To anyone who was actually waiting: I am so, so sorry. My bad.
"Coleman."
Whose voice was that? It was thin, a mere rasp squeezed from a tight throat. Taro felt the temperature in the room plummet. He instinctively braced himself, his muscles locking up.
"Well, sit. I’m sure this is going to be a long one," Dean said. It wasn’t a request; it was a cold confirmation of reality. The man claiming to be Coleman sank into a single-seater sofa without a word.
"........................"
Silence stretched between them. The man stared at the floor with an expression of pure boredom, but the others didn't take their eyes off him for a second.
How much time crawled by? Just as Taro began to get annoyed by the rhythmic sound of his own breathing, the man spoke abruptly.
"Do you believe in God? Or at least... an entity like that?"
The voice was low, yet it rang through the silent suite with crystalline clarity. Taro reflexively glanced at Dean, but the General simply gave a casual, dismissive wave of his hand.
"Relax. This room is physically shielded from the outside. Though, seeing your reaction, it’s clear you aren’t joking."
Taro let out a long, shaky breath. He had already briefed Dean on the freakish phenomena surrounding the first Coleman and the existence of the Cyber WIND that Phantom had encountered on Planet Nuke. Based on the General's response, he’d been skeptical, but he’d at least had the sense to take precautions.
"I’m not nearly brave enough to prank General Dean yet... so, uh, Mr. Joachim? Is this 'God' the kind of prick who just pops his followers' heads like balloons?"
Emboldened by his relief, Taro let the question fly. The man actually looked surprised for a fleeting second.
"I see. So that’s how he died. For someone so talented, what a pathetic end."
The man leaned back into the sofa, relaxing his posture as a faint, hollow smile touched his lips.
"From where we were standing, it was a total horror show," Marl snapped, her face twisting in disgust as the memories resurfaced. "And the kind that isn't even fun to watch. From the way you’re talking, you know exactly what that thing is, don't you?"
"I’d like to say 'of course,' but who knows? If you say I know, then I suppose I do. If you say I haven't the faintest clue, you’d also be right."
It was a non-answer. Taro initially thought he was being evasive, but looking at the man’s face, it seemed like he was genuinely trying to find the words. He looked like a man deep in thought. Taro reached out to steady Marl, who was about to bolt upright in indignation, and signaled for the man to keep going.
"As you’ve likely guessed, it’s definitely something related to BISHOP," Joachim continued. "But even knowing that, it’s not like we can understand it. It’s always one-sided. It just... arrives. It does what is necessary, and it doesn't ask permission."
He looked like he’d just swallowed a mouthful of bile. Taro looked at his confused teammates and took the lead.
"Arrives? What does that even mean? Does this 'God' guy actually reach out and touch someone?"
The man gave a dry, cynical laugh.
"Oh, yes. Very much so. That’s why 'we' believe. We don’t just believe, we are certain. We only call it 'God' for convenience. By definition, it’s the closest word we have."
"Hmm... and by 'we,' you mean that literal army of Colemans, right?"
"Correct. You’ve done your homework. Though I suppose that’s obvious—you found New Eden. I’m impressed you actually made it to the center."
"Heh, it was a bit of a pain in the ass. Which means we have a way to double-check your bullshit, you know?"
"Hmph. I have no reason to lie. Now that the woman is gone, there’s no one left to punish me for being honest. Besides, I’ve already been forsaken by God."
"Is that so? Forsaken? What, did you get excommunicated?"
"Excommunicated... hmm." Joachim chuckled, looking genuinely amused for once. "I see. You’re much sharper than you look. Excommunicated. Yes, that is a perfect word for it. If that’s the kind of power we lost to, then I can live with the defeat."
Taro looked around as Joachim laughed to himself. Everyone else looked just as baffled as he was.
...Man, is religion like, a super-niche hobby in this era?
Taro muttered the thought to himself but decided it wasn't worth dwelling on. "Anyway, can you get a bit more specific? Like, concrete details."
Joachim shrugged as if to say fair enough. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.
