Listen While Reading: Birds Fly Over the Mountain

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Even as Zero One sat there to eat with me and the Heavenly Empress, there were still many questions inside of my head, perhaps too many.

The first one was, was this the right thing to do?

Even now, yeah, even now, I have my doubts.

Weren’t the machines enemies? Now that there is no enemy to defeat, what exactly is my purpose here?

Or, more importantly, can I even consider them allies even with Zero One? That she can convince them, or something doesn’t mean they’ll stop being hostile.

As much as she pities them, just like us, there might be machines that will simply not change their minds about their oppressive and aggressive invasion of this world, right?

Will it really be as easy as going to the Mechanical Trees and talking with the machines there and just being done with it?

No, it can’t possibly be that easy.

Zero One, as she had stated, was created to form a “peaceful agreement”, but agreements are made when both parties agree to the terms.

How can we even make something that both machines and people could agree to?

Machines require the ores to create themselves and survive, and perhaps they use natural materials as fuel too.

But because of this, their aggressive mining of this world is upsetting the locals, especially the Venerables, worried that whatever resources left in the world might eventually become all taken away by the machines.

The Mechanical Trees are both factories of machines and also material extraction areas, they literally drill into the ground, constantly taking away everything they can use.

It is destructive, and it must be stopped.

If machines want to really have an agreement, they must first stop doing that. The machine trees will have no purpose in a future world where machines can live peacefully with the rest.

There won’t be any need for them to create countless copies of their kind; the very reason they’re doing this is to hasten the efficiency of their material extraction and also to enhance the defenses of their territories.

But will this all be necessary in that hypothetical future? Of course not.

Then what’s next? How do we even handle this situation?

I kind of want to find a solution, but at the same time, there’s the whole thing with teaching Zero One about emotions and about all the things the people of this world have gone through.

If she’s the source for robots to learn about emotions, then we can’t possibly let her grow corrupted or resentful against us.

This is the only chance for the people of this world and these invaders… to find a new future where they wouldn’t destroy one another.

Maybe it sounds ridiculous, maybe it’s stupid, but seeing what Zero One is and what the machines could truly become… I don’t want to think it’s unrealistic.

But right now, I might have too many thoughts inside my head; I need to cool down and talk things out first.

Even though there’s now a question in my head if machines are still the enemies I must defeat or not, I can’t just obsess over it without talking with anybody about this situation.

“Hmm, this is… juice made of leaf?” wondered Zero One innocently, drinking the green tea she was served.

“It is not… Well, I suppose you could say tea is leaf juice,” nodded the Heavenly Empress. “But it is called tea. Usually the water has to be warm to make a delicious tea. Though there’s also ways to make cold teas of many varieties. But I prefer it warm.”

“I see!” Zero One nodded, quickly grabbing a meat bun and giving it a bite. “Hmm! It has a filling of something. What is it? It’s chewy, salty, fatty, and delicious.”

“That’s a meat bun,” I explained. “It is bread made out of grains, which has meat and veggies inside. Meat is taken from another living being.”

“Eh?! So I’m eating the corpse of another living being?” Zero One gasped. “I-Is this okay?”

“You saw meat skewers outside, Zero One…” I sighed, facepalming. “Anyways, I thought you knew this much from the information you got from humans? Does your info not feature humans eating meat?”

“Ahhh, hmmm,” her eyes started glowing with green light as she was beginning to analyze her data banks, I think. “Right… But it was all lab-grown meat! And it wasn’t considered a living animal… Just meat grown inside a lab, synthetically!”

I guess they are indeed from a very faraway future from my own Earth, a true sci-fi world, without a shred of a doubt.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“And before that, didn’t they grow animals inside farms and sacrifice them to eat their meat?” I wondered.

“Ah!” Zero One continued browsing. “I think so- Wait, what?! They did! Wow… I guess living beings, as the information says here, hunt down other living beings to eat. I suppose even the leaf juice is made of living beings, the leaves. Though the leaves themselves are only a part of the living being, the tea plant. So they’re not killed, actually…”

“She gets off track pretty easily, isn’t she?” wondered the Heavenly Empress.

“She’s still learning about many things, I suppose…” I laughed a bit. “Thank you again for believing in us… And in her. She’s a bit of a dork, but she’s learning… Hah, I’m really tired.”

“Me too; we had a very heated discussion, and I almost lost myself for a moment,” said the Heavenly Empress. “My apologies, truly.”

“It’s fine, master. In your place, I might have responded in a similar manner…” I sighed. “I completely understand how you felt and everything else.”

“Anna…” she sighed, holding my hand gently. “Thank you for being who you are; you’ve opened my eyes and given me a new perspective of things that, as someone who has lived for thousands of years in this world, would have never realized before.”

“A-Ah, it’s fine…” I giggled a bit. “I also have to thank you for believing in your crazy disciple’s ideas and for accepting me as one to begin with, and even letting me also become the disciple of your archnemesis…”

And maybe ex-husband?

“It is fine,” she nodded. “Hahh, let’s finish our meal and then let us start the training. Despite what is happening right now, I have not forgotten that. Don’t think that because Zero One is here, I will suddenly forget the training I’ve promised you, Anna. As my disciple, perhaps the only one I’ve ever had and will ever have, you must at least inherit my personal martial arts in a similar fashion that you’ve done for the Heavenly Demon.”

