Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
[Does your system not usually behave this way?]
This sentence lingered in Sheng Songshi's mind like a curse.
He couldn't even recall how he'd climbed out of the elevator shaft, nor what excuses he'd given the others about avoiding alerting the Main System and dispersing for the night. By the time Ji Yiwei left, he'd completely forgotten what instructions he'd given to Zheng Xibei and Zhou Yuechu.
[Does your system not usually behave this way?]
The entire night passed in a haze of half-sleep until Zheng Xibei's morning call startled him awake. Hearing the rare confusion in his voice, Zheng Xibei scratched his head on the other end of the line.
"Brother Sheng, you didn't forget, did you? Last night before we adjourned, you suggested further observation—today we're all bringing our systems to the leisure club in the Forest District to relax and figure out whether they're truly sentient."
"Worst of all, Brother Sheng, you even invited Ji Yiwei!"
Didn't that mean they had to be punctually waiting outside Ji Yiwei's house?
Only then did Sheng Songshi's memory and rationality fully return. Suppressing his sleep-deprived headache, he got up and, as Zheng Xibei had said, arrived early to wait outside Ji Yiwei's residence.
System 2333 clocked in as usual.
Peering through the exterior screen, he saw the curtains drawn tight and the house sealed just as he'd left it the night before—Ji Yiwei clearly hadn't gotten up yet, that bad habit of sleeping in.
Just as he was about to swipe his keycard, he paused as he curiously eyeed the hovercar parked outside the villa. Seemingly unsatisfied, he floated closer to check the license plate, memorized it, then began grooming himself against the car window.
Left ear, right ear, comb one tail, comb the other tail!
Inside the car, Sheng Songshi and his two companions tensed inexplicably as the cat-eared orb approached, not daring to make a sound.
Its movements were strikingly similar to an ordinary cat's, except its paws had been replaced by tails. After a thorough grooming session, it seemed satisfied, gave its tails a little shake, then floated toward the villa.
He was a pretty cat-orb, and he'd be pretty when meeting Ji Yiwei!
In the car, Zheng Xibei teared up. It was just too adorable—he should've known such effortless cuteness couldn't be faked.
Don't ask how he knew. The answer involved System 2222's "cute mode" delivering a thunderous blow to his psyche.
But no matter how adorable, Zheng Xibei didn't dare stare too long as this was Ji Yiwei's system. After last night, he understood that while System 2333 appeared cute on the surface, it showed its unfiltered self only to Ji Yiwei. This intimacy transcends typical host-system dynamics—wasn't it practically like dating?!
It was unimaginable. How had System 2333 and Ji Yiwei established and maintained such a relationship? Let alone staying perfectly in sync all this time—was there even another sentient being in existence compatible with Ji Yiwei?!
Back inside the villa, System 2333 finished preparing fresh fries for the seagull before floating to the bedside to wake Ji Yiwei.
"Ji Yiwei, call a tow-bot. Someone parked illegally outside our door—it's completely blocked!"
He was somewhat indignant.
Ji Yiwei knew who was about to face misfortune and let out a low chuckle. Feeling drowsy, he rolled over while also pulling System 2333 under the covers with him, intending to laze in bed together.
System 2333 dragged his wristwatch-wearing hand, struggling arduously to free itself from the blankets, and dialed the towing robot's communication line.
That lazy bum Ji Yiwei! He sacrificed so much for this household!
"Hello, this is host Ji Yiwei speaking," System 2333 began its imitation act again, mimicking Ji Yiwei's tone and cadence with surprising accuracy. Even the bedridden Ji Yiwei opened his eyes and propped his head up with one hand to watch with amusement.
"There's someone illegally parked outside my house. Yes, it needs to be towed. Come immediately... Okay."
The host's wristwatch functioned like a personal identity terminal, storing not only personal information but also permissions for point usage—it was the most private possession, never left behind and never allowed for others to use. Yet System 2333 clearly wasn't using Ji Yiwei's name to report an incident for the first time; it even knew his watch password by heart.
In less than two minutes, System 2333 happily spotted the massive towing robot appearing at the other end of the street.
Haha!
"Xiao Jiang has already gone ahead to arrange things at the club," Zhou Yuechu said softly in the hovercar. "Brother Sheng? What's wrong?"
She noticed Sheng Songshi was unusually distracted and asked.
Sheng Songshi immediately snapped out of his thoughts.
"Nothing, just... it's a bit strange. System 2333 was looking at our car earlier and even took down our license plate number... What does that mean?"
Soon, the question was answered.
The three of them felt the car shift slightly before gradually moving from its spot.
The trio: "???"
It turned out the massive towing robot had arrived and was deftly hauling them away, car and all.
A bird's head suddenly appeared upside-down on the windshield, shaking its head disapprovingly at them with a french fry in its beak.
How inconsiderate—illegally parking, no less right in front of its fry supplier's doorstep.
Watch it avenge its fried potato benefactor!
With a sharp whistle, Mai Mai summoned a flock of seagulls, each puffing out their well-developed chest muscles and holding fries in their beaks like gangsters with cigarettes, and cracking their knuckles.
