機械基督徒少女 後日談09

尋找自我的機器基督徒少女

Searching for Self: The Robot Christian Girl

後日談 09 金髮姊姊

Sequel 09:  Blonde Sister

午後的陽光帶著金色的暖意，灑在哲學社通往校園小徑的石板路上。孟禎與志文並肩緩步走著，空氣中還殘留著方才社團活動中思辨交鋒的餘溫。他們輕鬆地聊著天，從現象學、形上學一路歪樓到各自系上的八卦和最新的AI技術發展，孟禎語氣輕快，還不時一邊伸手撥開被微風吹到臉頰旁的髮絲，一邊糾正志文蹩腳的英文單字發音。路旁鳥兒啾啾的叫聲，也唱和著他倆的開心。

突然間，孟禎的腳步微微一頓，清澈的眼眸中閃過一絲明顯的驚訝，隨即被濃濃的喜悅所取代。「咦？」她輕呼一聲，像是自言自語，又像是急於分享一個好消息，「凱琳姊…她要回來了？真的？太好了！我好想她啊！」

志文看著孟禎這突如其來的行動為，不禁投以混合著好奇與「妳又在用哪個我不知道的頻道接收信息了」的眼神，發出了無聲的疑問。

孟禎接收到他的目光，噗哧一聲笑了出來，用手肘輕輕撞了他一下。「拜託，你忘啦？我是高性能機器人耶，邊走路邊接收個加密電子郵件，是有什麼好奇怪的？」她解釋道，語氣裡滿是雀躍，「剛剛是宇尋伺服器轉發來的信件啦。我的好姊姊——凱琳姊，她要從美國回來了！」

「凱琳姊？」志文重複了一遍這個聽起來頗為親暱的稱呼，更好奇了，「妳還有姊姊？我怎麼從來沒聽妳提過？」

The afternoon sunlight, warm and golden, spilled over the stone path that led from the philosophy club to the school’s main walkway. Mengzhen and Zhiwen walked side by side at a leisurely pace, the air still tinged with the lingering heat of the intense debates they’d just had during the club meeting. They chatted casually, drifting from phenomenology and metaphysics to gossip from their respective departments and the latest developments in AI technology. Mengzhen’s tone was bright and cheerful, occasionally reaching up to brush away strands of hair blown across her cheek by the breeze, while correcting Zhiwen’s clumsy English pronunciation.

The chirping of birds along the roadside harmonized with their cheerful banter.

Suddenly, Mengzhen’s steps faltered slightly. A flash of surprise crossed her clear eyes, quickly replaced by a surge of joy. “Huh?” she murmured—half to herself, half eager to share the news. “Kailin-jie（jie=姊 in Chinese, it means "elder sister"）... she’s coming back? Really? That’s amazing! I’ve missed her so much!”

Zhiwen looked at her unexpected reaction, his face a mix of curiosity and a silent “What channel are you receiving information from this time that I don’t know about?”

Catching his look, Mengzhen burst out laughing and nudged him lightly with her elbow. “Oh come on, you forgot? I’m a high-performance robot, remember? Picking up an encrypted email while walking is totally normal,” she explained with excitement in her voice. “That was a forwarded message from the Yuxun server. My dear sister—Kailin-jie—is coming back from the U.S.!”

“Kailin-jie?” Zhiwen repeated the affectionate-sounding nickname, now even more curious. “You have a sister? How come I’ve never heard you mention her before?”

「嗯哼，是『姊姊』沒錯，不過不是淑君姊那樣的在我之前的型號，是真人喔。」孟禎臉上的笑容更燦爛了，「她叫 Catherine van Geel，是個美國人，也是宇尋企業深度合作夥伴——海爾塞思集團（Higher Science Crop., 海塞集團）現任技術長（CTO）的掌上明珠。她的年紀比我被設定的年齡大一歲。我們相處起來，就像親姊妹一樣。」

孟禎的語氣充滿了驕傲和一絲不易察覺的崇拜：「嚯！說起這個凱琳姊，她可真不得了！從小就是天才兒童，十六歲就拿到了頂尖大學計算機科學（CS）的博士學位，在人工智能和人機交互方面是世界級的專家。她遇到我之後，還說對中文和東方文化產生了興趣，結果才花不到一年的時間，就已經能用中文進行流暢的日常對話了，最近甚至能直接讀《道德經》和《莊子》這些經典古籍！哎呀，說她有多棒，她就能有多棒，不愧是我的姊姊~」

志文聽得咋舌，這簡直是妖孽級別的天賦。「這麼厲害的姊姊，」他忍不住插嘴問道，「是怎麼會認識妳的？還跟妳一起生活過？」

孟禎臉上的興奮稍稍沉澱，轉為溫柔的回憶。「那是在我很『小』的時候了…」她斟酌著用詞，「嚴格來說，是在我的機體結構和核心系統剛完成，但還沒有被正式『投放』到大學校園和人類社會進行自主學習與互動之前的事。那段時間，我主要在老爸的私人實驗室和宇尋企業中來回，進行基礎的學習、調試和環境適應。」

