Gu Yan
But upon closer inspection, it's hard to pinpoint which facial features resemble the other. Although the word sounds odd here, if he had to say, he'd say it's the overall vibe.
"Can't I call out?" Ella Zero didn't answer the question directly, which was strange.
“Of course not, just out of curiosity,” Gu Yan said. “You know, other secondary entities don’t seem to have this verbal tic.”
He wasn't sure if calling it a verbal tic was accurate, but Ella Zero clearly understood what he meant.
“I’ve always called her Mom, and I’ve never met anyone else.”
Gu Yan nodded: "It seems like this is the first time we've talked like this."
She can ask questions she's curious about, and she can also ask questions she's interested in, but it seems she doesn't have any doubts about herself.
"Is there anything else you'd like to ask?"
Gu Yan was startled to realize that this conversation was satisfying his one-sided desire for exploration.
"If you mind, you can stop it directly."
Ella Zero finally looked at him: "You asked me if that was your first mission, and I gave you a positive answer. Aren't you curious?"
Gu Yan pondered for a moment before replying, "I would say this is the only reasonable explanation I can think of. If I could confirm it directly with David, I might get the answer faster."
Ella Zero shook her head: "Your line of thinking is right, but you asked the wrong question."
"What?"
"You should ask me: Why was I the one who went on that mission?"
——————
Liwen was surrounded by darkness. She wasn't sure how long she had been tied up or whether it was the light-on or light-off period.
It wasn't cold, but her situation was enough to make her feel cold all over.
She completed her mission! How could she have ended up like this! The people who kidnapped her couldn't be the Federal Royal Family, so who could it be?
She tilted her head slightly, listening intently to any subtle sounds around her, trying to discern her situation.
This is probably an empty room; there's no air circulation and no light.
How many hours has she been here?
It could be two hours, or it could be twenty hours, depending on how long it took for her to go from losing consciousness to waking up.
Just a short while ago, she experienced a sharp pain in her stomach. She hadn't eaten for at least eight hours, otherwise she wouldn't have experienced such symptoms.
A loud clang rang out, a familiar sound—the sound of a heavy iron door being pushed open.
"who?"
No one answered. Only the sound of footsteps approaching her.
The sound of a person's footsteps.
Liwen clenched her fists.
She didn't know the other person's physique, strength, or even any heat source nearby; she could only sense something blocking her way.
Her nails dug deep into her flesh, and she felt as if the straps binding her wrists were about to break her joints.
A large hand lifted her up like a small animal; the person must have been very tall, because even with her toes pointed, she couldn't reach the ground.
She realized in despair that, regardless of who had kidnapped her, crushing a weak person like her would be as easy as crushing a cockroach.
Sensing that she had given up struggling, the other person silently lifted her up and started walking.
A strange sense of familiarity welled up in my heart.
She recognized the person in front of her.
No, this doesn't refer to any specific individual, but rather...
"Are you David? Where are you taking me?" Knowing that struggling was futile, she decided not to waste any more energy.
"Go easy on me! I don't care who your customers are! You've achieved your goal, but that doesn't mean you have to be so rough!"
David really hurt her. What's the difference between this and the neon cocoon? They're both being treated like objects.
David paused for a moment, but didn't change anything except switching hands. This time, he pulled her hair, and she couldn't help but scream.
"Stop! You idiot!" Instinct made her struggle, but to no avail. She could only use her bound hands to grab David's wrists, trying to reduce the weight on her hair.
She regretted it, she regretted it, she regretted it! Why did she have to be so talkative? Hadn't she suffered enough in the neon cocoon? Just because they got someone to bail her out, did she lose her memory?
The image of Ella Zero's calm and collected face flashed through Livin's mind, and her breath caught in her throat.
In her panic, she had no time to notice the changes in her surroundings. It wasn't until she heard the sound of the iron gate sliding again that the sharp pain in her head disappeared, replaced by the excruciating pain in her palms from the impact of her fall.
Her wrist might be dislocated, she thought vaguely.
David behind her roughly ripped off the blindfold covering her eyes, and her vision went from blurry to clear. When she saw the person in front of her, she almost suffocated.
What did she see?! A Christa-type? Wasn't it said in the previous incident that they had all been destroyed?
Her gaze shifted to the woman sitting in the center, dressed in magnificent robes, exuding an air of superiority. Liwen felt an oppressive force pressing down on her head like a boulder, making even looking up feel like an incredibly difficult thing in her life.
“You are the bravest commoner I have ever met. You know, even in the central tower, there aren’t many people who dare to look me in the eye,” she said slowly.
