Some time later, Gornes, who had been carried back to the sofa on the second floor, groggily heard voices at his ear.
"Cosmic Superhero… open your eyes… I am Shafulin… Cosmic Superhero…"
Forcing his eyes open, Gornes saw two figures leaning right into his face. Instinctively, he slapped.
Both immediately jerked up to dodge, yet in perfect sync, they each shoved the other's head down.
Smack!
Thunk!
The slap landed squarely on Sairuis's cheek, whipping his head aside—straight into Xing's jaw with a headbutt.
"All your fault." Both pointed accusing fingers at the other, blaming them for inhuman behavior.
"Heh-heh." Gornes let out a carefree, brainless laugh at the scene before him.
"Did he turn stupid?" Sairuis eyed Stelle suspiciously. "What medicine did you give him?"
"Just normal anesthetics," Stelle replied. She turned back to Gornes. "Which is bigger, one or zero?"
Gornes mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Hard to say."
"He really does seem stupid." Stelle scratched her head.
Sayriss, however, shook his head firmly. "No, he hasn't."
"Huh?" Stelle was puzzled. "Don't tell me you think I'm the stupid one?"
"It's fine, not your fault. Go play." Sairuis waved her off.
Still frowning, Stelle sat aside, struggling to figure out why one versus zero was "hard to say."
[Keep an eye on her. If her CPU burns out, it won't be pretty.]
"It's fine, it's fine. She'll freeze a few times and auto-format herself."
Sure enough, five minutes later Stelle solved the problem with ease.
"Whichever Egypts harder, that's the bigger one."
[Genius answer. No wonder she's a Penacony shareholder.]
"Yep! I'm awesome."
Sairuis pointed at the husky, shocked. "You can see it?"
"Of course!" Stellepuffed her chest proudly. "Who do you think I am?"
"You're Shafulin," Gornes interjected earnestly. "I remember you saying so earlier."
"Why can she see you?" Sairuis ignored Gornes and asked the husky.
[How should I know? Ask yourself, Shrimp-Head Man!]
"Shrimp-Head Man!" Stelle parroted instantly.
"Kids shouldn't say that," Sairuis quickly warned. The last thing he wanted was Stelle evolving into a green melon stick.
[Who gets it, family? Ran into some basic guy today—meddles in everything, total turnoff. Besties, I'm speechless fr.]
"Who gets it, family…"
Sairuis karate-chopped Stelle on the head, breaking the spell.
Clutching her head, Stelle hissed, "Seething cold…"
"Wait, sis, did you just innovate your own? Don't tell me you've got innate lover powers too?"
Stelle immediately straightened, chest out: "I'm awesome!"
"Who praised you?"
"Not listening, not listening." She covered her ears.
"Wow, I only scolded you twice and you're already annoyed!"
"You picking a fight on purpose?" Xing cocked her head, somehow producing a watermelon in her arms.
"And where did you learn that from?"
Xing only stared back in silence.
"Well… putting that aside," Sairuis turned to the husky floating smugly nearby. "Don't you have anything to answer for?"
[Crap, he's targeting me now.]
"And you," Sairuis swiveled toward Gornes, who was cutting watermelon for Stelle, "I didn't say you, did I?"
"Eh? Me?" Gornes blinked innocently, pointed to himself, then suddenly spun his finger toward Sairuis with zero-frame startup: "Me[you]!"
Watching this, Stelle's eyes sparkled. She lowered her gaze to her own hand, as if a door to a new world had opened.
Strange new knowledge unlocked.
She pointed too: "I have an 8 a.m. lecture!"
[I have an 8 a.m. lecture! ()]
In the spirit of Aminos, to foster harmony and communication among people, on June 28th, 1349, comrade Sairuis, representative of the Masked Fools, held a friendly consultation on the second floor of the "End of the World" tavern with three diplomatic personnel including the Galactic Baseballer.
The parties engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as Cultural Exchange and Inheritance, The Artistic Refinement of Language, and The Hub of Interpersonal Communication.
During the meeting, Comrade Husky declared: "Cultural inheritance must not be broken! We must resist the closed-door mindset and strive forward with full effort, riding the tide of the times."
Comrades Gornes and Stelle expressed deep agreement, presenting twenty-seven articles including The Code of Early 8 A.M. Classes and The Geneva Institutional Standards.
This event was dubbed the First Tavern Summit. Its success not only defined future directions for linguistic and cultural exchange, but also symbolized the promotion and growth of the Aminos spirit.
Late that night, a carriage rolled out from the Moretti residence. Two figures loomed faintly atop a nearby rooftop.
"Why are we standing on a roof?" Stelle asked, confused.
"You don't get it? Because it looks cool."
[Because he's glitching.]
"Look," Sairuis pointed at the clean-cut young man inside the carriage. "That's the protagonist of this world—Klein Moretti."
"The protagonist?"
"Yep, someone just like you."
"So that means he also has a loving mom, a handsome aunt and uncle, a cute childhood sweetheart, a girlfriend who fell from the sky, ties with both the underworld and high society, reliable elders, trustworthy companions, a spaceship, and about one percent of a planet's shares?"
[Kafka, Himeko and Welt, SW, Firefly, Stonehearts, Dan Heng and March]
"Hey, kid, stop spouting death sentences."
[Well said. Next time don't. How do I put it… I've got this friend… not me, of course, I'm not that fragile… but this friend, his heart's not great… he hears stuff like that and it breaks him… but again, not me… anyway, I'll fetch a whole truck of Breadmen to take you out.]
"Just a couple lines and you're already triggered. Stelle, let's not play with it."
"Can't hold it in."
[Aminos!]
Too kind-hearted, Stelle tried to comfort the husky:
"See, you're flustered again. I know you're in a rush, but don't be. Think positive—at least every meal you eat is a family dinner, every photo you take is a family portrait, right?"
[You think that's funny?]
"So what, you gonna tell your mom and dad?" Sairuis cut in.
[Happy now? You heartless, cruel people. I'll never forgive you, never!]
"By the way, Stelle, where did you pick up those lines? I never taught you, and I doubt the train crew would."
"Been feeling too upright lately. Firefly took me and March to watch a few episodes of Family Guy."
"Moved to tears… Family Guy, saving kids from normal families since forever." Sairuis sighed, eyes full of weary nostalgia.
"Yeah… back in the days…" Stelle tilted her head 45 degrees skyward, tears brimming. Scenes flashed before her eyes. "During the Cosmic Locust Plague…"
[What are you two even mourning? And those aren't your memories—why are you playing death montage?!]
(End of Chapter)