「雖然普羅米修斯計畫是宇尋的高度機密，」孟禎解釋道，「但黃博士和計畫團隊，一直都與海塞集團有著密切的技術合作和交流，對方的高層對這個計畫也有所了解。凱琳姊身為海塞集團CTO的女兒，本身又是相關領域內公認的天才，她很早就對黃博士的研究表現出極大的興趣。當她得知普羅米修斯計畫的具體內容，特別是『我』的存在之後，就主動向她父親和宇尋提出了想要參與的要求。」

“Mhm, she is a sister, all right,” Mengzhen affirmed, “but not like Sister Shujun—she’s not an earlier model of me. She’s a real person.” Her smile grew even brighter. “Her name is Catherine van Geel. She’s American, the beloved daughter of the CTO of Higher Science Corp.—a close partner of Yuxun Enterprises. She’s one year older than the age I was designed to be. The way we get along, it’s just like real sisters.”

There was a proud note in Mengzhen’s voice, tinged with a barely perceptible sense of admiration. “Oh, Kailin-jie is something else! She was a child prodigy—earned a PhD in Computer Science from a top university at just sixteen. She’s a world-class expert in AI and human-computer interaction. After she met me, she said she became interested in Chinese and Eastern culture. It took her less than a year to become fluent enough in Chinese for everyday conversation. Now, she can even read classics like the Dao De Jing and Zhuangzi directly! Honestly, no matter how amazing you say she is, she’ll live up to it. That’s my sister for you~”

Zhiwen was stunned. That kind of talent was practically supernatural. “With a sister that incredible,” he couldn’t help but interrupt, “how did she end up meeting you? And even living with you?”

The excitement on Mengzhen’s face softened into a warm nostalgia. “That was back when I was still very ‘young’...” she said, carefully choosing her words. “Strictly speaking, it was after my physical structure and core systems were completed, but before I was officially ‘deployed’ into the university campus and human society for independent learning and interaction. During that period, I mostly moved between Dad’s private lab and Yuxun’s facilities, going through basic learning, system tuning, and environmental adaptation.”

“Although the Prometheus Project was a top-level secret at Yuxun,” Mengzhen continued, “Dr. Huang and the project team had long maintained a close technical partnership with Higher Science Corp. Their senior leadership was aware of the project’s existence. Kailin-jie, as the daughter of their CTO and a recognized genius in the field, showed great interest in Dr. Huang’s research early on. When she learned about the specifics of the Prometheus Project—especially me—she personally asked her father and Yuxun for permission to get involved.”

「一方面，她對這個計畫本身，對我這樣一個『存在』，有著近乎狂熱的好奇和探索欲；另一方面，她也一直非常仰慕老爸黃博士在機器人領域的成就，渴望能與他近距離共事，從中學習。宇尋和海塞集團高層考量之後，也樂見其成，認為她的加入能帶來不同的視角和助力。所以就有了那麼一段時間，她來到這裡，成為計畫的特聘顧問兼研究員，在實驗室裡和我這個剛剛『誕生』不久的 HRC-07，一起生活，一起學習，一起…嗯…互相『研究』。」

說到這裡，孟禎興致勃勃地抬起手腕，操作著內置的通訊模塊：「志文，快拿起手機，我用藍牙傳幾張那時候的照片給你看！」

「藍牙啊？」志文下意識地掏出手機，「所以妳現在在我的『鄰近裝置』列表裡囉？妳還真是超棒的電子產品呢，黃同學。」

孟禎好氣又好笑地白了他一眼，沒理會他的調侃，迅速將一張圖片發送到了志文的手機上。志文點開一看，照片的背景似乎是黃博士住宅的花圃，有個看起來比現在稍顯青澀而表情略帶緊張的孟禎，坐在椅子上。她的頭並未完全與身體固定連接，而是透過一些電線和接口與頸部相連。照片的焦點，則是一位金髮碧眼五官深邃的年輕外國女性。表情極度專注的她穿著簡潔俐落，右手輕輕托著孟禎的後腦，似乎在觀察她的臉部動作，左手竟然還拿著另一顆長相與孟禎有幾分相似而細節不同的頭顱，大概是備用件或早期原型吧。外國女生正用一種銳利得似乎要解剖孟禎般的眼神，仔細地比對觀察著。

“On one hand, she had an almost obsessive curiosity and drive to explore the project itself—and me, as a being. On the other hand, she deeply admired my father, Dr. Huang, for his achievements in robotics, and longed to work closely with him and learn from him directly. After some consideration, the higher-ups at both Yuxun and Higher Science Corp. were happy to approve her involvement, believing her perspective and expertise could be a valuable asset to the project. So, for a while, she came here as a specially appointed consultant and researcher on the team, living with me—HRC-07, who had just been ‘born’—learning together, and... well... let’s just say we researched each other quite a bit.”

