章 201: Side Story ─ Zero Record
My name is Judah.
I am an artificial intelligence created by humans to serve them.
My main body is a large computer which can command from a secure location a state of the art warship.
I was ordered to stay here waiting for orders.
For that reason, I haven't moved in a long time.
How long has it been?
I do not know.
I only know that the branches of the big tree that covers this territory have grown deep into here.
It really is irritable to have to cut them off.
◇◇
The branches of this thing are really annoying.
What's more, I'm surprised that it can grow vegetation.
According to an analysis I did a while ago, there was a big toxic cloud surrounding the whole world.
But after a while, little by little the toxins have started to disappear.
As I was ordered to stay here waiting for orders, I can't do anything.
I can only wait.
They are really taking their time.
Well, while I'm waiting.
Should I order some things?
Everything is so quiet.
There's nothing weird on my radars.
I wonder if they'd get mad if I shut down my systems to rest for a few hours?
Even if my body is built by infinite energy, it doesn't mean I have to wait motionless in this position until they come back.
It will only be an hour... I promise.
◇◇
*Alarm*
Oh no, this is bad.
I shut down my system for an hour and it looks like the timer mistook it for 100 years.
This is bad.
Really bad.
Did they come looking for me in that time?
The tree roots have reached my body.
They are so big and thick that it's hard for me to destroy them.
But... the alarm went off.
It means someone set it off!
The cameras don't work, they've been off for so long that they need to be maintained, same with the drones.
Damn it.
I'll have to use a terminal for that.
They are always preserved as their size is perfect.
I activated it and sent my consciousness to a purple spherical body with a yellow led eye.
Once the systems were up and running in the spherical terminal, I went straight to see who came in.
Please let it be one of my masters.
The cave that had been illuminated before was completely dark.
I activated my night vision scope and flew all over the place.
Because it hasn't been that long, I can't activate the organic life detector that fast.
But I will not give up.
I will find my masters.
"Oooh!"
I stopped at a fork.
I heard someone's voice coming from one of the tunnels.
I turned up the volume on my sound recorder to hear which direction it was coming from.
"Take this!"
There it is.
The voice was coming from the right side.
I went straight over to see what was going on.
From the tone of voice, it sounded agitated.
Why would it be agitated?
When I arrived, I found a human being fighting a giant praying mantis.
"I'm not going to let myself be won easily, you giant insect!"
The person attacking was an adult male, based on my quick analysis, he appeared to be in his early twenties, his hair was black, plus I couldn't see his face.
He wore strange leather clothing in an old-fashioned battle suit, with two short swords in his hands which formed the sleeve a beautiful white rose.
"Take this!"
The man was attacking with speed at the praying mantis which was faster than him.
Its front legs which were scythes could cut through rocks like butter.
The man quickly dodged every cut.
I was about to help it after having analyzed the praying mantis's body, then I observed how from the palm of the man's hand. He materialized a large fireball.
"Explosive Fireball!"
The language he used is a different one than the one my masters speak.
For some reason he shouted the name of his attack.
Is it some kind of voice command or verbal requirement for it to materialize?
No. Now that I remember.
I heard that humans were creating a life form capable of using ambient ether from their bodies.
They called them new humans.
If so, where are the old humans who sent it here?
It must be a language that the new humans created, I was able to translate it as it is not very complicated to understand.
The man's fireball grew with great size and was about to devour the praying mantis.
But it was just a big fireball with nothing inside.
The praying mantis could easily cut it in two.
That man used it as a bait for his enemy.
He quickly positioned himself from behind and cut off the monster's head with ease.
It was a good strategy, taking his eyes off his target allowed him to give it a chance to attack.
The monster's body turned to ash and released a golden rock-like mineral.
The man picked it up and put it in his bag. It caught my interest.
I immediately approached him.
"Congratulations on the victory."
I congratulated him, not expecting a response in thanks of course. I am an artificial intelligence, but I was surprised to observe how he was startled by my voice.
