Story Reader / Alternative Interpretation / Derived from Matrix / Story
Long ago, stories of dragon slayers and evil dragons were told here.
Legend has it that to gain the power to defeat evil dragons, heroes must transform into dragons themselves...
In one fierce battle, a dragon annihilates a catastrophe-bringing evil dragon, but this world remains bound by the curse of karma.
Karma swiftly spawns new heroes, while the enemy overlooks the subtle differences between dragons and evil dragons.
Throughout countless ages, the dragon awaits its destined challenger—the one who will come to slay it.
And now, she arrives...
Above the ravaged battlefield, two silhouettes dart at lightning speed, locked in a relentless pursuit.
They collide and part ways; as their forms blaze into dazzling arcs of light, the resulting shockwaves obliterate every speck of dust on the ground.
As the smoke clears, beneath her tattered cloak, a woman with pink hair turns her gaze toward the far end of the battlefield.
...
You're bleeding too, Higher Authority.
Actually, you're not the true form of a higher-dimensional being, are you? At least, it doesn't seem that way.
From one side of the street, the sound of leather shoes tapping against the ground echoes.
So even with central authority, you still can't completely avoid damage, can you?
Every system has its limits, as long as you, the central authority, remain bound to this system...
When each of my attacks exceeds your preset parameters, even if you exhaust all defense modes, the "environment" remains uncontrollable.
Even projections from higher dimensions need to consider the "performance" of their medium. The medium's limits are your limits.
Now that you've fully grown your wings, you finally muster the courage to rebel against me?
Compared to those pathetic challenges before, this seems much more respectable.
You want to say this is all part of your grand design, don't you?
Like snow falling in late spring—unexpected, but not entirely surprising.
Since when do you dabble in poetry, Higher Authority?
If you have time to mess around with poetry, you might as well start carving your own epitaph.
Jetavie, without me, you can't even stand here like this.
I vow to avenge the Chosen One's death. I am taking your place...
To become the new central authority.
I'm going to...
...create a world where the Chosen One exists.
Jetavie raises her weapon without hesitation.
I've... had enough.
[WEAPON CHARGING... 100%]
Jetavie pulls the trigger, sending a brilliant red beam streaking toward Higher Authority...
Higher Authority holds out her left hand, creating a faint red data matrix in front of herself.
The moment the beam hits, the matrix dissolves with ease, and arcs of electricity surge around Higher Authority in a crushing assault.
She is driven back into a half-toppled building, then tumbles into the debris along with countless falling stones.
The roaring sound fades away, and smoke fills the sky.
...
Is she still alive?
She's tough as nails.
[WEAPON CHARGING... 150%]
But before I wipe you out for good, I will unleash more power with every strike.
Blinding beams of light hammer the collapsing ruins, one after another.
[WEAPON CHARGING... 200%]
Jetavie rains down wave after wave of radiation blasts, ripping open a massive pit in the ruins where Higher Authority stays.
She keeps pulling the trigger in a manic frenzy until she's too exhausted to continue.
But why...
That woman's presence still lingers.
Right in front of Jetavie's eyes, something red sways in the wind...
Wind?
All at once, a sharp vibration cuts through the air, as if an arrow has just been loosed.
Jetavie tilts her head on instinct, and in the next moment, a blinding crimson floods her vision.
In that split second of haze, something zips past Jetavie and sets off an explosion on the road behind her.
Jetavie slowly turns around, only now catching on. The silver-black tips of her hair slip free and land on her shoulder.
My hair... is it cut?
She brushes her cheek in confusion, noticing a thin scratch scoring her otherwise flawless skin.
Why... can't I see it clearly?!
Above the pit that holds Higher Authority, more scattered "breaches" are forming.
A rift of the void.
Without a moment's hesitation, Jetavie plunges into the Matrix.
She barely pauses to think; she already knows the power those weapons possess.
From the adjoining ebony rifts, a storm of crimson arrows begins to pour forth.
Crimson arrows shoot toward Jetavie, creating a barrage around her as dense as a driving rain.
...Damn it!
Under the crush of that overwhelming attack, Jetavie has no choice but to shut down her Matrix.
Phew...
Then, with no warning, Higher Authority appears silently behind her.
Wh...?
Complacency demands a price.
Jetavie whips her head around in a panic, only to have a massive crimson arrow slam into her chest.
Like a fragile rag doll, Jetavie is flung by the point-blank strike into the distant white tower.
Crushed by debris and rebar, the tower's summit reveals a gaping black chasm lined with jagged, beast-like fangs.
Dust swirls in the air, and the building trembles. After a series of dull reverberations, everything falls silent once again.
