Holding the bag tightly against her chest with one arm and holding an umbrella with the other, Cheng Feng jogged all the way back to the dormitory.
The box was quite small, so the portable robot was probably not very big, either.
As she pushed open the door, Cheng Feng heard the howling of the wind and had a sinking feeling – she couldn’t remember whether she had closed the window before leaving earlier that day.
Her combat robot was placed right by the window. When she turned on the light, she saw that even the blanket had gotten wet.
Cheng Feng quickly pressed a button on the control panel. The sound of the wind and rain was muffled by the glass, but the dampness and chill lingered in the air.
She hurried to the bathroom, grabbed a clean towel, walked over to the combat robot, and wiped its face.
“Let me dry you off.”
After wiping away the rainwater from its surface, she hastily mopped the floor as well.
After cleaning up the mess, Cheng Feng picked up the blue gift box, hugged it to her chest, and sat cross-legged in front of the balcony. Through the dim yellow streetlights, she gazed down at the crisscrossing, irregular paths below.
She was used to this feeling of quietly sitting and idling away the time.
The processing system of the combat robot itself wasn’t very advanced, and its ability for daily communication was limited. Many of the questions Cheng Feng asked it, it didn’t know how to answer. In the end, it could only read her the answers it found through online searches.
After the internet was cut off due to inability to renew the payment, this robot, born for war, became even more rigid and clumsy. It couldn’t provide any extra feedback regarding Cheng Feng’s sadness. When faced with instructions it couldn’t execute, it would just loudly recite some of the only jokes stored in its database.
It was a rather unserious robot.
But no matter when –
Cheng Feng pressed her forehead against the cold glass door. The warm breath from her mouth formed a white mist in her field of vision. In the corner of her eye, the blurry mirror vaguely reflected the afterimage of the robot, as if it were quietly sitting behind Cheng Feng.
Whether during wartime, or during peacetime.
Amidst the vicissitudes of life, or amidst the turmoil of the human heart.
The deepest programmed instructions etched into this combat robot would compel it to repeat the same actions – find her, protect her, welcome her home.
It would get hurt for Cheng Feng, carry Cheng Feng home on its back, and diligently answer her questions.
After Cheng Feng was taken into care, it would come every day to stand outside the wall of the welfare home, positioning itself where she could see it by peeking through the window.
In the empty room, it would instantly wake from standby mode, stand in the corner, and say to her: “Today is [Month] [Day], weather sunny, welcome home.”
If it could be said that Cheng Feng was abandoned in the coldness of this world, where nothing was real except solitude, then only this unchangeable programmed instruction was truly connected to her. It aptly created a warmth and care she could mistake for something genuine, so she didn’t have to blindly flee in a homeland that offered no sense of belonging.
Humans cannot stop making mistakes. Only machines can.
But this combat robot itself existed because of human mistakes.
She liked it, and was willing to use this product of mistakes to mask all kinds of sorrow.
Cheng Feng looked down and opened the box, taking out a smart robot shaped like a baby owl.
Its feathers were white, and it stared back with bright, alert eyes. Since its database hadn’t been loaded yet, after flipping the switch, it could only engage in an innocent staring contest with the person in front of it.
Cheng Feng glanced down at the little owl, then looked at the old-fashioned robot whose surface was covered in scratch and bullet marks. After a long while, she took out her light computer and sent a message to Xiang Yunjian.
Ye Guicheng: Database!
Xiang Yunjian: Pack up your friend tomorrow and send it to this address. The courier is already booked, and the fee is settled.
Ye Guicheng: Thanks, Dad. [Righteously Confident]
Ye Guicheng recalled a message.
Ye Guicheng: [Heart Heart Heart]
Xiang Yunjian: Using the [Righteously Confident] meme isn’t wrong. Anyway, whether you’re apologizing or thanking, you act like you’re the boss.
Although he was totally making that up, Cheng Feng generously decided to forgive him.
Night had fallen particularly early today. It seemed as if, along with the rain, Cheng Feng had been transported back to that dilapidated old house on the post-war planet.
The next morning, waking up from a daze, she received a notification from UFU regarding the start-of-semester arrangements.
