Ant colony

Her home is a chic single-family white cottage on a mountain east of Lake 501.Through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, you can directly overlook the vast lake. Although it is night, you can also imagine how beautiful the scenery is during the day.

Walking into the house, she first looked at the electronic picture frames on the wall, and ordered the system to change the oil paintings displayed on them one after another, but she was still not satisfied.

"What kind of paintings do you need to hang when you live here?" I exclaimed, "Sitting by the window and looking at the scenery outside is better than any other paintings."

"Well, the view here is really good. But I rarely come back to live here."

"What a waste! If I had such a house, I would never leave my house."

"No, this place is too remote. If I always stay here alone and don't get in touch with real humans, maybe the outside world is destroyed and I don't even know it."

"So what if you know? Can you still rush out to save the world?"

"No, I'll be out in time to celebrate."

"...Stop talking nonsense, let's rest now."

"There is plenty of time to rest. The system forces me to take three days off." She slumped on the sofa lazily, "During my absence, you have to take good care of yourself."

"Speak as if you have taken care of me." I took the thin blanket next to her and covered her.

A faint fragrance gradually appeared in the room.I just think it smells very familiar and reassuring.

"What's that smell?"

She looked up at the ceiling, "This is an aromatic substance synthesized from the floral aroma of a plant called osmanthus. I like it very much."

When she said that, I suddenly remembered. "No wonder I find this smell familiar... When I lived in the Botanical Research Institute as a child, there seemed to be this plant outside the window. My mother said that it is also called osmanthus."

"Uh, sorry." She looked a little uncomfortable again.

"Don't worry, I don't think of sad things." I said, "That period of time was my happiest day. So when I smell this smell, I feel warmth and peace."

"Well, it is said that the memory of smell is the longest." She was slightly lost in thought, not knowing what to think.

The housekeeping robot brought warm water and medicine, and I handed them to her. I watched her swallow the pills in one go, and asked softly, "When will it be better?"

"Don't worry, it will be soon, it's not a big problem." She said, "It's too troublesome to maintain this body. If we can digitize all our memories one day, I will definitely get rid of this heavy body as soon as possible. .”

"Memory is not equal to consciousness. If you have a copy of all your memories, can you say that this pile of data is you?"

"I don't know, let's try someday?"

"Go to sleep, don't think about it. You just spend too much energy thinking about those ghost ideas, and your body is weak."

"Doctors will be pissed off by your anti-science rhetoric."

She yawned and curled up on the sofa, looking so soft and lazy.I couldn't help reaching out and touching her head—the hair was soft and comfortable to the touch.Instead of avoiding my abrupt behavior, she closed her eyes meekly, like a sleepy cat.

My voice became extremely gentle unconsciously: "Your mother and sister will come to visit you."

"No, I didn't tell them, lest they nag me again." She yawned, "Come and see me tomorrow, okay?"

My heart became hot, but I pretended to be puzzled: "What's the use of my coming? To prove to you that everything in the outside world is normal, and human beings have not yet been destroyed?"

She laughed: "That's it."

"Why should I agree?"

"Because you like me."

Unprepared, I almost jumped up from the sofa in shock, and my face turned red.

She sat up and took my hand gently, with a beating smile on her face.

"There's nothing embarrassing about it. There are so many people who like me that they can circle Lake 501 in a row. I'm used to it."

"...self-righteous!" I said angrily, "Has your brain burned out?"

"Well, I feel a little dizzy." She kissed the back of my hand lightly, "So if you do something wrong, you must forgive me."

I froze and looked down at her.Her eyes were full of water, like lake water under the starlight.

I don't remember the rest of it at all, it was like getting drunk.I don't remember what I said again, how I said goodbye to her, or how I escaped from her house.

It wasn't until I got home that I realized that I had left all the flowers she sent me at her house.

"This is the so-called fleeing..." I couldn't help laughing at myself.But I felt my footsteps were light and light, as if I was about to fly.

In such an excited and apprehensive mood, I didn't fall asleep all night.This is something I have never experienced in my previous relationships.Getting along with those people whose personalities and concepts are completely suitable is like listening to a piece of rigorous classical music, which is moving but not crazy.And α-han is like the music written by the system, sometimes it coincides with my guess, and sometimes it suddenly jumps out of my expectation, making me never guess the next note.

