Lessons on Raising a Partner

Chapter 134: Back to Cessie 1: I want to leave all my tears to you.
“Father, are you here?” Back in the doorway of the machine room, half a head popped out and asked softly.

Old Oliver turned around, took off his glasses, and saw Pier. He smiled kindly and waved back to Pier. “Of course, my child, come on.”

Looking back, a little excited, moving forward, but stuck by the door frame, he was a bit frustrated and sat down on the ground: “Father, you designed me too fat, I can’t go in, why do you want me to do this?”

“Don’t you it, Pier?” Oliver walked up to him and touched his head. “You have a bunch of brothers and sisters who will protect you.”

“But I will ache, I don’t like pain, why only I have tears?” Looking back on his childish voice, he was full of grievances. He was obviously more curious with more emotions than other primitive mechatronic fighters.

“Because Pier is still a child, you will feel pain, just know what you like, and what you don’t like.”

“What about the tears?”

“Tears flow for the person you like. When the person you like is hurt, you will cry.”

“Then, I’m hurt. Will you cry for me?”

“Of course, because you are my child.”

But the curious baby still couldn’t understand something back: “Cessie is definitely not your child, and he’s not the one you like, because you won’t cry for him when he’s hurt.”

Oliver was stunned to hear the words of Pier.

He shook his head, waved his hand to Pier, and went back to the experimental table to continue his research: “You are still a child, go and play with your brothers.”

“They won’t play with me. They dislike me as a child.” Pier felt very wronged. “Cessie is gone, nobody is playing with me.”

But Oliver never looked back. He just lowered his head and went on with these experiments that had no end. Seeing Oliver ignoring himself, looking back a little lost, he left the mechanical room.

Pier was so bored that he sat on the roof of the Mechanical Test Center and counted the stars in the sky.

Nightmare sat down beside him: “What? Nobody’s playing with you?”

“Why are you talking to me? I don’t even know where I counted it.” Pier was very unhappy.

Nightmare sneered: “Only a child can be so boring.”

“Who said, Cessie also counted with me, he was an adult, but never told me that such behavior was boring.”

“But he’s gone.”

Pier’s head hung down, he looked despondent.

“Do you know why he left?” Nightmare saw him like this and could not help asking.

“He quarreled with his father.” Pier whispered, “I heard him at the door the other day. He said he didn’t want to be a whole experimental madman. He called his father a neurosis and said he hated him.”

Nightmare shrugged: “That’s unfortunate.”

“Well, Cessie’s gone. He told me that he was going to do business and that money was the best thing in the world, but he also said that he would bring me teddy bears when he came back.”

“Oh, then he won’t come back.”

Hearing this, Pier turned abruptly and asked incredulously, “Why?!”

“Because only children are cheated.” Nightmare stood up, left this sentence, and left.

“Cessie won’t deceive me!” Pier shouted and then sat back immediately. His eyes were hot and sour as if something was rushing out.

But it didn’t turn up in the end, just like Cessie.

Cessie had lasted nearly 200 years, long enough for a child to grow up.

Unlike other primitive machine-armored fighters, Pier was born with memory chips. Like a real child, he gradually absorbed knowledge from books and grew up. He also slowly began to find some inappropriate things, such as why only he had so many emotions, while other primitive machine-armored fighters did not; why Cessie found out that he was Oliver’s child, but never called him father.

Oliver was undoubtedly the most exceptional mechanic in the Empire. As a well-known figure throughout the empire, he inevitably has some fans. Cessie’s mother, Marijane, was one of them.

But she didn’t become a fan of Oliver until he became famous.

Marijane was Oliver’s classmate, and as a student, she was his most loyal fan. She was the daughter of an interstellar businessman and needed a lot of money to carry out mechanical tests. Marijane did not hesitate to be Oliver’s first customer. From the first part to the last thing she bought before she died, it was Oliver’s work.

