Rhodes Island does not exist.

The fact that someone could collect such ugly toys not only proves that the owner has an extremely unique aesthetic sense, but also probably proves that the owner is not a kind person.

but……

"Would those plush toys really tie her up and whip her?"

Skadi was clearly more concerned about this matter than her strange appearance.

-

About two minutes later.

"Alright, alright, everyone sit down, sit down, sit down!" The faceless little girl monster sat high on the small throne, spreading her arms towards the long table below, gesturing for the Doctor and Skadi to take their seats.

So the two chose to sit down opposite each other, and after glancing at their empty cups, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

"I finally have guests! How did you find my place? Was it through wisdom? Luck? Strength? Rabbit and golden pocket watch?"

The strange man sat high up, chattering incessantly.

"It was just good luck," the doctor said modestly. "Also, if I may ask, how should we address you?"

"My goodness, how can my guests be so polite? It's so touching! I guess all I can do is tell you my name!"

She clearly hadn't managed her emotions; the turmoil in her voice was like a tsunami.

"I am the mistress of this place! If you would like to address me affectionately, please just call me by my name!" She cheerfully swung her forearms, which had been resting on the armrests of the throne, up and down. "Locked Circuit! Call me Locked Circuit! Just call me that! It will make me very happy!"

Her tone remained highly excited.

It was as if the visitors from the outside world were truly something to be so excited about.

“Locked-out circuit, is that right? Okay.” The doctor nodded. “Then I’ll continue to call you Miss Locked-Out Circuit.”

"Don't add 'Miss'! No, no!" The closed loop shook its head violently, its huge mouth curving into an extremely frustrated shape. "That's not good, it's not familiar, and it doesn't seem intimate. Just call me by my name, just call me by my name!"

Incidentally, Skadi remained silent throughout the intense conversation between the two.

Locked-loop regression in young children lacks critical thinking.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you for the monthly pass from Commander Missing.

Special thanks to Salty Fish Thorn and Soap.

Chapter 205, Part 204

After spending five minutes with Skadi and the strange creature, the Doctor and Skadi reached the same conclusion.

This young girl, who calls herself a "locked-loop," is bizarre and has virtually no capacity for thought.

Sometimes she answers the wrong question, and sometimes she asks the wrong question. For this reason, the Doctor and Skadi now have no idea which of her words are true and which are nonsense.

No, maybe it's all nonsense.

"So what was this guest's name again?" Chang Chang, sipping from his empty porcelain cup as if it were truly filled with tea, asked, "Skadi?"

“No, Skadi is her, I am the Doctor.” The Doctor pointed to Skadi beside him and explained.

“Oh, I see. So you’re the Doctor, and she’s Skadi.” The locked circuit nodded thoughtfully. “And I’m the locked circuit. Now we’re friends.”

"That's fast," the doctor chuckled. "We became friends as soon as we met."

"Heh heh?" The locked circuit chuckled, leaped down from its throne, and looked at the Doctor, saying, "If you think I'm such a casual person, you're sorely mistaken."

Incidentally, "seeing" is just a way of describing how she focuses her consciousness on the Doctor; after all, she doesn't actually have eyes.

"The reason I can recognize you as my friend is because my heart tells me so; it's whispering to me! It tells me you're a good person, a very good person, so a good person must be my friend!" Closed Circuit patted his chest, speaking with righteous indignation.

"...What about Skadi?" The doctor pointed to Skadi beside him again.

"Waaah, my heart didn't say anything." The locked circuit shook its head hesitantly. "So what's your relationship? Are you friends?"

“Ah, yes, we’re friends,” the Doctor interjected before Skadi could speak, “very, very good friends.”

"Tsk."

Skadi, having her words interrupted, let out a helpless expression of dissatisfaction.

"So, since she's your friend, then she's my friend too!" The locked loop nodded happily. "The book says that my friend is my friend, and my friend's friend is still my friend!"

This book is rather convoluted.

"Oh, Skadi, she considers you a friend! That's great!" The Doctor clapped his hands, adopting an award presenter's expression as he solemnly congratulated Skadi.

"If you keep pretending like that, I'll chop you up." But Skadi didn't seem too keen on joining their tea party.

"Huh...? Are you going to kill your friends? You're such good friends, why are you killing each other? Or is this how you friends communicate?" A question mark appeared above the Closed Circuit's head, looking like a curious child.

Seeing this, Skadi's brows furrowed even deeper.

This is the type of person she's worst at dealing with.

"No, she was just joking, just kidding," the doctor defended Skadi. "But after hearing what you just said, I have a few questions I'd like to ask, is that alright?"

"Questions? Ask away! Ask as many questions as you want! Because you're my friend now! Helping friends solve their problems is a matter of course, a responsibility, an obligation!" Locked Circuit's hands were on the table, his expression quite excited.

“Then let me ask.” The doctor cleared his throat, his gaze falling on the locked-loop chest. “You just said your heart told you… so what does your heart refer to? An organ in your chest cavity, or one of your little pet companions?”

If it were just a normal strange occurrence, the professor wouldn't ask such a direct question.

But the anomaly before us possesses a chaotic way of thinking that no normal person has, so it's better to be straightforward with this kind of thinking.

"A heart is a heart!"

The locked-loop statement was presented as a matter of course: "Doesn't everyone have a heart? Doesn't everyone's heart talk to itself? It's that heart."

No, no, no, generally speaking, they wouldn't talk to themselves.

The professor muttered to himself.

Although the voice of one's heart is indeed often abbreviated as "heart's voice," it is not one's heart speaking to itself, but rather a form of reflection.

Moreover, the so-called inner voice does not come from the heart, but from the brain.

So the idea of ​​your heart talking to itself sounds ordinary, but it's actually quite different.

