31. The Sea of Electricity
"Here we go!"
The moment the train announced this, the handrails we were gripping detached from the carriage's supports, and we were hurled into the sea of electricity.
Like divers plunging in or special forces parachuting down, we dove headfirst into the sea with momentum.
The instant we plunged into the electric sea, a splashing sound, like parting water, echoed around us. Jinri and I deftly moved our limbs, successfully floating on the electric surface.
Floating was surprisingly easy.
The surface, tingling with subtle stimulation, felt pleasant against our skin, enveloping our bodies gently. It was a refreshing sensation, like splashing in water for the first time in ages.
"This feels amazing!"
Jinri let out a joyful cry, diving deep before resurfacing.
Like a scene from a commercial, she tossed her wet hair back, and as it traced a parabolic arc, large electric particles burst and scattered, tingling across my face.
I didn't bother wiping the electrons away, simply embracing the moment.
And in that instant, I fell in love with Jinri for the 108th time.
Despite my memory loss and compromised processing power, my CPU worked with uncanny precision when it came to Jinri. Data related to our moments together was processed with obsessive accuracy.
Here, in this sea of electricity, I was certain: I had fallen in love for the 108th time.
"Fallen" might not be the right word.
It wasn't a fleeting plunge you could climb out of, nor a momentary burst like carbonated bubbles. It was cumulative, like a delta forming over eons, seeping into every corner of my CPU and actuators.
The overflowing energy of this electric sea amplified those feelings a trillionfold, sparking an irresistible elation.
"Purple electricity—I've never seen anything like it," Jinri said, casually wiping her wet face, flashing a machine-gun burst of a bright smile at me.
Her smile sent my visual sensors trembling, overwhelming me with a dizzying sensation.
"For me," I managed to squeeze out, "this is my first time swimming in an electric sea."
"Same here," she replied.
"Anyway," I pressed on, determined not to lose sight of our core objective.
Pointing at the 365-story control tower in the distance, I said, "We need to get there. It's a bit far, though."
"Yeah," Jinri responded in a breezy tone, as if enjoying a carefree vacation. Her nonchalance made me a little restless.
"That damn train," I said with a wry smile. "Could've dropped us right in front of the control tower, but it tossed us out here instead."
"Well, it's fine, isn't it? We get to swim in this amazing sea!"
"I guess, but…"
"Let's swim there. It'll be fun!"
Jinri's smile, amplified by the drifting electrons, shone brighter than the sun. Caught up in her radiant energy, I felt my dwindling lifespan stretch into an eternal moment and nodded.
"Alright. Let's swim there. Together."
And so, we began swimming toward the control tower.
Unlike ordinary water or liquid mercury, the electric sea had a texture perfectly suited for humanoid robots.
The electron particles, non-continuous, clung to the microscopic pores of our carbon-material skin, delivering a pleasant, pixel-like stimulation.
The environment, ideal for swimming, seemed to perfectly embody the probabilistic motion of electrons. The splashing sound of electrons grazed my auditory sensors, resonating deeply. It was as if a sound that had traveled faster than light for billions of years had finally reached me, evoking profound emotion.
Each stroke of my arms and legs spread that emotion through my entire body.
The sea teemed with diverse fish.
Not tropical fish or goldfish, but beautifully shaped creatures bred in this power plant, almost appetizing in their elegance.
"Fish," Jinri murmured softly, her voice cutting through the electric mist, gently brushing my skin.
The fish, as if bred in neatly sectioned-off compartments woven with delicate threads, turned curious gazes toward us. The sudden appearance of humanoid robots, foreign entities, drew their attention. Their looks were inquisitive yet friendly, without a hint of hostility. They approached us, then retreated slightly, swimming alongside us as if gliding across the electric sea's surface.
Suddenly, hundreds of cutlassfish appeared, their long, silver bodies undulating like a visible electric dragon, swimming vertically in smooth waves. They seemed like escorts, sternly ensuring we followed the correct current toward the control tower.
"I heard them," Jinri said, listening closely to the cutlassfish and translating their words for me.
"They say a white whale lives here. It's got a pretty difficult personality, so we'd better get to the control tower before it finds us."
"Then we'd better move faster."
Jinri and I fully engaged our actuators, pouring energy into our movements. From the swarm of cutlassfish, we managed to extract fish oil and omega-333 from these edible electric fish. The nutrient-rich lubricant seeped into our bodies, smoothing our actuators' motions.
Thanks to this, our swimming speed noticeably increased, the hum of our motors resonating like a chorus.
The unfamiliar motors embedded in my body, as if thanking the lubricant, moved more smoothly and powerfully.
The sensation was so perfect that I began to wonder if this was truly my body—or if I was just an avatar named "Yura," controlled by some human on Earth through AI simulation.
A strange, unsettling feeling gripped me, as if I were being forcibly manipulated. To shake it off, I knew we had to reach the control tower as quickly as possible.
Our earnest swim through the beautiful electric sea, shimmering with faint purple and speckled with golden particles, was nearing its end.
Jinri's voice confirmed it.
"We're almost there."
Her tone carried a trace of heartfelt reluctance.
This electric sea felt like the amniotic fluid of cutting-edge technology, or the nurturing mother of all intelligence—Gaia, Poseidon, or perhaps a fusion of both—a vast, merciful spirit protecting us.
But this tranquil, liberating, near-euphoric time was about to end.
"Let's stop clinging to this sea," Jinri said solemnly yet gently, as if urging me to grow up.
"The water play is over."
Suppressing my sadness, I spoke to Jinri, swimming beside me. She turned her gaze toward me, her expression more mature than I'd ever seen.
"Yeah, I know."
As if stretching just a nanometer taller, we shed our lingering attachment to the electric sea's allure and finally reached the control tower.