Chapter 16 Mirror World
Next day, Yu Sha received a text message from the Dinoman, asking her to arrive at the old place of the court after noon, so Yu Sha got on the bus.
“Kid, I see you again, so this time, let’s play a game. Life is like a coin. You can never guess whether the landing side will represent disaster or luck. Do you think so, kid?” The exquisitely dressed old man indeed appeared on the bus again, as if he would always be there. The old man took out an ancient commemorative coin, and his face was hidden under sunglasses and a mask.
What a complete gambler! Yu Sha was a little helpless.
“Grandpa, it’s time for you to go home. Where is your home? Do you have any relatives?” Yu Sha, who could speak now, expressed her concern politely.
However, the old man on the bus was not happy to hear such an answer, “You are cute when you can’t talk! Why are you so rude now? What’s wrong with my loving taking the bus? It’s none of your business if I don’t go home.”
The old man put away the commemorative coins and turned his back angrily. Maybe his weird bad temper was the reason for his loneliness. He needed a listener rather than someone who could talk, Yu Sha thought sadly.
Or, the sense of boundaries between people was like a car window glass——transparent but real. Maybe her question touched on something, maybe she should not ask preconceivedly.
“It’s my fault today. I shouldn’t have asked that.” Yu Sha smiled apologetically, and the little girl tried her best to show the most healing smile to appease the dissatisfied old man and also appease the somewhat angry herself……So it’s not a sin to coax.
When she got out of the bus, Yu Sha could feel the guilty gaze of the old man following her all the way, but the stubborn old man said nothing. Perhaps his self-esteem was like his gorgeous and thick suit, silk scarf and formal hat——unfashionable but as hard as armor……
The twelve o’clock bell at noon was like an echo of fate. She looked back at Macao under the scorching sun in late autumn. The familiar streets and familiar buildings, with the different expressions on people’s faces. Everyone was looking at their mobile phones happily. They put on costumes of the Tang Dynasty according to the guidelines, and some even pushed antique wooden carts and peddled along the street like ancient hawkers. Everyone was immersed in the roles they were assigned, and no one argued, sighed, or shed tears at the gate of the court. Now everyone was happy……
But were people intoxicated in dreams really happy……This thought was fleeting, and Yu Sha knew that she should not question the beauty. Yu Sha took a deep breath, and then she found encouragement in the eye of the little robot.
The time of falling into the ground was longer than the previous times, but this time the fall did not frighten her. The darkness brought a rare tranquility. During the long fall, Yu Sha recalled many things, or some things she thought about many times.
She didn’t know when she became so confused, indecisive and always regretting. She even felt that she was no longer like herself, helpless and at a loss……The little girl then smiled wryly in the dark.
Had she become accustomed to falling……falling from lies?
When the light bloomed in the darkness again, Yu Sha thought she was going nowhere. She walked out of the “court” and once thought that the world in front of her was Macao, until the Dinomen passed by sitting on various dinosaurs. They marched in an orderly manner on the road, adopting the human transportation methods. Even the dinosaurs would stop in the round place in front of the Macao Tower, all because of the flashing traffic lights.
But not everything was the same as in Macao. For example, the traffic lights here were three fruits of different colors. The green on looked green and delicious; the yellow one looked a bit like a large orange, but it was full of wrinkles and it still needed to wait for time to mature; as for the red one……it was simply made into the image of a huge poisonous mushroom, so even the dinosaurs here could understand what it meant.
“Welcome to the third layer of the ‘Mirror World’ of the Dinoman outpost.” A cruel mockery hung on the Dinoman’s stern face. “I thought you would not come. You can choose never to walk into that wall. In fact this is your second chance to choose.”
“I don’t think I have a choice.” Yu Sha said sadly. “Since I met you, every choice has been difficult and it’s getting harder now.”
“This is a fact, child, but……just like what the Great Wisdom Sage said, this had nothing to do with me.” The little monster approached with its feather crest raised, and there was no mercy in his mocking tone.
