that stage... must have been full of passion and willing to accompany their friends on adventures, but they had their heads chopped off.

Ivy couldn't imagine how Lorraine felt at that time.

Now she would break for him after hearing this.

As for acid rain——

"Rather than saying that 'Yuan' wants to destroy humanity, it's better to say that it wants only selfless, desireless people to remain in this society, like Ivy," Yu Mo said. "All human greed comes from emotions. As long as unnecessary emotions are removed, people will be free of desires."

"Impossible," Ivy blurted out, "According to this standard, I don't meet the criteria. I have feelings and desires."

"Xiaobao," Yu Mo said sympathetically, "This is an accident. Let's talk about it later, okay? Now, I want to talk about acid rain..."

Ivy felt that there was nothing more to talk about with Yu Mo. The shock of the truth was too much for her to digest and she couldn't adjust her attitude towards him.

She was just sad, sad that what moved her was just a gentle illusion and a pretty face. They had known each other for so many years, childhood sweethearts, and it turned out that it was all his "mission".

Ivy said mechanically, "Burning coal and oil, smelting metals, and car exhaust... I know, you want to say that human pollution brings acid rain, right?"

Yu Mo said meaningfully: "It is humans who created acid rain."

"The humans who left District 23 and crossed the wasteland thought they would find peace after reaching District 1," Yu Mo said, "but the people in District 1 thought they were another threat, that they might be parasitized, manipulated, and controlled by the 'element'. They also thought they would come to divide up the few resources in District 1. How does the government solve this problem? Should they spend a lot of money, energy, and time, taking the risk of spies among them, to accept them one by one? Or should they just watch them die in the acid rain?"

Ivy had already vaguely guessed it.

But this doesn't mean she can face it calmly.

Lorraine said: "Don't generalize."

"Really?" Yu Mo said softly, "The sheep kept in the pen always thought their enemy was the wolf, and lived in fear in the sheepfold - but they never expected that in the end, it was actually the shepherd who ate them."

Ivy said: "But this is not a reason for 'Yuan' to arbitrarily transform and control people!"

——Why do we have to compare who is worse?

——Why, when one aspect is criticized as being terrible, do you jump out and say “so and so is also terrible”?

"Yes," Yu Mo said softly, "I know... So, Xiaobao, I will always stand by your side."

He raised his hand and wanted to touch Ivy's hair, just like when she was a child, Ivy would often sleep in his arms, from being so small, gradually growing up and becoming a beautiful girl.

Ivy pushed his hand away.

She tried to be polite: "I need quiet, please don't talk to me, and don't touch me... Thank you."

Lorraine said, "You can get some sleep."

"Thank you," Ivy's face was not good at all. She repeated, "Thank you, teacher."

Lorraine wanted to correct her and stop calling her "teacher".

But if she didn't use "teacher", she would definitely use the more distant and distant "admiral", which would make him dislike it even more.

Ivy now looks like a cat that suddenly lost its home, with no sense of belonging and no sense of security - pale face, tired body, injured right hand.

She lowered her eyes, unable to sleep, with a lot on her mind.

She asked: "If I go to Yuan's base, will I know who I am?"

Ivy wanted to know the original body, life story, and life trajectory of the owner of her "brain" - maybe she was also a girl from District 23, maybe she was a baby abducted by Yuan Qiang, or maybe -

What kind of life would she have if Yuan hadn't intervened.

"In theory, yes," Yu Mo said, "Seven years ago, the base was surrounded by the army and has been abandoned for a long time—"

At this point he realized something and looked at Lorraine, whose face showed no emotion.

"This time we go, we will help Luo Lin find the bodies of his two friends," Yu Mo added, "and we will also find a bone growth agent that can heal Xiao Bao's wrist."

Lorraine didn't say anything, he just looked ahead calmly.

In fact, his negotiations with Yu Mo were more than that.

——Ivy's body is an excellent product of artificial intelligence, but it is a "product" after all.