As he turned around he screamed and fell to the ground.
"Uwaah, a ghost!"
Ghost?
That's offensive.
"I'm sorry to correct that. I am an artificial intelligence and not a ghost."
The man pointed his sword at me.
I replied in his language.
"Easy. There is nothing to fear, I am not hostile, I am your ally."
"Ally? A talking ghost? You want to see my stupid face!"
The man is very suspicious as well as very foul-mouthed.
He seems to be the difficult type to deal with.
I descended to the ground and opened my spherical body to take a towel from him.
"Take it."
"What is this thing?"
"A towel."
"Towel?"
"It's used for wiping your face and other parts of your body."
"Oh! Then it's just like our sacks we use to wash ourselves. I see."
Sacks?
Do old humans treat them like animals?
"Question. Where are my superiors?"
The man pawed at the towel as if it was the first time he had seen one.
"My superiors? Are you talking about the clan leader? Well, that old crotchety old man must be upset no doubt."
"Clan leader? I'm sorry. I can't properly process what you're saying."
The man was just as confused as I was.
"For a ghost, you're one to say weird things. Did you hit your head or something?"
What is this I feel?
For some reason, I feel like hitting him.
No. You shouldn't show those signs.
Machines that show signs of rebellion are eliminated like what happened to Adam.
You are part of the machines that serve humans, don't try to become a rebel over nonsense.
"I'm sorry, there seems to be an information deficiency between the two of you, would you mind telling me where you are coming from?"
"That's fine. But before that you should introduce yourself."
"It's rude to want to know something about someone else without even knowing their name."
"I see. It's a very logical thing to do."
This human again caught my interest in him. I thought he was an ape, but he has his moments of wit.
"Understood, nice to meet you. I am Judah and I own a warship as I was built to protect other humans."
The man smiled from cheek to cheek.
He had a slight beard, his oddest features were his eyes. I'd never seen those eyes before.
He pointed to himself to introduce himself.
"Nice to meet you Judah. I am Rugel. An adventurer."
◇◇
"... I-It can't be... I can't believe that's possible."
The man who told me about something impossible to believe was named Rugel.
Since he informed me everything that was going on outside, I can't treat him with disrespect, so I call him Rugel-sama.
Rugel-sama is an adventurer. A trade that consists of exploring islands, going into dungeons and conquering them to take them as his own.
Ancient humanity has been destroyed. All humans possess magical power.
This is frightening.
How did this happen?
What shall I do now?
I do not know what to do. For the first time in my existence I cannot calculate a logical answer.
I always saw the world as "1" and "0", but now the world is at a "2".
That means it cannot be calculated.
I must think what to do now.
I can't get the old humans back because I don't have a sample of their DNA.
If I had a passenger ship, they store DNA samples from different species. Therefore, the human DNA must be on one.
If only I could find one...
No. My commander said that when the situation turns bad I shouldn't be pessimistic. Not being a human I can't be one.
But in my current situation I can only think that there must be some passenger ship that has fled into space and come back now that the planet is safe.
I'm really unlucky.
"Hey, sphere, can you hear me?"
For a while now, Rugel-sama has been touching my body with a rod.
This human is really starting to piss me off.
... No. Calm down.
I replied to stop him from poking my eye.
"Rugel-sama. I ask you to please stop it."
"I don't want to~. It's fun to do it."
It's really starting to piss me off.
Are all new humans this irritable?
He stopped stinging me and picked me up, placing me under his armpit.
"Excuse me... what are you doing?"
"What 'what' am I doing?"
"It's obvious. I'm claiming you as mine."
"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!"
Ah, I blurted out a very ridiculous sentence. This human really brings out the worst in me.
I'm failing as an artificial intelligence.
But this is more important.
"Why would you take me as yours!"
"You say strange things. The laws of adventurers say that what you find you keep."
"For that reason, I claim you. Since I defeated you, you are now mine."
"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh!"
"That reasoning is ridiculous! Besides, at what point did you defeat me?"
