Industrial Cthulhu, starting from the island lord

Chapter 104: Steel is Forever Loyal
"Monica, actually, you and the soul in the machine... Forget it, just call it the machine soul."

"The way you interact with these machine spirits is wrong."

Monica stared at Xiusi fiercely, feeling a little uncomfortable in her heart - it was clearly her who summoned the machine spirit, but why did they have a better relationship with Xiusi?
She was eventually found by Zeus. Although it was embarrassing to walk away crying, she was still worried about the souls she had summoned, so she did not go far and waited eagerly for Zeus to find her.

Hughes slowed his voice.

"You have a good relationship with sea snakes and you know how to please them, but I want to say that machine spirits are something completely different."

"What's the difference!"

"This is just my guess. I think the core of this spell isn't 'the soul you summon', but 'this thing produces a soul'."

"Does it make any difference?"

"Of course it's different. You used your magic power to summon a sea serpent, so it's the soul of a sea serpent. You summoned a soul from a steam engine, so is it also the soul of a sea serpent?"

"Think of it from another perspective. The steam engine responded to your call, and a soul emerged from it. That's why I call it a machine soul—it truly is the soul of a machine."

"Steel and machinery are not living things. You shouldn't try to please them the same way you would a living thing."

Monica's emerald eyes widened. "How can I please you then?"

"It's simple. Just treat them like real machines. Repair their damage, replace parts, apply grease and lubricate them. Maybe you can talk to them about your dreams and life."

"Is this okay?"

"Yes, they don't need to be petted, and they don't need you to play games with them. They won't feel lonely, and they will just quietly fulfill their responsibilities."

Monica was silent, looking at the table thoughtfully.

There was a mess of things on the table, from spoons for eating to an exquisite musket - that was what Monica asked Connor for.

These things have different functions, and the only thing they have in common is that they all have souls inside them.

Xius didn't expect that Monica could summon so many souls, and the hosts were also quite complicated.

It can be seen that she is really interested in this spell and has studied it for a long time.

"Try it."

Xiu Si suddenly spoke.

Monica looked at Xius in surprise, and after hesitating for a while, she walked to the table.

Her eyes wandered among the items on the table, finally settling on a rusty spoon. She reached out and picked it up, carefully examining the tiny cracks on the handle. She suddenly realized that she had never truly cared for these machine spirits' "bodies"—she had merely summoned them and treated them like living beings, never giving them the care they deserved.

"I see..." Monica said softly, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. She stood up and walked to a toolbox in the corner of the room, rummaging through it and took out a small file and a bottle of lubricant.

Xius looked at her, the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "What are you going to do?"

"Since they are the souls of machines, I will treat them the same way I treat machines." Monica said with a hint of determination. She returned to the table and began to carefully clean the rust on the spoon, gently polishing the cracks with a file, and finally polishing it.

The rust on the spoon's surface gradually disappeared, and the metallic luster reappeared. Monica felt the spoon in her hand tremble slightly, as if responding to her efforts. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"It...seems very happy." Monica whispered.

Hughes nodded. "That's their way. They won't express it with words, but they will respond to your concern with actions."

Feeling the solid texture of the metal in her hands, Monica felt a strange feeling, something difficult to describe. The reliability of metal and steel was completely different from the way living things exist. They were cold, hard, and silent, yet they possessed a unique order and strength. This sense of reliability came not from emotion or instinct, but from their precise structure, stable performance, and silent loyalty.

The soul of machinery lies in precision and order. Every meshing of gears, every movement of levers, every tightening of screws is meticulously calculated and designed. Machinery operates according to strict rules; it will not be derailed by emotional fluctuations, nor will it lose its direction due to external interference.

This precision is reassuring.

"Do you like it?"

Monica nodded subconsciously.

"You can completely trust a carefully maintained machine; it won't betray you, it won't make mistakes. Every action is predictable, every outcome controllable. This sense of order is something biological organisms can't provide—biological organisms can choose to betray because of emotions, desires, or instincts, but machines won't."

"Do you know that feeling?"

"Machines are always loyal, machines can always be relied upon."

"Of course, the premise is that you really take good care of it. How you treat it is how it treats you."

"Well, well, that's it."

"Next time, remember to check and repair it and do a good job of maintenance. This will be more useful than companionship and hugs. It will love you."

Monica nodded heavily and left.

She couldn't wait to see her older friend.

"Don't forget to call others, you can't do this alone!"

"Don't worry, I'm not alone with A Nuo here."

"Uh"

Wait, is the machine soul also considered a person? Then does maintaining equipment with an organic soul by one person count as a single-person operation?

Xiu Si suddenly felt that the operating manual he wrote might not be keeping up with the times.

"Forget it. There's no such thing as a permanent, forever correct truth. I'll just slowly change it later."

Looking at the mess on the table, Xius sighed and stood up.

It seems that these machine spirits are not a big problem. Let’s finish the dinner first.

Tonight's dinner is his first time interacting with cultists, so he can't be too careful. He also has to sell his products to Beatrice, which is a good opportunity to demonstrate Castel's power.

"Ash, the dinner party is about to begin. How are your preparations going?"

"Everyone has been divided into groups. Once the preparations at the manor are complete, we'll be in place. Then, no matter what those Fire Moth cultists do, I can quickly take over the manor's defense."

"Okay, the security of the manor is up to you. They probably have some extraordinary people involved, so be careful."

"clear."

Zeus always felt that Ash had hated the Fire Moth since the failure of the encirclement that night.

Hope everything goes well.

(End of this chapter)