Oliver was not outstanding. Marijane just liked him. She never wanted to buy a piece of good jewelry and clothes, but she was willing to buy Oliver’s most expensive works.

But Oliver preferred to do experiments. Before he became famous, he would spend some time with Marijane, but after he became famous, he separated completely from Marijane on the pretext of doing experiments.

When they separated, he didn’t even know that Marijane was pregnant until she appeared in front of him holding Cessie, he didn’t know that he had a child. But he wasn’t ready to be a father.

He was absent from Cessie’s life throughout his childhood and most of Marijane’s life.

Marijane suffered from severe depression after giving birth to Cessie. When Cessie was 10 years old, she jumped from upstairs, and Cessie watched hie mother’s jumping window and saw it all.

No one cared for Cessie, Oliver could only take him to the experimental center.

“Do you like these robots very much? They are cold, lifeless, thoughtless, and nothing.” Cessie tracked the prototype of the first mechatronic fighter and asked his father why he preferred to stay in the dark laboratory day after day rather than go home to see him and his mother.

“Cessie… Robots are also alive. Maybe one day, they will generate emotions and thoughts other than programs, just like human beings.”

Hearing Oliver’s words, Cessie laughed as if he had listened to a wonderful joke: “So you want to tell me what robots have, don’t you?”

“Oliver, you are ridiculous. You have created a new life with your own hands, but you have also destroyed another life and two hearts that love you.”

One by one, the primitive mechatronic fighters were born, but they did not have complete emotions. Perhaps Cessie’s words really made Oliver have some feelings and thoughts so that he dared not ultimately build a robot with all human emotions.

On one year’s birthday, Cessie asked him for a gift.

“Today is my birthday.”

“Sorry… I, I forgot…” Oliver got up from the bench in a panic, wiped his oily hands and stammered.

“You never remember it anyway.” Cessie sneered. “I want a gift. You can make me a primitive machine armored soldier. I want him to grow up with me like a child, with all the human emotions.”

Oliver agreed to Cessie’s request, and two months later, he created a Pier and chose Cessie’s favorite purple armor color. But Cessie left him a year later at the rite of passage, leaving a mind as old as a human five-year-old.

Oliver seemed to realize the difficulty of bringing up a child. He also found that his son had lost his child’s innocence and happiness from a very young age and became as mature and indifferent as adults.

Two hundred years later, Cessie received a letter from his father and apprentice.

The letter said that his father was dying and wanted to see him for the last time.

Cessie pondered again and again, and finally decided to go back, but he heard some conversations at the door of the mechanical room.

“Teacher, you have been living for so long, almost all dealing with robots. What do you think of their existence?”

“They are as important to me as the oxygen and food I need for my life.”

“That… How does it compare with your son?”

“They have no comparability at all, the original machine armor fighters are perfect, precious and shining like gems, and Cessie is just…”

Cessie did not continue to listen. He was overwhelmed by anger and embarrassment. Oliver’s disciples laughed with satisfaction when they saw the shadow of the window left.

Cessie rushed to the maintenance room of the original machine armor fighters and took out the core of the unique machine armor fighters one by one, packed and taken away.

“Cessie, you’re back?!” A voice filled with surprise rang in his ear, and Cessie looked back at the source of the sound and saw the familiar purple figure.

“Nightmare said you would not come back, I said you would not lie to me!” Pier stood in the shadows, looking back to see that he was pleased, but when he approached, he found Cessie crying, his face was full of tears wantonly diffuse traces, his eyes were red, “You… Why are you crying?”

He squatted down in front of him, trying to wipe his tears with his finger, but afraid that he would hurt him, he did not touch him directly after a long time: “Why are you crying? Is it because I like it too much? I didn’t see the bear you said you wanted to buy for me. Did you forget? I’m not angry. If you forget, it’s okay. I’ll forgive you because I like you too.”

Back to the last two sentences were very quiet, Cessie did not hear at all, he pulled back the power supply repair connection line, and back to the electronic eye flashed a few lights, and finally completely darkened.