This time, it was Little Gray who fell silent. She looked Yu Lian up and down, decided he probably wasn't trying to fool her, and a hard-to-describe sadness immediately filled her eyes.
"How sad. You're just like every carbon-based monkey I've ever met who's mastered psionics. The moment you reach the Eighth Ring, you really start riding the gravitational waves of a black hole! You think it's immortal swagger and badassery, but I think it's a self-destructive streak. You've got to pull yourself together!"
Yu Lian looked at Little Gray, who seemed genuinely concerned, and was deeply moved. He wiped away a tear. "I understand. Thank you for your concern. Then let's just forget it."
"Hey... how can you do that?" the robot miss pleaded. "Don't forget it after all. Don't worry, I'll only take a tiny bit of your outer layer of dead skin. It won't hurt. Be good, now. It absolutely won't hurt. I'll just slip in with one gentle little touch. Just relax, and it won't hurt."
"You think I don't know who you're teasing? You've got something backward, don't you? If anyone's going to relax, it should be—"
"If you really need it, big sister can simulate that function, too. I can even simulate a flushed face, breath sweet as orchids, and a racing pulse. Want it, little Yu Lian? Dare to?"
"Heh. How about simulating childbirth?"
"Once the baby pops out, you'll say it was simulated by nanomachines, pull up your pants, and deny everything. Then I'd be a discarded wife, wouldn't I?"
After they exchanged a contemptuous look and a perfectly straight middle finger, Little Gray got to work under Yu Lian's watchful gaze.
Her eyes sparkled with unmistakable excitement, like a child who'd just gotten a new LEGO set. But as a high-level