Chapter 1392: 1392 Every Time I Calculate You

"Forget defective products."

"You will take me with you."

As those words fell, every player heard a notification.

[Warning! Warning! The old order is beginning to awaken.]

Rita did not meet B80’s eyes.

Instead, she looked at the dead little robot.

The one that had awakened a divine gifted talent after briefly spending time with her.

Defective product?

So in B80’s eyes, a Mechanoid that had awakened emotions was defective?

Then what exactly was the rule that sent awakened Mechanoids to the Scrap Heap?

Was it a rule made by the gods?

Or was it a rule the Mechanoids themselves had left behind for the gods to follow?

Her thoughts grew increasingly chaotic.

Rita forced the noise in her mind down.

First, she had to save L12185511.

After obtaining massive amounts of soul fire, Rita had saved a profile for every player, updating them once every year.

If she saved even players she barely knew, how could she not have saved Y128 and L12185511, who lived in her home?

Even L175246, who occasionally gathered the courage to visit with luggage in hand, had a saved profile.

She had the ability to preserve everyone.

The outline of soul fire lit between her brows.

She was going to load L12185511’s profile.

B80 did not stop her.

It only watched quietly.

The black iron armor covering its body was thick and imposing, making it impossible to tell what kind of being existed beneath.

If no one had seen it transform from B80, anyone might have believed it was a player wearing a full suit of heavy armor.

Dark red light glowed from its joints and the cube in its chest.

Like flames swaying in the wind.

The light trailed behind it in long ribbons of crimson, like torn bloodstained cloth.

This was not the dead stillness of the Scrap Heap.

Not the ridiculous mailbox from Diamond Miner.

Not the clumsy vending machine from the racing game.

Not the cute gingerbread figure from Chaotic Blocks either.

The Mechanoid before her radiated deep, unmistakable ill omen.

The soul fire between Rita’s brows lit up, then dimmed.

Load failed.

[Mechanoid permissions are encrypted. You do not have authority to read any Mechanoid related program.]

Rita raised her eyes toward B80.

The guilt and softness deep in her gaze vanished completely.

Only wariness remained.

B80 slowly extended the fist that had crushed L12185511.

The black iron gloved hand opened with elegant, deliberate slowness.

The last fragments and debris belonging to L12185511 fell freely to the ground.

Its voice carried grief and anger.

Like a blade beginning to rust.

It questioned her.

"Why did you never think of loading me?"

"You clearly had a way."

"You were afraid I would betray you."

"You were afraid something unknown would rewrite my program."

"But you could have loaded my profile."

"You could have brought the B8017913 you knew back to your side."

It had abandoned logic and reason.

It was chasing a possibility with almost desperate stubbornness.

Rita refused to take even half a step back.

She asked in return,

"Calculate me."

"Calculate my choices."

"Tell me. After suspecting the Mechanoids might be the source of Starsea’s tragedy, would someone like me truly place all hope on load the way you claim?"

The whole reason she wanted to return to the First Epoch was because she believed she could not defeat a fully matured final boss.

She had only learned today that the Mechanoids’ true form looked like this.

Even now, she was not certain their species was truly mechanical.

Under these circumstances, she had already been reckless enough.

She had only made B80 promise not to calculate the future, then kept it by her side for another hundred years.

She let it hear her conversation with Deceitful Bloom.

Let it see what she was doing.

Every brushstroke she made while painting Scrap Heap had filled her with regret.

When she once told B80 not to calculate the future, wasn’t she also warning herself?

Do not ruin the beauty of the present for a future hidden in fog.

"Leaving you in the Tenth Epoch is the best ending I could think of."

"You don’t need to worry about raising a weapon against me."

"And I don’t need to worry about you betraying me against your will."

From the moment she said "calculate me," Rita had been advancing step by step.

When she reached B80, she suddenly grabbed its wrist and yanked it down to the ground.

She hated being questioned.

And she disliked looking up at anyone.

By the time she finished speaking, B80 had followed the force of her pull and dropped to one knee.

Almost like it was pledging loyalty.

The red light in its eyes flashed violently.

It had obeyed Rita’s command.

Its program was calculating massive amounts of data.

After a long while, it said,

"Everyone around you is loyal to themselves."

"Maple Syrup, Cinders, Deceitful Bloom, Mistblade, Cicada, Foolishness, Lightchaser, Shadow.Q, even Nivalis."

"They are loyal to duty, to home, to ideals, to knowledge, to strength."

"You are important to them."

"But none of them would ever abandon everything for you."

"Only I would."

"Every time I calculate you, I become more loyal to you."

Rita closed her eyes.

Her voice became very soft.

"I don’t need loyalty."

"I am also loyal to myself."

With that, she raised her hand and dissolved the contract between herself and B80.

"The second time."

B80 slowly stood.

Its voice was as cold and desolate as the heavy armor covering it.

It looked at Rita’s closed eyes.

She had once again refused to meet its gaze.

That meant it could no longer constantly calculate the emotions in her eyes.

"This is the second time you have dissolved our contract."

A red beam connected the cube in B80’s chest to Rita’s heart.

The equal contract linked them again.

"I will prove to you that a perfect and eternal program is far more reliable than ever changing emotion."

After saying that, B80 vanished directly from Rita’s sight.

No one knew where it had gone.

This argument had no conclusion.

B80 was full of unknowns, so it could not be trusted.

Rita was too cautious, so she could not be persuaded.

She had no time to keep dwelling on their fight.

World Sigh appeared in Rita’s hand.

The illustration inside the book lit up.

Her consciousness instantly spread across every corner of the galaxy.

While searching for B80, she had already appeared with Nivalis before the small Order Clock at the center of Graveyard of Bones.

The moment she landed, Rita felt an immense pressure.

Every lamp in Graveyard of Bones was burning with blue ghost fire.

The small Order Clock had disappeared, along with the final less than one percent of mysterious matter she had not yet collected.

In its place floated a dark red cube.

Countless dark red rays streamed toward it from the void.

Beneath her feet, the Order Clock was rapidly approaching Quiet Mountain.

At this speed, it would likely arrive in less than six days.

The sound of ocean waves rose.

Rita appeared in the Scrap Heap.

Every pile of discarded Mechanoids had vanished.

Not only that.

Rita could no longer find Y128 or L175246.

She could not find a single Mechanoid anywhere.

Even the Mechanoid owned by Pine Bloom had disappeared.

Pine Bloom was sitting awkwardly at a table, touching his ears in distress.

He did not dare openly search for it, likely because he was afraid Lidian would get angry.

The Mechanoid factory Deceitful Bloom had once taken Rita to see had disappeared entirely too.

Nivalis, who had been clinging tightly beside Rita’s ear, suddenly whispered,

"I won’t betray you either."

Rita was silent for two seconds.

Then she answered honestly,

"My current abilities are enough to handle betrayal."

"If I cannot handle it, I won’t allow it to remain by my side."

B80’s words had struck her like a blade straight through the heart.

It understood Rita too well.

Programs could be rebooted.

Memories could be erased.

Yes.

They were not so different.

What if, during a team battle, her allies were mind controlled?

But...

Rita reached out and held the uneasy Nivalis in her arms.

"Don’t be afraid."

"Don’t be sad."

"I am strong enough now."

"I can trust you without holding anything back."