Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

"Let's not talk about that for now. What happened to Lady Lunicia?"

"Why don't you use the name she likes when you're not with her?"

"That's called showing respect. Answer me first."

"I can't change it for the time being." Ashlee tilted her head. "Compared to my own affairs, is Luna, who seems to have no problems, more important?"

"Compared to that, my own affairs are not that important."

"Okay, as you wish. Luna's consciousness is now synchronizing with what she calls the 'realm of God'. You can regard this process as a kind of soul leaving the body. So now she is undoubtedly in a deep sleep, and she will not wake up on her own until she finishes what she should do. Now is a little time for Ella and the individual Ashetherin to be alone."

"All right……"

Ella looked relieved and sat casually on her own bed.

After washing up and eating, she wanted to put on her old leather armor again, but after some hesitation, she finally put on the white and purple dress she bought from Muirander. The appearance was simple but full of design, and even without showing much skin, it could highlight Ella's appearance and figure. In addition, the magic accessories inlaid on the cuffs and other places could ensure a suitable temperature even at an altitude of 10,000 meters in winter. As a gift presented with praise, Ella originally planned to keep it for collection, but in the end, she tried to wear it under the encouragement of Ashlee. And every time she tried to change back to her original clothes because of the awkward feeling of stepping out of her comfort zone, the golden gaze would make her give up this approach out of anger.

"Then I'll ask you directly."

"Please help yourself."

"I have to admit that what you said makes sense...even though it sounds like you are insulting me."

Ella's expression kept changing, as if she didn't know how to deal with this topic.

"But do you really have to use -- that method?"

"What Ashley wanted to do, as I said at the beginning, was just to relieve Ella's pressure."

Ashethelin was still as relaxed and indifferent as ever. The mechanical girl's body floated and she sat gently on Ella's shoulder, not giving the latter a chance to protest. Ella herself did not show any rejection. Of course, Ashethelin would only sit on Lunicia's shoulders originally. This was the first time she sat on Ella's shoulders.

"Ashe is not responsible for solving Ella's problems."

"Are you really emotionless... soulless?"

"That's very rude, Ashley, can I ask why you said that?"

"I heard that the so-called 'consciousness' of the 'Iron Leviathan' in Guizhi Islands, the 'Chrysalis Shell' in Arkham, and the mechanical puppets in other places is nothing more than using the gaps between gears to simulate human thinking. Such existence will not form a soul. Damage means death, and death means the end."

“Humans boast that their souls can enter reincarnation, ascend to the realm of gods, or fall into the abyss after death. Even so, intelligent creatures still regard death as the end and end of life, rather than a flower that will bloom again. Eternal life is not regarded as life, and people always define entering eternal existence as something different from themselves.”

“But it also confirms where people are emotionally.”

“Because you feel a void when you lose it?”

"Because the dead are ultimately different from the living. Once you cross that line of no return, you can never come back."

"Ella occasionally talks about moral principles like this. Although it is a very suitable subject for poetry - we are now discussing the principles of life and death and the nature of the soul like the sages of Korrasu. You are cold and me is mechanical. It sounds like an overly rational combination, but the individual Ashetherin wants to compile this into poetry."

"If you could let me go first..."

Perhaps she saw the opportunity to distract attention during the conversation, or perhaps she did not think there was anything wrong with doing so from the beginning. Ashethelin naturally fell from Ella's shoulder and sat on the mattress beside Ella. Then she leaned her body against her arm and even went further to put her arm around her shoulder. Even while doing this seemingly intimate action, Ashethelin's face remained expressionless. But who knows if she was showing a smug smirk in her clever mind?

"Why bother? If I, the existence called individual Ashetherin, am just a puppet without soul, will, emotion, and of course no past, present, or future in the eyes of you, the cold and beautiful swordsman, as you called me out of spite last night, with a sword, a shield, the bedding below, and the chandelier in the sky, then why bother about what individual Ashetherin is doing now? Ashetherin is just an ornament hanging on your shoulder, no different from every inch of your body. You can just treat Ash as a gem inlaid on your shoulder."

"..."

Ella was speechless for a moment.

