《Universe 2.0》Chapter 37 The mushroom pianist
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The party was walking along the path. Before they met Jackson, it had rained here and flowers blossomed everywhere, embracing the earthy, fragrant air with enthusiasm. The violets opened their arms and the tulips enjoyed the perfumes. The tall trees were also intoxicated, their branches dancing in the wind.
From time to time, William stared at the computer screen, watching them get closer and closer to the spot.
At last they came to a small wooden cabin. Ranran examined it. It looked old, yet it was still rock solid. This not very big cabin was supported by strong timber at all the key points, so it stood tall to this day. The little fence outside was covered with verdant creepers, and in front of the party a red door was closed. In the room behind the door lived a very special person -- no, he wasn't actually a person -- who was a mushroom and a pianist. He learned to play the piano at an early age, but because of the special structure of mushrooms, his teacher had to add a pair of robotic hands for him. So he could play the king of musical instruments like everyone else.
William went up and knocked on the door. A small window in the door was opened, a pair of eyes revealing. Then the red door was opened. It was the mushroom that came out of it.
"Welcome! Come in, come in!" He said enthusiastically.
The mushroom led them into the spacious living room. "Have a seat!" He said, as he quickly poured cups of the fragrant mushroom soup, "Come taste some of the unique flavors of this planet!"
The mushroom soup was so delicious that the whole party couldn't stop praising it. So William had an idea. He walked forward to ask the mushroom, "Sir, your mushroom soup is so delicious. There must be some special material serving as the secret recipe, huh?"
"You're right!" Seeing that someone had seen through the "secret", the mushroom laughed, "But at present this material on the planet can only be extracted from the mushroom ingredients if you want to obtain. However, I hear that a very famous scientist has invented a way to produce this material very quickly. You can go see him later."
"Scientist?" Ranran asked in bewilderment.
"Yes, don't you know? He's a camel." The mushroom introduced to them, "He researched a lot of new technology."
Now William had developed a keen interest in the camel scientist. While the others chatted with the mushrooms, he opened the map on his computer and found the camel scientist's next to a checkpoint.
"Good." He said to himself, "We'll go through there."
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The others had talked about how the mushroom could be a great piano player. "My teacher installed these robotic hands for me because I didn't have the hands that other people had. Look." With that he went inside and brought out two light gray objects.
"This is the junction." He explained, "Remove it and place it where you want to install it. The built-in magnets hold the ones inside of me."
Soon, he had the robotic hands installed. Then he went to a wooden piano in the corner, lifted the cover, and began to play. The music he dedicated to the party was Little Star.
At the end of the music, the party cheered and clapped like thunder. The mushroom bowed his thanks and sat down on the sofa again. However, William sensed something wrong.
"It's strange." He thought, "The inhabitants here are not supposed to know the music on Earth, but why would the mushroom pianist choose to play this piece of music?" Though he thought it might hint at some important clue, secrecy, or something like that, yet it was obvious that he could not yet answer this question. So he had to put aside this question for the time being.
"You must have worked a lot harder than most people. How to handle this pair of robotic hands perfectly must have been a problem." Photon said.
"Yes, exactly. But it wasn't that difficult to get used to, and once I got used to it, it was very easy." Answered the mushroom.
William continued, "So your robotic hands must be your right-hand men, too."
"Of course, I can easily play many difficult sonatas with it."
William was filled with admiration. He never saw the mushroom train so hard to adapt to his robotic hands, but he saw the result: the mushroom had become a top pianist.
So, he wanted to ask another question.
"What on earth sustained you to this point?" He asked.
The mushroom thought for a moment and answered without hesitation, "I think it is my love of music and my sweat. I remember when I was a child I was very fond of music and always loved to sing by myself. Gradually, my interest grew stronger and stronger, so I went to a teacher to learn music. In fact, I could not play the piano without robotic hands, so when I heard about the robotic hands, I was even more motivated to fight. In the process of practicing, I became more and more familiar with the robotic hands and more and more confident that I could handle complex works. And so it was."
