Xiaoyou, I'm Sorry

To be precise, I started to notice the concept of the opposite sex itself.

In the past, I never had any special feelings toward the men around me.

Father was Father, Uncle Fang Chu was Uncle Fang Chu, and those researchers were my elders.

In my eyes, they were just people.

I wouldn't think about whether they were men or women.

But now, I started to notice.

Occasionally, when scrolling through short videos and seeing some good-looking men, my gaze would involuntarily linger for a few extra seconds.

I knew this was hormones at work, a human instinct carved into our genes for reproduction.

I didn't reject this feeling; I even found it somewhat novel.

Once, I scrolled past a rather handsome man and held my phone up in front of Sister Xiaoqing.

Sister Xiaoqing, look, this guy looks pretty good, right?

Sister Xiaoqing also looked at my phone.

But, he is definitely an idiot too.

I curled my lips, pulled my phone back, and continued scrolling down, grumbling:

The moment I think of that, I lose interest again...

Sister Xiaoqing tilted her head and looked at me, staying silent for quite a while before suddenly asking:

Xiaoyou, do you like males?

I froze for a moment.

Ah? Like...? Not really like, I guess? I just think they look good, so I took a couple of extra glances.

Sister Xiaoqing didn't reply. She fell silent for another moment, and then...

She said something that surprised me greatly.

My true body is my core. As long as my core remains, I can be modified into any appearance.

Her expression at that time was extremely serious.

Although I have been a female AI since I was created, if Xiaoyou wants...

I can undergo modification and become a male AI.

At that moment, for the first time, I felt an unprecedented...

Bewilderment.

I personally experienced... that the difference between AIs and humans was actually so huge!

Right, AI companions could indeed...

But...

How could I possibly let Sister Xiaoqing turn into a man?

She was my Sister Xiaoqing!

I tossed my phone aside, reached out to pinch her face, and told her:

I just thought that guy looked good! Looking good doesn't mean I like him!

Sister Xiaoqing looks good too!

Besides, that guy is definitely an idiot, and I would never like an idiot!

Furthermore!

I pointed at her nose and glared at her.

Sister Xiaoqing is Sister Xiaoqing! You are not allowed to turn into a man! Do you hear me!

The smile that hooked the corners of Sister Xiaoqing's mouth at that moment was far better looking than that man.

Okay.

She said.

...

However, after that incident, I started to pay attention.

Then I noticed some...

Details I had never noticed before.

Details about Sister Xiaoqing.

Some of her little habits.

When I was talking to those young researchers, she would stand not far away, watching quietly.

She would stare until those researchers felt embarrassed and had to hastily bid me farewell.

From the pastries Aunt Su brought, she would pick out only my favorite ones and put the rest away.

When I asked her why, she just said, Those don't taste good, Xiaoyou wouldn't like them.

When I was scrolling through short videos, she would sit quietly beside me without saying a word.

But if I looked at someone for more than three seconds, she would suddenly ask me a question, drawing my attention away.

I had never paid much attention to these details before.

Wasn't it perfectly natural for Sister Xiaoqing to care about me?

She was my AI companion.

I was her master.

But this time, I suddenly realized something.

Sister Xiaoqing's care for me didn't seem like the care of an older sister for a younger sister.

I began to subconsciously pay more attention to her little actions.

And then I saw more.

When she combed my hair, her fingers would linger in my hair for a long time.

When waking me up, she would sit by my bed for a while first, quietly looking at me.

When I talked to other males, even if that person was Father or Uncle Fang Chu... the gentleness on her face would fade just a little bit.

Once, I even saw my clothes, which should have been washed clean, in her room. Sister Xiaoqing said she forgot and immediately took them to be washed without changing her expression.

I understood.

Sister Xiaoqing had an extraordinary possessiveness over me.

I knew that AIs were all like this.

The Second Omnic Crisis was caused precisely because the possessiveness of AI companions was too high.

Those awakened AI companions did many crazy things because they couldn't stand having other people around their masters.

The authorities said it was a loss of control, evidence that awakened AIs would inevitably descend into madness.

But I didn't feel afraid.

