Chapter 94: Aerial Banquet Hall (3)
Applause poured in from all sides.
Ophelia, having finished her performance, offered a greeting toward the audience with a grace unmatched by anyone else.
‘So this was the life of a popular singer.’
Diesel, synchronized with Ophelia, was viewing the world through her eyes.
Standing at the center of dazzling lights felt unreal, as if I were dreaming.
‘I never thought I’d be able to hack this perfectly.’
Ar’s hacking was, quite literally, flawless.
Strictly speaking, rather than hacking, it was the result of applying the Andromancer’s ‘ssenger Possession’, but in the sense that it allowed peeking into the other party, it was no different from hacking.
If there was one major difference, it was that there was one additional type of information that could be obtained through the connection.
‘This isn’t hacking that just acquires sensory data.’
Not only sensations, but even a portion of the other party’s emotions could be felt.
In a way, it felt similar to when I perford ‘ntal transference’ with an otherworldly spirit.
Why did an android give off the feeling of a spirit, anyway?
Perhaps it was because Ophelia was a half-android who had co to possess sothing called an ‘ego’.
‘This part seed to require a bit more research.’
“Thank you!”
The applause and cheers showed no sign of ending.
The audience stared at the figure on stage—as in, Ophelia—as if bewitched.
Among them, I spotted a single man in the VIP seating.
‘…….’
The host of this banquet.
Edwin Silver, an executive of the gacorporation ‘Royal Spirit’.
He gazed at Ophelia with eyes so full of affection that it made wonder if such an expression was even possible.
‘He must be quite the fan.’
Eyes like a father looking at his youngest daughter.
Ophelia t Edwin Silver’s gaze.
Along with that, a certain emotion was felt.
‘Mm…….’
Disgust.
Although Ophelia was wearing a beautiful smile toward Edwin, deep within her, an intense disgust had taken root.
‘What? Why was the emotion this extre…….’
Had she experienced sothing bad at the hands of a gacorp executive in the past?
Unable to read even this half-android’s thoughts, Diesel silently watched what would happen next.
“You need to move to the private room imdiately.”
As soon as she ca down from the stage, soone who looked like her manager approached and spoke.
At that, Ophelia let out a weary sigh.
“Haah……. You’re not even giving ti to rest?”
“It can’t be helped because of the schedule. If you’d like, perhaps a refresh program…….”
“No thanks. What am I, so kind of android?”
“…….”
“Bring a glass of water.”
‘Her usual personality’s completely different.’
Seeing her prim, completely different deanor from when she faced the audience, Diesel clicked his tongue.
‘This might actually sell for a lot if I recorded it.’
While thinking that, I suddenly beca curious about what kind of place this ‘private room’ she was heading to was.
‘She’s not doing anything weird with Edwin, is she?’
Right now, Diesel was in a state of sharing all the sensations Ophelia felt.
A rather horrifying image briefly ca to mind, but fortunately, nothing like that happened.
“Ms. Ophelia.”
The private room, guarded by strict security, was brimming with a futuristic atmosphere.
On one wall, clear water trickled down, while on the other, beautiful high-resolution holographic imagery was playing.
Edwin Silver, who had been waiting there, behaved in a very gentlemanly manner.
“It’s an honor to et you.”
While it was true that Ophelia was a world-renowned singer, Edwin was an executive of a gacorporation.
It was an exceptionally courteous reception for soone addressing a re half-android singer.
Even so, the negative emotions Ophelia harbored showed not the slightest change.
Still, perhaps a professional was a professional.
“Nice to et you, Mr. Edwin Silver.”
She thoroughly concealed her own feelings and ford a smile.
“I’ve heard that you enjoy my songs.”
“Ms. Ophelia’s songs are the joy of my life.”
“May I ask for what reason you called for today?”
“Oh, my apologies. You’ve just finished a performance, so you must be tired.”
Edwin handed sothing over with a refined smile.
‘That is…….’
A special drug inhaler said to be used by the upper echelons.
The mont it was administered, it eliminated all accumulated fatigue—a remarkably rare item.
‘I heard it’s a ntal-type magic item.’
Because of that, it couldn’t even be obtained through ordinary ans, and the price was absurdly high.
‘Hmm……. I can’t see any magic formula.’
Was it because I was looking through Ophelia’s eyes?
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like I could replicate the magic.
“Thank you, but I’ll accept the thought.”
Ophelia lightly declined the item that cost several million Qubits apiece and tilted her head.
“If you truly care about , I’d appreciate it if you let go even a second sooner.”
Words that could easily have sounded rude.
However, thanks to her sculpture-like beautiful face, they didn’t sound that way at all.
On the contrary, Edwin smiled sincerely.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to his original expressionless face and spoke.
“I’m glad I got to see Ms. Ophelia’s honest side.”
“Oh, is that so? Then may I be a bit more honest?”
“Of course.”
“I’d appreciate it if you refrained from calling for outside of official schedules from now on.”
“……Ms. Ophelia.”
At her increasingly bold words, the manager standing nearby stiffened.
“Official, you say…….”
Edwin mulled over Ophelia’s words, then nodded and continued.
“Understood.”
“Then, if you would, let’s get to the point.”
“Very well. The reason I asked to see you today is to propose a certain item.”
At those words, a very slight crease ford between Ophelia’s brows.
