The Record of Unusual Creatures

More and more vehicles and various robots came out to the city streets as if they were coming for the group from all over the city. However, they did not show hostility or intention to stop them from leaving. They just followed Hao Ren and his team, clamoring around them. The robots even continued their work of cleaning the lampposts, guardrails, and streets, which were clearly spotless, and tightening the screws under the street billboards repeatedly. They had to keep doing these activities under any circumstance; all for the sole purpose of maintaining the city's 'life', pretending that their masters were still alive in that world.     

Hao Ren had a vague feeling that there were no survivors on the planet.     

A flying, disk-shaped, window-cleaning robot flew around Y'zaks while it called out to them in the pleasant voice of a woman, "Citizens, do your apartments require exterior maintenance? Do you want to clean the outside your glass window? The Vjekally Limited R-33 is ready to help."     

Y'zaks patiently shoved the little robot aside, saying, "No, we are leaving the city."     

"Citizens, your choice is very irrational. Leaving the shelter means death. The outside environment is not suitable for humans," the roadside billboards said loudly. As Hao Ren and his team kept moving, the voice followed them, saying, "Only vacuum and cold, toxic air lie near the thrusters. You will only survive for two hours in protective clothing. Why not wait quietly in the sanctuary? In a thousand years, we will arrive in a peaceful new home. The planet will thaw, everything will revive and life will return to the planet; and you... your future generations will live peacefully in this world."     

"You finally said something more meaningful," said Y'zaks, turning his head to face the electronic billboard. "But it has nothing to do with us. If the mastermind behind this still retains a bit of logic and intelligence, it should come out and talk to us now."     

The electronic billboard was playing a public service ad with a happy family, which Hao Ren had seen once on the bus the day before. As soon as Y'zaks' voice trailed off, the little boy's face turned sad in the ad. He wrung his hands as he appeared to stand in the center of the screen. "If you leave the city, you will get hurt."     

"I knew there was something wrong with these ads in the first place." Y'zaks grinned when he noticed something bizarre on the screen.     

Hao Ren contacted his spacecraft in the orbit. "MDT, how about the scan? Any results?"     

"I've scanned the whole planet and found no shelters that meet your requirements," the MDT's voice sounded in his mind. "However, I've discovered something else. There is a structure similar to an energy node deep inside the planet. The energy flowing around the planet converges in that spot, as though it's the heart of the planet. If you're looking for something, you should go there and check it out"     

"Tell me where it is," Hao Ren said quickly. "Also, check the geological cavities around us. I need some navigation, a rough guide at least."     

The MDT quickly sent the location of the energy node into Hao Ren's mind. He could not help but whistle. "Awesome—just near the core."     

They arrived at the last intersection leading to the city's border. According to the Nangong couple's memory, the largest hatch was just a stone's throw away. However, a row of tall robotic guards stood in the middle of the road with traffic management signs on their bodies.     

The robotic guard in the middle gestured to Hao Ren. "Citizens, no passing through this area. Accident ahead. The road is congested and dangerous."     

A large number of vehicles came from all directions. They were huddled together at the intersection and all the surrounding roads, horns blaring loudly. A large number of robots were weaving in and out of the traffic aimlessly, doing their "work" in a ridiculous way.     

Hao Ren knew that these robots would not allow residents in the city to leave the place; they were doing their best to maintain the "normal" order. It seemed that a strong, solid logic was controlling all these robots.     

Their abnormal behavior was unlikely the result of human control, but some sort of bug in their software.     

Hao Ren smiled and reached out to pat the steel robotic cop on its chest. "I know there's someone behind you—it could be a madman or a buggy computer brain, but I just want to talk to him."     

The robotic cop was silent for a few seconds before it repeated the same words, "Citizens, no passing through this area. Accident ahead. The road is congested and dangerous."     

Hao Ren sighed. "We come in peace—just want to know what's wrong with this planet."     

While he spoke, he looked at the vehicles and robots that were jammed on the road. Suddenly, he raised his voice and shouted at the mind behind the machines. "Listen here, I know you're listening: you should know that we're from space and there's an advanced spaceship hovering over the planet. We come in peace. If you're in trouble, you can tell me and I'd be happy to help—provided that we can talk openly and honestly."     

No one jumped out to respond to him. Lily muttered next to him, "It won't work. Didn't I howl a couple of times on the balcony before?"     

Hao Ren shrugged. "But I think it worked."     

The machines that were clogging up the street did not disperse, but no more robots came. The place fell into a strange silence. The little robots that were weaving around in traffic had also stopped working and were now looking at them quietly. For the first time, Hao Ren experienced being "stared at" by a group of machines; it was so weird that it was almost no different from a person's gaze.     

Vivian tried to go ahead. The eyes of all the robots on the streets immediately followed her. Steel bearings squeaked, but apart from that, no robots stopped her.     

It was a weird compromise, unlike human behavior.     

They began to move again in the traffic, and the sound of steel heads turning to follow them wherever they went reminded them of a horror movie. Hao Ren was walking past a small cleaner robot that looked up and spoke happily in a man's voice, "Vjekally—"     

"Vjekally Limited: Specialists in cleaning equipment. I got it." Hao Ren smiled and knocked the small robot on its head.     

They had arrived before the city's outermost hatch.     

A huge, steel wall surrounded the city. The upper part of the wall was directly joined to the rock domes of a cave, while the circular hatch, which was a dozen meters across was set into the wall. Hao Ren stepped forward, knocked on the hatch, and then turned to look at the robot that was watching beside him. "I guess you're not going to help me open the door, are you?"     

The robot did not say a word; the light in its electronic eyes looked elusive.     

Hao Ren took out his silver spear, and a white flame of plasma broke out from the tip. He started to cut the hatch, and sparks were seen dancing in the reflection of the robot's eyes. However, the robot only looked on silently; it did not help or stop him.     

It was as if its system had hung.     

When a hole was finally cut, Hao Ren felt a gust of strange air rushing in. He handed two life-support collars to Nangong Wudi and Ayesha. "Put this on. It could save your life in the harsh environment. I suspect that the life-support system is just limited to the inside of the city. The outside world could be very inhospitable."     

He had quickly widened the hole so that it was large enough for two to pass through side-by-side. Hao Ren stomped his foot on the red-hot iron, and it fell off instantly, revealing a deep passageway. There was dim yellow light in the passageway and some old machinery, which had been abandoned inside for years.     

Hao Ren checked the navigation map in his mind. "Move forward. After a traffic hub, there will be a series of downward passages. Our final destination is near the core, where there should be something waiting for us."     

"Have you thought of a script?" Vivian shot him a glance.     

Hao Ren led the way by jumping into the tunnel. "You have to trust my skills in improvising!"     

The others followed suit. Vivian shook her head and sighed. "I trust you in anything but that…"