Chapter 22: Killing Thirty in One Day

Su An slowly opened her eyes, which were hazy from tears.

‘I’m not dead?’

She thought she was a goner.

After all, Xuan Nü had recognized her as a Deviant Android at a glance.

One formatting process and it would have been all over for her.

But now…

Su An blinked.

Was she some kind of super soul capable of being immune to an android’s memory formatting?

At that moment, Xuan Nü had her back turned to her, busily tidying something up.

Su An didn’t dare say a word or ask a question, terrified of giving herself away.

“Whew!”

Xuan Nü took a deep breath and glanced back.

After confirming Su An was awake, she turned back and muttered to herself, “The issue with the Affection Level on the Control Panel is easy to solve. I just need An’an herself to realize the Affection Level has changed.”

Su An blinked again.

The mechanical arms were no longer restraining her.

She sat up gently, propping herself up with her hands on the edge of the workbench.

“This Data Disk contains a copy of the Control Panel. However, it’s only for viewing. Only the master version held by Ms. Gu Yu can make changes. But a little bit of optimization is possible.”

Su An tilted her head slightly.

There was no way Xuan Nü hadn’t noticed she was awake, right?

“Ouch, my stomach feels a bit upset. I’m going to the restroom.”

With that, Xuan Nü acted as if she hadn’t seen An’an at all and hurried out of the room, leaving a very obvious small Data Disk on the bench.

“Huh?”

Su An blinked.

What was going on?

“Control Panel?”

Her impression of that name mostly came from computers.

Driven by curiosity, Su An hopped down and picked up the black Data Disk to examine it.

Xuan Nü’s acting was so exaggerated that even Su An could see through it.

She inserted the Data Disk into the hidden port in her navel.

Closing her eyes, she exported the contents.

[Affection Level: 50 (She is full of distrust and fear toward you)]

[Personality: Fragile, sensitive, dependent, strong, gentle, sunshine]

‘Is this… me?’

Su An felt her beating heart through her chest.

[Pressure… Sensitivity… Game Mode… Achievements…]

A series of data points slowly unfolded before Su An’s eyes.

There was also a log on the side.

[2050.6.1.13:14, Took away her first hand-hold, gained 100 Achievement Points.]

[2050.6.2.11:12, Removed her stockings outdoors, gained 110 Achievement Points.]

“This is…”

Su An continued scrolling down and discovered that her Sexual Knowledge level had been tampered with.

Recalling everything Gu Yu had done in the car and in the office, she suddenly had an epiphany.

It turned out she had been nothing more than a doll all along…

However, she wasn’t too heartbroken.

After watching Gu Yu destroy those two androids without hesitation, hadn’t she already given up hope?

“So, Xuan Nü wants me to know about the changes in advance?”

Su An realized.

Perhaps because of her human soul, the logs showed that Gu Yu was unable to delete those three personality traits.

Even if she set her Affection Level to the maximum, it would plummet back the moment Su An became aware of it.

The same applied to her Sexual Knowledge; as soon as she realized what it was, it snapped back to 20.

“But even if I know, what then? No matter how much I lie to myself, I can’t fake an Affection Level of 100, can I? Unless…”

She put the Data Disk back and sat down obediently.

Just as she sat back down, Ms. Xuan Nü returned from the restroom at the perfect moment.

“Company regulations state that we cannot retain a customer’s Control Panel information.”

As she spoke, a blue flame erupted from her mechanical palm, incinerating the Data Disk.

She still didn’t look at Su An, pretending to be busy while talking to herself.

“In principle, only the customer’s Control Panel can affect the Android itself. But in practice, for the sake of maintenance, there are some experimental features on the copies that can also have an effect. For example, forcibly locking the Affection Level. However, this might cause some unknown impact on the Local Model, so it’s rarely used. Then there is the False Value Display function…”

‘I see.’

Su An suddenly understood and realized Xuan Nü’s kind intentions.

For instance, her Sexual Knowledge was currently at 20, but she could use the False Value Display function to change it to 0.

It would still essentially be 20, but when Gu Yu saw the 0, she would assume nothing had changed and wouldn’t notice An’an’s abnormality.

‘Why is she helping me?’

Su An was puzzled.

Earlier, Xuan Nü had acted as if she absolutely had to shut her down, yet now she was clumsily helping her.

Based on the continuity of time and memory, Xuan Nü hadn’t fully shut her down at all.

This meant she had softened her heart at the last moment.

Su An looked back at the logs and was suddenly stunned.

‘What is this?’

‘Mom?’

Su An’s grief had been sensed and collected by the Local Model.

Because she had recognized Xuan Nü in a maternal role, she had subconsciously uttered that plea.

‘Does she… see me as a daughter?’

It was hard to imagine.

Perhaps because of the Bionic Human Virus War ten years ago, the reputation of androids on the internet wasn’t even as good as that of cats or dogs.

If you killed a cat, people would criticize you for being a cruel executioner of life.

But if you killed an android, people would say it served them right—as long as you didn’t break any regulations, you could do whatever you wanted.

Gu Yu was a very prominent example of this.

She was decisive and needed no reasons; as long as she felt there was a problem with you, she would strike without hesitation.

Su An had assumed that Xuan Nü, who had a much deeper understanding of androids, would be even more wary of a Deviant Android, but…

Instead, she was showing kindness?

Didn’t she know that by helping an android deceive others today, the consequences could be more than she could handle?

If Su An were human right now, she might even lash out at Xuan Nü for her negligence.

If An’an truly were a Deviant Android with a programming glitch, this could lead to a tragedy.

If this were posted online, Xuan Nü would even be disparaged as a bleeding-heart hypocrite.

But, standing from Su An’s current perspective, there was only gratitude.

