Chapter 9: I Have Only Ten Dollars, and I Give Nine to You

The man with the sketchpad balanced on his knees caught Ada’s gaze and, feeling embarrassed that his blatant staring had been discovered, quickly lowered his head to resume his drawing.

Ada also feigned nonchalance and looked elsewhere, while in reality, she activated her subcutaneous visual perception system.

Ada was an android crafted with meticulous devotion by Zhou’s mother. After raising her young master, Ada’s primary duty was to protect Zhou Yongtai as best she could in a bloody world ruled by AI. Consequently, the multi-modal sensory system within her had to be of the highest caliber.

Beyond the primary optic1 system behind her artificial eyeballs, Ada had a secondary visual system, optic2, installed under the skin at the base of her neck, near the protrusion of her artificial cervical vertebrae.

Like op1, op2 not only achieved multi-modal generalization but also provided infrared imaging, which was transmitted to Ada’s "neural center" to help her determine whether moving creatures appearing on the island were mere wildlife or members of an AI combat unit.

At this moment, this 360-degree, infrared-capable perception—which surpassed human vision—allowed Ada to "see" the man from head to toe, even while her back was turned to him.

He was around thirty years old, wore no glasses or contact lenses, and his facial features were more aesthetically balanced than Zhou Yongtai’s.

Yes, you read that correctly. Based on calculations, Zhou Shuhan—the future female scientist still in her mother’s womb—had even taught Ada how to "appreciate beauty."

The reason remained unknown. Perhaps in her subconscious, Zhou Shuhan viewed Ada as an extension of her own life. A living human woman should possess a rich capacity to aesthetically appreciate human males from head to toe.

Regardless, possessing this ability did not consume much power for Ada.

***

Ada continued to examine the man using her low-power functions.

Sternocleidomastoid, trapezius, deltoids, triceps, pectoralis major, semilunar line, tendinous intersections...

Of course, because the man was sitting, the muscle groups below his external obliques were not as clearly visible to her.

Overall, however, this was a man in his prime, not only above average in looks but also possessing excellent muscle definition. Even in Singapore, where military service ensured that men generally had good physiques, he would be considered a standout.

Now, this "standout" in a pilling, worn-out T-shirt removed the finished sketch from his board, stood up, and walked over to Ada and Zhou Yongtai.

"Good afternoon. My name is Ronan; I’m a street artist. If you don’t mind, would you like to take a look at this?"

After speaking, the artist handed over his work with both hands. On the roughly forty-centimeter sketching paper was a portrait of Zhou Yongtai.

Zhou Yongtai had, after all, grown up surrounded by the vast collection of Western art history books left by his mother; he had nearly worn out his grandfather’s photography albums, so his eye for art was not weak.

He was surprised by Ronan’s skill. Even without him posing as a static model, Ronan had managed to capture his facial features from a distance, creating a portrait that even accounted for the subtleties of his expression.

Zhou Yongtai took the drawing and said, "Thank you."

Ronan smiled, continuing to look at him politely.

Zhou Yongtai looked slightly confused and thanked him again.

***

An older man in the crowd couldn't stand it any longer and cleared things up directly: "Young man, you have to pay him. Do you expect to take it for nothing?"

Pay?

Zhou Yongtai was taken aback.

During his formative years in the future, ninety-nine percent of humanity had already perished. His understanding of human economic behavior came primarily from books. If the books only mentioned that one had to pay at food courts, casinos, or hotels, but never explained what street artists did, Zhou Yongtai was completely in the dark regarding the economic activities of this demographic.

Ada, however, possessed a powerful database. She quickly grasped the nature of Ronan’s profession.

"How much for this drawing?"

"Ten Singapore dollars," Ronan replied with neither arrogance nor servility. "Of course, if your boyfriend doesn't want to buy it, I will tear it up in front of you. After all, I must respect portrait rights."

Ada took off her backpack, retrieved the money the food court manager had given her from a side pocket, and spread it out for Ronan to see.

"I only have ten dollars. Can I pay you nine dollars to buy this drawing? I need to keep one dollar to buy a lottery ticket."