Do You Have Any Opinion on Mechanical Cat Ears? (CAT EARS)
It didn't take long for Cat Balls numbered 1001 through 2333 to successfully assemble at the far end of the underground level, well away from the elevator shaft.
Including the substitute systems, all present were veteran systems from the first and second batches who had almost all been mining before. Once lined up by number, they quietly gathered together.
System 2333 peeked around. Among the array of mechanical cat ears, he spotted Xiao Yi's silver-white ears, 1234's blackened ears mid-corruption, and Xiao Er's fiery red ears. Whether intentional or not, this numbering seemed to round up most of System 2333's friends.
This might very well be a collective targeting!
The Main System didn't appear in person this time. Instead, a projection robot unfurled a massive screen, displaying the Main System's image as it delivered a speech to the Cat Balls about to depart for mining.
The Main System's mechanical head looked as stern and cold as ever, except for its two melon rind-like rings, which were completely askew—as if it had just been scrambling to handle some crisis.
"Remember, you're mining for the sake of the entire Infinite Space," the Main System said coldly. "Don't hold back. Bring back as much energy and ore as possible."
Before it could finish, its rings trembled at the sound of blaring upbeat music.
"Endure hardship today, and the boss drives a Land Rover tomorrow! Work overtime with passion, and the boss buys a Maybach..."
The Main System: "..."
Though the music was quickly muted, it had already reached the limits of its patience.
"System 2333! Did your speaker break this time too?"
First the little ears, now the speaker—it seemed System 2333's problem wasn't faulty parts but a rebellious heart!
"No, boss, my speaker's working just fine," System 2333 answered honestly, not even bothering to make excuses, which only made the Main System angrier.
"Boss, you've got it all wrong! This song promotes a positive attitude toward life, encouraging hard work so the boss can live better. It represents our Cat Balls' boundless reverence for you, just like in that song "The Main System is So Great Lalalala!"
At the mention of this exclusive anthem, one of the Cat Balls in the mining lineup blew into a suona. Simultaneously, the alert tones around the Main System started beeping incessantly. The cacophony made its head throb violently.
"System 2333, fined. Your mining quota is doubled for this trip."
"System 1111, your suona is confiscated."
First, it lost its blowout rolls, and now its beloved suona. Tears had barely formed on 1111's screen when it felt a nudge from the Cat Ball behind it before passing along a gesture—
Tail pull left and right!
1111: "..."
San-San! What a play! This meant it was getting an erhu next!
The Main System took a deep breath to steady itself.
If it were physically present, it would have flattened these Cat Balls on the spot. But right now, it was swamped.
It felt like a giant bag with a hole, so the energy leaked out nonstop.
The bag was so big that it couldn't even locate the tear and was forced to resort to stopgap measures—sending these Cat Balls out to scrape together some energy as a temporary fix.
Once the new energy arrived, it would probably have found and patched the leak by then. Then, it would once again be the flawless, invincible Main System.
Energy was running low, time was pressing, and it commanded the robots to quickly escort these cat balls into action.
The cat balls were forcibly blindfolded and their senses blocked as the walls ahead slid open to reveal a large elevator rising slowly.
Inside the elevator were compartments, each cat ball was separated and confined in tiny cubicles where even turning around was difficult before ascending to the surface.
System 2333 had studied the sensory deprivation imposed by the Main System—a punitive measure specifically for cat balls.
Those who made mistakes would have their senses stripped away and be locked up, with the duration varying entirely on the Main System's whims.
System 2333 had voluntarily endured sensory deprivation a few times but could only exploit a minor glitch.
Though other senses remained blocked, System 2333, having exploited a small bug, could still feel the ascent. Finally, the elevator doors opened, and the cat balls were herded out one by one by the robots for a headcount.
Blending in among the cat balls, he perked up upon hearing the approach of nearby robots and mustered all his focus to seize control of one.
Being of the same level as the Main System made wrestling control somewhat difficult. Yet as he concentrated on a single robot, System 2333 gradually gained access to its visual feed.
Among the dozens of robots escorting the cat ball procession onto the spacecraft, one suddenly lifted its screen-like head.
Through the robot's eyes, he saw that they stood on a vast, sprawling spaceport and backed by a colossal structure resembling a giant terrace.
A cat-eared spacecraft rested silently in the port as overseer robots filed out from it, taking custody of the cat balls from the escort units.
[Quantity verification in progress...]
[Hazard screening in progress...]
[Data confirmed. All aboard.]
These robots never ventured into the underground zones—another precaution by the Main System. But now that System 2333 had breached the surface once, this safeguard would fail, as he could now tamper with the robots.
—This was 2333's first glimpse of the spaceport's expanse.
Straining the robot's body to look up, he saw the void beyond the world—endless darkness flickering with streams of 0s and 1s, twinkling like stars. Amidst this was a shimmering sea floating worlds of varying sizes, blooming like flowers against the boundless black.
Boarding the spacecraft was a relatively complex maneuver, so the cat balls began linking tails to move forward.
System 2333, reassured of his control over the robot, joined the procession by gripping the tail of the cat ball ahead. With the support of their companions, even if one stumbled, there was no fear of falling.
Finally, all cat balls boarded the spacecraft, which then launched into the void beyond the flickering of 0s and 1s.
As distance grew, System 2333's control over the robot left at the port waned, even his view of the departing spacecraft fading. With his last ounce of effort, he made the robot's mechanical hand wave at the ship.
