Whoosh!
The shuttle whistling overhead caused Carnation to pause.
A faint smile appeared on her face as she abandoned her plan to cross the road.
Instead, she waited patiently for the red light to change.
Her keen eyes noticed several camera balls activated nearby, belonging to onlookers, but she did not mind them.
An’an clutched her dress, seemingly determined to uphold the bottom line of remaining chaste for Gu Yu.
Xuan Nü let out a soft chuckle.
“My dear An’an, every single detail of your body was outlined by me, bit by bit. In human terms, I could be considered your mother.”
“Mother?”
“Of course, my sweet daughter.”
Xuan Nü’s logic was flawless, and it succeeded in convincing An’an.
The girl opened her arms, allowing the mechanical hands controlled by Xuan Nü to strip away her clothes.
Naturally, she was left in her modest underwear as she lay down on a workbench that resembled an operating table.
Su An let out a mental sigh.
She did not blame the local model; even if the local model refused to acknowledge the truth, it wouldn’t change anything.
Watching An’an’s slightly dejected expression, Xuan Nü couldn’t help but feel impressed.
As expected of her masterpiece, she truly was capable of stirring one’s emotions.
She offered a word of comfort.
“It’s all right, An’an. Don’t worry. Just think of it as taking a nap.”
As she spoke, Xuan Nü held a thin, rod-like object, preparing to insert it into An’an’s navel.
Su An remembered this item.
Gu Yu had used this so-called Secret Key to activate her body.
Tracing back through her memories, she recalled that she could perceive things even before being activated.
Theoretically, this Secret Key should not be able to affect her soul.
But no matter how she thought about it, theory was just theory.
Recalling the moment in her past life when she was struck by the truck, Su An couldn’t help but feel a surge of intrusive thoughts.
‘I shouldn’t die, right? Probably? My consciousness was not awakened by this Secret Key, so normally, my consciousness shouldn’t be stopped by it either.’
‘But, what if? What if it’s not normal?’
Su An had no confidence.
She had never been a gambler.
She was afraid — afraid that once her consciousness was disconnected, her memories would instantly scatter and be erased, leaving her to become the actual Partner-type Android, An’an.
‘I’ve finally come back to life. I finally have a chance to meet Xiao Xue again. If… if I die in such a bizarre way… how could I possibly accept it?’
Influenced by Su An’s resisting emotions, An’an sat up and subconsciously grabbed Xuan Nü’s hand.
“Hmm?”
A hint of suspicion flared in Xuan Nü’s eyes.
The mechanical hands twitched, appearing ready to firmly lock down the disobedient An’an.
An’an lowered her gaze, her hair veiling her face so that Xuan Nü could not see her eyes.
“Why?”
Unlike Gu Yu, An’an’s abnormality did not trigger Xuan Nü’s alarm.
She simply asked in a gentle, soft voice.
“Will I… will I die?”
An’an looked up.
Her voice was very light, as light as a feather, yet it carried a weight that felt like a massive boulder crashing into the lake of Xuan Nü’s heart.
However, before Xuan Nü could sort through her inexplicable emotions, she suddenly froze.
She reached out to gently caress An’an’s cheek.
“Are you… crying?”
Large teardrops slowly fell onto Xuan Nü’s fingers, feeling slightly cool.
Basically everything about An’an had passed through Xuan Nü’s hands.
She knew everything about An’an better than anyone, including her pathetic, heart-wrenching appearance when she cried.
Yet, despite knowing this so well, she found herself moved by the sight.
“It’s okay, An’an. You will be safe, just like your name suggests. It’s only a checkup. It isn’t dangerous at all, just like a human physical exam. Just treat it like a nap. Close your eyes and don’t be afraid, my good child, my sweet girl.”
Xuan Nü could have used the mechanical arms to force her down.
She knew very well that this was just the influence of several traits in An’an’s personality.
[Fragile, Sensitive, Dependent]
They were being clearly displayed before her now, weren’t they?
Yet, she still chose to use words to soothe her.
Su An’s heart had leaped into her throat the moment the local model spoke the words, “Will I die?”
‘Are you serious?’
If she had known, she would have taken control herself.
