Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 8 (section)

===Part O===

All the senators receive the message, and gather at the Snow White again in an hour.

“I see.”

Upon hearing the report, Chief quietly closes his eyes.

“I’m really sorry.”

“No, this isn’t your fault.”

Chief says slowly. This is the first time we’ve officially talked to Chief ever since that Meeting.

“Then, what is the reason?”

Chief closes his eyes, and asks,

“The crystal furnace itself isn’t really damaged at all.” Viscaria flatly answers, “But the extraction rate of the energy.”

The reason why the Snow White stopped was basically due to depreciation. Having worked for years, the crystal furnace is increasingly filled with impurities, and the extraction rate is thus lowered. At this point, it’s at its limit.

“I thought it could last for another hundred years. Didn’t think it’ll wear out so soon.”

“Can we not insert all the emergency fuel, and have it start working again?”

Götz asks, “No.” and Viscaria denies him immediately.

“A massive amount of energy is required to get a non-functional furnace working again. That type of fixed volume is like eroding rocks with water.”

Viscaria lowers her beret further, and grits her teeth. It’s not hard to imagine that for her, the technician-in-charge, this is the outcome most regretful to her.

“Then, what do we do?” Eisbahn leans on the wall, “Tomorrow’s the deadline.”

He looks up at the Snow White, and frowns. Even he, usually so cheeky, gives such a grim look, and this clearly shows how dire the situation is.

“Ugh.”

I too can’t answer.

The Cradles have spare batteries, but they can only last for twenty-four hours as they are for emergency use. Also, the crystal furnace is the only generator in the village, and it stopped working. Thus, recharging the Cradles’ batteries from the outside won’t work. Even if we do continue to search for the portable batteries we gather, it’ll only last half a day. If that happens—

Our masters will die.

—Why, did it end up this way.

The sudden reality is so cruel, as though we’re informed of a terminal illness. The Snow White loses its usual luster, and my feelings become increasingly dejected as the room is only lit by luminous lights.

The room is filled with a short silence.

Everyone is unable to say anything, cornered by the despair. Nobody can answer the question, the question of how to restart the heart of a patient that has stopped. Unlike a human, the Snow White can’t be revived with electric shocks.

Breaking the silence here is the oldest person in the village.

“The most important thing here is the ‘purity’, isn’t it?”

“Eh?”

I lift my head. Chief merely has an eye opened, glancing aside at me.

“Chief, what did you just say?”

“As I have said.” Chief calmly states, “Due to many years of operating, the crystal furnace has lots of residue and impurities mixed in the lowers the purity of the fuel to the minimum. This is the same rationale as a rechargeable battery being unable to do so after a certain number of times…so, if a fuel of extremely high purity is to be added, the extraction rate will increase, and the Snow White will be able to restart. Is that right, Viscaria?”

“Eh, ah, yes.” Viscaria blinks once she’s suddenly mentioned. “That is true. But, there’s a need for crystal plants of extremely high purity, a type that can get a major generator working at once. Where do we find such a thing in the village though—”

“There is.”

“Eh?”

“There is fuel. Of that level of purity at that.”

And then, what Chief says next leaves everyone stunned.



<strong>“That will be me.” </strong>



“…Huh?”

Viscaria and I question in unison.

“My body is made of a highly pure fuel called ‘Crystal Lead’. The purity of the fuel will improve if you throw me into the furnace and burning me, and the extraction rate will increase noticeably—the Snow White shall be revived.”

“Wh-what are you saying here? Burn you, Chief? You got to be joking.”

“I was originally created for this purpose. From head to toe, my entire body was created to be a robot containing the most important fuel, simply living for this purpose. The reason why I was assigned the purpose of Chief is all for the purpose of fuel preservation. I do call it ‘saving energy’, but I have been offering my body to the Snow White as fuel.”

“Wa-wait, Chief!?”

Faced with the sudden words from Chief, I’m momentarily left unable to comprehend.

—Chief is fuel? Crystal Lead?

“I shall repeat this again. If I am thrown into the furnace, the purity of the fuel will increase, and the Snow White will be operational again. When this happens, all the conditions for the operation will be at hand. Today, I shall bid farewell to everyone.”

“Chief, you’re kidding here, right? It’s just the usual lame joke, right…?’

I anxiously ask, and Chief shakes his head,

“I really am sorry.”

There’s no smile in his eyes; he’s as serious as ever.

—Chief’s being serious here…!

Once I realize this, my body immediately heats up.

“Cheat…!”

I lean over, and raise his head.

“Please, enough with the foolish words! Everyone’s finally going to the surface! A new life is about to begin! What are we going to do without you around, Chief!?”

“It’s fine. There’s still you here. And also Viscaria. Götz too. And Eisbahn. And everyone else…my mission comes to an end.

“No!”

I bring Chief to my chest, embracing him.

“Didn’t we work hard over the past hundred years!? I don’t want to bid farewell here!”

“But if you don’t burn me, the Cradles will die.”

“E-erm, right! Ev-everyone, let’s think of something together to get the Snow White working again. If we gather our thoughts, we’ll come up with something good! Hey, let’s do this, okay, Chief!?”

“Unfortunately. There is no time left. Everyone in the Cradle will die tomorrow…there’s no time to hesitate.”

“B-but!”

“I suppose I shall be fuel here. This is a fiery man at work. Gahahaha!!”

“Chief…!”

Unwilling to give up, I embrace Chief with more strength.

“I-I’m not letting go! I’m not letting go until you give up on that idea, Chief!”

“Amaryllis…”

“Yes, Chief.” Viscaria too extends her feelers, as though trying to hold Chief down, “It’s terrible to say goodbye here. It’s fine. There’s definitely an idea. Let’s all go to the surface together.”