——She was diagnosed with D-level genes, and there is a high probability that it is due to hidden dangers in the immune system.

Under natural conditions, people with similar immune system problems may suddenly die from an immune system-induced chaos outbreak;

According to Yu Mo's calculations, Ivy would not be spared either.

Not just her wrists, but much, much more about her body and growth...

Only with enough data can we find a way to save her. Yu Mo wants Ivy to live, rather than being abandoned by Yuan as a test subject.

The two of them tacitly did not mention this matter in front of Ivy.

Xin Lan fell into hibernation, storing up energy and strength, while Yu Mo concentrated on mending one of Ivy's coats, carefully embroidering beautiful ivy on the damaged parts;

Lorraine frowned and briefly recalled the contents of the Yu Mo chip.

Apart from the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve that he personally acknowledged, the memories on Yu Mo's chip that Xin Lan read were just endless chaos. Most of them came from Yu Mo's careful thinking - in other words, most of those things came from his brain fantasy, not reality.

This is also the biggest reason why Lorraine hates Yu Mo.

The girl in Yu Mo's fantasy didn't have a specific face, but her height and figure were very similar to Ivy. He imagined Ivy riding on him, stepping on his chest with her feet, and even sucking his chest like a child sucking his mother's breasts. These thoughts were understandable, after all, Yu Mo was also endowed by Yuan with two cerebellums under the moon that could control the brain.

Men can come up with anything.

What Lorraine couldn't accept was that Yu Mo even fantasized about Song Xu, Song Feng, and even more strange men joining them.

This behavior is like collecting toys. Yu Mo will collect all the men who meet Ivy's preferences and give them all to the girl who represents Ivy in his mind. He wants her to be happy and pleases her in this twisted way - his essence is indeed not human, and humans would never think this way.

——If Yu Mo had not been required to provide more information, he would have been treated as a “missing person” by now.

"...Don't look at me like that," Yu Mo said helplessly, "The chip's storage is classified, just like the human memory palace... I didn't expect you to be the first to decipher that part - let me make it clear that now I can no longer remember the exact contents of the mask, I only know what's in it roughly."

"It's okay. I don't mind giving you brain surgery to help you forget it forever," Lorraine said in a cold voice. "You really deserve to go to hell."

"Hmm?" Yu Mo said lovingly, "Go to hell? No, as long as the data is there, I will be immortal... I will always be with Xiaobao, and taking care of her is my mission - Admiral Lorraine, you are so angry, is it because you found out that you are not in the Fantasy Happy Party?"

Ivy, who was in a daze, asked, "What fantasy happy party?"

"Nothing," Lorraine said, realizing that her voice was heavier, and she lowered it again. "Are you hungry? Can you--"

Before he finished speaking, Song Xu called Ivy.

He had just taken care of Song Feng, who had been repeatedly vomiting blood - falling into coma - vomiting blood - falling into coma. As a younger brother, Song Xu had no choice but to accompany him.

"But I also want to see you now," Song Xu panted, "We haven't met since you woke up. I heard from Yu Mo that your wrist bone is seriously injured. I found three growth agents. Do you want to try them? - Can I go to see you now?"

"I'm sorry," Ivy whispered, "I'm not in the base anymore..."

"You went home?" Song Xu was surprised. "It doesn't matter. It just happened. I haven't seen my uncle and aunt for a long time."

"...No," Ivy lied, "The teacher transferred me to a better military hospital, but it may have to be kept secret...I'm sorry, Song Xu."

"It's okay, it's okay," Song Xu breathed a sigh of relief, "It's Teacher Lorraine, right? He speaks so viciously, and he's still so healthy. He must have been beaten a lot and knows a lot of excellent doctors--"

Ivy: “…”

"As long as you can recover," Song Xu encouraged, "Don't think too much. I'm proud of you!"

This is the end of this call.