“Yes, I completely understand,” I nodded. “I also need some time to sort out my thoughts; if I can bring Zero One to your Inner Realm, then that would be for the best too; we can spend time with her and teach her many more things.”

“I suppose I can invite her there,” she said, and then spoke to me through telepathy. “It is not that I distrust her, but my Inner Realm is actually much safer; I can monitor her from anywhere, as my senses are everywhere within that world, and I can control everything at will.”

“I-I see…” I nodded.

I guess it couldn’t be helped that she was still a bit suspicious. She was hopeful of her being good, but never too hopeful as to fall into stupidity and think she’s someone she can trust completely.

It will be a nice time for us to analyze her own personality and teach her valuable lessons too. A machine might not be able to cultivate or something, so she won’t benefit from the training.

But perhaps it could help her build character and resolve, something she also lacks.

I think machines develop very quickly, so we must be careful about what we teach her. She has already gone through a few traumatic things, almost killed twice…

This time, we have to give her good experiences to make up for it!

“Ah, right, by the way, where’s Wai Tian?” I wondered, quickly remembering the charming tigress girl.

“She’s training; I haven’t told her you’re back yet,” said the Heavenly Empress. “My bad, but she looked so focused, I didn’t want to interrupt her.”

“Training? In what?” I wondered.

“After you gave Wai Tian that “sponsorship,” many of her latent powers awakened,” she explained. “However, her personality is still a problem; despite her great talent and skills, Wai Tian has actually a very short temperament.”

“Wait, really?!” I wondered. “But I had imagined she…”

“She is indeed very gentle with people; she hides her emotions and her feelings very well, but this creates a dangerous thing. She bottles up her feelings and ends up exploding when fighting, losing control of herself and her strength,” the Heavenly Empress explained. “She lacks finesse and delicacy as she fights. Her tribe was one of the strongest martial artists that specialized in fist techniques, and it runs in her kind to be berserkers. However, even them weren’t as frenzied as she is.”

“I-I had no idea cute Wai Tien was like this,” I sighed. “I honestly only saw her through her appearance, and she looked just like a kitty…”

“Hahah, I suppose she is indeed very cute, but she’s already an adult woman; you shouldn’t be talking about people like that, Anna, or they will get the wrong idea,” giggled the Heavenly Empress.

“Eh? Ah, right, sorry,” I sighed, feeling embarrassed. “Anyways, is it some sort of meditation training?”

“That’s right,” the Empress nodded. “Through these last two days, or well, almost three days, I taught her two meditation techniques that will help her deal with such problems. The first one is called {Seven Colored Rivers Psyche, and the other is {Calming Azure Waves; both are special Meditations made to control one’s anger and not just bottle it up but slowly release it, making the person more in control of their anger and body.”

“Interesting, they sound really strong! Are they martial arts?” I wondered.

“No, Meditation Techniques have more to do with Spiritual Arts, which deal with the Spiritual Body and its harmony with your Psyche, the mind, and the soul,” she explained. “It seems you also lack one. I can tell that the old crow would never teach you such techniques, as he relies on his rampant emotions to obtain tremendous powers. However, part of my abilities is related to not only releasing my emotions in gentle waves but also to accepting myself and the world and to becoming one with nature, while also taking the hopes of people and turning them into my strength.”

“Wow, it’s like the complete opposite of what the old man taught me…” I nodded. “It is about harmony, then? And Hopes… That sounds exciting! I hope I don’t have to go through torture to learn it…”

“It will be harsh, but don’t worry, your body won’t be tortured, nor your mind,” she said. “My teachings are… perhaps not so common. You will see once we begin.”

“Hmm, I’m stuffed…” Zero One sighed in relief, resting over the wooden chair and patting her belly.

Wait, she even had a belly that could get full, huh? I suppose she said she can absorb organic matter to gain fuel, so unlike other machines, she can eat like us living beings to sustain herself.

“You ate so much…” the Heavenly Empress laughed. “I can hardly believe this girl is a machine; she is so lifelike. The machines… are sure incredible in their craftsmanship. I hate to admit it, but there are so many things they can do that we would never be able to achieve…”

“But I think there are even more things you can make that we machines could never either…” said Zero One.

“Yes, indeed,” nodded the Heavenly Empress. “I often like to think that people have things they can do and things they can’t do. Society is formed when people’s weaknesses are covered by the specializations of others; that is when true harmony can be achieved, when everyone’s talents make up for the other’s weakness.”

“Harmony…” Zero One’s eyes shone for a bit, as if she learned something new. “I see…”

Perhaps the Heavenly Empress might be the perfect teacher for her.

As I left her talking with my master, I moved to the garden, where Wai Tien was sitting cross-legged over a small stone, in the middle of a bed of colorful flowers.

She was breathing calmly, feeling the wind as she meditated.

Her Ki flowed through her Meridians slowly, forming the appearance of seven colorful rivers.

Her emotions were in the Meridian of her head, glowing with red and dark color.

She was slowly letting them go, the rivers of Ki beginning to “clean” it and make her feel slightly more at ease.

So that’s a Meditation Technique…

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