She could have continued to insist on her point of view, but Ashlee had her own logic. Indeed, if she really tried to treat Ashlee as a mechanical puppet without blood or tears, then she naturally didn't need to care about what Ashlee did, and she didn't care about the existence of "Aishlee". If she didn't want things to become that strange, she had to admit some things.

This is exactly what she expected.

"What are you hesitating about, Ella? As far as this issue is concerned, Ash can certainly understand what you mean. The secret and hidden gold immersed in the dark blue lake makes you worry and feel inferior sometimes..."

"If you really mean it—"

Ella's expression looked like she was gritting her teeth.

"——Can you be less harsh in your comments?"

"There's nothing I can do to help."

Ashlee spread her hands.

"Aishelin can only evaluate the parts that she can see. As for those things that you have hidden, those things that even you yourself do not understand, how can Aishelin understand them? Of course, the individual Aishelin will not change her behavior. After all, I, whom you call Aishelin, do not even understand what 'myself' is. You and Luna, both of us are submerged in the lines of mysterious and passionate poems, just like me, who is called the iron flower, the sapphire and the small and exquisite dagger. We are completely confused about our own affairs, right?"

"That doesn't seem to be the excuse you make for yourself."

"That's why you asked that question, about the topic of 'sincerity', 'soul' and 'will' - because you don't want it all to be false. You saw a broken and brilliant dream beside your pillow, and in the dream you saw the gold of pain and depression. Last night your poem was immortal and poor, with the colors of dawn and sunset."

"I don't admit it. How do I look like I am happy about it?"

That being said, Ella still did not break free from Ashlee's embrace, but still had that unhappy expression on her face. Unhappiness was a rare emotional fluctuation for her, just like joy and sadness. She showed people nothing but indifference and hatred at most. If we exclude the expectation, shyness, desire and enthusiasm she showed to Lunicia, perhaps "slight unhappiness", "slight rejection" and "light awkwardness" were indeed a fresh and affirmative emotion for her.

"That's a very unpoetic statement, my little painter."

“Am I a very poetic person?”

"Of course not, it's just that Ashe likes to use you as a subject."

She covered her lips with her black iron fingers, but the soft, pale and cold corners of her mouth still did not curl up. The mechanical girl named Ashlee could not laugh, cry, feel pain, die, or end. But if she had to choose between a life without poetry and a poetic ending, this creature built on cold rationality and quiet madness would undoubtedly choose the latter, as an obsession, a pleasure that she did not expect others to feel.

"So there are some things that Ashe won't explain too clearly, because that would not be interesting."

"For example?"

"If Ella really wanted to stop me, there are many ways, at least more than I can imagine. If Ella only intended to treat that as a little joke, she would not really allow me to do what I want, and she would not ask those lush, simple, and fun questions with such a serious attitude just now."

"..."

"I asked that question only because Ella doesn't understand her own heart, right?"

"I don't know either……"

I don't know, I'm not clear, I don't understand - compared to the mechanical girl named Ashlee who doesn't even have a past, I have a clear past, but it is unknown to others. Only I who am immersed in that sea of ​​​​ice know everything. Even if I am immersed in that cold, Ella can never see through her own heart.

Or maybe, it's not that I don't have the ability to understand, feel and know, but I'm just unwilling to do so. I resist this kind of thing from the deepest part of my soul and reject myself from the very beginning, the real self who is imprisoned in the room of my heart and does not exist in anyone's sight, my own thoughts, my own hopes, my own wishes, my own dreams.

"I don't know how to face you and get along with you after this."

"Are you worried about this?"

"You seem totally indifferent..."

"Because the individual Ashlee would not be embarrassed by such a thing."

The mechanical girl gently pressed the tips of her fingers against the corners of her mouth and lifted them slightly, allowing the cold and pale color to draw a slight arc, as if she was smiling, a smile that was not really a smile.

"No matter how much I believe that this chaotic body has a heart, memories, and soul, I am ultimately just a monster that is stitched together and hung up with silk threads. I am not a human, nor am I Lunicia. I am just something that is similar to you, but not the same. Because of this, I am destined to be different from you in many ways. Eternal life is not life, and what's more, this body is just an eternal dead body."

