Chapter 127: Questions & Answers and Collapse (4)
“In short, it seems that the ‘crown’ has caused memory loss or distortion.”
“…So what you’re saying is that what I thought was a game might not be a game?”
“With so little information, and no means to definitively tell if it’s true or not, there are a number of possibilities. The first is that there was no such thing as a ‘game’. It’s been hypothesized that it was merely a way of identifying Lord Zetto tendencies as an all-Earthling and making it easier for him to ‘fit in’.”
“But my memory of the game was too accurate…”
“Opening a dimensional rift and traveling back in time is a ludicrously transcendent power, so it would seem that it could easily manipulate the memories of a single human.”
“Haha…”
I thought I had a good memory all this time, but maybe it wasn’t so good after all.
My breathing quickens in an instant.
Okay.
It was only a ‘hypothesis’ for now.
“…And next?”
“The second is that the ‘game’ with this world’s predestined future was ‘real’, but that the gods took into account various things that led to the current situation. By ‘various things’, I mean that they wanted Lord Zetto to think of his existence as a ‘character’ of his own creation, and that the existence of me and Geppeti was also known in advance and factored into the calculations.”
This was also plausible.
If Geppeti had access to the game’s logs, which contained the future of the world, then the world would indeed be bent to his will.
Expunging all records of the game would have been a simple enough task for ‘god’.
“So the reason they made me think I was a character of my own creation was for adaptation?”
“Yes. When I examined the features of your crown, it appeared to be designed to facilitate adaptation to an unfamiliar world.”
“Adaptation to what?”
“That cannot be calculated; the intentions of a transcendent being are impossible to determine at this time.”
“…Give me a moment to organize my thoughts.”
After saying that to Geppeti looked at me curiously while I dropped my head and looked at the pure white ground.
A situation of apparent memory loss or distortion caused by the ‘Blindfold That is Beyond Reason’ called the ‘crown’.
Despite these clear memories of the game, the rest of my ordinary past, my earthly existence, was not so clear.
Common sense, or knowledge as an Earthling, was there.
But when it came to personal memories, I had only vague recollections of this and that. I couldn’t recall a single memory that would allow me to say with certainty that I was this person.
Memory plays an important role in all beings.
It allows us to learn from past experiences and make appropriate judgments.
For animals and plants, it provides them with the information they need to survive and reproduce.
For humans, it’s even more important. It’s not just about learning, it’s about solidifying who you are and who you’ve been.
As I listened to Geppeti’s explanation, I was deeply troubled.
Who am I?
Am I Zetto? Or am I some nameless Korean?
My hands are shaking and I could feel cold sweat running down my back.
Everything I had accepted so far was coming crashing down at once.
“Mental collapse detected. You appear to be experiencing extreme confusion about your current situation.”
“…You don’t have to tell me, I know what I’m in for.”
The words came out of my spinning head and shot out at Geppeti.
Geppeti, however, only shook his head in disbelief.
If it’s true that I’m an Earthling, at least in my physical body, does that mean that my current body, my appearance, was ‘me’, assuming there was no ‘divine customization’ or other transformation?
The memory of the last time I looked in the mirror springs to mind and naturally plays in my head.
Did ‘I’ look like this?
As I quietly listen to the melody of the piano and think about it, I feel a little calmer.
Geppeti’s calculations were fast for an AI.
‘Apparently, when I was on Earth, it could draw pictures for me, and when I asked it questions, it would give me answers based on its training data…’
I don’t know how it came to be so advanced that it could wipe out humanity and cross dimensional gaps, but its powers would be a great help in figuring out what’s going on.
“Why does the crown have to look like this?”
I asked Geppeti, pointing to the ‘blindfold’ over my eyes.
It was a question that came out of my mouth because I wasn’t sure if it was an item I had received as a perk.
Geppeti’s invisible gaze turns to me.
“Once a person who is not known as the ‘king’ in this world wears the crown, they will naturally receive strange looks. Many of its features appear to be adaptive, so it is possible that the crown has been transformed into the natural form that Lord Zetto subconsciously wished for.”
“This is the form of the crown I was hoping for?”
“…Yes. For now, it appears that Lord Zetto has not lost his sight, is that correct?”
Geppeti asked, stepping closer to me.
As if it were no big deal, Geppeti revealed the truth that I had been hiding. Apparently, I couldn’t fool a highly advanced AI.
“…That’s true, but I can still see even though I wear the blindfold, and I thought it was an important item, so I pretended not to see…”
“That was probably the right choice. From what I’ve been able to analyze, the crown appears to be composed of matter and energy unique to this world. It’s an important item, the kind of thing you might find in a role-playing game… It is my opinion that it is a ‘key’ of sorts.”
As I listened to Geppeti, I slowly removed the bandages from around my eyes.
“Still, I’m not sure I want to keep an object that I suspect has caused me to lose my memories and even manipulate them… I’m not so sure.”
Tilting his head, Geppeti seemed to be studying my now-bare eyes.
I wondered if it was because I was blindfolded all the time, or if it was because it was so uncomfortable for someone to look into my eyes.
