After saying a few more sentences and only getting an "mm" from the artificial girl, Aiden helplessly shut his mouth. He suspected A2's personality had reverted to that of the silent, cold, mature, and aloof beautiful girl again.
But in fact, the reason A2 was silent was that last night, during her rest, she actually had a dream.
An android dreaming, how rare that sounds.
So A2 had been thinking about it all this time, trying hard to recall the details of the dream, and at the same time, she really wanted to ask Aiden whether he had ever had a dream.
But even though she was an android, her once ordinary girl-like personality still influenced her, making her too shy to bring it up.
After all, in her dream, Aiden appeared. Although nothing happened in the dream, it was a complete replay of the night he secretly watched her while she was bathing, and she didn't know how to bring it up.
'Why would I have such a dream? Better hurry to the large resistance camp and find someone to delete this memory.' The android girl thought to herself.
However, she suddenly felt a little reluctant. Because this was her first dream.
After days of long-distance trekking, the two finally arrived at their destination.
A city already overtaken by vegetation. But to say it was overtaken wasn't quite right, because tens of thousands of years ago, the area where this city stood should have been forest or grassland. It was only after humanity's extinction that plants reclaimed the area.
'No matter how great the cities built before were, in the end, they still couldn't withstand the erosion of time.'
Looking at the dilapidated city, Aiden sighed inwardly.
Though the city was ruined, many high-rise buildings could still be seen. And because the city covered a huge area, what Aiden saw now was only the tip of the iceberg, totally unlike in the game, where one could see the whole thing at a glance.
A2, on Aiden's back, could see even farther. But she was very familiar with the place, so she quickly withdrew her gaze. Then she pulled the hood over her head, hiding her face in the deep, oversized hood, pointed in a direction, and spoke her longest sentence in days, "Go that way, after passing a few streets, you'll see the resistance camp."
"Are there many people in the camp?" Aiden noticed A2's actions but didn't mind them.
"A lot, around two or three thousand." The android girl replied.
Aiden was slightly surprised, 'So many? But thinking again, it made sense. With so many airdrop operations, plus androids and factories left behind when humans retreated to the moon, the surface couldn't possibly have only a handful of androids like in the game.'
"Sounds more like a town than a camp. I remember a human town only had a few thousand people too." Aiden said while walking in the direction A2 had pointed.
"It's indeed lively here." A2 showed a trace of nostalgic expression. She remembered the past. One year, she came here with several androids she met along the way.
"Do you have acquaintances here?" Aiden asked again.
"Yes." A2 thought of a female android she had a good relationship with.
"That's great. We might get protection."
"Don't even think about it. She's very busy, often has to go out. Also, you're going the wrong way." A2 patted Aiden's shoulder and continued, "Don't even know if she's at the camp. If she is, she could arrange lodging and maintenance tools for us."
"Big shot, huh." Aiden guessed who she meant.
The leader of the Earth Resistance, Anemone.
"She really is a big shot." Remembering her friend's status, A2 nodded.
While chatting, the two passed through streets and rows of high-rises.
To be honest, Aiden felt a bit nervous while passing the buildings. After all these years, who knew if they might collapse at any moment?
But thinking about how 2B and 9S in the game had stepped on these buildings, two androids together weighing around 600 pounds, yet the buildings didn't collapse, he sighed inwardly again, the builders had been quite responsible.
"It's just up ahead."
After another street, A2 raised her hand again. This time, she even pulled her whole arm back inside her cloak.
And just as A2 spoke, several androids with firearms suddenly jumped down from the buildings on either side of the street.
"Travelers, state your purpose." One tall male android said.
"My companion is injured. We want to do repairs and maintenance here." Aiden freed one hand and patted A2's back. The android girl stretched out a hand, showing her worn and scarred surface.
"Scanned. They're our kind, just new faces." Another female android said to the one who asked.
"Since they're our kind, please come in. This camp has the best maintenance tools on the surface." The male android stepped aside and gestured them in.
"Thanks." Aiden nodded slightly in gratitude.
"As expected of a large camp, the androids here are really polite!" After passing the camp's outpost, Aiden continued walking while carrying A2. The deeper they went, the more androids they saw, men, women, old, and young, almost no different from a human city.
"Except for a few unlucky ones with corrupted cores, most androids are very polite." A2 looked around. For some reason, she felt a sense of both familiarity and strangeness.
