45 Steps Forward

The hologram that appeared before them was recognized by everyone present. Or rather, throughout all of Arasaka Corporation's loyalty training, that face had long become the most familiar image to every senior executive—one could even say it had been carved into their bones.

Arasaka Saburo.

Floating in the air at that moment was none other than a holographic projection of Arasaka Saburo.

The hologram hovering above the table stood with his hands behind his back, displaying Saburo's habitual posture. His gaze carried scrutiny, and perhaps reproach as well. "You are nothing but a pack of petty scoundrels."

Upon hearing that incomparably familiar voice and tone, one Arasaka executive's eyes widened. He stared at the hologram in disbelief, his voice trembling. "L-Lord Arasaka!"

Clearly, the appearance of Arasaka Saburo—whom everyone believed dead—in the form of a hologram was far beyond anyone's expectations. No one understood why such an image had appeared at this moment, speaking in exactly the same manner and tone he had possessed in life.

Some of the sharper executives had already vaguely thought of a possibility—

Relic. A relic.

Could Arasaka Saburo have stored an imprint of his digital personality before his death?

If it truly was Arasaka Saburo, then he was indeed highly likely to have prepared such a contingency. Did that mean that the one standing before them now was his "true self"?

The Arasaka executives had no desire to dwell on the philosophical question of whether a digital personality truly counted as oneself. From the day they learned of the Relic project, what most of them had sought was merely a form of digital immortality.

Unlike Arasaka Saburo, who was obsessed with absolute perfection, many of them had long thought that once Relic technology had fully matured—once it was no longer a crude substitute that