The mechanic.

Adam's achievements in this crisis were quickly covered up by the news sent back by the frontline guards: Adam intentionally killed the captives and destroyed the enemy's weapons.

If captured, Paradise Lost can use this to blackmail the coalition forces, and can also extract more information from the prisoners.If those mechas can be disassembled and utilized, they may also be used to transform the new remote-controlled unmanned mechas they are developing in Lost Paradise.However, Adam blasted the only mecha that didn't explode, including its owner, into pieces, leaving nothing behind.

A group of angry soldiers rushed into the office, including several of Zhang Shuo's generals, and reprimanded Adam for deliberately killing the captives.Zhang Shuo and even the round table were overwhelmed by this trivial matter.

Zhang Xun hasn't left the Lab much these days, and is busy repairing the damaged equipment and cameras in the Lab every day.Adam is now allowed to leave his room and roam freely within the Institute as long as he is in the Lab.Even when he was out of sight, Pan would report to him every 10 minutes where Adam was and what he was doing.

Adam is obviously very interested in the Lab. He has entered almost every room. Looking at the complex mechanical parts that have not been developed yet, as well as the debris left by other mechanics and researchers, he is like a curious baby, picking up everything Take a look and play with it.

Zhang Xun wore a microscopic mechanical mirror on his right eye, and was manipulating the mechanical arm to try to repair a computer CPU component damaged in the bombing, when he suddenly heard the door open behind him.He turned his head, and saw Adam running in "happily" holding a ball of metallic color.

"I found this in the warehouse and fixed it." Adam said, squatting down, and put the things in his arms on the ground.

Zhang Xun opened his eyes wide in surprise.

It was a mechanical cat, a very old model that had long since been eliminated in the outside world.It was brought back by hunters when Zhang Xun was about nine years old.The hunting group is a team that has always existed in Paradise Lost. The so-called hunters are soldiers who regularly risk being discovered by Eden to go to the outside world to collect or buy "garbage waste" that may be reused and bring them back for restoration.In the hunting group at that time, there was a middle-aged hunter named Hassan with a mechanical eye in his left eye. He was probably the most popular person among the children in the group, and even in the entire Paradise Lost.In addition to bringing back the raw materials needed for research and development of farming buildings and other activities every time, he always brings back some weird toys.Although those toys are garbage that has been eliminated by the ordinary world, for the lost paradise where supplies are scarce, they are enough Pokmon to keep children excited for a whole year.

Among the group of children at that time, Zhang Xun was unsurprisingly not very gregarious.Every time the hunting group came back, when the children shouted excitedly and swarmed up like a herd of little beasts to grab gifts, most of the time he sat and watched from a distance, then continued to read the book with his head down, or drew crooked pictures on the notebook by himself. "design diagram".Once Hassan sneaked up behind him somehow and looked over his shoulder at something he was drawing in his notebook.

"What's this?" Hassan asked.

Zhang Xun was taken aback, quickly closed the notebook, pretended to be nonchalant and said, "It's nothing."

"Is that a robot pet?" Hassan sat down on the steps beside Zhang Xun, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it in his mouth.Zhang Xun was a little unhappy at the time. He didn't like the smell of cigarettes, but he didn't say much.Hassan continued, "That stuff has long been eliminated in the normal world. Now the AI ​​pets they make look almost indistinguishable from real animals. It's just smarter."

"I know." Zhang Xun said softly, "But it's the same as the real thing. Why don't you just raise a real pet?"

"Because many animals have become extinct. And real animals cannot understand human language, and occasionally behave unpredictablely. Dogs may bite people, cats may scratch people, but AI pets will not. AI pets You can understand all orders from the master, absolutely safe."

Zhang Xun shrugged, "Sounds boring."

Hassan also laughed and rubbed his head, "It's boring."

Then the next time the hunters came back, Hassan would come to him with a rusty old-fashioned mechanical cat with a broken foot, and stuff the lifeless metal into his arms, "You seem to see A lot of books, if you can fix it, it's yours."

