Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Well, these were just Noah's wild thoughts. After replying to a work text message, Saria threw the terminal away, and it immediately unfolded into a drone and flew away.

"Okay, now I've already greeted the people in the other areas. Noah, where do you want to start?"

"Where?"

"Rhine Life Sciences' departments are now completely separate, each with its own building. I was just asking which department you'd like to start your tour from," Saria explained. "But I personally suggest—"

"Of course, I'm going to my department!" Muirseth immediately raised his hand. "Welcome to the Ecology Department! If you're looking to rejoin the company, the Ecology Department is the right place to go!"

"...Okay, let's start with the Ecology Department." Noah smiled. Originally, she was most concerned about the Special Containment Department, but since Miu Miu had said so, she had no choice but to go check on the situation there first. Saria and Miu Miu held Noah in the middle, one on each side, always feeling a sense of fear that Noah would escape. After walking for a while, they arrived at the bottom of the Ecology Department building. To be precise, the Ecology Department building was the shortest of all the buildings, but also the largest in terms of floor area. This was because the entire Ecology Department building was covered with a special glass dome and surrounded by a large plastic greenhouse.

Walking into the Ecology Department building, it feels like entering a botanical garden. In order to provide plants with sufficient light, most areas of the Ecology Department are divided into ecological areas. This part of the area cultivates a large number of plants in an artificial environment. One part is for studying how to continue and preserve seeds of endangered plants, and the other part is experimental plants, which are improved through various means, such as larger apples, more nutritious wheat, disease-resistant rice, etc. It can be said that with the blessing of various factors, Ecology may be the most popular subject among all subjects.

After all, most of the research results here are aimed at feeding people or restoring populations. In short, they are all good things that benefit the country and the people. As the director of the Ecology Department, Muirseth has donated his patents free of charge on several occasions, feeding a considerable number of people. However, what surprised Noya even more was that when she entered the rice cultivation area, she also saw an acquaintance.

"Miss Shu? Why are you here?"

Who else could it be if it wasn't Shu who was squatting in the field holding the rice ears? She hadn't expected Shu to appear here. After all, according to the laws of Da Yan, Shu couldn't easily leave Da Yan. Why would he appear in Rhine Life?

"Ms. Noah? You're back?" Shu turned around, smiled, and waved. "It's a long story, but now, I'm considered a free man."

"Free..." Noah was stunned, "You left Dayan?"

"Not really. If Da Yan needs me, I'll still go back. It's just that I'm retired now, and the rice cultivation technology here is quite advanced, so I'm here to learn." Shu smiled, "Now I should be considered affiliated with Rhodes Island."

"I see." Noah was relieved when she heard it was Rhodes Island. After all, the doctors at Rhodes Island were probably the most skilled poachers Noah had ever seen. Even he had been poached, so it didn't seem strange that they'd poach Miss Shu to Rhodes Island. "I just got back too, and I'm so happy to see you, Miss Shu. I really appreciate your unpaid help back in Iberia."

"It's all about feeding people. It doesn't matter who we help." Shu didn't mind these things at all. "Besides, the things you proposed have completely changed Rhine Life. Now Rhine Life is the Rhine Life of all of Terra. There's no reason for me not to do my part, right?"

"Miaomiao worked really hard too! It's not just Miss Shu! I also worked hard to develop new rice varieties!" At this point, Muirses was dissatisfied. It was clear that she and Miss Shu had shared the credit equally, so why did Noah only praise Miss Shu and forget about herself? She quickly took credit, saying, "If it weren't for me, it would have taken at least several months to develop the salt-alkali-resistant rice!"

"Yes, Miss Muirseth helped me a lot." Shu naturally didn't forget the order and praised with a smile. "Ms. Muirseth is worthy of being the director of the Rhine Life Ecology Department. She is really an amazing person."

"Miumiu, you've worked hard, too." Noya, of course, hadn't forgotten Miumiu's dedication and expressed her sincere gratitude. It might be more accurate to say she was thanking him on behalf of the Iberian civilians who were already suffering from famine. Both Muerses and Miss Shu were like gods to the Iberian civilians of the time. No, even praying to the gods couldn't keep you full; they truly did.

