The sun has begun to set, but 11 hasn’t moved from her spot in the meadow. She sits with her back to the elevator, gazing out at the hills and rivers beyond.
“That answered nothing,” she complains to the grass and plants swaying all around her. “It’s like reading cheat sheets for a paper I didn’t even sign up for.” She plucks a star-shaped flower, tears off a petal, and lets it drift into the wind.
The methods behind the creation of God Giers have always been a secret known only by a select few. The reason for the secrecy is simple: it is to prevent these A.I. inhabited killing machines from somehow gaining the knowledge of their conception, and then using that information to self-replicate. If there is anything more destructive than a self-conscious android super-weapon, it is two.
However, it is still a widely known fact that the Mark II God Giers are created differently from their Mark I counterparts, though the reason behind that is classified to the highest degree. Perhaps it had been the strict time limit Eternal Heaven faced, or maybe it was an inevitable step in humanity's strive to perfect themselves and their creations. Regardless, anyone involved in the Soteria Protocol agrees that each individual Mark II God Gier is able to problem-solve according to their unique mental and psychological capabilities, almost as if these androids have personalities of their own, outlandish as that may sound.
Of course, in the end, an android is only that. And as such, God Gier 10’s message can be understood as an exaggerated expression of her individual variables, caused perhaps by internal injuries, or even an overlooked bug in her software.
Which is to say simply, she may have just been a faulty unit spouting gibberish in her final moments before going offline.
11 brings her knees up to her chest, feeling very alone. She knows that is not the truth, that there is something profound and deeply significant to 10's absurd and illogical message. But there is so little data to go on, and what data 11 does have is telling her she will certainly die a horrific and confusing death, before she even reaches the ripe old age of 20. So, the situation doesn’t look very peachy at all.
Sure, if 11 really wants to live, she can just sit here in this picturesque meadow, away from harm, for the next five centuries. It will be many years before she will even need to move, to eat something to fuel her Master Core, but she dismisses that thought almost as soon as it comes up.
Besides, Mother will probably send the rest of the eighty-nine God Giers after me if I did.
11 chuckles at the image. "That would definitely solve my loneliness, if nothing else."
As 11 amuses herself pondering the ridiculous, she realizes suddenly that the temperature has dropped considerably, and the sky has darkened. 11 places a palm against her chest, feeling the warmth of her Master Core radiate from inside her as it pumps out extra energy to combat the cold. “Mother,” she says softly, as if afraid the hills and trees might have ears to hear, “when I killed that Demonic Entity earlier, you know, the one that looked like a tiny, hairy spider-praying mantis? I think I felt… bad for it. Is something wrong with me?”
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The response from the God Gier's central command is immediate,
> It would seem so, as it is your purpose to exterminate Demonic Entities, regardless of their appearances. I will remind you again of the promise each God Gier has made.
>
> When thou passest through the waters of heaven and the fires of arcadia…
“There’s really no need, Mother, I know it well enough.” With a tired sigh, 11 leans back and tilts her head upwards, feeling the cooling breeze on her face.
And it is then that she sees the sky.
The setting sun burns bright gold from behind the distant peaks, setting the heavens ablaze with yellows and reds as if a bowl of cherries has been spilled from the table of the Gods. The snowy mountaintops glow deliciously orange in the dying light, so rich and gooey that 11 feels a strange urge to run a finger through it. She watches the celebrations of colors, eyes wide, and then something in Gier 10's message pops out to her.
“...it is such a harmonious symphony of light, 11, it’s something our creators have only seen in dreams...”
As the sun is absorbed by the mountains, the horizon bursts into a final sensation of vibrancy, a last rally against the rapidly approaching night. But even as the warmth is sucked away, a soulful, deep sapphire bleeds onto the cooling sky to take its place, setting the backdrop for a galaxy of twinkling lights as they blink into view. It is as if every star in the universe has come to display its brilliance on the vast stage of Earth’s sky. And the moon, its radiance soft and reassuring, rises center-stage for all to see.
11 lets out a long breath, not realizing she has been holding it. She doesn’t need access to the crippled database to know that this sky is young and primal, and has not been seen in the world that created her for a long time. "Maybe... the Reset wasn't such a-"
A flash of static cuts through her words, just in time for 11 to realize what she is saying. She clamps her mouth shut, and touches the Nanoblade by her waist for reassurance, as if to remind herself that she is also just a tool of metal and electricity.
Then, she gets an idea.
"...It does not matter how you choose to live, but you must leave as many people out of it as possible..."
Does that mean Gier 10 involved a lot of civilians in her life? And thus that led to her death? Wouldn't it be a logical conclusion to make, to say that if I followed in her footsteps, then I'll be able to draw the enemy to me?
And then, maybe... I might get some clues as to who that man is, and what I did to him.
11 stands, patting grass and flower petals off her legs. “Mother, where is the nearest Coffee shop?"
> I am unable to understand your request.
"Okay, how about the nearest Demonic Entity with Damage Output Levels of 70 and higher then?”
> I have located the closest Demonic Entity with D.O.L. 70 to be currently 20,449 kilometers north-east from your current position. Stand by for coordinates.
"Thanks, Mother," 11 says, and then goes through a thorough check of all her systems. She makes sure that her weapon is secured to her waist and her energy levels are optimal. She stretches, runs a final scan of her nanobot count, and after receiving the coordinates, sets a waypoint on her internal GPS.
Then, when everything is done and done again, she points her feet towards the direction of her first target and subsequently her new life in this new world, and for the briefest of moments, she thinks she might hesitate. But her foot lands onto the grass, one in front of the other, unhindered by doubt or fear. 11 surprises herself with her eagerness, but then realizes why.
A fire has been lit inside her, and try as she may, she will sooner die than sit in this meadow for any longer. Because God Gier or not, sentient or not, 11 has a purpose now, and pursuing it is so exciting and so undeniably human that she does not know why she has waited for so long.
“I'm on my way," she announces, even though she does not yet know to whom, and starts on the journey that will change the world, and her.