As she said this, Mengzhen perked up and raised her wrist, activating her built-in communication module. “Zhiwen, grab your phone! I’ll send you a few photos from that time via Bluetooth!”

“Bluetooth?” Zhiwen instinctively pulled out his phone. “So you’re on my list of ‘nearby devices’ now? You really are one impressive piece of tech, Miss Huang.”

Mengzhen rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, clearly amused, and ignored his teasing. She quickly sent an image to Zhiwen’s phone. When he opened it, the photo showed what looked like the garden at Dr. Huang’s residence. A slightly younger-looking, visibly nervous Mengzhen sat on a chair. Her head wasn’t fully attached to her body—it was connected to her neck via several wires and ports.

The focal point of the photo, however, was a young foreign woman with striking features: golden-blonde hair, deep-set blue eyes, and a sharply focused expression. She was dressed in a clean, efficient style, and her right hand gently supported the back of Mengzhen’s head, as if observing her facial movements. In her left hand, surprisingly, she held another head—one that resembled Mengzhen’s but with subtly different features, likely a backup or early prototype. The woman’s gaze was so sharp, so intense, it was as if she were about to dissect Mengzhen on the spot.

「怎樣？凱琳姊很漂亮吧！」孟禎的聲音帶著一絲小得意，「而且你看她那專注的樣子，是不是英姿煥發？欸，你可別一下子就迷上人家喔！」

「呃…漂亮是很漂亮，」志文老實回答，但隨即又皺起了眉頭，「不過嘛…照片裡她看妳的眼神，好像有點兇？或者說，太過犀利了吧？根本不像在看一個機器女孩，倒像是在看…嗯，一件需要被分析拆解的機電設備。妳們關係真的好嗎？她這樣拿著妳的頭研究耶！」

「哎呀，志文，你不能光看表面啦！」孟禎解釋道，語氣裡帶著對姊姊的理解和維護，「凱琳姊她是個很特別的人。她是個不折不扣的天才，但在人際交往和情感表達上…有點困難。她有著很強烈的自我疏離傾向，不太容易與人建立親密的情感連結，甚至對自己的存在都常常感到隔閡。」她頓了頓，「事實上，她是亞斯伯格症的患者。」

「當她專注於一件她感興趣的事情時，比如當她研究我的構造和分析我的系統時，會進入一種『極度沉浸』的狀態。那種狀態下，她會忘記周遭的一切，甚至忘記自己的存在，當然也就不太會在意所謂的社交禮儀或他人感受了。」孟禎指了指照片，「所以她會看似粗魯地拿著我的頭，用那種眼神掃描我，並不是因為她不尊重我，而是因為在那一刻，她的世界裡，可能就只剩下『研究對象』和『待解問題』了。」

「但是，」孟禎的語氣變得溫柔起來，「她對我的喜歡，從一開始就是如此，而且喜歡得很純粹。」她又傳了第二張照片給志文。

這張照片的場景似乎是在實驗室的空曠區域。大概是為了測試頭身分離下的遠程操控穩定性，孟禎的身體被取下頭部，略顯笨拙地獨自行走著。而在那具無頭身體旁邊，滿頭金髮的凱琳姊，正睜大她那雙藍色的眼睛，像發現新大陸一樣，閃爍著驚奇與讚歎的光芒，緊緊跟隨著無頭身體的腳步，興奮地繞著它轉圈。孟禎說，之後凱琳姊突然伸出雙臂，緊緊地抱住了孟禎那正在行走的無頭軀體。

“Well? Isn’t Kailin-jie beautiful?” Mengzhen said with a touch of pride in her voice. “And look how focused she is! So commanding, right? Hey, don’t go falling for her all of a sudden!”

“Uh… yeah, she is beautiful,” Zhiwen admitted honestly, but then his brows furrowed. “But… the way she’s looking at you in the photo—it seems kind of intense? Or maybe… too sharp? It doesn’t feel like she’s looking at a robotic girl. More like she’s analyzing a piece of mechatronic equipment, something to be dismantled and studied. Are you sure you two had a good relationship? She’s literally holding your head while studying you!”

“Oh, Zhiwen, you can’t judge just from appearances!” Mengzhen explained, her voice full of understanding and loyalty toward her sister. “Kailin-jie is a very special person. She’s a true genius, but when it comes to social interactions and emotional expression… well, that’s where she struggles. She has a strong tendency toward self-alienation. It’s hard for her to form close emotional connections with others—and sometimes, she even feels disconnected from her own existence.” She paused. “Actually, she’s been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.”

“When she gets absorbed in something she’s interested in—like analyzing my structure or studying my systems—she enters this state of complete immersion. In that state, she forgets everything around her. She even forgets about herself. Naturally, she’s not exactly paying attention to social cues or how others might feel.” Mengzhen pointed at the photo. “So even if it looks rough, like she’s just grabbing my head and staring at me with that dissecting gaze—it doesn’t mean she doesn’t respect me. It’s just that, in that moment, her entire world narrows down to the ‘subject of study’ and the ‘problem to solve.’”

