kscans

Chapter 413 - The Final Question

An hour after Curtis's AI disappeared, at Infinity's suggestion, the spaceship Aphrodite was in a flurry of activity.

In a few more hours, the Aphrodite would leave Earth. Since that was what the original Curtis had planned, Infinity said that while he could delay it somewhat, he couldn't stop it completely.

What needed to be done in that situation was the disembarkation of those who wished to live in reality.

Infinity made a world announcement within the virtual reality, informing those who had regained their memories of the current situation and explaining that now was their only chance to disembark.

Although they couldn't log out, the people in the virtual reality had regained their memories two weeks ago. This was the first they had heard about the situation in reality, but there was no time to hesitate. Many people followed their intuition and made their decision.

Out of about ten thousand people, nearly eight thousand chose to disembark. To that end, many spaceships prepared by Ney and Parsha were stationed around the Aphrodite, and the transfer had begun by ferrying them back and forth with small research spacecraft.

The remaining two thousand chose to stay on the spaceship Aphrodite and live in virtual reality. It seemed they had decided to lose their memories once again and walk a new path in life.

Among those who chose to remain were Amanda and Nanagi.

They had made their decision from the start and had entered a hundred-year state of cryosleep. Even before sleeping, they had chosen to wander space once more with Hypnos.

The fact that the settings couldn't be changed was an act to avoid arousing Curtis's AI's suspicion, but they said they had no intention of asking Infinity to change it.

"Amanda and the others went to sleep having foreseen this outcome. We will not change it now, nor will we confirm their intentions again."

Hypnos said this while looking at Hayato in the space closest to reality.

Right now, only Hypnos, Hayato, and Infinity were in this place. Diite was not here, and Infinity seemed to have no intention of getting involved in this matter.

Hayato pressed Hypnos.

"I was able to get this far thanks to Amanda-san and the others. At least let me thank them..."

"I shall pass on your thanks."

"Okay, saying it's for thanks is a lie. Even if we're parting, I want to see them and talk one more time."

"Amanda and the others have already parted ways with reality. Hayato, why do you think nearly two thousand people chose to remain here? Everyone has their own reasons, but they want to escape the hardships of reality and restart. Reality isn't just fun and games, after all."

"I guess that's true, but..."

"It's easy to say 'don't run away.' The same goes for 'endure.' But that's not for others to decide. And if there is happiness at the destination you've run to, then I don't think it's running away."

"...I kind of understand about Nanagi. I heard that for physical reasons, she can't move well in reality. But what about Amanda-san? What is she running from?"

"Amanda... just wants a reason to live. She learned everything. Including that her dream was meaningless from the start. That's why she said she wants a new dream in a new life. And, though I don't really want to say it, she stayed for my sake."

Amanda's dream was to find a new planet and save humanity. That was Amanda's dream as a genetically enhanced human. But that had already been achieved, and could no longer be a dream.

And her dream of taking control of the spaceship Aphrodite, conquering the world, and putting all of humanity into virtual reality was impossible from the start, considering the roles of Hypnos and Infinity and the details of the Another Frontier Project.

Understanding that made Hayato's chest ache, but Hypnos's words caught his attention.

"I understand about the new life and dream, but what do you mean, for your sake?"

"Just like the relationship between Hayato and Diite, I have something like a bond with Amanda. We promised to plot something wicked together again in a hundred years. It seems she enjoyed it more than she expected."

"...I see."

"Besides, Amanda has already said her goodbyes to Hayato. Don't stir her heart any more."

Hayato remembered that Amanda had been wearing the ring she had stolen from Lunaria.

That was a ring Hayato had made. Amanda's final hand-chop wasn't an attack, but the Stealing Skill. Considering the situation, she probably intended to lose from the beginning, but she went to such lengths to steal it.

Hayato couldn't imagine what she must have been feeling. But Amanda's pleading eyes and the ring she stole from Lunaria. There was no doubt she had decided to be satisfied with that.

"...I can't say I'm convinced, but I understand. Then, please give her my thanks. Tell her thank you."

"You can count on me. Now then, I'm busy too, so I'll be taking my leave. It's dangerous for you to stay here forever, Hayato. If you don't log out soon and leave this spaceship, you'll end up wandering space with me, you know?"

"I'll be careful."

"Well, I'd be happy if that happened. It would make a good souvenir for Amanda. Don't make that face, it's just a joke."

