The Mechanical Maiden said quietly:
"Why?"
"Why was I the one you created? If it was to evade the curse, why didn't you create other individuals-wills that were more obedient, stronger, more willing to dutifully carry out your orders? Why did it have to be me?"
The corridor was as silent as death. Only the crackling electrical sparks punctuated the darkness.
The enormous Dragon Eyes deep in the corridor gazed at the Mechanical Humanoid at its end, the silver-haired girl, the former War Angel of the Mechanical Church, his daughter, the subset he had bestowed with the name Machine Intelligence.
In the silence.
He finally spoke.
For once, there seemed to be a trace of emotion in his voice.
"There are things I cannot explain to you-daughter-from the moment our civilization entered the age of industrialization-I have watched it grow-I was the one who drove the process of mechanical ascension-and I was the one who pointed our entire civilization down this thorn-filled road-"
"But this should not be our destination-only a means to an end-once everything is over-our civilization should return to its simple roots-just as we envisioned at the beginning-"
"This is everyone's wish-it should not be erased and diluted-bit by bit-in the process of mechanization-"
His voice was hoarse.
It was a rare display of emotion.
A stirring of feeling that the Seven Gods deliberately suppressed and resisted.
The Mechanical Maiden stood there, her hands tightening slightly, her eyes lowered. No one knew what she was thinking.
"Come back-daughter-"
Dragon Head's enormous phantom approached her step by step, his tone and voice heavy with conflicting emotions.
"I will preserve your human heart-as long as you rejoin our collective will-you can still influence and change all of us in another way-because you are among the few remnants of humanity