Simple Living 4
"Humanity, huh. I see." Mateo drank the remaining liquor at the bottom of his glass as if licking it. "Fifty-One liquor is good. It really is." Mateo's tone wasn't exactly seeking agreement, but perhaps he had just become a little weary.
"You said Amber Hurst. Who is she?" Irieda brought the topic back.
"Who knows. I don't know everything either. My information clearance isn't progressing. But at the very least, she's not a normal human. I've never seen anything like that before."
Mateo said this while showing the back of his neck to Irieda. There, black, vein-like lines ran across his skin like a mesh.
"Is that the augmentation?"
Irieda stared at Mateo's neck, feeling a strange sense of curiosity, as if he were gazing into a bonfire. Transhumanism's belief is to transcend the fate of dying, but Mateo's augmentation was at some stage of that process. By doing so, he could connect his brain to the internet without a terminal. Furthermore, some form of cognitive ability had been enhanced. Otherwise, with Mateo's abilities, he shouldn't have been able to become a pilot candidate for the Gemini Project.
"Irieda. Could it be that you're misunderstanding something?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I'm saying that the world we see is only a small fraction of reality. I knew it the moment I saw that woman. The augmentation I underwent is nothing but child's play."
"I don't understand what you mean." Irieda couldn't grasp what Mateo was saying.
"I mean, the entirety of the brain's functions."
"Everything?"
"Yes. Everything is augmented. That is the duty of an infected human."
"What has happened to Amber Hurst's body?" Irieda raised his voice in excitement.
"Ask her yourself." Mateo laughed as if enjoying Irieda's reaction. More quietly than a whisper, and as naturally as a dripping drop, Amber was standing behind Irieda.
"Amber Hurst?..."
As soon as Amber saw Irieda's face, she said "Hi," and shifted her gaze to Mateo.
"You were following me yesterday, weren't you?" Amber started as soon as she faced Mateo.
"Yeah, that's right. I was interested in you." Mateo said this, then poured himself a drink.
"If you want to know about me, why don't you ask me directly?" Amber said, crossing her arms.
"Ha! Are you saying I'm a shy boy?"
Mateo said this with a provocative attitude, snorting as if to laugh. Then, staring at Amber, he moved his gaze from her chest down to her waist.
"Besides, I can look into such things myself."
"You were investigating me. And you learned 'to some extent' about me. So, why aren't you satisfied?"
"That's enough." Mateo stood up as soon as he finished saying that.
"Hey. Wait." Irieda stood up in a panic and chased after Mateo.
"What's wrong?" Mateo turned around and said, looking at Irieda.
"You should doubt everything."
Like a breath in the darkness, Mateo's figure was suddenly cut off. Irieda felt a faint shudder at the concept of "where," which was nothing at all. For some reason, he imagined himself disappearing in a desperate sequence and felt an indescribable terror.
There was a mountain in the background where Mateo had been. Irieda realized that the direction was north.
Continued ➩Simple Living 5
いいなと思ったら応援しよう！
一日延ばしは時の盗人、明日は明日……
あっ、ありがとうございます！