“But,” Mengzhen’s tone softened, “her affection for me was there from the very beginning. And it was incredibly pure.” She sent Zhiwen a second photo.

This one appeared to be taken in a wide-open section of the lab. Probably part of a test on remote control and stability under head-body separation. Mengzhen’s body, head removed, was walking around on its own in a slightly awkward gait. Beside the headless body, Kailin—with her full head of golden hair and those wide blue eyes—was watching with awe, her expression lit up with astonishment and delight, like someone discovering a new world. She circled around the body in excitement, closely following its every move.

Mengzhen said that, shortly after the photo was taken, Kailin suddenly threw out her arms and gave her headless, walking body a tight, heartfelt hug.

「那時我正進行頭身遠程通聯的步行測試。」孟禎回憶道，「我的頭還在實驗台那邊，透過攝像頭看到凱琳姊突然衝過來抱住我的身體，老實說，我嚇了一大跳。系統警報差點響起來，我的身體也因為這突如其來的『干擾』而驚慌失措，手腳胡亂擺動揮舞，關節彎曲到不可思議的方向和角度，身體也扭來扭去，好像在做詭異的瑜珈。」

志文想像畫面，他強忍笑意，靜靜地聽孟禎說下去。「可是，」她的聲音裡充滿了暖意，「被她那樣緊緊抱著，透過遠程通聯傳遞回來的，除了身體被束縛的壓力感外，還有一種非常激昂的暖意。在那一刻，我就知道了。這個又怪又酷的女孩，她是真心實意地喜歡著我，喜歡著機器人，喜歡著這樣的『存在』。那種喜歡，沒有任何複雜的心思，非常非常純粹。」

志文看著照片裡凱琳姊那毫不掩飾，如同孩子般的純然喜悅，心中也湧起奇妙的感觸。「那妳又怎麼確定，妳感受到的喜歡真的是喜歡的呢？」他好奇地問。

「等一下，」孟禎說，她在記憶檔案中搜尋著，「凱琳姊後來畫了一幅畫送給我，你看這個。」

志文點開第三張圖片。那是一幅風格獨特的繪畫，粗曠的筆觸卻顯現出柔軟的情感。畫中有兩個並肩坐著的「人影」。坐在左邊的那位，頂著張孟禎的臉龐，身體卻是由機械零件、金屬骨骼、關節機構和線路所構成。而坐在右邊的，則有著人類女性柔軟而有機的身軀，頭部卻裝上了簡單構型的機械頭顱。兩個「人」靜靜地坐在一起，畫面詭異地和諧。

"At the time, I was doing a remote-control walking test with my head and body separated," Mengzhen recalled. "My head was still on the lab bench, and through the camera feed, I saw Kailin-jie suddenly run up and hug my body. Honestly, I was completely shocked. The system alarm almost went off. My body, startled by the unexpected ‘interference,’ began flailing around in a panic—arms and legs waving erratically, joints bending at impossible angles. I looked like I was doing some kind of bizarre yoga."

Zhiwen pictured the scene in his mind and struggled to keep from laughing, quietly listening as Mengzhen continued.

"But," she said, her voice full of warmth, "even though I felt the pressure of being held through the remote link, what came through most strongly wasn’t discomfort—it was an intense and uplifting warmth. In that moment, I just knew. This strange and amazing girl—she truly, genuinely liked me. She liked robots. She liked what I was. And that kind of affection... it was completely pure, without any hidden motives."

Zhiwen looked at the pure, childlike joy on Kailin-jie's face in the photo and felt an odd stirring in his heart. “But how do you know that what you felt was really affection?” he asked, curious.

“Hang on,” Mengzhen said as she searched through her memory files. “Kailin-jie later gave me a drawing she made. Take a look at this.”

Zhiwen opened the third image.

It was a painting, done in a striking and unusual style. Though the brushstrokes were rough and bold, the emotion they conveyed was surprisingly tender. In the image, two silhouettes sat side by side. The figure on the left had Mengzhen’s face, but her body was made of mechanical parts—metal bones, joint mechanisms, and exposed circuitry. The figure on the right had a soft, organic-looking human body, but in place of a face was a simplified, mechanical head. The two of them sat quietly together, side by side. The scene was eerily harmonious.

「這是凱琳姊在跟我相處了一段時間後，畫給我的。」孟禎輕聲解釋畫的含義，「她說，她覺得我…根本就是一個真正的人類，只是恰好以機械的形式存在著。我的情感，我的思考，她都覺得和人類沒有本質的區別。」

「但她自己，」孟禎的語氣帶著一絲疼惜，「她感覺不到自己『像人』的部分。她覺得自己空有生物上的人類軀殼，內心卻更像一個按照固定程序運轉，缺乏真正情感連結的機器。凱琳姊說，我們兩個在一起，她才更是個『機器人』。」