Sitting face to face with Ella Heper, one hand gently supported the corner of her mouth, and the other hand stretched forward, Ashlee gently stroked the delicate face of the person opposite, her cheek, her skin with the temperature of life, blood and flesh. Ella's body trembled slightly, but in the end she still did nothing, just staring, looking into the golden lake with her sapphire pupils, just like she did before.

She is an alien, I am an alien, and Lunicia is also an alien. This is a group of aliens who gathered together by chance. Now one of them claims that she is special in such a flat tone, which makes the other want to say something, but she can't say anything. She is like this, thinking that she has no past, doesn't even know who she is, and has only a vague and ominous goal. She is a disaster that should not be accepted by others. Then what about me? Putting myself in the lowest position, calling myself Lunicia's property, not even willing to leave my name, only labeling myself as a follower of the savior, is this self too vague about my existence, or is it too prominent about my uniqueness?

Such contradictions, with their puzzling doubts, seem to stem from the inability to recognize one's own inner self.

"You are no different from us..."

When he placed his palm on the black iron structure, he naturally felt a cold and hard touch from his palm. It was a constantly changing creation that he didn't know whether it could be called life. Such a creation was now in front of him, expressing its evaluation of itself in an emotionless tone, an evaluation that had nothing to do with praise.

"Maybe so, or maybe there are other answers."

"That's why you are with us now."

"There is at least one thing that makes us different."

"What is it?"

"What bothers you is not how to touch me, the machine named Ashtherin. You don't know how to face the situation that includes both 'me' and 'her' at the same time. Witch who is tired of miracles, it is because you can't figure out your own heart that you feel uneasy and confused when facing the mirror."

She pressed her body slightly forward, letting her bloodless, cold lips gently brush against the warm and soft corners of her mouth. The girl in the machine still did not show any expression of smile, sadness, or pain.

"And the individual Ashlee, 'I', just doesn't know how to face 'myself'."

"Because you don't know why?"

The voice was close at hand, and so was the breath. In the quiet and small room, one could feel the other person's presence particularly well.

“Because I don’t know how to bless this world.”

"you……"

"What about you, Ella?"

The mechanical girl raised her head, and at such a close distance, she seemed to use the golden lake to look into the other person's hidden soul.

“How do you bless this world?”

Chapter 4: Storms in the Sky

"Dear passengers, the ship will be affected by the air currents and will experience significant turbulence. Please find a nearby seat and fasten your seat belts. Please do not use the toilet or entertainment facilities during this period..."

"Seat belts, is that what you mean?"

Lunicia buckled the black straps on the seat around her waist and turned to ask Ella and Ashetherin.

"Although I don't know the exact name, judging from its function, I think this is it."

"Maybe. I don't know... I'm so sorry, Lady Luna."

"It's okay, it's okay. After all, I'm the one who lacks common sense."

"I am also to blame for my lack of common sense. I clearly promised to help Lady Luna..."

"That's why you're unpopular, Ella."

"I want you to talk more."

"Ah ha ha……"

What was going on? The atmosphere between these two people seemed to have become even more subtle than when they were in Muirand. Although Lunicia couldn't figure out the specific situation, in her opinion, this seemed to have achieved the goal she had been thinking about before, which was to improve the relationship between Ashethelin and Ella. Both of them surprised her, whether it was Ashethelin, who had become more emotional, or Ella, who seemed more straightforward although still awkward.

However, Ella seemed to avoid her gaze sometimes, which was something Lunicia could never understand.

Although I knew before boarding that the cabin broadcast would be played when encountering turbulence, it seemed to be the first time that it was actually used in such an occasion. There were few furnishings and furniture in the room that could be moved at will, probably to reduce the chaos caused by the takeoff and landing of the airship and encountering turbulence. With this idea, the so-called "chair" looked more like a bed, much larger than the chair in Lunicia's cognition, closer to a sofa or even a small bed, powered by dragon crystal, with massage and music playing functions, and more importantly, it could provide a fixed point for passengers in the room when they were bumpy.

"Ms. Luna, are you worried?"

"Hmm... a little uneasy."

