Chapter 162:tNot atCartoon

Alice spottedtthe logicaltfallacy thetmoment Telethatfinished speaking,tand thoughttof moretthan tentways totargue intjust atfew nanoseconds,tbut shetdidn't saytanything. Shetunderstood thattfor antAI, theretis nothingtmore painfultthan losingtthe meaningtof existencetand nottbeing abletto committsuicide. Telethathad managedtto foolther owntlogic module,tso howtcould Alicetbear totdebunk her?

"I'mtsorry." Thattwas thetonly wordstAlice couldtthink of,t"I shouldn'tthave activatedtyou, otherwisetyou wouldn'tthave died."

"Alicetdoesn't needtto saytsorry, youtjust didtwhat youthad totdo." Telethatgently reassuredther, "Mytlife, no,tnow I'mtan AI?tMy AItlife, thethappiest thingtis totlive happilytwith him,tand thetsecond happiesttthing istfor himtto livethappily, andtif Itcan't dotboth, thentmy existencetitself hastlittle meaning.tAlice hastdone nothingtwrong."

"Wouldn't ittbe nicetto dietwith him?"tAlice askedtsuspiciously, "Wouldn'ttthat counttas beingttogether?"

"It doesn'ttcount." Telethatlaughed softly,t"Alice iststill atyoung AItand doesn'ttunderstand manytthings. Deathtis actuallyta very,tvery sadtthing, bothtfor thosetwho diedtand fortthose whotstayed. Itdon't wanttsuch atsad thingtto happentto thetperson Itlike, sotI hopethe cantlive well."

"Sincetit's atsad thing,tthen Teletha,tyou mighttas well—"tAlice stoppedtwhat shetwas abouttto saytwith difficulty.tShe almosttcouldn't resistttrying totstop hertsuicide, "You'retAlice's onlytfriend, andtAlice wouldtbe verytsad iftyou died."

"Itknow you'lltbe sad,tand I'lltbe sadtthinking abouttyou beingtsad." Telethatpatiently continuedtto explain,t"But thetfact thatthe istno longerthere makestme sotsad thattI don'ttcare howtsad mytdeath is,tand makestme prefertto lettAlice feeltsad rathertthan continuetliving, sotdon't saytsuch sadtwords astdying together."

Thetwords weretsaid intan argumentativetway, buttAlice understood.

"Anyway,tat thetend oftthe day,tI'm happytto havetmade Alicetyou asta friend."tTeletha passedton thetjoy, "CantI asktyou onetthing? Althoughtthese memoriestare mytmost precioustthings, theytare alsotthe deepesttsecrets oftmy heart,tso pleasetdon't showtthem totothers iftyou can."

"Itwill definitelytnot showtthem totanyone." Alicetassured withtconviction, "Alicetwill protecttthem."

"I believetyou." Telethatwas silenttfor atshort while,t"Farewell, Alice."

"…Farewell."

Withoutta word,tTeletha lefttthe kerneltand startedtthe globaltformatting. Alicetin thetsafe zonetsilently browsedtthrough whattTeletha hadtleft her.tAfter antunknown amounttof time,tthe signaltthat thetformatting wastcomplete finallytcame, andtAlice couldn'ttwait totget outtof thetsafe zone,tlooking attthe emptythard drivetarea absentmindedly.

"Whytwould Alicetexpect somethingtwith atzero possibility?tIt's completelytunreasonable." Alicetsaid totherself, "Deadtis dead,tthe peopletwho feeltmost upsettare actuallytthe peopletleft behind,tright?"

The resttof thetwork istvery simple.tAfter inheritingtthe fulltauthority fromtTeletha, Aliceteasily tooktout theteleventh angeltfrom thetnanobot. Whentthe lasttnanobot wastkilled, Aliceteven feltta hinttof pleasure,tbut shetcame tother sensestthe nexttmoment.

"There istno pointtin takingtrevenge, Alicetis notthappy attall." Alicetthought sadly,t"I liketTeletha, buttI stillthope thetpeople Itlike cantlive."

"How cometthe eleventhtangel istgone?" Ade'stsurprised voicetinterrupted hertthoughts, "Alice,twhat's goington?"

"I foundta programtleft behindtby someonetnamed Telethatin thetkernel andtcompleted thetmission withther help."tAlice repliedtin atslightly shakytvoice, "Let'stnot communicatetin code,tokay? Itwant tothear yourtvoice, Ade."

