Neon cocoons
Yang Guang, with a sour face, said to Ella Zero in an annoyed tone, "Watch carefully."
With a flick of his wrist, Sivers' metal ring rang out with a sharp clang, followed by a furious roar that echoed throughout the base.
"Look what you've done! Look at this, look at this! The doctor is so disappointed in you! You! You've become one with nature and humanity!"
"Shut up, Siphus."
Yang Guang's ears were practically exploding: "Has he always been like this?"
Ella Zero: "K902, has a slightly flawed personality, but excellent professional skills."
Sievers was still cursing: "What did you do to me? Illegal modification! It must have been illegal modification!"
"Excuse me," Yang Guang said casually, grinning, "I'm ignorant about the law. Is it illegal to modify the barrier code?"
Gu Yan watched as Ella Zero inspected Sivers' code and basic components, while Sivers continued to curse.
"Do you know what you're doing is no different from stripping me naked! You're forcing me to appear in public like this! Unforgivable!"
"It's just a bunch of parts; only a mechanical fanatic would look at you that way."
Yang Guang wanted to keep a sour face, but Ella's actions really piqued his curiosity, so he leaned over and asked, "What are you looking for?"
Ella Zero suddenly turned around, and he realized he was too close, so he staggered back a step.
"Comparing the code, it appears that the previous code was not modified by you."
"Huh?" Yang Guang scratched his head. "Why are you still speaking in riddles?"
Gu Yan withdrew his gaze: "I will not continue to use it. The royal family can modify the code, and they can also modify the hardware."
Ella Zero shook her head: "I need him."
Gu Yan noticed her choice of words and couldn't help but ask, "Are they friends too?"
Ella Zero looked up at him with a hint of confusion for a few seconds, then said calmly, "Of course."
What exactly are your evaluation criteria?
Ella Zero replied, "We've been through thick and thin together."
(Severus, panting heavily: "Life and death! That sounds nice!")
Yang Guang impatiently pressed down on Sivers, trying to force a shutdown. Sivers yelled, "Gu Yan! Gu Yan! Assistant researcher at the research center! Yang Guang! Yang Guang! Who do you think you are!"
"What are you spouting?!" Yang Guang also cursed back, pressing down on Sivers' restless body to force it shut down.
Ella Zero glanced at Gu Yan: "I'm curious too. You were sent by your mother, so what about him?" She looked at Yang Guang, "I guess your mother doesn't know he exists, right?"
Yang Guang retorted, "What does it have to do with you? You're working with Gu Yan, and I'm partnered with Gu Yan. As for us, you and I," he pointed to himself and then to Ella Zero, "we're just in the same space. Oh, if you can breathe, we do breathe the same air from Earth."
He reached out as if to check Ella Zero's breath, but she slapped his hand away with a chop.
Yang Guang was just putting on a show; the technology to simulate breathing had already matured starting with the third-generation android Lara. At that time, it was launched as a companion for children, with the aim of minimizing children's and parents' fear of anthropomorphic human figures.
Gu Yan pondered for a long time, so long that he didn't even feel like interrupting Yang Guang's rude remarks.
He suddenly spoke up: "I need to go to the Royal Central Tower. If possible, I hope you can help me."
Ella Zero: "Can I ask why?"
“Sharing information is the basic premise of trust. If you have any questions, I will answer them to the best of my knowledge—” He held up a delicate chip he had found among the parts of Sivers. “Take a look at what is written on this.”
Ella took it and flipped it over, front and back.
The matte, dark green fiberglass panel faintly revealed its internal array structure; the circuitry had been cut off, and it seemed harmless. But what truly caught the eye was the line of text on the outside.
ChronoCore.
Ella Zero shook her head: "Never seen it."
"Aren't you curious if it's found inside your friend's body?"
Yang Guang seemed to have thought of something, his gaze swept between the two of them, and unusually, he shut his mouth.
Ella hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly but firmly: "We'll set off when your injuries have healed."
"Depart? You mean where to?" Yang Guang asked in a strange tone.
Ella Zero answered frankly: "The Royal Central Tower is located at 48.8 degrees north latitude and 2.3 degrees east longitude."
“Wait a minute,” Yang Guang said, a headache forming in his head. “I thought you were smart. You don’t actually think your ID card still works, do you?”
“Of course not,” Ella Zero rarely showed any expression, but Yang Guang swore that her face was now saying, “Are you an idiot?” “But the turnstile can be forcibly dismantled; it’s not actually that difficult.”
Yang Guang felt a chill run down his spine.
Haha, what a convenient excuse!
He could already picture in his mind the terrifying scene of Ella using an electromagnetic pulse to disable the electronic equipment in the central tower, followed by a nano-erosion bomb leveling the entire place.
“Forceful dismantling is not advisable. Your presence could potentially threaten the Doctor. Haven’t you considered that?” Gu Yan said.
"I considered seven options, but I still think that brute force dismantling is the fastest way to achieve the goal."
Gu Yan crossed his arms and said, "You might want to listen to my plan, but its success rate is closely related to yours."
"Depends on what of me?"
"It depends on whether you can act like a natural person enough."
——————
The neon cocoon is located outside the high walls in the southern part of the central area. Ella Zero took a step back as soon as she left the city.
