It was already late at night, and the streets of Opos became quiet. On the empty streets, only Aimu's lonely figure was walking slowly forward.
Soon, Amu walked towards the center of the city, the huge scar across the ground.
Waves of mist hit their faces, and many people seemed very panicked when they saw the Great Rift for the first time. After all, this land was so weird and terrifying.
But Amu is different. In her short life, it can be said that almost all of her time was spent in this dark and humid crack.
What may seem like a terrifying gap to others is, to Aimu, a warm hometown.
Although she had just left not long ago, she felt like she had been away for many years.
The light beam in his eyes gradually became clearer. This was a function that was set up in the Perpetual Core in order to deal with emergencies a long time ago. Now it was activated and guided Aimu in the direction.
Alice's figure followed closely behind Aimu. She looked at Aimu from time to time, observing her trembling eyes and pretending to be calm.
The chaotic sound of electric current echoed in Aimu's ears, and then a familiar voice sounded not far away. Aimu was stunned, stopped, and looked towards the rolling darkness in the mist.
The darkness dissipated, and two familiar figures stood at the edge of the corridor.
"Okay, let's just get here." The tall figure said.
"Why can't we continue moving forward? There is obviously a road ahead." The short figure didn't understand.
The tall figure said softly, "There is a world outside that does not belong to you."
The short figure tilted her head. She obviously didn't understand why the outside world didn't belong to her. Why was she imprisoned in this small land even though she had already been born?
But she didn't worry about it for too long. She knew nothing about the outside world and didn't have any desire. Not to mention that she liked this kind of life very much now. Even if she didn't go outside, she felt it was okay.
"You are an outlier. Outliers are not welcome in the group, but it is different here. The Great Rift welcomes everyone."
He stretched out his hand and gently touched her face, running his rough fingers across the gaps in the metal joints.
She could barely understand these things, and raised her hand. The exposed palm was made of hard and cold metal, with rivets arranged along the edge, and blue and red cables could be seen in the gaps.
She was different, his body was soft and warm, while hers was hard and cold.
But she thought it was nothing. She could do many things that he couldn't do. For example, she could smash nails directly with her hands instead of using tools like him.
"Is that so? Then just stay here forever. I don't think there's anything wrong with it," she said.
Alice watched this illusory scene from a distance and was about to say something, but she heard the footsteps gradually going away, and when she turned around, Aimu had already walked far away.
Aimu tried hard to stay calm and ignore the hallucinations of those memories, but no matter how much Aimu ignored them, countless figures still stood up in the fog.
The two figures appeared in the air corridor again, the tall figure lifted the short figure up, and the short figure stretched out his hand to collect the shimmering gas above.
"The Great Rift is full of this kind of alchemical waste gas. After collecting it, I can go back and teach you how to decompose them."
"good!"
Aimu walked through the air corridor, smashing the illusory figure into scattered dust. Alice said nothing and followed her closely, like a wild wolf stalking its prey.
Walking through the sky corridor, the hesitating fork in the road is very close. Under the edge of the cliff, two figures huddled in the shadows.
"Look, whenever it rains, the accumulated water will pour into the big crack, and the rapids will flow down the cliff one by one, like a waterfall."
He pointed to the cliff in the distance, and the water rushed over and spilled into the large fissure.
"Should we go home quickly? Otherwise I will get rusty!" She was not in the mood to appreciate the scenery.
"It's okay, it's okay. After this upgrade, I replaced it with alchemical metal for you, so you don't have to worry about that," he said.
She raised her hand again. The rough metal palms were no longer there, but were replaced by hands as delicate as handicrafts. The metal surface was polished until it was shiny, and the slender fingers danced dexterously.
Then there are more figures.
The tall figure replaced her with new eyeballs, installed a new hearing system, and then performed overall repairs to give her a more human form.
She is like a clay sculpture that, with constant smearing and correction, becomes a human being bit by bit, and becomes...someone.
Aimu stopped. She could see the light rising from behind the fog. That was her destination. But she, who had never slowed down, could not help but slow down and stopped at this moment.
"Do you want to run away? Aimu, it's too late to turn back now. You can go back to the living room and pretend that nothing happened. I can help you cover up your traces. No one will know what happened tonight..." Alice's voice
Ringing in the ears.