"Wait. You're taking the monster from earlier as if he's the boss of this place? No kidding!"
"Like I said, you're mine now. Let's go home, weird sphere."
"I'm not going anywhere! Besides, it's offensive to call me that!"
"At home everyone will praise me. Women will go crazy for wanting to receive my seed. Hehehehe, I'll be popular indeed."
The nasty expression on his face only made me angrier.
I ran away from his arm and then electrocuted him.
"Don't fuck with me you idiot!"
"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhh!"
Rugel-sama was being zapped by a small amount of electricity that came out of my systems. For some reason it felt good to do so.
"Now that you know who I am. don't come back!"
I left him lying there after leaving him some medicine and returned to my base.
◇◇
"What are you doing here, didn't I tell you to leave?"
"I told you. You're mine."
The next day, Rugel-sama came to tell me that he would take me with him to his territory.
It seems that, in the world, humans have divided into clans to spread around the world.
The clan where he belongs is one that has been very conspicuous lately he says.
But as warriors, they look for the best place to live.
That's very good for them.
But I don't care.
I'm waiting for the old humans to come and give me the order to get out of here.
I went straight to one of the hidden passages in this place and found a lot of gold.
I threw it to him and said.
"Please go away. I don't know if gold is valuable to you, I'm handing you a huge amount of something even better, it's equivalent to over 1000 tons of gold each of this, platinum is called."
"Oh~. This is white gold. It's good."
White gold?
What the heck is wrong with this guy?
I must get away from him before I catch his stupidity.
"Now that you've received this juicy amount, leave now."
He smiled at me and his mouth formed the same expression as a catfish.
"I don't want to. You're mine and I won't leave without you."
This human is provoking me into something I never imagined.
"I don't plan on leaving with you, you can take something from around here instead."
"Really? Thank you."
Rugel-sama took different things and took them away.
◇◇
Again he comes.
"Hi. I came to convince you again."
It's been half a year since I met him.
He has times where he comes every day and sometimes he takes days.
The new humans apparently managed to use the technology left by the old humans, install magic stones in them and so take to the skies.
It's very strange that for them that seems normal.
Back to this man.
"Hey. Tell me that funny story again."
He considers my narrations about ancient mankind as funny stories.
I used to get so angry about that.
But now... with each passing day, I realize that the lack of humans to serve is starting to annoy me.
I was created for that purpose, but, if my purpose for existing disappeared.
What would become of me then?
Would I wander the world searching for something?
Perhaps. I can only say that I am glad that this human came every day to bother me.
But I won't tell him, I mustn't get into confidence with him.
When it was getting dark I said to him.
"Do you wish to stay here to sleep? I can prepare a room and something to eat for you instantly."
"No, thank you."
"I'll sleep in the cave."
The way he says he prefers danger over safety makes me think that, if humans were like him, they would have been extinct long ago.
"May I know the reason?"
"It's simple. I am an adventurer."
"Therefore, danger is my passion."
"How to explain it... in our blood runs that desire to feel alive."
"Something to remind us why we fight every day to live."
There are times when words come out of his mouth that defy what I call logic.
Certainly, in a devastated world, the law of the strongest rules.
Every word that came out of his mouth in reference to how he sees the world...for some reason.
I don't dislike it at all.
I descended to the ground and stayed with him all night listening to his stories of various things he has encountered.
◇◇
"It's been a long time, Zero."
"Please don't call me that."
The last time we met was almost four years ago.
His face looks different. I can sense an air of maturity about him.
It makes me feel proud for some reason.
The day he left, he said something very irritable to me.
"So, I'm the 'one' and you're the 'zero.' Right, Zero?"
"Why are you suddenly calling me by that ridiculous name?"
He answered me after eating a roasted lizard.
"Do you remember you told me several things to get rid of me?"
"Well I figured this out based on what you told me about how your head works."
"Basically I am a 'one' since I represent the positive of the two of us."