From that day onward, the university began welcoming new students. Volunteers, along with academic advisors, would be at the student activity center to assist. Attached was a map showing the locations of booths set up by each college.
Around six in the morning, the residential area had already become bustling. From time to time, the sound of doors being forcefully opened and shut came from downstairs in the dorm building.
Cheng Feng went out to have breakfast. When she returned, the previously empty dorm room finally had people in it.
Several parents, along with their children, were sitting on the sofa in the living room, chatting.
Cheng Feng pushed the door open and entered. Her gaze swept roughly across the room, and she nodded perfunctorily as a gesture of politeness. At the same time, without stopping, she walked over to her own door, turned her back to them, and slipped inside.
Her resistance to communication was palpable – she hadn’t even made eye contact.
One girl, who had just raised her hand to say hello, was dumbfounded. She looked at the people beside her and said awkwardly, “She… what’s her deal?”
Another girl with short hair, without looking up, said, “Social anxiety, probably.”
A nearby parent worriedly asked, “Is this child difficult to get along with?”
“We’re not even in the same room, so what does it matter if she’s hard to get along with? There are so many people in a class, there are always classmates you just can’t vibe with.”
“The command department isn’t really a place for going it alone. Kids these days are different from when we were young; they all have very strong personalities. I didn’t agree with you choosing the command department back then. You won’t be able to handle it.”
The girl explained quietly, “We’re in Command Category B, the behind-the-scenes track.”
Her father frowned and said, “Still, doesn’t that require getting along with your classmates?”
As they were talking, the girl who had been lying on the sofa playing with her optical computer sat up.
She looked very tired, her eyelids half-lowered as if she hadn’t woken up properly. Her frizzy long hair was carelessly tied at the back of her head, with stray strands hanging down on both sides of her forehead. Bandages were wrapped several times around her arm. The words “sloppy and disheveled” were written all over her.
It was only when she stood up that everyone noticed her limbs were particularly long and slender, hanging limply like a few bamboo poles. Without a word, she walked into her room.
The living room was quiet for a moment. The middle-aged man looked at the two tightly closed doors on either side and lowered his voice, saying, “Both of your roommates are a bit… strange.”
The girl also felt a little uneasy, thinking she had encountered two oddballs. She switched to the class group chat, opened the group files, and scanned the list of roommates.
Two seconds later, she closed the file list.
…Never mind. They could do whatever they wanted.
…
Two days passed after that initial meeting, and Cheng Feng still hadn’t gotten to know her roommates.
There were four of them, and everyone usually stayed in their own rooms. Apart from the two girls in the middle who got along pretty well, the rest didn’t even know each other’s names.
The second time they met was on the day of military training.
Cheng Feng received a new map from her academic advisor, which marked the assembly points for each class. The schedule assigned to her was a bit special: in the morning, she was to assemble with her classmates from Command Category B, and in the afternoon, she had to go to the equipment room for simulation training with the students from the Infantry Department.
Cheng Feng had never experienced military training before and wasn’t sure what it mainly entailed. She changed her clothes and arrived at the assembly point right on time.
The area near the sports field was packed with freshman teams. Basically, everyone from the military department was assembling in the same general area.
As Cheng Feng passed by, a group of guys recognized her. They started screaming and whistling, and some even enthusiastically tried to get close:
“Hey, Boss!”
“Good morning, Big shot!”
“Sis, hurry up and run! You’re going to be late!”
“Is that the ‘Category B Dad’ here? Good work, Dad!”
The instructor heard the commotion from afar. Standing on a step with his hands behind his back, he watched Cheng Feng drag her feet as she approached and said with a teasing smile, “Quite popular, aren’t you?”
Cheng Feng gave him a slight bow and then blended into the already-formed ranks.
The instructor hadn’t expected her to be so polite. He tilted his chin slightly and said, “Not gonna acknowledge your fans? I can give you a little time to say a few words to your admirers.”
The group of guys were still craning their necks to look in Cheng Feng’s direction, putting on pitiful expressions.
A few of the younger instructors also ambled over, clearly wanting to watch the show. They circled near Cheng Feng with terrible acting skills, chatting with their colleague on the step while sneakily glancing back at the legendary “Polestar.”
