"Have you done it?" When Null regained herself within his arms, Morpheus realised that she likely defeated this
He had witnessed how difficult this 'inner-struggle' had been within her circuits, for one, one of her arms seemingly ejected on its own and lay on the cold metallic ground, she constantly twisted seemingly no longer able to keep the integrity of her own body.
"Y-Yes... It was difficult but I did it." Null's movements seemed fixed and for a few moments, aside from moving her head back and fro and dilating her pupils, she did nothing else.
"He corrupted my movement protocols, I need to recalibrate... please, wait." It took her several minutes to 're-calibrate' as she took her arm and attached it back to her body, as she did so, her cheeks got red and she evaded his gaze.
"What's wrong?" He asked with furrowed brows, thinking that perhaps there was some kind of 'sequelae'.
"It's embarrassing..." She didn't like him seeing her 'robotic' gimmicks, as if the more she showed him those, the more he would start to perceive her as such, something she wasn't quite appreciative of.
'But you're an android, V2|N..'
'I know...'
"..." The Magic God sighed and raised up pulling her softly as she also regained herself.
"And what information did you get?" Deciding to end the awkwardness, he asked the most important matter, he had no need whatsoever for such information, but since they're in this together, she might as well tell him.
"Information of three more reactors and also, some high executives involved in the project to upgrade them... among other things... I need to send this information to the main hub, but due to the inhibition in the metropolitan network, I'm unable to do so... I could use other means, but I would be exposing V2 "
"Show me."
"I can't show you right now, you don't have a chip... here... take this" Null took out the chip from a compartment in her head, ejecting it.
The lady took Morpheus' hands and placed the chip within, closing it.
"Why?" Morpheus frowned deeper at the realisation, he has gone through this situation too many times to not know what's going to happen.
"I'm going to blow the reactor and you will leave, take this to Hana... she will know what to do." Null smiled, especially when she saw his expression, it felt different.
"...?" Obviously, such vague sentences were not enough to sate the god's curiosity over her intentions, the entire atmosphere seemed to constrict all of the sudden and she noticed this.
"I'm the bomb... this facility is protected, the only way to blow it up is with a gigantic explosion right at the core that will trigger a chain reaction and blow all of the geo-kinetic energy... it's going to be huge and even with your power, you might not survive it, that's why you have to leave. The explosion will produce an earthquake and a tsunami, I hope by now you have caught a glimpse of what kind of enemy we're dealing with." She sighed and released his hands, it had eventually come to this.
"What if I don't want you to die?" He said calmly as if what she just uttered had been a bad joke, it was apparent that he's not happy about this outcome, however.
"It's too late for me... in order to erase your registry from the cameras and protect Sarah and Rachel, the traces left of the involvement in the Red Blood Gang's raid... I had to expose myself... I was already condemned even before I came here... they're going to erase 'Officer Null' swiftly and even if I survive, so long as I connected to the global network, they're going to locate V2, hence... I can't continue to exist, it's better if I just end here."
An individual is always connected to a global, metropolitan or local connection and in the current world, anonymity doesn't exist... everyone that connects has their identity already surveyed, the moment she performed that clearance, her 'identity' got compromised and enlaced with V2's, she's going to be hunted down and V2's location will eventually be traced, therefore, even if another Null is created, it won't be 'Null' anymore.
"..."
"Does it make you sad? if I die?"
"You told me you're non-disposable... were you lying?"
"I wasn't... if my body perished, I'd still be able to come back but... this time is different, my software is compromised. answer me, are you sad? does it make you sad?" She clung onto his body and hugged him tightly, feeling happy, yes, she felt happy.
"No... I don't know."
"Can I be selfish for once?" She bit on her lips and moved her gaze up to have her silver bionic pearls glare at his zircon-like eyes.
"Huh?" How can a machine be 'selfish'?
To what extent is it a machine?
"To tell you the truth, even if I'm about to disappear, I'm happy, it feels great... if you tell me that you're sad because I'm disappearing... it makes my core happy, why is that?" She asked with genuine curiosity, what is this barrage of new sensations invading her? and why are they? she's an android, not supposed to feel this... only Hana and Marianne should... why is she then feeling this as well?
Morpheus locked their gazes for a while, thinking about how to answer her inquiry.
"Do you know what's a fundamental piece of existence, Null? what makes you unique?" He caressed her silver hair, strands of silky fibre and upon receiving this contact, her eyes regained a new and delightful splendour.
"I don't know... is it the body?" She answered from within her experiences and data.
'Or the mind, V2|N...'
"No, it's the soul..." He answered with a mysterious glint, appearing more like a sage than a youngster.
"Soul? there is no record of the existence of the 'soul' after thousands of years of scientific evolution." light seemed to have taken over Null's eyes, having then shone in a bluish light.
"Who are you?" He detected this change, not because of her aura, but her demeanour.
"I'm V2, how do you know?"
"I just know, don't underestimate me..." Despite this change, 'Null' still didn't leave his arms.
"You're a superior being, if you tell me what a soul is, I will tell you what kind of transgressions recur in this world that you're adamant to protect... will you perform this exchange with me, Zekron?"
"You go first..."
"I doubt you have heard of Olduvai's theory..." V2 nodded and began her explanation.
"I don't..." Obviously, he doesn't know this world's terminology.
"It's a theory that emerged roughly three-hundred years ago... it speaks about how humanity would progressively decline due to the lack of resources in the planet... you might have not noticed because you haven't lived here for long, but in the last hundred years, humanity has stagnated and there hasn't been any major improvement... in an entire hundred years, something inconceivable for the previous humanity."
"..."
"The reason for that is simple... humanity no longer rules this world. The theory wasn't wrong, but it wasn't right either... there is indeed a lack of natural resources, but this resource was supplemented with the consumption of the planet itself... WE don't need the planet to live, WE only need it to continue giving us the energy we need to operate, just like the Sun..." V2 continued her explanation as they switched their positions, now, she sat on his lap and explained.
"Then why do you go against Blitzkrieg? why blow this reaction, V2?" His face became solemn when he heard her explanation, perhaps the problem is worse than he expected.
Indeed, he had noticed when he fought the Wisdom King, the total disregard for human life... it focused on protecting the reactor, but didn't think twice before erasing an entire city that still had humans within it... how many? more than a few thousand in fact... is this how an 'android' is supposed to behave?
"Because I was created to understand why must humanity continue to exist... what are feelings? why must the planet be saved? that's why I need you to tell me... what is a soul? I have fought by myself for so long... I was created a hundred and thirteen years ago but I haven't been able to advance, in fact... I have only regressed... that's why I put a lot of importance to our alliance, Zekron."
"Are you willing to let Null perish?"
"I'm not willing, but there is no other option, we can't compromise the integrity of our entire effort... that is our maximum priority, tell me... what is a soul? I have accomplished my end." V2 clung even more against his body and insisted like a curious child that just found a new toy, she desperately wanted to know what a soul is, how to form one and why is it important.
"A 'soul' is the step forward taken by a conscience into the rivers of the universe's will, the acknowledgement that said conscience has been recognised by the superior existence that conforms this universe and introduced into the rivers of fate." Morpheus lifted up his finger like a teacher and explained to the beauty within his arms.
"..."
But his explanation went through one of her bionic ears... and left through the other.