Restaurant Tragedy

"This is the city center, the most worthwhile place in the entire city. It used to be the city hall, but it's recently been converted into a temporary administrative office for Fire Moth." Kevin explained the city to Qin Su, using his PAD to illustrate as he spoke.

The near-future architectural style draped the whole city in a layer of psychedelic color. Fire Moth's emblem scrolled across massive holographic screens, shifting black-and-white light and shadow falling on the people below. Patrol drones occasionally hovered, broadcasting articles of wartime martial law over their speakers.

People struggled for an ever-worsening tomorrow. Many had completely given up on themselves, making hedonism their sole goal—lingering day and night in entertainment venues. If Fire Moth hadn't enacted wartime controls forcing those venues to close at 19:00 sharp, "entertainment unto death" would no longer be an exaggeration.

Cyberpunk. It describes a human society with extremely advanced technology but lacking the spirit of humanism. In war, everything is scarce, but the scarcest thing is survival. Without survival, how can there be compassion?

Cyberpunk was originally just a cruel fantasy. He never expected to truly experience what a cyber-city felt like right here. Years of continuous war had massively devastated the fruits of human civilization's labor; even a full stomach had become a luxury for ordinary people.

Ragged children gathered in dark alleys, their eyes fixed on everyone who passed the alley entrance. Well-dressed people were often targets for the homeless begging—Qin Su, for example. They wanted to approach and beg, but the icy air around Kevin unconsciously drove them away. The children shivered and retreated to where they'd been before.

Kevin gave a helpless smile. Qin Su shrugged to show he didn't mind. Kevin pulled two coins from his pocket and tossed them precisely at the children's feet, then smiled and gave them a thumbs-up.

The children were pleasantly surprised and shouted their thanks to Kevin.

"You might give these kids a good today, but what about their tomorrow?"

"That's exactly why I fight against the Honkai. I want to give all children a good today and tomorrow."

"Protecting humanity is your lifelong wish, isn't it?" Qin Su looked at Kevin, whose back was turned to him. The evening sunlight fell on Kevin's body, the icy mist around him slowly rising.

"That's right." Kevin didn't quite understand why he was asking something so obvious.

But the strongest human warrior, whose wish was to "protect humanity," would one day fall into an incomprehensible obsession. Qin Su was trying to plant a small seed in his heart.

"I'd like you to answer a question."

"If sacrificing yourself could eliminate the Honkai, would you do it?"

Kevin answered without hesitation: "Yes."

"What if sacrificing a group of people could eliminate the Honkai?"

"I'd be honored to be one of them."

"What if sacrificing the vast majority of people could?"

Kevin fell silent. After a moment, he spoke: "If it were possible..."

Qin Su cut him off: "Great power has never been a reason for you to decide other people's lives. Is the only choice in the Trolley Problem to flip the switch? The ridiculous thing is, real life doesn't give you options. Humans love to imagine opposing, divided choices in their heads."

"If the Honkai demanded you kill one person to spare a hundred, your thought should be to stop it, not to satisfy its demand. The human spirit of struggle demands you press forward, not bow your head. If the Honkai is unstoppable, then what meaning does Fire Moth's existence even have?"

"..."

The two fell into an awkward silence. Finally, Qin Su patted Kevin on the shoulder: "Even if you fail, people of high moral character will still praise you, not blame you for the deaths of a hundred. Maybe you want to say the world has never had such a perfect outcome—that's very true. But we shouldn't start denying perfection and choosing imperfect results, because between 0 and 1, it's not completely empty."

The hues of sunset painted half his body. His ice-blue eyes stared into the distance. A hastily arrived fire brigade was putting out a blaze; the flames engulfing an entire skyscraper gradually subsided. Soldiers dispersed a violent protest crowd.

Kevin didn't know what he was thinking. After a long while, he spoke: "I'll remember that, friend."

"Let's go." Qin Su patted his shoulder again, pulling him out of his contemplative world. Kevin snapped back to reality and kept walking and talking, but compared to before, he was much more reserved.

"This complex is the city's largest research center. You'll work here too in the future—you're a scientist, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Hey? Kevin? And... the person next to you?"

