[718] The Key to Liberation (2)
"Merot."
When Ganet released her pheromones, the external artificial brain shuddered more violently than ever.
"Ugh!"
To control the countless ants of a colony, even the voice has to be different.
"You longed for the outside world. Just like I did when I was young. You've brought something interesting today."
Everything happening in Ganet Colony had already been reported by the maid ants.
"I thought you might like it."
Merot folded her wings and bowed meekly, then turned to Shirone.
"Tell my mother what you told me. I hope you find the answer you seek."
Merot stepped aside, and Ganet's enormous antennae reached toward Shirone.
"I've heard of humans."
The ants' definition of humans was nothing like the humans Shirone knew, but it didn't strike him as absurd.
"They said humans are very large, but you're small."
"That's…"
Shirone explained Andre, and Ganet, who had been listening carefully, nodded.
"So they're split into very many worlds? If each one is independent… it's like how we are."
Andre's colony system resembled those nineteen thousand worlds.
"That's right. Worlds divided by a special criterion. And the criterion for this world is the queen herself."
Because Ganet had built the colony.
"I see. So what you want to ask is—?"
Shirone fired questions at the speed of thought.
"The system. What decides workers and soldiers? What is Ganet Colony's vision? How are rooms and territory sizes determined?"
If the ants built and prospered like Andre's nineteen thousand worlds, Shirone might read Geffin's intent through the queen.
"How much the workers' labor increases when food runs short, how princesses and nobles waste resources…"
Ganet shook her head and cut him off.
"It's not like that."
"Huh?"
"I understand your intent, but I don't think I can give you the answer you want. I never thought about complicated things when I built the colony."
"You never thought about them…?"
Had Geffin simply split the nineteen thousand worlds without any standard at all?
"Then how did you create such a precise system?"
"There was only this."
Recalling her arrival here, Ganet looked up at the ceiling and said,
"I wanted everyone here to be happy."
"..."
Shirone felt as if a hammer had struck his head.
"I wanted my beloved children to be safe. For no one to be sacrificed, for everyone to be happy, to build a new colony…"
Ganet looked down at Shirone again.
"So I can't understand your questions. Why would you think such things? Don't we already have a system called love? My colony isn't complex at all. The complexity must be in your thinking."
"Uh…"
Shirone pressed his forehead and stepped back.
'I wanted everyone here to be happy.'
In this world, in this system.
'There aren't nineteen thousand criteria.'
A single standard had split tangled spacetime into nineteen thousand worlds.
Confronted with the realization of a purpose beyond imagining, Shirone shed tears of awe.
"Love for everything."
They called it altruism.
* * *
Maze Andre — World No. 1583.
The one-year survival trial for two thousand residents of White-Black had begun.
At the entrance to the White district, many villagers had gathered to rally their spirits in addition to the ten participants.
Of course, their resolve paled beside the participants who would soon commit brutal killings on Mount Anaki.
'Can we really win this?'
Even though eighty percent of the produce was at stake, few of the participants looked trained.
'Well, I don't like this either…'
Those who stood out would be picked first, and recently Shirone had been the most conspicuous in White.
Black, by contrast, was a district where daily life was war.
'We can only hope a weak one shows up.'
The system allowed a monopoly even with twenty percent of production, so strong people had little reason to risk their lives.
The village head surveyed the villagers and shouted,
"Everyone! Today we must fight those who glorify violence. Pray for the fortune of the participants heading to the battlefield of the Law, Mount Anaki!"
Applause broke out, but the participants, including Shirone, showed no change in expression.
"Now we begin the Law's contest!"
As the head's voice strained, the participants climbed into wagons bound for Mount Anaki.
'They call it transport, but it's really a prison.'
The interior was clean, but dozens of guards escorted the wagons; they could change at the first sign of escape.
"You're Shirone, right?"
A middle-aged man sitting opposite spoke.
"I'm Marco. Father of two daughters, son of my elderly mother, and husband to Jeanie."
The odd, pointed introduction made Shirone's reply a little sharp.
"I see. I don't have any family to look after."
At least in this world, he didn't.
"Don't misunderstand. This is White's rule. If you have complaints we can vote here."
No need to hear the rules—if they voted, a unanimous result could be expected.
"That's fine. Tell me what you need."
"Our village is called White-Black because when the Law's contest happens every year, a unique moon rises."
Marco opened the wagon window and pointed outside.
"See how the Law is changing?"
Shirone stuck his head out and saw half the moon shrouded in darkness like an eclipse.
"When the contest starts, the halves of light and darkness invade each other and transform into droplets."
Shirone thought of the yin-yang principle.
"We call that moon White-Black. We don't know when it first appeared. What matters is that unless a district's representative receives the moonlight at Mount Anaki's summit, the weapons won't be obtained."
