Chapter 41 Section IX

When Kenji arrived at Hanko Village by train, he couldn't help thinking of a meeting he had with Toshio Nakamura on Earth many years ago: "He called me and insisted on talking to me about his son." Kenji stopped in front of the window and tightened his tie against the glass, as if he saw the young man in Kyoto who was full of fantasies on his way to meet his rival in love: "That was many years ago. At that time, I only thought about myself. Now But you have to care about the entire fate of this small world..." Kenji's wife, Nai, did not want her husband to meet with Toshio Nakamura, and encouraged him to call Nicole to discuss another way.Nicole also disapproves of any meeting between Kenji and Nakamura.

"He's a hypocritical power freak," Nicole said. "It's no good meeting him. He just wants to find your weakness." "He said he could ease the tension in the residential area." "What's the price, Kenji? Think about it carefully, do people do things for no reason?" "Why did you come here?" Kenji asked himself, looking at the huge palace built by his childhood friend. It does carry some of the traits of our family." The buildings around the Nakamura Palace are all in the style of classical wooden houses in Kyoto: blue glazed tile roofs, well-manicured gardens, and neat tree-lined paths.The scent of flowers wafting from the garden reminds Kenji of his home on a distant earth.

He was greeted by a lovely young woman in a kimono and wooden shoes at the door.She bowed to him in proper Japanese manner and said, "Hello." Kenji put on wooden shoes and followed her through several western-style rooms and into a tatami room.During the walk, the girl never raised her head, her eyes were fixed on the floor under her feet. The girl pushed open the partition with the painting of cranes, motioning for Kenji to go in.Kenji sat cross-legged on a cushion, in front of him was a shiny black real lacquer coffee table. "He will be late." Xianzhi thought, "This is his conspiracy."

Another beautiful woman in a kimono came in quietly holding Japanese tea. Kenji sipped his tea carefully, looking around the room.There was a four-leaf screen placed at the corner of the room. Kenji could tell that the screen had been carefully carved, so he stood up and walked closer to have a closer look. The four screens show the beauty of Japan's four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter.Winter is a snow-covered ski resort; spring is the cherry blossoms blooming along the Fuchuan River in Kyoto; summer is the snowy peak of Mount Fuji against the background of beautiful farms; autumn is the colorful forests around the Tokugawa Shogunate Shrine.

"It's so beautiful," thought Kenji, suddenly feeling very homesick, "He's trying to create a world we've been away from here, but why? Why is he spending so much dirty money on fine art? That's a weird guy ,duplicity." On the back of the screen is a different view, with brilliant colors showing the Battle of the Castle in Osaka in the 17th century. Kenji was about to sit down when the tatami door opened and his opponent walked in. "Nice to meet you." He bowed slightly towards Xianzhi. Kenji also bowed to him, and took a long look at his hometown: Toshio Nakamura was wearing a samurai robe, with a knife and sword on his waist. "This is psychological warfare," Kenji thought, "He wants to beat me this way."

Nakamura sat down on a cushion opposite Kenji.Kenji tasted the fragrant tea and thought to himself: "He is not my shogunate. I must change this atmosphere before the official conversation begins." "Nakamura-kun, we are all very busy people," Governor Watanabe said in English, "I don't want to go around in circles, let's get down to business. Your representative called me this morning and said you were very concerned about the events of the past day' Distraught' and said you had good advice for easing the tension in New Eden right now. That's what I'm here for."

Nakamura sat there with an indifferent expression and gritted teeth.Apparently, Kenji's bluntness made him uncomfortable.He said: "You have forgotten your Japanese etiquette, Mr. Watanabe. You haven't expressed your appreciation to your master for having such a superior life and comfortable environment. It is very impolite to talk about business directly. Your inappropriate Attitudes inevitably lead to unpleasant disagreements that could have been avoided...” "I'm sorry." Kenji cut him off impatiently, "I don't need you or anyone else to teach me how to present myself. We're not in Japan, not even Earth. Our traditional Japanese customs are the same as the clothes you wear... ..."

Kenji doesn't want to insult Nakamura, but he must use tactics to expose his opponent's true intentions. "This general will definitely stand up and probably draw his samurai sword." Kenji thought of Nakamura. "Okay." Nakamura said, with a provocative look in his eyes, "we will act according to your method...Watanabe, you have lost control of the residential area, and the residents are extremely dissatisfied with your leadership. My People tell me that people generally blame you. You have handled the environmental issue and the RV-41 virus issue very badly. Now your dark skinned female judge procrastinates and declares that Nicaraguan rapist does not pass the jury Mission trial. Some people know our background, please let me advise you to compromise, so that you are better off standing aside before the mass bloodshed and chaos ensues."