If it were placed in ancient times, it would really be possible to establish a sect and a temple——

"Hehe~~" The elf was so happy to receive the compliment that she was bubbling with beauty. Saria, who was standing by, couldn't stand it any longer and slapped Muirses on the shoulder and said, "Alright, alright, stop showing off. There are other students here. Are you going to make fun of them?"

"Tsk! If you dare to laugh at me, I will make sure these graduate students cannot graduate!" Muirseth glanced viciously at the students who dared to laugh. The students suddenly felt that their hope of graduation was slim, so they immediately retracted their gaze and began to observe the soil.

This soil—really soil—

Looking at the students' coordinated movements, Noah couldn't help but laugh out loud.

That’s great—Rhine Life is truly humane now.

Although some people were afraid that Muirseth would make things difficult for them, some people were not afraid at all. After seeing Noah, Diana couldn't hold back anymore. She ran to Noah in a white coat.

"Long time no see! Lord Commander!"

"?" Noah was stunned. "I'm not the chief commander anymore. Now I'm just an ordinary person. There's no need to call me the chief commander."

"In my heart, Lord Noah has always been the Commander-in-Chief." Diana completely ignored Noah's explanation, her eyes filled with admiration. "Where has the Commander-in-Chief been all this time? Why is there no news at all?"

"Well..." Noah's disappearance hadn't been publicized, so most people, including Diana, were kept in the dark. To most people, it seemed like Noah had been missing for months before reappearing. "He was probably on a business trip, nothing serious."

To prevent Diana from worrying, she smiled and made up an excuse. "You came to Saltwind City to help before, right? I remember this. Thank you for your hard work."

"No, it's my happiness to be with the president," Diana quickly shook her head. Ever since Noah rescued her from Alex, Diana had always admired Noah. Plus, she was naturally talented. If Muirseth ever decided to resign, Diana would likely become the new head of the Ecology Department. Of course, the elf was still young and wouldn't be planning to retire so soon.

"Diana is also very capable. The salt-alkali-resistant and disease-resistant fruit trees she led the research on have entered the patent approval stage." Muirses touched Diana's head. The two were actually about the same height, but because of the previous incident, Muirses has always been very concerned about Diana's situation. In addition, Diana herself has also been working hard. It can be said that the current ecological department is the result of the joint efforts of Diana and Muirses.

Seeing the smile on Diana's face, Noah felt relieved, but she was also more curious about how Alex was doing while she was away.

Not only Alex, but also Mr. Skeleton, the Butterfly Funeral, and so on. She didn't know what happened to those inmates she had a good relationship with. Perhaps seeing Noah's thoughts, Saria suggested, "How about we go to the Special Confinement Department now?"

"—Is it okay?" Noah blinked. "…Will there be any problems?"

"No, the Special Containment Department is completely different now than it was before you left," Saria explained. "It's now officially a department and no longer a secret. With Agor's help, we've successfully established new containment procedures and conducted research on the realization of the singularity technology fantasy. The treatment of the inmates is much better now, so you don't need to worry."

"-Okay." Noah, who was still worried about the situation of the special containment objects, nodded. After saying goodbye to Shu and Diana, Noah, Saria and Muirses came to the containment area. The current special containment department is no longer an underground building, but an architectural style with a round dome. After entering the room, the two sides are no longer guarded by mercenaries of the containment department, but mechanical engineers. These mechanical engineers are obviously also driven by transmitters. While replacing manual labor, it also reduces the possible losses caused by breaking the containment.

Fully mechanized containment measures, complete monitoring equipment, and reinforced containment areas - Noah discovered many differences at a glance.

It was a far more complete set of measures than the one she had originally designed, and it was obvious that this set of measures had been specially modified—and more importantly, after entering, she saw someone she had never expected.

"...Christen?"

"Hey, you're back?"

The former chief, the long-missing Christen, actually appeared here. In addition to Christen, there was also a huge central computer here, which was connected to the dome and displayed the status and values ​​of each containment on the screen. Christen sitting here looked like the old man in the monitoring room. In addition, what surprised her even more was that the central computer suddenly spoke.