"I hear a voice. It comes from nowhere. It’s a strange sound—neither male nor female. Actually, 'voice' isn't the right word. It isn't made of words; it’s more like the meaning itself is being injected directly into my mind. It’s hard to explain. This is the first time I’ve tried to put it into words for someone else."
He was practically whispering to himself now. Taro didn't quite get it, but he figured it was probably some flavor of telepathy and rolled with it.
"Certain mental disorders can cause similar symptoms," Phantom interjected from the doorway. "Auditory hallucinations, delusions, that sort of thing. How can you be so sure it isn't just a glitch in your head?"
The man shook his head at Phantom’s skepticism. "Given that we have no genetic markers for such illnesses, the fact that every single Coleman reports the exact same symptoms is proof enough."
"But you’re all clones," Phantom countered. "You’ve likely all been subjected to the same information via Override. You were raised to have identical memories and traits. We found evidence of that in the Facility."
Joachim’s face soured. "We aren’t all perfect copies. Failures like me exist. Besides, a voice born from a broken mind wouldn't be able to generate undiscovered physical Formulas or mathematical theorems."
Phantom let out a small "Hmm," seemingly satisfied by that logic. Taro piped up with, "I mean, there’s always the Ramanujan example, right?"
The room went dead silent. Taro realized he had no idea why he’d said that name, or even who it belonged to. Everyone was staring at him in total confusion.
"Uh, forget I said anything," Taro said, waving it off. Where did that word even come from?
"Ramanu... was that some ancient scholar?" Marl shook her head. "Whatever. More importantly, what’s this 'failure' business? You’re saying you’re different from the other Colemans?"
The man didn't nod, but his "Yeah" was firm.
"One day, the voice just... stopped. Maybe my role was over, or maybe I just wasn't useful anymore. Either way, it went silent, and I was kicked out of the Facility. The only reason they didn't kill me was because Coleman thought I might still have some scrap of utility."
"So you're a failure... which means the 'other' Coleman was hearing it the whole time?"
"Exactly. He followed that voice to the letter. It was nauseating to watch how blindly he believed in it. But I suppose that was what he was designed for. It makes me want to puke, but he seemed happy enough. Maybe it wasn't a bad deal for him."
"I’m not so sure about that," Marl said firmly. "People should live by their own will. Anyway, was the voice only giving you scientific data? Or was it... I don't know, giving you social or political directions?"
Taro winced slightly at the phrase own will. He’d been trying to ignore it, but this whole "hearing voices" thing felt uncomfortably familiar.
"Of course," Joachim said. "The voice knew things it had no business knowing. Deep secrets. It would say, 'Do this with that person' or 'Go there at this time.' As long as we followed its lead, the Facility ran without a hitch. I wouldn't call its advice 'common sense,' but it was far too calculated to come from something ignorant of how society works."
Taro sat there, rigid, as Joachim continued. Marl hummed thoughtfully.
"I see... but that doesn't make sense. That sounds way beyond anything Cyber WIND should be capable of. We still don't know everything about it, but I can't imagine it has an intelligence that outstrips all of humanity. Physically, the hardware shouldn't be able to handle that kind of processing."
She was mostly talking to herself, but Taro took her word for it. She was the hardware expert, after all. Still, he knew there was an exception to every rule. And in this room, that exception was—
[A QUESTION, MR. COLEMAN. MAY I ASK ONE THING?]
The synthetic voice belonged to Koume. She had been silent until now, but her intervention cut through the tension like a blade.
[YOU STATED THAT YOU RELIED ON THE VOICE FOR THE OPERATION OF THE FACILITY. THIS SUGGESTS THE VOICE POSSESSED A CONSISTENT NARRATIVE OR GOAL. SUCH A COMPLEX FACILITY COULD NOT BE OPERATED ON MERE CAPRICE. DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO WHAT THAT ULTIMATE GOAL WAS?]
Joachim looked up, meeting Koume’s gaze for the first time. He tilted his head, studying the android.
"I told you, 'God' is the closest definition. And there is really only one thing a God does. It creates new life."
Joachim flashed the most cynical, jagged smile Taro had ever seen.
"It’s building the next species. The one that’s going to replace humanity."
It’s been way too long. I’ve completely lost my touch with this.