Yu Mo turned around and looked at Luo Lin: "So you understand why I like Song Xu to participate, but I don't want you to join?"

Lorraine said nothing, but put the gun in his hand against Yu Mo's forehead, hitting him right in the middle of his eyebrows.

"Don't play tricks," he said, "or I'll put some irremovable chips in your brain."

Yu Mo smiled: "What chip?"

Ivy said, "Uh... maybe some heavy-mouthed gay stuff, I guess. It looks like the teacher will humiliate you in this way."

Yu Mo stopped smiling.

His face turned pale and he stopped talking.

They arrived at the border of the new safe zone at exactly zero o'clock.

After realizing it was Lorraine's car, the other party didn't even ask for a "permit for entering the wasteland" and let Lorraine go easily. They also asked him with concern if he had any urgent military duties to perform.

Lorraine nodded, and he deliberately showed the other person the time on his watch.

"Yes," he said, "otherwise I wouldn't have left at one in the morning."

The other party watched Lorraine's car go away respectfully. When the car slowly drove into a deserted area, Lorraine lowered his head and set the time back to zero.

Ivy understood: "Are you sure you can get the access permit before one o'clock?"

——So Lorraine made two preparations. In order to save time, he first forged a false entry and exit application to enter the wasteland; privately, he got the real application and used the watch time to "mislead" the person in charge.

The person on night duty did not look at Lorraine's application. Even if someone reported it afterwards, his manual record would show that Lorraine left at one in the morning.

She said, "I thought you were an upright, very law-abiding person..."

"There is a difference between integrity and stubbornness," Lorraine said. "If I were to stick to the rules, you would probably still be preparing materials for your application to join the expedition team."

Ivy lowered her head silently.

She found that she didn't know Lorraine that well.

The other Lorraine unfolded before her bit by bit, like a jigsaw puzzle submerged in water - she began to work hard to piece it together piece by piece.

He has a special logic of comforting people, and he is sharp-tongued, but he is not so old-fashioned at heart; he is actually very generous, even tolerant...

Lorraine's leg bones, her bones.

He repeatedly and sternly warned Ivy and them to cherish their bodies, and that transplanted limbs would never be as good as natural ones - this was enough to prove that Lorraine actually hated limb transplants.

He loved his original body. As a person who pursues perfection and the ultimate, how many times did he feel sad about his injured leg at night when he was adapting to his new leg? How much would he hate the artificial intelligence that amputated his leg and killed his friend?

But Luo Lin was very clear-headed and said that this matter had nothing to do with her. He could even immediately perceive what she was thinking and use words to enlighten her self-reproach——

Not only does he not blame her, he treats her as a victim as well.

Even though she still has his bones in her body.

…

"Teacher," Ivy raised her head and asked Lorraine, "Can I take out my bones now and use them as your leg bones?"

Luo Lin frowned: "It seems that I really shouldn't let you get too close to Yu Mo. His stupidity has already affected you."

"No..." Ivy said, "Since my bones are yours, then, if I suddenly die one day——"

"Are you trying to piss me off to death?" Lorraine interrupted her, looking very upset. "Or are you unable to sleep and deliberately talking to me about stupid topics to receive criticism?"

Ivy looked at him with bright eyes.

There weren't many bright lights on in the safari car at night, and under the soft light, her expression made it hard to say anything harsh.

She is too thin, too fragile, and too beautiful.

How can you be fragile and strong at the same time?

Thin and beautiful.

Lorraine looked at her without blinking. Apart from Ai, it was the first time that they looked at each other for such a long time. They saw themselves in each other's eyes - one was unhappy, the other was confused.

"...I won't scold you," Lorraine said, "You are not my child. Even if you are my child, there is no need to think this way. You are an independent individual, and you did it involuntarily. You don't owe anyone anything, including the silver-haired, green-eyed monster next to you. Do you understand? Don't feel so guilty. Sometimes I really hope your morals can be as low as your height."