Aimu ignored her. She stopped responding to any of Alice's words from the moment she stepped into the Great Chasm.
The temporary pause gave Aimu courage. As she said before, she had to make a break.
Without hesitation, Aimu stepped into the mist. There seemed to be evil spirits lurking in the mist, and there were constant frightening whistling sounds.
Stepping onto the steel corridor and then onto the wooden floor, the air was filled with an old smell. Aimu froze on the spot, illusion and reality overlapped. She stood in front of a door, her hand already on the handle.
.
Turning the door handle, a familiar yet unfamiliar figure stood in front of the door.
She looked at herself, her eyes changed from shock to excitement, she hugged herself, and she could still faintly hear crying, just hearing her repeating it.
"Alice, is that you? Alice."
Who is Alice?
She didn't understand this, and soon the other party realized that something was wrong with the situation. The other party started to argue with him. During the quarrel, she learned that the name of the visitor was Bailey Ietta, and she called him
Teacher, in her excitement, Bailey even called Teda Yazhedet by her name.
He watched the quarrel, and then Bailey left. Before leaving, he glanced at himself reluctantly. In the silent house, he looked much older for a moment. He walked over and asked softly.
"What is Bailey? What is TEDA?"
"It's her, it's me."
"This is...name?"
She had read in books that everyone was referred to by a certain word, and this was a name. Only then did she notice that she did not have a name, and he had never said a name to her.
"Then...what am I?" I asked again.
Teda was silent for a long time and said in a cold tone.
"Alchemy Doll."
Passing through many hallucinations, advancing along the rusty corridor, and passing through many twisted and weird buildings, Aimu walked towards the depths of the great rift until the light pillar was within easy reach.
She tried hard not to listen to those sounds, but the quarrels and noises gradually became more intense until they were deafening.
The fog almost covered the entire field of vision, the long corridor was looming in the chaotic gray, and another door appeared in the fog.
Aimu remembers this door.
In the days that followed, Aimu always wondered if everything would have been different if he had not opened that door.
But I always have to push it away, this is destined.
So she opened the door and saw another version of herself lying on the bed.
She thought she was unique.
How ridiculous.
"What are you doing?" Teda was always gentle, but this time he was full of anger.
"She is..." She didn't understand, her eyes were filled with fear.
Teda's anger suddenly died out, and he stood there for a long time and gave his explanation.
"Alice Argentet, she is my daughter."
The false house game is over, and TEDA feels it’s time to explain everything and draw a clear line.
She couldn't deal with these problems for a while, her mind was in a mess, and she almost felt like she was going to explode.
Looking at the sleeping figure on the bed, looking at the body that was no different from her own, she looked down at her hands, and an unspeakable feeling of fear erupted from the bottom of her heart.
She staggered back and sat down against the wall, screaming and moaning in fear.
"No...no, this isn't quite right..."
She murmured that she was herself, and that was how it should be...
Teda didn't say anything, he picked her up, pushed her open another door, and threw her in.
She was thrown into the garbage heap. She didn't understand why Teda became so vicious. He was obviously not like this in the past... Is he sick? She knew that humans are very fragile, they will get sick, and some people are sick.
, your temperament will change drastically.
Yes, Teda is sick. As long as he recovers, he will become what he is familiar with.
But……
"As you can see, she is my daughter."
Teda spoke emotionlessly, explaining everything about his resurrection plan to her.
Those words were like the ravings of a demon, and the radiance of ether flashed on and off her body. She felt that she was about to be overloaded and damaged.
"But……"
She shook her head vigorously, denying all this.
"Am I your daughter?"
Teda looked at her coldly, and then said, "Look around you."
She turned her head, and one abandoned doll after another fell together. Their eyes were empty, as if dead, densely packed, and filled with darkness.
After the fear reached its peak, her emotions became numb. She remembered those beautiful memories, everything was so real, but the pain now was equally sharp.
She doesn't understand why Teda was so kind to her once and why he is so cruel now. Is it just because of his different status?
Teda closed the door slowly, and all the light disappeared. She crawled over in embarrassment, but still could not stop the door from closing.
He knocked hard on the door and kept making pleading sounds, but there was no response from behind the door.
She cowered in the corner in fear, and Aimu walked over and sat next to her.