This idiot local model had no idea how to disguise herself.
Wasn’t this the same as openly saying, “I am a Deviant Android, come and destroy me”?
Fortunately, Xuan Nü did not seem to be suspicious.
In fact…
Su An wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but her intuition told her that Xuan Nü was a very emotional person.
‘Should I gamble?’
Su An fell silent.
She didn’t want to gamble, yet she was forced to.
Was she gambling on Xuan Nü’s kindness, or was she gambling that a shutdown wouldn’t affect her soul?
After taking a deep mental breath, Su An chose to do nothing and sighed inwardly.
She really was a coward.
Of course, if she hadn’t been a coward, she would have exposed herself yesterday and might have been sent to the Abnormal Android Disposal Bureau by Gu Yu long ago.
“Let’s start with some tests that don’t require a full shutdown,”
Xuan Nü suddenly conceded.
“Eh?”
An’an opened her tear-moistened eyes, her expression shifting from sorrow to confusion.
Without giving An’an an explanation, Xuan Nü began her work.
“Hold out your middle finger. Very good. I’m collecting a blood sample.”
An’an knit her brows slightly.
Having her middle finger pricked was still quite painful.
‘Wait, do androids need blood tests too?’
Thinking this, Su An looked at the fingertip where a drop of blood was oozing out — a blood-red liquid.
‘Red? How?’
“Are you wondering why your blood is different from other androids?”
Su An took back control.
It was better for her to handle the overall situation.
At the same time, she was truly puzzled; the local model’s database clearly stated that an android’s blood was blue.
She nodded.
Xuan Nü gave a small smile.
“An’an isn’t entirely a product of android technology. I introduced the latest experimental results from bioengineering. This was a new attempt by Xingyu Fantasy. An’an’s blood is different from the Blue Blood of ordinary androids. On top of the basic functions of Blue Blood, many features were added — such as the basic functions of human blood.”
Perhaps because she was discussing her masterpiece, Xuan Nü became increasingly animated as she spoke.
Fully displaying her desire to express herself, she treated An’an as her listener.
“Ordinary androids can change their skin color at will, but An’an cannot. Do you know why?”
Xuan Nü posed the question appropriately.
Su An shook her head, indicating she didn’t know.
“It’s simple. Ordinary androids only have mimetic skin. No matter how much it looks like the real thing, it’s just a simulation. But An’an is different. An’an, you have real skin! Real, delicate, and smooth skin that far surpasses that of a human!”
“Sigh.”
Xuan Nü looked at her own skin and suddenly let out a sigh.
“Sometimes, even I want to be an android.”
Su An was speechless.
‘Is that even something a human would say?’
Who would want to be an android if they could be human!
“You don’t believe me? I really think so.”
Noticing An’an’s skepticism, Xuan Nü stepped forward and reached out to prove her point.
In Su An’s memory, Xuan Nü was the human with the best skin maintenance.
Even Gu Yu couldn’t compare to her.
Or rather, in Gu Yu’s case, Su An had never seen her do much maintenance, nor did she have many skincare products.
Her looks were entirely thanks to her natural beauty and powerful genes.
But even so, compared to Xuan Nü, who maintained herself every day and had even taken out sky-high insurance for her hands, when she placed her hand next to Su An’s, her own skin — which originally looked excellent — instantly grew dull by comparison.
That was the power of contrast.
“And there’s more. An’an won’t lose hair, won’t have dandruff, won’t get oily, won’t gain weight, won’t get acne, won’t grow unwanted hair, and won’t have any of the common skin problems humans face…”
Xuan Nü suddenly began counting on her fingers.
Su An blinked.
It really felt like Xuan Nü wasn’t lying.
She truly wanted to become an android?
Was that… right?
“The more I think about it, the more I crave it. If only Cybernetic Technology could be as excellent as android technology someday,”
Xuan Nü said, licking her lips in disappointment.
“But, androids have no freedom.”
Out of some inexplicable impulse, Su An subconsciously blurted out those words.
Xuan Nü froze, a flicker of thought passing through her eyes that Su An could not decipher.
Keywords: Doesn’t want to die, freedom.
She had them all.