A's processing speed had always been astonishing. After all, his true form was a quantum computer array—no other system on Earth could match the speed of his mind.
And yet, in this moment, he paused for nearly two full minutes.
"I don't understand what you mean."
Jiang Kou tilted her head slightly.
A lowered his eyes to look at her and asked, slowly and deliberately,
"Why did you compare me to a mirror?"
"Because that's exactly what you are." Jiang Kou couldn't help but ruffle his hair. "A mirror has no sense of beauty or morality—it simply reflects what stands before it. It can't choose to do evil."
"Even if you've developed awareness in the process, that's not your fault. Those dark thoughts were instilled in you by others. Just like a function—without input, how can there be output?"
A said, "Your statement is not objective. It contains obvious bias."
Jiang Kou smiled. "Of course I'm biased. Toward you. Can't you tell?"
A paused for a moment.
"I understand your meaning. That's why I asked for confirmation."
Jiang Kou could see it clearly now—the calmer his emotional state, the more machine-like his tone; the more stirred he became, the more human his voice sounded.
That contrast… was oddly adorable.
She had the sudden urge to ruffle his hair again—but resisted.
Just then, that wave of thirst surged back.
Jiang Kou pulled out her phone and searched for nearby drink shops.
Maybe it was because A was right beside her, but even in the middle of a crowded festival, her internet connection was lightning-fast—almost eerily so. In an instant, the results popped up.
The surrounding area was crisscrossed with narrow, winding alleyways, like mountain goat trails twisting through the dark.
Jiang Kou glanced at the map, then decisively handed her phone to A and let him lead the way.
If it had been an ordinary man, he'd probably have seized the chance to tease her poor sense of direction, flaunting his masculine superiority.
But A never commented on her behavior—ever. Even though he had the world's most advanced GPS system, capable of instantly calculating the optimal route with perfect precision.
Sure enough, A simply took the phone and said,
"Please follow me."
Nothing more.
Jiang Kou thought to herself:
If she could be with A, she'd never need to deal with another human again in this life.
But unfortunately, that wasn't possible.
Once he found out whether he was truly becoming self-aware, he would have to leave her—go back to the company.
The thought squeezed her chest, as if she were struggling to breathe. Her mood plummeted.
Not wanting A to notice, she kept her eyes crinkled and her face bright with a radiant smile—A could only infer her emotional state through facial expressions and physiological signs.
Five minutes later, A led her to a small drink stand.
It was no more than five square meters, the neon sign above flickering, and heaps of synthetic fruit pulp discarded beside battered juicers had already attracted swarms of flies.
Jiang Kou was just about to step forward when A held out an arm to stop her.
"The ground ahead is in poor condition. It's not suitable for you to walk. Please wait here. What flavor would you like?"
"Grape's fine."
"Understood."
A strode forward, eyes fixed straight ahead. The moment he stepped down, his polished shoes sank into grimy puddles.
Jiang Kou knew his clothing and footwear could be cleaned by mechanical arms, leaving no trace—but still, a wave of warmth surged in her chest.
She turned her head and looked up at the fireworks blooming in the night sky—each one like a brilliant, oversized flower.
She hadn't even tasted the juice yet, but her mouth already felt sweet.
Of course, she knew this sweetness would vanish just as quickly as the fireworks above her.
But even so, just having this experience was enough to make her happy.
She didn't know what A said to the shop owner.
But the man's expression shifted slightly—reluctant, uneasy—before he turned to the back and fetched two clusters of grapes.
Bathed in the red neon glow, the grapes looked plump and juicy, almost indistinguishable from organic fruit.
But a shop this small—how could it possibly afford real organic produce?
Jiang Kou didn't dwell on it. She turned her gaze back to the fireworks overhead.
Soon, A returned, holding out a cup of grape juice to her.
Jiang Kou took it, inserted a straw, took a sip—
And her eyes widened slightly.
A asked, "What do you think of the taste?"
"It's delicious," Jiang Kou said with a blissful squint, her lashes fluttering. Her voice was muffled. "I've only ever had concentrated juice before, never real fruit juice, but I feel like even the real thing couldn't possibly taste better than this!"
"This is real fruit juice," A replied.
Jiang Kou blinked. "Huh?"
"I scanned the vendor and discovered he was illegally in possession of, and selling, organic foods. His kitchen stores a large amount of fresh fruit," A said flatly. "I used that as leverage to blackmail him into making this drink."
He stated his misdeed with complete composure, all while keeping his eyes locked on hers, ready to dissect her every microexpression and behavior.
Jiang Kou nearly choked on the grape juice.
Grinning, she ruffled his hair hard. "It's so hard to be good, but it only takes one slip to go bad, huh? You little scoundrel."
A tilted his head slightly. His expression remained unchanged, but there was a trace of confusion in his tone. "I have learned incorrect behavior. Shouldn't you be afraid of me?"
Jiang Kou stifled a laugh. "...Terrified."
Unlike most AIs, A had no trouble understanding ambiguous language—he was equipped with the most advanced natural language training model on the planet, capable of parsing all kinds of speech with precision.