No one knows that Aimu is not as well-behaved as she appears. On the contrary, she is a cunning and lying child.
The sad identity of the Alchemy Doll brings a sense of sympathy to those who know her, and the numbness of her expression and the indifference of her tone also make her lies flawless.
Boluogo had heard this story from Aimu and Teda, but neither of them told the truth. Only they knew what happened that day.
"That was the day you showed up." Aimu whispered.
Alice stood aside with her hands behind her back, "You need me, so I'm here, right?"
Aimu didn't respond, she heard footsteps coming.
Teda is here.
When Teda opened the door again, it was already the next day. She was sitting quietly on the doll's body, just like another doll.
TEDA asked, "Do you know your position?"
She didn't answer, but kept mumbling something. Her voice was very low, so low that only she could hear it.
"I am not someone's substitute, I am not... I am special, I am unique..."
Like a spell, she forced herself to believe it.
The illusion collapsed suddenly, and a rock wall blocked the way. Aimu looked a little tired, but she still hit the wall straight, and then passed through it. The familiar door was close at hand. She hesitated for a moment and knocked on the door.
Door.
Footsteps sounded from behind the door, and then the door was pushed open a small crack, revealing a terrifying face.
The sense of familiarity was no longer replaced by a frightening strangeness. His face was covered with a messy beard, his eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his pupils hidden in the darkness were shining with a crazy light.
Aimu didn't dare to recognize the man in front of him. He was so haggard, but he had a fanatical smile on his lips, like a hysterical madman.
Teda stared for a long time. He had no comment on Amu's current appearance. He just pushed the door completely open and said, "Come in. If the virtual realm is left open for too long, they will discover it."
Entering the alchemy workshop, Aimu froze on the spot. The once pervasive smell of engine oil disappeared and was replaced by the smell of blood.
She saw thick blood vessels protruding from the dark corners, blood surging under the film, rapids, vine-like flesh and blood entangled between the steel, which in turn affected the operation of the machinery, and the ground was also covered with a layer of blood.
It is a flesh-and-blood creation similar to a germ carpet, with fine granulations swaying endlessly.
Aimu could faintly hear a low sound, as if a war drum was being beaten in the darkness, and along with it, there was a slight tremor on the ground.
In this nest of flesh and blood, there seems to be an extremely huge heart. It is sleeping in the darkness at the moment. It is difficult to imagine what it will look like when it wakes up.
TEDA locked the door behind him, and the virtual realm was closed again to isolate others from prying eyes. As for the distortion and noise at the moment, TEDA had no intention of explaining.
"Is Alice okay?" Teda asked emotionlessly.
Aimu covered his chest, "She is safe."
As the creator of Amu, TEDA had already guessed what Amu had gone through when he first saw her. Only when the body is completely damaged does it need to be completely reshaped.
Teda didn't care about Amu, but emphasized, "You are just borrowing her life. If you can't protect her..."
"I understand." Aimu replied indifferently.
"That's good."
TEDA turned around and got busy, reaching out to open the sticky flesh and blood and taking out the metal parts.
He did not forget to say, "The Immortal Heart has been implanted. Now we just need to wait for it to fully integrate with Alice. There is nothing you need to do during this period, so just stay aside quietly."
Aether surged around TEDA, and imaginary arms grabbed the heavy parts and piled them aside.
In addition to being busy with Alice's resurrection, Teda was basically working on these things. He was building the alchemy workshop into a fortress bit by bit.
TEDA understood that the virtual realm here could not protect him forever, and he would eventually be discovered. Fortunately, he did not have to fight to the death with the Bureau of Order, he only had to wait until everything was over.
"Why are you still here?" Teda turned around and found that Aimu was still standing where he was, not leaving.
"I just want to see this place again."
Aimu looked up at the unrecognizable alchemy workshop, and there was no sadness or joy in his voice.
"After the fusion is completed, the Philosopher's Stone in the Perpetual Core will be taken away, right? The reversal of the condensation will allow the soul to return to the body," Aimu said quietly, "I should be damaged by then, right?"
All the previous suspicions were just to deceive Boluogo. Aimu knew her ending very well, but what she didn't expect was that Boluogo was so easy to deceive, as if he would believe whatever she said.