"Weapons?"
Marco leaned forward.
"When the White and Black representatives receive moonlight, 120 weapon cards are scattered across Mount Anaki. They're cards; possessing one grants access to special abilities."
It was the Law at work.
"There are two kinds of cards: profession cards and weapon cards. There are twenty profession cards, and they're automatically distributed to the participants. Which profession you get completely changes your physical abilities."
"For example, what professions are there?"
"All sorts. Every year twenty professions are randomly distributed. A doctor might gain healing abilities; a swordsman might gain great physical power."
Luck played a part.
"The remaining hundred cards are various weapons. They can be transferred or stolen, but they can't be destroyed. Ultimately, the twenty participants each get one profession card and must combine various weapon cards to fight."
Shirone rested his chin on his hand and thought.
'This is on a different scale from personal Axing. This is a massive Law.'
He could feel Geffin's presence in the Law's cogwheels, at the realm of the divine.
"The problem is the moment White-Black's moon harmonizes."
Marco continued.
"To obtain weapons, the representatives of each district must swear under the moonlight. If someone fails to swear, our side's weapons won't activate."
"You want me to make that oath?"
It was a brazen request, but the nine other participants would point to Shirone anyway.
"Black needs weapons too. The weakest will probably come from their side, so it won't be too dangerous."
'It'll still be dangerous.'
White's participants wouldn't act until they got weapons, but for Black it was a prime chance to thin numbers.
'If White wants to match Black, White must have weapons. Am I the sacrifice?'
Everyone held their breath waiting for the decision. Shirone slumped back in his seat and said,
"All right. I'll do it."
A sigh of relief spread through the wagon. Shirone felt a twinge of hurt and narrowed one eye in displeasure.
'Huh?'
The woman sitting next to Marco looked at him apologetically.
'She's Breeze, right?'
He only knew she worked as a hairdresser.
She pressed her lips and said, "Thanks."
When they arrived at Mount Anaki, Marco warned,
"We have to reach the summit as fast as possible. If we're even a little late, the Black bastards will already be set up."
'You just said it wouldn't be dangerous.'
He needed to understand this world, so he nodded without protest.
"How do I make the oath?"
"Under White-Black's moonlight, just think that you belong to White. It'll be over in an instant."
"All right. I'll go."
Shirone sprinted to the summit, and only then did the remaining nine participants begin to form plans in earnest.
"Once we get the weapons, we'll head to the areas we talked about…"
No one expected Shirone to return.
By the time he reached the summit, White-Black's harmony was nearly complete.
'Is this the Law too?'
Moonlight shone straight down, etching a circle dozens of meters across on the ground.
In the area where light and shadow meshed like a yin-yang, Shirone stepped into the illuminated half.
'What's Black's strategy?'
There were no obvious movements yet, but the presence of people there radiated lethal intent.
The circle of moonlight on the ground sharpened until it formed a perfect black-and-white harmony.
"Begin!"
As shouts rose from all around, someone charged straight at Shirone.
'This is the chance! Catch them here!'
If Black failed to obtain their weapons, the Law's balance would quickly tip toward White.
"Waaah!"
A boy who looked too young for school rushed in under the black moonlight.
"What…!"
Shirone halted his attack. The boy collapsed to the ground sobbing.
"Please spare me! Please spare me!"
White-Black's light and shadow spun rapidly, shooting a massive pillar of light into the sky.
A hundred points of starlight spread out, and twenty profession cards arced like guided missiles, slamming into chests.
'Their positions were exposed.'
Shirone twisted his waist and saw seven cards in the bushes losing their glow.
'Including the kid, eight people. So all but two are gathered?'
They'd come to kill Shirone.
'My card is…'
Pushing aside his anger at using the boy as a vanguard, Shirone checked his profession card.
'Seeker?'
Before he could analyze its finer properties, a Black participant leapt from the bushes.
"Yahoo! Jackpot! First, take out the sacrifice!"
Whatever profession he had, his speed was incredible; he already held weapon cards.
"Go! Power Bomb!"
The card flashed and dozens of bombs rained down on Shirone and the boy.
"No—! Please—!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Kwang!
The tremendous explosions rocked the mountain's summit. The Black participant laughed like a maniac and shouted,
"Kuhahaha! Now it's nine versus nine! Fair, right?"
"Nonsense."
At the voice beside him, the participant turned his head—and a photon cannon slammed into his abdomen.
"Guhhhh!"
He screamed as if his eyes would pop out and flew tens of meters before plunging off a cliff.
"Aaaaah…!"
The screams faded. Shirone cradled the boy and scanned the area with a hard look.
'The killing intent is gone. They fled.'
The Black participants judged quickly and withdrew.
The Law's contest, White-Black.
Survivors: 19.