|Location: The Network|
-ZERO-
"Ugh! What just happened? Where am I? Wasn't I with someone just now? Wait… who was that?" A sharp, ringing noise hammered inside my head, scrambling my thoughts until nothing made sense. My memories felt like scattered pieces of a puzzle, impossible to fit together.
Slowly, I became aware of my surroundings.
I was suspended in a space of nothingness—a vast stretch of darkness that seemed to pin me in place. The endless void pressed around me, making my body feel weightless, like I was floating but utterly still. The only sound was the echo of my own breathing, bouncing endlessly through the emptiness.
I tried to piece together what had happened before I ended up here. My mind raced, images and feelings swirling wildly as if something inside me was screaming to be uncovered. But no matter how hard I tried, it felt like a barrier blocked my memories.
All I could grasp was the feeling of a warm palm against my skin under a cold wind, and the image of a tree—an important tree. But before that, my mind was a blank slate.
"Right, that tree. I remember that tree. She planted it with him. But who were they again? Yid? Yig?" I muttered to myself, the names swirling in confusion until suddenly, a spark lit up inside my mind, and the names came clearly.
"Ygg… Drasil."
As I whispered those words, a strange static noise crackled nearby. I looked around and noticed something shifting beside me.
The air seemed to glitch and tear open, creating a narrow rift into this void. Through it, a bright screen flickered to life, and a familiar warmth washed over me—like the comforting presence of someone I knew well.
"SAI?" I breathed, recognizing the figure.
On the screen were two people in lab coats. The first was a woman with bright green hair, though closer inspection revealed her natural black roots growing in. Her pale skin and sharp, meticulous eyes gave her an air of calm sophistication.
The second was a muscular man, his long lab coat barely hiding his powerful frame. His almond-shaped eyes gleamed sharply beneath short-cropped hair, his strong features contrasting with his imposing build.
[Authority Soma unlocks, file 045.]
A screen flickered to life in front of me, displaying a file labeled with that name. I clicked on it, and suddenly, data flooded the screen—a rush of information pouring in all at once.
Underneath the faces of the two scientists, strings of letters appeared—names, I assumed. My eyes moved quickly from one to the other as I read aloud in my mind: "Ygg Alaman, Botanic Scientist. Drasil Alaman, Biochemist. Log October 31, 3110."
The file described these two as renowned scientists from the @#$%^ corporation who had mysteriously vanished. It stated that Scientist Zarhe would be continuing their final project, named Yggdrasil. The document urged immediate reporting to the @%#$^ Department if any information regarding their whereabouts surfaced, as per orders from @%#$^!
The file was lengthy, but much of the remaining text seemed less pressing. It detailed how Drasil had suffered a college accident, leaving him with a limp, and how Ygg had endured a chemical burn around her waist due to an intern mishandling a corrosive substance. I skimmed past these sections until a paragraph highlighted in red caught my attention.
"Just a year into this project, I made a groundbreaking discovery. I can't believe they managed to design a tree capable of self-sustaining across vast lands using pure energy waves and molecular reformation. This breakthrough might finally allow me to complete my own project—and possibly lead me to their whereabouts. But preparations are crucial. The last line of defense in the north failed to halt their advances."
The paragraph ended abruptly, but as I scrolled further, another red-highlighted note appeared.
"I failed to plant the seed in the intended location. I was being pursued by 'his' apostles and didn't have time to input the necessary data. I had no choice but to plant it next to the signal tower, hoping it would extract the data needed to grow. An unknown apostle saved me—unlike 'his' followers, this one appeared out of nowhere after I planted the seed and helped me escape. Yet, I can't shake the feeling I recognize that apostle, especially the way his legs move."
The note was signed by Zarhe.
And that was the end of the file. It was mostly a blend of a memorandum and a personal log, but those three sections were the parts that grabbed my full attention. The rest just detailed the potential of Project Yggdrasil.