"It's ridiculous!" Kenji thought while listening to Nakamura, "This lunatic!" "So you think I should resign?" Kenji asked after a moment of silence. "Yes!" Nakamura replied, in an imperious tone, "but not immediately, at least not tomorrow. Today you can continue to exercise your power to remove the Martinez case from Nicole de Jardin Walkerfield Take it. She's clearly biased, and Judge Janena or Judge Rodriguez would be a better fit for this case than her. Note," Nakamura said here, forcing a smile, "I'm not coming to you to suggest that this case To the court of Judge Nishimura, but..."

"Is there anything else?" Kenji asked. "One more thing. Tell Ulanov to get him out of the race. He will have no chance of success and staying in the race will only make us more divided after McMillan's victory. We need unity and I predict another live The district will pose a serious threat to us, and those Reki who you think are 'harmless observers' are the first troops sent by them..." Kenji was shocked by what he heard, when did Nakamura become so twisted?Has he always been like this? "I must emphasize the time limit," Nakamura said. "Considering the Martinez case and your resignation, I have already called Kobayashi-kun and other members of the Asian division to ask them not to be too reckless. But what happened last night After it happened, I can't guarantee if I can control them. His daughter is a talented and beautiful woman. She wrote clearly in her suicide note: It is a great disgrace to delay the trial of her rapist. She cannot live In this disgrace. The pages are full of anger..."