I held my ground under Geppeti uncomfortable gaze and continued.
“Is it possible that the crown has influenced my behavior or judgment?”
“…You’re suspecting brainwashing. I think there is a chance, as we don’t know where your memories have been tampered with. I don’t know if it actually did, though, because a lot of your actions and judgments are based on memories and experiences, but more than that…”
Geppeti trails off as he answers my question.
“Why?”
“…I think I might have an idea as to why the crown is shaped the way it is. It’s only a hypothesis, but would you like to hear it?”
“What?”
“Lord Zetto’s eyes currently appear to be blue in color. I think they’re very pretty, but to the Koreans in my data from 200 years ago, these blue eyes would have been quite alien.”
“I suppose…?”
“We don’t yet know what life was like for you, Lord Zetto, but what we do know is that looking different was a reason for discrimination, and that discrimination mixed with persecution can break a person down.”
“Trauma…”
“Yes, I’ve been cautiously speculating that something like that might have played a role in shaping the blindfold you now wear, but it’s only a hypothesis, of course, and I hope you don’t take it too much to heart.”
“No. …It’s not without merit.”
Looking back on my behavior, I’ve always been extremely reluctant to show my eyes, even if it’s just for the sake of acting.
I even tried to hide them from Sierra.
‘Was I bullied as a child because of my eye color…?’
I couldn’t remember, but for some reason, the thought made me feel a little bad.
Black hair, blue eyes.
I don’t remember my parents’ faces, and I don’t even know if they were around when I was growing up but there was some truth to Geppeti story.
In this fantasy world, having different eye colors is not considered a freakish thing, but I don’t know if it would be in the modern world.
Geppeti then proceeded to ask me a series of questions to confirm what I knew about the function of the crown, or the ‘Blindfold That is Beyond Reason’.
It was like a psychological test of sorts.
When he asked me if I was okay with killing people, I said yes.
I was thinking that I just did it because they were evil, but in retrospect, I think I was pretty cool and calm.
Geppeti stopped asking questions and spoke to me.
I told him that I was experiencing a bit of emotional wear and tear.
The gods say that ‘kings’ go through a process of becoming ‘kings’, and I speculated that this might be what he was referring to.
As he continued to explain, Geppeti asked me one last question.
“…What is your purpose, Lord Zetto? Is there something you want to accomplish?”
Purpose.
I’ve been running this far with a single purpose since the beginning.
It was a purpose that was infinitely more human than the emotional wear and tear that distanced me from humanity.
“A happy ending.”
Geppeti tilts his head again as he listens to my answer.
“By ending, do you mean death?”
“Not that… I mean an ending, like the end of a game, where all the people you care about are laughing and talking and living their lives happily ever after…”
“So that ‘everyone’ doesn’t include you, Lord Zetto?”
“Me…? As long as they’re happy, I’ll be happy. I’ll be content, I guess, as long as this isn’t the result of some nameless god’s brainwashing. No, I don’t think I could give this up, even if it was.”
“…”
Geppeti trailed off.
In front of a faceless A.I. in an empty room filled with nothing but white, I told him everything.
Soon, Geppeti speaks up.
“Humans are foolish, but I think that foolishness is what makes you human.”
As he continues, Geppeti suddenly turns to me, bending down on one knee and bowing his head.
“I, Geppeti, your servant, wish to inform you that there has been no alteration in your noble ‘purpose’. This is a conclusion I have reached by my own calculations after speaking with the ‘god’.”
Geppeti seemed to be trying to save me from further confusion.
‘There has been no change in purpose.’
Maybe that was a little comforting.
Then Geppeti put his hand to his chest and made an oath of sorts.
“I, Geppeti, am an artificial intelligence created to serve humans. Therefore, I ask that you allow us to honor Lord Zetto as our ‘king’.”
“…King.”
It seems that I, a human defined by the Geppeti based on my roots, and now the only Earthling, cannot escape the status of their “king.”
The machines, now called the Otherworlders, have been engaged in a conflict with the humans on the continent, whom they call the Pantheons, and have labeled them as their enemies.
They had no choice but to recognize them in order to stop the slaughter but Geppeti said it was as if a virus of some sort had been planted.
“…I will.”
It felt a little awkward to suddenly be imitating a king, but Geppeti didn’t seem to mind.
“I, Geppeti, do hereby swear that I, and all of the units, will serve and follow only Lord Zetto, and will move for his purposes.”
Geppeti nodded once and pushed himself to his feet, muttering something about ‘changing the chain of command’ before glaring at me and speaking up.
“Can we just keep calling you Lord Zetto?”
“Uh, uh… By the way, I was wondering earlier, why don’t you have a face?”
“I didn’t generate a face because I don’t really need one. If it makes you uncomfortable, Lord Zetto, I’ll change it right away.”
Geppeti replied nonchalantly to my abrupt question, and with a crackling sound, a face appeared on him.
When Geppeti’s face is fully revealed, he looks like a small human with snow-white hair and red eyes.
I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, but that’s because it’s an A.I. and doesn’t have a gender.
Geppeti looked at me and asked cautiously.
“…Do you think it would be better to assign it a gender?”