In the distant boundless sea, Duncan, sitting at the desk in the captain's cabin, frowned slightly.
He reached out and opened the secret compartment under the desk, and from the hidden place he found the brass key that Agatha had previously discovered and given to him. He placed it in front of his eyes and examined it carefully.
The simple-looking clockwork key has a cold metallic texture, reflecting the light in the sunlight streaming in from the window. The tiny decorative patterns on the key handle, which looks like an infinity symbol, come into view.
This is not the first time that Duncan has looked at this key, but this time, his mood when looking at this "queen's relic" is completely different from before.
This might be Le Nora's "soul container" - this possibility made his eyes gradually complicated.
The Frost Queen is a great person, and the secrets hidden in her have attracted Duncan's attention. If there is an opportunity to establish communication between Duncan and Le Nora, that would of course be a good thing - but this is the premise of all this.
, you cannot bet on Alice.
In Frost City, Duncan, who was wearing a black coat, narrowed his eyes slightly. He seemed to have restrained his divergent thoughts for a while, and his eyes once again fell on Agatha and the hazy shadow "Agatha" next to him.
"Do you still remember your experience in the city-state when you were a 'fake'?" he asked suddenly.
"Yes, I remember it all," the hazy shadow seemed to be nodding, "I also remember my experience after entering the mine and merging into the strange darkness..."
"I already know this part of the information, Agatha... I mean, as the 'genuine' Agatha, she has already reported this to me," Duncan said, with a thoughtful look on his face.
His expression said, "To be honest, your appearance... reminds me of someone."
"Alone?" the two Agathas said almost in unison.
"A...soul shadow named 'Martha'," Duncan said slowly, "She is Lawrence's wife and my new fleet member, and in the past ten years, her identity has been that of a
'Fake' wandering in the mirror frost."
The hazy phantom "Agatha" moved slightly.
"In the past ten years, this 'fake' has been wandering in the mirror space, attracting and gathering a huge number of thoughts and memory fragments, which has allowed her to grow into a huge 'hybrid', and 'Martha'
, is the core personality of this hybrid," Duncan continued, his eyes falling on the hazy figure, "Judging from the current situation, your situation is very similar to that of 'Martha', the difference is that you
You haven't become a 'hybrid' like her yet - you are still in an early, pure stage. Of course, considering that the Mirror Frost has been destroyed, you will probably remain at this stage stably in the future."
"There is such a thing..." said the genuine Agatha, with a tone of disbelief in her tone, "I thought what happened to me was a special case..."
"It's not a special case, so it aroused my curiosity even more," Duncan said calmly, but his eyes still stayed on the hazy figure, "When the frost in the mirror image subsided, all the 'fake' disappeared.
But now there are two 'personalities' left. Does this mean that the power supporting the fake 'Martha' and the fake 'Agatha' is not actually the mirror city, but something else? That piece of
The personality and memory copied from the sea can stably exist in the real world, and Martha is even outside the frost sea. Does this also mean that... this kind of maintenance of the fake 'Agatha' and the fake 'Martha'
Power is something as large and stable as the real world?"
The hall where the submersible was parked fell silent for a while.
After an unknown amount of time, Agatha raised her head and looked at her "shadow" quietly.
Duncan suddenly broke the silence: "Have you thought about the future?"
"The future?" Agatha was stunned for a moment, as if she had never considered this direction before, "What do you mean..."
"You can't live forever as another person's shadow - literally a shadow," Duncan stared at the hazy phantom, "you should think about the future."
The hazy phantom fell silent, and after an unknown amount of time, she spoke with a hint of hesitation: "But I am indeed her shadow."
"I emphasize again, 'people' cannot live as another person's shadow forever," Duncan still looked at her calmly, "You have your own personality and your own memory, and there may be two things in that memory.
More than ten years belong to others, but at least the last few days belong to you, so what happens next...Agatha?"
When Duncan said the name "Agatha", the two figures subconsciously raised their heads at the same time.
Duncan glanced at the two of them, and then breathed softly: "Think about it carefully, it doesn't matter, we still have a lot of time."
…
A knock on the door outside the captain's room interrupted Duncan's thoughts.
Temporarily withdrawing most of his attention from the "incarnation" of Frost City State, he raised his head and looked at his bedroom door: "Come in."