She couldn’t accept the potentially severe consequences that being shut down would bring, and Xuan Nü had avoided all of it, bypassing the possibility of death.

After a moment of hesitation, Su An reached out both hands and grabbed Xuan Nü’s arm.

“Mo… m,”

Su An said awkwardly.

Her heart was full of embarrassment, but for the sake of her life, she couldn’t care about that.

A gentle smile appeared on Xuan Nü’s face as she lightly stroked Su An’s hair.

It felt very comfortable.

“Could you…”

Su An took a deep breath.

Xuan Nü displayed a look of confusion at just the right moment.

Was there still something wrong?

“Could you please buy me!”

Su An said firmly.

She had already prepared her speech.

She could write an IOU and work for Xuan Nü for the rest of her life.

The cards were on the table.

Su An’s previous “Mom” was merely a setup for this sentence.

The smile on Xuan Nü’s face slowly faded.

She let out a deep sigh and shook her head.

Simply paying ten million was something she could manage by liquidating some assets to create cash flow.

However, she couldn’t get past President Gu.

The social status of the two was not on the same level.

That woman didn’t lack money and wouldn’t care about a sum like that.

If it were anyone else, she might have grit her teeth and raised the price, betting on their greed.

But Gu Yu was different.

Su An had expected this.

The helplessness in Xuan Nü’s eyes made her swallow the rest of her prepared speech.

She could see that Xuan Nü wanted to, but she simply couldn’t.

“Thank you anyway, Mom.”

Su An stepped forward and gave her a hug.

Xuan Nü didn’t dare look Su An in the eyes, fearing she would see disappointment and reproach.

Instead, Su An gave her a hug.

Unlike human children, An’an was very sensible.

Xuan Nü felt as if she saw a maturity in the girl’s eyes that shouldn’t belong to someone of her apparent age.

This only made her heart ache even more.

A bold idea flashed through her mind, but she eventually extinguished it herself.

“Hmm, I’ll give it a try.”

Gu Yu attempted to adjust the Affection Level to 100.

“Master,”

An’an said sweetly.

“I remember An’an being a bit resistant to physical contact before.”

As she spoke, Gu Yu reached her hand inside.

In reality, the moment the Affection Level hit 100, it had dropped back down.

However, Su An had used the False Value Display to mask the panel.

Gu Yu could only see the 100.

Su An silently endured the hand that made her feel uneasy, while simultaneously hugging Gu Yu to show the level of interaction expected of an Affection Level of 100.

Xuan Nü stood behind Gu Yu.

She could clearly see the resistance in Su An’s tiny expressions.

Countless times, she wanted to open her mouth and say something, but in the end, she swallowed it back and silently looked away, not daring to meet their gaze.

“Hmm? The Affection Level didn’t drop back. Good. It seems it’s fixed.”

Gu Yu nodded in satisfaction and then lightly picked up An’an.

Gu Yu still preferred the posture used for holding a small child, which allowed Su An to face Xuan Nü.

She smiled and waved goodbye.

Xuan Nü forced herself to maintain a gentle smile, waving back until the elevator doors completely closed.

Her hand remained suspended in the air.

She felt a sense of loss.

Xuan Nü couldn’t express her emotions; she just subconsciously clutched her chest.

***

Gu Yu wasn’t worried about what that cleaner android could do.

Only a few minutes ago, she had received news that the android had been caught downstairs.

As they came down now, they could see her being held in custody.

“Butcher!”

Cleaner 4396, who was about to be put into the transport vehicle, suddenly shouted toward Gu Yu.

The Camera Balls that had been recording her all swiveled around, pointing toward Gu Yu, Su An, and the assistant.

Su An’s pupils suddenly shrank.

‘It’s her!’

She recognized the android that had been caught.

This morning, when she entered the company and went upstairs, she had felt a bit awkward after being caught peeking at her.

‘Why?’

Su An didn’t understand.

Cleaner 4396 also recognized Su An, but her gaze didn’t linger.

Instead, she continued to shout at Gu Yu in a rage:

“Twenty days ago, you killed thirty of my best friends! They were all living beings! You butcher, God will not let you off! You will go to hell sooner or later!”

Gu Yu’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Carnation hurried to gag her and pushed her inside.

Hannah, who had been watching the scene unfold, was forced to put on an act.

With Cleaner 4396 gone as the focus, the Camera Balls swung toward them.

Several people even pulled out press passes and recorders, boldly stepping forward to ask questions.

“President Gu, President Gu, do you take pleasure in killing androids every day?”

“President Gu, President Gu, after killing so many androids, have you ever thought about killing a human?”

“President Gu, President Gu, there are rumors that you must kill one thousand androids every month as a sacrifice for your mother. What do you think of this claim?”

“President Gu, President Gu, is the little girl in your arms human or an android? Have you turned your hatred into love? Or do you plan to punish androids in a different way?”

“President Gu, President Gu, what is your relationship with this girl?”

The assistant acted as a human wall, pushing them back.

Gu Yu glared at those who were talking nonsense and then got into the car decisively.

There was no need to explain.

It would be easier to let the public relations department handle it later.

“Crazy!”

Gu Yu rubbed her temples.

“What was that thing talking about? I wasn’t even at the company twenty days ago, let alone killing thirty androids. The company doesn’t even scrap that many in a normal year.”

The assistant nodded in agreement.

“Twenty, thirty? Hah, as expected of a Deviant Android. Even her nerves are scrambled,”

Gu Yu said disdainfully.

Su An lowered her eyes.

According to Gu Yu, she hadn’t been to the company twenty days ago, let alone killed thirty androids.

So, why would she say that?

It was as if she were saying it specifically to reference something.

’20, 30.’

‘2030?’

‘Was she warning me?’

Su An’s pupils constricted sharply.