Chapter 482: Is It or Isn't It

The moment Malin said the word “sisters,” Yu Sheng saw Ailin's tense body relax a little—the little puppet's relief was visible.

It seemed the little thing wasn't completely heartless.

From an inconspicuous angle, Malin slightly turned her head toward Yu Sheng, and the two exchanged a quick glance.

Ailin had already stood up, grabbing the living doll's hand in excitement. “Really? Sis! I've been saying I'm an Alice Doll my whole life, and people never believe me. It takes one to know one!”

Malin, having her hand grabbed and shaken like a spin dryer by the little shorty, quickly grabbed her own wrist with her other hand and said, “Calm down, calm down first. My wrist isn't sturdy...”

“Oh, oh, I forgot,” Ailin quickly let go. Watching the doll check her joints, she couldn't help but start babbling again. “Well, you really should get that hand fixed. Why not have Yu Sheng make you a new one? I'm telling you, this body of mine is built from spirit fox mystic iron mixed with exotic building materials. I run on 220 volts normally, and in emergencies I can leech off those gods' thunder tribulations...”

Malin seemed stunned again.

But this time the daze was brief—she snapped out of it in less than half a second, casually observing Ailin as she said, “That does sound sturdy... Can I see the oil painting behind you?”

“Painting?” Ailin was startled. She first turned to look at Yu Sheng. Only after seeing him nod slightly did she turn around, take off the painting frame strapped to her back, and awkwardly hold it up with both hands to hand it to the living doll opposite. “Sure, okay... Be careful, though. I'm synced with this painting. Back when Yu Sheng threw me from the second floor...”

This little thing held grudges.

Malin didn't speak. She carefully examined the classic, elegant oil painting, then fixed her gaze on the plush toy bear sitting in a chair within the painting.

“What's up with this bear?”

“I have no idea. As long as I can remember, it's been sealed in the painting with me,” Ailin scratched her head. “I vaguely recall it used to have some rationality a long, long time ago, but eventually it stopped being able to communicate. When we were both in the painting, it would occasionally giggle for no reason, but after I got out, it got much quieter.”

Malin frowned slightly, her fingers lightly brushing across the rough surface of the painting.

Ailin, as if thinking of something, suddenly looked a bit uneasy. Watching the adult doll's expression, she quietly confirmed again, “I really am an Alice Doll, right?”

“...Without a doubt,” Malin smiled, her eyes on the little puppet, but the focus didn't seem entirely on Ailin. “You are a member of the Alice Dolls, but some 'changes' happened to you by accident.”

“Can it be fixed?” Ailin asked quickly, then paused and pointed at herself, explaining, “Look, right now I'm only this tall, stuck in these temporary shells. Yu Sheng has tried a lot of methods, but nothing works. Do you think if I go back to the Alice Garden, there might be a solution? How about you take me back there to see?”

Malin's movements suddenly stopped. She looked up at the little puppet. “Take you back to the Alice Garden?”

“Yeah, aren't all Alice Dolls from the 'Garden'?” Ailin nodded eagerly. “If something goes wrong out here, you go back there to remake your body. That's how I remember it...”

“The Alice Matrix Network—codenamed 'Garden,'” Malin said seriously, looking into the little puppet's eyes. “The 'Garden' isn't a place you can 'go back' to in a physical sense. It can only be accessed through the Alice Key and broadcast nodes across the universe... Are you asking me to help you reconnect to the network?”

Ailin's expression froze.

She stood on the coffee table, dazed for a long moment, then slowly raised her hand to scratch her head. Finally, she muttered, “Oh... right?”

She turned her head, staring blankly at Yu Sheng. “Yu Sheng, is that right?”

Yu Sheng didn't answer with his usual “How would I know?” Instead, he reached out and lifted Ailin off the table, placing her on his lap. “Looks like just a minor technical glitch.”

Then he looked up. “Miss Malin, can you help her reconnect to that network?”

“...It'll be difficult. Judging by Ailin's state, she's probably forgotten her own 'Alice Key.' That key is written directly into our souls at birth, uniquely bound from life to death. Even sisters among the Alice Dolls don't have the authority to interfere with or read each other's keys. Besides...”

Yu Sheng and Ailin spoke in unison: “Besides?”

“Besides, several hundred years ago, the Alice Matrix severed her direct connection to the 'Garden.' Now the Garden's authentication rules are even stricter than before.”