The applause broke out again. Photon and Natalie cast admiring glances at the mushroom. "If we have the same faith as Mr Mushroom, we will win too!" Rebecca said, "Just like me going to the race."
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"You're going to win, Rebecca. Come on!" William cheered her up. Then he thought about going home. They had now collected about a fifth of the energy for the energy core, but there was still a long way to go to the final stop. They would have to travel to another planet before they could collect all their energy.
The mysterious notes he had seen and the mysterious voices he had heard came back to his mind. Like a movie, the images came clear in front of him, scene after scene.
Although William guessed that the person who wrote the notes and said those words was another himself, he was not sure who it was. They didn't have any clues at the moment, so any judgment was just speculation.
Ranran could tell that something was different in William. So she whispered in his ear, "Are you all right?"
William came back to himself and repeatedly said "nothing". But Ranran still thought William was not normal.
"There must be something on his mind. It must be about the identity of You-Know-Who." She thought.
Over the next few hours, the mushroom showed them some of his achievements and collectibles. One of the beautifully wrapped certificates caught the attention of Photon and Natalie. Through the introduction of the mushroom, they learned that this certificate was obtained by the mushroom at a very formal performance. The admiration in their hearts increased.
The mushroom took out a piano-like music box from a wooden cabinet. He twisted the clockwork and the music box began to play Little Star, which he had just played on the piano. The crisp sound echoed through the living room, intoxicating the party.
The mushroom handed the music box to William and said, "I haven't had any guests in my house for a long time, actually, since I stopped playing. It's good to have you here today. It's rare to meet an alien, so I'll give you this music box. It is also a souvenir of your visit to me."
William thanked him and put it in the backpack.
"It's getting late." The mushroom continued, "My room is humble and small, and probably not big enough for all of you. I have another room underground. It's bigger. You can sleep there. Come with me."
So saying, he went out of the house and led the party about three hundred meters, then went down another flight of stairs to a door. He clicked the handle with his robotic hands and the door opened automatically. The room was much larger and brighter.
Seeing that the party had entered the living room, the mushroom said, "Well, you can rest here. I've got used to my cabin, so I'm going back." Just as he was about to turn around, he walked to the grand piano in the corner of the living room and said, "Before you go to sleep, I'm going to hypnotize you with a piece of music." And he played a lullaby.
Strangely, the notes seemed to have magic. As the music went on, the party's drowsiness began to be obvious. Photon's eyelids were fighting and Natalie began to yawn too. William sat down on the sofa and said weakly, "Oops, so sleepy..."
At the end of the music, the mushroom got up and said, "Well, you should be very tired. Please help yourself to arrange the bedroom for rest. I'm going back."
"Thank you." Said William politely, though he wanted to close his eyes and rest right now, "It's a pleasure to visit you today. Go to bed as soon as possible, please."
"Good night!" The mushroom closed the door quietly.
"Ha... Oh, no, I need a rest at once!" Said Rebecca wearily.
"Everyone is very tired," Ranran said. So they quickly arranged the bedroom.
Photon, Natalie and Rebecca slept in the largest bedroom and soon fell asleep. In fact, they were parked at a corner, for they did not have to sleep in beds. William and Ranran were in another bedroom, and there was an empty one with their bags.
When Ranran saw that William had closed his eyes but was still awake, she asked softly, "What's wrong? Have you got anything on your mind?"
William had to answer, "Yes. Even though I'm sleepy, I just can't fall asleep right now. Think how many anonymous notes we've seen, how many times we've heard that mysterious voice, but we haven't found any clue as to who owns them."
"Oh, William, stop thinking about it." Ranran comforted him slowly, "Thinking too much will only make you more tired. We have to collect energy for the energy core to get home, don't we?"
"Yes, that's right. It's just that I'm afraid there's one guy who doesn't want me back. He wants me to die here."
"What?"
"I feel that my judgment is correct, but it's not proven yet." William said to himself, "Go to sleep first, anyway. If there is such a man, I will fight him to the end." With that, he quickly fell asleep.
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