Governor Watanabe could no longer keep himself calm. He stood up and said, "You know what? After Kiko Kobayashi was raped that night, two completely different types of semen were found in her body. Kiko and Martinez repeatedly insisted that the night They were alone together...Last week, Nicole hadn't told Kiko that another evidence of sexual intercourse was found inside her, and that young and immature girl kept insisting that she only spent time with Martinez." Nakamura suddenly panicked and stared blankly at Kenji Watanabe. "Right now we are not sure who the other party is," Kenji continued. "The semen sample mysteriously disappeared from the hospital lab before the DNA analysis was completed. Now we only have the original test results." "That record might be wrong," Nakamura interjected, regaining his confidence. "Impossible! Now you understand Judge Walkerfield's dilemma? Everyone in the neighborhood thinks Martinez is guilty, and she doesn't want the jury to get the wrong verdict." After a long silence between them, Hyun-ji prepares to leave. "You surprised me, Watanabe," Nakamura said at last, "You completely misunderstood the gist of this meeting. It doesn't matter whether Martinez raped Kiko Kobayashi... I assured her father that the Nicaraguan boy would be punished." Punishment, that's what matters." Kenji looks at his childhood classmate and feels sick."I have to go, leave before I get angry," he said. "You won't have another chance," Nakamura said, his eyes gleaming fiercely, "This is the first and last chance I'll give you!" Kenji shook his head, pushed open the tatami partition door resolutely, and resolutely walked out of the aisle. Under the warm sunshine, Nicole is walking by the sea.Allie and Dr. Turner were standing 50 meters in front of her.Ellie is in her wedding gown, but the groom is in a pajamas.Nicole's great-grandfather Orman is officiating at the wedding. Orman put Ellie's hand in Dr. Turner's and looked up at the sky.A cloud bird was circling overhead, singing to the rhythm of wedding carols.It was dark, and billowing clouds hung over the peaceful sky. It was windy and the sea was rough.The wind blew away Nicole's completely gray hair.The wedding is messed up.People ran desperately towards the shore to avoid the approaching storm.Nicole stood motionless with her eyes fixed on a large bag that had been washed ashore by the waves. It was a big green bag, like a 21st century garbage bag.The bulging bag was being thrown ashore by the waves, and Nicole tried to grab it, but the roaring sea frightened her.She pointed to the bag and called out for help. Then, a canoe appeared in her dream.The boat got closer and closer, and Nicole saw eight aliens sitting on it: golden yellow, slightly smaller than a human, looking like dough for bread, with faces and eyes but no hair or body hair.The aliens rowed towards the big bag, picked it up, and put it on the beach.Nicole didn't dare go forward until she watched them get back into the canoe and paddle back out to sea.Nicole waved them good-bye and came closer to see a zipper on the top of the pocket.She carefully opened the zipper, and only halfway through, she saw Kenji Watanabe's head. Nicole trembled with fright and sat up on the bed screaming.She touched Richard's side, which was empty.The clock on the table had pointed to 2:48.Nicole tried to calm herself, not to think about that terrible dream. Kenji Watanabe's body still appeared in her mind.She walked toward the bathroom, remembering a dream she had of her mother's death when she was ten years old. "What if Kenji is really going to die?" She felt scared and forced herself to think about something else. "Where is Richard going so late?" Nicole put on her pajamas and walked out of the bedroom. She walked softly past the children's room, where Ben was snoring as usual.The light in the study was on, but Richard was not there.Prince Henry and the two new robots were also away, and a monitor was on on Richard's desk. Nicole smiled, remembering their agreement.She typed "Nicole" on the keyboard, and the screen immediately displayed: "Dear Nicole, if you wake up and I'm not back, please don't worry. I plan to be home by dawn, and at the latest eight o'clock in the morning. I've been working with robots code-named 300 and up. Remember? Those robots that have not been fully programmed into the firmware, fully operational robots, I have designed new programs for them. I have verified that someone has been watching my work, so I have accelerated the pace to complete the current project, go outside New Eden Final test. I love you! Richard" It was dark and the central plains were cold, and Richard tried to be patient.He has sent the upgraded Einstein robot Super-AI and Garcia robot 325 to the detection point of the second settlement.They explained to a Garcia robot on the night shift that the experimental schedule had changed and a special investigation was needed now.Richard is far away from the two robots.The Super-AI Einstein robot took an hour to dismantle all the equipment placed at the entrance of the second residential area. It waved to Richard and motioned him to come over.Garcia 325 cleverly led the robots on duty to stroll around to cover Richard's smooth passage. Richard took no time to take Prince Henry out of his pocket, put it on the hole and said, "Go, put the little display on the ground." For several weeks, the hole got bigger and bigger, and it is now almost 80 centimeters wide , enough for the tiny robot to get in without any trouble.Prince Henry quickly got to the other side, and Richard carefully watched its every move through the display screen and kept in touch with it by radio. Richard had thought that this second living area might have an exterior sheath, and he was right! "Then the basic design of the two living quarters is similar." Richard also predicts that there may be doors or openings in the walls for Reggie to enter and exit, and that Prince Henry can enter the interior of the living quarters through these openings.Prince Henry found the entrance without much effort. Surprisingly, the entrance was 20 meters high from the protective layer. "Climb up," Richard ordered Prince Henry, looking nervously at his watch.It was almost six o'clock, dawn was approaching, and the scientists and engineers would return to this observation point soon. The entrance to the second residential area is very high, 100 times the height of Prince Henry, and it needs to climb a building that is equivalent to a 60-story human building.Before setting off, Richard trained Prince Henry in climbing techniques.From the monitor Richard couldn't tell if there were any grooves in the wall or places to step on. "Is the mechanical programming in Prince Henry all correct? I'll find out as soon as possible," thought Richard, watching his star robot begin its climb. Suddenly, Prince Henry slipped and hung in the air with his hands supporting his body.Finally, it finally managed to climb to the top.After another half hour, Richard knew that there was not much time left.Prince Henry finally climbed onto the sill of the round window, but a mesh wall in front blocked the way to enter the living area.With the help of the dim light, Richard could vaguely see a small part of the situation inside.He carefully adjusted Prince Henry's tiny video camera. "The Sentinel insists we return to the sentinel," Garcia Robot 325 radioed Richard. "It's half past seven, and it has to make its daily report." "Too bad!" thought Richard, "only six minutes." He ordered Prince Henry to move slowly so that he could discern the objects within. After seeing nothing definite, Richard ordered Prince Henry to "scream" and turn his volume up to maximum: "Scream until I tell you to stop." Richard hadn't tested the maximum output volume of the amp he had fitted to Prince Henry before.He was amazed that Prince Henry could imitate the Iyun bird so loudly.The shrill sound bounced off the passage, making Richard jump back a step. "Excellent." He collected himself. The robot sentinel quickly rushed towards Richard, checked Richard's documents as required by the procedure, and questioned him.Super-AI Einstein robots and Garcia robots are trying to fool it.However, seeing that Richard was not cooperating, the sentry insisted on making an urgent report. Through the monitor, Richard saw the fence open and the six Rickies swarming towards Prince Henry, who was still screaming. The Garcia sentinel droid began broadcasting emergency reports.With only a few minutes left, Richard knew he had to go.He looked anxiously at the display, then at the central plain behind him. "Come on, come on," he called. Richard thought it was his hallucination, but the sound of flapping wings was loud and repeated.A Ricky appeared on his display, and for a moment Richard clearly saw a familiar paw reaching towards Prince Henry.Prince Henry screamed and struggled, the image on the screen blurred. "If there's a chance," Richard yelled into the radio, "get back in the hallway. I'll be back for you later." He turned around and quickly put the monitor in his bag. "Let's go!" he said to the two robot assistants.A group of three rushed towards New Eden. Richard hurried home, and he was victorious! "I was right," he said to himself, ecstatically. "This will change everything! . . . Now I have to think about my daughter who is going to be married."