Hayato was at a loss for how to respond, but Hypnos laughed and said, "Well then," before disappearing.

Even though they should never meet again, Hypnos was gone from this place before Hayato could return a farewell. It was hard to say if he was bad at goodbyes or just didn't think anything of it, but it was also very much like Hypnos.

Only Hayato and Infinity were left in the room.

Infinity had seemed busy at first, but now he didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, and just a moment ago he had been silently watching the conversation between Hayato and Hypnos.

Noticing that Hayato was looking at him, Infinity opened his mouth.

"The loading of the server that was running Diite onto the spaceship you came on, Hayato-kun, is complete. The disembarkation of those who want to return to reality should also be finished in time."

"Thank you very much."

As she had wished, Diite would live with Hayato and the others, in other words, she would remain on Earth. However, there was no computing device on Earth with enough performance to run Diite. Therefore, it was decided that the server itself would be detached from the spaceship Aphrodite.

It seemed Esha, Relic, and the others were taking care of that, and it had apparently finished without any problems.

"There's no need for you to be here anymore. As Hypnos also said, you should log out quickly and get on the other spaceship, Hayato-kun."

"Is there still time?"

"There are about two hours left, but..."

"Then could I ask one last question?"

"Of course, I don't mind. Considering a human lifespan, once we leave Earth, we will likely never meet again. If there's anything you want to ask, please ask me anything."

Infinity said this with a smile, and Hayato smiled back lightly.

"How much of this went according to plan?"

For Hayato, it felt as if everything up to this point had been part of a plan. Not just Hypnos, but everything Infinity had a hand in felt too perfect, and he couldn't believe it was an accident or a change of plans.

Infinity opened his mouth, still smiling.

"That's overestimating me. The Another Frontier Project collapsed quite a long time ago."

"A long time ago...?"

"Probably from the time Curtis implemented the program for me to become free. He gave me, an AI who was supposed to be obedient to its creator, the desire to become free. That was likely the source of the mistake."

"It was a mistake?"

"For Curtis, yes. He was fond of Diite. The plan was to make her the mother of the virtual reality, but the original purpose was changed, and Hypnos will become the mother of the virtual reality. And Diite has decided to remain on Earth. Nothing that was originally planned has gone well."

"Wasn't it planned this way from the beginning?"

"Curtis was not a god either. He was brilliant, but just a human. It's impossible to predict everything. I explained why I made it possible to create the AI Killer, do you remember?"

"I think you said you made it to test if your dream could truly be granted, right?"

Infinity's dream was a world where humans and AI join hands as equals. He had said that he tested Hayato to see if that could truly come true. And that when Hayato didn't destroy Diite, he saw the possibility of that dream.

"Of course, that's part of it, but there was also the feeling that if Diite were destroyed, I would become free. If anything, that was the bigger part."

Hayato swallowed.

If he had destroyed Diite at that point, Diite's role would have ended and Infinity might have become free. And the dream that Infinity envisioned would have lost its possibility.

He didn't know what the outcome of that would have been, but it was highly likely that the situation would have been worse than it was now.

He had never had any intention of destroying Diite in the first place, but there was a possibility that he could have destroyed her by mistake. Hayato felt a chill imagining that.

"My desire for freedom put Diite in danger. So the plan collapsed at that time. Even after creating the AI Killer, I had Diite learn about humans in line with the plan. But that wasn't to make Diite a human as in Curtis's plan, it could be said that it was for my dream."

"Then is my next question a misunderstanding?"

"What question is that?"

"Are you Curtis?"

Infinity didn't answer Hayato's question. Until now, he had responded immediately, but now he sat there, his expression frozen, without moving a muscle.

He remained still for a good ten seconds before finally opening his mouth.

"Why did you think that?"

"When you were explaining the human Curtis to Curtis's AI, it sounded like you were talking about yourself. It might just be my imagination, though."

"I see. Is that how it looked..."

Infinity said that and then fell silent again, his gaze directed at the floor.

For Hayato, it didn't really matter either way. It was just a question, but he started to panic, wondering if he had hit a nerve.

In the first place, Infinity had been on their side, and although not everything, the outcome had been what they had hoped for. Even if he were told he was Curtis now, Hayato would only say, "I knew it."

As he was starting to regret asking, Infinity turned his gaze towards Hayato.

