Story Reader / Affection / Chrome: Glory / Story
—What comes after humans?
—We are creating our successors at this very moment.
—They are as capable as humans. You will grant them capabilities that exceed humans.
—Scientists will have to evaluate their fruits of labor soon and confront the moral responsibility of their actions, especially so when their inventions will chart the courses of humanity's future.
—We cannot hide inside our laboratories with our research without considering the ethics of its nature.
Line after line, Chrome reads you the key ideas in the book.
There is no need for further explanations—the lines are plain and straightforward. This book, written during the Golden Age, acutely points out the problems of human societies that persist today.
Following the same upward spiral, the subject in question might be different, but the problems it produces is largely the same.
This never-ending war with the Punishing Virus has covered up what should be plainly obvious with a game of life and death.
What humankind is confronting in this age of both old and new—this liminal bedlam—is not born from the Punishing Virus. It stems from the inherent conflict of humanity itself.
Constructs and humans are the best examples.
...
How should Constructs be defined? Are they of Us, or are they the Other?
No one has yet to provide an answer that satisfies everyone.
How do you feel about this, [player name]?
I must disappoint you, then. I've never stopped thinking about this, but I have yet to come to a conclusion.
I think most people would say it's the latter.
—The Other.
That was the reason for what transpired earlier today.
You seem to have asked me something similar not long ago.
No, I'm not disappointed. It wasn't unexpected.
I'm just... concerned.
Chrome's eyes stay on your face, but he has his gaze on something far more remote, somewhere in the far future.
The pink hue of the artificial dusk quietly fades to a navy night sky.
You might find my concern ridiculous, but I worry that...
You inadvertently speak your mind before Chrome can finish his sentence.
That wasn't what I wanted to say, but... you understand what I was going for.
To position Constructs as Others so that people can be indifferent to the casualties of battles...
This war will create new problems for humanity, and it's not the Punishing Virus.
What is legal and what is moral... the line between them will only get more and more unclear.
When I was confused, if not enraged, by this idea, I came to the realization of something else.
Even if the Punishing Virus is eliminated... it's still possible to find more conflicts in the future, leading to more clashes and wars.
He does not specify who will be warring with whom.
Even now, it is too cruel to say them out loud.
Oh?
...
Chrome stays silent.
And the silence stretches longer than usual.
In the end, it is neither you nor Chrome who breaks the silence.
A student shows up out of nowhere, walking toward Chrome slightly awkwardly.
You reckon he has to be a student studying here to know the spot you are in.
It seems that Chrome and you have taken up the desk where he usually studies.
I'm sorry to disturb you... but are you Langston Smith?
Chrome nods.
The student does not even try to hide his ecstatic expression.
I just saw you in the distance and I wondered if it was actually you.
I thought you would be giving a speech on the stage today...
Realizing what he is about to say seems inappropriate, the student stops like a stuck cassette tape, his line abruptly ending halfway through. His eyes dart around in a slight panic.
And when he glimpses the book in Chrome's hands, his eyes glow.
...You're also reading it?
Do you mind if I ask you about some of the things written on it?
Chrome looks toward you as if asking for your permission as his companion.
Thus, he nods at the student as well.
What an honor, sir. What an honor...
The student is babbling at this point.
...
Their discussion lasts for a very long time.
Eventually, Chrome stands up.
He looks at you one more time.
It's late now, [player name]. It's time we give our seats to the future.