"Weren't you here before? Hurry and guide me to your big-shot friend." Aiden said. The environment here was good, great for a short stay.
"That's what's bothering me." A2 frowned in a very human way. "It's been too long, and this place has changed. It used to be all empty space here, nothing at all."
She pointed at the roadside houses and tents, this was also why she felt unfamiliar.
"Looks like she's taken in a lot more stray androids this past year." A2 muttered to herself again.
Android surface operations happened more than once. And there weren't just the Bunker bases on Earth. There were over a dozen orbital bases. Every year, big and small surface deployments dropped no small number of androids.
"So now what? Ask someone?" Aiden turned and asked.
But before A2 could answer, he had already pulled over a passing android.
"Hey friend, can I ask you something, your…"
At this point, Aiden stopped speaking. He suddenly realized A2 hadn't told him her friend's name, even though he knew.
So he turned and asked, "What's your big-shot friend's name?"
"Anemone, the leader of this camp. Also, that person left already." A2 said.
The android Aiden stopped had originally planned to answer but walked away when he saw Aiden didn't even know who he was asking about.
"I take back what I said, these androids aren't all polite. His core must be corrupted." Aiden said angrily while watching the android's retreating back.
"Pfft…" Hearing Aiden's words, A2's hidden face beneath the hood suddenly smiled. Although she quickly covered her mouth, the sound still reached Aiden.
"If you want to laugh, then laugh. After all, it's rare to hear you laugh out loud." Aiden glanced back at her.
But those words froze A2's smile again, and she fell silent. Thinking back, she had smiled quite a few times these past few days, but she couldn't remember exactly how many.
Aiden didn't notice. He was just about to ask the next passerby.
At that moment, a crisp, girlish voice came from behind.
"Excuse me, are you looking for someone?"
Aiden turned and saw the speaker was a beautiful girl with round glasses and a giant suitcase.
Seeing him turn, the glasses girl continued, "Excuse me, are you looking for someone?"
Aiden paused for a second, then nodded , "Yes, we're looking for an android named Anemone."
"Oh, so you're looking for the camp leader." The girl glanced at A2 on Aiden's back, her expression flashing strangely before returning to normal. She looked at Aiden again, "I heard she led a team out two days ago. You've come at the wrong time."
"That's a pity. I was hoping to use a connection to have her help us find a place to stay."
That's what he said, but there wasn't a trace of regret on Aiden's face. After thanking the glasses girl, he planned to walk deeper into the camp with A2. Even without a guide, they needed to find a place to stay first.
Unexpectedly, as he just walked away, the glasses girl followed and said, "I'm also looking for a place to stay. Want to go together? I can split the rent."
"I'm not short on money." Aiden sped up.
Android transactions weren't just barter, they also used currency. But here, paper money wasn't accepted, only gold, silver, and copper.
"But I am short on money. I didn't bring much and can't afford rent here." The glasses girl jogged beside him.
"You can find any place to rest. We androids aren't picky about lodging." Aiden kept refusing.
"But if there's a better place, why sleep on the streets?" The girl persisted, "Would you really let a poor girl carry a big suitcase, sleeping outside in the wind and rain, while watching out for bad androids trying to dismantle me? Wouldn't your conscience hurt?"
'Do androids even have consciences? Or hearts?'
"A…" Aiden almost said A2's codename but quickly corrected himself, "My girlfriend said androids in this camp are very friendly."
"Your girlfriend?" The glasses girl blinked, then quickly said, "I just heard your girlfriend say only most of them are friendly. Some are bad."
"Maybe you won't be unlucky."
"If I were lucky, I wouldn't have lost my money." The girl looked helpless.
"Please, take me with you. I'll sleep on the floor. I won't disturb you." She begged, looking just like a real human girl.
Aiden still wanted to refuse, but then A2's voice came from behind, "Aiden, I remember a few days ago when we camped, you said humans take care of their weaker kind, right?"
"Yeah." Aiden nodded, not understanding why she brought it up now.
"Humans take care of their weaker kind. We can also take care of our fallen kind, just like you take care of me." A2 didn't know why she said that either, maybe she was influenced by Aiden?
"You mean… take her with us?" Aiden asked, puzzled.
"Mm." A2 nodded.
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