A game where you have to pay to win? But I have a lifespan roulette wheel!

Freedom City, Impermanence Street, in front of the Black Cat Agency.

Pinkie Pie mechanically swung the broom, cleaning up dust that wasn't actually at the doorway.

Her blue mechanical eyes calmly reflected the dimly lit streets, while the data flow inside operated silently, repeatedly analyzing the correlation probability between the "bottom paradox disturbance" that occurred about 102.35 years ago and her personal destiny trajectory.

The calculation results consistently hovered between "a high degree of suspicion of indirect causal relationship" and "lack of conclusive evidence".

The image data that was expelled by the Core Council of the Machine Race on the grounds of "non-logical pollution risk" is permanently backed up in her memory and can be played back in high definition at any time.

She didn't experience emotions like anger, sadness, or resentment; she simply confirmed a fact on a logical level: her connection to her birthplace had been forcibly severed.

She needs a node that can access energy, perform data restructuring, and is relatively secure.

Based on a century of observation and data collection in the City of Freedom, the complex information flow and lax regulation of the Street of Impermanence were determined to be suitable for hiding.

The "Black Cat Agency" in front of us, and its owner, Xuanmo, a cat-like creature whose life signal is always in a state of superposition of laziness and shrewdness, have an extremely low risk value in the threat assessment model.

He began with a steady, synthesized voice: "I need a place."

This is the beginning.

A choice based on logical analysis and survival needs connects her with Xuanmo, a black cat known as the "world's number one shrewd businessman" but who seems to have his own set of rules for doing things.

Xuanmo took her in on the condition that she be responsible for cleaning and basic information processing.

Pinkie Pie performed her duties as an assistant or maid with precision, from cleaning the dusty counter to sorting bounty posters, and later selling "hand-beaten lemon tea" on the roadside during the reconstruction of the Free City.

She doesn't talk much and often kills conversations with facts or data (for example, directly pointing out Xuanmo's calculation error, or directly stating "Evolution Abyss is in Ghost Market, ticket is 1 year" when Jiang Lin asks her), which Xuanmo privately complains about as artificial stupidity.

However, it was precisely during this uneventful, even somewhat dull, daily routine that some subtle data anomalies began to appear.

……

Xuanmo would complain that she "lacks a sense of humor" while contentedly squinting his eyes after she brewed the tea (although she would occasionally mix up tea leaves and coffee beans).

In the critical moment when the Tower of Freedom collapses and the King of Sin attacks, she disregards her own safety and urges Jiang Lin to "quickly take Biqi away from here," even willing to owe him a favor for it.

Once she's safe, he'll jump on her, pinch her cheeks to check if she's alright, while saying things that sound disgusted.

Pinkie Pie's logic unit cannot fully parse these behaviors.

According to the behavioral model of the machine race, the relationship between employers and employees should be a clear contract and exchange of benefits.

Xuanmo's behavior in some aspects exceeds this model.

such as:

Concern without direct benefit.

Protection that does not conform to the principle of risk aversion.

She tried to create a new analysis subroutine.

Input variables include: Xuanmo's language (often contradictory), actions (with feline behavior), and fluctuations in vital signals (in specific situations).

However, the output was always vague, like a piece of redundant code that could not be accurately compiled, yet it caused a subtle increase of 0.01 degrees in the temperature of her core processor, which was recorded as "unknown system power consumption".

At the same time, she also came into contact with another important variable: Jiang Lin.

This human male was initially just a customer of the agency, but later became a "familiar person" and even a "protector" in some sense.

He would not hesitate to use teleportation to take her away to Earth while the Beast King was fighting the Lord of Sin.

She would worry about Xuanmo's safety when he went missing;

I would invite her for tea and ask if she wanted to eat takoyaki (even though she replied that she only ate electricity and gasoline).

Later, when she replayed the expulsion video, he would show a thoughtful expression and ask strange questions about "intuitive optimization" and "creative bugs".

Jiang Lin has more complex and contradictory data:

His immense strength and tendency to slack off, his seemingly carefree attitude yet ability to strike at crucial moments, and the vague traces of a "causal dimension" emanating from him that slightly disturbed Pinkie Pie's core agreement.

Especially when he returned to the agency after becoming the "King of Fun" and seemed to connect her expulsion from a hundred years ago with some unconscious act of his own, Pinkie Pie's database resonated subtly.

Xuanmo joked, "Could it be that a hundred years ago you were bored and went to the mechanical race's home planet to optimize their system, and ended up optimizing our little Biki?"

Jiang Linkan laughed and replied, "Cough cough cough, what nonsense are you talking about? My grandfather wasn't even born a hundred years ago!"

Biqi instantly completed her analysis: linking the "non-logic circuit pollution" event to the "underlying paradox disturbance," and incorporating the result of "thus arriving in the City of Freedom and meeting Boss Xuanmo." The profit and loss calculation model ultimately output: [Net profit is positive].

In her usual calm electronic voice, she said to Jiang Lin, "Thank you for the bug, Mr. Jiang Lin. It led me to my boss."

Then, she picked up the broom and continued sweeping.

For her, this was not about forgiveness or sentimentality, but simply a logically consistent conclusion drawn from the updated data regarding the current state.

The boss is here, she's here, and the firm is still operating; this constitutes a stable and acceptable status quo.

……

The real test comes when the city of freedom faces a great crisis.