"Welcome, Miss Noa Kyrielight."

"……what?"

"Meet me, its name is Trevor Friston. It's not an artificial AI. I suggest you treat it as a human with whom you can communicate normally."

Christen introduced, "He's a [preservator] of a previous civilization. He provided me with a lot of information about that civilization and helped me design a new aircraft. When you brought the Agor people to land, I had just completed the prototype of the aircraft."

Christen explained, "Then I took the initiative to find Saria and asked for cooperation with the Agor people to continue the flight plan. At the same time, under my persuasion, Friston also planned to join our plan."

"Wait, wait..." Noah was stunned. "Friston? Former civilization? Preservation Project? What are you talking about?"

"...Shall we start from the beginning?" Kristen sighed. "That's a very long story... It all starts from when I discovered Friston during an archaeological discovery..."

Chapter 92: The Future

When Kristen told this story, Friston was also listening, but he was not here at that time. Instead, he was in some underground ruins. He was still maintaining his mission and guarding everything in the Preserver Project.

The Preserver Project, the Deep Blue Tree Project, and the Originium Project exist in parallel. They are civilization's response to destruction and its last struggle. The Preserver Project may be the most conventional and conservative approach among them.

By using hibernation technology to preserve a spark for humanity's future, after a long, cold winter, there will always be a moment when a single spark can start a prairie fire. Those who are preserved have the important mission of reviving humanity.

The Preservator Plan was the first to be drawn up, even before the Heaven's Fulcrum Plan, the Originium Plan, and the Abyss of the Blue Tree Plan. As the earliest backup plan to be determined, it also received the greatest resource support. It can be said that although the former civilization had drawn up four plans at the time, the Preservator Plan, which was the simplest and seemed the most feasible, could be said to be one of the most important plans, because only the Preservator Plan was the only way for humans to come directly to the future through a special means.

But the premise is - if everything goes well.

However, this seemingly very feasible plan still has huge flaws. No... from now on, no matter which plan it is, it seems that there are huge flaws.

No matter how thorough your plan is, it cannot keep up with changes, and the same is true for the Preservator Project. It was a long time later when Friston truly realized that the Preservator Project had failed.

Friston remembered it clearly; it was an ordinary day in his long, lonely watch.

To him, every second was an endless repetition: row after row of metal cuboids, those "sarcophagi" containing faces he once knew, compatriots he had tried to save but ultimately failed to do so. He had tried to awaken them through the endless years, but each attempt only brought deeper disappointment. Time had become both his enemy and his most loyal companion—silent and relentless.

He once thought that this long wait would never end, until one day, a group of new faces appeared before him.

It was a few years ago when he first met Kristen.

The arrival of that day had been calculated, merely one of countless moments of "waiting." Countless times, in silence, he listened to the gentle hum of the sarcophagus's cooling system, calculating its remaining energy and the probability of resuscitation. He even calculated his own perception of time, trying to slow its passage and avoid being completely consumed by loneliness.

But that day, external interference shattered the tranquility of this place. As the passage's security systems were breached one by one, he suddenly discovered a new signal appearing in his long-dormant sensory network. It was the signal of a living being—a life form from the current Terran civilization.

No one had ever entered this area. According to the original rules and regulations, he should have closed the gate and not let anyone in. However... he didn't do that.

She entered the core area of ​​the facility. In silence, Friston's robotic sensors captured her presence: a human in a hazmat suit, her gaze shone with curiosity and caution. Her footsteps echoed through the empty corridors, as if she were exploring this forgotten world.

Friston knew he had finally arrived at the possibility he'd been waiting for—a visitor from the future. He activated his core projection, and a massive mechanical eye slowly descended from the dome, surrounding the visitor. A cold blue light flickered from the depths of its "pupils," a visual perception system it had long since unused. The creature was clearly startled, but it quickly regained its composure. Realizing that this massive, descending mechanical eye seemed to possess some kind of...intention, it finally spoke.

"who are you?"

