[Alliance] Going Out

Ren Yi's viewpoint had just risen, and he still wasn't used to it, but those words snapped him awake. "Bro, the Alliance said we weren't allowed to leave home."

"More importantly, you can't leave your family."

Ren Man corrected him.

"Some 'family' are 'home,' so that's why they say it."

He explained it to Ren Yi word by word. For Ren Man, that counted as a long, complicated sentence.

"Don't worry."

He spoke earnestly, then thought for a moment and made an effort to add another sentence.

"When I'm not there, you can't."

It was a little hard to understand, but Ren Yi got it.

Some cubs' "family" were their "home"? A house, or an area, so they couldn't leave?

And his brother wasn't an "earthbound spirit," so Ren Yi didn't have to follow that restriction? He only had to make sure he stayed within a certain distance of his brother at all times?

And that last sentence was the sort of thing a parent would say:

I'm here this time, so you can exploit a loophole like this. But you can't do it when you're alone.

"Bro, are some anomalies not human?" Only after Ren Yi asked did he realize the question was a little strange.

"They can have other forms." Any form was fine as long as it didn't exceed human cognition.

"Then what are we going out to... oh, is it the chairs?"

So much had happened yesterday that Ren Yi had almost forgotten Ren Man was autistic and had OCD.

There had originally been four chairs at home. Ren Yi had broken one yesterday, and he had no idea where Ren Man had scattered the fragments, so now there were only three.

And three chairs weren't very symmetrical.

So Ren Man had probably been uncomfortable all night.

"I'll be ready in a second." With that thought, Ren Yi quickly changed his clothes.

Just as he was about to put on his shoes, he suddenly paused.

They had originally been a pair of white shoes, but now the soles were stained a dull red.

It was the "stream" Ren Yi had stepped in on the day of the graduation ceremony.

Without dwelling on what had fallen from upstairs that day, Ren Yi put on his shoes as if nothing were wrong.

Before they left, Ren Man handed Ren Yi a small slip of paper.

[Public conduct guidelines]

1. "Children" need to grow up in a stable social environment and within a stable framework of cognition. Please do not display behavior, knowledge, or abilities that exceed the Human Cognition Threshold by too much in public. If you are not yet able to maintain your form, please go out accompanied by a mature "family member."

2. If you discover a "child" who appears to be experiencing cognitive abnormalities, please keep an eye on them and immediately contact the nearest Alliance staff member. Do not intervene on your own.

3. Please take proper care of your "work tools," "food," "portals," and the like. Leaving any of these items in public areas is strictly prohibited.

4. Please do not enter areas clearly marked "no entry" or "temporarily closed." The owners of these areas may deal with trespassers as they see fit.

5. "Family members" must fulfill their guardianship responsibilities and ensure that the "cubs" accompanying them fully understand these guidelines. If a failure of guardianship leads to a disruption of public order, the "family member" will also be held responsible. In serious cases, their guardianship will be revoked.

Ren Man waited quietly until Ren Yi had memorized it, then opened the door.

They lived on the eighth floor. An open-air corridor lay outside their door, with the elevator a short distance away.

As Ren Man locked the door, the elevator doors suddenly opened with a ding. Ren Yi ducked behind Ren Man almost instinctively.

"Brother Ren Yi!"

A small figure came flying out of the elevator, but Ren Man blocked him in the narrow corridor before he could reach Ren Yi.

"Xiaolong, come back here!"

A slightly plump middle-aged woman hurried out of the elevator, grabbed Xiaolong by the ear, and pulled him back.

Then she looked at Ren Yi with great warmth. "It's you, Yi. Oh, right, didn't you just finish your major assignment test? Why are you out so soon? You should get some rest."

They were Aunt Du, who lived next door, and her son, Zhao Xiaolong.

Because Ren Man was so quiet, Ren Yi had been left to shoulder the burden of socializing with the neighbors. His sweet talk and good grades had earned him the affection of all the uncles and aunties in the area.

But now...

Ren Yi looked at Aunt Du's smiling face, then couldn't help sneaking a glance at her belly. A gaping maw smeared with lipstick was grinning there. He turned his head and met his brother's urging gaze.

"Hello, Aunt Du," Ren Yi said, forcing himself to speak.