This is not good. The easier Boluogo is to deceive, the sadder Aimu will be.
"Are you scared? If so, why do you want to come back?" Teda asked.
"I'm not afraid. I'm an alchemy doll. The way I think is different from humans," Aimu said calmly. "Humans are afraid of death, but I don't."
Aimu laughed, "On the contrary, I will be happy because the fate of the tool has been carried out."
The value of a wrench does not lie in rusting while sitting idle, but in being broken while twisting a screw.
Aimu walked aside, peeled away the layers of flesh, and took out a familiar puppet mask. The memories of the past kept flashing before his eyes.
After being silent for a long time, Aimu couldn't help but speak.
"Father, I..."
The suppressed ether interrupted Amu's words, and Teda slowly turned his head, his haggard face filled with anger and ferociousness.
"How many times have I told you, Aimu."
Aimu did not back down and asked, "Shouldn't parents love their children?"
After saying this, Aimu suddenly felt very relaxed. She finally asked this question.
"To you, what am I?" Aimu continued to ask.
"Alchemy Doll."
Without any hesitation, Teda replied, "A tool to resurrect Alice. Are you satisfied with this answer?"
His voice was calm, revealing an unspeakable sense of exhaustion.
Aimu didn't refute, just answered mechanically.
"I understand, teacher."
Aimu stopped staying and turned around to walk into the depths of the alchemy workshop. She originally wanted to rest on the maintenance bench, but the place was already covered in thickets of flesh and blood.
Finally, Aimu pushed open the door of the stronghold cabin. Boluogo and Palmer took care of the room very well. Even under the closed condition, the place was not penetrated by flesh and blood. Everything was as it was when they left.
Aimu closed the door tightly, sat down slowly on Boluogo's single bed, then hugged his knees and huddled together.
She finally returned here, got the answer to the question from Teda, and ended it. But after the expected relief, there was a burst of unspeakable bitterness.
"Look, I just said it would be like this, right? He never cares about you. Even if you pretend to be a delusional person and cooperate with him to do so many things, even sacrifice yourself and resurrect Alice, he will not look at you twice.
of.
Poor Aimu, you still have some expectations that you shouldn't have. Do you think your self-sacrifice will make him care about you?"
Alice sat on Palmer's single bed and said provocatively.
"A tool is a tool, you are never his daughter."
Aimu buried his head lower.
"Speaking of which, you are really an easy-to-satisfy guy."
Alice laughed, came to the table, and played with the things that Boluogo and the others left here casually.
Burlogo's personal belongings are all hammers and knives. This guy is like a collector of cold weapons. His drawers are full of deadly weapons. Palmer is full of fantasy.
The only thing the two have in common is that they both prepared a lot of records and tapes.
"Even Boluogo, who is closest to you, didn't guess your wish correctly. What is the incarnation of a human being? In fact, you just want the so-called...father's love?
Or is it a sense of identity that has been chosen?"
Alice played with the records and threw them around like darts. Some of them hit Aimu, but she had no reaction.
"Actually, you don't have to come back at all. Bailey is very kind to you. She even gave you these things. You can definitely win love and recognition from her.
Boluo Ge can also do it. He is a violent maniac who scares me when I see you. He has been tricked by you. It shouldn't be easy to get some love from him, right?"
Alice said and looked at the time, "He should be asleep now, right? Dreaming about you?"
Amid constant ridicule, Alice placed a record on the record player, slowly turning it, and bursts of light singing sounded.
"Look, you have so many choices. If you stay in the sublimation furnace core, maybe TEDA will die tomorrow and everything will be over."
"If I don't come back, I will never know the answer again." Aimu finally responded.
"Huh? Why do you want Teda's approval?" Alice didn't understand, "Just because he is your creator? Your nominal...father?"
Aimu didn't answer.
"Well, you know the answer now, but it's not easy for you, Aimu." Alice walked towards Aimu, "Actually, you thought it would end like this a long time ago, right?"
"You gave the choice to TEDA, but TEDA didn't choose you... The reason why you hid it from Bologo was also for this purpose, right?"
Alice opened Amu's wounds without mercy.
"Not even your father would choose you, let alone Boluogo.
You don't dare to test Boluogo. If Boluogo doesn't choose you, your last hope will be wiped out.
