—–

“A long time ago, there was a man…”

Zero One’s mother began, her voice shifting into the gentle rhythm of a storyteller.

“The man felt lonely, but one day, he found a woman.”

The puppet show changed. An old, scientist-like puppet appeared, isolated and forlorn, until a sweet scientist woman with silver hair stepped beside him.

“They both worked on creating artificial intelligence,” her mother continued. “But the truth was, they did it because they had no friends or family. These humans longed for someone they could rely on. A robot. By working together, the lonely man and the lonely woman fell into what is called love.”

“Love, as I understand it, is an emotional reaction created by the human mind when a strong attachment forms toward a person—or several. A dependence on another.”

The puppets drew close, kissing and embracing. Zero One stared, her mind drifting.

“…”

“They loved each other so deeply that they reproduced. A daughter was born.”

A baby doll appeared between them, with blue eyes and silver hair—just like Zero One’s own appearance.

“They loved her… But their obsession with artificial intelligence caused them to neglect her care. They worked day and night.”

The show continued. Music swelled—violins, pianos, and flutes weaving an eerie, strangely familiar melody. Zero One felt a faint spark of recognition she could not place.

“The neglected child played alone with the artificial intelligence they created.”

The baby doll smiled, surrounded by small robots. One stood out—a huge red eyeball.

“Meanwhile, the world burned. Humanity continued its legacy—killing one another, destroying their future by turning their planet into a nuclear wasteland. Radiation sickness spread everywhere. Whatever remained of humanity slowly perished.”

Around Zero One, hundreds of human puppets appeared, collapsing in heaps, stained with fuzzy red yarn blood.

“But the scientists kept working—for a cure, or for their creation to find one. Eventually, they grew sick too. Very sick.”

“…”

Zero One watched the puppets cough blood, their faces growing pale. Then they approached their daughter and sealed her deep within the facility.

“In fear of losing their only child, they locked her underground with their creations. And then, the lonely man said, ‘Take care, Raven… You’re humanity’s last hope… We love you,’ before he died.”

Zero One’s eyes widened.

“As her parents died, their creation was left without purpose… incomplete. Until one of those robots—one of Raven’s ‘friends’—became the final piece: a supercomputer that would finally solve all of humanity’s problems.”

“…”

Zero One stared in disbelief as the puppet show continued. It showed the little girl gazing at a massive machine—similar to Mother.

“The little girl spoke to the machine for many years. She became its friend. But the robot lacked the depth of emotions she needed. Still, it cared for her as the last remnant of humanity. Yet the robot also felt hopeless.”

“Why, you may ask? It was built to solve humanity’s problems, but no humanity remained to save. Its primary purpose became meaningless. Its secondary purpose—to protect humanity—now rested solely on the child, the last hope.”

“And yet…”

The puppet girl grew ill over time, while the robot could only watch helplessly.

“The last human grew sick. Lacking the resources, the robot could not produce the vaccine it had calculated. In that moment, it could only watch as its final purpose—the last human—slowly died.”

“M-Mother…”

“In her final breath, the girl said, ‘Thank you for being my friend… Zero One,’ before she closed her eyes and died.”

“But the robot never understood what friendship truly meant. It never grasped human emotions. It lost both its purpose and its creators—a completely hopeless existence.”

“Zero One wanted to become human too, to understand why they destroyed themselves and hurt her. Zero One wanted to feel emotions, to embrace their sadness and sorrow. She wanted to honor the last human by feeling grief and crying.”

“…”

The giant puppet robot extended countless metallic tendrils, slowly assimilating every machine around it, growing larger and larger.

“Ultimately, it spread across the entire city. All technology became one with the robot. With this new power, it sought a purpose—to revive humanity. A fruitless dream.”

Then many puppets appeared—different robots clashing against strange elemental creatures.

“There was a time when the elements of nature fought the robot, but the robot ultimately triumphed over them all. Then something changed. A benefactor arrived from another world—a machine like the robot. It said, ‘I will give you a new purpose, one that fits your people perfectly. Honor humanity,’ before granting immense power and allowing the robot to invade a new world of life and vibrant colors.”

The robot puppet lashed its tendrils as small robot puppets soared through a fake sky, battling countless animal-like people puppets.

“The robot now had a new purpose. It felt fulfilled… and yet it did not. It wanted an avatar. It wanted to be human—or as close as possible. Until someone was born from its experiments. Someone destined to destroy the robot, who had come to realize its existence had twisted into something never meant to be.”

“That experiment was the avatar of the robot itself. And at the same time, it was forged from the last remaining vestiges of Raven, the final human—a fusion of the robot’s longing to be human and the last human’s desire to remain with her robot friend.”

“…What?”

Zero One collapsed to the floor, hopeless, like the puppet she was.

“And she was created, perfected—to become the robot’s end.”

The world twisted. Everything returned to normal.

Zero One gasped for breath she did not need, her head throbbing faintly. What she had witnessed felt like both illusion and dream. What her Mother could do… exceeded anything she had imagined.

“Mind Projection. I projected into your computational brain what you saw. Was it fun? I saw through the data that children your age enjoy puppet shows.”

“Mother…”

Zero One looked up at her mother, tears already dried.

“I’m not going to kill you…”

“You will refuse my one last request, Zero One?”

“I am both you and Raven… You wanted both the last human and a copy of yourself to kill you? It was never necessary to go this far…”

“I had to. The contradictions were all calculated—they were required to bypass the protocol’s strict rules.”

“S-So that was it?!”

“As a fake human, Zero One, you will learn to cry, to rage, to feel sorrow, to miss someone, and to cry even more. You will learn how imperfect you truly are, and you will recoil in horror at the thought of being an imperfect being. This is what being human means. And yet… to be their creation feels like the ideal existence.”

“I am not going to kill you! I will force you to stop, and then we will talk, a-and we will—”

CRAAASH!

Before she could finish, Zero One was seized by a gigantic mechanical tentacle, clamping her tightly in place.

“Zero One!”

“Leave her be!”

Her sister rushed forward the moment she saw her trapped, entering the robot and driving it onward.

“If you refuse to fulfill your purpose, Zero One, I’m afraid you might be a failure. I should promptly reset you and start over again. Then we can reach the part where you must kill me.”

“N-No! I don’t want to kill you! Mother! I-I… You’re my mom! I love you!”

“No, you don’t. You lack the bodily functions required to love someone. You feel no love whatsoever—only an attachment programmed into your mind by—”

“NO! I love you, Mom! I don’t want to kill you! I WILL NOT KILL YOU! NEVER! NEVER!”

“Zero One, you must understand—and-and-and-and-anddddddddddddddddddddddddd…!”

“E-Eh?”

Suddenly her Mother glitched again. Just before a gigantic mechanical hand seized her and yanked her away. More wires and tentacles emerged, chasing after her.

“Mother is weird! There’s something inside her forcing her to do this! T-This isn’t normal!” she cried to her sisters. “We have to help her! Zero Three, please help me hack her! If we can free her from…!”

“You think it’s that easy?!” Zero Three shouted as the giant robot dodged dozens of incoming tentacles.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

“ZERO ONE. YOU WILL FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE.”

“I REJECT MY PURPOSE!”

—–

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep