As they headed to the stall selling cotton candy, Ina and Ace walking in front of Qualia seemed like the perfect image of peace.
“Ace, what should I cook today?”
“Qualia said the bread Ina makes is the tastiest in the world. For that reason, request bread.”
Proposed Ace, and Qualia cut in from behind.
“Ace, you are wrong. Ina is spent. The task you propose goes over the permissible limit.”
“Then I will help. Request that you help as well. Your cooking is also tasty.”
“Request accepted. Recommend that you also acquire ‘cooking’ skills.”
“Request accepted.”
“It’s all right, Mister Qualia. Let me do it today… You all looked after me so much yesterday. I want to thank you.”
Ina was serious.
Qualia had already learned it. Those eyes of hers were strong. Strong enough to stop his circuits that would return him to a weapon.
But he was worried, and wanted to learn Ina as closely as possible.
“Request accepted. But request to assist you.”
“I make the same request.”
“…All right. It will be more fun if we make it together.”
Ina accepted it with a smile, and they continued walking.
“Ina, please explain. What ingredients are necessary to make bread?”
“Well, maybe we don’t have enough bread flour, so… Ah.”
The three of them stopped. It was supposed to be a sparsely populated street, but they had to stop.
There were several beast people blocking the path, holding weapons that could kill someone.
Qualia stepped forward, and began to learn the situation.
“Request explanation. Why are you standing in front of us with tools designated as weapons?”
“Because you look like you have money…”
One said while putting out a knife to emphasize it, despite Ina, a beast girl, being present.
“We got thrown out of where we worked because those idiots over at Azure Skies made a mess. We were working honestly and everything.”
“Sorry, but leave your money… No one’s gonna hurt you that way.”
Ina’s expression turned sour.
These people were also victims of her brother Liebe. This would not have happened if it wasn’t for his revolt.
She felt guilty, and eventually spoke.
“Hum…”
She asked them if they wanted to eat bread later.
But her belief that deep down people were good was denied.
“Threat detected.”
An explosive sound that far surpassed her voice enveloped their world.
They turned its way, and saw an avalanche of smoke that looked like the dark of night.
Everyone was swallowed by the smoke.
“Revising optimal solution. Amount of smoke is significantly higher than expected.”
“Estimating that it was deeply hidden. But there was almost no impact or flames from the explosion. It was not meant to damage us.”
But then, there were sounds of things collapsing one after the other, that occupied their senses of sight and hearing.
They basically could not see or hear. It was as though someone learned Qualia, and created this static to temporarily incapacitate him…
“Dammit, this wasn’t part of the plan!”
“What are you doing… Boss!”
The beast people also seemed to act strangely. This was clearly not planned on their part.
As Qualia’s optimal solution changed, the first one to notice it was Ace.
“Qualia, Ina is gone.”
“Analyzing situation…!?”
That moment, a deep crimson static filled his senses.
The answer he reached sent an impact that seemed to destroy his whole architecture.
Qualia shined on the worst optimal solution.
A tragedy.
“[N/A]”
Error code Not Any.
He mindlessly let out an error code that he never did in his days as Shutdown.
“…Qualia?”
Qualia crossed through the smoke that supposedly blocked his vision.
He wanted to sink that distressful future into the darkness. Before his prediction as an artificial intelligence mercilessly shined a light on a cruel future.
“Ple… Se…”
He kept running.”
“Ina, don’t make… Offer… Flowers…”
■ ■
Ina’s hand was being pulled, as she ran through the labyrinth of smoke.
“Ina, request explanation. Are you harmed?”
It was Qualia’s voice. And it was Qualia’s hand that covered hers.
Once her sight was clear, what she saw was the same fleeting face she was used to seeing.
Ina and Qualia were alone in a narrow alley.
“Mister Qualia…?”
“Request that you stand-by here. Qualia will execute Ace’s rescue.”
Ina peeked at Qualia, as he was about to go into the smoke, with his expressionless face that lacked humanity.
“No.”
She said suddenly.
“No. You’re not Mister Qu…”
She could not finish her sentence, as she felt a burning hot sensation from the left side of her chest to her back.
A blade had plunged deeply into her somewhat plump left chest, existing through her back.
“Oh dear… You got me. I thought I had it down perfectly.”
The hand that gripped the handle turned into that of a beast person.
Qualia’s face then twisted, and returned to that of a beast person wearing sunglasses.
“Hi, I’m Backdoor. Your big brother has been taking really good care of me.”
“Cough.”
She could not speak. Her damaged lung would not let her talk, or breathe.
Instead of a voice or air, blood came out.
Of course, she could not stand either, and fell forward with the handle still sticking out from her chest.
“It’s not meant to be out of gratitude or anything. I just wanted to give you a treat because you’re cute. But I need you to die so your brother can be a proper leader for Azure Skies.”
“A, a, a, a, a…”
“Ah… I hit your lung and not your heart. If it was your heart, you would’ve died instantly. Well, it’s fine. The more a cute girl suffers, the tastier it is for me.”
As if giving a sarcastic tribute to someone about to depart, Backdoor took Ina’s flowers and threw them in the air.
“I’ll watch your face as you suffer until you d… Tch, those two are already here. Getting in the way of my fun.”
Backdoor sounded not amused as he clicked his tongue, and used Phishing Lure to become someone else. But Ina could not afford to watch him as he did so and disappeared further back.
She began to spasm. Her heart became quiet.
She lost too much blood. It flowed from her chest and mouth, along with her life.
She could not breathe, so she lost a lot of oxygen, which made her suffer more than the pain.
(Ah… Come to think of it, we are out of margarine. Maybe jam will do…)
She saw a dream, as her consciousness began to flicker.
She saw people having fun, eating and talking, as she stood behind a counter.
And in the center, there was the boy named Qualia, with his carefree smile back on his face.
“Situation [N/A].”
Suddenly, Qualia’s face appeared instead of her dream. He was looking down at her with Ace.
It was cold, as if he had just learned the end of the world.
(…Don’t… Make that face… Please make… The same face… You made when you… Said ‘tasty’… I will give you… A lot…)
“Qualia, Ina’s heart has stopped. Ina, Ina, request response, Ina.”
“As it stands, it is possible for the damage to [N/A]… Unnecessary remark [N/A] request [N/A]… Calculating optimal [N/A] … Optimal solution, you, you, to you, error [N/A]!!”
Ina felt the last of her consciousness, as it plunged into the darkness.
Qualia grabbed her limp hand and pleaded to her, like a human.
“5D print… Forcibly executing vital activity backup Infinity Recovery manually!”
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