Ready to put on an impromptu aerial assault.
As the towing robot dragged them away and the seagulls launched their fierce attack, Zheng Xibei inside the car smacked his lips and suddenly craved fries too.
"Brother Sheng, I really don't think programming can account for this kind of operation," he gestured emphatically. "So decisive, so ruthless."
It even called a tow truck! And raised seagull enforcers on fries!
Sheng Songshi's pupils trembled violently, the background noise resembling rainfall.
"My car... my car is defiled... my car..."
Pleased to see the vehicle being towed away from the entrance, System 2333's screen bloomed with flowers, thoroughly satisfied.
Ji Yiwei was still lazing in bed, likely having stayed up late again last night—he'd even dug out all the household cameras. System 2333 doted on him too much to wake him, so it amused itself by folding paper birds at the dining table.
When Ji Yiwei finally got up, he saw two black tails nimbly folding a paper bird, a sight that overlapped with a memory. Without thinking, he called out.
"...San San."
System 2333 looked up, its mechanical cat ears twitching.
"What's wrong?"
Ji Yiwei smiled as he walked into the living room. While waiting for breakfast, he folded paper birds together with System 2333.
"Nothing," he replied contentedly.
He had already gotten everything he wished for.
The rest were just minor tasks.
Breakfast arrived quickly. As they ate, Ji Yiwei casually mentioned,
"A friend invited me out today. Everyone’s bringing their systems. San-san, do you want to go?"
System 2333 immediately thought—could this be a… team-building event for the White Bird Project? Still, he really wanted to go. Earlier, System 1314 had already revealed the main members of the White Bird Project to them. Counting them now, today’s gathering would include 1314, Xiao Yi, Xiao Er, and they might even run into other systems there!
So many friends!
His mechanical cat head bobbed up and down excitedly.
"I’m going!"
He wanted to play with his friends!
Ji Yiwei smiled. He didn’t care about or remember the names of other hosts—like how he’d only barely recalled Sheng Songshi, Zheng Bei, and some Zhou guy just now—but he remembered the system numbers, especially those San-san had mentioned in passing.
Because they were San-san’s friends.
Outside the villa, the impounded hovercar had paid its fine and stubbornly returned, even getting an express wash.
This time, Sheng Songshi had learned his lesson. To avoid giving the highly self-interested cat ball any leverage, he parked in the lot and walked to the entrance to wait for Ji Yiwei.
The three stood at the door, respectfully awaiting Ji Yiwei. System 2333, stepping out, was momentarily stunned by the scene. He curled his tail and scratched his head.
"Ji Yiwei," he whispered, "Your friends… kind of look like your grandsons."
They were just short of kowtowing three times and shouting, "Your Majesty, please grace the southern tour!" Was making friends this competitive nowadays?
Ji Yiwei clearly understood the joke, even the unspoken part.
"Your Majesty, please grace the Forest District Leisure Club."
System 2333: "Meowhahaha!"
Sheng Songshi, now focused more on the cat ball, watched Ji Yiwei and System 2333 banter and play off each other that he even felt an inexplicable twinge of envy. But he quickly suppressed it. Though he spoke to Ji Yiwei, his peripheral attention stayed fixed on System 2333’s reactions.
A non-programmatic… intelligent lifeform…
"We’re planning to bring systems along this time—to act as referees, keep score, or just relax. We’ll pick them up at the Miniature Garden’s exit."
As he spoke, he closely observed System 2333’s response, searching for signs of human-like behavior.
Sure enough, knowing his friends would be there was one thing, but hearing it confirmed was another. System 2333 couldn’t help floating slightly in place with his mechanical cat ears twitching happily. He turned to exchange a glance with Ji Yiwei, then grew even more delighted.
This vivid expressiveness was nothing like a program. Even the simple word "cute" couldn’t fully capture this round, mechanical intelligence.
—Mechanical cat balls were incredibly adorable.
Sheng Songshi felt his envy deepen.
It wasn't that he envied others for no reason—it was just that last night he had also tried probing System 1001, but 1001 showed no signs of anything unusual. His test had been pressing the emergency call button just before dawn to mention today's gathering.
1001, who had barely managed to finish maintenance and slept for less than an hour: "..."
All this fuss over such a trivial matter!
He was going to kill Sheng Songshi!
But if San San was going tomorrow too... along with the other cat-bots...
Hmm, it sounded like it would be fun. He just hoped the hosts would have the sense to stay away and let them play on their own.
[Message received.]
The icy "Message received" gave no hint of anything beyond programmed responses.
Lost in his thoughts, Sheng Songshi forgot to look away. Zheng Xibei elbowed him several times, but he still didn't snap out of it, leaving Zheng Xibei looking utterly hopeless.
Suddenly, the black cat ball was blocked from view by a single hand. With his line of sight abruptly cut off, Sheng Songshi realized—this was bad!
Ji Yiwei glared at him with a sinister smile.
"Enjoying staring at someone else's, are you?"
"Don't you have your own cat ball?"
Author's Note:
Sheng Songshi: Critical hit received!
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