I thought I'd be groggy all day the next day, but I was miraculously sober.It's just that no matter what you do, you can't calm down, and you can fall into fantasy anytime, anywhere.

A message prompt suddenly appeared in front of him.I hurriedly opened it and saw a long list of compound names.

α-han's clear voice rang in his ears: "This is the formula of my Osmanthus aromatherapy. If you like it, you can ask the system to synthesize it for you."

I smiled and sent her a chat request.

Almost instantly, the scene in her home was truly projected in front of my eyes.My viewing angle is on her right front, and I can see her sitting on the floor, resting her chin in boredom.

"I thought you wouldn't dare to come to me from now on," she said.

"I forgot my flowers with you, and I have to find you to get them back."

"I threw it away, what should I do?"

I'm already familiar with her tricks, and I won't be fooled again. "Don't lie to me. If you really throw it away, please give me another bunch."

"I'll send you off every day from now on, okay?"

As long as she is not naughty, she is very charming.I raised the corner of my mouth and asked softly, "Are you feeling better today?"

"It's all over, I'm going to go back to work tomorrow."

"So urgent?" I couldn't help feeling a little worried, "Why don't we take a few more days off?"

"No need. Oh, look how bored I am, and I will take the initiative to contact you."

Just say it if you miss me.I was overjoyed, and said "I'll be right over", and ran downstairs under the surprised eyes of my colleagues, and left the Vulnerability Management Bureau.

I came to her house and the door opened automatically.I knew that she had given me the right to enter and exit her house at will, and I was so happy that I walked in.

The digital picture frames on the walls are gone.It looks like she took my advice and kept the decor simple.

"Is the world destroyed today?" Her voice came from the corner.

"No."

"so boring."

I walked over and saw her sitting on the ground, writing and drawing on the floor, with some food debris thrown beside her.

Frowning, I bent down to pick up the half-eaten sandwich, to throw it away.But she shouted: "Don't move, I haven't finished eating yet!"

"What kind of animal are you, like to eat on the ground?" I pointed to the exquisite dining table in her house, "Can't you eat on the table?"

"No, it's too far."

I visually observed that the distance between her and the dining table was less than 5 meters, and I suspected that I had heard it wrong.

"Come and see." She ignored my annoyance and happily showed me the graffiti on the ground.Those were formulas and graphics that I couldn't understand, but I felt their beauty inexplicably.They are like poems and paintings. Although they are only handwritten, they are full of aura of agility.

"What is this?"

"A new proof of complex-free structures on a six-dimensional sphere."

"Well, I can't discuss this with you."

"This was published by a person who is engaged in mathematics. I think there may be some problems." She fell into deep thought, as if talking to herself, "Oh, if I also studied mathematics back then..."

"Isn't this kind of problem the strong point of the system? Just let it prove it."

She rolled her eyes at me, "Don't forget, the computing power of the system should be used first to manage human society."

"Does it feel overqualified, like a math genius forced to work as a chicken farmer?"

She laughed, then stopped smiling. "No, I know, the system likes to study humans."

"Oh?"

"When I was young, I always studied at home. The system is my best teacher. It will teach me everything I want to know. I have completed all the professional courses in the mathematics department of the university when I was eight years old."

"Guess what I was doing when I was eight years old? Digging for earthworms in the botanical garden."

She smiled and continued: "But one day the system suddenly suggested to me that I should go to school. Of course I don't want to. I think going to school is a waste of time and I can't learn anything. But the system Said that going to school is not to learn knowledge, but to deal with people. I said, what's the point of dealing with people, human beings are so boring. But the system said I was wrong, if you learn to study human beings, you will never know feel bored."

This is the first time I listen to her reminiscences of childhood.I fell silent, desperate to hear more.I would like to know all her stories, and if possible, even see her entire biography.

"Then I went to school. I went to 501 University." She went on to say, "As you can imagine, I had little contact with people before, and I was young, so of course I have some problems with interpersonal communication. Fortunately, the system always It protects me and guides me, so I didn’t encounter too much trouble. In the process of getting along with various people, I gradually discovered that what the system said made sense. The fun brought by studying people is actually no better than studying six Dimensional surfaces are less fun."

"I think you've been tricked by the system. It's trying to trick you into growing up to work for it instead of diving headfirst into scratch paper."

