Embers Ad Infinitum

The lead disciplinary robot stared at Genava for a few seconds and said to its companions, “C-1578, C-2020, stay behind and guard this place. We’ll carry out additional investigations on the other smart bots in Tarnan. We’ll return to headquarters tomorrow morning.”

After giving the instructions, the lead disciplinary robot left Genava’s house with the remaining two smart bots.

The disciplinary robot with serial number C-1578 then looked at Susanna. “Give us two high-performance batteries.”

“Alright.” Susanna turned around and walked to the kitchen.

The little robot, Rides, returned to the second floor as instructed.

The adult and child smart bots wore white dresses, but they didn’t look at each other as they walked, akin to strangers who had just met.

Soon, Susanna came out with a tray that had two shallow, white porcelain plates.

In the middle of the white plates were high-performance batteries.

As if serving food, Susanna placed the two plates in front of C-1578 and C-2020.

C-1578 and C-2020 didn’t feel any discomfort. They each picked up a high-performance battery and placed it in their mouths.

In their mouths that shimmered with a metallic luster, the insulation panel automatically moved away, revealing the socket that had a high-performance battery installed.

C-1578 and C-2020 took out the original battery and installed the new one. At the same time, they nodded at Susanna. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Susanna put away the tray that contained the uncharged batteries and walked to the kitchen again.

During this process, Genava sat dazedly in the armchair. It didn’t change its posture or do anything.

According to Jiang Baimian’s understanding, this was akin to a hang.

She tugged at Shang Jianyao and retreated a long distance away.

Jiang Baimian then suppressed her voice and said to Shang Jianyao, “No matter what you want to do, the premise is to follow the wishes of the person in question. Maybe returning to headquarters and being locked up for two to three years isn’t a bad choice for him?”

Shang Jianyao nodded. “I got it.” With that said, he took out pen and paper, squatted down, and used his thigh as support for writing.

What did you get… Jiang Baimian felt inexplicably worried.

As she waited, she observed her surroundings and confirmed that no robots had secretly rushed over. This meant that the disciplinary robots—and even Genava’s family—had almost no surveillance cameras around the area.

Of course, this didn’t mean that they didn’t have the corresponding functions but that they showed a state of ‘carelessness.’

Perhaps it’s because they trust the multifunctional surveillance cameras everywhere and feel that nobody can approach the house silently with them around, so they didn’t dedicate too much electric power to do such redundant matters? Or perhaps it’s because they are too confident in their strength and aren’t afraid of sudden attacks, so they don’t take the initiative to monitor their surroundings? The more Jiang Baimian thought about it, the more she felt that it was possible.

She realized that smart bots still appeared rigid to a certain extent. They strictly followed the prearranged division of labor and the corresponding arrangements and didn’t cross the line easily.

They didn’t expect a human like Jiang Baimian—who could sense weak electric signals—to exist in the world. She didn’t need to approach to know the multi-purpose surveillance cameras’ locations clearly without missing the deliberately hidden ones.

Coupled with her usual observations, it wasn’t too difficult for Jiang Baimian to find a winding path that wouldn’t trigger any warnings.

This was also related to the fact that smart bots were particular about privacy. They didn’t pile up the multi-purpose surveillance cameras around the residential district to the point of leaving no blind spots. Otherwise, Jiang Baimian could only consider faking a short-circuit power outage that targeted the surveillance system.

Before long, Shang Jianyao finished writing and stood up.

“Let me take a look.” Jiang Baimian stretched out her hand. She believed in Shang Jianyao’s intelligence, but she didn’t trust his random brain spasms.

…

In the villa.

Genava sat in the single-seater, the blue light in his eyes dimming as he stared ahead.

There was nothing there.

The two disciplinary robots in charge of watching it didn’t say anything else. They each found a seat and sat down.

Their attention was focused on Genava and Susanna, who were near the dining table. They didn’t pay much attention to the door or the windows as if they felt that there was no need.