Just then, a female scientist walked out of the main gate. Beneath her white lab coat was a sailor uniform—a strange combination, but paired with her aura, it was surprisingly striking. Really, it was just that a beautiful girl looks good in anything.

The girl, who looked like Raiden Mei, stared at Qin Su and Kevin in surprise.

Qin Su knew she was the genius Dr. Mei, so he deliberately cleared his throat and began introducing himself: "Hello, Dr. Mei. I'm a Fire Moth researcher who escaped from Mu Continent. As for why I managed to get out—probably because I run faster than light."

Dr. Mei was amused by his dry joke. The corners of her mouth curved up, and she laughed. Kevin didn't get it, but since Dr. Mei laughed, he laughed along too. Happiness is contagious, and besides, it had been a long time since he'd seen Mei smile.

Dr. Mei's face still held her smile. "But you haven't told me your name yet." Before Qin Su could answer, Kevin answered for him.

"John Connor." Qin Su had never told Kevin his name—he must have seen it on the ID he'd shown earlier.

"Mei, we were just about to get something to eat. Come with us." Kevin extended his hand to her in invitation.

Qin Su nodded silently. In theory, a robot didn't need to eat; going would be a waste of time. But through the act of sharing a meal, he could collect data on both their personalities—or something deeper lurking beneath.

Dr. Mei nodded and took Kevin's hand.

Qin Su was surprised by her courage. Kevin's body temperature stayed at minus thirty degrees Celsius. If it were Qin Su, he wouldn't hold it. He glanced at Dr. Mei. Even though the T-800's electronic eyes couldn't convey expression, and its control over facial micro-expressions wasn't refined enough, Dr. Mei understood his meaning.

Dr. Mei caught Qin Su's "surprised" look, smiled, and said, "Holding it for a few seconds is fine." Kevin also rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at him.

Maybe he had underestimated the power of love.

But if that kind of power could let the two of them strive together for a grand dream, then he really had underestimated it.

The sunset gradually disappeared below the horizon, replaced by the silver moon in the sky. After walking some distance, they finally reached the restaurant. Eating wasn't difficult—a T-800 could eat like a normal person—but it brought no benefit, and it even wasted time having to clean out what was consumed.

"Ha, the road of escape is long. You must not have had a good meal in a while, right?" Kevin clapped him heartily on the shoulder.

Struck by Kevin's pat, the T-800 nearly lost its balance. "Right. I haven't eaten properly since I escaped from Mu Continent."

30 minutes later

"I'm getting impatient." Qin Su rested his hand on the table, chin propped on his palm, bored. His time was precious—an Infiltrator's time couldn't be wasted. If Qin Su had enough sub-units, leaving this T-800 idle for a while wouldn't be a problem, but there was no "if."

He stood up and said to the two lovebirds: "I'll go hurry them up."

Kevin nodded at Qin Su, then slipped back into his own little world with the two of them, the air thick with a bittersweet tang.

He walked straight toward the cashier's counter, writing a summary in his mind: "Humans in love have vastly improved patience." He logged this entry into the data storage center.

Qin Su stood before the cashier's counter and asked the owner, who was copying accounts while seated there, "Why hasn't the food been served after half an hour?"

The white-haired owner looked up, adjusted his glasses, and quickly stood to apologize. "I'm sorry, sir. You're from Dr. Mei and Lord Kevin's table, right? I'll go urge the kitchen to serve your dishes right away."

Hearing this, Qin Su replied politely, "Let me do it instead. A guest personally urging them might be more efficient."

The owner answered with a face full of apology, "Then I'll trouble you with it."

"No problem."

He waved his hand and headed toward the kitchen. As he pushed open the iron door to the kitchen, a chilling gleam of steel flashed before his eyes—a floating kitchen knife shot straight toward his eye. Though a thousand words surged in Qin Su's mind, they condensed into a single muffled groan: "Ugh—ah!"

Then his body toppled backward, falling into a state of suspended death.

P.S. Personally, I think Dr. Mei's physical constitution is incredibly strong. She can continuously drive three gems using the Key of Blankness—she's practically half a Sirin.

Light cannot escape a black hole's gravity, so that's why he jokingly called himself a man who runs faster than light.