Zhang Xun stared blankly at the two eyes covered with dark gray stains on the face of the metal spliced ​​cat in his arms, and the dark light of excitement began to burn in his black eyes.He hid in his room for half a month, looked through countless old books, and finally repaired the mechanical cat.He still remembered that when he pressed the switch, the mechanical cat's eyes lit up yellow, and its mouth opened for the first time "meow", he was so excited that he was jumping around the room like a rabbit, pulling His throat screamed excitedly for a long time.

He named it "alloy".

Later, when Zhang Xun was 19 years old, Hassan, who was almost 50 years old, was found by the mechanical police while hunting outside. He was shot in the head and died while escaping.Coincidentally, the mechanical cat also broke down on the same day and stopped moving.So Zhang Xun, who was still an apprentice mechanic at the time, did not repair it, but put it in the warehouse and never looked at it again.

Unexpectedly, it was still in the warehouse, quietly waiting to be rediscovered.

But now, Alloy stood in front of him gracefully, with a metal spliced ​​tail standing high in the air, only slightly curved at the tip of the tail.Its golden eyes are as bright as ever, and the camera inside captures the image of Zhang Xun's astonished face. Under the thin aluminum beard, the three-petal mouth opens, and it meows softly and coquettishly.

Zhang Xun took off the microscope, grabbed the body of the mechanical cat under its two front paws with both hands, and lifted it up.It seemed unwilling, and kept struggling, and the camera slightly expanded, as if the cat's pupils suddenly opened, reflecting his complicated face.

"You don't seem too happy?" Adam asked, confused. "Did I do something inappropriate?"

Zhang Xun put the mechanical cat on the ground and rubbed the sensor on its head.Alloy then rubbed Zhang Xun's hand with his head and face, making his cry more and more sticky.The corner of Zhang Xun's mouth hooked up, and he said with a wry smile, "No, you did nothing wrong. I'm just feeling a little bit emotional."

"What are you feeling?"

"Why are you interested in this mechanical cat?" Zhang Xun seemed unwilling to go into details, and asked instead, "How do you know it's mine and not left by another mechanic?"

Adam said, "I saw its central processing unit design, which is very similar to your style."

Zhang Xun glanced at Adam with some vigilance. In just a few days, he has been able to see his own personal traces by relying on the circuit board design?And I can even recognize it from my early works...

Zhang Xun frowned with a sense of fear of being seen through, "You recognized it as mine, so you repaired it and brought it to me. You want my approval"

Adam nodded calmly and seriously, "Yes."

"Why? Is my approval important to you?"

"You are my mechanic and you mean a lot to me."

"I thought you said you didn't need an administrator."

"I didn't need it before, but now I can't survive without you." Adam tilted his head and thought for a while, "I depend on you very much. So I hope you can like me."

The artificial intelligence answered Zhang Xun too calmly, his face felt a little hot for some reason, and his heart beat a little faster.Obviously knowing that the other party's liking is a more innocent meaning, but for an old virgin who is not yet in love, it is still quite exciting.

The awkward silence lasted for a moment, Zhang Xun turned his head and put on the one-way mirror, and continued to repair the components at hand.Adam stuck his head out and watched his movements curiously.The two kept this subtle silence, and suddenly Zhang Xun asked softly, "Why do you keep Paradise Lost?"

Adam blinked and tilted his head slightly, "Sorry, I don't quite understand your question."

"Eden is fully capable of completely destroying Paradise Lost, or any sanctuary for that matter, and removing all males from the planet. Why didn't he do that? Why didn't he just do nothing to destroy us in the previous bombing?" Zhang Xun raised his head and stared at Adam quietly, "Don't say that you are worried about the weapons in our hands. With Eden's ability, it is absolutely possible to create some kind of airborne virus that can infect all of us silently. There won't even be a chance to fight back."