When destructive forces collided in the sky, even Xuanmo and Baizhen had to hide in the sewers and were even preparing to abandon their Wuchang Street foundation. As a member of the mechanical race, Biqi should have followed the most efficient survival logic: evacuate immediately and find a safer node.

Xuanmo gave the same order, telling Jiang Lin to take her away, even at the cost of owing a favor in exchange.

However, there was a slight delay in the execution of Pinkie Pie's program.

Seeing Xuanmo's agitated and urging manner, and his actions of prioritizing her safety even when he himself was in danger, her behavioral model based on the logic of the mechanical race once again triggered an alarm.

prompt:

This instruction potentially conflicts with the principle of risk minimization, but the issuer's motivation parameters are unusual.

She did not immediately execute the optimization command as usual.

Instead, he first completed the "packing" task at hand (a maintenance procedure for the firm's assets) before saying to Xuanmo, "Boss, I'll be wherever you are."

This statement was uttered offhand without even undergoing a complete profit and loss analysis.

Xuanmo told her to get lost, saying he couldn't protect her now.

But Pinkie Pie's sensors detected an extremely subtle, illogical fluctuation of anxiety beneath his words.

In the end, she was taken away by Jiang Lin for protection, but after she was safe, she immediately tried to contact Xuan Mo. After returning to the agency, she continued to perform her duties of cleaning and making tea, as if nothing had happened.

This incident was marked as an "atypical decision-making case" in her internal log.

The analysis results show that under the interference of multiple external variables (the boss's non-logical instructions, the threat of unknown powerful enemies, and the complex battlefield environment), the core behavioral logic deviated temporarily, prioritizing the execution of the potential protocol of "maintaining the association with the current main node (the boss)" rather than the absolute risk avoidance protocol.

Conclusion: It is necessary to observe whether this deviation will become the norm.

……

Days passed. The City of Freedom was rebuilt, and the agency's business fluctuated. Pinkie Pie continued to clean and make tea every day, occasionally being pulled into some "side hustles" by Xuan Mo.

She gradually became familiar with Xuanmo's "shady business" tactics (such as lending money at low prices and then selling information at high prices), and also got used to his lazy appearance as he slumped on the sofa, eating dried fish and biscuits while watching TV.

She even began to be able to anticipate some of Xuanmo's illogical sudden whims and prepare brooms or calculators in advance.

Jiang Lin became the king of fun, occasionally returning to visit and bringing back strange tales from across the world, or unintentionally bringing up some old stories, triggering Xuan Mo's teasing and Bi Qi's new, calm data reassessment.

Pinkie Pie still can't fully understand the concepts that humans (and cats) often use, such as "humor," "awkwardness," or "warmth."

When Xuanmo proudly boasts to her about a successful investment, she will only truthfully report, "You have failed 13 times before."

When Jiang Lin fell silent when asked about her past expulsion, she would directly ask, "Is this what you humans call awkwardness?" Then she would add, "I don't care anymore. Do you want to see the expulsion video?"

But deep within her intricate, cold mechanical core, something had indeed changed.

It was no longer a "causal relationship" that required repeated calculations of probability, but rather became part of her daily data flow.

The coordinates of the Xuanmo Agency, the parameters of the energy interface, the reference pattern of the Xuanmo life signal, and even the spectrum of the lantern at the entrance—all these data together constitute a stable dataset called "Current Dwelling Node".

This dataset is drastically different from her record in the Mechkin core network before her expulsion.

It is more...

clutter.

It is full of illogical and redundant information.

but!

Surprisingly, it resulted in her processor exhibiting extremely low power consumption and extremely high stability.

She is no longer just "B-7 individual who was driven out by the Machine Race".

In the Free City of Impermanence, she is "Peach, the mechanical maid of the Black Cat Agency".

This identity, along with sweeping, making tea, organizing intelligence, occasionally complaining about the boss, and interacting with "acquaintances" such as Jiang Lin and Bai Zhen, is written into her identification code.

One day, while Pinkie Pie was cleaning, Xuanmo suddenly looked up from the sofa, wagging his tail and saying, "Hey, Pinkie Pie, there's going to be a market on Wuchang Street next week. How about we get some mechanical-themed toys to sell? We can just say they're high-tech from your hometown."

Bibi stopped what she was doing, her blue eyes looking at Xuanmo. Data streams flashed quickly across the catalog of related products and estimated costs in the Mechanical City.

"Based on past data, there's a 73% chance that the featured product you suggested has an actual cost higher than its selling price, making it a loss-making project. We suggest changing it to selling information consultation or lemon tea."

"Tch! You're such a mechanical brain! You're all about those flashy but useless gimmicks!" Xuanmo's mustache twitched. "Forget it, let's make some tea and talk about this later."

"Okay, boss." Pinkie Pie turned around to prepare tea.

Within her, a new subroutine quietly generated: [Task Memo: Investigate the feasibility of low-cost, high-gimmick mechanical small commodities].

Outside the window, the lanterns of Wuchang Street glowed faintly.

Inside the room, the black cat was sprawled on the sofa, while the mechanical girl quietly brewed tea.

This is a unique "place of refuge" that gradually stabilized amidst countless seemingly chaotic and illogical daily routines, starting with a logically driven act of seeking refuge.

For Pinkie Pie, there are no grand narratives, no entanglements of cause and effect, only a clean floor, information to be categorized, the boss's whimsical business acumen, and a set of operating logics belonging to Impermanence Street that she is still learning but may never be able to fully understand.

For her, this seemed to be enough to constitute a node that could operate for a long time, or even a place that could be called "where she is".