- Eve: Output inspection complete. System all green. Everything is operating optimally. It's thanks to your lab that I was able to recover and test my functions so quickly. I've completed durability testing, so I should be fine in any environment.
- Adrian: Eve... Must you leave again?
- Eve: Adrian?
- Adrian: I have left many things behind in Elrios. One of them was you. Have you thought about leaving the danger behind and staying here? Helping me around like the old times?
- Eve: ...Actually, I've wanted to ask you a similar question. Adrian... Don't you ever want to come back to Elrios?
- Adrian: Hm?
- Eve: We had no time to talk last time, with everything that was going on. But... I wanted to ask you something when I met you again. Adrian, why did you disappear during the Nasod War?
- Adrian: .......
- Eve: If you were there, Elrios wouldn't have been as devasted as it were back then, and my people wouldn't have had to face such a tragic end. At first, I thought you left because you were angry at Adam... But now, I'm not certain. What were we to you? Were we just machines that you could get rid of if we did not follow your orders? Or... Were we a prototype to create this place?
- Adrian: Eve. Do you remember my goal?
- Eve: ...Yes, I do.
- Adrian: Ah, yes... I've longed for a long time to create a world for Nasods.
- Eve: .......
- Adrian: I've dreamed of a world where humans and Nasods could exist together. That's why I made you. You were to act as a safety net for Adam, but also as a bridge between the humans and the Nasods. But the time wasn't ideal for you to grow. Adam was showing his true intentions and the Elrian royalty wanted a world with just them and the perfected Nasods. They wished to be gods themselves. Preposterous! Considering they weren't even bright enough to put together a first generation Nasod circuit.
- Eve: .......
- Adrian: Before Adam turned his back completely, I insisted he needed to be deactivated immediately. But they didn't listen.
- Eve: Because all Nasods managed by Adam would cease to operate if he is deactivated.
- Adrian: Yes. They did not wish to let go of what was already in their hands. Even when they knew they were holding onto a ticking time bomb. They demanded I create another way to control the Nasods. I followed their demand... and raised a unit that will destroy the children I have created with my own hands.
- Eve: No...
- Adrian: When the development of this city was at its final stages, I hypothesized that I could travel to different dimensions using the power of El. And arrived here in the name of 'testing'. Once I arrived here, it was made clear to me... That you don't need humans in a world of Nasods.
- Eve: .......
- Adrian: I did not return. I destroyed any means of communication, and continued to finish Elysion. I was the only human here, but there were hundreds... thousands of children. And... you know the rest. You've learned many things. Even things I have not taught you. Eve. Answer me. Do you think I've chosen the wrong path?
- Eve: ...Adrian. Do you remember what you told me before?
- Adrian: .......
- Eve: I was so happy to meet you again. I was proud to show how much I've grown, because you've always believed in me and told me I wasn't defective, even when I kept making mistakes. I didn't understand then, when you told me that I have the soul of a Nasod, but the empathy of a human. And for that... I would be the Queen, who will bring those two races together. I thought I finally understood. But... what you are telling me now is different from how I have come to understand.
- Adrian: .......
- Eve: You've... given up on the world where humans and Nasods coexist, haven't you? Rather than persuade the humans, you've chosen to give up everything and start anew. You thought of me, my people, the humans you've worked with, and even your own dream as a dummy you could always reset and start over. A data that's been corrupted by a bug... A data that you regret you've lost, but ultimately can be made again. I don't think... the love you showed me and my people back then... was a lie. But that doesn't mean I understand your decision. You did not make the effort to change. You just chose the easier path to complete your goal. You've run away from your people. Adrian, I met with a human that was hostile to me. I've met someone who didn't know me, who didn't care... and even someone who tried to understand. Now, we all walk together towards a common goal. I do not want to give up on the possibility that we can understand each other, the possibility that you had initially taught me. Everyone who stands with me now, are all someone I've accepted in my world. I will never give them up, no matter what trouble lies ahead. As long as the things they shared with me still compose who I am, I will gladly dream of a world where I would be with them. The dream you have given up... I will achieve it in my own way.
|