“The Alice Matrix... the one Ailin usually calls the 'Doll Ancestor,' one of the Ancient Spirits?” Yu Sheng couldn't hide his surprise. “She severed the connection to the Garden? Why?”

Even Ailin, who had been spacing out, snapped to attention. The little puppet almost jumped. “Is the Doll Ancestor in trouble?!”

“No. The Doll Ancestor is fine. She still sends regular safe signals. But she and the other Ancient Spirits are now at the boundary of the cognizable universe—we don't know the specifics, but the Ancient Spirits seem to be carrying out a very important mission, so they've cut most of their connections with the 'inner domain.'”

Ailin seemed to relax a little, drawing out an “Oh,” but then frowned again. “Why is it always 'uncertain'... That steel-faced guy said the same thing. What are the Ancient Spirits even doing? Isn't anyone curious?”

“At the boundary of the cognizable universe—what happens there can't simply be relayed back to the 'inner domain,'” Malin said seriously. “Information from outside the system boundary carries high risk to the system. Any data coming from there could be meme contamination. There's a term for this kind of incident: 'supra-system event.'”

Ailin scratched her head again.

This knowledge was completely beyond her processing capacity.

Yu Sheng felt a furry tail poke his arm. Huli leaned in and whispered, “...Weren't Alice Dolls supposed to be correspondence-course kindergarten material?”

Yu Sheng kept a straight face, thinking that Ailin's special case obviously couldn't be judged by normal standards, but after holding it in for a while, he finally blurted out, “Maybe it's the difference between senior and junior class.”

Ailin seemed completely oblivious to what Yu Sheng and Huli were murmuring about.

She sat down on Yu Sheng's lap, her small brows furrowed, still deep in thought.

She seemed to be trying to sort through her memories, searching for details about the “Garden” or trying to recall what her “Alice Key” was. She thought for a long time, then muttered, “Did I really remember wrong? How can I not remember anything...”

Then she looked up again at the adult doll opposite.

“Then... what about Alice's Cottage? Did it go to the border with the Doll Ancestor? What about the other sisters? I clearly remember... even if I misremember, how do they remake their bodies? People get damaged all the time, right...”

“The Doll Printing Room,” Malin replied. “Every external station has one. I have one where I am too. When an Alice Doll suffers fatal damage, she does return to the 'Garden,' but that's by uploading her consciousness to the matrix network, then being reprinted through the Doll Printing Room. If conditions allow, she might skip the upload and directly disassemble the body to transmit it to the printing slot for repair. I myself have... In any case, in a sense, your memory isn't entirely wrong. It's just a little skewed—you mixed up the concepts of 'Garden' and 'remaking.'”

Ailin listened in a daze, processing in a daze, and after a while finally roughly understood what the other was saying. “Then... this 'Doll Printing Room' you mentioned...”

“The prerequisite for using it is being connected to the 'Garden,'” Malin said calmly, looking into the little puppet's eyes.

Ailin was visibly dejected.

Huli moved closer, picked up another Ailin from the sofa, and wrapped the little puppet in her tails.

“At least you've finally got in touch with another sister,” she said to Ailin. “Originally, your biggest goal was to contact the organization, right? Now you've found the organization, confirmed the Doll Ancestor's situation, and you can talk to Miss Malin about anything. It's just that your body won't recover for now, but you have two bodies—and aren't you already used to this form?”

Ailin was stunned by Huli's rapid-fire speech. After a few seconds, she hesitantly looked up. “Is... is that right?”

“Of course it is.”

Huli wore a gentle smile, reaching out to vigorously rub the little puppet's head in her arms.

The little thing was dizzy from the rubbing. “Silly fox, don't try to fool me, I'm telling you...”

Huli didn't speak, but turned her head slightly and winked at Yu Sheng, her big ears twitching.

Yu Sheng took the opportunity to stuff the other Ailin on his lap into the mass of Huli's tails, then naturally stood up. “By the way, Miss Malin, I have a few more technical details I'd like to ask you about, regarding deep-space navigation...”

“Of course.” Malin wore a faint smile, nodded quite naturally, and stood up as well.

Yu Sheng directly led the living doll up to the second floor.

“...Is she really an Alice Doll?”

Turning to glance back at the staircase, Yu Sheng asked bluntly.

“Yes,” Malin nodded lightly. “I wasn't entirely trying to comfort or soothe her.”

Yu Sheng caught her implication. “...How much?”

“About half.”

“And the other half?”

“A terrifying darkness.”

(End of chapter)