Simulation

[Grey, please just follow and observe her.]

Kesha said so as Grey, who seemed to have been swayed by this Deicand's words, causing him to involuntarily obey her, treaded behind.

'It feels familiar yet strange. My Floater's Float this time seems inactive.' Grey thought as they traversed the ruined corridors of this enormous spacecraft.

[That's because of the Deicand's voice, the power to command. Even though you are not bound to her, she still has the capability to order you since every Floater was created to serve a Deicand.]

'Kesha, is that why I'm subconsciously asking you what to do? Like it translates to: what's your order my beloved God Candidate?'

[STOP TEASING ME! It just means you truly don't know your current predicament, so I'm bound to help you, okay? What's more, although it pains me to admit this, yes, I am a Deicand, but I lost my power.]

Kesha then briefly explained her situation, which quaked Grey's mind as he silently followed the wounded Deicand amidst this floating debris and eerie silence of nothingness.

'What?! Naya's mother sealed your powers? What's going on right now?' Grey was bewildered as he tried to recall the information in regards to Naya's mother, who died due to unknown circumstances.

Some said it was an accident; some reported she killed herself; some theorized that she naturally fell sick and met her demise.

These speculations were spread throughout the world since Naya's mother's reputation was something acknowledged worldwide. It was because she was the founding pioneer of the latest version of Circle Device – a teleportation technology that could send a person from the end of the earth to the other end in a matter of seconds.

[It's a long story, Grey. But I wasn't betrayed, okay? However, if there's something I can tell you right now, it's that Naya's mother wasn't human; similar to that I was not an Artificial Intelligence, but a Type-4 Species.

[On the other hand, Naya's mother rebelled against the Pyrus Agency of Fantasy before she was banished and incidentally found herself in Earthroid Fanthoaxim, your home planet.]

Grey pondered for some time. Sensing this, Kesha pressed further, [Grey, I can't believe you are thinking about that right now.]

'H–huh?! Eh?! K–Kesha, is it possible for my thoughts not to be automatically read by you?! T–this is fucking embarrassing!' Grey wanted to disappear from existence, seemingly forgetting his desire about the possibility of going back home.

[What if Naya managed to give me a head considering that her mother wasn't human, does it mean I've had oral intercourse with an alien species?]

'Oh, crap! S–Stop Kesha! W–why are you repeating my thoughts!'

[Tsk. Pervert Grey.]

'K–Kill me right now, please. A–aren't you a child? It seems I have sinned greatly by letting you read my thoughts. J–just.'

Feeling the dejection of this poor alien head-body, Kesha sighed.

[Grey, I am in fact older than your world. My Artificial Intelligence form looks like that because it was simply the design of Naya's mother, which resembles a bit of Ma'am Naya when she's still a little girl.]

'T–then how do you look like? The real you?' Grey asked with still lingering embarrassment in his voice.

[Heh. That's something precious that must not be shown explicitly!] Kesha teased, which prompted Grey to look at the Deicand woman in front of him, trying to assess her physical appearance.

But then, he heard Kesha's remark.

[Pervert Grey!]

***

Krieek? Kruuu? Krieek!

'What's with this Floater? Did it turn crazy? Maybe it accidentally overdosed on Serum of Sentience?'

The female Deicand cast subtle glances behind her, witnessing the Floater spinning its head-body as though it wanted to die from absolute embarrassment.

After some time of cautiously traversing the massive Deicand pod, this woman eventually arrived in a certain spacious room, where hundreds if not thousands of different-hued sphere-like screens were floating midair, almost surrounding everything.

A sentient system's voice that sounded male then echoed.

[Welcome, God Candidate Natasha! What can I do for you?]

Natasha then spoke, "Call the other Floaters; focus on the useful ones with complete biology and abandon the garbage."

[Releasing Pyrus Waves of Consciousness.]

[Connecting to the Partial Consciousness of every Floater within 100 kilometers.]

In just less than a minute, as though jellyfish that were caught up with the intense sea waves, the Floaters' presence who survived the Deicand crash eventually appeared one by one.

Krieek?

Kruuu?

In the next moment, disregarding the presence of these floating heads, Natasha continued, "How are the simulations? How many Cosmic Data has been stolen? Those shameless Simulathefs!"

[Assessing God Candidate Natasha's command...]

[Assessment has been finalized...]

[God Candidate Natasha, it seems we have suffered a great loss. These commodities will have their price increase the moment they are successfully transferred to the Simulacrum Zone – Green Region.]

"How about the existing damages? Forget those that were stolen and focus on everything that remains." Natasha commanded.

[Assessing God Candidate Natasha's command...]

[Assessment has been finalized...]

[God Candidate Natasha, according to my calculations, we need at least one thousand Floaters to fix the malfunctioning fresh simulations.]

"One thousand? That's not as bad as I thought. Okay, proceed with the process of Dissemination."

With those words, the system under the Simulation Room resounded.

[Dissemination of the nearby Floaters with complete biology will begin!]

[Floater #111 has been cryosimgenic.]

[Floater #222 has been cryosimgenic.]

