Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 42 - 30 Rebirth

42: Chapter 30 Rebirth

42 -30 Rebirth

Lila clutched her head, step by step heading to the rooftop of the big marketplace.

“What was your past like?” Xu Yang couldn’t help but ask.

Lila didn’t stop walking.

The voltage of the consciousness chip fluctuated continuously, and the past memory still compiled on the memory storage of the chip was gradually unearthed by her, each spark resembling the pain of her memories flashing.

Her recollection was like clutching at thorns barehanded, the blood poured freely.

“I am Lila Nestor, born in the Thousand Lakes Region, a test subject of the Witch modification program, a Reconnaissance Sequence Battle Witch.

I lost my legs in battle, so I was fitted with prosthetic legs.

I lost my internal organs in battle, so my circulatory system and heart were replaced with mechanical parts.

As time passed, my face and features were also cut away to ‘match’ my mechanical body and replaced with artificial bionic faces.

My entire body, apart from my brain, became prosthetic.

Soon even the brain itself was altered.”

“Was it against your will…”

“There was only compulsion,” Lila said calmly, yet Xu Yang could hear the resentment in her voice, “Terrifying compulsion.

It forced me to fulfill my duties, to obey, until I was retired and disassembled.

Those limbs and torso, which never truly belonged to me, were further cut away and auctioned off separately, leaving behind a brain filled with custom chips and capacitors, waiting until the electrical charge ran out, the life-support system shut down, and the brain would wither and die, along with the consciousness chip dissolving.”

“That means just a moment later…

you would have been gone.”

Lila had also sought help, but every risky expenditure of her remaining electrical charge only yielded indifference.

It was for this reason that she was particularly grateful for Xu Yang’s actions, especially his earlier chatter, which allowed her to experience a sense of care that had been long absent.

“If I had a throat I would sing, I wish to sing, but I can only suffer the torture of nihilism in a death with clear awareness.

This void of over 150 million seconds is not without echoes.

In this moment of rebirth, I don’t know what to say.

But I am extremely grateful to you…

immensely grateful.” Her tone grew increasingly fervent.

Xu Yang was not accustomed to this passionate gratitude but understood it.

On the rooftop, Lila walked behind the array of advertising lights and closed her eyes.

“I was once alive…

every inch of my skin belonged to me…” she muttered, “I want to know how much is still the same now.”

She looked like a dancer.

Xu Yang watched her.

Just like that, she held a graceful posture, lost in the moment, proud of her own body.

There was no wind underground, the plaza was silent and dark.

A few seconds later, Lila opened her eyes.

“Around our location,” she said, “through an average of 35 meters of metal enclosure, within a radius of one kilometer, there are 1034 people present, the number is decreasing, now it’s 1032.

At the same time, there are 4745 humanoid creatures moving in the walls and ventilation shafts, passing our location, veering toward the northwest direction.

They are in hunger, but their nerves are remarkably agitated.”

After a pause, Lila continued:

“My initial witch ability was Super Perception.

After drug stimulation and surgery, my mental development exceeded that of an ordinary witch.

My consciousness chip underwent deep modification, making me identifiable as artificial intelligence in any test rather than a witch.

In the course of my service, I transitioned towards a bionic person and artificial intelligence.”

She saluted Xu Yang with a military gesture.

“Lila Nestor, bionic and intelligent Reconnaissance Sequence Battle Witch, neither witch nor machine, neither biological mind nor artificial intelligence, at your service, please accept my loyalty.”

“My name is Xu Yang, and I don’t need your loyalty.”

Lila paused for a moment.

Then, she hurried toward Xu Yang, nearly falling to the ground.

“I can sign a contract,” she said.

“Enslave me, dominate me, control me, exploit me.

I can execute the formatting program, erase all my memories and source code, serve you in a completely pristine state, ensuring absolute absence of double hearts, freeing all associated responsibilities.

I’m sending you my self-destruct program key right now, you can erase me anytime you wish, just—”

She paused for several seconds as though the program had crashed. frёeωebɳovel.com

“—please, just don’t sell me off again,” she said softly.

“Lies and deceit.” Xu Yang said.

“What?”

“I mean your loyalty, your vows, are not to be trusted.”

“I’m sorry, but I have nothing else with which to prove my loyalty.”

“‘Loyalty’ isn’t needed.

Where there is independent will, there can be no absolute loyalty.

I was educated at the company’s corporate school, recited the corporate pledge thousands of times, and when I slipped away from the company, I didn’t even blink, so loyalty is utterly unreliable.”

“And contracts and codes…”

“Those are formalities, things used to control robots.

Since you’re not a real robot, you don’t need them.”

“Then…”

“I believe inner will is more important.”

“Inner will?”

“That is what people truly can’t go against.

We all have the capacity to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong.

We consciously make value judgments on various things, knowing what is good and what is bad.

Everyone has beliefs and values they adhere to, and people can neither persuade others easily nor be swayed without much thought.”

Lila fell silent for a moment.

