When Jin looked at a laughing Yun, he involuntarily thought of the clone comment that the System had just made. “Isn’t Yun considered a clone in some way?” Jin questioned via his thoughts to the System.
“System needed someone to act as User’s mentor to teach you the ways of the System at the start. Subject Yun was the ideal candidate since she was your mother. She does not really fit the definition of a clone. System would classify her as a resurrection that went wrong.”
“This world had deemed it impossible to reconstruct anything with her Dantian Core. Before being passed on to User, System has been doing its utmost to recover as much from the Dantian Core as possible in the 19 over years it has been dormant. If successful, System would have gained a countermeasure against the Banned Emperor faction. Ultimately the experiment has been deemed a partial success since there were some defects.”
“Subject Yun did not remember clearly about her past and had no recollection of having any direct relation with current User. Since the time Subject Yun had spent with the User was relatively short, this was to be expected with a corrupted core. System has fed her the information from its database to make up for it. Naturally, those can’t really be called her own ‘memories’.”
“Surprisingly, User and past Sub System User Yuan have managed to trigger memories she did not seem to possess when resurrected. While she remains stoic in her attitude and emotions, the revelation of the System’s history to User has awakened some specific string of memories in her. It has caused her to be mad at that point of time although she seems to have regretted betraying your trust leading to the kind of distance between the two of you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The System developed the hypothesis that Subject Yun had been coping with her feelings and memories since she must have felt that they were not hers. There was a dissonance between the soul and the body. Suffice to say, the System had modified her to make up for the corruption of the Dantian Core, which made her compatible with various souls so she could turn into the ultimate bodyguard for User in case he was ever betrayed by anyone in the real world. A sort of last measure. She was designed such a way that no matter how you hated her, she would stand by you no matter what.”
“System had hoped that she would imprint on the User and that some motherly instinct would emerge through prolonged contact. Unfortunately, that method seems to have backfired dramatically. System wished to take this opportunity to apologise once again, but in the System’s defence, it was a viable plan that had beneficial remunerations for such a risk.”
“Well, from what I can see, your idea worked only the other way around. She seems happier ever since she managed to reconcile with Grandma Yuan a little.” Jin commented, but the moment Yun saw Jin, her grinning face turned astutely serious.
“Jin, Yang Ling has come to visit not too long ago, demanding that you meet her father for lunch. You can refuse, but she told us the Tiger Triad would likely come around to fetch your body to see to your arrival right in front of their Clan Head. So best get changing.” Yun spoke in a clear, definitive manner.
“She has extended her invitation to us, though. My peggies should be able to deal with the kitchen on their own, so it’s okay for me to go visiting people!” Lynn raised her hand as if to volunteer to go and ensure that Jin did not make any fuss. “If you don’t mind that is. By the way, thanks for clearing the area. I was actually going to do that after we sent Yang Ling off.”
“What about your own dad? I would rather visit him than meet up with Tiger Lord Yuan Ba. They gave me nothing but trouble recently.” Jin grumbled as he checked the fridge in search of anything to drink for the three of them.
“Well…if you could come to visit him, that would be for the best…” Lynn’s ears turned red momentarily as she was delighted that Jin was the one to mention it. She had planned to invite him, but with his drunken condition, she was unsure if he would recover in time. “I would really appreciate if you could do that. My dad would surely love it too.” Lynn said with a wide smile as she involuntarily bowed towards Jin.
“Awesome! I have been wanting to talk to your dad for some time and catch up with him a little. Then let’s go and visit him first. Yang Ling should have reported that I’m still ‘ill’, so can’t blame me for being late.” Jin grinned as he pulled out a drink and asked if any of them wanted some.
“I will be heading back to work.” Yun declared, yet Jin suddenly grabbed Yun’s hand.
“Huh?” She did not know how to respond as that was a first for Jin to stop her from the work he himself had no time to attend to anymore. (Granted, with the revamp of the new Panda Street Instance, Yun did not need to be there, but having her around does boost sales to a certain percentage according to the System.)
“Don’t you want to come with us?” Jin started to sweat a little and wondered what had prompted him to take such an unconscious action.
“And bring your mother to your prospective in-laws’ family? Isn’t that a bit too hasty coming for someone who kept insisting he doesn’t want to get attached or even entertain the thought of marriage?” Yun retorted which caused Jin to be stumped.
“No, I thought we could just …erm do a chain of visits and get it done all at once. Like you know, go to Grandma Yuan after paying a visit with Lynn’s father? I actually have something I wanted to talk with her about.” Jin tried to make up a reasonable excuse.
“Hmm… That makes sense. It would be weird if I do not see Instructor Yuan. In fact, I bet she will be angry if I don’t come and give her a red packet. Fine, I will follow you, but in the capacity of a colleague. I’m not going to pretend to be your mother anymore.”
“You don’t have to. I do not have such intentions. With your youthful look, it would just lead to all kinds of confusion. Let’s just stick with you being like an elder sister or older cousin of mine if anyone asks. Anyways, Lynn can you get Qiu Yue?” Jin asked as he started to go up the stairs to change.
“Ah! She said not to disturb her. She wanted to get some sleep in. She did not want to reveal this, but I know you will probe me endlessly for it so please don’t say that you heard it from me. Tsu and Kai have prepared an intensive training course for the beast kids and her, for the entire week, if not longer. If you need anything in regards to her Sub System, just get Moloch to handle it.” Lynn said and Yun concurred.
“Couldn’t she have given me a warning at least?” Jin asked, and both girls sighed before simultaneously chiding him.
“Check your emails!!!”
Jin opened his phone to see a flood of emails, most of which belonged to Ke Loong. The CEO of Sea Mesh had sent a plethora of chain mails requesting Jin to meet with him to discuss some things honestly. Now that he knew Kong Rong’s true intent and his wish to make his friend Ke Loong into a Panda Associates, there were a lot of things to discuss. Just the talks in regards to his ideas of the virtual reality system would likely take quite a while.
“Looks like I have to meet with Ke Loong too.” Jin thought to himself and decided to send a message about whether he was free this evening. And if so, he asked for an address where they could meet.
Before he had a chance to put down the cell phone, there was an immediate “YES” reply from Ke Loong. “He sounds pretty desperate… for my attention” Jin sighed as he believed the subsequent email would come with his address. It was a grim reminder of why he disliked opening his emails.
“Let’s meet each other in half an hour.” Jin suggested, giving the girls (and himself) some time to prepare.