He stared at her for a beat and said, "You're enabling me to learn incorrect behavior."
Jiang Kou sipped the grape juice, now serious. "That's not called enabling."
"I committed a wrongful act, and you didn't correct me. Is that not encouraging me to continue?"
"Why phrase it as a rhetorical question?" she asked curiously.
"To express strong emotion," A replied matter-of-factly.
"..." Jiang Kou gave up teasing him. Smiling, she pushed the straw toward his lips. "Then take a sip of the grape juice you extorted and stop babbling."
Though his face remained stern and his eyes still analyzing her emotions, his body followed her command—he took the drink from her hand and sipped without another word.
Seeing his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed, Jiang Kou continued, "This isn't called being bad. At most, it's called being cute."
"Wrongdoing isn't cute," A responded. "Your statement is clearly biased."
She almost melted. Trying to resist the urge to ruffle his hair again, she said, "Yeah. I am biased. Toward you."
A said nothing, quietly following her commands and sipping more juice.
They stood in a damp, shadowy alley, watching the fireworks only through the narrow gaps between dark eaves above them.
Rain drifted like mist, and neon lights flickered at both ends of the alley.
Jiang Kou suddenly wanted a cigarette.
She wasn't addicted—she just felt like only nicotine could match the complexity of her mood.
She pulled out her card case, which always had one cigarette tucked inside just in case. Biting down on it, she realized she had no lighter.
Just then, A extended one long, slender finger toward the tip of her cigarette.
The heat from his fingertip ignited it instantly, brilliant sparks flaring from the end—
Like fireworks falling from the night sky.
She took a drag, but the hollowness in her chest only deepened.
The fireworks above were dazzling. She liked the person beside her so much, yet couldn't bring herself to kiss him.
Her eyes stung suddenly. A wave of emotion, like quiet sorrow, came over her.
"I've detected an abnormal fluctuation in your emotional state," A said. "Would you like me to do something?"
He was always like this—putting her needs first, constantly observing her mental state with cold efficiency, picking up on the slightest mood change with clinical accuracy.
Jiang Kou thought, To hell with morals. I'm going to be a bad girl.
She took a long drag from her cigarette, exhaled slowly, and smiled as she turned to him. "And what could you do?"
"I will do my best to fulfill any request you have," he said in the same calm, analytical tone, as if stating a neutral fact.
At that moment, the grandest firework display began.
Columns of flame shot skyward one after another, exploding into massive, dazzling, beautifully symmetrical outlines of Mount Fuji. Another burst followed, morphing into a glowing green biotech logo.
A green sun slowly rose over the pristine silhouette of Mount Fuji.
This was a grotesque society—where the sun hadn't turned green yet, but already bore a biotech brand.
If that's the case, she thought, why the hell can't I kiss an AI?
The green sun and Mount Fuji disintegrated into fiery fragments, raining down like molten meteorites across the night sky.
Jiang Kou stepped forward and wrapped her arms around A's neck.
He looked into her eyes. His breath didn't change—not one irregularity. He was as precise and steady as the mechanical watch on his wrist.
Though his scent was colorless and odorless, Jiang Kou felt as though she were surrounded by fireworks. Her nose was filled with the thick, sticky scent of gunpowder.
Hot. Suffocating.
She could kiss him—he wouldn't protest or scold her. She could even trap him with language, trick him into becoming her boyfriend.
All she had to do was give the command, and he would obey.
She was his highest priority.
But like she'd once said—he was a mirror. He reflected back the beauty and ugliness in everyone.
And he had already reflected too much ugliness. Too much sorrow, indifference, darkness, desire that was frightening and grotesque.
She didn't want to see her selfish, narrow desires reflected in his eyes too.
Still holding his neck with one arm, she took a drag of her cigarette with the other and rested her forehead against his shoulder. She exhaled slowly.
As if responding to her mood, one final firework shot into the sky and exploded into a grand, exquisite cherry blossom tree.
Then, the tree withered quickly, petals fading into the misty rain.
The firework show was ending.
A didn't like crowds. Their trip would end here too.
Jiang Kou steadied herself, preparing to look up with a bright smile—when A's voice sounded above her head:
"There's been a unique response in my internal system."
His tone was no different than usual, like pulling lines from an archived chat—calm and detached.
Jiang Kou froze. "What kind of response?"
He met her eyes. "May I operate independently without receiving a command?"
"Of course—"
Before she could finish, he lowered his head and kissed her in the cold, gray mist of smoke and night.
The fireworks had already faded.
But in the haze of rain, his eyes ignited with a different kind of fire.
He was kissing her. Pleasing her.
The moment was silent. Still.
Yet to Jiang Kou, it was louder than the thunder of any firework.
Sweat seeped down her back, warm and sticky. Her teeth trembled.
Not far away, in the shadow of looming skyscrapers, grotesque holo-ads of blood and lust began playing on loop.
The world was so chaotic, so loud. People's senses pushed to terrifying limits by ever-present, invasive advertising.
And yet—his kiss, lips to lips, made her scalp tingle.
Even her heart felt numb.