"Why did we go out today?"
After returning to the villa where they were staying, Lin asked Prometheus.
Prometheus pushed Lin directly into the elevator, pressed the third-floor button, and after the doors closed, her naturally neutral face was reflected on the elevator door.
She gently rubbed her face.
The bionic muscles were very soft. The internal temperature control system kept the overall temperature stable at room temperature. This face certainly fit the general aesthetic definition of cuteness.
"Because Lin has never smiled," she turned her head and said blankly to Lin.
Lin looked at her crimson eyes, which were the way she looked out at the world.
"Whether wearing a helmet or not wearing a helmet, whether eating or sleeping, whether sad or happy."
"The expression has never changed."
...So that's it.
"I saw in the data that to make someone smile, you have to act a bit interesting. I don't know what is interesting, so I imitated the people in the data."
"But Lin still hasn't smiled."
A smile?
Lin suddenly realized he had forgotten when he last smiled. No, he felt like he didn't know how to smile now.
A smile is the activity of the risorius and zygomaticus major muscles. Could he control these two muscles to smile?
No.
He tried to move his facial muscles, but just as he couldn't control the parts of his body below his neck, he couldn't change his expression.
"Doctor Mei smiles, Vil-V smiles, Kevin smiles, Delta smiles, Elysia smiles... everyone smiles, expressing feelings with a smile, hiding feelings with a smile. Only Lin uses a helmet as his face, and never smiles."
Helmet...
Unconsciously, the helmet had become Lin's signature. Only the azure visor was always between others and Lin's face. No one saw what he looked like under the helmet. Perhaps some might guess that his face under the helmet also showed joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, but Prometheus, who could see inside, knew...
No. The only difference between Lin's face and the visor was the material and style—it was just as unchanging.
Rather than saying he put on a helmet, it was more like his face was simply displayed in a different way.
This helmet was his face.
After trying, Lin asked Prometheus, "What about you? You haven't smiled either."
"I can."
As soon as she finished speaking, Prometheus's face moved close to Lin's. Two fingers hooked the corners of her mouth upward, forming a distorted "smile."
"...Not that kind. I can do that too."
"Lin can't."
"I..." Lin was about to argue with Prometheus, then he suddenly realized that he actually couldn't do what she did right now.
Prometheus released her fingers from the corners of his mouth. Her two hands gently pressed on his helmet. Her crimson eyes shone brightly, observing the inside of Lin's helmet.
"I want to see Lin's smile."
Lin pushed her hands away and said calmly to the artificial intelligence girl who would be accompanying him for a long time:
"If you can genuinely smile, I will show you."
...
"Doctor, here are today's statistics."
"Okay, leave them there."
Mobius took a sip of her coffee and immediately felt a bitter taste spread across her tongue. She widened her eyes, suppressing the urge to spit it all out, turned around, and spat the coffee into the trash can. Then, she quickly grabbed an empty cup, ran to the water dispenser, and got a cup of plain water to rinse her mouth.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
It took several rinses of her tongue to wash away the disgusting bitterness. She leaned on the desk, gritting her teeth, and looked at the three people in the lab: "Who brewed the coffee today?"
Klein and Fuxi pointed at Nuwa in perfect unison.
"Eh? Eh! Wait, wait, wait..." Nuwa, who was lost in thought, trying to figure out how to fill out a form, looked up and saw Mobius's intensely aggressive green eyes. Frightened, she jumped up, trembling: "D-Doctor, is there a problem? I'm diligently completing my work! No slacking off!"
Mobius didn't waste words with her and directly demanded: "Did you brew today's coffee?"
"I did, wh-what's wrong?"
Mobius unhappily placed the coffee cup on Nuwa's desk and said simply, "Drink it."
Nuwa picked up the cup suspiciously, cautiously glanced at Mobius, and then brought her mouth to the rim...
"Ptoo—"
Mobius put down the file bag she was using to shield her face and pulled out a tissue to wipe away the coffee and spit.
Nuwa, whose expression was even more bitter than the coffee, also went to get a cup of water to rinse her mouth.
"I'm sorry, Doctor. I brewed the coffee using the method Lin taught me. I won't do it again."
"...If you have instant coffee, don't bother with hand-ground coffee next time." Mobius was also somewhat helpless. She understood the intention to learn Lin's meager skills and show off, but Nuwa wasn't cut out for it. Her motion for grinding coffee beans was like sanding the gates of a model kit.
On the other hand, did Lin actually teach her how to brew hand-ground coffee?
Mobius only remembered that Lin was the one who brewed the coffee every time he was in the lab. After he was paralyzed, they switched to instant coffee, and it took a period of adjustment before she started drinking instant coffee again.
"Never mind... It's lunchtime. Take a break."
Mobius yawned. She hadn't slept much last night, working late into the night to adjust new medicines. By the time she finished her work, it was already six in the morning.
This was also because the situation within the Moth of the Flame had been escalating recently. Even after the Fourth Eruption ended, the focus of the arguments wasn't the Eruption or the Fourth Herrscher, but Mei, who was starting her work in the R&D department.
Human stupidity is always in style.
Mobius sneered, thinking of them arguing red-faced, like monkeys jumping up and down fighting over territory.
"Then today I'll have..." Her finger tapped on several buckets of instant noodles of different flavors. However, before she could choose one, Klein walked over.
Klein frowned, uncharacteristically forcefully taking the instant noodles from her: "Doctor, why are you planning to eat instant noodles again? It's not good for your health. The cafeteria is right nearby. Eat a nutritious meal."
"It's too much trouble." Mobius wasn't in the mood to be watched like a rare animal. "Instant noodles are better."
"No."
"Tsk, if that guy wasn't gone..." Mobius raised an eyebrow, then suddenly shut her mouth.
Thinking about it, with the Moth of the Flame in complete disarray, that guy could remain completely detached and go on a "vacation." It was quite annoying when she thought about it.
It wasn't that she missed his cooking or his occasional assistance that was more precise than a machine, but he should have been at the center of the vortex. Yet, he allowed himself to be exiled, as if he were running away.
"That guy? Do you mean Mr. Lin?"
"Hmph, you misheard."
Mobius turned and walked out the door.
Then she turned back: "You three come to the cafeteria with me."