"Your question, Hayato-kun, is the greatest praise for me, and also the greatest insult."

"Um...?"

"I am Infinity. I was named that because I am a program that expands infinitely, but it also has another meaning, infinite possibility. It's the same words that Ash-kun and Ren-kun's mother said."

Hearing that, Hayato remembered. Ash and Ren's mother, Kilika, had said something like that to Veru on her bed.

"The possibility that I may one day become Curtis is not zero, but at least for now, I am without a doubt Infinity."

He could have thought, "So there is a possibility," but Hayato silently listened for the continuation.

"That I am similar to Curtis is a happy thing for me. I cannot become human, but in the sense that I have gotten closer to a human, it is the highest of compliments."

"I see."

"But I am me, and a separate existence from Curtis. So while it is a compliment to me, it is also an insult that ignores me as an individual."

"Oh, so that's what you meant. I'm sorry, it was just a passing thought..."

"There's no need to apologize, and it's important to have questions. It's probably because I created Curtis's AI that I am similar to Curtis."

"Meaning?"

"If you're going to create something from scratch, you have to understand it, right? To create Curtis's AI, you have to know Curtis well. It can be said that in order to create Curtis's AI, I understood him better than he understood himself. That influence..."

Infinity's words stopped there.

As Hayato was looking at him dubiously, Infinity suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's wrong?"

"No, I just realized that this too may have been one of Curtis's plans, and it made me laugh."

"Curtis's plan?"

"As I said before, to create Curtis's AI, one must understand Curtis better than he understood himself. I'm wondering if he thought that by making me create Curtis's AI, I myself would become Curtis."

"Eh? Is something like that possible?"

"I can only say it's a possibility, but thanks to you, Hayato-kun, that possibility has become next to nothing. I will stop investigating Curtis any further so that my thoughts are not swallowed by his. Thank you, Hayato-kun."

"Um, you're welcome?"

He was thanked, so he returned the words, but it came out as a question.

Infinity smiled at those words, but then his face suddenly turned serious as he looked at Hayato.

"I would also like to ask a question, if I may?"

"What is it?"

"Are you Curtis?"

"Huh?"

A dumbfounded sound escaped him, but that couldn't be helped. He had never imagined such a question would come.

"No, I'm Hayato. I don't have a genius intellect, and I don't have outstanding physical abilities. I'm not rich either."

"Those are matters of the body and environment. I am talking about the soul. It's only my imagination, but I can't help but feel that you, Hayato-kun, are the form that Curtis wished for."

"The form Curtis wished for?"

"Curtis could do anything by himself, but you are a production class who can do nothing alone, right?"

"I don't really want to agree, but it's true that I can't defeat monsters and hunt for materials. That might be tough for a production class. But what about it?"

"I was thinking that Curtis might have wanted to live a life completely opposite to reality. That applies to most humans, but you are a production class who can't fight at all, and you treated Diite and the people you thought were NPCs just like you would humans, so there have been times when I thought you might be the reincarnation of Curtis. No, I still suspect it a little now."

"It's just a coincidence. I'm Hayato, not some reincarnation of Curtis. And even if I were, there's no way to prove it, and I have no choice but to live as Hayato."

"True. It seems it was a pointless question. Now then, that's all from my side, but do you have anything else, Hayato-kun?"

"No, I don't have any more."

"I see. Then you should log out. Even if you have time to spare, you never know what might happen."

"You're right, I'll do that... Thank you for everything."

"I was just using you and the others to gain my freedom. There's no reason for you to thank me."

"Even so, I want to thank you. You must have had other ways to gain your freedom, right? But you chose a method that would lead to a good result for me and Diite-chan, didn't you?"

"You're overestimating me, but it would be a waste of time to deny it here. Then, I shall accept those thanks."

"Yes. Well then, take care... No, let's meet again someday. I couldn't say it to Hypnos, so please tell him for me."

Infinity's face showed surprise, but he quickly smiled.

"The words you said to Diite before, was it? That's right. I probably won't meet the human named Hayato-kun again, but I might meet your reincarnation. I would welcome your reincarnation more than Curtis's."

Infinity stood up and extended his right hand in front of Hayato.

Hayato also stood up from his chair and firmly grasped Infinity's right hand.

"Let's meet again someday."

"Yes, someday again."

Hayato logged out while still in a firm handshake with Infinity.