under the mask

"I like plush toys, I like sweets, I like wearing pink panties..." Li Wei let out a long breath and sat at the round table covered with a floral tablecloth, watching Issa trying to stuff the puff into the big rabbit's mouth, "Am I raising a younger brother or a younger sister?"

Hall took off his white gloves, and sat down opposite him in a relaxed posture: "This is a normal child, my dear." When Issa is about to reach a dangerous pool or the edge of a thorny rose bush, he flicks his fingers lightly, and then the nanny robot will use its long arms to hold Issa by the back collar and bring the child back to the two.

Issa is not afraid at all, always giggling when being picked up, the little chubby waved his hand excitedly, and accidentally threw the rabbit out of his hand.

Li Wei watched his younger brother entangled with the robot again in wonder. He guessed that if the nanny robot was in human form, he would feel very depressed if he was hugged on the thigh, right?What a child... It seems to be a child's right to like the new and dislike the old, and adults will only look at them with joyful eyes.If the earth does not face the end times, he may have already married a wife and had a child, and is struggling to support his family?

Is it better to live to be 80 years old in that familiar world, or to stay here?There are no parents there, nor any close friends. Perhaps the only thing he misses is the sense of belonging. A person’s roots cannot be pulled out there... But this multiple-choice question is not valid, because his roots are deep. Zha's land is no longer there.He can't go back.

"What are you thinking about?"

Li Wei turned his head, met Hall's probing gaze, and couldn't help smiling.

"It's nothing...just in a daze." He leaned back relaxed on the soft chair, the sun was blowing to the sides of his face and the back of his hands with the warm wind, which was indescribably comfortable.In fact, there is nothing wrong with it here, people are always like this, and the instinct to live with the situation is always stronger than I imagined.

"By the way, Kashgar and Amelia are coming tonight." He casually mentioned, "Amy said she wants to eat the matcha cake you made."

Hall sipped his black tea with a dissatisfied expression.It's okay to change the subject, but this topic is not very pleasant.

Li Wei was speechless: "Kashgar has been here many times anyway, can you give him a little face?" He reached for the cup and drank it in one gulp, then stood up: "I'm going to take a rest, and call me when they come Bar."

Said to go to rest, but Li Wei turned into the large study on the third floor, which used to belong to Andrew, the head of the family.About half of the 50-square-meter room is occupied by old-fashioned bookshelves, and the other half has only a wooden desk and a couch near the floor-to-ceiling windows.

He had a deep impression on this place when he was a child.Because he wanted to avoid Julie's teasing, he would spend hours of the day hunched over and reading.No matter how advanced the technology was in the world he used to live in, books were still an indispensable medium for carrying words, but here only aristocratic families could preserve many relics of the old era, including precious paper books.Of course, the authorities and the military also have factories that produce paper, but they are strictly restricted, not to mention that there are really not many places where paper is used.

Li Wei pushed open the heavy door, and the faint smell of old paper permeated the air. The desk stood there quietly, and the light from the floor-to-ceiling windows at the back stirred up the dust of time. It seemed that a tall figure was standing there. Beside the desk, smoking a cigarette while quietly looking out the window.

In the past, he was always alone, and it seemed that he was destined to have shallow relatives, but after arriving here, he not only has parents, but also a great grandfather who is full of honor... Unexpectedly, it will be the same in the end.

He walked in slowly, and the sound of footsteps disturbed the silent room, and the illusion disappeared in an instant.

"What a stubborn fate..."

Ten years ago he didn't come here many times, today is the first time in a year and a half.Li Wei thinks it may be because life is about to enter the next stage, so it is inevitable that there will be some sadness, joyful and troublesome adolescence, after the second time, there is nothing new at all.

