Lynn held his Monocle and opened his eyes with a smile.
"That's right, I'm that much of a bastard. So if you want to cry, just let it out. That's how big the difference is between fantasy and reality. Well? Feeling wronged? Not only have you lost everything, but now you still have to let a demon like me control you. Doesn't that hurt?"
His words were like sharp blades, seemingly intent on piercing her shell.
But she saw through his intentions.
She clenched her fists and bit her lip.
"Shut up-!"
Light Banquet watched them blankly from a distance. She didn't know why, but she felt that everything this fellow did or said always seemed to carry some other, faintly hidden purpose, something she couldn't quite call good or bad...
And clearly, Machine Intelligence knew it too, but she resisted.
Lynn stood up and looked down at the Mechanical Maiden before him, saying softly:
"All right, then I won't say any more. But the operation still has to continue. As long as you cooperate with me from here on out, I think we'll get along splendidly. Welcome aboard again, Miss Machine Intelligence."
He held out his hand to her.
Silver Fantasy stared fixedly at him. But after Lynn widened his eyes and made a throat-slitting gesture, threatening to kill his hostage, she finally reached out reluctantly and shook his hand.
Lynn said softly:
"We can fight side by side again, Miss Machine Intelligence. How wonderful."
[Ding! Silver Fantasy's anger toward you +40!] [Ding! Silver Fantasy's anger toward you +50!]
Yet she clearly hadn't noticed that, in the less than half an hour since she had reunited with this fellow, the emotional fluctuations she had displayed already exceeded the sum of nearly the past six months, although-all of