In reality, Abattouy froze upon reading Tighnari's words. Had I really not noticed?
Karkata's core tilted as if cocking its head, looking at Abattouy: "Gurgle gurgle?"
In real life, he had received funding from Lucian, so he was even more eager to produce results—to prove himself and to justify the backer's faith in him.
That urgency to prove himself seemed to have truly caused him to overlook certain things around him.
Meanwhile, in the story, the "friend" that Abattouy had failed to calmly observe was now observing him in his "deep slumber."
The Traveler and Tighnari shut down the device. When they returned, they found Karkata in front of Abattouy.
In the illustration, Karkata cautiously extended its small mechanical claw to touch Abattouy. In its claw it held a mechanical part.
It placed the part here and there, unsure where it should go. When its "hand" released, the part slid off Abattouy's body.
Karkata seemed startled. In a slight panic, it carefully cradled the part with both small claws and placed it back on Abattouy—over his heart.
Abattouy still showed no reaction.
"I replaced them with new parts. You're fine now."
Karkata looked at Abattouy. Why wasn't it working? With new parts, shouldn't he be fine?
Was it not enough? No problem—I collected a lot! So many!
Karkata brought out one mechanical part after another—all the ones it had gathered. It placed them one by one on Abattouy, hoping only that he would wake up.
Yet the piled parts scattered powerlessly. They seemed unable to "support" the weight of life.
Karkata nudged Abattouy. Still no reaction.
"Even if one day I'm gone, you wouldn't notice anything different, right?"
Karkata realized—its master was gone.
In the illustration, Karkata's core trembled, sparks flying like collapsing tears.
At a loss, Karkata curled up like a wronged child, electric light flickering like tears.
Life is born from "crying." Does a machine that can "shed tears" also count as life?
"Even just once—I really wish you could speak to me…"
Abattouy wept. He had thought his life was a haphazard one—unnoticed by anyone, meaningless.
But he was wrong. He had succeeded. Those parts that could not sustain life had been pieced together by him into a "life"!
This scene overwhelmed readers emotionally. The more sensitive ones were already in tears—especially those with children or pets at home.
Karkata's "crying" was devastating. The moment readers saw the electric sparks flashing at its core in the illustration, they instantly understood: these were "tears."
Thinking that Karkata's own parts were already worn and old, yet it still gave them all to Abattouy—readers' tears fell like leaves unable to bear the rain.
The above is Nahida's metaphor.
As for Nahida herself, her mood was also very low.
This was fascinating knowledge. This was a sorrowful story. This was why Nahida loved humans.
Curiosity deserves praise.
Scaramouche's emotions seemed unchanged. He pressed his hat down and continued reading.
This "mechanical life" had already had a heart from the moment of its birth, yet he had kept searching for the heart that was already there.
He was a wanderer who had passed away—no path ahead, no place to return to, merely a drifting leaf in the world—a farewell from the "deceased" to the world.
Fischl stroked Oz. His feathers were soft, with a slight tingling sensation. She was glad Oz could speak.
Though Oz often undermined her, she couldn't imagine what she would do without him.
As a child, she had been just like Abattouy—dreaming of hearing "them" speak.
She heard no response, yet she continued building her dream realm until one day Oz flew out from her "dream."
Fischl heard her "dream"—they were speaking. What they said no longer mattered.
Faruzan buried her face in the book. The strong senior didn't want others to see her sadness.
She simply couldn't handle this kind of story—because a certain prophet had once taken her to find a small machine searching for its owner.
How could Faruzan resist the sorrow this story brought?
Faruzan suddenly understood why they wanted to beat Lucian.
Why make the story so moving! It clearly makes you cry, yet I can't stop reading!
And such a story naturally wouldn't lack sad Furina. Little Furina's eyes had turned into "wave patterns"—a single blink would squeeze out tears.
Lucian, come find me quickly! Please, let me kick you once. Woo woo woo—I'll do anything.
Furina was heartbroken. Earlier, Lucian had tricked her, saying this book was about "creating life," an adult book, claiming she couldn't handle it.
Furina refused to accept it. What do you mean adult content? I'm almost five hundred years old—don't treat me like a child!
Yet for "adult content," Furina still hesitated. After a long internal struggle, she started reading—only to find she couldn't win even with all her strength.
Lucian was right—she really couldn't handle it! Woo woo woo~
The story wasn't actually over yet; there was still a little explosive final blow.
Tighnari and the Traveler analyzed Karkata's behavior. It probably couldn't understand "death."
Simply because in the past, when it malfunctioned, Abattouy had repaired it this way—so it searched for parts, wanting to "fix" Abattouy.
But how could a human be repaired with such things? Karkata's actions were doomed to be futile.
Yet precisely because they were futile, everything held meaning.
[Tighnari: "What matters is that it formed the thought 'I want to fix Abattouy.'"]
["No one knows how this thought emerged, but the thought itself even overrode the 'instinct' Abattouy had programmed into it."]
["If our guess is correct, this truly is research that could shock the Akademiya."]
Just like androids—only when they break "directives" to do what they want are they truly "life."
Abattouy's experiment had only partially succeeded, but even that partial success was already a major advancement in human technology.
Mechanical life—ancient technology had once achieved it, but that was Khaenri'ah. Even Ei had referenced that era's technology to create her "puppet."
Abattouy had taken this step relying entirely on modern technology—on human wisdom.
The nation of wisdom, under Akademiya rule, could not tolerate wisdom, yet there would always be believers in "wisdom" who refused to yield to the "unknowable."
It can be unknown, but it must not be unknowable.
===✧✦✧===
Character Voice · Albedo: About Vulpes Zerda Chapter
"…A very good story. Though I'm not skilled in mechanical engineering, I really do want to learn more about Karkata."