Original Timeline: Are you real?
I saw it again although I’m unable to do much in that reality. If I had let that man delete that sentence regarding my awareness, would it never have happened? Would I lose this memory?
Is that the world beyond this universe? Is nothing real? What is the System? How is Elijah’s power connected to this? Am I the only one who can see this? Is that why the System is trying to get rid of me?
…
“Hikaru? Are you alright?”
***
“Ahh… Sorry. Did you say something?” Hikaru said.
“Uhh- are you not feeling well?” Elijah asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Uhhh- It’s okay… If you’re not, you know?”
'Maybe I shouldn't press any further…' Elijah thought.
“Elijah,” Hikaru turned to look at his friend and said seriously.
“Um, yeah?” Elijah said nervously.
‘What’s gotten into him?’ He thought.
“Are you real?”
“Huh? Am I… Real?”
Elijah asked to make sure he heard it right.
Hikaru had a serious look on his face.
“Of course I am! Right!?”
Doubt crept into him as Hikaru would often throw large truth bombs or shocking reveals. Hikaru’s quick wit and linchpin knowledge has victimized many people, enemies, and allies alike.
“Don't tell me I’m actually a clone of yours when I died in the last battle! Or are you going to tell me I’m an engineered weapon made by the gods!” Elijah said while grabbing onto the hair on his head.
“It's nothing like that,” Hikaru calmly said.
“Then what do you mean!? Don’t leave things unexplained! It's quite tortuous, you know! Have you never been left on a cliffhanger!?”
“Sure, but it never really bothered me. I have plenty of things to do.”
“Great Intelligence! Predict the meaning!”
[Answer: There is no need. Like you, Hikaru is not a machine but an imperfect organism. Irrationality is to be expected]
The Great Intelligence activated the skill called [Vocalize] to “speak”. It is a skill that can manifest thoughts or intent into sound waves.
It was using it to provoke Hikaru on purpose.
“Elijah. What I mean is, how do you know if you’re a real person and not a clone or simulation?”
“Huh? Hmm… But I know I’m real?”
[Notice: Idiot]
“What!?”
“This should make things easier… You’ve seen the Matrix, right?”
“Ohh yeah, I’ve seen it! I watched all three movies!”
“Apart from the actual people in the Matrix, there are programs and AI that fill in the rest of the population, but they are intelligent and act like genuine people. The projections in that world might not even know they are fakes to make things more realistic. Yet they lead lives like everyone else. How would they know that they’re real or not?”
“Hmm… “
Elijah grabbed his chin and took his time to come up with an answer. He was taking it seriously because Hikaru was serious about the question.
Below them were people taking walks to enjoy the orange warmth of twilight before the sun sets.
The man who was sitting on the wooden supply crate noticed that there was now a boy who was standing a distance from him.
The boy gawked at his bionic arm.
The man invited the boy to come over with a wave. He was so excited when he was invited that his eyes were glistening with light that seemed like it came from the bionic arm’s shine.
Elijah and Hikaru watched the street in silence.
“Hm. Okay. I’ve thought about it,” Elijah said as he let go of his chin.
“Then, what is your answer?”
“So if we were in the Matrix now and everyone, including the projections, is realistic in their thoughts, actions, and feelings…
“In that case…
“I have no idea!”
Hikaru didn’t bat an eye, as this was also expected.
[Self-destruction magic: self-static shock]
Blue electricity was summoned by one of the Great Intelligence’s spells that was specifically created to inflict punishment on its host.
The Great Intelligence used Elijah’s mana to cast this spell.
“Ahhh!”
Elijah had pain immunity, but the Great Intelligence deactivated his passive skill to exact divine punishment.
It drew the guards on the roof to Elijah’s screaming.
They were in the awkward position of being too low status to interfere with the two Heroes of the World. The most important individuals held a huge portion of the GDF’s combat power.
They sweated worrying about what to do but settled on ignoring it.
“Why!”
[Answer: You’re embarrassing]
[Self-destruction magic: self-static shock]
A blue light enveloped Elijah again.
***
I don’t know either, Elijah… I don’t know if I’m real.
I don’t know if my thoughts are my own or calculated. Likewise, I don’t know if my emotions are implanted. Not only that, but I don’t know if my will to defy the System is truly mine, or actually part of the rebellious nature that was programmed from the beginning.
Perhaps it created you to fabricate a bond between us to weaken me…
For the sake of my freedom and others, I can’t let anyone stop me. Not even you…
***
What’s going on?
Elijah thought Hikaru would be concerned about Lazarus, but he seemed more in despair because of something else.
“It’s the truth,” Elijah said. “But does it matter?”
“Huh?” Hikaru uttered.
It was rare for him to be this surprised, and most times it was because of Elijah’s unpredictable nature.
“You said that the projections lived realistic lives. You’re basically saying that humans and projections led lives that were practically the same, right?
“The mother projection could think what groceries to buy to feed the family, the father is working hard in the office to get a promotion to let his family have more comfortable lives, the kid might wake up in the middle of the night and wanted to go to the toilet but stuck with it because he was too lazy…”
“…”
“Look at these people.”
Hikaru surveyed the tiny, insignificant dots on the street below them.
A group of drunken off-duty soldiers swaggered bottles in their hands while they bantered and cheered.
Children giggled as they fluttered across the streets and played tag.
The man with the bionic arm and the boy were laughing while he was hanging onto the man’s arm.
The man was raising, lowering, spinning, and randomly moving his arm around, so it was like an amusement park ride.
The man had lost his wife a few years ago before the invasion. Then he recently lost his son.
This boy… was filling the void in his heart and reigniting his will to protect this city as opposed to the hate he held onto.
“A projection could feel hungry, cold, pain, sadness, fear, anger, and happiness just like a human could. These people could all be a simulation, right?”
“Mm”
“Even so, I’d save all of them in a heartbeat.”
“!”
“They’re alive. Real or not. They are alive.”
###
Author's note: Just found out I can't delete published chapters. There seems to be a glitch when with the word count when I publish few words first. It makes the paywall pricing wrong. Oh well.
This is pretty much the end to the original timeline. We'll wrap things up tomorrow and bring us back to the present.