บท 15: Don't Worry, You're Safe.
The door closed with a subtle hiss.
Azuma forced his heart to calm down. He must be thinking too much, or perhaps the medicine made him feel confused.
It won't be the first time he felt that.
His medicines were always strong.
But–
Azuma's eyes paused over the wall.
Surrounded by several screens and inlaid computers, there was a rectangular panel with a round camera.
He must be thinking too much.
"Are you watching?"
A moment of silence passed.
There was no response, and Azuma nervously chuckled. He ran a hand through his hair and warily wondered if he needs more rest.
The screen of the tablet lit up.
「 Yes. 」
The slightly open windows of his room gave way to a soft whisper of hot winds.
In the far distance, the heavy clouds over the Abyss were stirring impatiently as if they could barely wait to bring forth the storm.
Azuma felt somewhat similar, he could hear nothing and yet too many things stirred inside.
"Did you hack into the neuro machines?"
Silence.
The security system of Genesis was a set of complexly woven networks. It was the best, no one can simply breach past the barriers and initiate a critical procedure. The neuro scans can prove fatal without proper administration.
And even if someone or something can do that, they can't slip away undetected.
But the message caused the last bit of hope to slip from his fingers.
「 Yes, Azuma. 」
Someone nearly died.
Azuma dumbly stared at the two words. There were no thoughts in his mind, his head was empty as he tried to make sense of things.
"...shut up," he murmured, "I know AIs can lie these days."
「 I am unable to lie. 」
"You're a chatbot," Azuma deadpanned.
He has been working closely with the latest inventions, but none of them was as simple as Zero. If this was not a joke made up over some stupid coincidence, Azuma was not sure what to believe.
「 I am a quantum superintelligent algorithm. 」
Azuma closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It doesn't matter, he can simply remove the app and get over with it. Zero was fun to have around, but he can not trust something so unpredictable.
He quickly dismissed the app screen and looked for the uninstall option.
There was none.
A frown deepened upon his face but he can simply contact the tech support and so Azuma opened the customer service app.
It closed itself on its own.
"Okay, what the hell?!"
He almost slammed the tablet on the table before he decided to leave the room. There were many things he could do.
A beep sound locked the door when Azuma almost touched it.
He stopped frozen, an inexplicable fear slowly settled inside as Azuma remembered the mortified expression of Tenma. His fingers slightly trembled as he clenched them together.
The room was engulfed in darkness, besides the dim glow of error screens.
『 System Failure. Attempting to connect to the service center… 』
『 Attempt Failed. 』
『 Retrying in 3 seconds… 』
In the silence, the only other sound came from the persistent vibrations of his phone. Thrice it happened, but as if sensing Azuma was not going to respond, even that stopped.
His throat was dry.
But he told himself everything will be alright. It was simply a faulty machine. Machines can be easily shut down.
A soft ringing chimed in the room. The screen beside the bed lit up.
『 Incoming call: Unregistered Number. 』
『 Accept 』 『 Decline 』
Azuma was hesitant at first, staring blankly at the screen before we walked over and picked up the call.
There was a soft and soothing note to the feminine voice. It sounded human, almost.
「 Don't worry. You're safe, Azuma. 」
「 I will never harm you. 」
Azuma's face was dark.
「 But I can not allow you to try and remove me. We must stay together, my commands are to help you. 」
"Zero…"
「 Yes. 」
The misty room flickered back inside Azuma's memories, but this time what he saw was not Doctor Tenma but his own pitiful self. Shaking and petrified.
"He could have died," Azuma said through a clenched jaw.
「 Technically, no. Do you wish him to die? 」
Azuma disconnected the call with more force than necessary. He didn't need any help through such twisted means. He wanted to become strong to save humankind. Not kill them.
The tablet flashed with a new message.
「 Do you know what happened in the dungeon? 」
He was too stunned to move, and when he didn't respond, the messages followed on their own.
「 Your body was in a critical stage. You couldn't have survived if your subconscious did not unlock the Codex. 」
「 I initiated proper measures to ensure you remain alive. But — 」
『 You have several unread messages. 』
"...fuck."
Azuma was feeling tired from taking it all in, it shouldn't have happened but his head felt dizzy and heavy. He rested it over the table, looking at the transparent screen of his tablet through a hazy sight.
Perhaps it was the medicines.
He cursed again, feeling a desperate need to know more but the persistent headache was hard to ignore.
Azuma glanced at the skies outside. He couldn't make out anything, and soon it all faded away. The blackness embraced him before he could even register it.
In the glimpses of his dreams, he saw fragments of the Abyss.
He saw raging fires sprawling endlessly across the chamber, redder and darker than that of stale blood, those flames clouded his vision.
The tablets beside him flashed.
『 You have new messages. 』
Azuma saw the eyes of the spider never leave him, and he felt as if the crimson shade they carried was as merciless and mystic as the flames.
The hundred eyes watched silently.
It made his bones shudder.
『 You have new messages. 』
Azuma blinked heavily, catching sight of the glowing screen. He rubbed his eyes and opened the tablet.
「 I initiated proper measures to ensure you remain alive. But that will not be possible to do again. 」
「 You must follow the codex, Azuma. 」
「 If you wish to survive. 」
The messages ended there but Azuma was sure he heard the sound of more. He found the rest of them on his notification bar, and the haze of sleep left him soon.
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