In 2052, the full-scale confrontation between the Eastern and Western blocs, led by China and the United States respectively, concluded through a negotiated settlement. Even extraterrestrial forces orbiting Earth intervened to prevent a catastrophic nuclear conflict.
A decade later, burdened by prolonged arms races and warfare, the United States' federal government had dissolved. Artificial intelligence models replaced bureaucratic institutions, fully liberating the free market and technological advancement.
Across the ocean, China also streamlined its bloated bureaucracy through AI. Yet adhering to distinct governance principles, it emphasized timely human intervention and societal equilibrium.
Having weathered life's storms, Lin Yuhui seemed to be nearing her final chapter. Lying in her bed, she reflected on her daughter's troubled path—her only remaining kin. While she understood hardship could forge character, the inability to shield her child from pain left a lingering regret.
She had followed her mother's path in life, yet Lin Yuhui knew his child well. She possessed some of her mother's enigmatic qualities, but her inner sensitivity and attachment mirrored his own. However, she lacked his rebellious streak and individualism. As a woman, she inevitably faced greater burdens than both her father and her mother.
“Do you visit your grandchild often?” Lin Yuhui prompted, hoping the child might offer her solace after she was gone. Yet she knew deep down that if her daughter had a strong bond with the child, she would have brought him today.
“Yes, I visit often.”
“The child has his own path. He's grown up now. Don't interfere too much.”
“Mhm, I know.”
Lin Yuhui paused, saying no more. When she was young, he’d repeatedly suggested she live with him, but she’d been blinded by those around her. By the time she understood the truth of this world, it was too late.
How he wished his daughter had trusted him unconditionally from the start, that he could have paved an easier, happier path for her—rather than leaving her with such regret when she looked back on her life.
“Dad,” his daughter sat at his bedside, reluctantly taking his hand.
Lin Yuhui wanted to grasp her hand, just as he had when she was little—to guide her, to protect her. But that impulse only traveled from his shoulder to his elbow before stopping. His hand remained motionless in hers.
What was there left to worry about? Each person had their own destiny. She had chosen her own path in life, and that was her own life lesson. At this point, any final words or concerns were useless. It was better to be ruthless, to spare her daughter even more grief after he was gone.
In the silence, his own indifference felt like an arrow piercing his heart. Lin Yuhui didn't want his daughter to feel this pain too, so he whispered softly,
“I'm fine. Go back. I won't die anytime soon.” As he spoke, he recalled all those years he'd been forced apart from his child. By the time she understood everything, it was already too late. Ah, this was the price of youth.
Lin Yuhui couldn't understand. If their bond was so faint, why had she come to be her daughter? Was it merely to repay a debt I owed her? Yet in this life as thin as water, she hadn't offered her much help. Was it to sever the ties between us?
“Dad, I'll go back now. I'll come again tomorrow.”
“Mhm,” he replied. Seeing his daughter already turning away, tears welling in her eyes, Lin Yuhui reached out and took her hand.
“Don't cry, daughter. Haven't I told you? People have souls. Souls never die. If you wish, come be my daughter again in your next life.”
Hearing her father's words, the daughter who had been about to leave could no longer hold back her tears. She turned back, threw herself into Lin Yuhui's arms, and cried out “Daddy!” in a voice choked with grief.
Lin Yuhui closed his eyes, gently stroking his daughter's hair to comfort her. Tears rolled down the corners of his eyes. This was the first embrace his daughter had given him since she had grown up.
In the special operations intelligence room of the starship orbiting Earth's low orbit, Leanna was assigning tasks:
"Extract him tonight. Replace his body with the prepared clone. Then extract his consciousness and connect it to his existing clones aged 15 to 80. Block historical memories beyond the physical age of the host clone. “Surface agents will contact his daughter. Arrange for their reversed ages to be 20 when they join our surface affiliate company. Use his age-appropriate consciousness to control his surface clones, but prohibit access to his lifetime historical memories.”
She scanned the room with her gaze.
“Other details remain as per the original plan. Any questions?”
“None.”
“Good. Proceed as planned.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
After finishing her day's work, she returned to the living quarters. Passing Lydia's room, she found the door open. Lydia was bent over, rummaging through her toy bin. Various toy cars and several opened toothpaste tubes littered the floor.
Curious about what she was doing, Leanna stepped inside and asked,
“What are you doing?”
Lydia glanced back at her sister and replied,
“Playing.”
“Playing what? Making such a mess?” Liana was curious what was going through her mind again.
“Looking for wheels,” Lydia answered without turning back, continuing to rummage.
Liana didn't press further, instead sitting beside her and chatting idly,
“You said he wouldn't go with you. What exactly happened?”
Lydia still didn't turn around.
“Oh, I found out when he'd pass away, so I went ahead of time,” she said, rummaging through things with a clatter. She pulled out an old wind-up toy car and examined it.
“There were other entities there to take him too, but I stopped them all. He just didn't believe me.”
“Why didn't he trust you?” Leanna asked. “I thought he cared about you.”
“He just didn't trust anyone. He said even if he saw my true form, he wouldn't believe it. He feared being projected into someone else's senses. He claimed he'd never died, so he didn't understand this place and wouldn't believe it.”
“Oh.”
"Sis, did you extract him? Before he died?" Lydia asked as she sat down at the table with a toy car, used ballpoint pen refills, and tape.
“Yes, tonight.”
Lydia glanced at Leanna and smiled at her.
“He waited a long time,” Lydia murmured to herself while cutting open a toothpaste tube with scissors.
Leanna smiled softly but said nothing.
Lydia cut two slits along the right angle of the toothpaste box, pushed them inward to form wheel arches, then cut a section of empty ballpoint pen refill. She removed a wheel and threaded the axle through it, finally securing the front wheel in place with tape. Instead of replicating the front wheel arch for the rear, she punched a hole to create a hidden hub design.
Next, she sliced open another side of the toothpaste box, folded it into shape, and fashioned it into a car seat.
Liana watched from the side, smiling. Lydia glanced up at her but said nothing, simply continuing to play. She then ran to the toy bin, fetched an engineer figure and a Barbie doll from the LEGO bricks, and placed them inside the car.
“Oh,” Lydia mused, then retrieved two cups from the LEGO set. After another moment's thought, she plucked a strand of her own hair, cut it off, threaded it through the cups, tied them together, and hung the makeshift accessory on the car's rear.
Seeing this, Leanna chuckled and remarked,
“I extracted him merely to understand human behavioral patterns.”
“Oh...” Lydia drew out the syllable, glancing at her sister before mimicking the sound with her own mouth, “Woo woo,” as she played with the car.
After circling a few times, the car stopped. The male and female protagonists stepped out and stood facing each other.
Then Lydia remembered something. She reached into the toy bin, pulled out a LEGO lawyer, and placed him before the two figures.
She began voicing him:
“Groom, do you take the woman before you to be your lawful wife?” she said, picking up the engineer figure.
“I do. I promise I won't let myself hurt her feelings.”
Hearing this, Leanna burst out laughing and said,
“You... you stole his lines!”
Lydia then picked up the Barbie doll, fixing her gaze on Leanna.
Under that intense stare, Leanna's smile slowly faded.
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