The more he thought about the Difference Engine, the more a chill crept down his spine. Unable to dwell on it any longer, he turned to the fairy and asked directly:
"Does it have a soul? Does that machine have a soul?"
"No. If it possessed a soul, its imnse computational power wouldn't have caused it to spiral out of control. It is without order, chaotic, yet it still adheres to its own set of computational rules. I cannot say what rules the long ages have instilled in it, but I do know this: each ti the ancient peoples discovered and utilized it, the machine was able to draw upon human civilization to upgrade itself."
This made perfect sense to Jenkins. If the Difference Engine sealed away long ago was version 1.0, then after countless civilizations had refined it, it might well be on version 16.0 by now.
"Then..."
"I cannot answer questions concerning the End of the Era. It is the most fundantal of rules. Even now that I have achieved selfhood, I cannot circumvent it. I apologize..."
The fairy retrieved her paper, her eyes widening as she looked at Jenkins:
"The future has not yet arrived. Even I am not certain if the thing buried beneath us is truly the final calamity. After all, the unnatural fog surrounding this city also holds such potential. You must understand that while fate may have already written everything, the future only has a direction, not details."
Having said this, she continued in a tone filled with eager anticipation:
"So, what kind of knowledge would you like to exchange with ?"
Jenkins had a wealth of knowledge from another world to offer, but the fairy was unable to answer most of his questions. To his greatest disappointnt, she refused to reveal any information about the Williams family, claiming the secret was tied to a great being and that speaking of it would an her certain demise.
But the book fairy, born from a fragnt of the [Book of All Things], possessed far more than just that knowledge. Ultimately, Jenkins shared so of his mories regarding 'Das Kapital,' and in return, the fairy offered him a chance to gain another blank ability bubble.
It was located in a valley near the city of Ruen. Beneath a certain pool of water lay a hidden space containing what Jenkins desired.
"I do not lie."
The fairy seed to realize that the truth of her information couldn't be verified imdiately, and worried that Jenkins might harbor doubts, so she raised her finger as if taking an oath.
Jenkins trusted her and didn't press the matter. Before she departed, however, he asked how he might contact her again, thinking he might need her help in the future.
"I'm afraid not, sir. We cannot et again until you face the final calamity. I am forbidden from interfering with the present; I can only record it. Our conversation today has already broken the rules..."
She struggled to sling the sheet of paper onto her back, so Jenkins offered her a length of yarn.
"But after that... may I follow you?"
she asked with a smile.
"Follow ?"
"Yes, after it is all over. I wish to remain by your side. I want to understand the knowledge you possess, and I am willing to contribute all that I am to you."
She bowed to Jenkins in mid-air:
"Thank you again for helping understand who I truly am. Farewell, sir. I wish you success in your great endeavor on the final day. Oh, and... your next objective is related to [Disaster]. Heh, I didn't say a thing! I look forward to our next eting. Goodbye, sir."
With those words, she quickly dissolved into motes of light and vanished. The lingering specks of light eventually drifted into Jenkins's body. The point of light representing his [Psychography] ability flickered, but underwent no fundantal change.
"Am I really that popular?"
He mused, touching his cheek. In his heart, he prayed that, just as the fairy wished, he would successfully navigate the final day.
Since he'd acquired [The Stranger] in his own basent, it stood to reason that the Doomsday Docunt would also be sowhere nearby.
After the book fairy departed, Jenkins scanned his surroundings, but he couldn't see the spiritual aura that would mark the stone slate.
"Let think," he muttered. "Every ti I've found a Doomsday Slate, it's been near the location where I acquired a Savior ability. There's never been an exception... so the slate must be sowhere near the basent. Hmm..."
A new idea struck him. He left the basent, went back up to the first floor, and then entered the basent again from the other side of the house.
That's right—Jenkins's house had two basents. The building he now occupied was actually two houses combined into one. A few months prior, while he and the girls were away on holiday at that ill-fated, snowbound manor, the two empty houses had been joined together.
The two original basents, however, had not been combined. The widow's cellar was filled with traces of strange rituals—preparations made to aid the birth of an Evil God's Scion. After that incident concluded, the Church had excavated a number of strange objects from the site.
The remnants of those rituals were difficult to erase quickly, so for safety's sake, the basent on the side of the widow's forr house had been temporarily sealed. The Church had instructed Jenkins to wait for the twisted spirits within to dissipate before unsealing it.
This was why, before the scion incident, Jenkins had been too weak to see the ritual auras. Now, in the aftermath, the spiritual energies in the basent were so mottled and chaotic that he couldn't distinguish their individual characteristics.
"Aha!"
he exclaid, turning the key in the lock of the iron door. But after he fumbled for the gas lamp switch on the wall and a fla flickered to life, he saw no sign of the slate standing obediently in the center of the cellar, waiting for him.
Building materials and a large cauldron were piled in a corner. The walls and ceiling were plastered with slips of paper inscribed with the Sage's proverbs. These notes, combined with sealing rituals on the walls themselves, served to confine the eerie spirits to the basent. While the spirits couldn't affect Jenkins, his cat and the neighbors were ordinary beings, and these asures had been put in place for their protection.
"Let take a guess..."
He shut the door, then rapped his knuckles against the wall, but found nothing. He walked over to the pile of building materials in the corner. A monocle materialized over his eye, enabling him to better observe the spiritual auras.
"Just as I thought."
With a wave of his hand, a sheet of fire crashed down on the planks and stones, burning a large hole through the pile. The ancient slate lay amidst the heap of rocks. In the flickering firelight, the characters etched upon its surface seed to shimr.
And just as always, the mont he laid eyes on the slate, he began to read aloud, the words spilling from his lips uncontrollably.
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