Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 5===

After more than ten seconds of sandy wind, the video finally gets to the main point.

“…?”

What first appear is something that appears like a wide space. Tens of thousands of people are gathered there, and they seem to be people protesting a dictatorship, as roars and yells can be heard.

“…Kill!”

The people are shouting something. With bloodshot eyes, they are yelling “Kill them!” “Die!” “Move!” “You got to be joking!” Amongst them, “Save me!” “Noo!” There are shrieks from women, and the crying from the children lingers on. Such a scene is akin to a depiction of a horror movie I the end times.

—End times…?

We check on the filming date, and find that it’s filmed one hundred and eight years ago. That is the year when the world suddenly got struck by a cold wave, and quickly entered the ice age—the ‘end time’. The cold wave froze every living creature, and the people who were running away under its terror. Before the ice age began, many masters were already swallowed by the cold.

—But it’s weird.

Looking at them, it seemed the people were ‘divided into two groups’. There are thousands of people on the cliff, and tens of thousands of people in the valleys below. Looking from above, it appears to be two armies facing off.

“Don’t they look like military robots?”

Viscaria points at the screen. Over there, hundreds of black glowing robots are lined in a row, and the soldiers seem to be standing guard there, looking down at the tens of thousands of people in the crowd. It seems like they’re there to protect the ‘minority’ on the cliff, against the ‘majority’ at the bottom of the cliff.

“Looking at the models, it’s probably the later generation of the ‘F.310’…”

Viscaria says with a serious look.

—What are they doing?

The hordes of tens of thousands appear to be approaching the bottom of the cliff. Some on the front group have begun to scale the cliff.

“It’s basically a rebellion.”

Eisbahn mutters. “Why, yes.” Götz gives a rare agreement. Both of them watch on grimly.

Finally, the military robots occupying the ledge slowly raise their thick metal arms. The arms bend at right angles, showing long silver-colored cylinders.

—Guns…?

The guns are fired upon the yapping crowd. At this point, I still have yet to understand what this scene before me is about.

“—Fire!”

Some voices echo. It is a loud, booming voice from the commanding soldier. The robots receiving this command start to shoot lights from their arms, blue lasers spewing from their guns in unison.

—Eh…?

The lasers rain upon the front of the group. Juuu, there seem to be something steaming away, and the bright red smoke fizzle out like a geyser. Slabs of meat rain from the skies, and only then do I realize that it’s vaporized ‘blood goblets’.

—E-eh…!?

The hundreds of people at the front are vaporized into red steam, and the people at the back sink into chaos. The screams sound like metallic friction, and there is massive chaos created out of fear and rage—the people who turned around to leave, the people who started to climb out of anger, the ones who fell and got trampled, a man who keeps writhing because the lower body is gone and his guts are spilled out, a woman who appears to be a mother, distraught as her baby has lost its head.

However, this is just the beginning. The arms of the robot fire again, and the blue lasers rain down like divine judgement. The front end of the crowd again exploded into blood, and the rain of flesh fall upon them.

Nobody else dares to resist. Those driven by rage are scampering away with blood drained from their faces. The crowd fade quickly like the tide, and those who are trampled and unable to get away are left them like red water spouts.

But, it’s not over.

The killing rays appear to have intention to eradicating the fleeing people. A third volley, fourth, numerous shots are fired at the backs of people. There is red blood, red blood, blood goblets, red red red blood blood blood—

—Stop it, stop it, stop………!!

I grab my body with my arms, but even so, my eyes still can’t leave the screen. Everyone too is the same. Our eyes are widened, faces blank. We are watching the footage, like dolls with their hearts and minds taken.

On this Poly Screen, the blue hail continues to create a large amount of blood. This is no longer a war, not even a massacre. It is a simple job similar to a pesticide used to spray at insects.

The place filled with people becomes a complete red. The black dots that can be seen escaping are vanishing along the horizon, and the hundreds of wounded who manage to survive—or rather, those red beings that are deformed, become writhing beings that depict hell itself.

Time seems to stand still.

We remain speechless, waiting for the continuation.

Finally, the footage moves away from the red wasteland to the cliff. The footage is taken from high up, so it’s probably some surveillance satellite. At the top of the cliff, in the front, are the military robots, and then there are thousands of masters in formation. The objective of that formation—

“You’re kidding…”

Over there, there is a building with an acute angle, made of glass, a large egg-shaped item can be seen inside, dug into the ground. The large thing (—hammer) that continues to spin, the outer wall that contains numerous capsules (—Cradle), the storage container built into the ground (—REM forest).

Ahh, that’s, there’s no doubt about it. That white, long, round building is—

“The Snow White…”

People with bloodshot eyes scramble towards the Snow White, and sit into the Capsules. Finally, the Snow White absorb them into its belly, spins into the underground, and vanishes below.

There are thousands of people left behind. The abandoned people are screaming and wailing in despair and rage. Finally, a surging white smoke rose, freezing the helpless people. The human figures glittering in light are as pretty as crystal dolls, but in the end, their heads and limbs are loped and dropped off in the winds, shattered as they turn into dust.

The ones left at the top of the cliff are robots. Our comrades made of black metal, who started killing to protect their masters, raise their thick arms in battle position, remaining still. Like people dressed in mourning clothing for a funeral, their eyes lost luster as they look down at the frozen land. The footage ends.

Nobody could say anything.