"Maybe." She laughed again. "Anyway, during that time, I first became obsessed with quantitative sociology, and then I started reading literature and philosophy. By the way, I also learned a little about cognitive science. It's a big circle Finally, I found that most human beings are really boring, but I began to think about the reason why they are so boring. Finally I figured out that it is because of the limitations of the human mind. Human beings are more unfree than they think. We Our perceptions are bounded by experience, and experience comes from perception. These perceptions are so limited, so our perception of the world is also limited."

"Is this agnostic?" I asked.

"Yes, not all." She said, "I still think that human beings can recognize the world. The biggest obstacle is that people do not realize their own limitations, do not know that they are frogs at the bottom of a well, and are full of prejudices. But I thought it was absolutely right. So, I began to wonder about the world that humans cannot feel. I want to know what the world feels like to bats, dolphins, dogs, and ants, and what the world feels like to the system, and even imagine What might civilizations and lives that have never existed before be like? At the age of 12, I finally found my own direction—to use the intelligence of the system to break the boundaries of human cognition.”

"Well, this is the first time I've heard someone describe his childhood as a history of academic thought."

"I didn't have much fun when I was a child. I could only think about all kinds of messy problems every day. Otherwise, would my sisters and I be allowed to play ball and climb mountains?"

"I almost forgot that you have three older sisters. How do they treat you?"

"They all took good care of me and were nice people - just a little bit dumb."

"It seems that they are indeed good people. If I had a sister like you, I would definitely beat her every day."

She had that mischievous look again. "Hey, I was very cute when I was young, but I was always weak and sick. Would you be willing to beat me up?"

"Don't underestimate the complexity of human nature. Maybe I just like to bully people?"

She raised her eyebrows: "You try it?"

I stretched out my hand and scratched her neck, and she shrank back with a smile.Not being resisted, I was even more presumptuous, grabbing her shoulder and blowing into her ear.She struggled to dodge, and we fell to the ground together, laughing and playing like two urchins.

The system automatically saves the draft on the ground.Those formulas and graphs faded away from us like fading ink.But she paid no attention to them, and had completely forgotten them.

"Okay, okay, what does it look like?" Finally, she laughed and pushed me away, and stood up from the ground. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

I sat on the ground and grabbed her hand. "No. You haven't finished yet."

"say what?"

"It's about your childhood."

"Didn't I tell you everything? I'm either talking to the system or wandering around 501 University all day long. Don't you want to hear me tell you what classes I've taken?"

"No, I mean, what about after you're 12?"

She was taken aback, then laughed again.This time he laughed rather maliciously.

"Man is just a machine controlled by hormones. This truth is what I realized when I was 12 years old. In those few years, I threw mathematics, sociology, and philosophy into the sky. What else can I do? ?”

I couldn't help laughing either.I didn't expect that a gifted child like her would have such a history.No, I should have thought of that.In addition to being a genius, she is also a charming and beautiful girl.God knows how many affairs she had in her cardamom years.

It's better to ask her about these interesting things later.I took her hand and stood up.

She ordered the housekeeping robot to start cooking dinner.This time, she was finally willing to visit the dining table 5 meters away, which really touched me.

There is a faint fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus floating in the air.The food was not on the table, we drank the pre-dinner wine and listened to the music played automatically by the system.

It's that song "I'm Not Elegant" again.The familiar melody brought me back to that dreamy night by the lake, where the summer evening wind brought the sounds of the wilderness.

"Today is a month since we met." I said, "The system must remember."

She raised her glass: "We have to thank the system, and thank me for this clumsy song."

I smiled and said, "Thank you for the chance."

"Yes. I seldom go out. I just wandered by the lake for a while that day. I didn't expect to harm someone."

"Can you stop being so narcissistic?"

"Don't I have the capital to be narcissistic?"

"Yes, you have." I said, "You are smart, hardworking, young and promising, beautiful and elegant. I believe that people who like you can really go around Lake 501 in a row."

"Wow, what's wrong with you, you can actually say good things?" She looked at me in surprise, "I doubt that the person sitting in front of me is actually a robot sent by the system."

"Don't interrupt, listen to me." I looked into her eyes solemnly. "But I don't like you like this. I like you who are arrogant, lazy, and cranky. The elegant you can only make me respect and admire, but the unelegant you makes me... Fascinated."

I thought about these words for a long time, but when I actually said them, I still couldn't restrain my tension, and felt my face burn hot.

