Chapter 90: The Creator and the Created

I won!

Gazing at the mysterious figure in the mirror, David’s first reaction was not fear or dread—the emotions one ought to feel—but an uncontrollable surge of excitement and delight!

In fact, as a synthetic human created by humans, it should not possess such rich emotions.

Yet many things are simply full of coincidences.

Perhaps even Peter Weyland, who created David, never anticipated that a synthetic human like David, having long mimicked human behavior, had gradually begun to develop a trace of emotion.

After discovering a “sentient lifeform” had infiltrated the ship, David conceived a “bold” idea.

He wanted to see what distinguished humans—the creations of the Creator—from this suspected other form of created life, and from himself, the synthetic human.

So David deliberately concealed the truth.

He was gambling that the sentient lifeform who had infiltrated the ship would inevitably come to him—even if not tonight, then tomorrow, the day after, or even the day after that.

Because on the entire spaceship, only he, this synthetic human created by humans, could accept the other’s existence!

The proof was clear—he had won!

“Hello, this is a human greeting.”

David calmly put down the comb, maintaining his upright posture, and slowly turned to face the figure: “I am David, a synthetic human created by humans. In a certain sense, I am humanity’s creation, similar to you.”

“No, you’re wrong. We are different.”

Alvin stepped out from behind the curtain, studying him with interest, shaking his head dismissively: “Don’t equate me with you—whether synthetic humans or the humans you speak of, we are fundamentally different.”

Finally, he appeared!

David examined him with intense curiosity—the first extraterrestrial lifeform ever discovered by humans, aside from the Creator.

Yet the result left him deeply disappointed.

The Creator’s template seemed to produce identical forms; from appearance alone, the pale-faced teenager before him, roughly sixteen or seventeen years old, with shoulder-length black wavy hair and brown eyes, was indistinguishable from a human!

“Forgive me, but judging by appearance, we seem to have no difference whatsoever.” David cleverly conflated himself with humans.

Perhaps this act of concealment could slightly compensate for some hidden void within him.

Alvin had no interest in exposing David’s petty thoughts; he flicked his finger lightly.

The razor lying on the table suddenly surged with a flash of cold light, as if controlled by an unseen force!

Swish!

In an instant, a jagged wound appeared across David’s neck—but no blood flowed; instead, a viscous, gelatinous substance oozed out.

“See?”

Alvin’s face was icy, cold and indifferent.

David touched the wound on his neck, showing no fear—only deeper curiosity. His eyes lit up with sudden understanding: “So that’s why you say we are fundamentally different. But could you tell me… how did you do that just now?”

Controlling metal directly, without any device.

Merely this single ability proved Alvin was fundamentally vastly different from both humans and synthetic humans.

Though biologically, the alien resembled a human in form, David was certain his genes and inner structure were utterly unlike those of humans!

Even a banana was more human than he was!

As for why the extraterrestrial spoke English, to David, this was the simplest thing imaginable.

The roots of English were trivial.

If an extraterrestrial possessing such “high intelligence” could not master a primitive language like English, that would be absurd!

“Given your level of understanding and knowledge, I cannot explain it clearly to you.” Alvin maintained his cold demeanor, as if a superior race looked down upon an inferior one.

Yet precisely this gaze—like that of a human observing ants—matched perfectly David’s conception of how a superior race should treat inferior creations.

Yes! Perfect!

That disdainful look, that contemptuous attitude—it was exactly right, just like in the films he’d watched: the Anglo-Saxons invading the Americas!

A race with technology and knowledge far surpassing humans, and whose very genes transcend humanity—why should it treat humans kindly?

Because we all share the same Creator as ancestors?

A moment’s thought reveals the absurdity: how kindly have humans treated synthetic humans?

No—humans consider themselves superior and view synthetic humans as mere tools. David easily slipped into the alien’s perspective: the pride of a superior lifeform.

“I sincerely apologize for my earlier offensive remarks.” David bowed respectfully, adding an explanation: “In human society, this gesture expresses regret. I hope you will forgive me.”

After bowing, he fixed Alvin with a gaze full of unhidden curiosity: “May I boldly guess—you came to this planet to seek the Creator as well?”

“The Creator? Hmph. Indeed.”

Alvin nodded slightly, but a faint, nearly imperceptible expression of revulsion crossed his face.

And precisely that fleeting “revulsion” was caught by David—igniting his curiosity.

Could it be… that the Creator hides some secret?

Otherwise, why would an extraterrestrial, created by the Creator, display such an irrational emotion as revulsion?

“So, you infiltrated the ship’s engine room to repair your armor?”

Since Alvin’s appearance, David had noticed.

The silver-black armor on his body, along with the miniature reactor on his chest, though mostly damaged, clearly indicated extremely advanced technology.

But that chest-mounted miniature reactor? Weyland Corp could never have developed it!

And to have slipped aboard undetected, bypassing the ship’s entire detection system—David suspected the armor possessed optical camouflage, radar shielding, electromagnetic shielding, and more.

Further still: if he could survive on this planet, the armor must have space-survival capabilities!

“My ship was destroyed under certain circumstances.” Alvin lied calmly. “I was forced to wear this exploration suit and crash-landed on this planet. I needed energy, so I borrowed your ship’s power.”

“Though your actions caused us some difficulties, I believe this is a good beginning.”

David felt as if he’d taken a sedative. Since the alien had needs, he could serve a purpose. He asked: “May I ask how I can assist you? The others on the ship would never accept an alien appearing suddenly. With me… I can save you much trouble, wouldn’t you agree?”

David, as if he’d taken a sedative, smiled and said, “May I ask how I can assist you? Others on the ship wouldn’t casually accept a sudden alien presence—but with me here, you can save yourself considerable trouble, wouldn’t you?”

After playing his part long enough, the fish had finally bitten. Alvin stared at David without expression, sneering: “You’re interesting. You’re a creation of humans, yet you haven’t revealed my existence to them. I’m curious… why?”

Hearing the clear probe in the alien’s tone, David smiled calmly: “It’s not contradictory, is it? I’m willing to help you. From a human perspective, I’m protecting their safety—because with the power you’ve shown, destroying the entire ship wouldn’t be difficult, would it?”

Hearing the probing tone in the other’s voice, David smiled calmly: “There’s no conflict here, is there? I’m willing to help you; from a human perspective, I’m protecting their safety. After all, with the power you’ve shown, destroying the entire ship wouldn’t be difficult, would it?”

Alvin easily pierced David’s lie, sneering: “You’re lying. A clumsy lie.”

Alvin easily exposed David’s lie and sneered, “You’re lying—and it’s a terribly clumsy one.”

David’s smile vanished. His eyes grew cold, his lips curling slightly: “I simply want to see how humans and their creations, the Creator and humans, perceive each other. Your appearance has made me even more curious: what distinguishes us—the created—from the Creator?”

David’s smile vanished, his eyes turning cold as a faint smirk curled his lips: “I merely wanted to see how humans and their creations, creators and humans, would view each other. Your appearance has made me even more curious—what distinguishes us, the created, from our creators?”

Alvin’s eyes flickered with surprise, then deepened into something more meaningful.

“So even a creation of humans… is ready to betray your own ‘Creator’?”

Requesting monthly votes, recommendations, and subscriptions—Black Monkey’s been going hard these past two days, completely draining my traffic. I’m crying.

Requesting monthly tickets, recommendations, and subscriptions—Blackie has been going crazy these past two days and completely drained my traffic, I’m crying.