Putting her fingers on the fastened laces, Lunicia answered without hiding anything.

“I’ve never experienced this kind of shaking feeling before.”

She had no experience of taking a boat, and it was better to say that she had only one chance to travel far in her life, avoiding the sky covered by gray clouds, riding the carriage with the holy emblem, and safely passing the journey across half the continent in the slight ups and downs. Thinking carefully, in the spacious carriage, which was expanded by divine magic, there were obviously sufficient shock-absorbing measures, and the carriage seemed to still have fixed devices similar to the current seats to prevent passengers from getting into danger. It was such a long and distant journey, and all the passengers, including herself, did not have the opportunity to use those seat belts in the end. Now thinking about it, it is indeed a bit incredible.

"Don't worry, Lady Luna, everything will be fine."

"It's okay, I'm just a little nervous..."

"Do you want to pay attention to the individual Ashlee? Although Luna and Ella have seats to sit, Ashlee doesn't have her own safety rope. After all, this is a double room from the beginning."

"Shut up, you can obviously fly, and you are obviously floating right now."

"Dear passengers, the ship will be affected by the air currents and will experience significant turbulence. Please find a nearby seat and fasten your seat belts. Please do not use the toilet or entertainment facilities during this period..."

The broadcast was repeated again, and the vibrations that spread throughout the body not only did not weaken, but seemed to be getting stronger.

The feeling of trembling was stronger than the trembling brought by fear. Even through the clothes, the cabin, and the military-grade armor plates of the airship, one could still seem to be able to feel the terror from the outside world, the great power that permeated the sea of ​​clouds.

The light in the room seemed to have dimmed at some point. This was not a good sign. Almost everyone in this world knew what darkness meant, and Lunicia was no exception. However, when she looked at the wall lamps and the lamps on the table, she found that the lights were no different from before. Her sight passed through the lights, the floating Ashethelin, the wallpaper, Ella's fingertips, and out of the porthole - there seemed to be the answer and the source of uneasiness there.

The time now did not seem to be night. She remembered it clearly. At least before she put away the vegetarian paper used to decorate the altar, she had specially confirmed the time she had used for prayer, to ensure that the time of her body and consciousness would not be out of sync in the passage of time. It was still morning. Gentlemen who had the habit of brunch would have their meals at this time, but ladies would often not use this moment as a time to enjoy tea and chat. However, the colors of the outside world seemed so dim, like a settled quagmire, darker than the night time and deeper than the moonless sky. There were no clouds or black mist outside. Those things that corroded the shields, glass and armor plates seemed to no longer exist. Only the occasional black mist that passed by very close to the porthole could prove the environment there, as if something had stained there and the sky outside, like a jar of ink poured into clear water, dyeing it into a void that seemed empty.

A chilling feeling seemed to rise from the soles of the feet, that feeling seemed to come from a certain sight, as if someone was leaning outside the pitch-black porthole where nothing could be seen, with his face pressed against the transparent glass, staring at the room with countless eyes, without emotion, without will, only cold and empty gazes, scanning, sizing, indifferent, and therefore even more terrified.

No, it wasn't a truly empty sight.

You can feel the will, a clear and distinct will, but it is impossible to distinguish.

Hunger, and thirst.

"Dear passengers, the ship will be affected by the air currents and will experience significant turbulence. Please find a nearby seat and fasten your seat belts. Please do not use the toilet or entertainment facilities during this period..."

For some reason, the ship's broadcast sounded again.

It should be the sound broadcast from the bridge, but for some reason it was incomplete, twisted and distorted. Some parts were not very clear, while some parts were particularly harsh. It was like some kind of signal, some words with a different meaning than the literal meaning.

There was a sudden violent shaking, as if the entire airship had hit something. If all the furniture had not been fixed, this shaking would have been enough to turn the entire room upside down. Even someone as physically strong as Lunicea could not help but feel a little dizzy and had no idea what was going on.

While Lunicia was still on edge, Ashlee bypassed her sight and floated between the seats of Lunicia and Ella, then stretched out her hands and casually untied the seat belts around their waists.

"Ashe?"

"……What are you doing?"