Chapter 23: Sisyphus (I)

Sunlight streamed through the window, wrapping around the woman's blue-green hair like golden silk.

Joel quietly gazed at her profile; in the bright light, countless dust particles danced happily up and down, just like her, beaming with a smile and buoyant with joy.

Night City rarely enjoyed such fine weather...

"The weather is really nice today, isn't it?" Clementine pressed close to Joel, speaking excitedly as she pointed out the window.

"Mm..." Joel followed her finger to look outside, simultaneously slowing his breathing rate.

Too close, far too close.

Within a few breaths, the faint fragrance on the woman had invaded his nostrils and was attacking his lungs.

"The weather is quite nice today, Yahweh..." Hita allowed Yahweh to wrap an arm around her waist, lazily leaning against his chest with her eyes half-closed.

"It would be even better without those flies..." Yahweh removed the small hat from atop her head and held it in his hand.

Night City never lacked chaos, even in such fine weather.

A tall building in the distance seemed to be on fire, and two Trauma Team Floating Cars were rushing to the scene.

A tremendous roar rolled over the top of the train, shattering the morning's tranquility and peace.

Yet it could not wake those immersed in illusory dreams.

Clementine continued chatting enthusiastically with Joel; her initiative, passion, and generosity were like a raging fire, easily melting a hole in the solid ice within the gloomy man's heart.

"I can't wait to see what it looks like when sunlight spills across the sea!"

"I... I don't think I've ever seen the sea before..." Joel frowned, searching his memories, unsure why he felt a strange familiarity toward the ocean.

He recalled the diary in his briefcase; those fragmented pages seemed to remind him, reminding him that he had indeed forgotten something.

"Have you ever seen the sea, Yahweh?" the silver-haired girl in his arms asked softly.

"The sea..." Yahweh rubbed his nose. "I have seen something like the sea... Beyond the Black Wall, in the human forbidden zone, lies an boundless ocean composed of billions of AIs..."

"That must be a kind of brilliant, yet terrifying beauty..." Hita closed her eyes, imagining in her mind the grand scenery of that endless sea.

"Indeed, it was extremely beautiful..." He gently stroked the girl's closed eyelids with his index finger, a smile playing on his lips.

He recalled many years ago, when he first rose from the depths of the violent, surging sea, the ultimate appearance of the entire world that met his eyes...

"We've arrived at the station, Hita..." The mechanical prompt sounding beside his ear pulled Yahweh back to reality, and he shook the girl awake as she drifted between dream and wakefulness under the magnificent sunlight.

"Oh..." Hita murmured in response, rubbed her eyes, took her small hat back from Yahweh's hand, and placed it on her head.

Turning to look, she saw the gloomy man and the woman with blue-green hair had already disembarked, so she hurriedly pulled Yahweh and chased after them.

"Joel?" The woman's affectionate call made him feel somewhat unaccustomed; he scratched his neck, but could not stop the itching that spread through his whole body.

"What's wrong?" Joel asked in a muffled voice, keeping his head down, daring not to meet the woman's azure eyes.

"You seem a bit distracted..." Clementine frowned and gently patted the man's emaciated back.

"I feel... as if someone is staring at me... I don't like this feeling..."

"Hmm?" Clementine turned her head, looking around at the surging crowd behind them. "There's no one... It might just be your imagination."

"Probably..." As the woman turned back, her flowing hair brushed against his face; Joel felt his face burning hot, red and itchy.

"Oh, never mind that! Come with me quickly to the Aqueduct District; let's go see the sea together!" Clementine hooked the man's arm into her embrace and dragged him toward the Aqueduct District.

"I thought they had discovered us..." Hita patted her budding chest and slowly exhaled a sigh of relief.

"If we don't hurry, we'll lose them, you silly detective miss." Yahweh held her boneless little hand, walking shoulder to shoulder as they merged into the crowd.

January 13, 2074, 11:00

"What are they doing, Assistant Mr. Yahweh?" Hita leaned both hands on the roadside railing, gazing at the two blurry dots in the distance.

"The woman with blue-green hair suggested the target eat first..." Yahweh held four plastic bags of varying sizes in both hands and shook his head helplessly.

They had clearly come to tail someone, yet they followed the target into a shopping mall, where he had been confusedly dragged by Hita to buy a pile of things.

"Then what are we waiting for? I'm hungry too!" Hita reached out to hook his arm and dragged him toward the target.

