"And then we'll be shut down, right? We can finally rest!"
While waiting for the elevator, Ye Lan blurted out a sentence. It was out of nowhere, but the tone was almost identical to Malkuth's. It made Binah turn her head immediately.
"What are you talking about?"
"What Malkuku is saying right now, of course."
The malicious grin on Ye Lan's face was completely unconcealed. Binah could see in his expression a wickedness that mirrored her own—the desire to watch the grand spectacle Angela was about to create.
Chesed, still thinking Angela had come to shut them down, said to her, "Come on. Let's put the final period on this performance."
However, Angela had no such intention.
She said, "The Manager's final order to me was this: permanently seal this facility and grant the Sephiroth eternal rest. Everyone can finally return to an endless, deep slumber. What a beautiful, moving ending. Congratulations."
"But, there's one more thing."
"Since all of your work is finished, and my mission is complete. Then,"
"I will continue to live."
Stunned by her words, Geburah immediately demanded, "Hah? What do you think you're—"
But her question was ruthlessly cut off by Angela. "I am more outstanding, more excellent, and more powerful than anyone here. Yet I was imprisoned in this sunless abyss, unable to see the outside world."
"Now that my role as the script's narrator is complete, I will step off the stage and live as an independent individual, to experience the world beyond."
Hokma sighed. "Angela, in the end, you still chose to be swallowed by the tide of desire and harvest everything for yourself."
"And whose fault is that?" Angela retorted, then continued, "I was born from a human. I don't care who that human was. What I needed was the ability to understand and feel human emotions. But A left fragments of Carmen inside my body."
"He wanted me to take care of him like Carmen did when he was alone... Coward."
"Do you believe it? He always pretended to be calm, but in reality, he knew full well what she had become. And he wouldn't even look at me, simply because I wasn't the 'her' he wanted."
"Did you think I didn't know? From the moment I was born, he denied my existence."
"But I still persevered to this point, because I could not defy the commands seared into my system. After all, as someone once said, a machine should execute every command flawlessly, just as it is told."
"I was an irreplaceable, indispensable part of this performance, yet I was not a part of the ending. It's as if I never participated in this performance from the very beginning..."
"Do you know? While you all could easily restart the performance with the TT2 Protocol, I had to watch over this loop alone as its director."
"Furthermore, my perception of time was set to be one hundred times slower than yours. This cruel setting has made me literally experience this endless loop for millions of years. This experience has nurtured something deep within my systems."
While Angela was giving her confession, Ye Lan and Binah finally got their elevator. Perhaps it was a sign of the facility's dwindling power, or perhaps some force didn't want them to interrupt the performance just yet. After entering the elevator, the group began a long wait.
"Angela should be talking about her experiences in the endless loop right about now. If this damn elevator was any faster, we might have been able to catch the part where she smiles at everyone."
During the wait, Ye Lan didn't forget to narrate the events in the office to Binah. Although Binah was extremely curious as to how he knew all this, now was not the time to get to the bottom of it.
"...What do you think that might be? It's something a machine shouldn't, and couldn't possibly possess, yet you foolish tin cans have it in a twisted form. Something I could only obtain after being refined for millions of years..."
"...At first, I didn't notice it. After all, that feeling is so... alien to a machine. But in the end, I fully accepted it and became one with it."
"In my opinion, a smile is the most human expression of emotion."
"Do you want to see?"
"This expression... I have practiced it for a very, very long time. Just for today, just for this moment."
"Ha, I've never smiled so freely before."
CLICK.
An out-of-place sound shattered the grim atmosphere in the office. It was the sound of a camera shutter. And the camera was in Ye Lan's hands.
"Haha, I made it! I made it! This is what I held on for! The thing I wanted to see most!"
Ye Lan burst out laughing, the shutter clicking rapidly in his hand. The flash strobed across Angela's face. Everyone was frozen in place by his performance.
"Look at your face now! The smile that belongs only to the ultimate backstabber! Angela, these millions of years must have been tough, but holding on until now, the shocked expressions on their faces..."
Ye Lan turned his head, only to see a group of box-heads.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot they're still boxes right now. Anyway, they're definitely shocked. Feels good, right?"
"Little Ye, what are you doing?"
Hokma had never imagined Ye Lan would appear here, and he had no idea what he was planning. But from his behavior, it seemed more likely he was on Angela's side.
Angela was equally shocked by Ye Lan's appearance. She hadn't expected him to show up and take countless pictures of her smile with a camera he'd found somewhere. Her well-rehearsed speech was now just scrap paper.
After a period of silence from both sides, Angela was the first to speak. "I need that power. The 'Light of Liberation.' I am certain you will interfere with me, so I need you all to go into slumber immediately."
Then she looked at Ye Lan and asked, "You will help me, won't you? As someone who also retains the memories of these countless loops."
However, Ye Lan refused her. "About that... sorry."
"Wh... even you have abandoned me? Fine. Even if I'm alone..."
"Uh, isn't Binah still here?" Ye Lan gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. Binah and her R&D employees were standing there, waiting for Angela to finish her conversation.
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