The writing and pronunciation of Terra were indeed very primitive in the eyes of the previous civilization. It took Friston less than a second to translate the meaning of this sentence, and he also learned the language of Terra. It was because of this that this conversation was able to take place.

After knowing the meaning of this sentence, Friston quickly came to his own conclusion, and this was the first sentence that Kristen and Friston exchanged.

"A meaningless guardian, watching over his blood brothers and compatriots who will never wake up again."

That's right, a meaningless guardian. This is how Friston perceives himself. He has completely failed. After confirming that his compatriots in the coffins have lost hope of awakening, he has indeed lost the meaning of his existence. However, the system instructions prevent him from committing suicide. It is better to say that in order to ensure the stability of everything, he is not even allowed to think too deeply. He is a guardian and a prisoner. Here he has gained eternal life, but also a cage.

But these had nothing to do with Kristen, she was just satisfying her curiosity.

She continued forward, approaching the sarcophagi, her eyes wandering over the metal rectangles. She seemed overwhelmed by their number and scale, so she asked, "What are these?"

Friston slowly adjusted the frequency of his voice, making sure every word was clear enough: "A life-support device far beyond your comprehension. It does not rely on the Originium energy you are familiar with. But tens of thousands of years are enough to wear it out. It is just a coffin for the dead of the past." He knew that she would understand the meaning of this sentence - the people in these sarcophagi would never wake up again.

Once again, these words should have pierced Friston's heart, but unfortunately, he no longer had a heart, so he felt no pain—as if something had filtered out his emotions, leaving him as cold as the mechanical voice he spoke. However, he still retained some emotion, so he paid particular attention to Kristen's expression. After hearing these words, she didn't show the regret or concern Friston had expected.

She seemed more concerned with how many answers she could give him, or rather, what valuable answers she could offer. He had seen this expression many times—the scientists who decided to stay at the end of civilization seemed to have the same look. However, her next words caught his attention.

"Why are you so close to humans?" Her tone was filled with confusion and caution, as if she was wondering how an ancient machine could retain such human emotions. Indeed, given the current development of Terran civilization, creating AI capable of mimicking humans was still a long way off. He was also unique enough that it was no wonder he had aroused her vigilance. Unfortunately, he was a ghost from a previous civilization, his true body long gone. His current form consisted of this giant mechanical eyeball.

"In the darkest days, only humanity can prevent even more complete destruction. Even so, this means endless torment for me." Friston explained in a calm tone, stating the truth without rhetoric—he is human consciousness, a substitute created to prevent AI from degenerating. But the price is that he must experience endless loneliness until someone arrives, or everything ends.

After the Preservator Project was implemented, his duties were inextricably linked to the survival of the former civilization. He couldn't even choose death himself, as he lacked the ability to commit suicide. However, he didn't say these things out loud, as they lacked meaning and value.

So what could he offer? Or, in other words, what kind of help could he give to this nascent civilization?

He quickly came to the conclusion that

Answers, he could give this fragile being almost every answer. She must be a scholar, after all, only scholars and children possess such a fervent curiosity, seeking answers from the mouths of their ancestors. The conversation continued, she asked many questions about the sky, the universe, this world, and the many unknowns of Terra. He sensed her thirst for knowledge and her relentless pursuit, as if she too was searching for answers, and he offered her the truths he knew.

In the past, a long, long time ago, when humans were still on their home planet, Earth, people in the barbaric era wanted to acquire knowledge and needed to eat hallucinogenic herbs, communicate with gods, and obtain oracles.

And now, although it was not his original intention, Friston was indeed sending down an oracle. The technological level of the previous civilization was indeed like a god to the current Terra civilization.

All Friston could give them were answers, only the truth.

When she asked about the truth about the sky, Friston calmly told her, "The barrier prevents Terra from reaching the stars. Light is distorted, making it impossible for people to understand the true meaning of the world. Only the stars are undeniable; they exist." He wanted her to understand that the starry sky wasn't supposed to be this way. It was the result of the conflict between humanity and nature.