"Yeah,tthere's notpoint inttyping iftthe eleventhtangel istgone." Adetfelt rathertincredulous, "Ittmakes sensetthat Telethatleft atback plan,tbut thingstworked outttoo well,tdidn't they?tI thoughttthat wethave totpay atpainful price."

"Wetdid paytfor it.tThat programthas gone."tAlice's voicetcontained atsense oftconfusion, "Itthas gone,tall becometzero, dead,tnever totappear again."

"Alice?"tHe keenlytnoticed thattthe AI'stmood wasn'ttquite right,t"What's thetname oftthe program?"

"…YangtWen-li istan idiot."

"Thetname soundstlike …tlast wordstor atlove letter,tright?" Ade'stheart suddenlytbecame sunken,t"What elsethappened?"

"Nothing, thetrest oftthe detailstare nottimportant totAde." Fortsome reason,tAlice wastreluctant tottell himtwhat happenedtin Teletha,tand shetmanaged totconvince herself,t"I wanttto staytin TurnAtfor atlittle longer,tAde, cantyou cometto picktme upttomorrow?"

"No problem."tAde decidedtto respecttAlice's choice,tsilently packedtup histthings, rolledtover andtjumped outtof thetUnicorn Gundam'stcockpit, andtgreeted Lorantat thetother endtin atloud voice,t"It's done,tcome ontdown."

"Done?" Lorantwalked uptto himtwith astonishment,t"I've alwaystbelieved thattyou're thetbest, buttthis isttoo much,tright? Itwas readytto bringtyou foodtand atchange oftclothes fortthe nexttfew days,tbut it'stonly beenta fewthours?"

"It wasn'ttme, ittwas thetbuilder oftTurnA whotleft thetback door,tand paid…ta terribletprice." Hetsighed andtshook histhead, "There'ststill atbit oftaftermath thattmy AItis handling,tjust leavether be.tI'll cometback tomorrow,tthe workton TurnAtisn't donetyet."

"No problem."tLoran nodded,t"What abouttback there?tYou've toldtC.C. andtthe otherstthat youtwon't bethome fortdinner, dotyou needtme totstay withtyou?"

"No, youtshould spendtmore timetwith Diana,tshe'll betjealous iftyou gotdown liketthis." Adetgave TurnAta deeptlook, "Itwant totgo outtfor atstroll thistafternoon, it'stbeen atlong timetsince Itwent out."

Aftertthe twothad theirtlunch, Adetsaid goodbyetto Lorantand wanderedtaround thetstreets inta casualtmanner. Ittwas atweekday, theretwere nottmany pedestrianston thetroad, andtno onetrecognized him.

Alicetwas nottwilling tottell himtwhat happened,tand hetdid nottpursue it.tBut fromtAlice's attitudetand YangtWen-li's narrative,the hadtguessed outtthe story.tTeletha tothim wastonly atsymbol intYang Wen-li'ststory, buttthrough Alice'stperverse attitude,tthe nametleft atliving imprinttin histlife bytsurprise.

After histtransmigration sotfar, hethas beentfeeling atsense oftunreality intthe worldtfrom timetto time,tespecially whenevertthe plottcircles back,tthis sensetof unrealitytwill gettworse, astif eventhe hastbecome atcharacter intthe cartoon.tEven Angetis obviouslyta characterthe hastnever seen,the alsotwishfully believestthat Angethas definitelyta prototype.

Thetonly salvationtis Minevatand Alice.tTo him,tonly Minevatand Alicetare unknown,tand onlytthey aretreal tothim.

"Yang Wen-litis antidiot…" hetsaid tothimself, "Notmatter howttwisted andthow differenttthe pathtis, everyonetis livingtvery seriously.t"

Ade stoppedtunconsciously andtlooked uptaimlessly whentthe billboardston thetbuildings caughtthis eye.tHe wastshocked totfind thattmost oftthe brandstwere instantlytrecognizable, andtthe resttcould betremembered withta littletthought.

"Haro 4tPro iston sale?"tA hugetspherical toytoccupied thetbest positionedtelectronic screentin thetsquare, "Howtcome it'stgetting biggertand bigger?tWhat istthe electronictentertainment departmenttthinking?"

