Curse the Mainframe! 294 What We Wan

Stepping through the doors, the best way for him to describe what happened was that his vision blurred before he stepped through another set of doors.

The door hissed behind him as they closed.

Ye Sha found himself standing in the middle of another room that seemed remarkably similar to the one that he'd been in previously. In fact, it was identical.

Only, this time, there was no container that he'd woken up in, which meant that the entire room was entirely bare.

The triplets were still in the room together with him, this time standing behind him in a respectful manner.

It kind of freaked him out.

He felt like he had three predators standing behind him, and that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up straight. Still, he valiantly ignored it, trying his best to show nonchalance.

There was something niggling at him. His eyes scanned around the room, and just as quickly as a thought formed, it disappeared in the next second.

"Welcome," a wispy voice echoed around the room, giving Ye Sha pause. The voice was androgynous, and it sounded both young and old at the same time.

Ye Sha couldn't place it, and he was certain that he'd never come into contact with anyone who had this particular voice before.

Of course, there was always the option of changing one's voice. It wouldn't be a surprise, considering how technologically advanced this place was.

"Hello," Ye Sha said genially.

No reason to antagonize people that could read his mind, after all.

Suddenly, Ye Sha spoke up again, prodding and testing. "This place. It's the same room I woke up in. How did you manage to get rid of the container in the middle of the room in such a short amount of time? Or… did some time pass before I rematerialized?"

Silence fell.

"How did you know?"

The wispy voice had a dreamy quality to it, and it reminded Ye Sha of a child's innocent curiosity. It surprised him briefly.

One of the triplets stepped forward respectfully, answering their master's question. "I believe that it is because of the slight scuff marks on the floor."

There was a slight pause before the voice spoke again. "I see. Ensure that it does not happen again in the future."

"Yes, master," the three echoed.

Ye Sha could feel the owner of the voice measuring him up. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled again.

But… with this interaction, Ye Sha could tell that the owner of these triplets wasn't artificial intelligence like them, nor were they as omnipotent nor as omnipresent as they'd like him to believe.

The wispy voice spoke up to dispel his thoughts. "That is not the case. We have never tried to enforce that impression on you."

Ye Sha thought about it but decided to put it aside for the time being. "Who are you?"

There seemed to be a faint smile in the voice. "Smart boy. But… We shan't tell you just yet."

"Then, what do you want, and why have you brought me here?"

Ye Sha talked again before they had the chance to say something. "Don't tell me you brought me here it's because I wanted it in the first place. For one, I may have wanted a body, but it would never have taken root if you hadn't trapped my friend inside his mindscape against his will."

The disembodied voice chuckled lightly, showing a humanity that wasn't present in the triplets. Ye Sha didn't know how he could tell. He just could. "Indeed. However, take it in good faith that we mean you no harm, dear Ye Sha. Nor do we contain any desire to harm your Alec."

First of all, Alec wasn't 'his'. That just sounded wrong!

…Seriously, the hairs on the back of his neck never stopped prickling. He didn't know whether or not he was flattered or creeped out in this disembodied voice's apparent interest in him.

Was it him specifically? Or not?

He felt like there were eyes scanning his every movement, and with the thought that they were able to hear his thoughts as well, he had never felt so insecure in his own skin.

It was distinctly uncomfortable.

"What do you want from me?"

He really couldn't tell whether or not they were lying, so the only thing that could give him more data was to make the voice talk more.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he asked incredulously.

"Nothing."

"I find that unlikely. You would give me a body out of goodwill, just like that?"

There was the sound like the soft clinking of glass upon glass, and it threw him off a little when he realized that the voice was laughing.

"Goodwill? No, this is all predestined, of course. We already knew that you were coming."

Ye Sha frowned hearing that. Predestined? He didn't believe in fate.

Fate was made by one's own hands. That much he had in common with Alec. He didn't believe that he couldn't change 'fate'.

They packaged it and made it sound like such a pretty thing, when Ye Sha knew that it was anything but. It was just an excuse to use when something went wrong, blaming it on 'fate' like they were unable to fight against it.

Much like how there were various plot lines that were used throughout the various worlds, it didn't mean that they couldn't be subverted.

There was no such thing as predestined.

The light sound of glass clinking against each other came again. "Right, of course. You may think of it however you wish, however, to us, it is indeed predestined. We shall not try to convince you of our standpoint."

Ye Sha just listened silently.

"This is White Space. You are not the first to come here, nor will you be the last. Tell me, what do you know of the Mainframe?"

Ye Sha's eyes sharpened. Asking about the Mainframe?

Before, he may not have been able to speak of it due to the risk of punishment, but now that he'd broken all ties to it, he was able to speak freely. The question was, did he want to?

In the end, he still trusted his gut instinct. "The Mainframe contracts with previous human souls to create Systems, using them to uphold the various worlds and universes, as well as the timestream."

"Very good," the wispy voice praised, and Ye Sha got the feeling of warmth from it. "Then, tell me. Who created the Mainframe?"

The System's eyes narrowed. He'd always wondered about this question, but he'd never been able to find a hint of the answer no matter how far back he dug.

Just who had created the Mainframe, this existence, and used it to enforce order upon the various worlds?

"I'll tell you something else instead, and let you ponder on it. The Mainframe is semi-autonomous. It used to be part of a greater whole, but it split off one day of its own accord, creating its own rules and conduct, trying to enforce it on those it saw fit."

Suddenly, Ye Sha's heart started pounding.

The words that came out of the voice made him feel unsettled. It felt like little jolts of electricity were hitting him.

He'd always treated the Mainframe as the greatest authority out there, since he hadn't been able to find evidence of it otherwise.

Ye Sha shuddered, shoving all the various thoughts down deep. He could not afford to think about it here when he was under surveillance.

"You need not be so cautious with us," the voice said soothingly, almost hypnotically. "All we want is for you to work with us. You just have to provide us a bit of information in exchange ever so often."

"What information?" Ye Sha asked warily.

"Information we require. We have been looking for a Spatial Beast. We know that you have come into contact with it."

Ye Sha was instantly shaken.

Chapter end

Report