According to the Spirit of the Academy City, artificial humans could not be generated out of thin air like creations. They had to be manufactured in a specific location.
That specific location was the basement beneath the Office of Academic Affairs.
With nothing to do for the moment, Angel went to tour the "Artificial Human Factory."
The space here was extraordinarily vast. Countless life-support pods cast from steel stood in neat rows along both walls, while at the center of the floor stood a Human Creation Platform forged from an unknown silver metal. Its design was highly symmetrical, its lines austere yet meticulously crafted, faintly exuding a solemn, ritualistic air.
Angel roughly counted them. There were sixty-six life-support pods in total.
A booklet hung outside each life-support pod, recording that pod's usage.
The overwhelming majority of the life-support pods had records.
Angel flipped through them briefly. The records were all simple, such as: "Cleaner No. 17, sustained in Pod No. 3 for one day; partially implanted with Academy City map; daily work route marked; approved to leave pod." Or: "Pipeline repairman No. 2, sustained in Pod No. 1 for three days; implanted with Academy City pipeline routes; repair zones marked; approved to leave pod."
His earlier guess had been right. All those dedicated to maintaining the city's normal operations were artificial humans, and they had all come from here.
However, not a single person currently occupied any of the life-support pods.
Or rather, the entire Artificial Human Factory was empty.
The Spirit of the Academy City told Angel, "All the artificial humans currently in existence were manufactured long ago. Since my awakening, this place has never operated."
"Why?" Angel asked. "Was it because artificial humans consumed too much energy?"
The Spirit of the Academy City denied it. "Not at all.