Star Railway: Building a Foundation from the Beginning

When the tape was replaced, Tommy, who appeared in the frame, matured a lot.

His chest became thicker, his shoulders broadened, and he looked like a grown man.

His face was filled with happiness and contentment, and there was an expression that Christina had seen before, but was not so familiar now.

——The yearning for life.

[Long time no see, videotapes are expensive...... So I thought, try to save the shot. 】

"We have a child, a boy. We call him Albert. 】

[Walkerwood's recent situation is very good, and everyone is working hard to build it. 】

[Last month, I was injured in the production workshop, and the little thumb of my left hand was broken, and the doctors had to cut it off. But it's not a big problem, it doesn't affect me to do big things. 】

[Anyway, I'm a father too.] 】

[Our city has built a central lighting tower during this time, and the world is finally no longer dark. The heating field was also gradually up and running, and we planted a few plants on the balcony, including orchids and hyacinths. 】

[The tape is coming to an end again, what to say, huh...... You know, I-]

Christina wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and tried her best to smile a decent smile.

At least, Tommy is doing well...... Isn't it......

That's all she could comfort herself.

Then he bit his lip and switched to the next videotape.

Tommy, who appears in the picture, is already middle-aged, with a few strands of silver on the sides of his hair, and subtle wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth.

He is in fairly good shape, and although he is no longer as lean as he was when he was younger, he still appears fit and strong.

It doesn't seem to be living in the last days.

[Good evening, I recorded this video to tell you that we can cut "180" well. 】

[My wife says I look older, and she's right, 40-year-old Tommy is no longer young, Albert is in elementary school, and his sister is past nursing age.] 】

[I became an engineer in the city and participated in many important plans. 】

[We have our own house and a car. Although Walkerwood is small, it's only a four-hour drive from one side to the other, but having a car makes the kids happy. 】

[I'm also a little accomplished, sister.] 】

[Sometimes I wonder if all this was a dream I had before I died in a blizzard. It's really a life I never thought about. 】

[Sometimes I wonder if I should let you go.] It's been almost thirty years, are you still wandering in the Outlands, or have you been rescued to a city like me, and that there is a good place for you?]

[Tell me you're still alive, sister, tell me in what way, please.] 】

I'm still alive, brother...... Time flies...... I miss you so much......

Christina laughed and wept as she switched to a videotape.

With this set, there are two sets left...... Christina thought silently in her mind.

Tommy is happy, and that's enough for her.

A deadly snowstorm breaks the siblings apart, and fate takes two different paths.

But at least Tommy looks good.

With that in mind, Christina pressed play.

It's just that when Tommy reappears in the picture, Christina's heart suddenly jerks.

Tommy looks depressed, his skin is dry, and his eyes are red and swollen.

His hair was almost entirely white and disheveled, and he clutched a bottle of liquor in his hand.

He silently stares to the camera, intermittently, mechanically, pouring the liquor into his mouth, as if sending unspeakable pain and sorrow into his stomach.

After a long time, he slowly raised his eyes, and his bloodshot eyes stared straight into the depths of the camera.

[She's gone, sister.] 】

[She was eerily quiet for the last few days. I never thought she would go ahead of me. 】

[We held a funeral for her, and our relatives, friends, and neighbors arrived. 】

[She lay with her eyes closed, as if she would open them in the next second, and whispered my name again—but she didn't.] 】

[Never again, she will never wake up again.] 】

Tommy's body shuddered spasmodically, and then he lifted the bottle vigorously, rolled his Adam's apple, and gulped down the liquid.

Suddenly, he hugged the camera, like a roar, like a pleading.

You were never there at the most important moment of my life. Now I only have my children around. Where are you?I just want to know where you are?】

Christina silently put in the last tape.

Neither Kerrin nor Alice knew what she was thinking, only that the atmosphere in the room was very oppressive.

This repression accumulates even more rapidly as a gray-haired, fragile Tommy appears in the frame.

He was lying on his back on the bed, his skin extremely weak, and he could see the blood flowing underneath, and the light of life seemed to be gradually dissipating.

And those eyes that were once full of vitality and tired are now more of a transcendent peace and a desire for rest.

After a while, Tommy spoke slowly, and his tone was very weak.

[This is probably the last recording.] 】

[Time flies so fast, people will look at many things very lightly when they get old. 】

[I believe you are still alive. You must still be alive. But your time is different from ours. 】

[I'm already a handful of bones, and you're probably still the same as when you fled the city. When you think about it, you and I are really fundamentally different. 】

"I'm going to die, Christina. My body is getting worse day by day, but seriously, I've lived long enough. 】

[I always thought that God had let me live so long so that I could see you again with my own eyes, but it seems that this is just a small reward for my hard work for half my life. 】

[I don't know if you'll ever see these tapes again.] Maybe I've been wishful thinking all my life, but since life has given me so many miracles, I also hope it will give me the last one. 】

[At that time, promise me not to cry.] 】

At this time, Tommy turned his head sideways and looked at Christina off-camera, with a gentle and relaxed smile on his old face, and his voice was as innocent as when he was a child:

[Go, do what you have to do, find the meaning of your life, find your rainbow.] 】

After saying that, he squeezed his eyes at Christina as if he had returned to his childhood.

Christina's expression froze on her face, and she saw Tommy's smile still in the final scene, the picture blurred, and finally returned to a quiet darkness.

It's like a stream of water falling between your fingers, trying to grab its tail, but you can't.

Click!

The tape is completely tightened by the reel, like Christina's heart.

With a slight motor rotation sound and a slight friction sound, the videotape was slowly pushed out of the fuselage with a "click" sound.

Her vision was completely blurred, and she wanted to shout something, but she found that she couldn't make any sound.