"Honestly! Look at you, all confused and clueless." It seemed that the closed circuit had misinterpreted the Doctor's thoughts as daydreaming. She pouted, feigning anger, and said, "Since you don't understand, then I'll show you my heart."

“…Huh?” Skadi asked in surprise. “Look at your heart? So that’s something you can just look at whenever you want?”

Originally noble and aloof, she was forced by reality to become a straight man.

"Why can't I look? Isn't the heart just like that? Or are you not?" Closed Circuit put her fingers inside the neckline of her dress, a look of incomprehension on her face. "Could it be that you all suffer from some kind of congenital disability? If so, it's such a pity... Waaah, I'll pray for you."

Just as she was making a witty remark about the locked circuit, she also grabbed her collar and pulled it down to the right without any hesitation.

"Hey!"

Witnessing this extreme scene, Skadi couldn't help but try to stop it.

But it was too late.

The thin gauze skirt had been completely pulled down by the locking circuit, revealing half of her snow-white skin, and... a metal chain hanging around her neck.

For some reason, the doctor felt a sense of déjà vu as he watched the scene unfolding before him.

No, it wasn't the action of pulling down her clothes that seemed familiar, but rather the metal chain around her neck.

"strangeness……"

A sensation like being electrocuted coursed through the doctor's entire body, spreading from his fingertips to the depths of his bone marrow.

"Look!"

The locking circuit, with a tone of pride or even boasting, exposed all the rest of the components.

Only then did the doctor realize that the metal chain wasn't actually hanging around his neck.

It is not a string of ornaments.

It is a part of the girl's body in front of you.

Because the necklace had grown into her flesh, connecting to every inch of her chest tissue, and beating with her heart.

But there's no doubt the doctor recognizes the necklace.

Although he couldn't explain why, he knew he was familiar with the situation.

Chapter 206, Part 205: Night of Dreams

[Doctor, no one has blamed you for your choice, and we hope you won't blame yourself.]

This is today's resource allocation plan. If you, Doctor, have no objections, then I will proceed accordingly.

[Boss, boss, the chef actually praised the honey cakes I made today! Does this mean that even if I go back to Laterano, I can still make a living with this skill?]

[Doctor, remember this: never betray yourself.]

[Strange, where did the receipt for the resources I sent to the observation tower the day before yesterday go? I made sure I put it in my drawer... Hmm? Doctor, what are you doing here? Are you here to check on your subordinates? Hahaha.]

Because I just want you to know that no matter what happens, I will always be on your side.

"Doctor, I see the night sky over Terra."

-

"what?!"

The doctor emerged from the storm of memories, panting heavily.

He felt as if he had just had a long nightmare, and was almost swallowed up by it.

If it weren't for the sharp pain in his right arm that instantly brought him back to his senses, his consciousness would probably still be floating in that chaotic realm woven from memories.

"Hey, are you alright?" Seeing that the Doctor had woken up, Skadi immediately patted his shoulder, her dead fish-like eyes trying her best to convey concern.

"Skadi...?"

Gradually refocusing his unfocused eyes, the doctor recognized the woman before him, whom he had just seen in the middle layer of his sea of ​​memories.

“You still remember me, that’s good.” Skadi nodded, then held up three fingers in front of him. “How many is this?”

"No, don't use such childish questions on me." The doctor's tone was slightly displeased. "You know I can see that this is a five."

"Hmm, it seems there's no problem. You're still the same doctor." Having received the expected answer, Skadi nodded slightly and lowered her hand that had been holding up three fingers.

"Am I still... that doctor?"

Hearing Skadi's words, the Doctor couldn't help but lower his head and look at his own hands.

His left hand was missing a finger, and his right hand was entangled in thorns. The intense pain from the thorns still lingered in his flesh, making him irritable just looking at them.

"Are you really out of your mind?" Skadi leaned closer and stared into his eyes. "You suddenly collapsed just now, and I was worried about you, but then you got up again."

"Fall down...get up."

The Doctor pondered the descriptive words Skadi had spoken, momentarily at a loss for words.

As for the closed circuit, which had once again sat back on its throne, it watched the two's conversation with considerable interest, as if it were watching a comedy show.

"I'm sorry, my memory is really confused right now. Can you help me explain what just happened to me?" The Doctor tugged at Skadi's sleeve, his eyes sincere.

“…Oh no, it seems there really is a problem.” Skadi was stunned for a moment, then sighed. “You’re not kidding me, are you? Although I know you wouldn’t do something like this.”

The doctor shook his head to show his attitude.

"Then do you remember who she is?" Skadi stretched out her hand and pointed to the locked circuit on the throne, which was already dressed. "That little brat."

“It’s a locked circuit.” After a pause of about a fraction of a second, the doctor read out the name in a halting tone.

"What's wrong, friend?" The locked circuit on the throne heard the voice and chimed in, "Dizziness? Headache? Feeling unwell? I don't have medicine here, but I have tea that's better than any medicine, it can cure all ailments!"

Listening to the faceless girl in front of him speak, the doctor felt his dizziness worsen.

"How far back can you recall things from?" Skadi asked the Doctor, ignoring the mindless question from the locked-loop system.

"I don't know." The doctor shook his head. "My mind is filled with a lot of memories right now, and I can't even tell where most of them came from, or whether they belong to me."

“Then I’ll just tell you directly and see if you can remember.” Skadi frowned and said, “First, do you remember our memories of coming here?”

"Please elaborate," the doctor said weakly.

“A maze of streets, surrounded by surveillance cameras, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, cemeteries.” Skadi didn’t go into detail about everything, but instead extracted the key words and presented them to the Doctor.

"Then we saw this place, climbed up the platform, and met her..." The doctor continued, following the keywords related to her, and filled in the rest of the story.