Ten minutes before the end of the workday, Manager's Office.
"I'm here, Manager."
Angela pushed open the unlocked door and walked in.
"You called me over so urgently—did the Sephirah cause you… hmm?"
But the moment she stepped fully inside and saw the scene, her slightly hurried words cut off abruptly, the tail end tinged with unmistakable astonishment.
Because what met her (her eyes were still closed at this moment) was not the manager she expected—wounded, battered, or on the verge of collapse from some difficult incident—
But two chairs, set out neatly.
X sat in one of them, smiling at her.
"…What's wrong with you now?"
"You told me before that the Sephirah directors need my concern."
X spoke softly.
"As the manager, I can't play favorites… Angela, of course you're within the scope of my concern too."
"I'm fine, Manager."
Angela didn't sit immediately. She answered in the same calm tone.
"I am the most excellent AI in the company. I'm not as fragile as the Sephirah. I can take care of myself."
"There are only ten minutes left before shutdown. If you have no other business, I still hope you leave early."
"I don't want to see you having to make up your diary the next morning because you didn't rest well."
"…I thought about it for a long time today. I still don't think what you said this morning convinces me."
X did not let Angela dismiss him so easily. He looked toward her face and continued.
"No matter what, a person can't keep their eyes closed while talking to others forever."
"So I've decided to ask you formally one more time. Angela—answer me seriously…"
"Do you have a major grievance against me?"
"Or are you, like some employees, harboring a major grievance against Lobotomy Corporation?"
"…"
Angela stood where she was, making no extra movement.
She neither walked toward the empty chair prepared for her, nor answered X's sharp question right away.
For a moment, the entire manager's office sank into an eerie silence.
"Humans fear what they cannot understand."
After a long time, Angela finally spoke.
"Your worry is normal. In fact, it is the reaction I expected you to have."
"Perhaps I've begun to like you a little… because emotional exchange with a person is truly a precious experience."
As she spoke slowly, Angela opened her eyes again.
"…And yet you ask me whether I have a major grievance against you?"
Those pure, crystalline golden eyes reflected X's figure, filled with complex, unreadable light.
"As I said, I am merely a machine. A machine's thinking is always rational."
"You are faultless in daily conduct and work. Why would I have a grievance against you?"
"Therefore, my answer is equally obvious—"
"I have no grievance against you. And if you continue as you are, then in the foreseeable future, I will have no reason to hold any grievance against you."
"As for why I keep my eyes closed… it is not what you suspect. Please be at ease…"
In X's vision, the scene before him remained ordinary.
The glaring red warning light he both secretly anticipated and feared—the sign of a lie—did not appear.
The "Pinocchio" program B had provided, designed to detect whether Angela was lying, remained dormant after Angela answered her view of X.
"As for the company…"
The complex light in Angela's eyes quietly receded when she spoke the word "company."
In its place came something near icy—tinged with faint mockery.
And the way she looked at X was like an adult looking at a child who had asked a naïve question.
It was unclear whether that expression mocked the company—or mocked X for asking.
"The company created me. Everything I have was given by the company. I exist as a system of the company."
"Your question is truly absurd… However, since you are so curious, I will give you an answer as well."
Angela sat in the seat X had left for her.
"I will never have the kind of thought you described."
The faint mockery at her eye-corner vanished, replaced by a slight curve of the lips—
A polite smile, impeccable, yet carrying distance and severity.
"Even if I wanted to act against the company, such a thing could never succeed."
And right here—almost the very instant Angela's words fell—
X's vision suddenly, without warning, erupted with waves of blood-red light, flashing like a surging tide!
The red was so intense it almost swallowed his entire sight.
Interlude — Memories That Do Not Exist (1)
Beep!!! Beep!!! Beep!!!
Ash-gray hair had fallen away by more than half, twisting together with various bodily tissues.
Duu—
—Hello?
"…Ugh—AAAH!!! Hah… hah…"
Ragged喘息 mixed with pain he could not suppress.
"Mr. ████…"
"Um… I feel… I…"
—Our instruments show that your body's burden has reached its limit… Your mind may soon suffer irreversible damage…
—Sorry.
"No need to apologize… I know… hah…"
"I'm going to die soon… and… experiments… always have risks…"
"Th-then… Mr. ████?"
"In the last little time I have… there's something… I want to ask you…"
—I will do my best to help you accomplish it.
"I hope… in these last moments… you can… chat with me… hehe…"
…
—Alright.
"Good… um… if I talk like this… will it affect your recording?"
—No. Go ahead.
"Then… I'll say it…"
"I'm really happy to see you… pull yourself together again…"
"That you're willing to start these new experiments… and even design a plan different from Miss Carmen's…"
"Hehe… so now… how is that plan… going?"
—That plan has been discarded.
"Wha—"
"How could…?"
"Observing the river… to gain more knowledge and technology, and in the end use that knowledge to save humanity…"
"To learn those past tragedies… only the Heads know…"
"And then… foresee the future… prepare in advance…"
"What a wonderful concept…"
—Impressive that you remember something I only mentioned in passing—an absurd, fanciful idea.
"He… hehe… because it was something you mentioned…"
"Th-then why… why… discard it?"
—If we truly did that, we'd need a permanent unit stationed inside that 'river' as an observer.
—But someone who can preserve a complete human will inside the 'river,' and observe rationally… is as rare as a "bucket."
"I see…"
—
"…"
—
Beep————
"…"
Click.
—It failed. The first experiment of mature Cogito.
—We need to optimize the experimental process further.
"Which means…"
—Yes. We need more human experimental data.
—This is necessary to bring Carmen back.
"But… Teacher…"
—Continue the experiments.
—Only that can bring Carmen back…
—In a moment I'll gather everyone, explain the situation, and ask for volunteers…
—I know it's cruel, but… we have no choice.
…
X came back to himself.
Just now, something seemed to flash through his mind.
The image was shattered and blurry—impossible to see clearly.
And it vanished far too quickly—so fast it felt like running under the TT2 protocol at a hundred times speed.
It disappeared in a blink, without a trace.
So X didn't pay it much attention, treating it as a hallucination caused by momentary mental instability.
Then he refocused on what was in front of him.
In the brief haze, he had already returned to the "inside" Lobotomy Corporation.
-------
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