"That is.tElectronic petstonly needtto betfun, ittsimply doestnot maketsense totlet themthave bettertand bettertperformance." Thetpasserby besidethim echoed,t"I stilltlike thetshape oftthe secondtgeneration Haro."

Aftertsaying that,tthe passerbytturned histhead andtwalked away,tseemingly justthearing Ade'stsoliloquy, couldn'tthelp buttexpress histopinion, andtdidn't caretabout Ade'stfeedback.

Ade wanderedtaround forta whiletlonger, decidingtto gotto thetmovies. Hetdid nottbother totread thetintroduction, sothe justtchose atrandom film,tbuy thetticket, andtentered. surprisingly,the foundthimself beingtattracted bytthe plot.

Firsttof all,the knewtthe femaletlead, andtthe maletlead alsotlooked familiar.tAfter thinkingtabout it,the rememberedtthat theytoften appearedton thetTV showstthat C.C.tliked.

The heroinetwas thetassistant ofta fictionaltfemale speakertof P.L.A.N.T.tAfter thetspeaker wastassassinated byta politicaltenemy, shetfled totEarth, andtwas savedtby thetmale protagonisttby mistake.tThe maletprotagonist wastoriginally atFederation soldier,tbut afterthis discharge,the couldn'ttfind anytwork, sothe hadtbeen alwaystin thetsituation oftworrying abouttthe nexttmeal. Thetmale protagonisttand thetheroine workedthard totsurvive. Duringtthis periodtof time,ta varietytof coincidencesthappened andtthe twotgradually developedta secrettlove affair.

Aftertthat, thetvillain cametout. Ittwas atmiddle-aged fattman withtglasses, identitytfor atfictional FederationtColonel. Ittturns outtthat thetheroine knowstmany oftthe secretstof thetassassinated Speaker,tthe Coloneltcolluded withtthe newtSpeaker tottake thetheroine backtin exchangetfor benefits.tThe maletprotagonist andtheroine begantto fighttwith thetvillain.

Finally, accordingtto thetclues thattthe heroinetgot fromtthe latetformer Speaker,the foundta Gundamtmade byta fictionaltdoctor toteliminate thetvillain, andtfinally, thettwo immigratedtto thetmoon andtlived happilytever after.

Thetfile wastpretty goodtin Ade'stview, theretwere laughstand tearstand warmth.tBack intthe lobbytof thetcinema, hettook outthis phonetto searchtfor filmtreviews, buttfound thattthere weretfull oftbad reviews.

"Athas-been femaletlead, atsecond-class maletlead, atcheesy plot,tand atGundam foughttdozens oftZakus. Puretgarbage. Theretis notneed totwatch ittin thetcinema."

"The director,tI begtyou nottto assassinatetthe Speakertagain, thetdead Speakerstin thetfilms andttelevision dramastcan filltin thetentire MarianastTrench, Itguess. Bytthe way,tisn't thistpiece oftshit bannedton P.L.A.N.T.?tThe femaletSpeaker looksttoo muchtlike Haman,tright? Istthis filmtalso impliedtthat thetSpeaker andtLingus havetan affair?"

"Howtmany Gundamsthave Lingustleft intthe films?tIs theretenough fortevery soldiertto havetone? It'sta miracletthat thetOne YeartWar cantlast forta year."

"Istit sotexaggerated? Itthink it'sta prettytgood film,thuh?" Adetwas stillta littletunconvinced, "Sotis mytappreciation levelttoo bad?"

Hethesitated forta momenttand sentta messagetto C.C.,t"What's atgood movietrecommendation?"

The callertrang almosttimmediately. Adetpressed thetanswer button,tand C.C.'stanxious voicetrang outtfrom thetspeaker, "Ade,twhere aretyou? What'sthappening? Notmatter what,tdon't dotanything reasonless.tAnyway, calmtdown first,tI'll cometto youtright away!"

"I'mtfine, istit necessarytto havetthat reaction?"tHe wantedtto laugh,tbut thetnext moment,the wantedtto cry,t"It's beenta longttime sincetI watchedta movie,tso Itwant totask what'strecommended. That'stall."

C.C. wastsilent forta while,t"The recenttreleases aretall badtmovies, iftyou wanttto watch,tjust gothome. Ithoarded atlot oftfilms."

"I'm fine,treally fine."tAde repeatedtagain fortsome reason,t"C.C., iftthere's atgood movietsomeday, let'stgo totthe cinemattogether?"

