kscans

Chapter 147 - Empathy

In the castle, now without Ren, Hayato, Ash, Veru, and Hypnos remained.

Hayato and the others were still unable to move, but they all glared at Hypnos.

"My, my, what scary faces you're making. I'm so scared I can't move."

Rather than looking scared, Hypnos wore a composed smile. Ash and Veru emitted an aura that was close to killing intent.

Of course, Hayato couldn't forgive Hypnos's actions towards Ren either.

"Hypnos, you, how could you..."

"It seems even a normally gentle person like you can get angry. But it's fine, isn't it?"

"How can it be fine?"

"You heard me, didn't you? I said I would erase her memories. Once Ren destroys this world and Diite, I'll return everything to how it was before. So there's no problem, is there? I don't understand what you're so angry about."

"Erasing memories doesn't make it right."

"I don't understand at all, but I'll erase your memories too, so there's no problem. You'll forget your anger towards me. Who knows, in the new world, you might even come to like me."

There was no getting through to him. But Hayato thought that might be how it was. He was an AI. He didn't possess human ethics.

And he felt a fear of losing his memories. People tend to rely more on memory than on records. If his memories were erased, it would likely be the same as if nothing had ever happened. He would forget even about an unforgivable enemy.

Complete memory erasure was probably impossible, but it was possible to change them into something else. There was a chance they could be altered to swap Diite and Hypnos.

Despite the situation, Hayato had another question.

Hypnos had perfectly guessed what Ren was thinking. He had spoken as if he knew something that even Ash and Veru, who had been with her all this time, didn't know.

It was possible that hints of it could be seen in Ren's actions, but Hayato couldn't believe that Hypnos, who talked about erasing memories as if it were nothing, could figure out Ren's true feelings.

Right now, Hayato couldn't move his feet. But his mouth could still move. Since he didn't know what to do, he decided to try to get some information out of Hypnos.

Besides, Diite had mentioned she had a countermeasure against Hypnos.

She should know what happened here from the recent world announcement. He didn't know if she could get here without Ren finding her, but he decided to try to buy some time.

"I want to ask you something. How did you know Ren-chan's feelings?"

"What's the point of asking that?"

"It's just a question. I want to know why someone who talks about erasing memories as if it's nothing could see through Ren-chan's feelings."

"Ah, you're bored. Well, there's time until the destruction of the world is complete. I suppose I can answer you."

Hypnos said this, then summoned a chair and sat down. He crossed his legs and looked around at Hayato and the others.

"It wasn't me who noticed. It was Diite who noticed."

"Diite-chan...?"

"You know that the spaceship Aphrodite wandered in space for about a hundred years, don't you? It was searching for a planet to replace Earth, but unfortunately, it couldn't find one. So it came back to Earth. Metals that don't deteriorate at all don't exist, you see. Maintenance is absolutely necessary. Returning to Earth was dangerous, but continuing to wander in space was even more dangerous."

It wasn't an answer, but Hayato listened anyway.

"During those hundred years of wandering, the crew, that is, Ash and the others, were in cryosleep. They couldn't use more energy than necessary. They weren't living in this virtual reality, just simply sleeping. That's how they conserved energy. During that time, Diite must have been bored."

"Bored...?"

"She had nothing to do. Even though the virtual reality world was running, there were no inhabitants. So she looked into the crew's backgrounds. I don't know what's so fun about that, but it seems Diite thought so and checked everyone's details meticulously."

"So you just saw that information?"

"That's right. She didn't seem to be certain, but the information left behind indicated a high probability. Judging from how Ren went off to destroy the world, it seems Diite's thinking was correct. Since Diite and I have the same performance, I suppose I should say, as expected of me, hmm?"

Hypnos laughed.

"Don't lump yourself in with Diite-chan."

Hypnos stopped laughing at Hayato's words. He wasn't angry, nor was he glaring. It was an emotionless expression.

"Of course. I'd appreciate it if you didn't group me with such a defective product."

"Defective product? From where I'm standing, it's obvious which one is the defective product."

"That's because you're human. You're probably saying that Diite is more human-like, aren't you? Humans themselves are the defective products. Or do you think you're perfect? That arrogance is what makes you human, so I suppose it can't be helped."

Hayato couldn't argue back, but it seemed to him that Hypnos had no interest in humans. He didn't feel like he hated them, but he asked just in case.

"Do you happen to hate humans? Or maybe you resent them?"

"Why would you think that? Ah, do you think I'm some hostile AI from a work of fiction? Rest assured, I don't particularly hate humans. I don't resent them either. All I'm thinking about is taking this world from Diite."

It was true that AIs that try to destroy humanity often appear in works of fiction. Hayato hadn't thought it went that far, but looking at Hypnos's words and actions, it didn't seem out of the question.

"If you don't hate or resent humans, then why did you do such a cruel thing to Ren-chan? Even if you say you'll erase her memories later, you must have known how Ren-chan would feel in this situation right now."

"Of course I did it because I knew. You should have heard it from Diite. The inhabitants of this world have a system where their stats increase with intense emotions. Ren's mix of various emotions has probably made her quite strong. She should be strong enough to kill Diite."

"For a reason like that, you did that to Ren-chan...!"

"You say 'for a reason like that,' but I can only tamper with the settings related to this event. To kill Diite, I had no other choice. It's not that I hate humans or Ren, so you can rest assured. And if I may say so, the one who did something unnecessary was you, Hayato."

"What?"