Liwen's expression gradually changed, but the Duke continued to speak.
Another person who impressed me was Dr. Lowry, which is natural, as the lifeline of the entire Federal Royal Family is now in her hands...
“Your Highness… Your Highness…” Liwen’s voice was trembling so much that not a single word was pronounced correctly. She knelt down, no longer caring about the pain in her body.
"I heard it's someone you know?"
“No, Your Highness, I just heard that there was such a person in the Neon Cocoon,” Krista said.
“Interesting.” The Duke gently rested his chin on his fingertips. “She’s yours now, A209. Let’s start with her.”
A209's expression might not seem abnormal, but in Liwen's eyes it had become ferocious.
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness!"
"No!—" Livin disregarded everything else; that was A209! Even if Krista's rebellion had nothing to do with her, it didn't mean A209 wouldn't feel resentment upon seeing her. She had long heard of A209's reputation and, naturally, her methods.
"I am loyal to the Federal Royal Family! I just located the rebel camp, you can't treat me like this!"
The conversation between the two high-ranking individuals ceased, and they turned away as if Liwen had uttered something utterly rebellious.
“Our young lady is very lively…” A209 said softly.
No one cares about an ant, Liwen knew that. She lay prostrate on the ground, her fingernails already scratching the earth until it bled.
She dared not utter a sound, fearing that David or A209 might be able to decipher her meaning from the movement of the air.
After all, who can be 100% sure that androids don't understand what you mean?
She silently repeated it to herself.
It's alright, someone will realize she's gone. Someone will realize they need her.
Someone will come looking for her.
Someone will come to save her!
They have to do it!
——————
"You mean you weren't notified about previous missions...?"
"I suspect that the permissions were bypassed at one point in the process to retain the document and the task was reassigned."
"But the trip to Shenwan wasn't assigned?"
“No…” Ella Zero didn’t keep him in suspense, “Someone transferred a mission that had already been assigned back to me. I received the mission, and I carried it out. That’s all.”
Gu Yan saw Dr. Lowry's tired face.
"That means..."
Ella Zero smiled again, a rare occurrence for her: "So, you're not the only one with secrets in the research center."
Gu Yan was shocked to hear this. While he was observing the research center, another person was doing all of this at the same time, and he was even observing the samples.
And wasn't he the same? It's just that he went through everyone he had met since entering the research center in his mind, but he really couldn't think of who it could be.
"You have someone in mind?" he asked Ella Zero.
Ella Zero shook her head slightly: "I've already revealed too much information about the research center. It's time to cross the line."
Gu Yan nodded. He didn't have many candidates in mind, but he did have some.
A notification sound came from Ella Zero's backpack. She said, "Wait a moment," and stopped to check Sivers's status.
You seem very nervous about it.
"Yes, he is the key."
She didn't try to turn on the switch, probably to prevent an accident.
"There's a problem with the bite here."
Gu Yan leaned closer: "Let me see."
Ella Zero watched his face gradually enlarge in front of her.
Is there something on my face?
Ella Zero shook her head and handed him the parts.
"I still don't know how you got into the lab."
"You're interested in this?" Gu Yan, who had been bent over for a while, was a little stiff, so he sat down next to Ella Zero. "I was pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at Imperial College London. I just graduated this spring. They were short-staffed for PhDs, so they wrote me a letter of recommendation and I officially started working there."
Ella Zero completely let go and let him do whatever he wanted, while she casually rested her chin on her hand and listened to him talk.
"Anthropology? That doesn't sound like it has anything to do with bionics. It should be a humanities subject, right?"
Gu Yan smiled slightly; he must have encountered this question more than once.
“I studied Terminal Information Processing Science at the same university for my undergraduate and master’s degrees. After I switched to Anthropology, I gave a presentation at an academic conference. After the presentation, my PhD student approached me and asked if I could join them as an assistant researcher. In addition to the research grant I was applying for to pursue my degree, there was also a separate salary offered by the research center. Plus, my academic background was a perfect match for my PhD’s research. I couldn’t think of any reason to refuse.”
“I see.” Ella Zero briefly looked away, seemingly deep in thought. “I heard that Mom’s research lab is quite tough, and not many people can persevere like you.”
Gu Yan paused for a moment, then smiled helplessly: "Seriously? To be told this after knowing my background makes me feel a bit mocked."
After listening, Ella Zero said seriously, "I mean no harm, nor do I imply anything. I hope I haven't offended you."
"How could this be..." He wasn't offended, he was just...
"See, isn't this much better?"
When Ella heard him say that, she leaned closer to look. Gu Yan felt that the two of them were getting a little too close.
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