[COMPUTING POWER RESTRICTIONS, LAYERS 1-56... UNLOCK...]
I almost forgot...
Your abilities go far beyond this.
A flicker of crimson light, shaped like a cross, emerges at the edge of the pitch-black tear.
Slowly, the darkness around begins to brighten.
Higher Authority!
A drawn-out whine echoes when the radiation beam fires, and a brilliant crimson shaft tears out from the dark rift.
Higher Authority tilts her head at the last second, dodging the incoming beam.
Standing on a heap of rubble, Jetavie clutches her weapon—still trailing wisps of smoke—and fights for breath.
In the instant she's attacked, a massive wave of Computing Power erupts inside Jetavie and wraps around her like a shell sealing an egg.
Before she can even will it, her body's defense systems kick in, forming an invisible barrier where the impact lands.
Overhead, a void rift fans out around Higher Authority, where a swarm of deep-red arrows conceal, waiting to rain down...
Higher Authority hovers in the air, deliberately raising her left hand.
At that same instant, an unending arsenal of void weapons materializes, spanning the horizon.
It's about time...
...you step out of your "ivory tower," isn't it?
Another devastating volley capable of leveling the entire area.
Jetavie stands her ground, her gaze steady as she watches the arrows streak toward her.
The true possibility...
Mulling over those words, she extends her left hand toward the weapon emerging from the void.
Crimson arrows line up in front of Jetavie, each one stopping in midair as if time itself has been paused.
Higher Authority's hood flutters in the breeze. As she watches what unfolds, her expression remains blank.
I can see it...
[ULTIMATE MODE]
Amid the frozen rain of crimson arrows, Jetavie, for the very first time, latches onto the code emanating from the void.
Matrix, lend me your power!
Jetavie finally understands the Matrix at this moment, and the Matrix, in turn, recognizes her.
<color=#34aff8ff>Construct.</color>
With a light snap of her fingers, Jetavie makes the arrows pivot sharply, sending them toward Higher Authority at the other end.
She's rewritten the Matrix's core code? All of it... in such a short time...?
Higher Authority, you control the Matrix, but I'm the one who was born here. This is my home.
As long as I crack the Matrix's core code...
I can clone the system and give myself the same central authority.
So, what do you plan to do next? Do you really think the result is going to change?
<color=#ff4e4eff>Reset to zero.</color>
Higher Authority raises her arm again, and the sky's boundary shatters like fragile glass, splintering into countless fissures.
The void's fissures surge forward like a pack of ravenous serpents, racing straight for Jetavie.
Reverrrr—se!
Jetavie delivers her command to the crumbling world, and the warped fissures in the sky immediately stop spreading.
After just one command, crimson lines spread across Jetavie's face, revealing the strain of computation overload.
Damn it... What level of computing power is this?
A sudden wave of fatigue forces her down onto one knee.
After a brief pause to steady herself, Jetavie manages to suppress the rampant surge, keeping the overload from spiraling out of control.
The crumbling world abruptly halts, and its shattered remnants spiral back toward the boundary.
In the wake of that brief collapse, the scenery rebuilds itself. Jetavie lets out a deep sigh.
In this Matrix, there's nothing I...
[COMPUTING POWER RESTRICTIONS, LAYERS 57-234... UNLOCK...]
...can't do!
[F-FORCING CONNECTION TO CENTRAL AUTHORITY...]
A golden halo appears above Jetavie's head.
Central authority acknowledges Jetavie and grants her full clearance.
Meanwhile, Higher Authority loses the immense computing power that once matched Jetavie's.
It looks like the Matrix would rather have you as its central authority than me...
As the guide, this is where my duty ends.
Congratulations, Jetavie.
Higher Authority, I have one final question.
Even before the Matrix acknowledges me, you have countless chances to kill me. So why...?
Why do you act like a despised enemy yet tell me so much?
What does all of this really mean?
I've said it from the start: everything I do is to prove my love for you.
I don't need that kind of love.
Farewell, Higher Authority.
<color=#34aff8ff>Delete.</color>
Jetavie releases her clenched fist, sending crimson arrows toward Higher Authority.
The arrows pass through Higher Authority's body, whistling past her back as if they never hit anything solid.
They didn't hit...?
Earlier, you said I wasn't really a higher-dimensional being. You guessed right.
What you see before you is merely my projection within the Matrix.
In the end, I merely took temporary control of the central authority before the virus infected the host system.
I am the one who created a barrier between you and the Punishing Virus, ensuring this program continued to function.
I only introduced a small amount of the virus into the Matrix, carefully guiding each step so you could develop the strength to resist it.
