Story Reader / Floating Record / ER04 The Floating Reverie / Story
Is this really a good idea?
Some problems we must solve with force.
But they didn't do anything wrong! They're innocent!
Tell me, do you believe in God?
God...?
If God wanted to put an end to evil, but can't, then God is incompetent.
If God can put an end to evil, but hasn't, then God is evil.
If God wants to put an end to evil and is capable of doing so, then why does evil linger in this world?
If God does not want to and is incapable of putting an end to evil, then why do we call it God?
...
Suffering and evil are the second to last cruelest of truths in this world.
Second... to last?
Bang!
We hereby declare that The Cradle has been reborn!
And we have taken over this building saddled with hollow faith!
This will be the beginning of our pilgrimage to overthrow the phony tyrants that rule over Kowloong.
We would like to ask for your cooperation while we borrow this building...
Hey, Fu Shen.
Uh?
Has The Cradle told you about the experiments?
Many of the apprentices under my Master went already.
They were all saying how they wouldn't need to practice cultivation anymore if we could reach enlightenment using technology.
Uhm... you aren't going to tell me you believe that, are you?
I don't... of course. I just wanted to know whether enlightenment was just another name for truth.
I think it's too dangerous. Nobody has returned from the experiment yet.
For me, fantasy and reality are just two sides of the same coin, but The Cradle... offered me a deal.
...As a friend, I want to stop you from going.
I have been searching for the truth ever since I joined the Nighter and I have indeed found it.
At the cost... of losing my friends and what I was supposed to keep safe.
I see.
So I am willing to bear the consequences if it means I could save others—if it means I could help them find their way out of the fraudulent, virtual world.
I have already seen the true and the false.
But it makes me sad to think that there are those who cannot differentiate between reality and dream and live on in a dream believing that it's real.
Maybe it is my destiny... to atone for my sins this way.
Even at the cost of your life?
Even at the cost of my life, yes.
Have you found them?
Some parts are missing, but I have Villier's research and the final report sent from our people on the Nighter.
Oh my... at least they didn't die for nothing.
I heard that after the assassination, Villier put three hundred million on our heads.
Not gonna happen.
Once we get the new debug report, we can start working on structuring the experiment.
Leaving this mess for us to clean up, huh... Well played indeed, Villier.
We were going to build that with at least one managing AI with advanced computing power, but I guess we'll just have to see how things are as we go now.
Got it. Go and rest. You're not a young man anymore.
Ha, I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages.
Be it Qu or Villier, Kowloong is going to pay for their sins...
For "The Cradle".
For "The Cradle".
Master! They... are all gone.
Good riddance... No amount of cultivation is going to keep them here if they can't stand their ground.
...Master, I am here to bid you farewell.
Oh? Are you going to join the experiment, too?
No, I just want to bring everyone back.
Your friend went with them, too, right?
Yes.
No one knows what's going to happen, and I just wanted to see you one last time before I go.
What's holding you back?
Is it really okay if I go?
It's your choice whether to stay or to leave.
...Understood.
If a light can pass on its fire to a thousand, then it matters not that one of them dies...
It worked! Duplicate and extract human data and framework in bulk...
And the core is...?
Number 013, a male subject. I think he's from the Nighter, but because we don't have an AI with enough computing power, we'll have to keep the human brain.
That will slow down the computing power a bit, but there's nothing else we can do.
If we extract the duplicated human data and combine it with the debug report from the Nighter, that should be enough for us to control mechanoids from a virtual environment, but we have no subject to test this on...
What about the Nighter? Isn't the shoreline crawling with humans after they docked?
Brilliant idea, but wouldn't we run into problems with their defense unit?
The mechanoids left by our predecessors look quite promising.
So... what's going to happen after that?
What do you mean?
We have pieced the technology together. Now what?
...Never mind that. Let's keep going. I'll deal with the mechanoids and humans we used in the experiment.
Understood.
By the way, are they all dead?
They are dead in theory. I am no biologist, but because we couldn't fully understand Villier's research, we had to kill them to extract and duplicate the data.
Are they really dead? That other living world we constructed... Is that the same as being dead?
What do you mean?
The dead don't speak, nor think, but they...
I... don't know!
My parents planned out my whole life when I was still a kid.
They had every single moment of my life planned out—from birth to death, no wishes allowed!
My life was... hell. No, it was worse than hell.
Pl... Please...
Just... kill me already...
I'm innocent! ****!
They don't give a damn about the truth! They're just jealous!
Cough, cough... Cough, cough...
...This smells nothing like... air... Cough, cough...
My chest... Please... I really... miss my kid... Cough, cough...
Those who have sinned shall here be absolved.
Those who have lost their hope shall here be granted hope.
Those on the verge of death shall here be granted eternity.
They run inside of me as they roar.
People derived joy out of their pain when they were still humans.
And when their carnal shells perish, they, too, shall enter this cycle and derive joy out of people's pain themselves.
And so, too, shall solitude, wishes, hatred, and fear forever cycle on.
Twenty years ago, "The Cradle" told him that he'd be able to save everyone in exchange for partaking in the experiment.
Broke as a joke and having nothing better than tattered clothing to cover himself with, the man had nothing to lose.
So "The Cradle" modified him, turning his brain into a receptor of people's consciousnesses and using him to control mechanoids.