Li Wei opened the chair and sat down. Although the oak desk was heavily carved, it was calm and atmospheric. His favorite thing when he was a child was the yellow spar inlaid on the handles of the three drawers.Because she still doesn’t know how to hide her petty bourgeois vibe, she always feels that she should collect some valuables and keep them around to feel at ease—this hobby once made Julie feel very interesting, because jewelry boxes obviously attract her son’s attention more than candy toys.

He opened the middle drawer, and there lay a small silver machine that looked like a network terminal, which was very incongruous in such an old room.He took it out and put it on the table, and Li Wei lightly pressed the only button on it. Suddenly, a flash of light flashed in front of his eyes, and countless filaments of light projected out like colored lights from full-color laser lights and fell on the floor. Twisting, flipping, and overlapping—finally, a full-body three-dimensional image of a character is formed.

"The final memory, Andrew Spall, the time of death, 3027 in the Gary Vance calendar." A deep and mellow voice echoed throughout the room, and then the three-dimensional figure slowly opened its eyes. A man with vicissitudes.He is not young anymore, his curly hair has faded from blond to silver gray, and his green eyes are deep and alert. Although there are deep lines at the corners of the eyes and around the mouth, his handsome features and broad and strong shoulders still give people a sense of charm.

"Long time no see, Li Wei." Andrew said calmly.

The corner of Li Wei's mouth rose weakly, as if it had been a long time, Grandpa.He shook his trembling hand, and looked back at the virtual man calmly as much as possible.It's not a real grandpa... at best it's a portrait of a fat lady at Hogwarts!What's wrong with saying hello?The tabby cat raised by the concierge will raise its paw and meow when it sees him!

"Old...old man..." As soon as the words came out, his voice was still hoarse, and the corners of his eyes were still red. "What do you want to do with me this time?" Andrew's tone seemed to be a little gentler, but he still stood there without moving.

"I..." Li Wei covered his forehead in a dumb voice.Where should I start?Tell him that he found a way to save Isa?Or is it the fact that he has been admitted to the Imperial University Military Academy?Hall's energy problem has also been solved... He has a new plan for the future... Even if I talk about these, is it really Grandpa who heard it?

Andrew looked at him quietly, with a very patient feeling.But the grandfather in Li Wei's impression didn't have the time to listen to a young man's troubles. He always walked in big strides, coming and going like the wind. The black leather long military uniform of the Imperial Commander reflected a little halo, and then raised his hem and disappeared. outside the door.He remembered that on the day when the news of Baruyer's death came, he also came here secretly, reading a book on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Then there was a hysterical cry from the front yard, it was Julie's voice.Li Wei looked out from the window on the third floor and saw Julie, supported by a maid, bent down deeply and cried while clutching something. It's flickering water.Andrew's footsteps came at that time, he pushed open the door of the study, picked up Li Wei and walked downstairs, talking to Li Wei while walking.

'Li Wei, your father is dead. '

He was lying on his grandfather's broad shoulders. This sentence didn't touch him very much, but it just made him hesitate-is it better to express surprise directly, or to cry like Julie?Andrew didn't give him this chance, he took his grandson into the sunny garden, his deep voice was solemn and gloomy, without any trembling at the end. 'I know you don't remember Baloo, but he is your father...Julie is in pain now, she needs you to comfort him, you know? '

Levi also remembers being confused.Why didn’t Andrew show a trace of sadness?Baloo is his only son... If he is not sad, it is because he has never met Baloo, what about Andrew?

When they came to Julie, Li Wei was hugged tightly by Mrs. Spar, and the thing floated to the ground. It turned out to be a piece of paper.His mother's tears kept hitting his face. He looked sideways at Andrew. The man who was no longer young looked down at the death notice he had picked up. His shoulders were tight and his back was straight, just like Michelangelo's subordinates. Statue, his straight, muscular legs just stood apart like nothing in the world could bend them.

A year later, Julie put on the military uniform again to take over from her husband to complete the secret mission.

Another two years later, Andrew went to the basement to pick up the mecha one morning, and left home.