"You should have let Veru win. If you had, Ash and Ren would not have regained their memories. The matter would have been settled with just Veru's anger towards me, that is, his anger towards Diite. But you made Ash win. That's why Ren regained her memories and learned something she didn't want to know. I won't say it's all Hayato's fault, but you could say we're accomplices."

Hypnos said this and laughed again.

Even though he didn't know, it was true that he could be called an accomplice. But there was no way he could have known it would turn out like this. Hayato wanted to argue back somehow, but he was at a loss for words.

"What's wrong? Is the conversation over? You're the only one I can talk to here right now, Hayato, so if you don't speak, I'll stop talking too."

Veru couldn't speak, and Ash seemed to have been unable to move his mouth after crashing into the wall. They were both just silently glaring at Hypnos.

Hayato, not having gotten any information yet, decided to change the subject. He had no fighting strength, and right now his feet wouldn't move. But his head and mouth still worked.

"Do you want this world that much?"

"What kind of question is that. Well, fine. The answer is yes. You could say that's my reason for existing."

"I understand that you want the world. Then do you hate Diite-chan? I feel like you're not just trying to become the administrator, but you also feel anger towards Diite-chan."

"Of course I do. What's the difference between me and Diite? And yet she's the original and I'm the backup. An AI that's not needed unless something happens to her. She wasn't the one who decided that, but do you think I'd like someone who didn't even know I existed?"

"I'm not telling you to like her. I sympathize, but I can't empathize with the idea of killing Diite-chan to become the new administrator."

Hypnos laughed at Hayato's words. He leaned back in his chair, his right hand on his forehead, and looked up at the sky as he laughed.

After he had laughed his fill, Hypnos looked at Hayato, still smiling.

"I don't need your empathy, but for example, if you were a clone, and you were told you were made just for the original's spare organs, would you accept that?"

Clones. The technology to create an individual with the same genes, also called copies, traces, or doppelgängers. However, for ethical reasons, using it on humans was considered a crime. A crime serious enough to get you life imprisonment with forced labor in the colony "Prison."

Hypnos continued.

"And what's more. The original lives happily without knowing about you, and then they say to you, 'I got a little injured, so fill in for me until I heal.' What would you think? And once they're healed, you're useless. Are you so magnanimous that you could forgive that? If you're such a person of character that you'd be called a saint, then fine, but if you ask me, that's just being a fool. You should kill the other person and take their position, shouldn't you? You can't empathize with that?"

If he backed down here, he would lose. Hayato thought so and somehow managed to voice another suggestion.

"Then you should just live together without killing each other. It's not like the option of living together doesn't exist—"

"You lack imagination. Now try thinking about it from the other side. What if you were the original? Could you tolerate your clone living just like you? There's no way you could coexist with someone who might stab you in your sleep. If it were me, I would definitely kill them once they were no longer needed."

Once again, Hayato couldn't retort. He had thought that might indeed be the case.

"I don't give a damn about your circumstances!"

Hayato was at a loss for words, but Ash shouted with a face full of anger.

"Oh, you can move now. It seems keeping you paralyzed for a long time is impossible. Now, what was that? I'm not asking for sympathy or empathy, but I'd like you to consider my circumstances a little. I believe I have the right to that, don't you?"

"Do whatever you want with that! Why did you involve Ren!"

Ash was slowly approaching Hypnos. His steps were slow, as if he were carrying something heavy, but he was definitely getting closer.

"I told you before, didn't I? I can only change the settings for this event. In this situation, this was the best way to kill Diite. I'd like you to call it efficient."

"So you think it's okay to sacrifice anything for that!"

"Sacrifice, you say. Humans are hard to understand. I told you I'd erase her memories, didn't I? What are you calling a sacrifice?"

Ash laughed at those words.

"Erase her memories? What, are you already acting like the administrator? There's a chance Ren won't be able to kill Diite, right? You're just making promises you don't even know if you can keep."

"Oh? You say interesting things. It's true that killing Diite will be difficult. But do you think they can repel Ren in that state? And even if they repel her once, she'll just revive here. She can just go and kill Diite again."

"What did you say?"

"I've set this place as Ren's base. Even if she's defeated somewhere, she'll just revive here. And then she'll go to destroy the world again. It might not be possible with one Stampede, but how long can this world and Diite hold out?"

I see, there's no death in virtual reality. Ren-chan can revive as many times as she wants. But if she's coming back here, there might be a chance. I can persuade Ren and stop her. For that to happen, I need someone to defeat her once—but emotionally, Esha and the others won't be able to do that. I'll use Diite-chan as a decoy to lure her back here. And the problem is whether I can persuade her.

Hayato looked at Ash.

"Ash, can you persuade Ren-chan?"

"...Hayato? What are you talking about?"

"We'll lure Ren-chan back here and persuade her. That's the only way to stop Hypnos's plan."

"I see. Then leave it to me. I'll definitely persuade her."

"You people are interesting. But do you really think I'd let you do that?"

"You're right—Diite-chan! Do something about Hypnos!"

Hayato called for Diite's help via voice chat.

Hypnos was slightly surprised by this action, but he immediately started laughing.

"Relying on Diite now of all times. How uncool."

"I'm a production player, you see. I always have to have someone help me, so I'm used to being uncool. I'll leave being cool to Diite-chan."

"Is that so. Then, I suppose I'll try to make as cool an entrance as possible."

It was the same voice as Hypnos, but it came from a different source. It was heard from above.

From the hole in the castle's ceiling that Ren had flown out of, a woman in a nun's habit was slowly descending.

It was Diite, but combined with the light shining in from the hole in the ceiling, she looked to Hayato like a god or an angel descending from the sky.