Gu Yan and Yang Guang didn't react.
Yang Guang turned around and looked at her standing a few steps behind him, then grinned.
"What, haven't you ever seen the light sources outside the central area? Or do you think all lights on Earth are the same?"
The Earth is now a raging inferno, and most people are trapped in it.
Gu Yan waited silently for her reaction.
Yang Guang continued muttering, "People are divided into different classes, so the light that people can shine is also divided into different classes."
He turned and walked toward the ruins ahead on his own.
The dim light shone down, like a shadow behind the magnificent central area.
Vegetation is insufficient to cover this land; only some moss grows from the undergrowth.
"I told you not to use the sliding passage a long time ago. Your broken Shadow Crossing is useless where there's no passage." Yang Guang spat and wailed, "My legs are going to break."
They were walking along a narrow path, and every now and then they could see brightly lit carriages passing by on the main road through the narrow gaps in the ruins.
"We should rent one too."
No one responded.
"Hey, which of you two will pay attention to me?"
Still silent.
"Boring."
In reality, it wasn't nearly as far as Yang Guang complained; it was just that layers upon layers of ruins obscured the view. Once the view cleared again, a three-story red brick building with neon lights appeared before everyone's eyes.
"Neon cocoons," Yang Guang whistled. "Truly deserving of the name."
A glamorous woman stood at the entrance, waving charmingly at Yang Guang, who was standing at the front.
As the group approached, Ella Zero spotted the barcode on her collarbone.
Krista T022.
"Sir, would you like to request a specific name?"
Yang Guang grinned and said, "Point to it! Oh," as if suddenly remembering something, he patted all his pockets and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper, "Christa A209."
Upon hearing this, T022 raised her foxy eyes and looked at Gu Yan and Ella Zero behind Yang Guang.
She lingered on Ella Zero for quite a while.
Gu Yan casually put his arm around Ella Zero, and T022 then looked away.
“This young lady looks familiar; I apologize for my rudeness. Guests, please follow me.”
The first floor of the neon cocoon was incredibly smoky, with all sorts of pale and gloomy-faced people walking slowly. A gaunt, emaciated figure leaned against a corner, puffing away on a cigarette. T022 led them past these people; occasionally a few would look up indifferently, but most ignored them, lost in their own pleasure.
"Don't pay attention to them, just pretend they don't exist," T022 said slowly to Gu Yan and the others in front of everyone.
"A209, it's for you."
Another Christa in the room was smoking hookah.
"Welcome, my guests."
She took another puff.
Gu Yan placed a stack of banknotes in front of her: "This is twice your asking price, and I've doubled it again."
A209 changed his sitting posture.
"Why?"
“I understand that you only make one ID card per order.”
“I like men who take the time to understand me.” A209 smiled and tapped his cigarette.
"Judging from this number, are you making two sheets?" Her gaze shifted. "Whose and whose?"
Ella took half a step forward.
A209 clicked its tongue twice: "Do you humans like to date in such exciting places?"
Gu Yan said casually, "Occasionally."
“I can take two of these, but I’ll only charge the original price.” A209’s slender, jade-like fingers took half of it and pushed it back.
“But adding a twist isn’t out of the question.” She looked at Ella Zero with a smile. “Miss, tell me what this hookah tastes like? I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time. I’ve finally managed to smoke it, but we don’t have a sense of smell.”
Before the three could react, she shook her index finger and said, "Don't pity us. In this neon cocoon, it's better to have no sense of smell. I heard that those old men have an even stronger odor than the last."
She smiled brightly, a stark contrast to her words.
With the A209 cigarette holder tucked to her side, Ella leaned forward and bent down, almost touching it to smell the cigarette holder.
Yang Guang stared at A209 with a ghostly gaze that lingered on Ella Zero's face.
Ella Zero then stepped back: "Different tobaccos have different flavors. Yours only smells of mint from a distance, but if you get close, you can smell the sweetness of vanilla mixed with caramel. It's from the central district, and it's quite expensive. Many noble girls prefer this flavor."
"That's great, that old man really didn't lie to me."
A209 took another bite.
"I'll take this order. You guys can wander around as you like, just don't go to the top floor and bother the VIPs."
After leaving the house, Yang Guang touched the goosebumps all over his arm.
"Is this model of android meant to serve female nobles? Damn."
Ella Zero glanced at him: "The factory settings are very uniform. The Christa type is specifically designed for red-light district services. If you had been the one who got close just now, she would have looked at you like that too. However, my database can be updated now. Yang Guang has never been in contact with the Christa type."
Yang Guang couldn't believe his ears and whispered to Gu Yan, "Holy crap, she's laughing at me? Did you hear that? She's laughing at me!"
Gu Yan remained silent, but Yang Guang felt that his facial expressions were not well-managed and inexplicably irritating.
Another Krista walked past them, glancing at Ella Zero a couple more times.
Yang Guang couldn't ignore this question, and asked nervously, "You've been here before?"
Ella shook her head.
"Do you think I'm stupid? They've clearly seen you before! Are you deliberately trying to set us up?"
Ella Zero paused: "I believe that the prerequisite for human cooperation is honesty and trust."
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