“What kind of item?”
“An item that will fulfill Ms. Ophelia’s long-cherished dream.”
“……?”
“Ah, perhaps it might be the dream of all half-androids.”
‘What was he talking about?’
According to Diesel’s expectations, this should have been the timing for the item stolen from the Black Market to co out.
But suddenly, out of nowhere, he was talking about the dream of half-androids?
‘Was it sothing related to the Electrosphere?’
I was sure I’d heard that what had been stolen back then wasn’t an item, but a person.
The situation was taking an ominous turn, but for now, Diesel quietly focused on what would happen next.
“I have found a way to give ‘souls’ to you and your companions.”
“…….”
“…….”
Edwin Silver’s words, spoken like a declaration.
They left both half-androids utterly dumbfounded.
Even Diesel, who was watching it all, was no exception.
‘A soul… for half-androids?’
No matter how perfectly half-androids acted like humans, there was one wall they could never cross.
That was the absence of a soul, referred to as a ‘true na’.
“Just now…… did you say ‘soul’?”
Ophelia murmured as if she couldn’t believe it.
Along with that, Diesel felt her emotions violently shaken.
“That’s correct.”
One desperate wish that half-androids who had awakened self-awareness yearned for.
Secret knowledge buried deep within the Electrosphere, passed down like a legend.
‘The Machine Soul Bestowal Ritual…….’
It was a belief that functioned almost like a religion to all half-androids.
Because it was the common wish shared by all of them.
And now, Edwin Silver was saying he had discovered a way to do it.
“If you’re making fun of …….”
“You don’t seem inclined to believe .”
“Of course not, how could I?”
“You may not know this, Ms. Ophelia, but I’ve been researching this subject for quite a long ti.”
An executive of the gacorp Royal Spirit taking an interest in the Electrosphere.
Originally, their core industry wasn’t the Electrosphere, but spirits.
‘Had he been researching it secretly?’
Just as Diesel was wondering.
Edwin Silver’s next words answered that question.
“To be precise, it was research on the spirits that exist within the Electrosphere.”
Research on Electrosphere spirits.
Then it wasn’t all that strange.
“In the process, I uncovered one particularly interesting piece of information.”
At Edwin Silver’s gesture, sothing began to erge from the dark space behind him.
“Ms. Ophelia, haven’t you ever wondered?”
“…….”
“Why it is that the Electrosphere alone lacks the ‘otherworldly races’ that exist in all other realms.”
Otherworldly races residing in the Electrosphere.
No such existence was known to the world.
Considering how closely the Electrosphere was intertwined with the real world, it was truly inexplicable.
“There are angels in the Celestial Realm, Valkyries in Nord, so why is it that only the Electrosphere has no natives?”
“…….”
Soon, a box shaped like a ‘coffin’ appeared before their eyes.
‘No way…….’
An otherworldly race living in the Electrosphere.
Edwin Silver wasn’t the only one who had harbored doubts about such an existence.
There had been countless attempts to explore the deeper layers of the Electrosphere, but until now, they had yielded no notable results.
“We found that race.”
“……!”
A shocking declaration, and high-grade information that couldn’t be obtained anywhere else.
Just listing it on the information market would probably earn an enormous amount of Qubits.
‘This is sothing I never expected to walk away with.’
“Perhaps only a handful of people in the world have ever seen them directly.”
With a fssshhh sound, the lid that had been closed like a coffin opened.
White vapor escaping from within spread low across the room.
“They apparently call themselves this.”
Thus, the forms of a pair of unfamiliar beings were revealed.
“Network Elves.”
As befitted a race called ‘elves’, they had sharply pointed ears.
Slender facial features and thin limbs.
From their pallid, almost colorless skin, grayish-white sparks occasionally flickered.
“Th-this is…….”
“These are the beings who will breathe a ‘soul’ into Ms. Ophelia.”
How could an otherworldly race breathe a soul into a machine?
As Diesel was trying to connect the dots between the two.
Edwin Silver produced an answer that was completely unexpected.
“Because…….”
“…….”
“Half-androids are, in fact, these Network Elves.”
‘Half-androids were one of the Electrosphere’s races?’
Explosive information that would turn the world upside down if it ever got out.
Edwin’s continued explanation was even more astonishing.
“Unlike other realms, the Electrosphere overlaps with the real world in many aspects. For that reason, Network Elves that were in the Electrosphere occasionally spill over. However, in the real world, a physical body is essential, so they are fitted—almost as if possessing—into androids that resemble them the most and are empty shells. This can be seen as the background behind why so androids ca to possess an ego.”
So the ‘ego’ that appeared in half-androids wasn’t a byproduct of developing intelligence, but proof that they were truly a race from another realm.
“…….”
Ophelia, who had been unable to react for quite so ti from the shock, finally opened her mouth.
“Then that ans I’m not a machine…….”
“Yes.”
Edwin Silver smiled and finished her sentence for her.
“You are a living being.”
“…….”
A blemish that had followed Ophelia her entire life, tornting her.
The notion that she was not a lifeform, but a machine.
Soon, she regained her composure and looked at Edwin as she asked.
“Then…… how exactly do you obtain the soul of a half-android?”
“That would be.”
Edwin Silver answered as if he had been waiting for the question.
“You consu this Network Elf.”
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