After an unknown period of time, Genava finally moved a little. It slowly raised its head, swept its gaze past the two disciplinary robots, and moved to the dining table.

The silver-white smart bot, Susanna, sat there and read a book. It didn’t respond as if the matters in the living room had nothing to do with it.

Genava stared at it for nearly a minute before turning his neck blankly and examining the room. It seemed to want to memorize every detail here.

As its gaze moved, it suddenly saw two human faces—a man and a woman—reflected in the window that was easiest to ignore.

99% similarity… Zhang Qubing… October Xue… Genava immediately recognized the two faces’ owners. The next second, it saw Shang Jianyao smile, who then raised a piece of paper and stuck it on the glass.

On the paper surface was the same sentence in Ashlandic and Red River language: “Do you need help?”

The blue light in Genava’s eyes flickered. It then turned its neck 180 degrees and looked back at Susanna.

After a moment of silence, it turned its head and slowly shook its head. It then continued moving its gaze, just like it had previously done.

This prevented the two disciplinary robots in the villa from sensing the anomaly.

By the time Genava looked at the window that was easiest to ignore for the second time, a new piece of paper had replaced the original one.

The content changed as well: “Don’t you want to search for the meaning of life?”

Genava’s gaze stopped moving, and the blue glow in his eyes seemed to freeze.

It silently repeated a word: Life… Life…

Shang Jianyao then changed the piece of paper. This time, it read: “Don’t you want to find the answer to the question of ‘what makes a human?'”

The blue light in Genava’s eyes suddenly lit up. It turned its neck again, preventing its gaze from staying at the window to avoid arousing its watchers’ suspicion.

When it looked at the window for the third time as if it were reluctant to leave the house, the first piece of paper reflected in its eyes: “Do you need help?”

The silver-black smart machine—Genava—paused for two seconds and slowly nodded. Almost at the same time, it saw a sincere smile appear on Shang Jianyao’s face.

Shang Jianyao quickly replaced the piece of paper: “Give us five minutes.”

Unlike before, the words ‘five minutes’ and the corresponding words had been crossed out by someone. There was a correction beside them labeled ‘fifteen minutes.’

Genava nodded again and looked away from the window.

…

Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao left the surveillance area and walked to where the jeep was parked.

“Seriously, how can five minutes be enough? We have to plan our route, come up with a plan, and make preparations. Fifteen minutes is barely enough,” Jiang Baimian grumbled. “However, we can’t delay such matters for too long. We don’t want any accidents to happen.”

Shang Jianyao glanced at her. “Did you secretly watch more Old World serialized dramas while sleeping in the living room?”

“…” Jiang Baimian was speechless for two seconds before saying firmly, “That’s not the point!”

As she walked in the direction of the jeep, she changed the topic. “This isn’t a simple matter. It doesn’t seem good for us to turn hostile after obtaining plenty of information from the Source Brain. Besides, from Genava’s perspective, he definitely won’t be willing to destroy other smart bots directly. He treats himself as a human and them as his companions. On the one hand, I have to control the intensity of the conflict. On the other hand, I have to save Genava. It’s very difficult.”

At this point, she suddenly felt a little expectant. “I’ve never fought a smart bot before.”

Upon seeing Shang Jianyao’s gaze turn strange, Jiang Baimian exhaled and said, “Since we’ve decided to help, we can’t be indecisive or hesitant. Yes, when you can’t change reality, learn to find something that excites you.”

To be honest, she really felt that smart bots were a little difficult to deal with. They weren’t afraid of light weapons, and the key interfaces had been hidden and covered. They had the corresponding insulation measures, and they also had two or more power sources. In terms of their bodies alone, they were much better than mechanical monks.

More importantly, they were also immune to Shang Jianyao’s Awakened abilities.

As they spoke, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian returned to the jeep and saw Long Yuehong—who had already put on the military exoskeleton—and Bai Chen, who was fully armed.

PS: The previous chapter said that their social relations would be temporarily lifted, not that they would undergo formatting. They will only be punished with formatting after they are sent back to headquarters for further review.