At that moment, a memory surfaced. I remembered being on my way to see the signal tower with Dia. Then, suddenly, that tree had started pulling me in, and Dia—she just stood there, watching it happen.
Reading the file made things start to click. It wasn't hard to connect the dots. The tree was a byproduct of Project Yggdrasil, created by those two scientists—the couple—but the one who completed it was that man. And to make sense of my situation, the tree and the signal tower were connected—basically one entity—since the seed was planted near the tower to extract the data stored within it.
But a question lingered: why? Why had SAI mentioned the signal tower? Was the voice I heard connected to why all this was happening?
Just then, a sudden message popped up before me.
[Data extraction 50%. Please provide the necessary authorization to complete the file transfer.]
A blank panel appeared, asking for a password I didn't know. Before I could even think, my body moved on its own, fingers typing a word that felt strangely familiar.
[SIGHTSEER]
[Accepted]
The trance broke instantly, and countless bright holographic panels flooded my vision. New knowledge streamed into my mind like a torrent, waves of information drilling deep inside. A pounding headache came with it, but unlike other memories, this didn't cripple me as much. I curled up, pressing my hands against my head, trying to withstand the flood.
After a while, the massive upload settled, and two pieces of information stood out sharply.
The first was the internal structure of Yggdrasil. From the layout, millions of circuits inside the tree converged through a single core before distributing information across its countless cells. The strange phenomena ravaging the wasteland were caused by remnants of a god—the seed had been polluted by this presence, twisting everything around it. But there was hope: a potential solution involved creating a container around the seed's growth area to filter the stored data, forming a new seed that could be removed from its host.
The second piece of information detailed a robotic design intended to house and link with an Artificial Intelligence system, which I just skimmed through and didn't pay much of it.
[Extraction 90%]
The moment this new panel appeared, the previous data vanished, and my surroundings brightened unexpectedly. Right before me, a single tree materialized. It wasn't massive like Yggdrasil, but something about it stirred a deep sense of nostalgia within me. The vibrant green leaves and the rough, brown bark felt incredibly familiar—like a forgotten memory resurfacing.
I stepped forward, eager to reach it. But no matter how fast I moved—walking or running—the tree always stayed just out of reach. Something near it caught my attention. I tried to zoom in, but none of my usual functions responded. It was as if I was stripped down to something ordinary, and strangely, that felt comforting.
Squinting, I finally made out two distinct figures beside the tree. Though blurry, their presence made me smile.
The peaceful moment was shattered when a sudden notification from SAI appeared.
[Warning.]
A massive screen expanded before me, showing a scene I had nearly forgotten. Lying on the ground was Nuk, and next to him, another person—blonde hair, blue eyes, and a build strikingly similar to Nuk's. But what truly grabbed my attention was the sight of 'my' own body lying motionless.
For the first time in my life, fear gripped me—not just for myself, but for my friends.
"Friends? I can't believe I'm even thinking that word," I chuckled softly, reflecting on how little I understood before. Somehow, now I felt this connection, this feeling growing inside me.
At the back of my mind, I whispered, It might be slow, but it's there.
Panic bubbled up. "SAI, what's going on? Where am I?"
[Answering: This place is the network connection between the signal tower and your data input. Due to a sudden blockage when initially attempting to link, protocol required a direct connection between your 'Data Input' and the 'Network.']
"What? Didn't I tell you to inform me before doing these things?" I protested, trying to reason.
[Due to the sudden blockage of connection when first attempted to make a link—]
It repeated the same line. I sighed, frustration mounting.
"Just send me back," I snapped, knowing arguing was pointless.
[Within calculation. Please proceed rebooting. Permission required.]
"Just do it. When did you ever need my permission? Talking to you feels more frustrating than before. Is it just me, or have you started talking more?" I muttered, remembering how when I first used SAI—or when I met Nuk and Dia—it barely spoke more than a few words. Now, it seems different.
After a brief silence, a new panel appeared.
[UPDATE COMPLETE… SYSTEM REBOOTING.]
•••••••••