Phantom Sonic - Let Your Voice Resonate Through the World!: EP-09
EP-09: Whether It's a Copy
Moonlight rimmed the city's silhouette in silver, and even the air felt thin and clear.
Far from the bustle of the city, on a high hill—that was where Mina and Amaryllis stood.
Below them, the cityscape stretched out, quietly continuing its nocturnal breathing.
Moonlight reflected softly off Amaryllis's armor, faintly highlighting even the minute scratches and machining marks on its surface.
The sight possessed a vividness that somehow resembled the warmth of human skin.
“—Mina.”
The voice that rang out suddenly did not vibrate in her ears, but in her chest cavity.
Mina immediately understood that it was VAL's voice.
The tone, layered over a logical structure, was inorganic, yet for some reason, it contained a human-like warmth.
“Whether it is a copy or an original—both ‘exist’.”
Despite the calm tone, the words weighed heavily, dominating the space.
It was a sound that fundamentally overturned the scales used to measure the value of existence.
Mina moved her lips, searching for a reply.
However, the words solidified in her throat and would not come out.
Even if she could speak, what would that one word change, and who would it move—that weight blocked her throat.
Silence filled the space between the two.
In the distance, the wind rustled the grass, and a sound like metal slightly brushing against metal echoed.
The space was so tense that even that seemed like unnecessary noise now.
VAL continued.
“Existence is not the issue. What you choose and what you leave behind—that is all.”
At that moment, the moonlight was blocked by clouds, and the shadows on the ground deepened all at once.
Deep within Mina's chest, Amaryllis's core trembled slightly.
While ruminating on VAL's words, Mina steadied her breathing.
Even that single breath affected Amaryllis, with whom she was synchronized—she could feel that now, whether she liked it or not.
“...I—”
A short voice, leaked out like an exhale.
Reacting to that slight inflection, Amaryllis's right hand trembled by just a few centimeters, and the angle of the sword it held changed.
She understood the linkage between movement and voice as a theory.
But seeing it right before her eyes—how her own voice could change the machine's behavior—made the weight of it feel completely different.
“Your voice is a voice that moves lives.”
VAL's voice was indifferent, but a sharp intent lurked deep within its resonance.
“You move both allies and enemies with that voice. You cannot escape the responsibility.”
Responsibility—those two characters sank heavily into Mina's chest.
In a past battle, she had experienced a moment where her monotone delivery caused a delay in movement, and her blade only grazed the target.
If that had been a situation involving her allies—that imagination sent a chill down her spine.
Amaryllis's core vibrated slightly once more.
As if to speak for that anxiety.
“Choose your words. Your voice is a blade.”
VAL's warning felt like it was being carved directly into her brain, not her ears.
Mina clenched her fist.
Whether the words she chose would save a life or take one—that reality was finally sinking into her bones.
VAL's voice suddenly sank low.
“...There is something you do not yet know. The shadow of the founder—”
The moment that word rang out as if to tear through the air, Mina's vision wavered.
Through the synchronization link, Amaryllis's core emitted irregular noise, and fragments of a brief past memory flashed like lightning.
—The smell of iron rust, the shadow of a narrow workshop.
—A steaming bowl held out by someone's hand.
—And a figure collapsing heavily right after the sound of a gunshot.
"That is..." I couldn't find the words.
The fragments were far too short, yet more than enough to tear through my heart.
VAL continues.
"The person standing behind you—their lineage touches the core of the inviolable order. It is no coincidence."
Livi's profile flashes through my mind.
The reason that workshop is a sanctuary—was that not just an old story after all?
But the moment I tried to ask more, a jarring high-frequency noise tore through the entire space.
A black shadow spreads across my vision, cutting through the moonlight.
The communication channel is forcibly closed, and red mathematical formulas bleed into the depths of the display.
"Observation aborted...? No, this is—"
The rest of those words were swallowed by the noise.
From within the noise, a cold, inorganic voice cut in.
"...Initiating the Decisive Battle Formula."
The silhouette of the city, illuminated by moonlight, shows a subtle distortion.
The glass surfaces of the skyscrapers ripple like the surface of water, and encrypted crimson-black code flows into them.
Mina gasps.
This isn't just hacking—it's the sensation of physical space and the information layer overlapping, with reality itself being overwritten.
Abnormal UI trajectories race across the vision of the synchronized Amaryllis, and my sensory organs creak.
"NX...!"
There is no response to my call. Only a flood of calculations, quiet yet surely closing in.
A few seconds later, the sky is torn by a deep fissure, from which red light seeps out.
Every time that light licks the surface of the earth, the city's outline warps, and familiar roads are replaced by corridors of another world.
A chill runs down Mina's spine.
There is nowhere left to run.
As she steadies her breathing, words take shape like a whisper deep within her chest.
—I have no choice but to resist with my voice.
However, no one yet knew the full extent of what this ritual, known as the Decisive Battle Formula, truly meant.
#postwar
#sliceoflife
#soundscape
#sharedtable
#urbanpeace
#machinecoexistence
#memorypreservation
#workshopstory
#quietaftermath
#voiceliveson
written not to own,
but to be consumed by thought.
origin: 0x3A0a6a529A99DeE147f80437657228f8205C8f1a