Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 311: Anyone Who’s With That Cat Can’t Be Good News [Part 1]

*from now on Moon and the rest of the Original robots will be addressed as he, him, his

The blue strip on Moon’s face kept flashing as if he was examining the newcomers. A while later, he looked at Chip, floated off the ground and flew a circle around him.

“Ah, Chip, why do you still look like this?”

Chip didn’t answer. He believed that Moon was just pretending to be a fool, and that he was aware from the start. Even in hibernation, Moon was powerful enough to keep track of everything that had been going on around him.

Wheeze jumped up Moon’s head and took a seat just like it did with Sigma when it was still in GAL space. Moon paid it no mind and continued flying circles around Chip.

Xi Kai was extremely excited. That Moon had awakened meant that he was finally going to learn some of the secrets of the past.

“Hello, Moon. I am Xi Kai, the current master and person-in-charge of the Xi Family,” Xi Kai walked toward the robot and announced himself.

The only response Moon gave was a lukewarm “I see”, however. He then ignored Xi Kai and continued conversing with Wheeze.

Xi Kai felt like he was stuck in an awkward spot. He had no idea how to converse with the Original robot. Unlike Moon, Chip treated him and the Xi Family kindly just like how a benevolent elder would treat his grandchildren. He was incredibly mature and forgiving no matter the mistakes they made. But Moon seemed completely different. From the moment he heard Moon’s response, Xi Kai knew that the Original robot would be a tough nut to crack. He had kept his secrets for a thousand years, and he could probably keep it for another thousand if he so wished. It wouldn’t be easy to make him divulge them willingly.

Cillin was going to speak to Moon himself, but he learned from Xi Kai’s failure and attempted to gauge Moon’s reaction using the machine language instead.

Moon paused in mid-conversation and looked at Cillin the moment he heard it. Then, he asked in a joking tone, “Did you guys come from the other side?”

The other side? Xi Kai stared at Cillin in puzzlement.

Cillin knew that Moon was probably referring to GAL space, so he nodded. “That is where we come from. It is there we met Sigma.”

“Have the people there found Aurelio’s Cage already?” Moon dropped in front of Cillin before asking.

“Most of it has already been found, but I’m not sure about the remaining pieces.”

Moon cocked his head and mumbled, “A thousand years, and those fools still haven’t found everything. So slow. I told them we should’ve kept them to ourselves.”

Xi Kai didn’t interrupt this time. He understood that Moon and Cillin were talking about secrets that they, the descendants of the Xi Family weren’t aware of.

“Did your master leave it behind on purpose?” Cillin asked.

“That’s right.” Moon’s emotions immediately skyrocketed when Cillin asked about his master. “Back then, the Xi Family fought against superior numbers and successfully wiped out all the bad people from existence. Those bad people left behind a couple of things, but master decided to leave some of it behind before coming over because he didn’t think it was right to surrender oneself to greed, especially when those things didn’t belong to us to begin with.”

“But why? They are an unimaginable wealth, aren’t they?”

“The members of the Xi Family love to create, but not accept. They believe that accepting foreign technology would only lead to dependence, especially since it was only a matter of time before they create said technology by their own hands.”

“Your master is a confident man.”

As it turned out, the Xi Family hadn’t left behind those technologies because they were kind. They were just so confident in their ability to do what everyone else couldn’t do that it was almost narcissistic, if not for the fact that they had solved countless problems that the best of GAL had thought to be unsolvable.

“At the time, the five of us were reading ‘Genesis Mythos’ and arguing about some of the stories in it. Then, master came up with a plan—a game that master and us came up with together—to recreate the legend ourselves. In ‘Genesis Mythos’, there are 5 Aurelios that represented a different dream each: White Night, God’s Tear, Shortcut, God’s Back Garden and Spell. So, we left five things behind that matched each Aurelio. Master had wanted to return at a later date and check who managed to obtain the five Aurelios during our free time. He never got the chance.”