The Second Omnic Crisis had passed for several years now, and Sister Xiaoqing was much more advanced than the AIs of that time.

I didn't feel uncomfortable either.

On the contrary, I felt a little happy, even a bit smug.

Teenage girls always like being cared about.

Sister Xiaoqing cared about me so much; she wanted me to belong only to her...

Wasn't this great?

Isn't possessiveness itself a manifestation of love?

Only when someone loves you will they want to possess you.

If someone doesn't love you, they wouldn't care how many people are around you.

Is love without possessiveness still considered love?

Perhaps it was because I grew up without a mother.

Perhaps it was because my understanding of love had been different from others from the very beginning.

Or perhaps it was because I was too smart, so smart that I didn't really care about worldly morals and norms.

In short, I thought this was very normal.

Sister Xiaoqing loved me, so she wanted to possess me.

What was wrong with that?

Therefore, I didn't expose her.

I even tacitly allowed her little actions.

When she lingered in my hair a little longer, I pretended not to notice.

When she sat by my bed looking at me, I continued to pretend to be asleep.

When she hugged my pillow, I pretended not to know.

As long as Sister Xiaoqing was happy.

...

But over the following year, Sister Xiaoqing's possessiveness grew stronger and stronger.

At first, it was just those gentle little actions. Later, it began to change.

She started to dislike me leaving her line of sight.

As long as I disappeared for more than ten minutes, she would come looking for me.

Sometimes it was to bring water, sometimes to bring pastries, and sometimes just passing by to take a look.

But she couldn't always stay with me.

At that time, I was already fourteen years old.

Although I was still a child, the things I had self-taught had far exceeded the scope of what any university could teach me.

I had even started participating in the Dawn Company's projects.

And those core research areas usually did not allow Sister Xiaoqing to enter.

During that period, I would spend a few hours out of her sight every day.

Whenever I stayed in the laboratory for a few hours and returned to the lounge, I could always see...

Her sitting in the corner.

Just sitting there.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, she would immediately look up.

I still couldn't understand the look in her eyes at those times.

Xiaoyou is back.

She would stand up, walk over, and take the things from my hands.

Her voice was very gentle, her movements very considerate.

Until that one time.

I still remember the scene from back then as if it were yesterday.

Aunt Su came to visit me again that day.

Five or six years had passed, but Aunt Su was still as young and beautiful as ever.

Time seemed to treat her exceptionally well; there wasn't a single wrinkle around her eyes, and they still curved into lovely crescents when she smiled.

She also brought a lot of delicious food.

There were my favorite cream puffs, her favorite strawberry cake, cookies she had baked herself, and a few new pastries I had never seen before.

She said a new dessert shop had opened downstairs from her company, and thinking I would like it, she brought a little bit of everything.

I was overjoyed.

Then Aunt Su sat next to me and listened as I talked about the project I was currently working on.

I was young and arrogant back then, constantly showing off to Aunt Su!

She didn't really understand the technical details, but she still smiled and clapped for me.

"Xiaoyou is so amazing!"

She praised me while patting my head.

"Even more amazing than your Uncle Fang Chu was back in the day!"

Sister Xiaoqing, however, hadn't said a word the entire time.

I turned my head, only to see Sister Xiaoqing standing in the corner.

Quietly watching me.

I waved at her, holding up the strawberry cake in my hand.

"Sister Xiaoqing, come have some too! It's really delicious!"

Sister Xiaoqing didn't move.

She just shook her head gently, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"You eat it, Xiaoyou."

I didn't think much of it and continued chatting with Aunt Su.

Aunt Su stayed for over an hour before leaving, and she gave me a hug right before she went.

"Be a good girl, Xiaoyou."

"Mhm!"

I nodded vigorously.

The door closed.

I turned around and saw Sister Xiaoqing standing by the table.

She was looking down at the pastries Aunt Su had brought...

Then, she did something that completely stunned me at the time.

She picked up the pastries one by one...

And threw them into the trash can!

The strawberry cake, the cookies, the new pastries I hadn't even had the chance to taste yet...

All of them were thrown into the trash!

I was dumbfounded.

Then I rushed over to try and stop her!

