"That's everything we know. Beyond that, we have no information."
After hearing the story, Xia Yu fell into deep thought. Of course, this was just for show, as he already knew the story the twins were telling.
"So... I'm the last human in the world now?"
"Yes, Human Lord."
Popola and Devola lowered their heads in guilt. It was because of the issues with their specific model that the Gestalt Project failed, leading the rest of humanity toward extinction.
"Lift your heads. This isn't your fault. Why are you making those faces?" Xia Yu barked sternly. "You are yourselves. You have absolutely nothing to do with the pair of twins who caused the project's failure."
"If it's just because you're the same model as them, then I might as well say all Androids are at fault. After all, in my eyes, you're all fellow Androids!"
"No..." Hearing this, Devola and Popola shook their heads in panic simultaneously. "Because we are the models specifically responsible for the project, but the other Android companions are not..."
"The essence of both is the same! Why should you bear the mistakes they committed? Just because you look exactly the same? That's absolute nonsense!"
"Therefore, you are not at fault, and there's no need to belittle yourselves!"
After this outburst, Xia Yu felt quite refreshed. However, Popola and Devola were stunned. This was the first time someone had told them they weren't at fault, the first time someone had defended them.
And the person defending them was a Human Lord. Clearly, it would have been right to direct anger or even punishment toward them... clearly... it had always been that way.
The twins fell silent. After a moment, Popola spoke up, "The Human Lord is truly kind."
Devola echoed, "Yes, the Human Lord is very kind!"
"Ah... this damned 'yasashii'."
Hearing the twins' evaluation of him, Xia Yu thought of those cliché Japanese protagonists—the moment they open their mouths, it's pure 'yasashii'.
"Hmm? Is something wrong, Human Lord?"
"It's nothing." Xia Yu waved his hand at the confused twins. "Just talking to myself. By the way, where are the other Android camps? Take me there once the rain stops."
Although meeting Popola and Devola was an accident, his goal remained unchanged: to make contact with other Androids and then, as a human, take over everything belonging to the Androids.
"Understood, Human Lord." Popola took Devola's hand and said with a serious expression, "We will definitely risk our lives to escort you to the nearest Resistance Camp."
"Don't make it sound so tragic!"
With the communication with the twins finished, the initial preparations were complete. Xia Yu continued to lie in his hibernation pod, thinking about his next steps.
The twins sat to the side, silently leaning against each other, their expressions filled with happiness and contentment.
"Right."
Xia Yu suddenly rolled over and sat up. His movement startled the twins, who stood up nervously.
"What is it, Human Lord?"
"You're injured, right?" Xia Yu looked at Devola's bandaged ankle. "Let me see. Maybe I have materials to repair it."
"This..."
Although Devola wanted to say she hadn't seen any repair materials around here, looking into Xia Yu's concerned eyes, her heart-simulating reactor began to heat up for some reason, and even the artificial skin on her face turned slightly red.
"O-okay."
Devola looked down and unwrapped the bandage, which had been dried by her body heat, revealing a wound cut by a sharp weapon. The nearby artificial blood had already dried.
Xia Yu knelt on one knee and held Devola's injured foot. Fortunately she was an Android; if she were human, the wound would have festered long ago.
"L-Lord, what... what are you... doing!"
Seeing Xia Yu half-kneeling before her, Devola was panicked and at a loss. Popola was the same, but since he was the Human Lord, they didn't feel right stopping him.
"Don't move."
Xia Yu gave a low command as he carefully observed the wound, while simultaneously opening the Chat Group in his mind to take a picture of the scene.
Of course, to the outside world, it looked like Xia Yu was staring at Devola's foot in a daze. This scene made the twins want to say something, but they didn't know how to start.
The Human Lord doing this must have some deep meaning!
[nier: automata]: Image.jpg
[nier: automata] @[the talos principle]: You there? Your world is in the future. Can you repair this kind of injury?
[dark souls iii]: It's a fair-skinned foot! *Lick lick lick*~
[nier: automata]:... [nier: automata]: Get lost, you pervert! As fellow Xia Yus, I'm ashamed to be associated with you!
[dark souls iii]: Tsk, you're so noble, you're HD, he's Blu-ray, I'm just SD... [the talos principle] @[nier: automata]: I'm currently in the resident evil world. Wait a moment. I'll head back, and I'll send the items and repair memories over immediately.
[nier: automata]: Thanks.
In the outside world, Xia Yu withdrew his consciousness from the Chat Group, but he noticed the temperature in the room was a bit higher than before.
Looking up, Devola's face was so red it looked like it was about to emit steam—no, steam was actually rising from the top of her head!
Xia Yu released her foot in surprise and stood up, looking at the faint white mist rising from Devola's head. "Why are you smoking!"
"Reporting, Lord. My body temperature suddenly rose unnaturally. This is the cooling process."
"Good grief, you've really become a'Steam Maiden'."
"Steam engine? Reporting, Lord, I do not have a steam device inside my body."
"It's nothing. You cool down slowly. I'll go get the repair materials."
After asking Popola to take care of Devola, Xia Yu climbed back into the hibernation pod. This shelter didn't have any extra rooms. To avoid looking suspicious, he could only put on an act inside the pod, pretending the repair materials were in there.
Don't ask why the materials were kept in the hibernation pod; that's human wisdom.
Soon, AI Xia Yu sent the repair materials along with the corresponding repair memories. Of course, it could only simply repair the damaged circuitry; there was nothing to be done about the artificial skin. After all, the histories of the two worlds were different. Being able to perform a simple repair was only possible because both were technological worlds in the future.
"Alright, found it."
As Xia Yu spoke, he pulled a maintenance table about two meters long, one and a half meters wide, and one meter high out of the hibernation pod... "..."
Popola and Devola watched in shock as Xia Yu held the maintenance table. The hibernation pod was only so big; how could that maintenance table have fit inside!
And how did the Human Lord pull it out? This wasn't scientific!
"Human Lord, let me help you."
Popola hurriedly stepped forward to help Xia Yu move the maintenance table out of the hibernation pod. While moving it, she glanced inside the pod and confirmed in an instant: the internal space of the hibernation pod was not as large as the maintenance table.
"..."
As expected of a human, he easily did something they couldn't understand at all.
"Come, Devola, lie down on it."
After moving the maintenance table, Xia Yu patted it and told Devola to lie down. Once the command was entered, the maintenance table would automatically repair the damaged parts without him needing to lift a finger.
As expected of himself, so thoughtful. Gotta love it.