Yu Sha was not surprised by the little monster’s attitude, but what she couldn’t ignore was that this place was so similar to Macao on the ground. On the lawn behind the little monster, a group of colorful little Pterosaurs jumped into the air. They dragged their long tails while gliding in the air, replacing the pigeons and blocking the dazzling “sunshine” at the moment.
The Dinoman’s sharp claws were holding up its protruding chin, and he showed a satisfied smile. “You don’t know where you are, do you……You want to ask why this place is exactly the same as Macao?”
It was not accurate to describe them as exactly the same. Maybe on the sidewalk, they wore suitable suits and waited for the time to cross the road. Maybe on the jogging trail, they would nod like humans when they met each other. Even under the Portuguese-era bungalows, they were queuing up to buy freshly baked delicacies. At the most exaggerated moment, four guys were gathering around a square table to play mahjong……
But they were all Dinomen, with feather crowns of different colors and densities, and clothes that looked like humans, but they all had thick tails behind them. What’s even more strange was their protruding faces, the long mouth with sharp teeth and half the height of a human-they are just a bunch of Dinomen who behaved like humans.
“They will become more like humans. This is just a beginning.” The Dinoman comforted.
With the sound of the breaking glass, a Tyrannosaurus tail covered with white feathers swept into the glass of the Macao Tower. Its ferocious long face without feathers seemed to show a puzzled look. Obviously, the Tyrannosaurus, just like a bird, also mistakenly thought the the transparent glass was nothing, or maybe because the road was so narrow that there was no room for it to turn around, only the Dinoman riding on it was yelling and cursing.
The Tyrannosaurus with pure white feathers looked like a clumsy white bear.
“Ahem, it will take time……”
But why did these Dinomen deliberately imitate humans in the underground world?
“You messed up our plan to fly into space. Now we have no choice. Maybe most of the Dinomen can continue to sleep peacefully, but we can’t go back to sleep when we wake up. This is not the main base, but just an outpost. Originally we could fly into space, but thanks to you, now the energy in the outpost is about to be depleted. The sun here cannot shine forever……We have no choice but to return to the ground. Fortunately, the Dinomen and the dinosaurs here were strong enough. Maybe they can learn the new gravity on the Earth even if they lack steel prosthetics.” The Dinoman said. At this moment the little robot easily lifted off in the low-gravity underground world.
“機會……機會……”鋼鐵小精靈的眼睛里重復流動著同樣的兩個字。所以它在人類世界的安逸和乖巧全是假象不是嗎？機會！余莎厭惡地想到。
“Opportunity……opportunity……” The same word flowed repeatedly in the steel elf’s eye. So were its comfort and well-behavedness in the human world all an illusion? Opportunity? Yu Sha thought with disgust.
“Yu Sha, maybe I should say thank you, for you have brought new possibilities……” The words of the Dinoman were rarely politely. “Your choice leads us to the path that would otherwise be impossible.”
“Don’t be naive. Do you think that as long as you Dinomen dressed up like humans and act like humans, the human will accept you? Once people become suspicious of you……” Yu Sha didn’t have the courage to say more about the humans. She knew this well. Human beings were sensitive and instinctively distinguish things that were different from themselves, even the same kind. Taking herself for example, just because she couldn’t speak, Yu Sha saw more looks and treatment that would not be given to normal people. Some were pity, some were tears, some were hugs, and of course there were stones that thrown at her by some bad kids.
But why should she worry about the Dinoman?
“You are right. In any place on Earth where there are human beings, we will definitely die if we do this. But here is different, Macao is a magical city, and few people here will ask too much. The Chinese in Macao are the most tolerant humans I have ever seen, for they will not judge you with various customs like other humans in the world, as long as you follow the rules……” It closed its eyes and tell the Dinoman’s guessing. At this time, the little monster seemed to know everything. Maybe he was right. The people in Macao seldom cared about whether other people were right or wrong or judge others by their own morality. They were used to thinking every stranger as a tourist……but……
“But that’s for humans!” Yu Sha emphasized. “But you are the Dinomen, and you bring so many domesticated dinosaurs with you!”