"Why didn't you say goodbye to me?" Li Wei found that he only wanted to ask this question in the end.

The program that simulated Andrew's thinking couldn't answer, and the room remained silent.Then the door of the study was pushed open.

Hall was standing at the door holding a plate, his green eyes scanning the avatar.

"If you want to know, you can ask me." He walked over unhurriedly, and put the black tea and snacks on the plate in front of Li Wei.

"Do you know why I can eat and excrete like a human?" He pushed back his blond forehead hair, revealing a handsome face and green eyes almost identical to Andrew's, "This is the essence of pure robots and bio-robots It’s different, except for the bones and the power furnace, which are made of permanent alloy, the rest of my body once belonged to him, your grandfather.”

"Impossible," Li Wei quickly realized, "You came when grandpa just left home, and he was still alive at that time, okay?"

Hall showed a mocking expression: "Gene, my dear. Andrew has been preparing for this for a long time. My only task is not to let this family collapse immediately after his death, and to raise you faithfully and thoughtfully... just In that regard, I did a good job.”

Li Wei was stunned. He had guessed the reason for Hall's appearance, but he didn't expect that it was specially made to take care of him.Why?Could it be that Andrew expected that he would die before he left?

"I can tell what you're thinking just by looking at it." Hall hummed in a low voice, "But there are too many problems involved, and I've told you that you can't do much."

Li Wei didn't answer.Since Hall said so, there is indeed a reason... He can roughly guess if he thinks about it. Baruyer and Julie may have died because of the so-called secret mission, but Andrew's death must be unusual. It is nothing more than political strife, and there must be military involvement.Back then, Andrew was regarded as a high-ranking and powerful man, with the dual identities of the military department and the parliament, and was sought after by countless people in the empire. If he wanted to climb up, he would inevitably have to climb over his mountain.

"Since the old man made you, why did you install such an old power system?" He looked at Hall's young face and asked.

As if to confirm the answer he didn't want to think about, Hall smiled indifferently.

"Do you still need to ask? Of course it is deliberate."

Li Wei covered his forehead weakly, and slumped on the chair: "Can you stop being so petty? Didn't I enter the military department to set up a good system for you..."

"I'm not petty." Hall reached out and pressed the memory terminal, and Andrew's avatar distorted and disappeared immediately: "I'm just stating the facts."

Li Wei howled, jumped up and walked out the door.He could almost hear Hall's internal thoughts, something along the lines of "I'm nothing, I'm just a poor robot...just a robot...".It was brutal.

He closed the door behind his back, then leaned against the wall and sighed.The past two days have really shortened my life, I don’t know how many times I have sighed...

Hall's business.He didn't notice it when he was a child, at most he just speculated why Hall suddenly appeared at home.After he went to school, especially when he entered middle school and divided the subjects, and he came into contact with some mechanical manufacturing, Hall's abnormal behavior this year attracted his attention.

Once, while taking advantage of Hall's nap, he secretly inspected it with an instrument, only to find that it should have condensed the pinnacle of the empire's genes and mechanical technology - there was a completely unqualified power furnace.This is equivalent to a young man in his twenties with a heart of five or sixty.He observed it for a period of time, guessing that it might be because the power furnace was about to expire, and the circulation between the power furnace and the body could not be smooth, resulting in insufficient core power.

He checked the information on the Internet, but found that the production of power furnaces similar to Hall's had been discontinued. He wanted to get the blueprints and make them himself, but Hall noticed and told him that his body could not change the furnace at all, so he had to Renew the circulatory system.Ordinary robots don't need these at all, and the other two are the only ones that can use their brains.Although as far as he knew, the two in the central city and the military headquarters were not in human form, but they were the highest intelligence brains after all, so they would definitely help Hall.

So in addition to Issa's body, Hall's power furnace is also the reason why he wants to enter the Ministry.Otherwise, it would be really unbearable to be nagged by the mentally unhealthy housekeeper every day.