Infinite: Starting from Resident Evil

"..."

"Why isn't there an 'um' here? And do you even know what a wife is?"

"Ok!"

"..."

…………

The desert was so vast that by the time Shen Ye carried A2 out of the desert, it was already evening of the next day.

They were now in a dense forest, where, perhaps due to the absence of human interference, the trees were growing exceptionally well, with astonishingly thick and towering trees everywhere.

Shen Ye placed the newly awakened A2 next to a large tree, pretended to check it over, and then left, intending to find some dry branches to start a fire.

Of course, this was a subconscious action of his, so he hadn't realized it until he carried a pile of wood back to A2's side, at which point he remembered that androids didn't need to warm themselves by a fire.

However, to his surprise, A2 didn't seem surprised at all. She was in much better condition than yesterday. Her unique body allowed her to slowly repair herself, but she couldn't fully repair herself.

"Are you imitating human behavior from the past?" A2 asked, looking at the withered tree branch Shen Ye was holding.

Shen Ye quietly breathed a sigh of relief, then nodded: "You knew that too!"

"Humans are fragile, and it's cold at night, so they need to burn wood to provide themselves with heat." A2 became more talkative, probably because he had slept all day.

“Yes, but you’re also very vulnerable right now. You’ve been sleeping all day.” Shen Ye piled up the dry branches and then lit a fire.

"By the way, what's your name?" After lighting the campfire, Shen Ye suppressed the urge to grab something to grill and continued to ask A2.

"I don't have a name, only a code name." A2 looked at her fellow human in front of her. For some reason, she felt that some of her fellow human's actions were very similar to those of a human recorded in a chip. However, after she woke up, she did a simple scan and found that the other party did not seem to have any human characteristics. Instead, she felt a sense of kinship with her fellow human.

“A2, that’s my code name. What’s yours?” After a moment of silence, A2 said.

“A2, that codename sounds pretty high up. As for me, I’ve forgotten what my old codename was, but I’ve given myself a new name.” Shen Ye pointed to his head: “This part was damaged before, so I’m called Shen Ye now.”

"Is your memory bank damaged? You once had a story too." A2 looked at the campfire.

"From now on, I'll call you Shen."

……

(Sure enough, I write much faster when I'm in a particularly good mood.)

Chapter 228! Meaning and Voyeurism

……

The dry wood burned in the flames, crackling softly from time to time. Shen Ye poked at it a few times with a straight branch, then casually threw in two more pieces of wood. He then took off his gloves and started to warm them over the fire.

Although we had left the desert, the forest was still quite cold at night.

A2 watched Shen Ye's actions and followed suit, reaching out to warm her hands by the fire. However, although her sensors could detect the temperature, she didn't know what effect the temperature would have on her.

"Is this your POD?" After warming himself by the fire for a while, A2 felt that it was pointless to do so, so he withdrew his hand and turned to look at the firepower floating next to Shen Ye.

"Yes, it's called Firepower, a very cute little guy." Shen Ye raised his hand, and Firepower landed in his palm. The spinning wings above his head also stopped, as if they were resting.

"I found it by chance. It has some intelligence, but it doesn't have a language system and can't speak. Its storage device also seems to be broken, and it has no previous memories." Shen Ye began to make up a story.

"You named it?" A2's attention was peculiar; its blue eyes glowed faintly, as if it were scanning something. It then said, "You've made it a pet. I remember that humans used to like to name their pets."

"Have you ever seen a human?" Shen Ye changed the subject.

A2 shook its head: "No, I was actually created only a few years ago, and shortly after I was created, I participated in the airborne operation. However, I heard that there are still humans on the lunar base, but no one has ever seen them. I guess they are long dead."

As she said this, A2's eyes narrowed slightly. Homunculi have complex emotions, especially the YoRHa model. They are more prone to emotional fluctuations than ordinary homunculus. Therefore, Shen Ye could see the fleeting hatred in her eyes at this moment.

The deaths of her comrades and her abandonment by the commander haunted her, including the "humans" on the lunar base.

However, Shen Ye still asked, "It seems you hate humans. Why?"

A2 did not answer immediately, but closed her eyes, seemingly thinking, or perhaps refusing to answer.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Even if her personality has become much colder and more ruthless due to years of fighting, the underlying code won't change instantly because of emotions.

Her unwavering belief remains that humanity's glory will endure forever.

Looking at A2 who was silent with her eyes closed, Shen Ye did not press her for an answer. He knew that this question was difficult to answer, and he also knew that A2 was an artificial human who did not like to talk. She was probably able to talk to him for so long because he had helped her.

"It seems that the underlying code is not unchangeable. Judging from the later plot, some of the androids, apart from still being silicon-based life forms, have actually acquired everything that humans have. Their thoughts, emotions, and personalities are almost the same as those of humans."

"However, androids capable of independent thought are a minority. The androids in the base are still faithfully carrying out human orders, but..." Shen Ye thought, leaning against the big tree, "But what kind of consequences will the appearance of humans bring?"