Cheng Feng sighed, raised her hand, and waved it in a cursory, leadership-inspection-style motion to the crowd around her, signaling for everyone to just shut up.
The instructor found her expression and reaction quite amusing – a contradictory mix of maturity and naivety that, somehow, seemed perfectly natural on her.
He shooed away the few instructors who had gathered nearby, jumped down from the step, and announced through his megaphone, “Good morning, everyone. I’m your instructor for this military training. My surname is Yuan, Instructor Yuan. For you freshmen, especially from the command department, don’t worry too much. Our training content is pretty relaxed. The real ordeal starts in your sophomore year, and I won’t be the one leading you then.”
The crowd played along with some supportive noises.
The instructor stopped them. “No need to applaud, it’s not like I’m giving a speech.”
He scanned the group and said with satisfaction, “Command Category B really does have the highest number of female students in the military department, huh? About a 3:7 ratio. Well then, we shouldn’t have any problem with this year’s variety show, right? If all else fails, we could just have Cheng Feng take a lap around the stage, and she’d still win the Most Popular Award. Hahaha!”
His solitary laughter was a bit awkward, and the crowd wasn’t sure whether they should chime in or not.
The instructor cleared his throat, turned serious, and clapped his hands to get down to business. “Alright, to make arrangements easier, let’s first choose a class monitor. Any volunteers?”
Several students eagerly raised their hands.
The instructor smiled and said, “How about this: why don’t we nominate Cheng Feng, who had the most outstanding performance in this year’s freshman competition? What do you all think?”
The crowd applauded in agreement.
The instructor looked with anticipation towards the far left of the line.
Cheng Feng stood there expressionless, unmoved by the crowd’s cheers. Her eyes were vacant, staring off into the distance, every feature on her face conveying her lack of interest.
The instructor also felt she wasn’t up for it. He pressed his lips together and changed his tune. “Cheng Feng is a special recruit from a post-war planet, so she might not be very familiar with the Alliance, and she’s also quite young. How about we nominate the student with the best grades in our class? Shen Dan, come on, which one is Shen Dan?”
No one answered. Based on a photo, the instructor scanned the line and finally locked onto the far right end.
The tall girl had a strong presence, but she was slightly hunched over, seeming to lack energy. Her dark eyes, half-covered by her eyelids, fixed on him, looking somewhat gloomy. As if performing in a mime show, she showed no reaction whatsoever.
These two gatekeepers, one on the left and one on the right, were making the whole class’s vibe feel downright morbid.
The instructor: “…”
Damn. What kind of karma is this.
The instructor wiped his hand down his face, conceding the point. “Alright, everyone who wanted to be class monitor just now, raise your hands again.”
A few people, suppressing grins, raised their hands once more.
He randomly pointed to the most energetic one and boomed, “You! You’re the monitor!”
The young man replied with vigor, “Thank you, Instructor!”
The instructor, showing his understanding, said, “Time is precious, so let’s skip the self-introductions. The monitor will represent everyone and pick a fun warm-up activity for you all. Then we’ll practice formations. Since there are more girls, we’ll try to choose something a bit lighter.”
Everyone had long heard tales of the UFU instructors’ ferocity and sadism. They had come mentally prepared, but now it all seemed like rumors.
Running into an instructor like this felt like a direct ticket to paradise.
Lulled by his amiable and friendly demeanor, the students let their guard down. Their stances grew lazy, and they grinned, chiming in with “Okay!”
The instructor signaled to the monitor. “Regular warm-up package or surprise warm-up package? Which one do you pick?”
The monitor said, “The regular one!”
The instructor’s smile was flawless. “Ten laps around the field. Girls, one lap less. Go.”
For a moment, the group didn’t react; someone even let out a dry laugh.
The monitor’s face changed drastically, and he quickly amended, “What about the surprise one?”
The instructor said, “Five laps around the field.”
The crowd drew in a breath, about to decide, when he leisurely added another line, “With weights. Then add ten sets of frog jumps. And for those who can’t finish, don’t be too upset. The instructor has prepared a special surprise just for you.”
He pinched two fingers together and formed a little heart for everyone.
