Chapter 52 end

Locks and pumps failed, and within six days the City of Angels was in ruins.Emiko watches the rushing water from the balcony of Bangkok's most luxurious apartment complex.All that remains of Mr. Anderson is a shell.Emiko soaked a cloth and squeezed the water to his lips.He sucked hard, like a baby.He then apologized under his breath to the ghosts that only he could see. When she first heard a huge explosion from the edge of the city, she didn't immediately guess what was going on; but soon there was another explosion, and twelve pillars of smoke snaked up the sea wall like giant snakes .It was all too obvious: His Majesty Rama XII's giant water pump had been destroyed, and the city was once again exposed to the siege of the sea.

For the first three days, Emiko watched as people struggled to save the city.Then came the monsoons, and the last of those trying to save the city from the might of the ocean were forced to give up.The downpour of rain had swept away the dust and debris, leaving everything in the city to float and sink in the water.People poured out of the house with their belongings on their heads.The city is slowly being flooded, becoming a lake that reaches the height of the second-story windows. On the sixth day, Her Majesty the Child Queen announced that the Royal Family had officially renounced the City of Angels.Now there is no Somdej Chao Phraya, only Her Majesty the Queen.

The white shirts, humiliated and despised only a few days ago, are now scattered across the city, leading the migration north.Their commander is a new Tiger of Thailand, an unsmiling and eccentric woman.She is said to be the incarnation of the gods, who ordered her white shirts to work hard to rescue as many of the City of Angels as possible.A young man in a white uniform volunteered to come to the building to help anyone who needed food or clean water.Emiko had to hide.The city is dead, but the Ministry of the Environment has found new life on top of its ashes. Slowly, the city became empty.The cries of durian sellers and the ringing of bicycle bells were replaced by the waves of the sea and the growl of the Cheshire cat.There were times when Emiko even suspected that she was the only living person in the city.From the crank radio, she heard that the country's capital had moved north to Ayutthaya, back above sea level again.She heard that Akarat shaved his head and became a monk as punishment for his failure to protect the city.But it all seemed so far away.

With the onset of the rainy season, Emiko's life became bearable.The flooding of the city meant that there was water all around, although it was like a big bath, the water in it never flowed, and the many wastes soaked in it gave off a bad smell.Emiko found a small boat and drove it to inspect the entire ruined city.The rain fell from the sky every day, and she let the rain wash over her body and wash away everything that had happened to her. She survives by scavenging and hunting.With just two hands, she can catch Cheshire cats and fish in the water.She moves very fast.If she wanted to, her fingers would harpoon into a carp with lightning speed.She ate well, slept well, and since she was surrounded by water, she didn't need to worry too much about the heat building up in her body.This place wasn't the new human settlement she had envisioned, but it suited her well.

As she decorated her apartment, she sailed a small boat across the wide mouth of the Chao Phraya River to the factory of the Sam Ha Machinery Company where she used to work.The factory was abandoned, but she still found some relics related to her past and collected some of them: some discarded and broken calligraphy works, pottery tea sets, and so on. Occasionally, she also meets other people.Most people are too busy with their own survival to bother with a clockwork-looking creature drifting past the edge of their field of vision.There are also a few who think a single girl is easy prey.Emiko beat the men down quickly, disposing of them in the most merciful way she knew how.

The days passed.She is fully adapted to this lifestyle of hunting and scavenging in the water.She was completely taken aback when the foreigner and the girl found her place and rummaged through the laundry she had hung to dry on the railing on the second floor of the apartment. "Is anyone here?" a voice asked. Emiko backed away in shock, almost falling from where she was standing.She jumped down and rushed to hide in the shadows of the abandoned apartment. The foreigner's boat stopped beside the railing. "Sawatdikhrap?" he called. "Hello?" The man was very old, with age spots on his skin, and bright, intelligent eyes.The girl was brown and slender, with a gentle smile on her face.They leaned on the railing of the balcony, looking out from the boat at the dark interior of the apartment. "Don't run away, poor little thing," said the old man. "We're totally powerless to hurt you. I can't even walk."

Emiko waited.But they didn't give up and continued to look inside at her. "Can you help me, please?" the girl yelled inside. Even though she knew it was not wise to do so, Emiko went out anyway.She waded cautiously through the ankle-deep water.She hasn't spoken to anyone for a long time. "A clockwork monster." The girl gasped. The old foreigner laughed when he heard this, "It's a new human being. That's what they call themselves." There was no preconceived evaluation in his eyes.He held up two dead Cheshire cats. "Will you dine with us, young lady?"