[Floater #444 has been cryosimgenic.]

***

'Kesha... can you explain to me what the hell's happening right now?' Grey asked, trying to assess his current predicament.

In front of him, his lone eye witnessed hundreds of projected different hued screens in the shape of a globe; some were raven-hued, some were green, some were golden, some were cerulean, and some were purple. What's more, the bunch of Floaters without true sentience were gradually being sealed in a block of mysterious cold.

This caused fear to settle in Grey's mind, but Kesha's reassuring words calmed him.

[Grey, because of Pyrus Heart, you were not affected by this system room's Pyrus Waves of Consciousness, which connected and called the hovering Floaters outside the ship. In the same way, you will be exempted from the Dissemination process.]

'I see, Kesha. I'm thankful if that's the case; however, you still aren't answering my question about what I'm witnessing right now.' Grey pressed further.

[...]

There was hesitation in this Deicand tied to Grey's entire existence.

'I–Is there something wrong? What's bothering you? I just wanted to know, okay? It would be a pain in the nonexistent ass in the long run if I just keep relying on you, so teach me anything I needed to know.'

After the so-called process of cryosimgenic, every frozen Floater flickered and was consumed by every simulation globe, which caught Grey in a surprise.

Witnessing this, Kesha finally and serenely spoke, [Grey, truth be told... your previous world, with an ancient name called Earth, is just one of these simulation globes.]

Those words shook Grey's entire being. He was not certain if his mind processed the right information that came out of Kesha's mouth.

With him being silent and pondering about his existence, Kesha continued, [Grey, do you remember earlier my question about your goal? It's true, that it's possible to go back to your previous world, only and only if you have a High Deicand on your side. However, the true problem lay in something else...]

'Tell me, Kesha.' Grey said monotonously, absorbing every bit of existential truths.

[Because there's no Deicand anymore secretly ruling your world, it has been transferred to the Simulacrum Zone – Red Region; it means Grey... your previous world is already fated for self-destruction.]

'Wh–what...?'

Based on his understanding since being with Kesha in this life, a Deicand was meant to be a ruler of the world. With this in mind, as far as Grey was aware, it could mean that the erasure of traces of religions in his homeworld technically caused this scenario.

'Kesha... A–are you fucking with me right now!? So when the technology advances, specifically when the Soul Preservation was discovered causing every religion to disappear, my previous world began its countdown to complete annihilation?!

'Fuck! Does that even make sense?!'

[Grey, watch your tone! Will you just please listen to me first?! You asked me, and yet you couldn't believe the truth? I know it's shocking but your tantrums will not save your family! Remember that!]

'T–Then tell me what to do! And how long 'till my homeworld dies?' For the first time around, tears surged from this head-body's lone eye.

Grey then muttered to himself, 'I–I know I'm a useless son, and being healthy was the only thing I could do for them... Just why is this happening to me...'

[Grey... I do not know if this will comfort you in any way, but based on the last time I saw the Earthroid Fanthoaxim's simulation globe, there are around fifteen years left.]

'H–huh? Y–you said you've seen it? Then wh–where...?'

[However, Krishna hid it somewhere five years ago before her death, saying it would become a testament to the revolution that aims to eliminate the norms of God Candidates casting their seeds of divinity to create fake divine identities.]

Kesha then proceeded.

[You see that simulation globes hovering in this place? They are all void except for a few Floaters frozen within them.

[If my guess is correct, this Deicand named Natasha is perhaps a dimensional merchant that sells dormant simulation globes. Remember, Grey; a God Candidate is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent unless he or she meets certain conditions.]

Grey was bewildered, his mind processing couldn't keep up with these profound yet arguable truths existing in the mysterious Pyrusverse.

'I see. I don't know anymore, Kesha. If you have seen my homeworld's simulation globe five years ago, then it means there are only ten years left. T–this is just too much... S–sorry Kesha.'

At that moment, as though his head-body's biology had malfunctioned, Grey lost consciousness.

Thud.

***

'Something is different with this product. Is it perhaps due to a Pyrus Heart or something else?' Natasha remained silent while witnessing every Floater in this place turning frozen and being sent to a dormant simulation globe, each ready to be sold to hopeful Deicands to harvest Cosmic Essence faster, at the very least.

'I have scanned the pod, and the serums hadn't been touched, which means... this particular Floater received its own sentience. Was it the Pyrusverse's absolute will?' Natasha carefully thought to herself.

Kruuu!

Kraaa!

Krieek!

'Eh? Why do I feel like it's crying? Huh? Why did it sound angry just now? Is it rebelling to be not sent into the simulation globe? Is it just my imagination?'

As these thoughts of guessing filled Natasha's mind, she heard a thud.

"Losing consciousness? I see. You are truly something else, my dear."

She then proceeded to order the system of this room,

"Licht, transport this cutesy head to Serum Factory; storage specifically.]

[God Candidate Natasha's command shall be fulfilled.]

[Transporting the Floater #342 to the designated coordinates... success!]

"Sigh, by the way, bring me some stardust ale."