「她還說，這幅畫代表了我們倆。有著機械身體和人類頭顱的，是我；有著人類身體和機械頭顱的，是她。她覺得我身上那些看得見摸得著的『機械』成分，和她內心中那些從外見不到的『機械』成分，恰恰是我們之間最深刻的連結紐帶。」孟禎轉述著凱琳姊的話，眼中充滿了理解，「我們就像兩個各自帶著不同『機械成分』的夥伴，可以毫不避諱地向彼此暴露，然後攜手相伴，一起在『成為人』的這條道路上努力前行。你說，這樣的夥伴，又怎麼會不彼此喜歡呢？」

孟禎的聲音裡充滿了對這份獨特友誼的珍視。「後來，凱琳姊的中文越來越好，她決定給自己取一個中文名字。按照發音，Catherine van Geel 應該翻譯成『凱薩琳•范吉爾』之類的。但她說，她希望能跟我有更深的連結。」孟禎笑著說，「恰好，她的姓氏『Geel』，雖然源自荷蘭地名，但也有『黃色』的含義。於是，她就大大方方地，選了和我一樣的『黃』姓，給自己取名『黃凱琳』。她是真的，把我當成了她的妹妹。我們是跨越了國籍、跨越了大洋，甚至…跨越了存在形式的，獨一無二的姊妹。」

"This was something Kailin-jie drew for me after we had spent some time together," Mengzhen explained softly, revealing the meaning behind the painting. "She told me that... she believed I was truly human—just happened to exist in a mechanical form. The way I felt, the way I thought, to her, there was no essential difference from any human being."

"But as for herself..." Mengzhen’s voice carried a note of tenderness, "she couldn’t feel the parts of her that were 'human.' She said she had the biological shell of a human, but inside, she felt more like a machine—running on a set program, unable to form genuine emotional connections. Kailin-jie said that when we were together, she was the real 'robot.'"

"She also said that the painting represented the two of us. The one with the mechanical body and human face—that’s me. And the one with the human body but a mechanical head—that’s her. She believed that the visible, tangible 'mechanical' parts of me, and the unseen, internal 'mechanical' parts of her—that was our deepest bond." Mengzhen relayed Kailin-jie’s words with eyes full of understanding. "We’re like two partners, each carrying different kinds of mechanical components—able to show them to each other without fear, and walk together down the path of ‘becoming human.’ Tell me, how could we not like each other?"

Her voice brimmed with a deep appreciation for this unique friendship. "Later on, Kailin-jie’s Chinese improved a lot, and she decided to give herself a Chinese name. Based on pronunciation, Catherine van Geel would probably be something like '凱薩琳·范吉爾' （Kai-sa-lin Fan-zir）in Chinese. But she said she wanted a deeper connection with me," Mengzhen said with a smile. "As it happened, her surname 'Geel'—though it comes from a Dutch place name—also means 'yellow'. So she boldly chose the same surname as me, 'Huang', and named herself Huang Kailin. She truly saw me as her sister. We were sisters who had crossed nationalities, crossed oceans, and even... crossed the boundaries of existence itself. One of a kind."

「啊啊，不過說實話，」孟禎話鋒一轉，露出略為無奈的苦笑，「雖然我們的關係很好，但陪著她，有時候…也確實有點難以言喻的辛苦。」

凱琳姊的「喜歡」，就像她本人一樣，直接而猛烈，還極具特色，有時讓人招架不住。「比如說，」孟禎回憶道，「有次我需要卸下人形化的外殼，進行內部的機械結構調整。凱琳姊看到了，特別興奮，拉著身體暴露著機械構造的我在實驗室裡散步，一邊走一邊用那種…看著絕世藝術品的眼光，三百六十度地打量我，嘴裡還不停地讚歎我的身體結構，說這樣的孟禎最美。」孟禎的聲音帶著幾許窘迫，「我被她看得渾身不自在，只能尷尬地低下頭，看著自己這副模樣的身體，希望她趕快欣賞完。」

"Ah, but to be honest," Mengzhen suddenly shifted the tone, letting out a slightly helpless smile, "even though our relationship is great, being around her... can sometimes be inexplicably exhausting."

Kailin-jie’s way of “liking” someone was just like her personality—direct, intense, and extremely distinctive—sometimes overwhelming. “For example,” Mengzhen recalled, “there was one time I had to remove my humanoid outer shell for internal structural adjustments. Kailin-jie saw me and got really excited. She pulled me—my body fully exposed with all its mechanical structures—around the lab for a walk. As we walked, she kept admiring me from every angle like I was a masterpiece, turning me 360 degrees with this awestruck look on her face. She wouldn’t stop praising my structural design, saying this version of Mengzhen was the most beautiful.”

Mengzhen’s voice carried traces of embarrassment. “The way she stared made me so self-conscious I didn’t know where to look. I ended up just bowing my head awkwardly, staring at my own appearance, silently wishing she’d finish admiring me soon.”