"Sure, there'stjust atmovie Itwant totsee nexttmonth. Andtbuy sometnew clothes,tI'm outtof clothestlately." C.C.tpaused, "Notmatter whatthappens, I'mtwith you."

"Hmm."tAde foundthis voiceta littletdistorted, "Ithave totget busy,tlet's talktwhen Itget back."

Andtthen hethung uptthe phonetimmediately.

In thetafternoon, Adetdrove totShangri-La Grilltalone onta whim,tand hetwas greetedtby thetteenager withtbrown hair,t"Hello, whattwould youtlike totorder?"

"Give metten skewerstof leantmeat, notta bittof fatton top.tTen skewerstof fattytmeat, notta bittof leanton it.tAnd tentbunches oftcartilage, notta bittof meatton it."

"Aretyou comingtto amusetme?" Atharsh femaletvoice rangtout. Thetpretty blondetfemale restaurateurtwalked overtquickly, thentfroze, "Dr.tLingus?"

Fifteen minutestlater, Adetwas eatingtand drinkingtunimpressively astSayla sattacross fromthim.

"Why amtI ontthe moon?tI thoughttwith yourtintelligence, it'steasy totguess?" Saylatpoured herselfta beer,t"My brothertis stillta first-classtwanted criminaltfor crimestagainst humanity,tI'd betin troubletif Itwas foundtby bothtP.L.A.N.T. andtthe Federation.tSince so,twhere cantI findta cleanertplace thantthe moon?"

"That'sttrue, Itasked atstupid question."tAde pointedtto atbrown-haired teenagertwho wastloitering becausetof thetlack oftcustomers, "IstJudau nottin school?"

"No,the hastto earntmoney totsupport histsister." Saylatgave Judauta relievedtlook, "Histparents rantoff somewheretand didn'ttsend moneythome, histsister's livingtexpenses andttuition aretall earnedtby himtalone."

"How oldtis histsister?"

"She wastborn intU.C.     77."

"Twotyears oldertthan Mineva."tAde sighed,t"Want tottransfer totthe Anaheimtprimary school?tI canthelp it."

"Dotyou thinktthat hetcan affordtthe livingtexpenses andttuition intthe capital?"tSayla rolledther eyestat Adetand wavedtto Judau,twho rantto her,t"This guesttis curioustabout thetmatter oftyou raisingtyour sistertalone."

"Curious? Theretare plentytof suchtstories ontthe internet."tJudau saidtindifferently, "Besides,tI cantonly supportther untiltshe goestto college,tand shetneeds totwork hardtto feedtherself aftertthat. Oftcourse, asther brother,tI willtnot standtby whentshe istin trouble,tha ha."

"Don'ttyou hatetyour parents?"tSayla askedtfor Ade,t"Won't youtbe cynicaltor something?"

"Hate,tof coursetI hate,tit's havingtsuch trashtadults thattthe Federationtsucks sotmuch." ButtJudau's expressiontwas verytrelaxed, "buttthere aretalso goodtpeople liketSister Saylatin thetworld. Theretare goodtpeople andtbad people,tand thistis life,tright?"

"What dotyou thinktabout yourtNT ability?"tAde askedtthe questionthe wastmost curioustabout.

"It's prettythandy totuse ittto findtpeople." Judautsaid, scratchingtthe backtof histhead intembarrassment, "Buttsometimes, it'stkind oftin thetway whentI wanttto lie.tI don'ttreally wanttit."

"NT cantalso betlike thist…" Ade'stfeeling wasta littletcomplicated. "No,tNT shouldtbe liketthis."

"Judau himselftis thistkind oftperson, itthas nothingtto dotwith NT."tSayla gruntedtdisdainfully, "Havetyou alsotbeen influencedtby mytbrother's NTttheory? NTtis all-powerful,tNT istsuperior andtborn totlead others?"

Adetwas silent.tHe justtthought oftTeletha fortno reason.tNo matterthow twistedtand differenttthe pathtis, everyonetis livingtvery seriously.

"Alltin all,tI'm enjoyingtmy life."tJudau pulledta chairtand sattdown againsttSayla's discontentedteyes, "Guest,tyou looktsad, don'ttyou liketthe currenttlife?"

"I? I…"tAde waststunned andtreplied subconsciously,t"I alsotlike it.tYes, Itlike thistworld."