Глава 14

But what you say isn't completely baseless.

I was once warned about my future, but I was clear this was my path to tread.

I wouldn't give up, no matter if I lived or died, regardless of place and time.

However, the very same words coming from you hold no irony at all.

Thank you, Doctor.

What defines a lofty ideal? Who ought to define it?

I exacted violence on other races for Sarkaz freedom. I renounced the belief I once defended with my life, and stood against all of you...

The Rhodes Island of today has already stepped out of Babel's shadow...

Though it has abandoned some concepts Babel once adhered to, for the Sarkaz.

You fly peace as your banner, but employ violence to help our oppressors bring back suffering to the Sarkaz.

But at the same time, I can't deny your own lofty ideals, just like how I can't deny my past self.

Perhaps you believe you completely comprehend what 'lofty' means... but for me, the phrase still weighs too heavy.

However, thank you, Doctor.

I can sense you're not lying right now.

But if you're still going to give a perfunctory reply at such a moment... my disappointment will only grow.

Of course, a little loss isn't surprising at all. I really want to know your answer, Doctor.

Doctor, don't give up on finding the answer. If you're still just following Rhodes Island's ideals as you go—

I worry if you're ready enough to handle whatever it is that you encounter in the future.

Just keep going, like how I hoped you would in the past.

...To be honest, I can't give you a proper evaluation.;You're still a conundrum to me.

You're cautious, still hostile and wary toward me just like you were back then... of course, we stand now on opposing sides like we did before.

But no matter. You merely haven't had enough time to figure out each and every single enigma there is.

A pity we always have our chats when the clock is ticking down so fast.

I heard so many stories about you on Rhodes Island.

You've done so much.;You still have many regrets.

My mission is over.

Many years ago, you and Kal'tsit pushed a door open for me, to a wider world.

But I was already a sovereign to the Sarkaz. I bear their suffering, their fate.

My ideals and vision may transcend that sky of nothingness, but the weight of reality still pulled me back down to earth.

I was already convinced back then that the person who could change the Sarkaz, or even the future of Terra itself was absolutely not me—it has never been me.

A close friend whom I trust the most already predicted this end.

And that person... is me—?

Doctor, give me your hand.

Yes, I had the fortune to meet your 'truest' self.

That person was wise, gentle.

Though bearing with the heaviest of duty and wearing the strongest of shackles, that one never gave up hope, ever.

I'm gratified.

You stand alongside Kal'tsit and Amiya now, and so I believe I made the right choice back then.

The choices we made on our own have also determined the path to where we are now.

Our original meeting in haste was just like this parting between two strangers... was it not?

I can't sense any... resentment from you.

Resentment? Why?

To this day, I still feel only regret and a longing from when I touched the depths on your soul and the unimaginable truth.

Yes... it is because I touched the depths of your heart that I hold so much regret... we lost a chance to walk on the same path.

Perhaps that person was so fascinating due to an internal conflict no one else can empathize with.

...Just what kind of person was 'I'?;...Speculations, questions—I can't piece together fully what 'I' was.;All this contradictory information is making me feel confused and anxious.

Haven't you noticed? You don't doubt your decisions now.

What shapes your true self? Everything that you've experienced, or your already concealed past?

Look at where we are, Doctor.

Those silent memories and the truth of everything, are they not by your side...?

Originium...

Past, present, future. Time is no longer defined by the rules we find so familiar at the end of Originium.

You no longer remember...

But you told me once, that 'Originium'—

Brought an innumerable amount of suffering upon this land, along with countless possibilities. Created by hundreds of millions of sacrifices in the era you came from.

When you created Originium, what expectations did you harbor towards it and this land?

Look, at everything recorded inside this golden ocean... do they line up with your expectations?

You see it...

Ursus's inferno, Kjerag's wind and snow, Iberia's tides...

A torrent of information rushes past you, in units of civilizations, from time and space since time immemorial.

You suddenly realize—

All the questions I have...;All the past I forgot...

Can be answered and found in this field of Originium.

No.;...;...No.

You retract your hands.

It is all that I've gone through that shapes what I am today.

And not my concealed past.

You always have a pleasant surprise in store...

Doctor... we managed to meet once more while I lie deep in the sea of information after our parting.

It is my past, but it is your future.

Though you might still be on a path to find yourself, you still want to prove to me that you're—

'Just as I always have been.'

How I wish I could see you find the answers with my own eyes. But I'm sorry... I can't go any further.

Doctor, I have to go, and so do you all...

If you have no intention of being trapped in this infinite nothingness for all eternity, that is.

Goodbye, Dr. {@nickname}.

My dear friend whom I've never met.

—Theresa!

There is no response.

The white figure atop the tower has vanished.

Nothing remains.

Theresa... She's gone.

...Oh.

Doctor, what did you see?

Theresa... told me...

What kind of person she was.;What kind of person I am.

I found it... where 'Amnannam' is.

We'll leave this place.

The waves of information have subsided.

Do you hear the voices of the myriad souls departing, Banshee—

The tower is at peace, Your Highness...

The waves are flowing backwards into a hell we cannot comprehend.

The flames that could burn even these roots have no way to light up the infinite night.

Where will all of you go from here?

An eternal void, a true death.

We will no longer stay on the other side, Aefanyl.

'Logos'. You should get more used to being called by this name.

You've made your choice, the choice of a Rhodes Island elite operator.

Logos stands on the endless flow of information, his own figure leaving its mark on the vast ocean.

The slender figure on the other side stands in silence.