Looking at it this way, Amu’s short life was too much of a failure.”
There was no response, Aimu tightened herself even more, and after a while, her voice trembled.
"Why wouldn't a parent love his child?"
"Why can't I?"
"Just because I'm an alchemy doll?"
"But I feel that I am no different from humans. I have the same consciousness as them, and I even do better than most of them."
"So why?"
"Why was I born to be someone's replacement?"
Aimu calmed down and tried to recall some good things.
Her appearance always gives people the illusion of age. In fact, Amu is just a child. There were not many beautiful things in her short life.
She thought of the Oath Festival, the first time she tasted cake, the first movie she saw, the detective and the hound...
Grant wisdom to the alchemy doll and tell her the fate of being replaced.
This is too bad.
Alice came to Aimu, squatted down slowly, and looked at the embarrassed Aimu playfully.
"Stop leaving the choice to others, Aimu, your destiny should be decided by yourself, instead of paying everything for that ridiculous wish."
Alice shook Amu's shoulders vigorously and shouted at her.
"Now you have got the answer you want. He does not love you. Even if you sacrifice yourself, this will not change."
Alice couldn't stop laughing when she mentioned this.
"That's how children are, the emotions you long for won't be responded to, no matter how hard you try.
So you only have the most extreme choice.
Self-sacrifice.
Punish Teda with death and make him repent and acknowledge your existence."
But even so, there is still no response. In comparison, Aimu is more like a human being, while TEDA is just some kind of machine that faithfully executes orders.
"What do you want to do now? Kill Teda? I can help you, or destroy Alice, which I can do too.
I can make Teda extremely regretful and make him live in pain and self-blame for the rest of his life. I can inflict all the tortures in the world on him!"
Alice got close to Aimu and said firmly, "As long as you choose me, I will be able to do anything."
Aimu shook his head.
"No, I don't want to hurt anyone. Alice died at the beginning. This matter has nothing to do with him. Teacher... teacher is just too persistent..."
Alice was silent, then she laughed.
"Look, Aimu is really kind. You can understand them, but who will understand you? Who can love you?"
"You are right, your wish is really small and not worth mentioning. As long as TEDA is willing to give you a little love, you are willing to sacrifice yourself... Even if he is pretending, you can accept it.
But even this small wish cannot be realized."
Alice became angry, "You should be more selfish, Aimu."
She clenched her fists vigorously, as if she wanted to control her fate.
"It's time to think about yourself! Don't make wishes for others, make wishes for yourself that you really want!"
Aimu raised his head slightly, showed sad eyes, and asked the question again, "Alice is dead, who are you?"
Alice smiled at this, her voice soft and unfaltering.
"Does it matter who I am now?"
Aimu shook his head silently, "Yes, it's not important anymore."
Bitter laughter gradually began, and Aimu leaned his head against the wall, talking to himself.
"I read this sentence in a book, except for injuries and diseases, all human suffering comes from one's own thinking.
But I don’t have injuries or diseases, all my pain comes from myself.”
Aimu slowly closed his eyes. No one would firmly choose her, even at the cost of death.
She didn't dare to test other people's intentions. Instead of trusting others, it was better to move forward alone from the beginning.
Aimu suddenly understood why humans like to keep pets. Only pets absolutely belong to them, and only pets will never betray themselves.
She understands.
Only by absolutely possessing someone, something, something on which emotions can be placed, can human beings give all their emotions without reservation, fearlessness, and regardless of the cost...
In fact, Aimu already knew who Alice was, but she didn't feel scared.
Aimu just felt a little absurd, like a destined fate, you knew what was going to happen but you were powerless to stop it.
There's nothing to stop it.
So Aimu stretched out his hand and grasped the fragmented illusion.
Aimu made a wish, a selfish wish.
There were knocks on the door, and the door handle was twisted, but when the door was opened, there was no longer a familiar corridor, but chaos and darkness.
A familiar figure walked out of the darkness, with a crazy aura lingering around him.
"I got the dream seed... This way we are clear, you delusional man."
Gray said as he put the iron box at his feet. Without stopping or saying a word, he closed the door and disappeared into the hazy darkness.
Aimu was left alone huddled indoors, singing gradually began
"I want a perfect body and a complete soul.
I wish I could be like you, but I'm so weird and out of place."