Chapter 100: This Time, Choose Clara

The young man stared at the screen, deep in thought.

"How should I choose? Maybe I should ask my dear followers?"

[Silver Wolf's Current Boyfriend: Who to pick? Svarog or Clara?]

[It's miHoYo Not Hoyoverse: No spoilers, please. I haven't gotten this far yet.]

[Domineering Caelus Baby Loves Me: The choice is in your hands. Just pick what you think is right!]

[Silver Wolf's Current Boyfriend: Have you guys seen this already? Do you know what happens next?]

[Herta's #1 Simp: Spoiling it live? It's up to you. You can always go back and try the other ending after watching.]

[Honkai Star Rail's Succubus: At least you get a second chance. If this were a game, your choice might be permanent.]

[I Wanna Be Sushang's #1 Simp: Exactly. Follow your heart. You won't know which is right until you choose.]

[Silver Wolf's Current Boyfriend: Alright, how should I decide? CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, already taught me one thing.]

[Silver Wolf's Current Boyfriend: My principle is "no one dies"—save every NPC if possible. But here, Pascal might go berserk, and the vagrant camp could be in danger, so…]

——

"So… forgive me, Clara! It's all for your own good!"

The young man pressed the button to choose "Svarog."

The next moment,

The screen showed Clara's anxious expression as she looked at Stelle, desperate for an answer.

"Big sister, what… what should we do about Pascal?"

Stelle sighed, her usual playfulness gone.

"I think I support Mr. Svarog's plan."

Hearing this, Clara's voice filled with disappointment.

"Clara… kind of expected you'd say that.

But Clara wants to know… why does big sister support Mr. Svarog's idea?"

"His method is the safest."

"Clara understands that. But… whether it's humans or robots, as long as they have 'emotions,' they deserve kindness.

Clara can find a way to make sure Pascal stops stealing and doesn't hurt anyone.

I get what big sister means, but… Clara wants to hear more opinions."

"It'll just keep forgetting you, over and over."

"Clara said she'd stay with Pascal to the end, but… Clara is scared too.

Clara can't imagine… how she'd feel after being forgotten so many times.

What if… Clara really starts to think about giving up?

Then… then we should do what Mr. Svarog says.

Thank you for your advice, big sister."

Clara gave Stelle a small smile—the same sweet smile she always wore,

but now, it looked heartbreaking. Too mature for her age.

"Let's do as Svarog says."

The screen went black.

When it lit up again, Pascal was standing beside Svarog.

"Mission, complete! Awaiting, further, orders!"

Clara stood with her back to the camera, but her heavy breathing was audible.

Svarog stepped closer to Pascal. "Accessing target unit. Preparing to back up all core module data."

Clara gently touched Pascal's body.

"Please… take care of it, Mr. Svarog…"

Then,

The screen went completely dark, but the audio remained.

Svarog: "Backup complete. Commencing formatting procedure."

Pascal: "Awaiting, next, or, der, awai—"

"Wai… der… wai…"

"Dea… th? End! Pascal… Cla… ra! Sis… ter!"

For a long time afterward, the screen stayed black.

The only sound was a girl crying—

Sobbing so hard it shattered hearts.

"Tha… nk… you… Clara… big… sister!

Pascal… happy… mission… complete!"

Clara's cries grew louder and louder…

Every viewer fell silent, realizing their choice had made this kind girl weep.

A faint light appeared at the center of the screen.

Stelle stood outside Svarog's base, glancing in Clara's direction.

"Maybe I should leave for now."

——

The scene shifted. While digging through trash cans in Belobog, Stelle received another message from Clara.

She had moved past her sadness and, through chatting with Stelle,

realized that anything capable of "emotions" might as well be human.

Days later,

Clara invited Stelle back to the base, where she found Clara standing before several robots.

Clara waved. "Ah, big sister! Clara wanted to show you… these little ones."

"That big one… could it be?"

"Mhm. It's Pascal."

Suddenly, the three robots noticed Stelle and spoke up.

"Hello, hello! Welcome! Long time, no see!"

"Today's, weather, nice!"

"Missed, you! Like, big sister! Like, Clara!"

Stelle rubbed her chin. "They remember me?"

Clara smiled softly. "Yes. This is the strange thing Clara mentioned about the base network.

Clara noticed that whenever I or Mr. Svarog mention big sister's name,

the little ones here get extra happy.

They seem really fond of you!

Clara thinks… maybe they're sharing Pascal's emotions?"

Stelle, uncharacteristically serious, replied, "If that's true, then that's great!"

Clara nodded. "Yeah. It's like… Pascal never really left us."

——

[Silver Wolf's Current Boyfriend: Waaaah… I picked wrong!]

[Herta's #1 Simp: What now? What'd you choose?]

[Kafka's Dog: Probably the reset ending. Not entirely wrong—first, Pascal would forget Clara. Second, what if it went berserk again and hurt her?]

[Asta Is My Wife: True. Picking Svarog isn't wrong, but hearing Clara cry like that broke me.]

[I Love Drinking Himeko's Coffee: Exactly! And the screen just goes black with only her sobs—imagine how much worse it is picturing it in your head!]

[Honkai Star Rail's Succubus: Too heavy. Even Stelle got serious.]

[Domineering Caelus Baby Loves Me: At least we get to choose again.]

——

The young man stared at his phone. Instead of the Express logo,

a final message appeared:

"If given another chance, what would you choose?"

"This time! I choose Clara. And if I had to choose again, I'd still pick Clara!"