The man never ended up saving his friends. He met his friends again in his own world—at which point his friends had all perished.
And so they lived in the dead "new world."
"The Cradle" went ahead and dug into his brain anyway, hoping to create a world where reality and virtuality would blend into each other. And from his brain, they managed to extract the mountain at its most beautiful through replication and growth.
And that's how he lost all his memories—memories of his friends, his teacher, and even his name.
As a gesture of pity, "The Cradle" told him his teacher's name and the name of his best friend.
And the man... adopted his teacher's name as his own, out of shame.
...By the way, did you know that there are no butterflies up this mountain, no matter what season of the year it is?
But on that very day when the new world was created, there were butterflies everywhere... up on the peak.
I am... going home... for revenge...
I got... kicked out of home...
This isn't home... so I can't...
...What did I do wrong... I never did anything wrong...
Can you hear "them"?
So this is "them"?
Yes—and "they" have been inside of me.
Some were visitors from outside the mountain, some were spiritual seekers, and some were ghosts of The Cradle's making...
Ghosts of The Cradle's making, huh...
Hackers enter my body and become part of me when they die.
Which is why I can hear them—along with their wishes and aspirations.
Don't you hate them, though? You're the way you are now because of them, and they've taken so many lives.
I did—except I don't anymore. "They" have given up already.
Time wears memories away, and most of the hackers that are still alive have forgotten their wishes.
An eye for an eye, huh... That sounds like something he would do.
I'm in no position to laugh at them, but I guess you do.
I do...?
People are animals that live by their habits, but you don't.
I'm a machine and not an animal.
What difference does it make?
Who would have been able to tell the difference anyway, had the line between machines and humans never been crossed?
And it seems like you've made up your mind already anyway.
I'm sorry?
People hurt others and take away what's not theirs to guard and look for what they're after.
And you've made a decision because you've been through the pain of being aware of this cruel truth.
Out of nowhere, Hanying feels it through the fan she's holding—the unnerving shiver she's now no stranger to.
Oh boy, look at this tree!
Have you seen it?
I have years ago, except it wasn't as big back then.
The Gate Keeper told me that this place was someone's dream.
It is, indeed.
And I presume this is your dream?
No, it's not.
Everything up in this mountain comes from my thoughts.
And I've seen everything except for this tree. I heard about the seeds of this tree, so I put a shard of my younger self on guard for it.
When the man stops by the maple tree, all seem to have come to a halt—even the leaves that were still rustling in the wind just moments ago.
By the way, I understand that I'm not the quietest old man you've ever seen...
But I was hoping to make just one last request.
Be my guest. I'll see to it.
Please tell no one about this mountain when you're back home. We're but part of history, and we'd much rather keep it that way.
Home is too far away a place for us to go back to now—so please, speak of us to no one when you're back.
Of course, sir.
Very well. Very well...
Pensively, the man studies a leaf he holds in midair.
I was hoping to never wake up from this dream.
But I have no idea anymore if this is actually a dream.
We might have woken up a long time ago, and there is probably no difference between reality and dream.
So please, please end it all.
She walks alone into the depths of the grand hall.
To end it all, she has one last thing to do...
There lies the world's cruelest of truths.
The care unit room in the wooden attic is dominated by electronic devices of all sorts, having nothing but a single window through which its occupant can take in the world outside.
In the center of the room is a life pod clad by a thick layer of dust. With her hand, Hanying dusts it off.
Lying quietly inside the life pod is a middle-aged man with a calm expression—with probes of all sizes going into his body, most of which connected to his brain.
The sight is painful just to behold.
"Stagnation" is the name they gave this medical technology that maximally delays human aging, which Hanying heard about back in the days when she was still on the Nighter.
And living with this pod is a very steep price the user has to pay.
For the man inside the pod, time stopped on the very day he became one of "us."
It's ironic how you picked the face of an old man when you never age...
And how you've been pursuing death when death is the least of your concerns living in that world.
The sound of electricity traveling through the wires seems to sound through the otherwise dead quiet room. When electricity passes through the wire that's in Hanying's hand now, it turns into all sorts of powers that sustain his life.
All his memories, wishes, aspirations...
And his life—all of these would come to an end if she pulls the plug now.
He will "die"—and she will be his murderer.
There just might be another way to help "them" snap out of this and help them lead a safe life.
You've always known it, except you never wanted to wake up from the dream.
At the end of the day, the answer we hold within us is probably what determines whether we're awake or dreaming.
Embracing life in death was his—and their—last choice.
A choice that she made herself, too.
The light dims when a cloud of dust slips off...
Leaving not one single piece of light in the room, except for the light that comes in through the tiny window.
Goodnight.
The wind and the falling leaves utter the truth.
Their journey has come to an end.
I can see this tree from the attic.
I can only see the top of the tree, but it's the only thing I can see through the window.
I see.
This tree has been around for a few hundred years already, apparently.
And on it will keep living.
It sure will.
Say, have you ever seen a pagoda tree?
Pagoda trees are beautiful in blossom.
Let's go when you're done resting.
And I don't need to try to catch up to you this time.
No rush. We've got a long journey ahead.
From thousands of leaves, a red maple leaf falls into her palm.
It is a miserable soul without faith.
The body has decayed, but its soul cannot find the gate to heaven...
A pitiful one that shall wander indefinitely before it lands.