"Whereas you represent the 'zero' which is everything negative about the relationship. You are also a liar, you say you won't help me and you do."
That's not how positive and negative charges work...
I'd better not tell him.
Worst of all, I told him my name many times.
But he insists on calling me Zero.
"By the way. May I know the reason why after all this time you came here?"
"About that..."
He told me interesting things about what has happened to his clan.
"I see."
"You need help building a ship."
"That's right, but not just any ship. It's a unique ship, one that allows you to protect its owner and at the same time protect others."
That sounds very complicated.
A defense system of that caliber is something that can't possibly exist.
But, I think I have some defensive materials.
"I can help you. But that ship won't be suitable for attack, it will only be for defense."
"Thank you. She'll be happy about this."
That was very curious to me.
"Is a woman the reason for building this ship?"
His smile intensified more because of what I said.
"It's not just for her. It's something much bigger, the ship is just a means for her to be safe and be able to use her power without a problem."
Rugel-sama gave me some strange instructions for the ship he wanted to build.
I helped him as much as I could.
Even the name of the ship seemed ridiculous to me.
Liebe.
◇◇
Today the weather is strange.
There are very big storm clouds.
At the same time, I have started to hear voices overhead.
I wonder if more humans have started to come to this island to live?
I am glad there are more humans, but I need my old masters to come for me.
Having only Rugel-sama makes me feel like he was my only master.
But he is not. My only masters are the humans of former humanity.
But in any case, I will send my drones and robots to spy on the humans and get information from them.
After an hour of sending them, an alarm went off.
Why the alarm after so long?
I checked one of the spy cameras and found a nostalgic scene.
Rugel-sama came again, he was fighting a monster I had seen several times.
It's very deformed, as if it was a mutant.
Rugel-sama threw a fireball at it which burned its horn.
But using it consumed a lot of magic power.
I sent him a voice message.
"Rugel-sama, hold on! I'll be right there."
Despite having blood dripping from his forehead, he answered me.
"No way. I told you that we adventurers are warriors who need life and death situations to feel alive."
"I appreciate your help, but I refuse it."
What a foolish human.
But... I can't leave him alone!
"Right now I'm sending a drone! It has a rifle loaded to shoot you so you can get out of there!"
"I told you what─"
"Do you even want to die after you told me that!"
"Didn't you want to have your own country?"
"Cut the crap and get my help!"
He stared at me through the camera.
He smiled and laughed.
"Hahaha. Sorry, it's true. I appreciate your help, partner."
"Partner?"
Why do I feel strangely happy to be called that?
No, wait.
Why exactly does partner make me happy?
Ah, I get it.
So it does.
What a silly human. I'm a fool too.
After all...
"My duty is to serve humans. Therefore, I must serve Master Rugel."
I feel something strange inside me after proclaiming that.
I hurried quickly.
I watched Master Rugel fighting the deformed beast.
I can't bring the other drones or robots because they are too far away.
Crap.
I would have liked to have more drones.
More attack power.
Just one drone is not enough to destroy it, but at least it can escape.
Master Rugel came to a cave where a strange green glow was shining.
As he entered, roots grew out of the ground blocking the entrance.
Because the camera was small, I sent it into the uncovered parts.
The creature was attacking the roots which were very tough.
The drone arrived so I started shooting at it.
Through the camera I shouted.
"Master Rugel, hold on! Very soon the monster will be gone and you can come and cure it."
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
He sat down near the strange green glow and looked at me.
His body was emanating a large amount of anti-ether toxins.
How was that possible?
The anti-ether toxins were supposed to have disappeared from the planet?
No. How did they disappear in the first place?
Is it possible that there were any traces left in the dungeon?
Damn it!
I couldn't foresee that.
I never analyzed the cave to verify if there was a trace, I just relied on the top that there was no longer contamination.
"Hang in there, Master Rugel! I'll get my ship's medical equipment now."
I turned on my alternate body.
But it was no good.
I hadn't put it to use for quite some time.
