Qualia sat next to Ina.
He was completely still as he watched her sleeping face, almost as if he was copying how still she was. Ace also stood next to him, and looked like a doll with her nothingness.
“Qualia, please explain. What should I do? How can Ina recover from her comatose state?”
“…Error. Qualia does not have an answer.”
“Qualia, please explain. What should I do? How can Ina recover from her comatose state?”
“…Error. Qualia does not have an answer. You are repeating yourself.”
It was too heavy for the artificial intelligence and magic doll to learn.
She might wake up at some point, but she might not wake up at all.
Qualia was not equipped with a function to fight this anxiety, and could not learn it either.
“Analyzing situation… The world is very quiet when you are not awake.”
Especially for Qualia, who had been with her since the moment he was reborn.
He never knew a world without her.
“This is from my big sister. Eat… You haven’t eaten anything since this morning.”
Spirito came in again with a soup that could warm the body.
Lobelia started going after Zero Division, who tried to kill Qualia and the others. She was also concerned about Anonymous, who beat Zero Division back and disappeared.
And she was looking into who was behind the assassination attempt that led to Ina being stabbed in the chest, and put her in this unconscious state.
She cooked this in the meantime, but Qualia gave a short response without turning around.
“It is judged that it is not needed.”
“Eat.”
Spirito brought the tableware close to his face, but decided to leave it next to him.
Ace on the other hand, took the soup and started eating it, before expressing her impressions of it to Qualia.
“Qualia, request explanation. How come it is not good, despite this dish supposedly being tasty?”
“…”
Qualia did not respond. Neither did Spirito.
Surely it was because the person whose presence alone was enough to put smiles on their faces was sleeping.
But no one said it. It would feel like emphasizing the fact that she was not there.
Suddenly, Qualia touched Ina’s cheek.
It was warm. It was not the body temperature of a dead person, but that also did not make it the body temperature of a living person.
It was not simple body temperature. It was like something empty, like it was missing something that could not be logically explained.
“Request explanation. What situation is it to be without consciousness forever?”
Qualia suddenly asked.
“…I’m sorry, I don’t know. But I think it’s like always being in darkness.”
From that information, Qualia judged the importance of staying beside her.
If Ina could not tell or detect he was there, there was no advantage in him being there.
“Qualia, are you thinking you don’t have to be here?”
Spirito saw through him when she looked at his face.
At that moment, he was the one whose thoughts were predicted.
“Are you thinking that’s not rational, and not the optimal solution? That as a member of Hello World, you should be defeating Woodhorse, or looking for Ina’s missing brother!?”
“Affirmative. After all, Qualia…”
“…If we don’t expect her to be back… If the person that’s most important to her isn’t waiting for her, who will!?”
“…”
“Ah, geez, I’m irritated!”
Spirito sat Qualia back down on the chair, as he was about to get up. She was stronger when it came to physical strength, despite their size difference.
No, there was something else besides that strength that made him sit. He could not detect that power, but it came through in Spirito’s voice as she held Qualia’s shoulders and kept him in place.
“Don’t you think her consciousness being in the dark is exactly why you need to be beside her to call her!? Like hearing someone calling you when you’re in complete darkness would be pointless! Optimal solutions and logic don’t play a part!”
“…”
Qualia was silent.
There was no logic in the idea that staying next to Ina would heal her, but Qualia felt something in Spirito’s words that threw logic to the wind. Something welled up inside him that could not be put into ones and zeroes.
He was at a loss for words to analyze the situation, when Spirito presented him with the soup Lobelia made once again.
“Eat. Even if it’s not tasty. You have to stay healthy.”
He had the soup. It was warm. Enough for him to feel better.
That warmth was transmitted from his hand to Ina’s.
“Ina. Waiting.”
He said, clumsily expressing the strength given to him by Spirito. It was a light to guide Ina back from the darkness of her consciousness.
It was nothing that went through trillions of predictions, one optimal solution, learning, or any such inorganic things.
“…Detecting strange sound.”
As if reacting to Qualia’s actions, there was a sound from the desk.
A gentle breeze blowing from a gap in the curtains opened Ina’s diary.
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