Christina's hands trembled, she staggered to her feet, staggered two steps to the VCR, and tried to hold the tape in her arms, but staggered two steps and fell to the ground.

Alice lifted her up, took her aside, and shoved all the tapes into her arms.

Christina's eyes became extremely deep at this moment, sadness, unwillingness, and a deep sense of powerlessness intertwined under her eyes, condensing into unshed tears.

The corners of her mouth trembled slightly, and she tried to say something, only to find that any language seemed so pale in the face of such emotion.

It was as if something had disappeared, and had torn a piece of her heart away, and she had died with half of her, falling into an endless void.

......

"The long-born species who fall in love with the short-born species can better understand this emotion? Watching the lover age rapidly, and then inadvertently, realizing that the other person has left before him, and his life span is quite long. (If you read a violent novel, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

"It's a bit like it, but it's more accurate to say that it should be the elder sister and the younger brother of the short species who grew up together, and then the two were forced to separate in an accident. Every day after that, the two were looking for each other, and the elder sister accidentally found her brother's descendants during a trip, and then flipped through the complete life of her younger brother. "

"Alas, the immortal species, alas, the longevity theory. "

"Alas, the Foundation, alas, apocalyptic scenarios. "

"I've found that no matter what the story is, as long as it involves longevity, it's easy to have tragedy. "

"When a work involves life and death, it is easy to move people's hearts, whether it is family affection, or romance, or any other kind of affection. Tommy was a stranger to his sister and to us...... If you change Tommy to white moonshine or something, the story will immediately become very knife. "

"Nobody cares about Christina...... This little girl is already breaking down......"

"In just a few months, I lost all my family...... It's a bit miserable indeed. "

It might seem a little inhuman to say that, but Tommy was lucky enough to die in this situation, and she should be satisfied. "

"These are two different things, and when the little girl regains her composure, she will understand, but now she is overwhelmed by grief and cannot think from this perspective. "

......

When the screen lights up again, Alice and Christina are fully dressed and say goodbye to Kirwin..........

Kerrwyn was worried:

"Are you going now?"

The ancestor's sister has not yet recovered her strength, and since she saw the tape, she has been like a walking corpse, and has no reaction to the outside world.

There is no greater mourning than death. []

"Yes. Thank you again, Mr. Kerrwin. "

Alice said softly, "But I'm sorry, but those tapes really didn't work after watching them, as you said...... Disposable. "

"Don't worry about that, if only it could help you. She ......"

Kirwin rolled his eyes slightly, looking at Christina, who was motionless not far away.

Alice didn't say anything more, and shook her head, "Thank you anyway." "

After saying that, he pulled Christina and continued to walk.

......

【—Data Analysis—]

[Base Time Engraving (Yellowstone): 45.2999]

[How's that, dear Alice?, do you believe me now?]

"She looked sad. "

Alice glanced quietly at Christina behind her, who was still a little glazed.

First lost the city where he grew up, then lost his warm family, and now even his younger brother has passed away.

The thing that anchored Christina in this world is gone.

She was the only one left on the road.

[This is normal, dear Alice, she is still a child after all.] Give her some time. 】

"Hmm," Alice retracted her gaze and continued her planned route.

"I trust you now. "

[I'm honored. 】

"It's so difficult for us to communicate through the terminal like this. "

"Can I save a copy of you on my terminal so we can communicate in words?"

She now had to look down at the text on the screen while hurrying, which was inconvenient and unsafe.

Maybe if you don't see the road clearly, you'll fall hard.

[I'm sorry. 】

[However, in order to do so, you must travel to Yellowstone and find my prototype, which is the source of all information, in order to take a copy of my consciousness from that body.] 】

However, you will not be able to accomplish this action. 】

"Why not? I'm about to arrive in Yellowstone, and I only have half a day left. "

That's what I'm going to say next. You'll have to stop traveling to Yellowstone and find the nearest and only working space teleportation node to use to get to the South Pole. 】

[We are very short on time, you and I are. 】

"Why is that?" Alice was puzzled.

Wasn't this drifter quite normal before?

Why did she start coming out to do things when she was about to arrive in Yellowstone and solve the apocalypse?

"My destination is Yellowstone, we've been walking for so long, you're going to let me go back now?"

[Dear Alice, you have to believe that I am an AIC who will never make a 4.3 mistake in calculations. 】

[I have all the information, all the future, and the perfect plan.] Don't question me. 】

"Yes, you're the perfect AIC, but I'm not a perfect human. "

Alice frowned, and the other party had this condescending attitude.

"I can't make the perfect plan, and I can't see the future. I need you to explain to me. "

As if sensing Alice's resistance, the Drifter didn't insist.

[So, that's it.] 】

[As you said, you're only a stone's throw away from Yellowstone, and I don't want to destroy the trust we've finally built between us.] 】

[You can't understand my wise decision now, but it's okay, you'll understand when you get there.] 】

Turning off the screen of her personal terminal, Alice did not delay any longer, and took Christina all the way to Yellowstone.

But the closer she got, the more uneasy she became—the temperature was too high, and the landscape didn't seem quite right.

As she stood on the top of the cliff, gazing into the unfathomable abyss beneath her feet, the incomprehension and uneasiness in her heart exploded in an instant.

Turned into an exclamation.

There was an apocalyptic sight in front of her—a huge crater-like cavern spread out beneath her feet, opening like the mouth of hell.

These sunken craters are connected together, like scars imprinted on the skin of the earth, which is shocking.

Blazing white magma churned at the bottom of the pit with a low rumbling sound.

Only trace fragments of the structure are interspersed in the rock formations, and in addition, there is almost no trace of the existence of man-made objects, and everything is reduced to nothingness

Yellowstone Underground Facility Complex, the original containment object-2000 has been completely destroyed.