The Mechanic

He leaned against the edge of the tub exhausted, suddenly unsure if it all made sense. Not sure if struggling makes sense.

But he doesn't have time to wallow in guilt and self-loathing. The thing has been done, he can only keep going, he has to go, there is no time to stop. He simply cleaned himself up, rinsed his mouth, and dragged his heavy body from not sleeping for more than thirty hours to the outside.

"Pan." Zhang Xun said in a hoarse voice after vomiting, "I want to see Enoch."

Pan immediately replied, "I have already asked Morning Star to notify him."

Zhang Xun nodded and said, "Do you still remember what I told you yesterday?"

Pan was silent for a moment, then said, "Are you sure?"

Zhang Xun nodded, as if convincing himself, "Sure."

After speaking, he collapsed on the sofa, wanting to fall asleep immediately like this. But no, he still had work to do.

After his conversation with Diego, he's been careful to stay sober these days in case anyone gets in here. And now that the injection has been handed over, he has to deal with the matter that has been postponed for too long.

Enuo appeared at the door within half an hour, seeing Zhang Xun's pale and gray face, a trace of panic flashed across the face of the robot.

He walked towards Zhang Xun, seeming to be faster than usual, "Zhang Xun, I received a message from Morning Star. Do you want to see me?"

Zhang Xun was still half lying on the sofa, nodded slightly, and beckoned to him.

Enoch got close to him and half knelt down.

Zhang Xun said, "I'm very tired."

"You are overtired and need to rest." Enoch whispered, his eyes quickly swept Zhang Xun's body, "Can I help you?"

"Just stay with me by my side like this." Zhang Xun looked at him quietly, a rare fragility appeared on the mechanic's face, like a crack on the calm mask. He raised his hand and gently touched the robot's cheek, "You are very similar to him."

"Like who? Adam?"

Zhang Xun nodded, and traced the corners of the robot's eyes with his fingers, "You have eyes of the same color."

At this moment, Zhang Xun's eyes seem to be different from those in the past, with many emotions hovering in them, not suppressed, flowing like a violent tide. Sadness condenses into dark frost, condensing in the depths of pupils.

Enuo was a little stunned, hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand to hold Zhang Xun's hand on his face.

"Do you miss him?" Enoch asked.

Zhang Xun nodded, and after a while, said, "Every day."

"...I believe he misses you too." Enoch whispered.

Zhang Xun smiled, helplessly and bitterly, "I hope so too."

Silence spread quietly, Zhang Xun pursed his dry lips and said, "Can you give me a hug?"

Enoch's eyes widened slightly, but soon, he stretched out his arms without hesitation, and embraced Zhang Xun's body with the most gentle force.

He was shocked to feel that the body in his arms had lost so much weight, and felt empty. Zhang Xun also wrapped his arms around his back.

At this moment, Pan suddenly started, and the signal jammer hidden in the bathroom was immediately activated. At the same time, Zhang Xun's hand on Enoch's back suddenly pressed hard, embedded into the skin, opened the control panel on the back along a gap, and quickly pressed the power off button.

Enoch's body stopped immediately, his eyes froze, and all his voices stopped.

Zhang Xun tried his best to push away Enuo's suddenly heavy body, and watched the robot fall to the ground. He immediately squatted down, turned Enoch over, pressed a few keys on the control panel, brought up the keyboard operating system, and directly invaded Enoch's core program. He quickly adjusted several parameters, making the skin of Enoch's whole body transparent, revealing the complex devices and pipeline system in his body.

Zhang Xun carefully observed those chips, motherboards, coolants, and solar converters... Finally, his eyes locked on the core processor on the robot's chest, a small black dot that kept repeating circular motions.

The hairs all over Zhang Xun's body stood on end.

He was a little too familiar with that little dot.

Those tiny insect robots he made in Paradise Lost...

He sat stiffly for a moment, then shivered suddenly, and immediately sat up straight, dismantling the robot piece by piece. In the end, he found a total of two "ants" on the robot's core and camera processor. They have been replacing the original transceivers to transmit and receive data, while controlling the robot's actions.

It all makes sense.

No wonder Enoch suddenly became "strange" in the realm of death. Because in the high-radiation area, the signal was seriously interfered, and the person who originally manipulated the insects lost contact...

All along, the so-called Enoch who has been by his side is not the original service robot at all. Perhaps when I first met Enoch, I was not a simple service robot. Everything is arranged.

There was a storm in his head, but Zhang Xun just stared blankly at the tiny robot in his palm.

He thought he had escaped, but it turned out that he had never left.

No matter how hard he struggled, he was still spinning in place, like an ant who knew nothing.

After a while, Zhang Xun suddenly put the micro-robot back into the original unknown, and then put Enoch's surface panels back together piece by piece. He gritted his teeth, helped the heavy robot up, and then turned on the robot's run button.