Chapter 264 I Became Your Prisoner

Recalling the past.

Xu Xi recounted the experience that belonged to him and Ai Lei.

It was the struggle for survival in the wasteland world, the mutual dependence at the end of the world, and the intertwined dependence of the vast sea of ​​stars. Hundreds of years of time condensed into a moment, creating a dreamlike beauty.

The memories are beautiful.

They are also precious.

They are irreplaceable treasures.

"Ai Lei, I am very happy to meet you."

Xu Xi's breathing gradually weakened, and he had difficulty breathing. The weakness and silence from his soul made him rely entirely on oxygen production equipment to survive.

Such a painful appearance made Ai Lei tremble even more.

Whether it was the steel body or the elusive machine soul, they all sounded sadly in sync.

"Master, please rest..."

Ai Lei's voice was no longer pleasant.

It seemed to have returned to the earliest electronic synthesis, noisy and chaotic.

It was the echo of the heart's grief.

But Xu Xi shook his head, gently held Ai Lei's hand, and faced the hideous and damaged face at close range: "Ai Lei, listen to me first."

"Can I?"

The request from Xu Xi could not be rejected by the robot servant.

"If it is you, then yes", the sad emotion completely broke through the cold machinery and echoed in every corner of the escape pod.

Then.

Xu Xi's voice sounded gently.

"Aile, I have always wanted to train you and make you grow better."

"Although you always deny it, I think that you, who have emotions, are no different from people."

"I want to watch you grow."

"I want you to live safely."

"Am I a dictator? Because I am too self-righteous and always want to take you out of the cage."

"Out of the cage called machinery, out of the cage that destroys civilization."

"As a result, until now, I, who always want to set you free, seem to have become a new cage without knowing it, binding your future."

"I am really... not suitable for teaching others."

Xu Xi looked at Ai Lei gently, holding the mechanical hand that had lost its simulated skin and exposed its alloy essence.

Guilt.

Regret.

The voice was full of many emotions, so many that it tore the heart of the robot servant, and there was an invisible pain that went straight to the soul.

It's not like that, it's not like that.

"You didn't bind my future," Ai Lei denied in a trembling voice, and all the sadness was revealed through those eyes, trembling and dim.

"My birth, my existence, everything I have."

"It's all because of you..."

"Master, you are my future."

"I don't need freedom, I just need to serve you."

The sadness surging in her heart has been unstoppable like a tide, drowning the absolute mind of the robot servant.

I don't need anything.

Everything is meaningless.

I just want you, only you.

"You didn't become my cage...It's me, I bound you", the robot servant trembled, like a drowning person struggling in the water, and could only hold on to the thing in front of him.

That is Xu Xi's palm.

The familiar warmth is no longer there.

What she felt was only cold ashes.

The robot servant realized that compared with Xu Xi, who had always been worried about her and cared about her, her actions were the real bondage, imprisoning Xu Xi, who was increasingly in pain.

The desperate heartstrings broke at this moment.

The cabin was silent, and the lights were bright, illuminating Xu Xi's overdrawn and haggard face clearly.

The robot could no longer convince itself to believe in that false hope, to sit back and watch Xu Xi suffer, and to do meaningless treatments again and again.

"Master..."

"Please... command me."

In Xu Xi's stunned surprise, Ai Lei slowly raised her face, and with a forced smile of sadness, she spoke the words of request.

She didn't say what the command was.

But Xu Xi could understand the meaning.

First he was stunned, then he was surprised, and then he looked at her with a soft and relieved look.

"Is it okay, Ai Lei?"

"...Yes."

The voice module was completely damaged. Although there was no external force attack, the inside was burning hot, and some parts emitted burnt smoke.

Ai Lei's voice was hoarse and distorted, and she reaffirmed her answer.

"Then, please, Ai Lei."

It was not an order, nor a request.

It was a please.

In that gentle look, the robot stood up and walked towards the treatment machines with an even more trembling posture.

Close the program, turn on the button, and turn off everything.

Something that should have been closed with a thought.

The robot servant chose to do it manually, shutting down all the machines one by one in order, as if for a delayed farewell.

"Boom——"

Very quickly.

As all the machines were shut down, the pipes on Xu Xi's body automatically detached.

The last bit of fuel to maintain the flame no longer existed.

Life began to enter its due end.

But Xu Xi's expression was unprecedentedly relaxed. His body, which had been exhausted for many days, was finally able to move on to the next step.

"I didn't expect..."

"There will be a day when I think death is a good thing."

The surging sleepiness came strongly.

Without the treatment machine, the texture of nothingness became more and more obvious. Xu Xi felt that his vision became more blurred, and even began to turn black.

The burning torch.

About to fall into eternal sleep.

"Aile..."

"Yes, I'm here."

After shutting down all the machines, Ai Lei returned to the bed again, and stared at Xu Xi who was about to leave her with her silver-blue robot eyes full of sadness.

That was the first light in her life.

It was also the only light.

Ending the continuation of light with her own hands made the servitor speechless.

"Don't be sad for me, Ailei."

"This time will be the same as before. I will still be resurrected after death, but... the resurrection time will be longer."

On the bed,

Xu Xi gradually lost his strength.

The blinking of his eyes, the opening and closing of his lips, the movement of his fingers.

The things that were once easy to do are now as heavy as a thousand pounds and difficult to carry out.

He smiled at the servitor in front of the bed.

That was the last smile.

The burned-out torch wanted to use its last remaining warmth to do something for the loyal servitor, so that the light and heat could be used.

So, he softly asked: "Ailei, can you let me touch your face?"

"...Yes."

In the quiet escape pod, surrounded by silver-white walls, Ailei nodded with a wail, gently held up Xu Xi's right hand, and let the weak palm touch the broken cheek.

The next second.

A faint halo burst out from the palm.

It was mechanical force.

Xu Xi mobilized his body and used the mechanical force for the last time.

Using the closed treatment machines around him as materials, he repaired Ai Lei's damaged body, repairing her delicate face and her shattered body.

"This way, it will look much better..."

His fingertips fell on the face of the servitor, unable to touch it anymore. The continuously burning torch was now in eternal darkness.

[You are dead]

[Simulation ends]