Chapter 276 – Negotiation (5) [Edit]

[I didn’t run away.]

Lifting up the scrap metal, I turned my head at the voice I heard next to me.
There, there was a lump of something that looked like a human eyeball and a transparent crystal with countless connected wires the thickness of a finger.
It made a grotesque, unpleasant, ear-scratching mechanical sound that made me wonder what to call it.

[The power used for communication is also a waste, so I just disconnected it.]
“…X?”
[You’re right.]

X, who looked like spaghetti with eyes, answered while blinking a chunk of crystal.
Is it the crystal that was in Esther’s broken body?
Judging by the communication, it seems that this is the main body of X.

“Wow?!”
[High voltage current is flowing. You must not touch it.]

I lightly touched the crystal with a hammer, and I’m Pajik! I was startled by the electricity that jumped out along with the sound and I took a step backwards.
It seems that electricity flows through the connected wires.
X spoke to me with a sensitive mechanical sound and a crackling noise like a sigh.

[Your actions are irrational, but not illogical. It is within the understanding category.]
“Huh?”
[I’ve heard that the leaf that put you at risk is coming back to life, so you have no choice but to overreact to safety right after being attacked by Ash. If I had enough time, I would have added enough explanation and persuasion to slowly understand, but I didn’t have enough time. Your actions were caused by my mistakes.]

X, who revealed his original form, apologized to me, saying that I destroyed the lab because he said it wrong.

[According to you, I sought your life, even though it was Leaf’s order. This facility is owned by Leaf, a nervous mind after being attacked by Ash, a vengeful spirit, and a destructive impulse unique to level 4 negatives, a sense of pleasure. It was quite possible action. If the riff awakens, you will feel a lot of anger as you intended.]

As X said, I wanted Leaf to be angry, so I destroyed the lab out of vengeance.
You can say that I didn’t have to go that far, but I’m not a kind, patient person enough to go through something like that.

[However, it went too far.]
“Huh?”

At the same time as X spoke, the screen of the tablet he had roughly tossed as he put down the leaf turned on.
I picked up the tablet from the floor.
On the screen, a graph representing the destruction of the laboratory and lost resources was drawn in an easy-to-understand manner.

[70% of all resources have been lost due to your indiscriminate sabotage. Speaking of what you need, vaccine cocktail crafting time increased by 800%, leaf regeneration rate decreased from 20% to 3%, and consumption time increased by 1200% in the end. The time it takes to fully restore the base is estimated to rise at least 5000%, and due to the destroyed data, the data that can be viewed has been reduced to 50%.]
“What?”
[The main power room is all destroyed, so I will go into forced dormancy in the next 20 minutes. Power to the emergency elevator was also cut off because it could not be wasted. Please walk up to the first floor directly.]
“No, wait… ?”

X said to me with a sharp mechanical sound that was harsh to my ears.

[This is my advice to you, the new admin. Please think and act.]
“This is cheeky…”
[This is not an insult to you. Impulsive disorder, reduced intelligence, simplification of thinking. It’s a level 4 negative, so it could be. I understand that you don’t believe me. Being discreet is an advantage. However, I should have been more calm.]

X lit up the damage lists on the tablet screen in red, as if to ask me to look.

[What happened as a result? Did you see any gains? Didn’t you damage yourself by destroying the trade item you requested?]
“Kuh…”
[As I said, if you pressed X, it would have helped you gain trust in me without destroying the lab.]

None of X’s words were wrong.
The words that I broke with my own hands what was supposed to be traded were nothing but reprimands.
Certainly, if I had thought a little calmly, calmly, and rationally, I wouldn’t have destroyed the laboratory this much.
However, that didn’t mean I had nothing to say.

“Still, I think I was able to trust the administrator’s authority by destroying the lab.”
[If you said that after breaking only one place, it would have been more persuasive. Wasn’t the subsequent destruction caused by compulsive pleasure?]
“No, if this really gave me administrative privileges, is it a confirmation that it is possible to do things that you and Leaf would never allow?”
[Really?]
“Whatever you do, how do you believe it is whether you are acting or not? You can pretend to follow a lie, right? This is enough to give you a little trust.”
[…Understand. He has strong pride and has a serious lack of trust in others.]
“Why don’t you be careful?”