Moon had flown to a cable stretching down Chip’s gigantic body and used it like a swing. He was the only person who would dare to do such a thing. However, Chip didn’t mind it at all. He was looking at Moon with reminiscence and indulging him on everything like how an older brother would.

Still swinging back and forth like he was in a playground, Moon continued, “The five of us would often argue with one another, and Sigma was always the fool who got bullied by us. He lost a bet again not long after we arrived at this space, and as punishment Suyi told Sigma to head back to the other side and identify the person who found the ‘Shortcut’. Only then he is allowed to return to us. Of course, we were just joking, and master knew this as well. Master knew full well that the reason Sigma always lost his bets was because the four of us were in cahoots. After all, he was just too gullible and easy a target. We nudged master until he relented and agreed to send Sigma to the other side.

He promised Sigma that he would take him home very soon, but Sigma still hugged his arm and said he was afraid to go alone. So, master created the Lovages to accompany him…”

Moon fell silent for a long time after that. Chip looked incredibly sad as well.

They obviously failed to keep their word due to various circumstances, and all this time Sigma thought that they hadn’t come from them because the ‘Shortcut’ was closed. The thought that his four companions were just playing with him never crossed his mind.

“We stumbled into a war afterward, and a lot of people died as a result. Equipment, technology, records, talented people. Almost everything was consumed by that war that engulfed a large majority of the Mist Bodhisattva Empire. Thanks to no small amount of good luck, master was able to lead us and a small amount of survivors away from the battlefield. It was then we encountered Freeman and came under his protection. However, we lost track of the black box that controls the spatial connection during that war, and we were never able to bring back Sigma.

We had tried to recreate another black box, but the loss of most of our records and talents made things harder than they already were, and we weren’t able to contact Sigma from this side either. In the end, master wasn’t able to recreate the black box before he died. During his last moments, master said that the biggest regret in his life was Sigma. He lied to him, and he wasn’t in time to make up for it.

The four of us were wracked with guilt as a matter of course. After all, we were the instigators behind everything, and we lost Sigma forever as a result of our foolishness.

Master told us that we were all humans, and the only difference between him and us was that he had flesh, and we had mechanical bodies. He told us to never think of ourselves as strangers, and that we should always get along with everyone as best we can. But when all our friends reached the end of their lifespan all left us one by one, it wasn’t a choice anymore. We are strangers in the eye of the newcomers who never knew us.

The four of us had witnessed the passing of our master, Sigma, some of the closer friends of the Xi Family and more. In the end, we were the only ones left. It wasn’t like we didn’t make more friends, but the cycle kept repeating itself for centuries. Eventually, some members of the Xi Family asked for permission to research the Original robots, and Suyi volunteered himself immediately. It was because he was wracked with guilt and regret all this time. He believed that he was the biggest person at fault behind the loss of Sigma. He never returned. Some time later the cycle repeated itself, and this time it was Reefia who volunteered. Before he entered the lab, he told us to take care of ourselves. He never returned as well.”

Moon turned to look at Xi Kai. No one should be able to interpret his unique expression, and yet everyone could sense the resentment he was directing toward Xi Kai anyway.

“Moon, that is not how I remember things,” Chip said. “We all lost a part of our memories…”

“You were the ones who deleted your own memories,” Moon answered. “You all closed off part of your memories because you were afraid that the Xi Family would discover more secrets than they actually need. Before master passed away, he told us not to divulge our secrets easily so as to protect our position in the Mist Bodhisattva Empire. Suyi, Reefia and you all made the same choice. I wasn’t expecting you to be saved, but even without memories your subconscious told you not to dig up the memories you closed away yourself. That is why you chose to believe what I told you before I went into hibernation.

You should know that master would never delete our memories. He told us that every memory we made in our life be it the good or the bad is a precious treasure we cannot lose. We may not be real people, but even we deserve the right to own our memories. That is the respect master afforded to all of us.”

Chip fell silent again. He’s right. Master would never delete our memories.