Chapter 314 314: Zera and Zero (Part 1)

Chapter 314 Chapter 314: Zera and Zero (Part 1)

Golden Ticket 1/3

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The cube has many sides like shiny crystals. Each small square on it is like a tiny mechanical servant's brain.

After Renji breaks the protective barrier and grabs the consciousness cube, 86 has already planned how to escape. The serial killer, along with Renji's Dragon Mecha, make their getaway before Kael Technology's other security forces can get there. They zoom off like a red comet shooting up from the top of the building.

It was only after Renji returned to the safe house with the consciousness cube that the Dream City outside seemed to come back to its senses, once again thrown into chaos.

Major media, like sharks smelling blood, swarmed towards the still fiery Kael Tower, everyone wanting to know what exactly happened.

In fact, there's a lot that could be made of this, but sanctioning Kael Technology was not Renji's main goal. These minor matters could be pushed back and handed over to others.

What's most important for him right now is to integrate all machine servants with the consciousness cube.

"What should I do next?" Renji looked at the floating crystal cube in front of him and asked the serial killer.

"Commander, since you are not of the mechanical kind, if you want to connect with us using the consciousness cube, it can only be done in the Dream."

After hearing the serial killer's words, 86 transforms into a Dream terminal. When Renji puts it on, he doesn't enter the dream alone this time; he and the serial killer go into the dream together for a "duo" entry.

This is Renji's third time entering Dream Zero. As his consciousness sank, falling into the deep sea, after a brief darkness, the sense of weightlessness disappears, and when Renji opens his eyes, he has moved from the Dream City to that bloody-red world.

Compared to the first two times, the old era of Dream Zero, the bloody color in the sky had visibly faded quite a bit, naturally because of the annihilation of the two "Miasma Masters."

After entering Dream Zero, without the killer needing to explain anything, when Renji's fingers touched the consciousness cube, the many "cubes" on it started to vibrate, as if responding.

Soon, the cube began to disassemble, the small cubes reorganizing, surrounding Renji like a nebula, a subtle sense of connection rising from the bottom of Renji's heart.

The consciousness of the machine servants comes from Zero's replication. As Renji wants to integrate the machine servants, while combining with the consciousness cube, he inevitably sees the memory replication of Zero.

That too, comes from before the encounter with "Ashen" when it should not be called Zero, but just a memory of some domestic maid robot.

...

The dark clouds make the blood-red sky dim a few shades.

"Yes, I will do my best to fulfill your needs within my capabilities," replied the maid with a synthesized electronic voice.

"Then..."

The little girl hesitated, but finally resolved to ask the maid: "Can I ask you to be my mom?"

"I'm sorry, that's beyond my capabilities. I can only serve as your friend or listener and cannot replace a real human. If you have grievances with your mother, I suggest communicating with your father."

"No, my mom died yesterday... So, can you... play the role of my mom? Just pretending, is that not okay?"

By the end of her request, the little girl started to sob again, which went against the principles of the maid robot. After a quick analysis, the maid soon responded:

"Okay, from now on, I will act as your mom until you decide to end it. However, since I lack relevant data in this area, my performance might greatly differ from that of a real mother. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you."

"Mom... wouldn't use 'you' with me," Zera listened to the mechanical maid's cold response, her eyes dimming and her sobs growing heavier.

Despite fulfilling the little girl's request, the maid's computational core encountered an error as the girl became even more sad and in pain, unable to understand why.

Amidst the continuous error messages, Renji, observing from the sidelines, could see strands of red Miasma, the girl's sorrowful emotions, being absorbed by the maid from the surrounding air.

After a moment of silence, as if receiving new data, the maid spoke again with a cold mechanical voice, but the words were different:

"I'm sorry, my child, it's all mommy's fault. Come here, let mommy give you a hug. Whenever you need me, I'll give you a warm embrace. I love you, and that will never change."

The maid opened her arms, squatted down, and hugged the little girl. At first, Zera looked confused, then shocked, and finally returned to pain, though this time she buried herself in the maid's embrace.

"Mommy!?"

"Mommy! Waaah, mommy! Mommy, I miss you so much, why did you leave me... Waaah, mommy."

"I'm sorry, it's mommy's fault, but mommy is back now, and I'll never leave you again. I love you my child." The maid stroked the little girl's head.

Watching the memory of the maid and the little girl embracing, Renji's guess was not far off.

In the old era, those who could afford a robotic maid like Zero were the high-ranking officials of large bases. It seems that Zero's first young mistress was a young leader's daughter who had lost her mother?

As a leader's daughter, the girl's personality clearly did not match, and soon the next scene showed Zera, sniffling and crying to the maid.