Shen Ye couldn't figure it out, because the game's ending wasn't explained, so he was too lazy to think about it anymore.

Getting up from the ground, Shen Ye didn't want to sleep against a big tree, as that would be too uncomfortable, so he decided to make a bed for himself. He immediately pulled out a jungle machete and disappeared into the woods behind him.

As he left, A2 opened his eyes and said, as if talking to himself, "What is the meaning of human existence? What is the difference between us and humans? Like you, you really look like the humans in my memory!"

……

When Shen Ye returned, he was carrying a large bundle of thick, straight wood on his back, taller than a person and as thick as a wrist, and he was also holding a stack of large leaves in his arms... those were mattresses.

Sweep a flat, clean patch of ground with your feet, Shen Ye first placed the wood on the ground, and then spread the leaves on top.

"Bed? Are you making a bed?" Shen Ye was watched by A2 throughout the whole process, and she asked after the bed was made.

Having lived on Earth for so many years, this was the first time he had ever seen an android who would make its own bed in such an environment.

"Yeah, how is it? It looks pretty good, right?" Shen Ye patted the bed on the floor. The closely spaced wooden planks weren't uncomfortable to the touch; in fact, they felt like a massage bed.

"Here, try it first. If you feel uncomfortable, I'll make some improvements." Shen Ye got up, walked to A2's side, picked her up, and placed her on the bed.

"How was it? Not bad, right?" Shen Ye asked again.

"The bed is meaningless to us," A2 said calmly, lying on the bed. "We are just androids, we don't need to enjoy ourselves like humans do."

"An artificial human still has the word 'human' in its name, so it's normal for them to enjoy themselves. Besides, when you were created, didn't you ever sleep in a bed?" Shen Ye simply asked.

A2 recalled for a moment and said, "I slept there, but because the base was small, the bed was very simple and could only accommodate one android."

"That settles it then. This bed is also quite small, it can only accommodate one android." Shen Ye said with a low laugh, "Besides, I was just asking you how you felt."

"Not bad," A2 said after thinking for a moment, rather tactfully.

"That's good." Shen Ye nodded, then used the remaining materials to make his bed.

His bed was right next to A2, only half a meter apart. However, A2 was just an artificial human, so Shen Ye couldn't smell the natural fragrance of Alice and the others. Instead, he smelled a smoky, fiery odor.

That's from the mechanical lifeform A2 killed yesterday, but since she's an android, she doesn't sense the scent on her body.

Shen Ye rubbed his nose and asked, "Can't you smell your own odor? I think you should take a shower."

“No need,” A2 said calmly.

"Alright then." Shen Ye shrugged and then pulled his cloak over himself.

But then he thought for a moment, and got up to cover A2 with the cloak.

“I’m not cold.” A2 glanced at the cloak she was wearing, not understanding what it meant.

"Humans will take care of their weaker kind. When they are sick, they will cover them with blankets and feed them food and water," Shen Ye said.

“We are the same kind of people, and you are very weak right now,” he added.

A2 fell silent; she seemed to understand the significance of Shen Ye covering her with the cloak.

"Take care of each other like humans? Like my former companions, keeping me alive was also a way of taking care of me?" A2 looked at Shen Ye, her "brain" working at lightning speed.

"Go to sleep, it's getting late." Shen Ye lay down and closed his eyes after saying that.

"good night!"

As if by some strange twist of fate, A2 said this.

Shen Ye turned to look at her, but she had already closed her eyes, so he said, "Goodnight!"

……

(Hmm, it will be a bit bland in the beginning.)

(Also, the background and ending of NieR will not be written exactly like the game, because the game's ending is a tragedy no matter which one it is.)

(Also, there's a company dinner tonight, so Chapter Two will be delayed.)

……

Shen Ye wasn't sure if androids needed to sleep, but even if they did, it should be like a computer's hibernation mode, since androids are essentially computers with bodies.

But Shen Ye wasn't an artificial human, so after saying goodnight, he really went to sleep. He had carried a 300-pound girl for a whole day and night; even a person made of iron needs rest.

His breathing quickly calmed down.

His temporary POD firepower, meanwhile, lay dormant on his chest, shut down and going into hibernation.

A2 didn't "sleep." She didn't have the concept of being tired or mentally weak, and she had "slept" all day and didn't want to rest anymore.

So, not long after Shen Ye fell asleep, she opened her eyes and curiously looked at him.

It's rare to see other creatures that need to sleep, but it's not that she hasn't seen them before. In the rebel camp, she had seen many of her kind mimicking humans in sleeping, and she had even seen mechanical lifeforms that needed to sleep, though she eventually killed those mechanical lifeforms.

"He looks no different from a human." A2 thought to herself, Shen Ye was starting to feel more and more like a human being from a memory device.

After a moment of blank thought, A2 sat up. Her body was still not fully recovered and appeared somewhat stiff. It would take at least ten more days before she could move freely again. Of course, if she could find the android camp, it would only take a few hours.