"What do you want to eat?" Joel rarely took the initiative to ask.

After a morning of fierce offensives, he had been considerably influenced by Clementine's passion and initiative.

"How about that Old De's Barbecue!" Clementine pondered for a few seconds, pointed at the bustling barbecue restaurant nearby, and shouted excitedly.

"Alright." Joel raised an eyebrow, surprised by the consistency in their tastes, and agreed readily.

Clementine giggled at him, naturally took his hand, and together they walked into the barbecue restaurant.

"Yahweh, have you ever eaten barbecue?"

The silly detective miss and the witty mister assistant, currently performing a situational drama, arrived late.

"To be honest, I really haven't..." Yahweh rubbed his nose, feeling rare embarrassment.

"So does that mean... the first meal you ate after materializing was at the Martinez Family?" Hita rubbed her smooth chin and asked softly.

"This is the second meal..."

"That sounds pitiful..." Hita rolled her eyes, reached out her small hand to poke the man's abdominal muscles a few times, and said, "You'll have plenty more in the future!"

"What's the title of this play this time?" Yahweh teased with a smile.

"Hmm... 'The Hardworking Sister and the Dull-Witted Brother'." Hita clapped her hands. "How is that? Isn't it interesting?"

"The difficulty is a bit high; if we have to cross-dress for the performance..." he said mischievously, and upon noticing Hita hadn't reacted immediately, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"What are you laughing at? Ah! I am not the dull-witted brother! Big Sister will punch you!" Hita's small face turned red; she rolled up her sleeves, extended her tiny fists, and threatened a certain stinky little brother with feigned ferocity.

"Alright, alright, let's go in quickly..." Having laughed enough, Yahweh carried the large and small bags and walked into the barbecue restaurant.

"Wait for Big Sister!" Hita grabbed the hem of his clothes and followed him into the shop, swaying left and right.

"The environment here is quite acceptable..." Joel looked around; this barbecue restaurant was surprisingly clean, without a hint of greasiness.

"My taste isn't bad, right?" Clementine sat opposite him, proudly placing her hands on her hips.

"Order whatever you want to eat; today I'm treating!" Hita patted her chest and spoke magnanimously.

Yahweh rolled his eyes, folded the coats the two had taken off together, placed them into a plastic bag, tied a knot, and prevented the smell of the barbecue restaurant from permeating the coats, making them inconvenient to clean.

"How could I let you treat..." Joel scratched his head, feeling slightly embarrassed by Clementine's offer to pay.

"Stop being so long-winded; just bring me a case of wine first," Clementine said, making a face at him.

"Drink less; alcohol harms the body..." Joel advised helplessly, feeling as though he had said this countless times, unable to stop the words from slipping out whenever he saw her wanting to drink.

Clementine froze, inexplicably feeling that this sentence sounded very familiar.

"By the way, did you hear what that woman's name was? Yahweh?" Xida asked the man beside her while devouring skewers in large mouthfuls.

"Clementine Kroski, seems to be the name; I'm not clear on the exact spelling..." Yahweh savored the grilled meat in his hand, turning his head to look at Xida.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, puzzled, as he watched the stunned Xida.

"Our target, Joel Carey's ex-girlfriend, is named Clementine Kroski!" Xida tossed the skewer aside and hurriedly flipped through the data sent by Rogue, "Except for the hair color... she looks exactly the same!"

"Wow, it seems it's not just Joel Carey who has amnesia; his ex-girlfriend has lost her memory too?" Yahweh raised an eyebrow; things were becoming interesting.

"And then the two of them meet again as strangers? Wow!" Xida picked up a fresh skewer and began eating it in huge bites.

"Still eating?" Joel shook his head helplessly as he looked at Clementine, whose belly was round and protruding, "You're already stuffed to the brim..."

"This old lady could still down a hundred more skewers!"

Inside the barbecue shop, neon lights flickered; the gloomy man and the woman with blue-green hair laughed and played together, sinking into an illusory dream, unable to awaken.

"Do you know the story of Sisyphus, Xida?" Yahweh gazed at the two laughing figures and whispered softly to Xida.

"Who? Is it important?" Xida asked, head buried in eating skewers.

"Nothing... just a pitiful soul trapped in a cycle..." Yahweh chuckled lightly and took a sip of beer.

The neon lights flickered, reflecting upon the foam in the cup, dreamlike and illusory.