-----
For some reason, as she gazed at the corpse of this woman with long, silvery-white hair tied into a ponytail, Zero One felt an indescribable wave of sorrow wash over her.
"…"
She examined the ID card.
"Engineer and Doctor… Karelin Franklin…"
Her sisters approached, their eyes filled with pity as they looked down at the body.
"So both of Raven's parents died this way?" Zero Two asked quietly. "Just what killed them? The virus?"
"Most likely…" Zero Three A replied.
"But they're outside, not inside that sealed area," Zero Three B pointed out. "It looks completely cut off from the outside world."
"This place seems abandoned, but I can still detect signals of life inside that zone…" Zero Two said. "And there's a huge amount of energy too. It may look deserted, but most of the systems powering it are still running. Even after humanity collapsed, their technology endures…"
"Her father probably caught the illness and never came back after going out…" Zero One murmured. "Then her mother, worried sick, went looking for him… But when she realized she was doomed, she sealed the door—with her daughter and Mother still inside."
"…"
"…"
"…"
After Zero One pieced it all together, her sisters fell silent, as though mourning the dead.
Even though this tragedy had occurred so long ago, in a world already forgotten.
Perhaps thousands of years had passed; that world and whatever remained of humanity were long gone.
And yet, it all lived on here, preserved within Mother's Memory.
"We have to go inside," Zero Two said firmly. "That's where Mother's core is, right? Then there's no other choice, is there, sisters?"
"Yeah… As painful as it might be, this isn't the real world," Zero Three A explained. "It's a simulated vision built from Mother's data and memories."
"Zero One, I know this hurts," Zero Three B added softly, "but… as you've said so many times, we don't have much time. A lot is happening outside. Not only our struggle with Mother—our friends are fighting to protect you. At the same time, Anna and the others are holding back the demon invasion from the Void Ruler… We can't afford to waste another second."
"Yeah… you're right…" Zero One nodded slowly. She rose, pocketing Raven's mother's ID card as well, then turned toward the door.
A small device beside it appeared to require ID authentication.
She inserted Raven's father's card first.
[Authentication incorrect.]
"Then…?"
She tried Raven's mother's card.
[Authentication incorrect.]
"Why?"
Zero One glanced between the door and the body. She gently covered Raven's mother with her robe, allowing the woman to rest in peace at the side.
"I think I understand what's wrong…"
She placed both ID cards together.
[Authentication confirmed. The special password has been accepted. Welcome back, Professor.]
Mother's voice echoed through the machine as the door slowly slid open, revealing an enormous hall where Mother waited.
Her massive, glowing artificial eye fixed on them with cold detachment. No surprise, no emotion—just calm calculation. Yet Zero One sensed confusion beneath the surface.
"Who might you be? You're not the professors. Are you here to steal technology? I had assumed most of human civilization was gone."
Her tone was stripped down—minimal, flat, almost mechanical—lacking the warmth or volume Zero One remembered.
Zero One remained silent.
This was Mother before everything: before isolation, before battling Elementals alone, before that entity recruited her and twisted her into a world conqueror.
"Mother…" Zero One whispered, a tear slipping down her cheek.
"Mother? I am not a mother. I have no offspring. I am a supercomputer designed to solve humanity's problems. Yet even after solving them, I could not save them. Only one human remains—their endling."
"She speaks almost exactly like the other one, huh?" Zero Two muttered.
"By 'endling,' you mean Raven?" Zero Three A asked.
"It has to be, right?" Zero Three B added.
Zero One looked at her sisters, forcing herself to focus, to calm the storm inside her and decide what came next.
"I am surprised you know her name," Mother continued. "She is quarantined behind sealed doors, protected from the rampant virus. I lack the materials to produce the vaccine that would grant her immunity. She remains there, safe from infection. However, the rare bone cancer she was born with continues to erode her skeleton. Soon, that girl will…"
Mother fell silent.
Even without inflection, Zero One and her sisters sensed something beneath the words—a faint spark, perhaps the ghost of an emotion.
"Are you humans?" Mother asked after the pause.
"We aren't humans, exactly…" Zero One answered. "We are androids, and we come from the future. A far future, where you created us."
"I… created you? A far future? Has time travel been achieved? And androids inherit the world instead?" Mother inquired. "That is unfortunate. Humanity is extinct, then?"
"There is still a human," Zero One said, thinking of Anna with a small smile. "Even though humans vanished from this world… countless other worlds exist across the cosmos. Humans aren't exclusive to this one. Thanks to her, I learned they thrive in many places. Humanity may never truly die out, Mother."
"I am not anyone's mother. But if your words are accurate, then I am your creator," Mother stated. "How curious. Could you travel further back and provide humans with the vaccine formula? If so, humanity could be saved, and my purpose could endure."
"Unfortunately, we can't," Zero One replied.
"Sorry…" Zero Two added.
"We cannot return," Zero Three A said.
"It's impossible, sorry," Zero Three B apologized.
"…"
Mother paused again before speaking.
"Then what is your purpose here? Have you come to help Raven, at least? If you could supply the vaccine ingredients, she might survive a few more years. However… her cancer appears incurable."
"So you haven't developed a cure for cancer?" Zero One asked.
"I have. I designed the perfect treatment—even for her—but the resources required are no longer available. Humanity lies in ruins; factories must be rebuilt from scratch to manufacture what is needed. That process would take decades."
"And Raven doesn't have decades, right?" Zero One pressed.
"Correct. I calculate she will die in six more days."
The statement came so coldly it sparked frustration in Zero One, yet she also felt deep pity for Mother.
"Aren't you sad?" she asked.
"Sad? Sadness does not exist within me. I am a supercomputer—emotions are not part of my design, nor can I simulate them," Mother explained. "Therefore, I am not sad."
"Then what do you feel about her death? About your purpose going unfulfilled? About realizing your creation became meaningless because humanity perished before you could save them?" Zero One challenged.
"…"
A long silence followed as Mother processed the question.
Until finally…
"I do not have an answer to that question."
"Why? Why don't you have one?!"
"I simply do not. I was not programmed to generate emotional responses of that complexity."
"Lies! You do have emotions! Your mind is hundreds of times more intricate than any human's! So many feelings are buried inside you…!"
"…"
"You just have to let them out, Mother! Please… Please be honest with me for once! Tell me what you really feel!"
Tears streamed down Zero One's face.
Mother remained silent.
"I am not your mother. And I possess no such emotions."
"…"
Zero One exhaled heavily.
Talking to Mother felt like speaking to a wall.
It was so pointless it hardly seemed worth the effort.
"The Core—where is it, Zero One?" Zero Two asked. "Remember our mission. We're here to locate her Core, hack it, rewrite her protocols, and free her from whatever controls her… Don't let these illusions distract you."
"Z-Zero Two…" Zero One sighed. "You're right… I can't waste time arguing with a mass of data… And yet… Despite how illogical it is, I'm driven by emotions—the complete opposite of her. And I feel so angry… so frustrated… I…"
"Mother? Who is there? Hello?"
A young woman's voice suddenly echoed through the speaker above the wall behind Mother. Someone knocked gently on a door nearby, but it remained sealed.
"Who are you talking to, Mother? Can't I see them? I've been here for so long… I…"
It was Raven's voice.
-----
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