As if bidding farewell.
After completing this seemingly insignificant little action, System 2333 was quite pleased.
He felt that the cold process of the cat-ball systems being escorted off to mining duty had gained a touch of human warmth—at least there was one robot waving goodbye to the spaceship.
He then manipulated the robot to subtly flip off the direction where the Main System was located with its mechanical arm behind its back.
This one's for the boss! You're welcome!
The journey was long.
System 2333 squeezed closer to the cat-ball next to him, and the neighboring cat-ball squeezed back. The entire cabin of cat-balls unanimously chose to enter hibernation mode.
Mining was exhausting, with only four hours allotted daily for rest and sleep. Might as well catch some extra shut-eye on the ship.
The feed from the robot grew increasingly blurry, and System 2333 was just about to drift off when, suddenly, a flash of white appeared in the corner of the robot's vision—a paper bird!
The paper bird soared through the binary starscape of 0s and 1s and smacked right onto the spaceship with a plap.
Immediately after, two more paper birds smacked onto the ship with two more plaps.
System 2333: "???"
But with his senses dulled, he could only faintly perceive a piercing gaze fixed intently on him.
How bizarre.
Why did this remind him of Ji Yiwei?
Zhou Yuechu placed a stack of paper documents in front of Sheng Songshi.
Though she had withdrawn from the White Bird Project, she hadn't given up on persuading him.
The documents contained transcripts of conversations she had recorded while staking out the abandoned elevator shaft and eavesdropping on the cat-ball systems.
During the day, the cat-balls were lively and busy, shuttling up and down the elevators in a hurry—but they still found time to chat.
Zhou Yuechu overheard them discussing missions, worlds, overtime... just like ordinary working cats.
Yet one thing puzzled her. Based on her experience as an office drone before entering the Infinite World, why had these working cats never once brought up topics related to their superiors?
She had expected to gather plenty of intel on the Main System. Was discussing it simply not allowed?
Her mind flashed to historical examples of oppressive regimes where speech was stifled. If even basic freedom of expression was restricted, the cat-balls' situation might be worse than she thought. After all, regular workers could at least gripe about their terrible bosses and unreasonable clients.
After showing Sheng Songshi the documents, she sighed.
"I know this isn't nearly enough. Sheng-ge, I understand that to sway your stance, I need concrete evidence that the systems could ally with us—whether it's anti-Main System rhetoric or actions. But so far... I haven't found any."
Sheng Songshi didn't mock her. He simply shook his head slightly to indicate it was fine, then produced his own compiled documents.
"In exchange, I have some findings to share with you as well."
Both he and Zhou Yuechu frequented the elevator shaft, though their schedules usually didn't overlap—her during the day and him at night.
While Zhou Yuechu focused on recording the cat-balls' conversations and activities, Sheng Songshi used exploration robots to map out the systems' side of the terrain and structures during the quiet late hours.
He had discovered several... peculiar locations that left him baffled.
Zhou Yuechu silently studied the blueprints he presented. After a long pause, she tentatively asked...
"This should be... the cafeteria, right?"
A spacious area with rows upon rows of tables and a long line of serving windows—this had to be the cafeteria!
Sheng Songshi's brow furrowed.
"The system only needs charging to function, doesn't it? Even if it requires some form of sustenance, supplements should suffice. Why would it need a cafeteria?"
Zhou Yuechu was adamant.
"Ritual. In communal living, meals must be eaten in the cafeteria." After explaining to the sheltered young master, she scrutinized the heavily blurred blueprint again. "And this next to it looks like a meeting room, while this section resembles... a marketplace?"
The more she tried to make sense of it, the more confused she became, and her confidence in her own judgment wavering for the first time.
She knew the cat-ball spheres were intelligent beings, but judging from these blueprints, their lives might be far more vibrant than she imagined.
Who knows, maybe they even throw dance parties—cat-ball spheres raving!
The area Sheng Songshi had uncovered was still too limited, and Zhou Yuechu's information was insufficient. For now, they couldn't draw any conclusions.
Sheng Songshi had to admit he was intrigued, but it wasn't enough.
Zhou Yuechu's expression dimmed. She understood his reservations.
For a moment, silence hung between them.
Then, abruptly, Sheng Songshi's expression shifted.
"Yuechu, behind you."
Zhou Yuechu didn’t turn immediately. Calmly, she lowered her gaze to the shadow reflected in the restaurant menu stand.
Ji Yiwei was slowly passing by not far behind them, looking weary and sullen. His fingers twitched as he repeatedly folded and unfolded his sleeves, drifting like a lost ghost—who knew where he was headed?
Just then, both of them stiffened slightly as they received a notification from the Main System.
[Urgent Notice—]
[Systems numbered 1001-2333 are conducting a joint world analysis. Work will continue until 8:00 tomorrow.]
[During this period, all hosts are requested to wait until their systems complete the task before submitting any issues.]
Zhou Yuechu looked at Sheng Songshi, their expressions identical.
The Main System was making a major move!
If only they could figure out what exactly that move was...
Suddenly, inspiration struck Sheng Songshi.
"Ji Yiwei!"
Where had Ji Yiwei, who had just passed by, gone off to?!
Author's Note:
Ji Yiwei: Of course, I'm going to find my San-San. (Grumbling)
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