A graduation ceremony was being held inside the illusion.
A thousand students stood in neat rows in a vast plaza. A colossal statue stood in the middle of the plaza, depicting Uchiha Brahman. Beneath it, Principal Al rested both hands on the lectern and looked down at the students, tears in his eyes.
"Children, eighteen years have flown by in the blink of an eye. Under the glory of great Brahman and the radiance of our great Kind Father, you have grown up healthy and studied hard, embracing the idea of a unified consciousness and deeply embodying the sense of ownership centered on great Brahman. Living in our great Empire, you are fortunate. Since birth, you have never had to worry about making ends meet or risk your lives for a little money like people did in the past. Under the leadership of the Empire and great Brahman, you will understand what happiness truly is..."
Principal Al's voice echoed through the plaza. In this illusion, the school they had once attended, the dormitories, and everything else had disappeared. Only this vast plaza remained. They were about to graduate!
When they were very young, as soon as they were old enough to understand, Wetware Al had told them the truth about the world. These children had long since accepted that they had always been living inside an illusion.
This was not the real world, but an illusion—a place where time flowed at a vastly different rate from the outside world.
Taro Higashino watched the principal give his speech, feeling a little uneasy. He had lived in the illusion since childhood and had seen the outside world only in Al's lessons. Eighteen years here amounted to just twenty-four hours outside, but for Taro and the others, those eighteen years had been real.