Emiko gestured towards the railing of the balcony—the fish caught today were roped there. "I don't need your help." The old man looked down at the fish, and when he looked up again, he was a little more respectful than before. "I don't think you really need to—if you're the type I know." He moved slightly closer to her. "Do you live here?" She pointed upstairs. "What a lovely property. Maybe we can dine with you tonight. If the Cheshire cat isn't your thing, we can share some fish." Emiko shrugged, but she was really alone, and the old man and the girl didn't seem threatening.After nightfall, they built a fire out of broken wooden furniture on the balcony and began grilling the fish.The stars peeked out from the gaps in the clouds, and the dark and desolate city unfolded before them.After eating, the old foreigner moved a little closer to the fire, and the girl tended him.

"Tell me, what is a clockwork girl doing here?" Emiko shrugged, "I was left behind." "So do we." The old man and his companion looked at each other, and both smiled, "However, I think our vacation will be over soon. Happily, as the calorie situation in this country improves. Improvement, the genetic war seems to be starting again. So, I think the white shirts should use my wisdom soon." He chuckled lightly. "Are you a gene cracker?" Emiko asked. "I think I'm much more than a gene cracker." "You said you knew about my... model?"

The man smiled.He watched Emiko carefully, and at the same time motioned for his girl to stand beside him, reaching out and caressing her thigh unconsciously.Emiko realizes that the girl is not as simple as she first appears: both a boy and a girl.The girl seemed to sense Emiko's thoughts, and smiled at her. "I've read records like yours." The old man said, "About your genetic design, your training..." "Stand up!" he yelled suddenly. Before realizing what happened, Emiko stood up.She stood there, shaking with fear and the urge to obey orders. The old man shook his head, "What they did to you must have caused you great pain."

Emiko's anger blazed in her chest. "They made me strong too. I can hurt you." "Yes, that's true." He nodded. "They put in some reinforcements. You're trained to hide them, but they're always there. As for your obedience... I don't know where they got it from." I suspect it's some kind of Labrador." He shrugged, "Apart from this aspect, your advantage over humans is all-round. Faster, smarter, sharper eyesight and hearing. You have Strong obedience, but you will never get all kinds of plagues like me." He waved at the scars and paralyzed legs on his body, "You are a lucky one." Emiko glared at him, "You're one of those scientists who made me." "I didn't participate in your design, but what you said is not wrong." He smiled slightly, "I know your secrets, just as I know the secrets of giant elephants and whole-nutrient wheat." The Cheshire cat nodded, "I also know everything about these felines. If I want, I can plant a genetic bomb in them to remove their camouflage ability. It only takes a few generations of breeding, and they will be It will revert to its less successful version, Nature's version." "Would you do that?" He smiled and shook his head, "I prefer them as they are now." "I hate you and your kind." "Because someone like me made you?" He laughed again. "It surprises me that you're not happy to see me at all. You've seen a god with your own eyes. There aren't many people like that. .Come on, don't you have any questions to ask the gods?" Emiko stared at him angrily, then nodded at the Cheshire cats, "If you are really my god, you will be the first to create new humans." The old foreigner laughed, "That must be exciting." "We'll beat you, like the Cheshire Cat." "You can do it now," he shrugged, "neither the second-generation tuberculosis nor rust can infect you." "No," Emiko shook her head, "We can't reproduce. The expansion of our population must rely on you." She moved her hands, and the movement that gave away the inside story appeared, "I have a mark on my body, we have There is always a mark, as distinct as a clockwork man with ten hands or a giant elephant." He waved his hand contemptuously. "The clockwork man's movement characteristics are not necessary, there is no reason to prove that this is an unremovable characteristic. As for the reproduction problem..." He shrugged, "The limit can be broken through. The lessons of the past have led us to design this scheme to ensure safety , but these restrictions are by no means necessary. Some restrictions will even make the process of making you more difficult. There is nothing in you that cannot be changed." He smiled, "Maybe one day, all humans will be new humans. And You will look at us with pity as we look at those poor Neanderthals now." Emiko fell silent.The firewood crackled in the flames.Finally, she said, "Do you know what to do? Can you make me actually breed, like a Cheshire cat?" The old man exchanged a wink with his transgender partner. "Can you do it?" Emiko asked. He sighed, "I can't change your body structure, they are fixed. Your ovaries don't have the corresponding function. I can't make you reproductive, just like I can't change your skin pore structure." This sentence disappointed Emiko greatly. The old man smiled. "Don't be so sullen. In my opinion, female egg cells are not the only genetic material available." He laughed. "Just a lock of hair is enough. You can't be changed. But your children-although you can't say Physically, but at least genetically—these children could all be fertile, and thus part of nature." Emiko felt her heart pounding violently, "Can you do it? Really?" "Oh, of course. I can do it." The old man's eyes stared into the distance, as if he was thinking about something, a smile flickered from the corner of his mouth, "I can do this for you. I can do it for you get more..."