"Almost succeeded, Maggie!" This is a smart girl. "
"Your encouragement is unnecessary, but I appreciate it."
"Come on, let me help you stand up."
Joe held out his hand to the dark-haired girl on the ground, and she gladly accepted it. He pulled her upright, holding her tight, and she took a cautious step forward, first with her left leg, then her right. She shook desperately, but this time she didn't fall. She had been hobbling, her awkward, clumsy gait corrected bit by bit. After a few more minutes of practice, she was gliding confidently and gracefully.
"That's right," Joe encouraged her further. "Told you walking wasn't that hard."
"You're wrong again. In fact, walking is quite challenging."
At least that's how it seemed to a cosmic creature that until earlier that day had no flesh and blood. To a guy like Joe, the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other seems effortless because he doesn't think through the implications at all. Between the synapses that had to fire off the signals and all the muscles that had to work together in near-perfect harmony, it took Mahratrak nearly an hour to figure it all out. The same goes for breathing, speaking, and blinking, although these are easier to master.
"When you consider all the computing power required for these basic needs, I begin to understand why you humans still can't figure out the manipulation of dark matter."
"Well, we can't all be super-intelligent beings from the void, right?" I mean, I've heard that it takes most newborns a year to learn to talk and walk, and you picked it up pretty quickly. From my perspective, this is really impressive. "
"Your flattery is in vain and flattering."
"Hahaha. Mom always said I was attractive. Too bad you're the only lady who agrees with her."
"My theory is that your lack of personal responsibility and responsibility is a major reason for your difficulties in courtship."
"Haha...haha...yes...maybe..."
Telling him his shortcomings in such a direct and exaggerated way bruised this simple man's self-esteem, made his smile become tense, and his mood plummeted.
"Are you okay, Joe?" Maggie looked up at him. "Changes in your expression and heart rate indicate that you are experiencing pain."
"Well, kind of. It just hurt my feelings a little bit to be told frankly how bad I was."
"That was not my intention. My intention was to point out your flaws so you could correct them, not to attack your character."
"No, I know you mean well. It's just that we guys are not good at facing such cruel facts. So, can you not go?"
"I understand."
Her rolling eyes flickered again for a second as this inconsequential information entered her vast consciousness.
"Anyway, now that your leg is back to normal, let's go back to my place?"
"Indeed. I'd love to see where you live."
With that said, Maggie and Joe finally left the cult compound where they met and entered the streets of the big city Dave-156. This vast settlement alone houses one-third of the world's population of 17 billion. As the name suggests, this planet is centered around the white star Butte
po
The fourth planet orbiting d, it is just one of the 86 systems ruled by the Third British Empire (3BE). This interstellar government itself is part of a larger organization known as the Federation of Alliance Governments.
However, Joe didn't care at all. He was just an ordinary face in the vast sea of people on his home planet. At least he used to be, until he met Maggie. As the couple walks the streets of Dave-156, this cosmic entity wearing the skin of a pale young girl attracts all kinds of looks. At least they weren't naked. Maggie used her substance manipulation skills to make a rather striking red and gold suit for Joe, and a matching dress for herself out of the dead cultist's robes.
While the man was glad that he didn't have to carry Jimmy around with him rustling in the breeze, he wasn't exactly comfortable with this formal style of dress. Still, his new girlfriend - for lack of a better word - made them for him, and he didn't want to offend her by refusing to wear them. Ideally, he would wear the Ret he wore before the ceremony
oStyle™ t-shirt and jeans, but some insensitive guy shot a plasma bolt through his locker.
However, as he walked the girl back to the apartment, Joe couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be staring at him rather intently. Her unwavering gaze only made him feel slightly uncomfortable, despite the terrifying beauty of those swirling black pits she called eyes.
"Blink, Maggie," he reminded her. "If you're going to use a human body, you need to use it correctly."
"I'll try my best in the future, Joe. However, I'm very busy at the moment."
"Oh? What to do?"
"Computing atoms."
"Wow, can you see atoms?"
"Yes."
"That's probably pretty impressive. Are you counting mine?"
"Yes."
"So, how many do I have?"
"That's what I wanted to make sure of."
"Right. But can you keep a low profile? I think you made my right eye cry." He wiped the wet spot on his cheek. "No, wait. This is blood."
"...I apologize to you," Maggie looked away. “I tend to be too focused on work and put too much energy into studying.”
"That's good. That's why I'm here, right?"
The answer pleased her a little, but not enough to make her comment on it.
"So what's wrong with my atoms that you can't count them all?"
"You lose them all the time."
"Sorry, what? Am I losing atoms?"
"Indeed. Always."
"Is this...is this normal?"
