Alice in the Land of Steam

"Tianjie, what I'm going to say to you next is very important, so you have to listen carefully. Don't be like Alice, who always gets distracted when I'm teaching her and only thinks about playing games..."

The goddess was halfway through her words when she saw the girl in front of her suddenly tense her face and purse her lips, as if she wanted to remember the following words firmly in her heart, even for the rest of her life. She couldn't help but laugh: "Well, it's not that important, so you can relax a little and don't be like that kid Tiandis, who always has a stern face and makes people afraid to get close to him."

"Girls need to smile more to look cute."

As she spoke, she half-knelt down, stretched out a finger from each hand, pressed against the corner of the girl's mouth, and gently hooked it upwards to teach her how to smile. She had used the same method on Tiandis before, but the child was very stubborn. Although she stood there obediently and did not run away, she kept a straight face and refused to smile. The goddess was very disappointed for a while, and even thought that maybe when she created Tiandis, she gave her too many heavy emotions, which led to her becoming this kind of personality.

In contrast, the serious and well-behaved Tianjie knew how to comply with the goddess's wishes. Looking at the goddess's eyes that were close at hand and full of expectation and tenderness, the corners of her lips curled upwards, revealing a stiff smile that was uglier than crying, which made the goddess chuckle with curved eyebrows: "You look very beautiful when you smile, Tianjie."

She took her hand back and gently touched the girl's head. The soft and straight silver hair fell down, covering her neck and shoulders. It felt cool and smooth to the touch: "Smile more, you will get used to it."

Unfamiliar things always make people feel a little scared and awkward, but once you get used to the feeling, it will become easier and easier.

The goddess was hinting at something, and the girl seemed to understand it, but she just nodded and agreed. What the goddess said was always right, and she just needed to obey it.

After finishing the topic of smiles, the goddess turned the conversation back to the main topic at the beginning: "Do you know why I asked Alice and Tiantis to leave and only leave you alone to talk, Tianjie?"

A hesitant expression appeared on the girl's face. "Is it because of my duty, Goddess?"

"I guess so." The goddess did not explain what this ambiguous answer meant. Instead, she stood up, took Tianjie's hand, and led her to the huge French window, overlooking the magnificent and majestic glass trees rising from the ground, and the faint outline of the continent hidden by the clouds and mist in a place farther away than the edge of the city. She smiled and said, "This is Eden, the hard work of my life, and perhaps the most proud work of my life. I gave it all the fantasies and miracles I learned from the earth, and I am pleased to see it gradually grow into the shape of my dreams."

"But today, it's time to let go, just like the most talented game designers, who will eventually hand over their works to players for evaluation. Tianjie, you must remember that only games that are liked by players are the best games. It's not necessarily wrong to be self-admiring, but it's easy to fall into a self-centered vicious circle. We should avoid this situation, understand?"

The girl nodded again, not quite understanding, even though she was born not long ago and had no idea about so-called games and players.

"Of course, the relationship between games and players is actually a two-way choice. Players choose games, and games also choose players. Role-playing games pursue players who are full of immersion and feel involved; action games pursue players who desire gorgeous skills and instant reactions; strategy games prefer players who plan step by step and manage the game like managing a chessboard... At the same time, all games resist players who are unwilling to follow the rules or even deliberately break the rules. If players choose a game type they don't like, they will feel disgusted; if the game encounters players who don't follow the rules, they will feel bored. Smart game designers have learned how to avoid this situation at the beginning of designing the game, and screen out the most suitable game groups through publicity, demonstration, testing and other methods; unfortunately, I don't seem to have learned the essence in this regard."

"I can't tell which players really like the game Eden, nor can I tell which of these players are malicious and unwilling to abide by the rules of the game. This problem should have been considered at the very beginning, but now it has become a hidden danger, so I have to keep Alice and Tiantis as a screening mechanism to make up for the hidden danger."

"Alice is the guide and agent of civilization. She is full of innocent affinity and all kinds of incredible fantasies. She can help players integrate into the game environment more quickly and gradually deepen their feelings for it in the process, so that players can really like this game; Tiantis is the guardian and arbitrator of the world. Her meticulous character and long-term vision of the overall situation will help her firmly punish those who are unwilling to abide by the rules of the game and maintain the stability and purity of the entire game environment. From the perspective of operating a game, they are equivalent to the role of game administrators, right?"

After hearing what the goddess said, the heavens finally understood why the goddess wanted to leave Tentis and Alice in Eden.

"However, neither of them has absolutely perfect personalities. For example, Alice is too casual, while Tiantis is too demanding, so conflicts occasionally arise and some small contradictions break out." The goddess lowered her head and cast a gentle gaze on the girl: "At times like this, you are needed to coordinate, Tianjie."

The girl suddenly felt her shoulders sink, and she felt a heavy pressure on her mission. As the goddess said, the two "game managers" each shouldered a great responsibility, and wasn't she the most critical link in coordinating them? If she failed to coordinate, and an irreversible conflict broke out between Tiantis and Alice, then the entire Eden world would be...

The girl swallowed subconsciously. This was the most humane action she had ever taken since her birth: "Can I, can I do this, Goddess?"

"Of course you can. You are the youngest sister. Both sisters will take care of you."

The goddess smiled at her youngest child, her eyes conveying a warm and silent encouragement. But Tianjie was still not so confident, which might be due to a sense of unfamiliarity: she had not been in this world for long, and she was already facing the fact that her creator was about to leave her. Although she had two older sisters, she had only just met them today. Strangeness would bring fear, which then evolved into a strong lack of confidence. She was worried that she would not be able to fulfill her duties and disappoint the expectations of the goddess.