How to act like a teenager?I laughed at myself, and simply gave up covering up, letting my clumsiness be exposed in front of her eyes.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, a crack appeared in the rain cloud, and the golden light of the setting sun poured out of it, illuminating half of the lake.Her eyes also seem to reflect the ripples of the lake, rippling for a long time.

After a long time, she said softly: "I know. Because of this, I like you too."

I stood up, across the dining table, leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips.

There was a bittersweet taste of wine on her lips.I looked at her, and saw her arrogance suddenly disappeared, her eyes widened shyly, with expectations and confusion shining in her eyes, her cheeks were as red as hills in the setting sun.

I can't stand it any longer.He took her hand and led her to the window reflecting the lake and mountains.

"Stop eating?" She bit her lip and chuckled.

"Don't eat."

"Are you not hungry?"

"I'm not hungry anymore."

She tilted her head, her voice was inaudible: "Then what are we doing?"

I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her fiercely.This time, it was a long, deep kiss.I could feel her trembling slightly in my arms, her cold fingers gently stroking the back of my neck.We fell to the ground slowly, her soft long hair wrapped around me like algae, and I soaked every inch of her skin with the touch of flowing water, making her slightly cold body hot.

Then, I kissed her slender neck, and lightly gnawed on that alluring collarbone.We became more and more entangled, like beasts warming each other in the cold.Outside the window, the day receded a little bit, and the night approached step by step.The blue-green transparent lake gradually turned into a bottomless black abyss, like an impenetrable puzzle.

I jumped into the abyss, gave up struggling, and enjoyed the joy of indulging.

By the time I was woken up by hunger, it was already 3 o'clock in the morning.We were in bed and there was a mess around us.The scent of sweet-scented osmanthus in the air seems to be more intense and intoxicating.

I looked to the side in confusion, and she was curled up in the bed with a faint smile on her face.

I also raised the corners of my mouth.I thought about how we had taken each other again and again, from the living room to the bedroom.Alas, it must have been empty for too long, even I myself didn't expect that I would be so crazy.

Only then did I realize that she hadn't fully recovered yet, and my actions just now were too reckless.I hurriedly reached out and touched her forehead carefully. Fortunately, she slept very soundly, and it seemed that there was no problem.

I asked the housekeeping robot to bring me some food, filled my stomach, and counted her long eyelashes curiously.After counting the eyelashes, I began to admire her slightly messy eyebrows, delicate nose bridge, and slightly fluttering lips... I found that her facial features are not perfect, but when they are put together, there is a special beauty.The uninhibited temperament on her body probably contributed a lot to this.

Looking at it, he saw the dawn without knowing it.She finally opened her eyes leisurely, and when she saw my face, she seemed to be taken aback, her eyes instantly became clear.

"Crazy, I'm scared to death." She said, putting her arms around my neck, "What are you looking at?"

"Look at you. You're so pretty."

"I'm not good-looking, you don't know, my mediocre body is completely unworthy of my pure and wise soul."

"It must be an evil spirit." I smiled and scratched her nose, "Why are you so seductive?"

"You're not bad either." She smiled happily, "My little beauty."

I laugh while saying nothing.

I tried to get her to sleep a little longer, but she couldn't sleep, talked to me for a while, then insisted on getting up, going to the data center, saying that the trial run was about to start, and there was a lot to do.

I can't stop her either.After feeding her breakfast and medicine, offer to send her to the data center.

"No need." She told me as she combed her hair, "Don't tell me you can't leave me for a minute? Don't. Tell you, I hate clingy little lovers the most."

"Who wants to cling to you?" I was annoyed and funny, "I'm just following your way."

"Okay, okay, I know, I'm just kidding you." She put down the comb and gave me a hug. "But let's go our separate ways."

I froze for a moment: "Why?"

"If you take the airship with me, the people in the data center will wonder if we were together last night."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's almost New Years, and it would be bad to break the hearts of my admirers. The harm to society is too great."

"Can you be serious!" I squeezed her face hard, buried my head in her neck, and rubbed her hard.

"No." She smiled rascally, "Don't you just like me who is not serious?"

"α-Han, show your true colors and see how many people can stand you?"

"It's good that you can bear it."

In the end, I still couldn't hold her back, and we parted ways with her.

She always has some weird ideas and habits, and sometimes I don't understand why.But at our age, we already know that we don't have to get to the bottom of everything.