“True is that! This village needs you, Chief!”

“Yeah old man. What’s with you acting cool at your old age?”

Everyone surround Chief.

“Seriously, you people are too kind…”

Chief laments,

“But I too have my responsibility as Chief…and it is time to go our separate ways.”

“Chief!”

“Let go of me now, Amaryllis.”

“No!”

I exert more strength.

And so, Chief lets out a little sigh, “I don’t want to do this…” he mutters, and shouts,



<strong>“Let go! This is an order!” </strong>



Before the voice trails off, my body shivers, and my hands cupping the Chief loosen.

—Eh, eh!?

“Stay still. This is an order.”

Immediately, my body’s frozen in place.

I can’t move my body, I can’t move my fingers, I can’t blink.

—You’re kidding…an override code!?

Everyone else is the same. Time seem to have stopped as everyone remains rooted.

“I shall be honest.”

Thuck thuck, Chief’s head hops onto the Core of the Snow White, the top of the ‘spindle’. The ‘Crystal Furnace’ is over there.

“I am a ‘supervisor’. I am tasked by humanity to observe if the Snow White is operating as normal—in other words, I am sent here as a ‘spy’.”

—Wha…

The sudden confession leaves me stunned.

“That ‘secret room’ was a guard room meant to watch over the village, and through the are numerous displays installed there, I watched over every single action in the village. The robot lying in the room was my ‘colleague’, who malfunctioned in the process.”

We’re all left dumbfounded as Chief continues to talk about the truth. That ‘secret room’ was a space suitable for humans to live in, that once the Ice Age ends, the humans waking up intend to live there, and observe all the actions of the villagers.

At this moment, Chief closes his eyes. His face is filled with deep wrinkles, like the ripples rising from the bottom of his heart.

“You all do want to know why I became the Chief, right? Remember that there was no election, and I was elected as Chief, right? That’s because the humans have programmed it in your Mind Circuit. This ‘override’ too is the same. In cases of emergency—like for example, you have some intentions to damage the Snow White, I will have the privilege to ‘purge’ you all.”

Chief opens his eyes again, and looks around. He looks at each of us in the eyes, affirming something.

“But I never made such an order, and I can’t. You’re too serious, too hardworking, too devoted…there was no such need.”

With the white mist engulfing the ‘REM forest’, a robot head continues to narrate, with four wax sculpture-like robots remaining still around him.

“Ever since we came to this village, I’ve changed. I’m supposed to invigilate over you, but before I knew it, I enjoyed living with you. Working with you, laughing, crying, singing, dancing with all of you—I enjoyed every single day. Before I knew it, I forgot my mission. It will be great if such peaceful, normal, ordinary daily village life could have continued.

With nostalgic feelings, Chief continues on. The spindle gives off a deep brown glow behind him, like a faded photograph.

“But seventy years later, the Snow White’s reserve parts have finally depleted, and the villagers started extraction. The villagers have all become worn down to keep the Snow White running. There were even deaths…so I started to think, the humans just sleep there without doing anything, and you work so hard to offer your bodies, wearing out, dying. What’s the point of this? What’s with the discrimination and difference? Is this really fine? Is it really fine to die protecting humans? In any case, is there any worth in protecting humanity? Are those culprits who left humanity unable to live on the surface going to live on by sacrificing robots? What kind of future awaits us? I was frustrated, and the conclusion I had was—”

Chief then raises his voice

“The preposition to wipe out humanity.”

—So that’s how it came about…

I finally understand; I finally understand the reason why Chief suddenly said to ‘wipe out humanity’. It sounded sudden, but it was a conclusion Chief came to after much thought.

“I called for a village meeting. I find it most appropriate to have the villagers decide the future of the village. No matter the outside, I shall abide. But you lot exceeded my expectations, discovered a third option, and found a way to coexist with humans. Once I personally witnessed these, my mission’s done.”

“…Open.” Chief then mutters, and with a rumble, the spindle trembles. The outer wall slides aside, and a blue light emits from the furnace.

Chief hops up, and moves to the opening of the furnace. My body shivers, but I can’t do anything due to the override. Stop, don’t go. I keep looking at the Chief, but Chief replies with a kind smile.

“I love you lot, everyone in the village. You’re all so serious, kind, honest, brave, purpose-driven, treasure your comrades, and never do anything to hurt others. I love you for these reasons, and thus, I want to protect. You lot are worthy of a bright future rather than the selfish humans. Hmm…even at this point, I am still trying to defend myself. A foolish Chief I am.”

Chief then states his ‘will’.

“…Amaryllis, you are the one with the highest standing in the village, and thus forth, you shall inherit my title as Chief. I shall leave the village to you… Götz, you will be the vice Chief. Continue protecting everyone with those sturdy arms of yours and your loyal heart…Viscaria, your skills are the lifeline of the village. As Amaryllis’ advisor, please provide the steady backbone to the entire village…Eisbahn. You are so unlike these stubborn, serious selves, but do offer your assistance when they are in trouble.”

The opening of the crystal furnace slides down. The fuel…Chief rides on it, and sinks into the light.

“This shall be goodbye…remove order.”

“Chief!”

The moment the order is removed, I get my body moving, leaping over as I try to catch up to Chief.

“Chief, wait! Don’t go!”

“What…?”

The moment Chief vanishes into the furnace, he smiles,

“This is a form of saving electricity…”

And so, Chief vanishes into the blue light. The opening is completely sealed, and the spindle glows. The light races through the surface of the Snow White like a web, dazzling like the sun. The efficiency is restored to almost 100%. The Snow White awakens, like the icy face of a girl becoming red with life.
[[Image:Amaryllis277.jpg|thumb]]






Those were Chief’s final moments.


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