The Mechanic [BL]

[50]

Chapter 50 - Machinery and Life (8)

Flying, the ability that humans have yearned for since they were still living in caves, a feeling that ran through the ages. However, people don't have wings, don't have light bones but do have an instinctive fear of heights. We can only climb the trees, open our turbid eyes and look enviously at the eagles circling high in the sky. Even thousands of years later, when human beings finally found a way to fly, sending giant steel objects weighing hundreds of tons into the blue sky or even into space, they still couldn't fly the way they dreamed.

And now, without any hesitation, Zhang Xun had gifted this ability to Adam, a hybrid person who couldn't even be regarded as fully human.

Adam soared high in the air, passing slowly at a safe distance of about a kilometre below Eden's shield. The beautiful blue flames drew long, graceful arcs in the air. Zhang Xun unknowingly laughed lightly, pure joy filled his chest, as if he was flying with Adam in the breeze.

The dawn sun had already risen from the horizon and the burst of warmth ignited the layers of clouds, pushing back the remaining twilight. Within the splashing sunlight, Adam landed in front of Zhang Xun. It was his first time landing so his footsteps were unstable and he stumbled two steps then knelt on the ground to stabilise his body. His silver wings quickly retracted in the air and re-solidified into the shape of arms. Adam's artificial heart was still beating wildly and uncontrollably, blood racing through his veins frantically and dopamine was pounding his brain. He had never felt this way before.

It was... an incredible feeling. It felt a little out of control, but it seemed that for the first time he got to experience a feeling similar to the so-called "freedom" of human beings.

Even if he knew better than any human being that the idea of freedom had always been a relative illusion, he couldn't deny that this illusion was really beautiful.

Zhang Xun's warm shadow fell on him and he raised his head to see Zhang Xun crouching down, his dark brown eyes reflecting the sun's rays, looking at him with a smile. He reached out and gently touched the surface of the prosthetic limb, which was warm and soft with a metal-like radiance.

"Are you okay?" Zhang Xun asked with concern.

Adam looked at his mechanic and suddenly there was a strong impulse in his heart, an impulse that even absolute rationality could not suppress. He said in a slow voice, "Ah-Xun, I want to kiss you."

Zhang Xun was stunned for a moment, then lowered his head and said in the calmest voice he could, "That would be inappropriate."

"I feel like my instinctive, emotional impulses have overwhelmed my rationality this time around."

"That's just because your adrenaline is pumping and it's..." Before he could finish the words, Adam's lips had already landed on his cheek, gentle and pure, tenderness without any impure thoughts.

Zhang Xun's heart was beating wildly.

It was only a kiss on the cheek, why was his heartbeat more violent than the last time when Adam kissed his lips in the data room? Why did this kiss feel different?

Was it because that kiss in the data room was calculated after all, but this one was a purely human kiss?

Adam didn't ask Zhang Xun why he wasn't worried that he might use such a powerful "weapon" to escape. He knew that although Zhang Xun gave him such a gift, he had not and would never let go of his control. First of all, Lost Paradise had three layers of shields; one layer was to prevent air attacks, then a layer of thin metal mesh was ushered in to prevent electromagnetic pulses and the bottom layer of microwave mesh didn't allow anyone to leave Lost Paradise without authorization, whether it was from the ground or from the sky. Zhang Xun also had two lines of defence against him: the collar and the remote control standby device. Plus, judging from Zhang Xun's confidence in him, he kept suspecting that the mechanic still had a trump card up his sleeve that he hadn't revealed.