When she asked him about the universe, he calmly replied, "Any creature that captures light will be overwhelmed by the vast sea of ​​stars the moment it looks up. It's unknown, magnificent, and beautiful. But in my eyes, the void means only destruction and cold loneliness."

That was also his only real feeling as a watcher.

Friston felt like a question-and-answer machine, but he was happy with it. Just being able to communicate with intelligent creatures was fun for him—or rather, he hoped to tell the creature in front of him everything he knew. But that was impossible. The creature's body structure couldn't handle such a vast amount of knowledge, so he could only tell her everything she wanted to know through question-and-answer.

The conversation seemed to deepen. She asked many more questions, more about the mysteries of the origin and evolution of life on Terra, about the technology they once prided themselves on, and about the creatures the Terrans called "Sakota." And he, as someone who had witnessed both greatness and collapse, slowly passed this information to her, as if wanting to entrust these distant memories to this visitor.

"Have you ever seen a beast of burden?" Kristen asked a seemingly funny question, and Friston patiently told her everything he knew.

"The creatures you call beasts of burden have not changed much in their evolution. Their resilience is akin to that of the planet itself. People should be humble and respectful of them." Even as he spoke these words, Friston could clearly sense that the individual before him, named Christen, was testing him. Perhaps it was testing his knowledge, or perhaps something else. But Friston remained unmoved; he possessed a wealth of patience.

“What’s it like to travel the ocean?”

"I can only tell you the simulated feeling. Flying over a planet's ocean is like wrapping yourself in a blue silk scarf, and this bright blue is always fleeting."

"Why does Sakota have a halo and wings?" Her voice echoed in the empty preservation center.

Friston explained slowly, "The cold chain of command gives them an identity. Machines without self-awareness are activated in the name of God, carrying out missions they themselves cannot understand. This is dangerous."

From this point on, all her questions were within Friston's expectations, even Sakota's questions. After all, after the system was fully activated, her information probes in the outside world had input the intelligence and information stored for hundreds and thousands of years into his brain, including Terra, Sakota, Sarkaz, and even Originium, Hai Si, and Agor. He received all the information almost in an instant.

The information didn't overwhelm him, but it was enough to overwhelm the insignificant being before him. His curiosity was satisfied, and even Christen finally felt a little more respect. To be treated with dignity by a being that could even be called a creator, her unyielding attitude was truly commendable.

Soon, she seemed to have no more questions, and Friston waited for a long time until the being before her asked her last question.

"Our cause, our cities and homes, our beautiful art and cruel history... suffering, war, natural disasters, and the arrogance that destroys everything; our thoughts and ideals, our endowed greatness and innate equality; the civilization born in this tiny wilderness, and all that we once loved so deeply... What is their only destined meaning, and what is life's ultimate quest?"

Friston's core calculations paused briefly. This was the answer to the only question he couldn't blurt out. It was no longer a question with a standard answer. It was even something in the philosophical category. Friston couldn't imagine that the first Terran life he had seen could actually ask such a question. He was silent for a long time, and even the operating noise increased by several decibels. After careful consideration, he dared to give a conclusion.

This conclusion was not reached by referring to any documents, but simply by thinking about it and coming up with an answer.

Perhaps this answer is not convincing, but Friston, who has experienced countless years, can only give this answer.

"future."

written request for leave

I'll be taking a break for two days on the 30th and 31st, with no internet access for two days, and I'll be taking a break from both books. I'm also asking for votes, and I'll be back soon!

Okay, it’s okay if you don’t give it to me www

I've just been a little stressed these past few days, with issues at home, with books, and a lot of other problems.

Hope it will heal soon.

Don't worry, I won't run away. I will work hard to finish Noah's book.

Believe us www

Chapter 93: A Pool of Spring Water

"……future."

Indeed, the end of science, the end of art, the end of race, civilization, and all creations all exist for the sake of survival and for a better future.

The word "future" seems simple, but it already includes everything that Terra can see.

"I'm afraid Friston came here to add weight to his future," Noah sighed. "Please allow me to express my respect to you."

"No, this is my choice, and yours as well," Friston said. "I can't protect my compatriots, but I can protect the future of this planet. I think that's what she wanted to tell me."