"Yes, from what I can tell from other flesh bodies. Don't worry, Joe. It's not fast enough to harm you, but still fast enough to challenge my calculations."
"Ah. I guess that's good. So, what atoms did I lose?"
"The ones you expel from your lungs, the ones that slough off with your dead skin, etc. Don't worry, I've taken the liberty of collecting them."
Maggie raised her left hand, holding what looked like a small brown ball between her thin, pale fingers.
"Uh...okay? That's sweet, but also a little weird. Please don't do that."
"very good."
They continued walking, but within a minute Joe felt someone watching him again.
"Maggie, do you remember what I just said?"
"I'm blinking."
"Yes, but you're not counting my atoms again, are you?"
"I'm not. This time I want to learn your mastery of expressions."
In fact, after breathing, blinking and walking, controlling facial muscles is the next step in her self-appointed training regiment.
"Mastery, huh? I guess I could do some pretty silly things if I wanted to. Like this."
Then, out of nowhere and with very little prompting, Joe did just that. He twisted his face into a grinning grimace that looked like he was holding back a sneeze when he was severely constipated. Then he stuck out his tongue, crossed his eyes, and put on a face that could best be described as confused and distressed. His attempt to show off his mastery of expression elicited a rather unique reaction from Maggie, her stone face curling into the widest smile she had ever displayed.
"Thank you for helping me learn, but it's not necessary. I have to learn basic expressions before learning such advanced techniques."
"Haha," he laughed it off. "Well, they do say you need to learn to walk before you can run, so I guess you'd better work on that!"
"……oh."
"...You want to try running, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Huh," Joe sighed. "Let me rest for a while, okay?" It has been an eventful day. "
"very good."
The strange couple fell silent and continued walking forward. This went on for a full three minutes, and then Maggie did something weird again. She suddenly stopped halfway, raised her head suddenly, and stared at the skyscrapers that towered into the sky like a mountain of concrete.
"What? What happened?" he asked.
"Are you sure you're not lost, Joe?"
"Most definitely, yes. Why do you ask?"
"I saw an apartment with your name on it."
"Oh, that could be another Joe Mulligan."
"You have more than one surname?"
"Yeah. I guess there are a lot of Joe Mulligans in the galaxy."
"Well. Fortunately, we signed this contract."
"See? I know you can't sign a supernatural contract with them without a formal contract."
"Indeed, your accidental insight is much better than mine in this regard."
There was another pause in the conversation, which lasted for fifteen minutes, and Joe breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't used to talking to girls so casually, so he felt nervous every time he had to say something. It didn't help that the girl had thrown him to the other side of the solar system on a whim, but he tried not to dwell on those negative thoughts too much. This long break in conversation allowed him to somewhat recharge his batteries socially, at least until they met a specific person.
"Oh my God."
Suddenly blocking the couple's path was a rather buxom woman, wearing a striking blue outfit and with beehive-like blond hair. She put her hands on her hips and looked down at Maggie angrily.
"Miss, what terrible thing has your body experienced?!" she yelled. "Your hair, your eyes, and your horrible skin - you shouldn't be using those newfangled genetic models so often! You're just not human!"
"It's not up to you to decide how I look, Dolores Casbridge. Only Joe and I have control over that."
The chubby intruder was clearly surprised that her full name was inexplicably called out. However, she seemed to catch the last words Maggie said and quickly turned her anger on the young man in the red suit.
"You let her do these things to you, didn't you? You should be ashamed of yourself for being a subject of the Eternal God Queen!"
"Don't get excited, ma'am. I assure you there is no genetic modification here. But with all due respect, you could use some SlimFast P yourself.
o™. "
"nerve!"
Dolores tried to slap Joe, but before her hand could reach him, she hit an invisible brick. She recoiled in shock and pain, visibly frightened by the unexplained obstacle. Her eyes met the eternally dark abyss of the Magi, which scorned her as much as it scorned the squirming maggots on the ground.
"I really feel for your insignificant existence, Dolores Castlebridge. You'd better step out of our lives and find a purpose for yourself. Come on, Joe."
She grabbed the guy's hand and dragged him away by force. He reluctantly said a few words of apology and disappeared into the crowd.
"She's gone now, Maggie. I think you can let me go."
The girl froze as before, then turned her face towards him.
"Is my appearance really so inhumane that it deserves you to disparage me like this?"
"No. She's just a crazy old woman. You were right to tell her to go away. More importantly, I'm surprised you didn't blow her head off or something."
"Your concern is endearing, but unfounded. My pride is not fragile enough to demand a violent response to such a trivial insult."
"But you're still angry for me, right?"
"...Yes. You are my companion, and I have the obligation to protect you."