“Yes, this was indeed incredible in the past, but humans are good at telling stories and also rely on stories, so we will tell people a story before we appear……”
“For example, we are the products of human laboratories. As long as we admit that we are creatures manufactured by humans, whether cloned or genetically modified. We carefully hold up human pride, and the proud humans will not be able to tell the difference.” The Dinoman looked up to the direction of the ground and said, “Just like the plot of the movie ‘Jurassic World’, with us, Macao will immediately become the center of the world tourism. There is no doubt about it. With the unique Dinosaur World and intelligent Dinomen in the world, I think all human beings will rush to Macao to ‘visit’ us. This will only bring hope, so no Macao people will ‘a(chǎn)ttack’ our existence; the difference is that our existence has nothing to do with human science and technology. Human beings use technology to create us It is just a cover for our self-preservation that we are created by the technology of human beings.”
“This is a lie, not a story!” Yu Sha argued, and her little hands clenched into fists because of anger.
“Little girl, do you really think that all stories are true, not lies?”
“Like all the fairy tales you’ve heard, if every story were true, then every kind girl would meet a Prince Charming.”
The Dinoman responded calmly, “We pursue survival, while humans pursue money. Think about the present Macao on the ground now, all people’s thoughts are gathered into an overall action to make Macao what it was in ancient times……That’s because everyone can benefit from it.” Said the Dinoman . “Nowadays, the dinosaurs can be seen everywhere on the streets and the easy money is line with the travel dreams of Macao residents!”
“But you said that the Dinomen will abide by the principle of ‘Eta to Zen’ and will never lie and will always give others the right to choose!” Yu Sha spoke out her final defense, and it seemed that she herself began to feel that the plan of the Dinomen was perfect. Except herself, the deceived human beings would have no right of defense at all.
But what stood in front of the conspiracy was a short moral. The little robot turned its back in shame and chose to ignore justice, but the Dinoman was still righteous……
He didn’t even lower its crown, and its untouched eyes made it look more like a human being at this moment.
“Don’t talk about the morality of 65 million years ago. If that morality was written on paper, it must have been wiped out. If that morality was carved on stone, it must have sunk into the ground. If that morality was embedded in the hardest brick in the world……” The Dinoman spread its hands and made the most honest gesture of mankind, “Fortunately……h(huán)uman beings will definitely try their best to find it from the Earth, and then polish it and leave it in the shape that humans want. When those words are removed as a scratch, it will be placed on top of a rich man’s crown.”
“So don’t discuss morality with me anymore! I don’t plan to stay underground forever. Other Dinomen will also forget their principle of not lying after contacting humans. I am very confident about that change.” The Dinoman said, “Besides, abandoning the principle 65 million years ago is also an option, isn’t it? Since it said respecting everyone’s choice 65 million years ago……” The Dinoman said threateningly, with its tail slapping the ground and whipping.
“You should be glad that we choose a new path, instead of destroying mankind, although I can’t guarantee that every Dinoman thinks so……” The Dinoman tossed a coin into the sky. The front of the coin was the pattern of five dollars of Macao Pataca, and the reverse side was engraved with the shape of several dinosaurs.
“What?” Yu Sha asked eagerly. The coin fell to the ground and spun a few times before stopping. “So……”
“The scar-faced Dinoman is preparing to destroy the human alone on New Year’s Eve. It believes that Macao is safe enough without human. It wants to use Macao as a breeding base for monsters and then wipe out all humans in the world.” On the side facing the “sky”, a dinosaur was devouring its prey.
“Do you still remember what I said? Giving up is also a choice, and so is elimination.”
“It’s his choice. I can’t stop him from thinking that way, and the only way is to completely eliminate him……”
“It depends on which part of the truth we are prepared to tell……As long as it is not the whole truth, telling what humans are willing to believe……does it become a lie?”
“Giving up itself is also a choice.”