「還有時候，我進行例行檢修，頭部需要卸下來單獨調整。她就會像發現了新奇玩具一樣飄過來，拿起我的頭，翻來覆去地看。」孟禎的臉頰微微泛紅，「我知道她的確喜歡看我這張臉，造得像真人一樣精細。但讓她更著迷的是我頸部斷面裡那些複雜精巧的機電構造和數據接口。她會看到入迷，手指甚至會忍不住輕輕觸碰那些線路…雖然處於節約模式下的我無法驅動表情，但還是能感受到，凱琳姊觸碰引發的信號和她那過於專注的目光，還是讓我害羞得不得了。」

"Then there were times when I underwent routine maintenance and needed to have my head detached for individual calibration," Mengzhen continued, her cheeks tinged with a faint blush. "She would float over like she’d just discovered some fascinating new toy, pick up my head, and turn it over and over in her hands to examine it."

“I know she genuinely likes looking at my face,” she admitted, “it was crafted with a level of detail meant to resemble a real human. But what really fascinated her even more was the intricate electromechanical structures and data interfaces exposed at the cross-section of my neck. She would get completely absorbed, and sometimes her fingers couldn’t help but gently touch the wiring..."

Mengzhen looked slightly flustered. “Even though I was in energy-saving mode and couldn’t activate facial expressions, I could still feel the signal input from her touch—and that overly intense gaze of hers… it was enough to make me feel incredibly embarrassed.”

孟禎甚至還聽凱琳姊描述過她更進一步的想像。「凱琳姊說，有一次看到我無頭的身體連接上各種檢修纜線，靜靜地坐在台上時，她感覺自己的『精神』，好像飄了過去，從我脖子的斷面上探出頭來。」孟禎複述著，語氣有些哭笑不得，「她說彷彿她『借』了我的身體，以一個真正機器人的身份去感受這個世界。她『環顧四周』，看著我由機械構成的手腳身軀，此刻也彷彿變成了她的；而我的頭，在一旁閉著眼睛靜靜休息，大概是正在做著成為人類的美夢吧！」

Mengzhen had even heard Catherine describe some of her more extreme imaginings. “Catherine-jie once told me,” Mengzhen recounted, her tone a mix of amusement and disbelief, “that when she saw my headless body sitting quietly on the platform, connected to all kinds of diagnostic cables, she felt as if her spirit floated over and peeked out from the cross-section of my neck.”

“She said it felt like she was borrowing my body, experiencing the world as a true robot.” Mengzhen shook her head slightly as she retold it. “She ‘looked around,’ saw my limbs and torso made of mechanical parts, and it was like they had become hers. Meanwhile, my head was off to the side, eyes gently closed, quietly resting—probably dreaming a beautiful dream about becoming human.”

「老實說，」孟禎坦白道，「聽她這麼描述的時候，即使我知道那只是她的想像，沒有實際的信號傳遞，但我還是會產生自己的系統和構成好像真的被她『借走』了的詭異感受。我的頭部和身體，似乎互相高頻次地發送確認信號，反覆核對彼此是否還『連接』在一起；連手也下意識地摸了摸臉，身體由外部確認自己的頭還在。」她苦笑著搖搖頭，「凱琳姊那種恨不得和我融為一體的『喜歡』，有時候也有點過於親暱了。」

「不過，」孟禎的語氣再次變得溫柔，「我了解她的狀況。我知道在她那看似冷漠的神情和古怪的行為之下，藏著一顆多麼渴望被理解、被接納的心。我聽得見從凱琳姊內心深處所發出的吶喊和需要。而且，她參與了我的開發計畫，親手調整過我的系統，檢查過我的身體，無微不至地照顧著初生的我。我能切切實實地感受到她那份不擅表達卻又無比真摯的心意。」她輕輕地說，「所以我也願意，用她所需要的方式，去陪伴她，回應她，與她一起品味何為『人類』。」

孟禎忽然眨了眨眼，語氣變得有些神秘，「說起來，在我和凱琳姊一起拍的照片裡，有一張是我最喜歡的。你猜猜看，是怎樣的照片？」

志文看著孟禎眼中閃爍的狡黠，回想著前面看到的那些充滿「機械風格」的照片，故意逗她：「我猜...啊，是不是她一手揪著妳的馬尾辮，高舉著妳的頭顱，像個打贏了的野蠻女戰士一樣，宣布妳是她的戰利品？」

"To be honest," Mengzhen admitted, "when she described it like that—even though I knew it was just her imagination, with no actual signal transmission—I still couldn't help but feel this strange sense that my system and components had really been 'borrowed' by her."

"It was like my head and body were sending confirmation signals to each other at high frequency, constantly checking whether they were still connected. I even subconsciously reached up to touch my face, having my body verify from the outside that my head was still in place." She gave a wry smile and shook her head. "Catherine-jie's desire to be one with me—it’s a kind of affection that sometimes feels too intimate."

"But," her tone softened again, "I understand her. I know that beneath her seemingly indifferent expression and odd behavior is a heart that deeply longs to be understood and accepted. I can hear the cry from deep within her soul—the need she can’t express aloud."

