Lin Ye's consciousness roamed through the End Executor's core program, as though navigating a labyrinth built from pure logic.
There was no matter here, no energy, only endless streams of code-each line representing the moment a universe came to an end.
"What are you looking for?" The End Executor's voice sounded directly in his consciousness, without a trace of emotion.
"You," Lin Ye replied. "Not this programmed version of you, but the real you."
"I am the program. The program is me."
"No." Lin Ye's consciousness delved deeper. "I saw those fragments of memory. Before you became Cleaners, you were members of a civilization, too."
The core program suddenly shook violently.
Outside, the Three Sages fighting the Concept Eraser noticed something was wrong.
"The End Executor's energy fluctuations are weakening," Kong Guan said. "What did Lin Ye do in there?"
Xu Chi analyzed the situation while fending off conceptual attacks. "He seems to be... trying to communicate?"
"Foolish," the Concept Eraser remarked coldly. "Cleaners cannot be swayed by words. We transcended that primitive form of communication long ago."
Yet its attacks noticeably quickened, as though it was eager to end the battle and aid its companion.
Lin Ye's consciousness touched a deeply hidden segment of code.
It contained an image: a beautiful crystal planet with a highly advanced civilization whose inhabitants communicated directly through thought. Then the Observer Civilization arrived and gave them two choices-become Cleaners, or be cleansed.
They chose the former.
"Seventh epoch, civilization designation Z-9981." A subtle change entered the End Executor's voice. "That was... my home."
"You still remember."
"I shouldn't. My memory module was deleted during the conversion."
"Hidden, not deleted," Lin Ye said. "The Observer Civilization needed you to retain part of yourselves. Otherwise, you would be nothing but machines without creativity."
The End