Martin stared at the girl on the screen and remained silent for a long time.
"Why not have someone else deliver the Fire Seed?"
"Not just anyone can pass on the fire. To serve as kindling, one must possess sufficient aptitude."
"So you wrote a story for her, didn't you?"
"Of course. She needed enough motivation. Would you like me to tell you about it?"
"No, that isn't important..." Martin turned to Old Quan and asked in a low voice, "So she was the only sacrifice?"
Old Quan nodded. "That's right. This was also the price humanity had to pay. You know that everything comes at a cost."
"But you should have let the sacrifice decide whether to pay that price. That was her right."
"She would choose sacrifice. We wrote that into her mind."
"You imprinted her with the thought that she would 'inevitably choose sacrifice'?"
"Of course not..." Old Quan sighed helplessly. "You make us sound far too evil."
He looked at the researcher. "You explain."
The researcher nodded and slowly took out a document.
"We merely shaped her personality..."
"Of course, not through cognitive alteration or brain control. It was simply ordinary guidance of her values."
"A person's personality is partly determined by genes. We selected suitable genes for her. The rest was determined by her environment and experiences during childhood—her family environment, social environment, major life events... All of these would gradually become part of her personality."
"As people grew, their active self-awareness and self-adjustment also influenced the development of their personalities. And all of that was within our control."
"We would raise her into a kind person."
"A kind person would inevitably choose sacrifice."
The researcher looked at Martin and spoke those words with absolute seriousness.
"Within the predetermined 'atmosphere of the story,' she