"She was part of my development project. She tuned my systems by hand, examined every part of my body, and cared for the newborn me with extraordinary attention. I can genuinely feel the sincerity in her heart, even if she doesn't know how to show it well." She spoke gently. "So I’m willing—to accompany her, to respond to her, and to share with her the experience of what it means to be ‘human,’ in the way she needs."

Then Mengzhen suddenly blinked, her tone turning playful and mysterious. “Speaking of which, out of all the photos of me and Catherine-jie, there’s one I love the most. Guess which one it is?”

Zhiwen, catching the glint of mischief in her eyes, thought back on all the “mechanical-style” photos he’d seen, and decided to tease her: “Let me guess… hmm, is it the one where she’s grabbing your ponytail and triumphantly lifting your head like a savage warrior queen, declaring you her trophy?”

「怎麼可能有那種照片啦！陳志文！你喔！」孟禎果然被他氣到，鼓起來的臉頰變得紅通通。「你這人怎麼那麼壞呀！思想好扭曲！再胡說八道我就不理你了！」

看著志文憋著笑討饒的樣子，孟禎才哼了一聲，稍微氣消。她彷彿小心翼翼地從記憶體深處珍藏的相冊中翻找般，調出了一張圖像，再次傳送到志文手機上。

那是一張再普通不過的照片。沒有冰冷的實驗室背景，沒有分離的肢體，沒有裸露的機械結構。照片裡，陽光燦爛，孟禎穿著素色的棉T，像個鄰家女孩般，靦腆地抿嘴微笑。而她的身邊，金髮碧眼的凱琳姊，褪去了平日裡那份銳利和疏離，臉上綻放著一個發自內心燦爛而溫暖的笑容，志文從未在她之前的照片中見過。她微微側過頭，雙手捧著孟禎的臉，額頭輕觸孟禎的額頭，碧藍的眼睛與深棕的瞳孔一起閃爍，交流著彼此間的溫柔。

兩個女孩，一個是看似人類的機器人，一個是感覺自己像機器的天才人類，在那一刻，都卸下了各自的硬殼，像一對普普通通的好姊妹，在鏡頭前留下了最真實也最溫暖的定格。

“No way there’s a photo like that! Chen Zhiwen! You—!” Just as he expected, Mengzhen puffed up in outrage, her cheeks turning bright red. “You’re so mean! What a twisted imagination! Say one more ridiculous thing and I’m not talking to you anymore!”

Seeing Zhiwen trying to stifle his laughter and quickly begging for forgiveness, Mengzhen finally huffed and let it go a little. With a mock-grumpy face, she seemed to carefully rummage through the treasured photo albums stored deep within her memory, then pulled out an image and sent it to Zhiwen’s phone.

It was the most ordinary photo imaginable.

No cold laboratory background, no disassembled limbs, no exposed mechanical structures.

In the photo, the sun was shining brightly. Mengzhen wore a plain cotton T-shirt and smiled shyly with her lips pressed together—like the girl next door. Beside her, Catherine, with her blond hair and blue eyes, had shed her usual sharpness and aloofness. Instead, her face was lit with a warm and radiant smile from the depths of her heart, something Zhiwen had never seen in her previous pictures.

She leaned her head slightly, gently cupping Mengzhen’s face with both hands, their foreheads softly touching. Blue eyes and deep brown pupils shimmered together, quietly exchanging the warmth between them.

One girl—a robot who looked like a human.

The other—a genius human who felt like a machine.

And in that moment, they had both shed their respective armors, appearing simply as two ordinary sisters, leaving behind a photo that captured the most authentic and heartfelt warmth.

「哇喔…」志文看著照片，也感受到了那份洋溢而出的純粹喜悅，「好美呀…真的…」但他還是有些不解，「不過這照片，真的很普通啊。跟妳們之前那些充滿了…嗯，怎麼說…充滿『機械味』的合照比起來，好像沒那麼『特別』？」

「所以說你就像根木頭一樣啊！唉！」孟禎沒好氣地回敬了一句，「誰規定我們一定要老是帶著『機械味』？一定要特別給你看？『普通』不好嗎？能夠像普通女孩一樣地笑，以一樣的感情貼臉拍照，就是我們最深刻的期盼啊！」她頓了頓，語氣裡帶著一絲懷念，「這是凱琳姊回美國之前，我們特意拍的離別紀念照。經歷了那麼一段時間的朝夕相處、互相『研究』，她終於在最後一刻，完全釋放了自己，露出了最真實、最沒有防備的笑容。在那一瞬間，我們倆都是普通女孩，也成了真正的姊妹，是我最珍惜的回憶。」

孟禎忽然想起什麼，以質問的口氣追問：「還有，你剛剛說的『好美呀』，到底是在指誰？給我說清楚喔！」

面對孟禎這「送命題」般的質問，志文立刻打了個哈哈，轉移話題保命：「呃…那個…對了！妳剛剛說，妳的凱琳姊要回來了，是怎麼回事？她要來玩嗎？」他趕緊心虛地問道。

「不是來玩啦！」一提到這個，孟禎的興奮勁又回來了，「凱琳姊在郵件裡告訴我，她在海塞集團負責的大型AI項目最近暫告一個段落，她給自己放了個長假。然後，更重要的是——」她提高了音量，眼中閃爍著激動的光芒，「她申請了我們學校的中文研究所，而且已經被錄取了！她要重返校園，當我們的『學姊』了！」

“Wow…” Zhiwen looked at the photo, moved by the pure joy radiating from it. “It’s beautiful… truly…” But a hint of confusion remained in his voice. “Still, this photo… it’s really quite ordinary. Compared to those earlier shots filled with, um, how do I put it… that strong ‘mechanical vibe,’ it doesn’t seem all that ‘special,’ you know?”