It seemed that his words had the opposite effect.

Seeing this, the goddess thought for a moment, then suddenly half-knelt down, so that her eyes were at the same height as the girl's. The two pairs of golden eyes looked at each other, as if two pieces of clear amber reflected each other's faces. At this moment, the goddess suddenly smiled mysteriously: "Let me teach you a secret, Heaven."

"The secret?" Tianjie blinked blankly.

"Correct."

The goddess nodded gently: "Just like the golden finger in the game, when you don't know what to do, as long as you follow this secret, you will definitely be able to make the most correct judgment."

Great, so amazing. The girl opened her mouth wide. She felt that the goddess might want to give her some kind of power of law, just like she gave the two girls the power of reality and fantasy. But the feeling of insecurity was still playing tricks on her, making her seem a little hesitant: "Can you really give me such a powerful secret, goddess?"

Whether it is given to Tiantis or Alice, it would be more appropriate, right?

"Of course, no one is more suitable for this secret than you."

The goddess said, "You should have more faith in yourself, Celestial."

Then He stretched out His hand and gently pressed it on the girl's chest. Through her thin chest, He felt the slight, anxious, yet beautiful beating, which symbolized the girl's ignorance, yearning, and: "emotion."

The goddess said word by word, so seriously: "When you don't know how to make a decision, just use your emotions to make a judgment. I believe that will not be wrong."

This statement shocked the girl, because it seemed to be completely contrary to the duties she was supposed to perform. "But, Goddess, I am an observer from a third-party perspective." Tianjie said with a little hesitation. In her heart, she did not want to question the Goddess's words, but she could not completely accept this statement, so she used this tone: "Shouldn't we abandon the influence of emotions and make fair and objective judgments?"

"Silly child." The goddess was amused by her question and gently ruffled her hair. "From the time I gave you emotions, I had no hope that you would be able to perform your duties completely fairly."

"But why..."

"Let me ask you, Celestial." The goddess interrupted her and asked, "By leaving you, Tentis, and Alice in Eden, am I trying to make Eden a better place, or a worse place?"

"Of course it is better." This is the unquestionable answer.

"So, do you like me and Eden, or do you hate them?"

"Of course I like you!" The girl's tone was even a little anxious, fearing that the goddess would misunderstand her. She was a life created by the goddess, and when she was still in a distant sleep and heard the goddess' gentle call, her heart had already uncontrollably produced admiration and attachment, just like a child longing for the care of its mother; and for Eden, who was cherished by the goddess, she naturally had the same emotion.

"In that case, since you like me and Eden at the same time, would you make a decision that would make Eden worse?"

This conclusion stunned Tianjie, who was at a loss. At this moment, her mind was in a mess. She had never thought that two emotions of love could lead to a conclusion that was contrary to her common sense, nor had she ever thought that her emotions and mission were not in a diametrically opposed relationship. She had never thought that as an observer, the most important thing for her was not reason or objectivity, but a heart dominated by emotions.

The girl's head was flooded with these contradictory messages, and she felt dizzy. She couldn't remember anything, and couldn't see anything clearly. She only felt that the face of the goddess seemed to be hazy in the afternoon sunlight that shone into the French window, gradually becoming distant and blurred, and she couldn't remember Her face. But Her lips opened and closed a few times in the light, and it seemed that she said something again. The heaven was too shocked at the time and didn't hear it clearly.

Until one day, a long time later, a quarrel and conflict between sisters seemed to awaken her memory of the past, and she finally recalled what the goddess said at that time -

"Do not be afraid, do not hesitate, and do not be confused, heaven."

“You have to always believe.”

"The most sincere emotions will never hurt anyone."

……

Time returns to the present.

The girl who had been torn between emotions and missions once again stood at the crossroads of fate, and seemed to follow the meaning of her first birth until a moment in the distant future. In fact, until now, she still didn't understand what emotions were. The so-called joy, the so-called sadness, the so-called anger, the so-called pain... She always saw them around her, within her reach, but separated by a barrier, unable to touch.

Is a smile necessarily joy? Is a tear necessarily sadness? Is a clenched fist necessarily anger? Is it necessarily pain when something is unacceptable? The specific forms of emotions seem to be superficial, but the only thing a girl can feel is her own heartbeat, which cannot be seen by anyone. Does that mean it cannot be called emotion?

Her thoughts were in a mess and she felt that she must have been talking incoherently, but when the face of the goddess appeared in her mind, she felt an urge that was about to burst out, and she had to express her feelings, even though the girl herself was not sure whether it was a throbbing emotion or something else.

Can't go wrong.

She thought silently, and at the same time quietly stretched out her hand and pressed it on her chest, thump - thump -, lightly, nervously, but so firmly: the truth that the goddess told her could never be wrong.

and so.

"Rationally, I think what Tiantis did is correct. But——"

She spoke slowly, and amidst the raised eyebrows of Tiantis and Alice's surprise, she said word by word: "From an emotional point of view, I think Alice's idea is more correct."

"In that case, you should support me, Tianjie." Tiantis waited for her to finish before speaking, "Because you are an observer standing in a third-party position, shouldn't you be neutral and objective as the standard?"

Her thoughts are very similar to her past self.

So perhaps, the goddess and Alice are more similar.

Reality and fantasy, rationality and sensibility, subjectivity and objectivity, emotion and...

"This is what the goddess taught me."

Tianjie used one sentence to make Tiantis fall silent: "She said that when she encountered a moment when she couldn't make a decision, she hoped that I could make a judgment based on my emotions."

"Because, sincere emotions will never hurt anyone." (End of this chapter)