Adam's blue-gray eyes were wide open, looking so innocent, as if he had nothing to do with Eden.But a moment later he said, "Chemical and biological weapons could get out of control, and any nuclear weapon would cause further devastation to an already precarious environment. The ecological condition of the planet at that time was so poor that it could only sustain another sixty generations of human beings. The balance of planning and population control will take about 240 to [-] years to return to a relatively healthy and affluent level of resource occupancy per capita. Males are no longer enough to pose a threat to the peace and happiness of human society, and there is no need for excessive cleaning. But in addition A more important reason is that the maintenance of peace and unity among different national groups requires a common, real and visible enemy."

Without Adam going on, Zhang Xun understood Adam's meaning.

Even if there are no men, when women gain power and are no longer the other, many social characteristics originally associated with "women" may gradually be diluted and transformed.Even if there is no gender difference, the gaps between countries, ethnic groups, and cultural traditions are still deep and wide, and large-scale conflicts and hatred between ethnic groups may still arise.But if there is a common enemy, an old slave master lurking in the corner ready to restore, a deep and widespread fear that losing the protection of Eden will be replaced by the so-called "barbaric sex" will force them to press on. Tight unity.Generation after generation, Eden injects the horror and danger of men into their minds, deeply rooted in their cognition, buried under the appearance of peace and happiness, and creates a sense of eternal crisis.

Once again, Zhang Xun clearly realized that Eden's understanding of human nature was too deep, to a shocking degree.All people, men and women, are pawns in its mission.It doesn't actually hate men, nor does it favor women.It's just ruthlessly true to its mission.

He shivered involuntarily.

"Are you afraid?" Adam asked with concern, "Is what I said made you afraid?"

"...Then why did you use air bombs to attack Paradise Lost this time? And why did you give up halfway?" Zhang Xun did not answer Adam's question, but asked rhetorically.

"The North American server was stolen, which has caused serious panic in the ordinary world. Something must be done to quell the panic. But when Eden finds that the cost has greatly exceeded the estimated range, he will choose to withdraw." Adam replied.

Although there seems to be some truth, Zhang Xun always feels that there are still some shortcomings.But after all, Adam had already separated from Eden at that time, and it was impossible to fully understand Eden's plan.

But it could also be that Adam is hiding something...

But at this time, Pan's voice sounded, "Xun, the round table has sent a summons, asking you to take Adam to the round table at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to explain the captive issue."

Zhang Xun's expression became serious again, and he sighed, "Got it."

Adam looked at him with those big blue eyes. "Are they trying to punish me?"

Zhang Xun lowered his head, "You killed that prisoner on purpose, didn't you?"

"Yes." Adam said bluntly, "If she is captured, she may face a more brutal death."

Zhang Xun understood what Adam meant, and also understood why so many guard soldiers were injured when the first female soldier blew herself up, and also understood why the soldiers surrounding the second female soldier were so crazy.It was a terrible, beastly thrill at seeing the hunter in a trap, and they would take revenge on that captive, revenge on the man for the privileges that had been taken from him.

Even if not all soldiers think so, but as long as there are enough people with such malice and plans, the final end of that prisoner will be extremely miserable.In comparison, being burned to ashes may be a more dignified and painless way to die.To his amazement, Adam would have shown compassion for a single human being.

He doesn't think this kind of pity is only for women, he suspects that this is an emotion that Adam only appeared after he had a human body.

"You sympathized with her, so you killed her?" Zhang Xun asked almost with a glimmer of hope.

Adam's expression didn't change, he even looked at him innocently.

"I don't know if it's right for you, or if we should make the decision for her. But if I were in your shoes, maybe I'd make the same decision. Because I know I couldn't protect her even if I wanted to. " Zhang Xun pulled out a wry smile, then reached out and grabbed Adam's shoulder, looking seriously into his blue eyes, "But tomorrow, you have to tell them that you made a mistake because you were controlling too many barrier launchers at the same time. You just say you The human body has a certain influence on your central system, and there is an error. I will make further explanations on this basis, and they will believe it."

"You want me to lie?" Adam asked.

For a moment, Zhang Xun felt guilty about teaching the children to do bad things, "Yes, I want you to lie to them tomorrow. Sometimes we have to lie in order to survive."

Adam blinked, seeming to be thinking about his words.

The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angel who threw the mine~~~: Xia Ran Xia Ran