There seemed to be a trace of tenderness in her eyes.
"For the Mechanical Race, who regard all flesh-and-blood life as mortal enemies, to have such a radically different natural world within their domain... Still, to most machine consciousnesses, this place truly means nothing. We prefer the great industrial era before and after mechanical ascension."
She stood up.
She shook her head.
Holding down the hair the breeze had tousled, she let the petals drift from her hand and fly away on the wind.
There was nothing here.
There was only scenery.
And in Lynn's eyes at that moment, the silver-haired girl before him seemed to have become part of that scenery too-a sight that touched his heart.
Lynn slowly began to wonder.
Had I really become a bastard?
The Lynn-Brand Refrigerator looked up and asked curiously, "Big sister, I've heard of the Machine Intelligence Civilization. Your name seems to have come from it. Was it the predecessor of our Mechanical Church?"
Silver Fantasy strolled onto a plateau and stood beside him, glancing sideways at him.
"Yes, and perhaps no."
"Because, in fact, the moment we achieved mechanical ascension, every consciousness in our entire civilization merged into one and became the supreme God of Ten Thousand Machines-my father. In fact..."
"My father is the Machine Intelligence Civilization itself."
The Lynn-Brand Refrigerator nodded without quite understanding.
She sat down on the plateau, resting her chin in her hand, the dreamlike natural scenery in the distance reflected in her eyes.
"But that was a very long time ago. It was the path we collectively chose, and one we had to take to survive. Once we entered the industrial era, we began exploring our entire world. Vast stretches of forest were cut down, and our living conditions grew increasingly harsh."
"By the time