The story begins with a spaceship from Mars to Europa in 2109.
The spaceship is called Xiangshen, a medium-sized transport ship that travels from Mars to Jupiter Space City. Xiangshen was built on the moon, with a total length of 2,375 meters and can carry 3,400 passengers. It only takes seven Earth days from the starting station of Mars to reach the end of Jupiter's orbit, Jupiter Space City.
Nian Gengyi is the first protagonist of this novel. He is a standard humanoid nursing robot with its own aura of pride and accomplishment that he has never made a mistake in 30 years of work.
(Off topic: contemporary robots are like worker ants in the ant tribe and farmers in the feudal society. They are on duty 24 hours a day, working hard and diligently, doing the basic work of this era. With meager wages, they are the foundation of this era.)
Although Nian Gengyi was a product of 30 years ago, after countless updates and upgrades, his performance is now comparable to that of the latest robots. Now, he is on this Xiangshen spacecraft. However, he is not a working robot of Xiangshen. The reason why he came to this ship is to fulfill his master's last wish.
Thirty years ago, Nian Gengyi's owner fell ill, and he left the factory and started nursing until his owner passed away recently.
His owner loved fishing when he was alive. When he heard that there were fish living in the huge ocean under the Europa ice sheet, he always wanted to go fishing on Europa. Unfortunately, he had worked hard all his life and had no time to enjoy it. After falling ill, his family didn't want him to leave. For decades, he couldn't go to the deep sea of Europa until he died. In order to fulfill his wish, his family asked Nian Gengyi, a nursing robot who had taken care of him for 30 years, to carry the ashes to Europa and scatter the ashes in the deep sea.
This was a one-way ticket. The owner's family were not prepared for Nian Gengyi to go back. They hoped that he would accompany his owner to stay on Europa until the battery ran out and the parts rusted. Of course, they did not express this hope. After all, it was a robot that accompanied their father for decades, and this sentence could not be said. It was because the owner's family did not tell him clearly that he had no owner any more. After completing this trip to Europa, Nian Gengyi would exist as an independent robot. This was a very big question for him. Was a robot without a job still a robot? He didn't even dare to think about it.
This is a 270 Degree panoramic stargazing room, the most luxurious VIP room on the Xiangshen. Here you can enjoy a variety of special snacks, famous wine, and human waiters on earth for free. Since it is a one-way ticket, this is also a luxury trip, and Nian Gengyi can enjoy the most expensive service of Xiangshen. He neither need to eat or drink, nor think the service in this VIP room is so good. Looking at the stars and then recording the amazing scene in front of him is the only thing he can do now.
“Hey girl, why this robot guy can sit on this VIP seat?”A heavily accented man in slippers and gold ornaments pointed at Nian Gengyi and asked the waitress next to him. Nian Gengyi glanced at him and ignored him. The waitress is very beautiful, or the accented man just wants to chat with her. As a nursing robot, he often learns to read words and understand the strange needs of human beings.
A girl with yellow hair and shiny overalls is playing various poses in front of a small aircraft. Every time a star appears outside the stargazing room, she will act coquettishly for a while. Sheep sounds have always been a weapon of live streaming hosts, and it is rare for them with such a good figure.
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Because she was always in the most conspicuous position, Nian Gengyi gave her a few special glances. Very energetic, and better than those rewarded by his owner when he was ill lying on the hospital bed before.
Two women were talking not far away.
Woman A: "This society's pervert is really hard to guard against! A robot dares to look at girls!" Woman B: "Could it be that a man is remotely controlling this robot to look at women!"
Woman A: "This is great, we must call the police!"
Woman B: "No hurry, he is still peeping remotely, and it is not too late for us to call the police when there is a real action!"
Woman A: "This man is really shameless..."
The conversation between the two women appeared diagonally opposite Nian Gengyi. They may have noticed that Nian Gengyi was looking at the female live streaming host. Nian Gengyi was tactful and looked up at the sky. The two women also seemed to be bored and changed the topic. After a while, they left.
"Women are so troublesome, they are masters of making something out of nothing. Robot brother, you don't have to worry about it." An old man wearing a pair of glasses and crutches said in the seat to Nian Gengyi's left. Nian Gengyi had to nod politely to him. He liked silence, and spent most of his 30 years nursing his owner in silence. The stargazing room was originally supposed to be a quiet place, because the wall was pasted with 'Quiet stargazing, be a quality person ', but this series of chatter was beyond his understanding.
"My surname is Sun, and I prefer stargazing. It's August, and it's the best time to see Pegasus. At this time of year, I make a trip to Jupiter just to see Pegasus," said the bespectacled Sun triumphantly. "I remember a middle-aged man surnamed You who sat in your seat last year. Robot brother, what's your name? Are you here to video your master?"
"I'm Nian Gengyi, and I'll record part of the scenery."
"Stargazing must be seen in person, so that you can show your love for the stars shining. Otherwise, you're just a layman satisfied with your own vision."
"Old Sun, not everyone is like you." Next to Old Sun is a greasy middle-aged man. He is slightly fat, white-haired, fair-faced, wearing a suit and tie. He should be a business person!
Old Sun chuckled, "That's right, Writer Liu is right. Writer Liu didn't bury your head in writing today, why did you come to the stargazing room?"
White fatty writer Liu: "I came to the stargazing room to find inspiration. It's quiet here, the scenery is good, and it's suitable for freeing my brain. Mr. Lin, do you think so?"
Boss Lin was an all-black man next to Writer Liu. He had a bald head, a black face, and a white earring. He couldn't guess his age, so he looked like a person with a flamboyant personality. When Writer Liu asked him, he just said'um '.
Writer Liu felt cold-faced by Boss Lin, so he turned around and said, "Nian Gengyi, how do you view the phenomenon of stargazing as a robot?"
Nian Gengyi was a very delicate humanoid robot, and its shape was extremely close to that of humans. From a distance, it was difficult to tell whether it was a human or a robot. However, there was a word 'machine' on Nian Gengyi's neck. This word 'machine' is a word that all high-end humanoid robots must engrave, specially used to distinguish between humans and machines. Therefore, everyone in the stargazing room knew that he was a robot.
"As Old Sun said, it's just to satisfy a momentary visual desire!" Nian Gengyi didn't like to participate in their conversation.
Old Sun didn't seem to be satisfied with Nian Gengyi's answer, "A robot is just a robot, how do you know the meaning of 'viewing'?"
The black-faced boss Lin next to him coughed, "A robot is also a kind of person! In the early part of this century, humans sat in front of factories or computers every day, doing repetitive work day after day, and were more than machines. It's not as good as today's robots, with high wages and travel! Is that right, Nian Gengyi?”
Nian Gengyi could not be sure. Old Sun was not impressed by the words of boss Lin, the black-faced man, and he talked to the white fatty writer Liu about the stars. He could tell the story of every famous star. This old man was indeed a stargazing enthusiast. It was four o'clock in the afternoon on Earth Day. Under normal circumstances, this time should be the time for Nian Gengyi's owner to take medicine. The stargazing room was a little lively, so it was better to go back to the room.
The next day, Nian Gengyi was summoned, and the man with a heavy accent in the stargazing room died yesterday.