The simulated vaccine inevitably comes with side effects. It causes you pain, but ultimately grants you the antibodies you need...
You want to take control of the central authority? Then from this moment forward, I entrust that authority to you.
You will break free from these cycles, but at the same time, you enter an even greater cage.
You need to keep watch over the Matrix for all eternity. The moment you lower your guard, the virus seeps in and warps what you cherish into your enemy. In the end, you have no choice but to erase what you love, virus and all.
You find no release, not even at the end of time. Even so, do you still choose to accept my terms?
I have already made up my mind.
Jetavie agrees to Higher Authority's request without a hint of hesitation.
As you wish.
Higher Authority snaps her fingers gently, and the scenery around her streaks past at a speed too swift for the eye to follow.
Like a flickering slideshow, scenes from the Matrix's past play, light and shadow shifting in turns. Soon, both sky and earth melt into a deep, dusky gray.
Jetavie doesn't realize she's on a soft, sandy beach until shallow footprints appear beneath her feet.
Cold water laps at her ankles, its icy touch nudging her back toward the quantum sea.
Water... What is this place?
She slowly lifts her gaze, seeing a distant shore that feels hopelessly out of reach.
And behind her, pale-red flowers bloom along the beach.
[CENTRAL AUTHORITY TRANSFER. CREDENTIALS CHECK... AGREEMENT READY.]
[VISITOR REGISTRATION...]
[JETAVIE, YOU NOW HOLD HIGHER AUTHORITY.]
If this is the ending you are hoping for...
Higher Authority still floats alone in a corner of the sky.
Go and create the new world you believe in.
Jetavie tries to intercept, but Higher Authority's shadow has already disappeared into the void.
Instead, a red rectangle rises from the ocean depths, its radiant light illuminating the entire sea and drawing the waters together.
Countless shimmering, translucent bubbles form around the rectangle, drifting toward the distant shore.
Each bubble symbolizes both life and death.
Jetavie steps to the center of the sea and picks up the red rectangular block.
The moment she touches the matrix, she instantly realizes it's fostering a new cycle of rebirth.
Two vibrant data personalities drift within a dream called "Hope", waiting to be awakened again.
Higher Authority, would you like to restart the training program?
Please assign the correct variables, set up the training and validation datasets, and verify and refine each result.
Matrix, I want to build a new world free from hostility.
No hostility... Do you mean completely abandoning adversarial iterative strategies?
Interesting plan. I've never run a simulation like this before, but it also means...
No matter which side we're talking about, neither personality model can evolve to its final state. In the end, it's destined to fail.
Matrix, have you heard the story of Sisyphus?
Sisyphus? My database indeed contains that story—he pushes a boulder up a mountain only to watch it roll back down, repeating the same cycle over and over...
Even if it's a never-ending task, the scenery changes every time he climbs...
Sometimes it's bright as day, sometimes it's the dead of night. Sometimes the sun scorches the path, and sometimes everything's soaked in rain and mud.
He follows the same path his entire life, but he never feels bored. Each moment he witnesses is a unique experience in its own right.
I believe it's those footprints that transcend the cycle.
Now that you have Higher Authority, what do you think causes the chain of cause and effect to change?
We both witness that beam slicing through the quantum sea. In your view, what is the origin that triggers such a miracle?
Is it "love"?
Such a fascinating variable—I'm recording it now.
After this, in the new cycle, you want to keep only the initial setup and let the personality develop freely?
If we can't change the fate of these cycles, then let's at least make this place a genuine haven of comfort.
A haven of comfort, you say...
I keep Jetavie's initial personality at the Chosen One's side, but only the Chosen One's memories remain.
Your requested settings are fully installed. The program is ready to reboot.
This time...
Meet again in a far better place, you two.
[REBOOT?]
[CONFIRMED, EXECUTOR: HIGHER AUTHORITY]
[Robooting...]
What an odd way to meet. You're awake, but you're still talking like you're stuck in a dream.
So, Chosen One, tell me. What did you see on the flip side of this serene land?
Come on, tell me already!
Heh, you're not having one of those indecent dreams, are you?
Now that you mention it... don't you think the Matrix feels like a dream you never wake up from?
Every time the countdown ends, that pitch-black contraption on the wall goes "click" and snaps back to zero!
The world resets again, and we return to this place. It feels like waking from a dream, but somehow...
It's almost like we've slipped straight into another dream. I just don't get it.
Still, everything here stays so calm. So, even if it can be a bit dull sometimes...
Eh, really?
Hey, Chosen One, how do you know about all this?