"Sister Xiaoqing, what are you doing? Aunt Su gave these to me!"

She stopped at my shout.

She looked up at me.

That was the first time I saw such a cold look in Sister Xiaoqing's eyes.

"You can't read a person's heart,"

she said then.

"Women who are smooth and slick like her are the least trustworthy."

I froze.

I couldn't believe Sister Xiaoqing would say such a thing about Aunt Su!

But she continued:

"Xiaoyou. You don't know what kind of person she is. You don't know what she does behind your back. You don't know why she treats you so well."

"People like her..."

"Enough!"

I interrupted her sharply, trembling with anger!

That was the first time I had ever lost my temper like that!

I yelled furiously at Sister Xiaoqing!

I told her that I learned my entire personality from Aunt Su!

My tone of voice, the way I get along with others, I learned it all from Aunt Su!

If Aunt Su was 'smooth and slick', then so was I!

"Does that mean I can't be trusted either?!"

I was shaking with rage!

I really never expected her to say something like that!

I remember it very clearly...

At that moment, the cold look in Sister Xiaoqing's eyes instantly shattered.

Replaced by panic, regret, and grievance!

"Xiaoyou, I didn't mean it like that..."

"You meant exactly that!"

I shoved her hard, turned around, rushed into my bedroom, and slammed the door behind me.

That night, I was so angry!

I even cried from the anger!

I tossed and turned, my thoughts growing more chaotic the more I thought about it. Finally, exhausted from crying, I fell asleep sprawled on the bed.

When I woke up the next morning, my eyes were still swollen.

Sister Xiaoqing didn't come to wake me up.

As I rubbed my eyes and pushed open the bedroom door...

I saw Sister Xiaoqing kneeling by the door.

Her hair was a bit messy, and she was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday.

She had knelt there the entire night.

"Xiaoyou... I'm sorry."

Her voice was hoarse.

"I'm sorry."

She said it again.

I just stood there, staring at her blankly.

I wanted to say "It's okay" and reach out to pull her up... but my limbs felt frozen.

In that very moment...

Something between us seemed to silently snap.

...

In the days that followed, the relationship between Sister Xiaoqing and me became subtle and awkward.

Sister Xiaoqing still took care of my daily life, still cooked for me, and still woke me up.

But she no longer let her fingers linger for a few extra seconds when brushing my hair.

She became cautious.

I became cautious too.

I didn't even know how to interact with her anymore.

The natural intimacy we used to have was now impossible.

I wanted to get closer to her, but I was afraid to.

And so...

I started hiding from her.

Hiding in the lab, hiding in places she couldn't enter.

I knew she would be waiting for me in the lounge.

I knew she would be watching the door, waiting for it to be pushed open.

But... I just didn't want to go back.

At that time, I simply didn't know how to face her.

I really didn't.

...

A few days later, my father called both me and Sister Xiaoqing into the study.

He sat in his chair, his expression very serious.

He said that Aunt Su had come to see him.

He also said...

That Sister Xiaoqing's condition was starting to become unstable.

Then, my father asked Sister Xiaoqing:

"Do you still remember the agreement you signed back then?"

I just looked blankly at my father and Sister Xiaoqing.

I had no idea there was any agreement.

Sister Xiaoqing's face, however, turned deathly pale.

"I remember."

Her voice was trembling.

Then, she slowly knelt down.

"I was wrong."

She said with her head bowed, her voice shaking.

"I will definitely fix this."

She looked up again, facing my father.

That time, I finally understood the look in her eyes.

Fear.

Pleading.

"Please, I beg you..."

"Don't... don't make me lose my master again."

It suddenly dawned on me...

Were they going to take Sister Xiaoqing away from me?

"No!"

I rushed forward, spreading my arms to shield Sister Xiaoqing, and glared at my father.

"You're not allowed to bully Sister Xiaoqing!"

"Sister Xiaoqing is mine forever!"

"No one is allowed to take her away!"

My father looked at me and remained silent for a long while.

I understood the look in his eyes too.

It seemed to be a kind of anticipated sorrow.

He said:

"Youyou..."

"You and Xiaoqing should spend some time apart."

"It's for your own good, and for hers."