I don’t think I’m smarter than Leaf or X.
X is artificial intelligence, and Leaf is a self-proclaimed genius scientist who captivated me by grasping all means thoroughly and thoroughly enough that I could feel the overwhelming difference.
That kind of guy, that kind of guy’s subordinates declare surrender, right away to believe?

Rather, it’s strange that the person who tried to kill me a while ago said it’s good and accepted the offer to make a deal, and didn’t press the button saying, “Please don’t press it, because if you do this, you can get revenge on me.”
It is not nice to accept such things as good and not press to know.
A low-intelligence idiot, Hoguna.

[However, that doesn’t make the fact that your behavior was excessive. Do you know the word karma?]
“Karma?”
[Karma is a word that means that the actions you have committed come back as they are. If you break someone else’s house, it’s your house, if you break someone else’s arm, it’s your own arm…]
“You know who doesn’t know that? Who was it that tried to kill me first? Do you really think it’s right when you say that word?”
[…I agree. This comment was my mistake.]

I got my second victory over X.
However, this victory was not so pleasant either.
I don’t know if I got a computer to help me or a nagging machine to annoy me.

“Huh…So, can’t we remove Webcell?”
[If you hadn’t destroyed the facility, you would have accurately measured the Web cells accumulated in your body right now and started manufacturing drugs. Web cell destruction is the destruction of one organ in your body, and the composition and dosage of the medicine are different depending on the body characteristics and the size, type, and shape of the Web cell. It is impossible to manufacture immediately.]
“…How long will it take?”
[The consumption period was up to 2 days, and it is currently estimated to take 16 days.]

The 2nd turned into the 16th.
In a situation where I can’t blame anyone, I put my hand on my forehead and glared at X, who spoke with a mechanical tone that stood me up as if saying it was all because of me.

“…Is there anything you can do for me right now?”
[That is incorrect. I have already given you administrator privileges, and have a self-driving car waiting on the top floor. Since we have finished setting up the navigation to your place of residence, we will take you safely through the secret passage as soon as you board.]
“You’ve done all your business with me, so why don’t you leave?”
[This is a delusion.]

No matter how I look at it, all I can see is telling me to get off because I don’t want to talk to me anymore.
The more X was like this, the more my trust in X only diminished.
You said you were registered as an administrator, but with this attitude…Are you really registered as an administrator?

Is this really my paranoia?
Maybe he’s doing this so he won’t let you in when he leaves?
Doesn’t he think he can somehow reorganize as long as he lets me out?

[I don’t let you in just because you’re leaving, or I don’t ignore contact.]
“…What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
[I’m telling you the predicted question in advance. Contact information is written on the tablet, and hypnosis and other materials can be viewed at any time on the tablet. If you need advice and clarification, please contact us and we will do it anytime. Also, if you don’t keep your promise, you can always call Esther to destroy the base. Esther will know the location of the base. We will also contact you as soon as the tool is completed and hand it over to you.]

As if he had figured out the questions I might have in advance, X brought them up on his own and finished the answer.
He didn’t give me time to respond.
It’s a conversational style that looks competent but also makes me feel bad.

Rather, these words seem to forcibly cover up my doubts, so I feel more suspicious.
Can Esther really find this place?
First of all, putting the riff into the regeneration capsule has been successful, so the country that is threatening with the capsule is letting out the danger and buying time… Isn’t it?

[Also, all of this help is available 72 hours from now.]
“Wait, why is that?”
[This is because the power generation facility is destroyed, and the required power must be minimized for the time being. My operation takes a lot of power.]
“Ah.”
[Currently, there are 30 seconds left until dormancy.]

Then I saw that I said something like that.
I was thinking that there was no time to talk to me anymore, so I was only looking at him with the attitude of asking me to leave, but he really didn’t have time to talk.
…Really?

Doubtful.
Is it really true that the power plant is destroyed and goes into dormancy, or whether I really destroyed the power plant… I can’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.
As if running away from my doubts, X turned off the light from the crystal.

[It goes into dormant state due to lack of power.]

I lightly tapped the completely silent X with the hammer.
X made no response.
…The high-voltage current that flowed a little while ago must have disappeared, and very thin electricity just popped up.

It seems to be true that the power was cut off.
However, is this really the body of X?
What if this is a trick?

If so, there’s nothing you can do here right now.
Looking at the quiet X, I headed towards the stationary escalator as X said.
…Let’s start by checking if the power plant was destroyed on the way up.