The door was pushed open, Alice stretched her head and looked inside, and then she slipped into the room like a thief, holding a plate of snacks still exuding heat: "I learned how to bake cookies!"
With a proud tone, she placed the snacks on the table in front of Duncan, and then looked around, seemingly looking for Ai.
"Ai is in the frost." Duncan said casually, looking at the Gothic doll in front of him.
This is the "back room" of the captain's cabin, his bedroom - on the entire ship, Alice is the only one besides Nina who can step into this room like nothing has happened.
The first person he met after coming to this world...a humanoid creature.
He trusted her, although she was not that reliable, but Duncan knew that this doll lady's honesty and trust in him exceeded everything else - although this almost extreme trust stemmed more from her solid mind, but
In this cold and unfamiliar world, this first and deepest trust still seems very precious.
Alice finally noticed Duncan's gaze. She turned her head in confusion, first checked her clothes, and then touched her neck: "Why do you keep looking at me?"
"It's nothing," Duncan withdrew his gaze, casually took a biscuit from the plate and stuffed it into his mouth, "...it tastes okay."
Alice laughed happily.
Then, she noticed the brass key sitting on the table.
"Ah, you are studying this key," Alice picked up the key and fiddled with it curiously, then groped for her back, "Are you going to wind it up for me?"
"Don't touch it," Duncan reached out and took the key back, his tone becoming extremely serious, "In the future, you can't touch this key without my permission."
Probably because she hadn't seen such a serious reaction from Duncan for a long time, Alice was even a little frightened. She quickly shrank her hands, with a nervous and frightened look on her face: "Yes... I'm sorry..."
"Sorry, I scared you," Duncan reacted and immediately softened his tone, "You didn't do anything wrong, and I'm not criticizing you - it's just that this key... may be dangerous to you."
"Danger?" Alice blinked, as if she couldn't understand. She reached out and touched her back in confusion, and touched the keyhole through her clothes, "But I heard Shirley and Nina say...this key
It should be used to wind up the clockwork for me... Ah, Nina also bought a wind-up toy soldier in the city. I played with it for a long time, and the wind-up key of the toy soldier looked like this...
"
Duncan rubbed his forehead. Although he knew that Alice might find it difficult to understand, he patiently explained: "This key is not that simple. It is an extraordinary item. Do you understand? Queen Le Nora left it behind.
This thing, and now I suspect...this is some kind of resurrection method for her."
Alice looked steadily into Duncan's eyes, and after a long time, she said in a long voice: "Ah...ah?"
"Le Nora's memory and soul may be preserved in this key," Duncan was not surprised by Alice's reaction. He just sighed softly, pressed the key on the table, and looked at the person in front of him.
I said, "And you have exactly the same appearance as Leigh Nora."
After being stunned for a while, Alice finally came to understand. She looked down at her body and then at the key pressed on the table by the captain. After a long time, she said: "So, if you wind me up, who
Is it possible for the Frost Queen to control my body?"
"I am indeed worried about this," Duncan nodded. He did not hide his thoughts in front of the simple-minded puppet, "Of course, this worry is not so... reasonable, and there are still many doubts."
"Doubtful?"
"The most important thing is that this process is too uncontrollable," Duncan said. "You should know how you were discovered - the doll's coffin was drifting in the sea near Hanshuang and was salvaged by a passing ship.
Come up, and where is the key? The key is in the hands of the successive governors of the city-state. They have passed it down for half a century, but no one knows the connection between the key and your doll. If this is the resurrection method left by the Frost Queen, then
This method relies too much on luck.
"The doll may not be with the key. The person who gets the key may not know the connection between the key and the doll. Even if he knows, he may not turn the key - even Tirian doesn't know this.
, who else is going to wind up the clockwork for you? What’s more... under the terrifying name of Anomaly 099, how many people dare to approach the puppet’s coffin casually?”
Alice listened to the captain's words with half-understanding. After finally understanding most of it, she asked curiously: "What about... other doubts?"
"Other doubts..."
Duncan thought about it, but in his mind, he suddenly recalled the Frost Queen he saw in the "phantom" when he was exploring Alice's "coffin", and the words left by the Frost Queen.
talk--
Please don't pollute history.
The Frost Queen, who died calmly in the face of fate... would she really arrange a back-up plan for her to be resurrected decades later?