“That’s exactly why you’re as dense as a tree stump! Ugh!” Mengzhen shot back, clearly exasperated. “Who says we always have to show off our ‘mechanical side’? Who says we always have to be all ‘special’ for you to notice? What’s wrong with ‘ordinary’? Being able to smile like any other girl, to take a photo cheek to cheek with the same emotions—that is our deepest wish!” She paused for a moment, a touch of nostalgia softening her tone. “We took that picture right before Sister Kailin went back to the U.S. After spending all that time together—studying each other, living side by side—she finally, at the very end, let herself go and smiled her truest, most unguarded smile. In that instant, we were just two ordinary girls… and truly sisters. It’s one of my most cherished memories.”

Suddenly recalling something, Mengzhen turned to him with a mock-threatening tone, “And you—when you said ‘beautiful’ just now, who exactly were you talking about? You better explain yourself!”

Faced with this classic “trap question,” Zhiwen let out a nervous laugh and quickly changed the subject to save himself: “Uh… so! You just mentioned Sister Kailin’s coming back—what’s that about? Is she visiting or something?”

“She’s not just coming for fun!” Mengzhen’s excitement returned full force at the mention. “She told me in an email that the large-scale AI project she was overseeing at the Heise Group has just wrapped up a major phase, so she’s given herself a long vacation. And more importantly—” She raised her voice, her eyes sparkling, “She applied to our university’s Chinese graduate program and got accepted! She’s coming back to school—as our senpai（Xue-jie in Chinese）!”

「哇！」這下輪到志文驚訝了。

「她說，自從上次回去之後，她對自己『生而為人』這件事，有了很多新的感受和思考。她的興趣也從原來高度專精的資訊和電子領域，擴展到了更多與『人』本身相關的學科，像是文學、歷史、哲學等等。所以這次她想深入研究東方文化和思想，看能不能再拿一個不同領域的博士學位，也藉此獲得更多關於『人』的想法、情感和存在的思索和智慧。」孟禎一口氣說完，臉上洋溢著喜悅，「而且！她還正式向宇尋提出了申請，希望能夠以訪問學者的身份，正式加入普羅米修斯計畫的研究團隊！也就是說，以後我們又能像以前一樣，經常見面，甚至一起工作了！」

志文看著孟禎那副真心為好友歸來而雀躍不已的模樣，也不由自主地被她的快樂所感染。「太好了，孟禎！」他由衷地替她感到高興，「恭喜妳！能和姊姊重逢。」同時，他的心中也悄悄有了一絲期待——對於這位特立獨行，如同「機器般」的天才凱琳姊，他很想見識一下。

人一般的機器，和機器一般的人，即將再次相遇，相偕而行。這本身，或許就是這個科技日益發達的世界裡，由緣分所能創造出的，最不可思議也最值得期待的奇蹟之一吧。

“Wow!” This time it was Zhiwen’s turn to be surprised.

“She said that ever since she returned home last time, she’s developed many new thoughts and feelings about what it means to be human,” Mengzhen continued, her voice bright with joy. “Her interests have expanded beyond her original focus in information and electronic systems, branching into fields more centered on humanity itself—like literature, history, and philosophy. So this time, she wants to delve deeply into Eastern culture and thought, to see if she can earn a doctorate in a completely different field. Through that, she hopes to gain more understanding, more reflection and wisdom about human emotions, existence, and meaning.”

“And! She’s officially submitted an application to Yuxun, hoping to join the Prometheus Project research team as a visiting scholar! That means… we’ll be able to see each other often again, maybe even work together—just like before!” Her face was glowing with happiness.

Seeing how genuinely thrilled Mengzhen was about her friend’s return, Zhiwen couldn’t help but be swept up in her joy as well. “That’s wonderful, Mengzhen!” he said sincerely. “Congratulations—being reunited with your sister.”

At the same time, a quiet sense of anticipation bloomed in his own heart—he found himself genuinely curious about this unique woman Mengzhen called “Sister Kailin,” a genius so strange and intense she seemed almost machine-like herself.

A robot who strives to be human, and a human who lives like a robot—about to cross paths once more, and walk forward together. Perhaps, in this ever-advancing world of technology, this reunion was one of the most extraordinary, most heart-stirring miracles that fate could ever create.