"Little Lín."
A person whose face was obscured waved at him.
"Where are you going?"
Where will I go…
Why are you asking me this question?
"Humans, living in the world requires a clear goal. Only by knowing where one should go can one live on."
And you? What is your goal in living in this world?
"Me? I want to see Little Lín grow up, have friends, a lover, family, enjoy the happiness of being a human, and then…"
"Despair over the foolish humans."
…
"Team member Lín? What's wrong?"
Seele anxiously nudged Lín's arm, who was spacing out, afraid that he would suddenly collapse and be unable to move again.
"…No, it's nothing." Lín's unfocused pupils regrouped. He looked at Seele beside him. "Where were we?"
"It was about the Captain asking me if you wanted to have a small party to celebrate your return to headquarters."
Seele lied. It was actually her own idea, but she was always a shy girl in front of Lín and didn't dare to admit it was her own thought.
"No need." Lín refused with hardly any pause.
"I knew it…" Seele's mouth twitched, and she lowered her head in disappointment. Although she had already expected Lín to refuse, the fact that he didn't even consider it was a bit disheartening.
Lín changed the subject: "Are there any newcomers in the Fifth Squad?"
Seele nodded: "Yes, her name is Dystopia. She joined the Moth of the Flame with her childhood friend after the Fourth Honkai Eruption."
The Moth of the Flame was trying to maintain a balance in the number of squad members. To cope with a disaster like Honkai that couldn't be reasoned with, what was needed was not extreme excellence in one area, but balanced planning across all teams.
The Fourth Honkai Eruption did not result in major losses. Besides the internal debate over the future direction, the Moth of the Flame was actively recruiting new talent, gradually making up for the personnel losses in the previous Eruptions.
"In the blink of an eye, Team member Lín has been away from the Fifth Squad for over a year. I feel like it was just yesterday," Seele chuckled. "You haven't managed your own squad much this year. The Captain often complains that you dumped Huá and Immer on her to lead."
"…"
Speaking of which, the Seventh Squad had not really had deep communication with its members since Lín took over. Aside from giving orders to assemble for missions, Lín let them do their own thing and often went out, sending them to the Fifth Squad.
Moreover, according to the recent trend of increasing personnel in the Moth of the Flame, his squad would likely have new members as well…
Lín suddenly felt that he really should communicate with his team members. Internal team coordination and potential conflicts were factors that could affect stability, and Lín had never managed any of that.
"Seele." After a moment of thought, Lín lowered his voice and spoke softly to Seele, "Tomorrow, the Fifth Squad should come to the Seventh Squad's conference room."
Seele was stunned: "Huh?"
Lín stated seriously: "Remember, do not let Elysia know."
As soon as that person showed up, everything would descend into chaos. Lín's original intention was to deepen the relationship between team members, and Elysia's participation would likely lead to some "accidents" he didn't want to see.
He also wanted to quickly finish dealing with the remaining matters concerning Sakura; he couldn't afford to be delayed by things like this.
"M-mm, I understand."
…
"Unit 2?"
Prometheus, who was undergoing maintenance by Vil-V, asked curiously when she heard Vil-V casually mention Prometheus Unit 2.
"During the time you and Lín were absent, the Moth of the Flame experienced considerable disagreements on various issues, but Lín's ability to defeat a Herrscher was still acknowledged." Vil-V's finger spun a small screwdriver. While dismantling the object in her hand, she recalled, "Although almost everyone attributes that to the Titans and the A.I.'s credit."
"So that's why they demanded acceleration in the deployment of autonomous Titans and the development of a new A.I.?"
"Yes. I was also dragged in as a laborer, but I only provided material suggestions. The Titan design has been completely finished by the former Department Head. Then, an order was issued for Méi to accelerate the development of Unit 2, to act as the Titan's main control core and Méi's primary computing host."
Vil-V used 'it' instead of 'she' to refer to Unit 2 here, because to achieve optimal computing power, an A.I. must reduce the computing power allocated to personality simulation. In other words, Unit 2, acting as the main host, would be an A.I. that only possessed intelligence but no personality. It would be impossible for it to become a new life form like Unit 1.
Not to mention possessing distinct gender characteristics.
Prometheus thought for a moment and said: "A sister?"
"Oh? You already have a concept of family? Then what should you call me? Sister-in-law? Stepmother? After all, I gave you a body; it's equivalent to Méi conceiving, and me being the surrogate mother who gave birth."
Vil-V's thinking was still so erratic and irrelevant.
"Wait, then how do you view Lín?"
"…" Prometheus did not want to answer.
"He also provided you with sufficient samples for thought logic simulation, didn't he? Should you call him Father? No, that's too weird…"
Among the ten thousand behavioral algorithms Prometheus simulated for Vil-V, she had not calculated that she would actually be concerned with what an A.I. should call a human and contemplate family relationships.
Perhaps this was the difference of a genius.
"But this way, it still involves quite a few issues…"
Were the emotions of the A.I. genuine, or merely simulated?
…
"Meow~"
The girl followed the black cat and jumped onto the wall, her eyes gleaming at the food and money inside the house. After checking that no one was nearby, she jumped down, stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth, then carefully selected some ornaments that seemed valuable to her, and finally took some money.
The ethics of thieves, or whatever that is, were somewhat remote to her. She was just satisfying her collection hobby while filling her stomach.
Taking more and giving less, she could maintain her survival without exposing herself.
After all, a creature like a cat, even with its lightness and agility, could only survive in the dark corners of the streets through a slick way of living.
"Hmm hmm, Pardo's big haul… Huh? What is this?"
The girl was admiring the scene of her theft, which showed no trace of her presence, and was preparing to leave when the corner of the room caught her eye. Something seemed off.
She was very good at finding paths and treasures and had a natural sense for hidden things. This house, built in an inconspicuous corner of the Twilight Street, looked ordinary on the outside but was surprisingly wealthy and uninhabited inside. She couldn't pinpoint what was wrong with the spatial layout, but it just felt strange.
The girl walked to the corner that felt unnatural to her and reached out to touch the wall.
"Click."
It sank in.
Under the girl's dumbfounded gaze, the wall in front of her slid backward, turning into a door.
Oh, n-n-n-no!
She realized she had caused trouble. Things like this, with unknown origins, usually had surveillance cameras and alarms. By triggering the switch just now, she might have exposed herself.
She had to leave quickly. It would be best to hide for a while.
The girl quickly packed the dry rations into her prepared pouch, scrambled onto the wall, and darted away.
And the door stood silently, waiting for someone to open it.