“So,” Xu Yang said in one breath, “if you truly don’t want to betray, even if there are countless opportunities outside urging you to betray, you will undoubtedly stand by my side without hesitation.

If you’ve always harbored resentment against me deep down, even if there are a thousand codes restricting your actions, a thousand methods to prevent your rebellion, you will find every opportunity to leave me.”

“Yes, I correct my phrasing—” Lila said, “Lila Nestor, with my sincere heart and true belief, am willing to repay your kindness.”

“That’s better.”

“The words you speak are never heard within the company; their training for us is entirely a different rhetoric.”

“Those thoughts I just mentioned, I also dreamt them up while at work, idling at my station,” Xu Yang said.

“My principle in dealing with people is to take it easy, not to be too serious.”

“If my mechanical face had a smiling module, I would really like to smile at you.

I swear, I once had a face that could smile.”

“No worries,” Xu Yang said.

“With all those implants, automatic doctors, and facial sculpting agencies, the last thing this era lacks are beautiful faces; what’s scarce are good people.”

“Just give me a gun, and I can fight.

My super perception makes me a sharpshooter who never misses.”

“Take it.” Xu Yang passed the submachine gun in his hand to Lila, then went downstairs.

An overwhelming trust and care made Lila feel dizzy, her consciousness chip continually returning empty content and scrambled codes.

But even with her mechanical body, she indeed retained what could be called a heart, which made her believe everything Xu Yang said.

Follow him, must follow him, protect him at all costs.

Lila hurried downstairs after Xu Yang.

His command was to be executed; that was the only thing she could do, and it was what she wanted to do right now.

In Katagi District these days, the Ratmen are seeking out the main forces of the company’s security, marching toward their predetermined battlefield, while the non-company populace finds themselves caught in between, shivering in fear, only hoping to sleep through the night safely.

Xu Yang arrived at the customer lounge area on the first floor, which had plenty of benches and vending machines, as well as arcade machines, heaters, and fans blowing from above.

It was indeed comfortable to stay in this place—if it weren’t for the Suzuki Group gang members walking back and forth, he really would like to stay here a bit longer.

Katagi District…

It wasn’t a place suitable for living, nor was it a place where the major companies made great efforts to care for and protect.

Only those who truly lived here cared about it, and when disaster struck, they were yet powerless to protect themselves, having to await their fate helplessly.

How did it come to this?

Why have humans become so weak?

Where has our self-defense power gone?

What is it being used for?

Can we really only purchase security services, place our hopes in the companies, and wait at home for death?

Xu Yang sat on a bench in deep thought.

The power of the masses, if sternly wielded, could shake the world.

Yet, no systematic theory had previously addressed this point, and companies only regarded people as laborers, common people even looking down on themselves.

He looked around.

Kanako was engrossed in her game, oblivious to the world.

Cui Junyou bought two cans of kimchi, the cheap spicy sauce’s scent wafting outward, while Nidelaide was engrossed in a fanzine.

Then Lila walked in, catching Cui Junyou’s eye, and he was at a loss for words.

“This…” Cui Junyou struggled to speak.

“Zombie.” Farosa looked at the head in Lila’s hands, frowning deeply, “A zombie got a new body, holding her own head.”

Lila temporarily ignored Farosa and went straight to Cui Junyou.

“Cui, I am your ‘collection,'” Lila said.

“Do you enjoy collecting parts of me that much?

What do you want to do with my head?”

“It’s over,” Nidelaide looked up.

“She’s here for revenge.”

With a new body she could control, Lila could finally settle the score with Cui Junyou.

“No.” Cui Junyou denied vehemently, yet couldn’t fabricate a follow-up.

“I was just curious, curious.”

“You didn’t care about me, just a macabre collector,” Lila clenched her fist, nearly ready to punch him.

Cui Junyou had seen too many witches lose control at the company, always extremely wary of them.

Now seeing Lila resurrect, his spirit instantly wilted.

“I…

I am a prosthesis doctor,” Cui Junyou said.

“I like all kinds of modifications, naturally.

After all, you’re a rare cyborg witch, valuable as a collectible…

uh…”

“To me it’s filled with pain,” Lila said.

“You take pleasure from my suffering, tsk.”

“Cybernetic modifications have changed the fate of many people,” Cui Junyou insisted.

“Without them, you couldn’t have been reborn.”

“Did the changes lead to better or worse?” Lila pressed on.

“Using me as a sample, countless witches have been extracted from their living bodies, forcefully transformed towards replicability and mass production.

Yet the chip housing my mind is so fragile, uncertain when it will fade away, with the warning of death looming like a shadow.”

Lila was still unstable…

Xu Yang observed her behavior.

The consciousness chip was a cutting-edge technology that, though capable of preserving a person’s will to a great extent, and based on current conditions, could retain magic power as well.

But it was prone to aging over time, losing critical information.

“It’s the companies that abused cybernetics who made you like that; the companies are the root of all evil!” Cui Junyou became agitated.

“There’ll be plenty of chances to argue,” Xu Yang handed Circuit No.

7 to Cui Junyou.

“Time for surgery.”