"Deviations in divination are perfectly normal. If you're determined to save the world, your greatest opponent would undoubtedly have been '.' Before the separation, my plan was exhaustive. But I was tampered with during the split, so I no longer possess the data for the original plan. My records, however, still reflect my satisfaction with it.
Rember, no divination is perfect or absolutely correct. Don't fear the Difference Engine's computational and predictive abilities. It's more prone to error than any human."
Perhaps sensing Jenkins's unease regarding computational divination, the tallic bust offered this reassurance.
Jenkins nodded. The fact that the Difference Engine had yet to connect the "Saint of the Sage," the "Believers of Lies," and the "God of Lies" proved its intelligence and predictive power were not infallible. Still, he knew the secret couldn't last forever. With each confrontation, the day the Difference Engine discovered the truth drew closer.
"If I were to beco a Calamity, what would I need to do?"
He asked, but he had no intention of actually becoming a Calamity. The Jenkins of today was already on a path vastly different from his original destiny. While becoming a Calamity might be useful, he had no ti to stray from the road he had chosen. Ti was short; he had to press forward.
But that didn't stop him from considering the "path of the Calamity" as a reference. It might offer so inspiration.
"ow~"
The cat on his shoulder nodded, licking its paw, equally curious about the process.
"All the data... is in here."
The bust's hands lifted with excruciating slowness, then gently closed around the blue, filigreed tal sphere hovering in Jenkins's palm.
The blue light flared to a blinding intensity for a breathtaking mont before returning to its normal glow.
As the statue's hands slowly retracted, Jenkins noticed the tal had taken on a reddish tint—a clear sign of imnse heat.
"You've co too late. I believe the Difference Engine is already far along the path to becoming a Calamity. If you wish to beco a Calamity to fight a Calamity, then after I am gone, you must embed this tal sphere into your right breast... or your left, if your heart happens to be on the right.
Use your spirit to communicate with it, and make it your second heart. Your body will then slowly assimilate my core. My core and its are one and the sa; to assimilate mine is to assimilate the Difference Engine's. But because of your own independence, you will remain distinct, free from its control. As ti passes, you will both evolve into Calamities. Your task, besides waiting, will be to hasten the apocalypse and compete for the title.
It's rather late for this now, but there's still a chance of success... You've arrived, but truly, far too late."
It didn't sound hopeful, but it laid out the original plan nonetheless.
"And if I'm not willing to beco a Calamity? What if I only want your knowledge?"
"That's simpler still. After I'm gone, just stimulate the core with your spirit. It will project the knowledge contained within. Think of it as a very thick book to browse. It won't be difficult."
Jenkins nearly blurted out, "So, when are you going to die?" But the entity was genuinely helping him, and he couldn't bring himself to be so crude and disrespectful.
He looked up, about to ask if the "single structural flaw" of the Difference Engine, which Miss Windsor had ntioned, also existed in the real world. But then he noticed the searing heat from the tallic bust. The base had begun to lt, and the male torso itself was glowing red, seemingly on the verge of liquefying.
"What's happening to you?"
"I am reaching my end."
"But you said you had a week..."
"That was if I did nothing, lingering on in a near-dormant state. Now... my ti is up."
The conversation with Jenkins, and the final effort to transfer all its data into the azure, filigreed core, had pushed it over the brink.
Even with his [chanist] ability, Jenkins couldn't possibly repair a machine this complex and so severely damaged.
He could only watch, helpless, as the statue lted away, but he received two final pieces of advice:
"Redemptor, you must lead humanity to survival. Humans... can coexist with machines. They can... Don't fear the Difference Engine; it's no more powerful than the Calamities of past epochs. I can sense it... it has appeared nearby. When you're finished here, you must avoid it. It is..."
It never finished naming the location. The entire statue dissolved into molten tal, forcing Jenkins to back away.
He stared in astonishnt, then glanced down at the hollow, blue-glowing sphere hovering over his palm. Through his Eye of Reality, the spiritual aura of the machine had vanished. Aside from the residual spirit within the core, not a single trace remained of the entity he had just been speaking with.
"Just like that... it's gone?"
The entity had seed sincere in its desire to help, but just as it had said, Jenkins had arrived far too late. If he could have, he would have repaired it. It would have been the right thing to do, both logically and emotionally. But it was too late. He wasn't the original Jenkins, the one ant to walk the path of the Calamity to save the world. As a result, he hadn't fully received the gift of destiny that had been prepared for his other self.
"As for this..."
He looked again at the beautiful sphere in his palm. It was about the sa size as the beads Chocolate liked to play with, but the cat seed surprisingly uninterested.
Jenkins carefully tucked the filigreed tal sphere into his pocket. Using his [Ice Solidification] ability, he cooled the pool of molten tal, reshaping it into a simple tal stele in the center of the workshop. Only then did he leave. There were no other valuable clues to be found here.
Still, the trip had been more than worth it. He now understood what was supposed to have happened and had gained a wealth of new knowledge. As for the bust's final warning about the Difference Engine's proximity, Jenkins left the manor and stepped into the courtyard, gazing up at a gloomy sky that threatened rain.
"Why would the Difference Engine suddenly surface?" he wondered. "Even the final battle was supposed to take place near the central tower in Nolan. Could it be after this treasure as well? No, it couldn't be that simple."
The only unresolved incident in Nolan's eastern suburbs was the matter of Mr. Bernoulli, the demigod the Sage Church had sent to Bextor Town.
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