Chapter 2: Man and Machine (2/2)
Under the lighting, the tiny human and the huge machine sat side by side.
Ye Chong asked curiously, “Mu, what happened to you?”
Mu Shang answered, “Information corrupted, reason is unknown!”
Ye Chong gulped down a mouthful of water and laughed. “Hah, if it must be because you are actually not powerful enough, to be beaten up like that!”
Mu Shang replied, “Information corrupted, reason is unknown!”
Ye Chong’s laughter ended abruptly, and he moped. “Oh come one, can’t you be a little more interesting? Don’t just be like ‘information this’, ‘information that’!”
Mu Shang tilted its head in confusion. “Interesting? What is ‘interesting’?”
Ye Chong scratched his head in frustration, for he was stumped. “Er, er, that question is, hmm, a bit complicated, er, let’s talk about something else, Mu, are you actually male or female?”
… … …
Ye Chong sat in Mu Shang’s cabin, stupefied, as he stared in obvious disbelief, his hand caressing this and that in absolute adoration and admiration. “Mu, you must be one of the best mechs there is, aren’t you?”
Mu replied evenly, “Information archive indicates that the answer is negative. Calculation indicates the probability of inclusion in the top 500 ranking mechs as 26%, in the 501th to 600th ranking range as 63%, beyond the 600th ranking as 11%.”
Ye Chong gasped in astonishment. “500 mechs? Are there so many more great mechs? But, back to your point, being in the top 500 is not too shabby! In any case, you’re definitely better than Winnie!”
Naturally, Ye Chong did not fully understand the implications of Mu Shang ranking within the top 500, even in its current state of dilapidation. Ye Chong had always dreamed of owning a mech more advanced than Winnie one day, and then he would march forth and challenge the trash planet’s most ferocious mutants in battle. What would the giant iron lizard’s meat taste like? Ye Chong licked his lips without realizing it. Hah, the time will come when I crown myself as King of this trash planet!
Mu Shang heartlessly cut short his fantasy. “Winnie’s strength cannot be calculated!”
Ye Shang immediately pulled a face, “I know that!” “Mu, can I be your pilot?” he asked with anticipation.
“Denied!”
*Cries* Oh well, it looks like he’ll have to pilot Winnie himself!
Ye Chong was deeply saddened, but he caught on to a puzzling aspect. “Then why do you have a cabin?”
Mu Shang was silent for a few second before responding. “Information is corrupted, query is impossible!”
“Then do you remember who made you?” Ye Chong asked, interested.
“Information is corrupted, query is impossible!”
The ever so lonely Ye Chong was deeply absorbed in the conversation, and just as he was about to continue with the questions, a sudden alarm buzzed softly, as Mu Shang announced, “Energy level depleted!” Upon inspection of the energy indication display, the level was a hair’s breadth away from zeroing out.
Since Trash Planet-12 was situated close to a star, it had a nearly unlimited supply of solar energy, or at least Ye Chong never faced problems with energy supply. But when he used up all his backup energy cells on Mu Shang and found that it did not even recover 10% of its full capacity, Ye Chong was confounded!
As Mu Shang connected directly to the solar panels, Ye Chong was speechless, and prayed that the energy cell circulating his house would last until Mu Shang was finished charging that day.
Mu Shang was quiet throughout the charging process, and Ye Chong, bored with the whole process, dozed off.
The next day, as Ye Chong rubbed off the sleepiness of his tired eyes, he found that Mu Shang looked a little different. The machine’s surface looked as if it was coated with an extra layer of shine that added to the mysteriousness of the mech.
Ye Chong gasped, “Mu, you looked beautiful all of a sudden!”
Mu Shang seemed to understand Ye Chong’s meaning of ‘beautiful’, and explained, “This is the photon excitation effect, where an adequate energy supply produces a lifelike shine on metallic surfaces, the basic theory is that …”
Ye Chong sported his baggy eyelids and couldn’t stop yawning.
Mu Shang seemed to enjoy the lecturing, showing no signs of stopping. “Other theories involved are actually quite simple, they can be classified into the following fields …”
Ye Chong bowed his head, like a monk in meditation, and one would notice upon close inspection that a line of “moisture” had formed on his lap, forming a big patch of dampness on his trousers.
Mu Shang was not quite finished. “And so, from here one can reach the conclusion that a mech’s strength …”
A thundering snore cut off Mu Shang’s lecture. Mu Shang looked angrily towards the source of the sound, and saw Ye Chong snoring rhythmically through his nose, incessantly, and his shoulders rose and fell with his heavy breathing.
Mu Shang humphed in anger!