"Oh!" Aunt Du looked delighted. The mouth on her face and the gaping maw on her belly smiled at the same time. "Good boy, why are you so shy? You used to be so outgoing."

"Mom, that hurts!" Zhao Xiaolong struggled and protested as she held him by the ear.

The smiles on Aunt Du's face and mouth vanished at once. She turned and scolded Zhao Xiaolong. "Honestly! Your brother Yi just finished an important test. Don't bother him."

She gave Ren Man and Ren Yi two apologetic smiles, one large and one small, then quickly pulled Zhao Xiaolong through the door into their apartment.

Watching the door next door close, Ren Yi and Ren Man rushed into the elevator as if fleeing.

The elevator descended floor by floor. Ren Yi covered his face. "Aunt Du is too enthusiastic."

Yes, he knew there were no normal people left in this world, or even any people at all, but he still needed some time to adjust.

Ren Man looked down at him innocently. "She did it on purpose."

Ren Yi: "..."

"Wait, bro." Something suddenly occurred to Ren Yi. "Xiaolong hasn't 'awakened' yet, has he?"

Ren Man nodded.

"Then didn't Aunt Du just break the rules?"

["Children" need to grow up in a stable social environment and within a stable framework of cognition. Please do not display behavior, knowledge, or abilities that exceed the Human Cognition Threshold by too much in public]

Ren Man looked a little puzzled. "It was a humanoid form," he said, as if it were obvious.

No, bro, people definitely don't grow mouths the size of washbasins on their bellies, let alone put lipstick on them.

Ren Man saw the speechlessness in his younger brother's eyes, and then seemed finally to catch up with his train of thought.

"The Alliance protects them. They can't see it."

Before Ren Yi could properly understand what he meant, the elevator reached the first floor. Its doors slowly opened, allowing Ren Yi to see outside.

The sun was shining brightly. It was the time of day when people went to work and did their morning exercise.

Ren Yi immediately spotted several faceless old men, old women whose individual strands of hair were as thick as chopsticks and flicked their tongues, and office workers with a pair of hooves for a lower body passing the entrance.

Good grief. Do you anomalies call anything with one head and four limbs a "humanoid form"?

He also realized that the Alliance had probably imposed some kind of restriction, blocking part of the perception of children, including his former self.

Was it a "rule"? So did that rule stop working once the humanoid form was broken?

"If you like it, you can show a little too," Ren Man said quietly beside him.

Ren Yi jumped in fright and hurriedly said, "No, no, bro, I'm perfectly fine like this."

He looked up and saw Ren Man smiling very happily.

Ren Man led Ren Yi toward the bicycle shed. It was only a few steps away, but to Ren Yi, the walk felt incredibly long.

There were "people" all along the way, and Ren Yi had to greet the somewhat familiar-looking neighbors as he walked.

He was like a numb face-recognition machine, worse off than a child visiting his hometown for New Year.

At least those children got lucky money and didn't have to shatter their worldview and piece it back together over and over.

Only after he sat down on the back of their electric scooter and watched the scenery rush past on either side did Ren Yi's tense expression slowly relax.

His worldview had been shattered so thoroughly that he no longer had the strength to keep being frightened.

Viewing the scenery in the residential complex with a nothing-to-lose attitude gave it a certain "flavor."

Their destination wasn't far away. When the development had first been built, a bunch of furniture stores had opened nearby. After a round of open and covert competition, only one remained, having secured a monopoly on furniture sales in the area.

When they arrived, Ren Yi was surprised to find the furniture store bustling with customers, most of them families with unawakened "children." It was completely different from its usual deserted state.

"Why are there so many people?" Ren Yi looked up at Ren Man.

Ren Man shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Ren Yi hesitated. He didn't want to go anywhere with something unusual going on right now, especially when even Ren Man didn't know what it was.

"Because it's time to move up to the next school," a voice suddenly said beside them.

Ren Man tilted his head slightly and said, "Lin."

Ren Yi looked around Ren Man and saw a young doctor wearing glasses.

He knew the man was a doctor because he was wearing a spotless white coat and a stethoscope on this busy street, as though deliberately emphasizing his profession.

Another acquaintance. No, an acquaintance who was an anomaly.

"Hello, Doctor Lin." Ren Yi continued playing the unfeeling greeting machine.