Joe smiled and patted the wiry black hair, only momentarily startled by how incredibly silky it felt against his skin.
"You controlled yourself very well."
Maggie smiled broadly, at least for her. It was the first time someone had said "well done" in such a pure and petty way. She was a little happy to hear this, but not enough to comment.
"Well, come on. Come over to my place. This is just about...ah, nonsense! I miss my soap!"
He completely lost track of time because he had been focused on helping Maggie learn her "landing legs."
"Jo, I've been wanting to know about these 'soaps.' What are they?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Oh, that's short for soap opera, just some drama-based entertainment. This season is really top-notch. I really don't want to miss First Love, but...well, no big deal. I'll catch the rerun tomorrow. "
"Curious. I want to experience the 'soap opera' you are interested in."
"You? Well, I'm all for marathons, but I don't think we have time to rewatch all 187 episodes, so the last 30 will do."
“Are these episodes stored as data somewhere?”
"Yeah, I have cassettes of the previous seasons in my apartment."
"Show me these suits."
Joe nodded and immediately led Maggie to the skyscraper where he lived. The hanging streets they'd been using wandered around the fiftieth floor of the big city, Joe's apartment on the sixty-sixth floor. Upon entering the space, however, it becomes clear that "apartment" may be too strong a word. It is a small space, about 5 meters wide, 4 meters long and 2.5 meters high. Most of it was taken up by a hulking pod-like device that looked ancient. Its off-white metal surface was covered with scratches, bumps and smudges, and the mechanism that operated the sliding glass door seemed to hiss angrily as it closed or opened. In this claustrophobic space, there is no furniture or decoration except for a picture of a smiling old cyborg lady hanging on the wall. Based on the inscription on the frame, this is apparently the mechanical Elizabeth II, the Eternal God-Queen of the Third British Empire.
"Well, here we are. Mulligan House, they like to say."
"You live in such a small place?"
"Yeah. Been here for as long as I can remember, really."
"Wouldn't you rather live in a larger room, like the one we had when we first met?"
"Oh, no. I can't afford to live in a place like that, who are you kidding me? I'm not important enough to have a job like Greg does."
In fact, in this society, less than 0.1% of the total population enjoys employment benefits. Therefore, anyone with a stable job is considered a person of prestige and importance. The only reason Greg can get so many idiots to sign up for his Star Gazing Cult is because he's a gainfully employed citizen. Others have no choice but to make do with whatever the state offers. In Joe's case, it's this small apartment, a monthly stipend, and a 3000™ full immersion pod. To maintain these seemingly trivial benefits, all he had to do was wave to the image of the eternal God-Queen at least once every twenty-four hours.
"How do you survive in such an environment?" Maggie asked.
"Oh, I just plugged into that pod over there."
*BEEP*
The machine suddenly emitted a high-pitched sound of disapproval.
"Sorry, full immersion pod three thousand, trademark."
*Beep*
This time, it responded with a voice that sounded more certain.
"They get mad when you don't call them by their full name," Joe whispered.
It's a sentiment that The Observer Malatrak understands completely, even if it's not the most pressing question on her mind.
"So, this... full immersion Pod 3000, trademark?"
*Beep*
"Does it care about you?"
"Yes. Food, drink, sleep, clothing, health, personal hygiene, it takes care of everything. At the same time, I can plug myself into VR and enjoy watching shows, playing games and all kinds of other things. I mean, I could pretty much spend my whole life there, if it weren't for the overwhelming loneliness that comes from the complete lack of real human contact.
"Interesting. I want to experience this virtual reality."
"Oh, sure. I hear it's miles ahead of what it was decades ago. Full-immersion Pod 3000, trademark," he paused to listen to the beeps, "even has, um, multi-port support."
"What does that mean?"
"That means we can all, uh, plug into the same machine. I'm told it's a little tight, but - ah, bullshit," his nervous enthusiasm disappeared immediately. "You don't have P
P chip, right?”
"Are you referring to the device that's surgically attached to your spine?"
"Yes."
"I don't have this kind of machine in my boat, no."
"Well, that's a little embarrassing," Joe scratched his neck. “You can’t really get into VR without it.”
"So, where are those soapboxes you were talking about? Are these available?"
"I'm afraid not. They're digital, not physical. You have to be plugged in to see them."
"This is unacceptable. I want to negotiate with this machine."
*BEEP*
"I don't think that's a good idea. Do you know about this? Because I really don't."
*BEEEEP!＊
"I don't particularly like it, but I studied a lot of your techniques on the way here."
Maggie raised her hand, her rotating eyes staring at this inconsiderate gadget, and she drew wisps of shadow from her hand.
"I believe I can do it."
*B-beep ?＊
If there was ever an anxiety beep, it would be this one