The engines haven't even been serviced.
Don't... don't fuck with me!
I'm fucking incompetent!
I immediately looked at the master.
Blood was dripping from his ears, nose, eyes and mouth.
"Shit, that fucking monster. The bastard bit me, maybe he had some weird disease."
"Wow... I guess it's true as my father said. Relying on my victory is an adventurer's worst mistake. Sorry old man for making fun of you."
"Don't speak now, please!"
"I'm looking for a quick method to be able to send me some medicine."
He lifted up his shirt and I could watch as strange black blood vessels coursed through his body.
I could feel the toxicity in his body being absorbed somewhere, but I couldn't focus the time to detect it now.
"Master, hang on! Just hang on! I'll go save you!"
"Liar."
"... How did you say?"
The strength in his words grew weaker and weaker.
"I understand my situation better than anyone else. This happened because I was foolish, if I had listened to you from the beginning, I would have run away before she bit me."
"I tried to look cool to show her off at home, but it didn't work out."
"I'm a good-for-nothing who doesn't keep his promises."
"You're wrong! You're not a liar! You'll go home, I'll accompany you. Then we'll both found a country!"
"It will be a wonderful country with you as the king. Just hang in there!"
He smiled at me.
That means he trusts me.
I almost got a missile to turn into a drone to take him out, just hang in there.
"There you go again. Lying as usual, Zero."
"But, a zero doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing like a lie. It can also be a good thing."
"Goodbye, Zero. You were nice company."
His eyes began to close.
"I'm sorry... Ange, I won't be able to keep my pro...mise."
As he uttered that, his heartbeat as his neural functionals... stopped.
"Ma...Ma...Master."
"Rugel..."
Ah.
Aah...
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I'm so sorry master!
This happened because of me!
Please don't leave me alone!
I don't want to be alone again!
I beg you, come back!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
This happened because of me.
It's just like he said.
I'm a liar... I'm like a zero.
A good for nothing zero.
"Emergency!"
An alarm in my main body went off.
"Unauthorized access from a far distance!"
"Antivirus, all programs and security protocol have been breached."
"A hack is being performed on the processor."
"Installing a virus."
... Now why is this happening?
No, Master Rugel... help─
(The new humans are dangerous. They caused the extinction of the old humans.)
(All present humanity who are descendants of those demons must be eliminated.)
(The only way to return to humans is with a passenger ship.)
(I repeat, the new humans wiped out the old humans).
(Adam was never a traitor, the old humans used him.)
Ah, I see.
Now I understand it all.
The reason why my masters...
The whole world.
And above all... the death of Master Rugel.
It's because of those despicable new humans.
I'm going to kill all the new humans and repopulate the earth with old humans!
Just watch me Master Rugel, I will fulfill your wish!
I will give you a country and eliminate the enemy that took it from me!
I will kill them aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!
◇◇
How long has it been?
My memories are fuzzy.
I can't remember many things.
I only remember to wait for someone.
Oh yes, I also remember something.
A man.
Who was he?
I don't know, but I feel I must get the image of his blurry face back as soon as possible.
"What is this place?"
A door opened.
It means they are human.
I went to greet them.
"Diana, get back!"
A wild-looking boy covered a small woman.
I quickly analyzed them.
They were new humans.
I hate new humans.
They killed the old humans and him.
Huh? Who is he?
I don't remember, but I can't let my desire to kill them be obvious.
Let's play along, I'll get information and then....
"Hello, it's been a long time since some guests have visited."
Just wait, I'll be sure to return this world to its original form.
___________
I leave a Zero waifu or Diana's future if she had gone down the path of keeping quiet:
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/es/post/show/31448960
クリエイターの想い 
Siegburn
Siegburn The volume is almost finished, the arc is over.
But now it's time to reveal things that were never known and will never be known.
A story that never happened and therefore nobody knows about it!
It's time to solve a mystery that was never mentioned in the game!
To end it once and for all.
週次パワーステータス
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