Ivy: "...I'm not short anymore."

Yu Mo, who was in a semi-conscious state, raised his head: "A monster with silver hair and green eyes? Me?"

Lorraine ignored Yu Mo.

"Relatively speaking," he asked Ivy sternly, "even if we take a step back, are you sure you want me to reattach your shin bones?"

Xin Lan sighed as he slowly woke up. He covered his face and said, "Oh my God, Master, you really can't say nice things? You obviously don't want Ivy to get hurt, and you don't want her to have any psychological burden. You think she is very pitiful, and you don't want to damage her body... And you don't think she is short, you just think she looks petite and cute like this, and you think her calf bones are also very delicate and beautiful... Can't you really just say it directly?"

"Shut up."

Ivy took the initiative to comfort Xin Lan: "It's okay, I'm used to it."

Xin Lan sighed heavily and looked at Luo Lin with disapproval.

Lorraine remained indifferent and as arrogant as ever.

After waking up, Xin Lan actively prepared food for everyone. Ivy had no appetite and the car needed to stop temporarily - only Lorraine and Ivy could drive this safari car skillfully, and Ivy's right hand was injured and she could not hold the joystick temporarily.

At seven o'clock, the tired Lorraine needed a temporary rest. He lay on the small seat of the expedition car, closed his eyes, and took a short nap.

Xin Lan and Yu Mo were taking a walk outside. They seemed to be chatting, but in fact, Xin Lan was secretly monitoring Yu Mo and not allowing him to make any unusual movements.

Ivy couldn't sleep.

She wasn't sure if it was because of the smell, but now whenever she fell asleep, she would dream of Lorraine. This was not a good thing, because most of these dreams were filled with the scent of spring, and it was very inconvenient and annoying to change clothes while on the road.

She didn't like the feeling of being controlled by genes, especially now that the genes didn't belong to her and only her brain was hers.

But after the engine was turned off, the temperature of the expedition car slowly dropped. Ivy tried to put on all her clothes, but it was still a bit cold. When she was at a loss, she heard Lorraine ask, "What are you doing? You can't sleep so you're so bored that you play the role of a polar bear?"

Ivy said, "I feel a little cold."

She couldn't actually tell whether the coldness came from her body or from knowing the truth.

The overload of information caused her brain to keep shutting down.

Lorraine was silent for a moment.

He didn't say anything malicious, but calmly lifted a corner of his black military uniform coat and said, "I don't mind if you come in and sleep for a while."

"Uh... actually I do mind," Ivy said, "but I'd rather not do it."

"What's the matter?" Lorraine said, "I just took a shower and washed my clothes before I left."

"Oh, of course not because of that," Ivy explained immediately, "I have great faith in your personal hygiene, it's another ..."

"Another what?" Lorraine looked at her. "You don't look like you can say anything nice right now."

"...I don't know if this is a good thing to say," Ivy said cautiously, "——Ah!!!"

Before he finished speaking, Lorraine dragged her to his side, moved aside, took out half of the dark uniform coat covering himself, and covered her with it, wrapping her more tightly.

"Tell me," Lorraine said, "bone growth agents are only effective on living people. I don't want you to be frozen into an ice block before you reach your destination."

In fact, he thought of the first movie he watched with other children in the dark area, called Ice Age. The little squirrel chasing pine cones was frozen in ice. It was funny, cute and pitiful.

Just like Ivy next to her, she is not funny, just cute and pitiful.

He always felt sorry for her.

"It's not that exaggerated. You always like to exaggerate things..." Ivy said, "Well, actually, the point that I mind may be a little strange."

Luo Lin said calmly: "Unbelievable, is there anything stranger in the world than you falling in love with Yu Mo?"

"...Yeah!" Ivy said, "Just think about it, your bones are in my body. In other words, your bone cells grow my bones..."

She said, "Then the two of us, we were married before, does that count as orthopedics?"

“Are we violating ethical standards?”