"Did you feel anything?"
Alexia stopped after a single tap, prompting Jenkins to ask.
"No... The sound was nice, and the tal is very hard. Does that count?"
That certainly wasn't the answer Jenkins was looking for. He took the wrench again, and this ti, without holding back, he struck the beautiful, hollow tal sphere with a natural swing.
Clang~
As the sound reverberated through the sealed underground cavern, a peculiar sensation once again stirred within Jenkins. He didn't just see more aspects of the machine; he saw gears shing in the void, saw bearings driving pistons, saw tal clasps locking and binding one another.
Clang~
Another clang, and this ti, it was as if a colossal chanical city had materialized before his eyes. Smokestacks belching black smoke towered into the sky above rust-colored earth, where gray, layered buildings stood firm. People shouted, and gears spun at high speed. The entire city seed built upon gears, or perhaps it was cobbled together from gears and screw rods itself.
Jenkins furrowed his brow and sniffed, unsure if he was seeing the future, the past, or rely a sudden hallucination.
Suppressing the tremor in his heart, he struck the sphere once more with the wrench in his hand, but this ti, though it made a sound, there was no reaction at all. The feeling was maddening, like a sneeze that builds but never cos, and he had to fight the overwhelming urge to strike the core again with all his might.
But with sheer will, he reined in the frantic irritation brewing within him.
A power was on the verge of erging, lacking only the final sliver of insight and clarity. He was keenly aware of the sensation, understood his own thoughts perfectly, but simply couldn't figure out what to do.
"The wrench has completed its repairs on . There is no need to strike again."
Hearing this, Jenkins, still holding B-10-5-7204 [chanical Repairer], fought back the urge to smash the thing in front of him. He held his breath and gave a stiff nod.
"You certainly are easy to repair."
"Indeed. This wrench is extrely potent,"
the chanical voice praised.
Jenkins suppressed his frustration, took a deep breath, and stroked Chocolate's little head before turning to Alexia.
"Do you have any broken, complex chanical devices that need fixing lately?"
"No."
Alexia shook her head, studying his expression.
"What's wrong? You have a strange look on your face, like you're trying to sneeze but can't."
She really was the one who knew him best.
"That's about right," he admitted. "It's fine. I have another complicated item to fix on Saturday. If that's not enough, I can always find sothing else. For now, let's question our newly repaired 'gentleman' here. I hope it can give a satisfactory answer."
According to the machine, the wrench's repairs had been crucial. While it hadn't fully restored the gear-bank area storing data on the "Reverser of Fate," it had managed to recover most of the content.
Of course, just as Jenkins had anticipated, the most vital information was still missing. But this wasn't so convenient coincidence of failed repairs—the machine simply never possessed that core data in the first place.
"First, it is certain that the core of the Reverser of Fate ritual is the black tal tower you ntioned. Furthermore, the number of floors in that tower must correspond to the number of Savior candidates. Savior, do you know how many Savior candidates there are in this epoch?"
"Nine."
There was no need to hide that fact.
"Then the black tower must have nine floors. The tower is a part of the machine underground. It is also the core component, reshaped after the machine modified its own structure—much like the tal altar you see before you."
"So you're saying its true core—the one that would destroy the main body underground if it were destroyed—is actually hidden inside the black tal tower?"
Jenkins asked imdiately. If that were the case, things would be much simpler. After attaining his divinity, he could just blast the city square district of Nolan into an abyss.
Of course, it would never be that simple.
"No, I do not believe it has only a single core. Moreover, while my knowledge of the most critical parts of the Reverser of Fate ritual is lacking, I find it hard to believe it would place its most vital component above ground,"
the chanical voice stated, then continued its explanation:
"According to my database, the Reverser of Fate ritual is a ceremony of imnse scale, encompassing ti, space, fate, and more. Its preparation requires at least a century and is not guaranteed to succeed. Depending on the objective, the application, arrangent, and manifestation of each ritual will differ."
The Star Spirit Rakul had ntioned this as well.
"Based on my calculations and the limited information in my database, I believe there is an eighty-three percent probability that you alone will have to face the ritual centered on that black tal tower."
"What do you an?"
"While we are calculating devices, our calculations have limits. Even it cannot precisely compute the future when too many variables are introduced. Since the human lady behind you is also proficient in mathematics, she should understand that when building a model, the more variables you introduce, the fuzzier the long-term projections beco. At a distant enough point on the ti coordinate, the model's predictions will diverge completely from reality."
"Yes, that's correct,"
Alexia affird.
Jenkins nodded. He understood this principle as well, and very clearly.
"Therefore, even after years of preparation and with confidence in its success, it would never abandon its greatest advantage: its computational power. In my observation model of the future, there is a very high probability that it will choose a closed environnt for its so-called 'duel' with you. By eliminating all other variables and leaving only you, it can deduce a future where it can win based on your behavioral patterns."
"So the black tal tower, the core of the ritual, will be the arena for our duel?"
"The probability is high, but I cannot give you a one-hundred-percent guarantee. Nothing is ever one hundred percent certain; this is a rule etched into my computational core. While my processing power cannot compare to the original intelligent machine deep underground, our operating models and calculation thods are the sa, without significant differences. I can deduce its course of action with a high degree of feasibility, but do not assu that everything I say is absolutely correct."
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