Avon Laura's frown deepened even further.
"...What? What do you mean, 'you forgot'?"
...Why are you looking at me like that, huh? Bad memory isn't a crime, is it?!
Waving my arms with exaggeration, I elaborated a little. "I mean what I say! I have no memory of what the 'incident' is that led me to be able to escape; only that it happened."
This was true.
In fact, it was only possible for me to figure out the answer by asking someone who was directly involved, but I didn't explicitly tell her this weakness.
Why couldn't I use the Measurement of Truth? Well, it's because I seemed to have put a corresponding restriction on asking certain questions related to the event.
What's more, I didn't even know what those questions were that I put a restriction on, nor do I know what kind of restriction it is in the first place.
All I know is that I don't know what happened. I can't ask questions one way or the other about what happened, and I can't even ask any questions related to why I can't ask said questions.
Really, it was a massive pain in the ass.
I desperately wanted to figure out what happened that day, but I'm also hesitant about it.
――After all, I would never have gone to the lengths that I did if it wasn't something serious.
"...Just so you're aware, I was not directly involved on that day. I was only asked to use my power beforehand," Avon Laura admitted in a lowered tone, making sure to speak in a voice that couldn't be overheard by anyone not intended.
Her power.
The Measurement of Destiny.
"Unfortunately..." She continued, "My power was unable to foresee what eventually occurred. To this day, I still don't know if that was because the future changed, or due to the... 'nature' of the incident."
The nature...?
Just what the hell happened that day... I doubted whether this woman would be willing to tell me or not, but either way, I've gathered some clues.
"Now... I recommend we cease this topic. Once again, I will ask you to come along quietly and without resistance. If you do, I can guarantee your safety. You may also be able to learn the answers you seek."
That was certainly an option.
"And if I decline your offer?"
However, I knew without having to ask.
"...In that case, as I have mentioned previously, I will use force to make it happen."
―If I returned to 'that place', escaping for a second time would be nigh-impossible.
"Oh, but that's not nice nor fair now, is it? What about my human rights? My right to say 'no', my consent? What you're trying to do is kidnapping, you know?"
"It is not kidnapping when all we are doing is ensuring the safety of the world through proper containment of a dangerous entity. If one of us is to be accused of kidnapping, is the real perpetrator not you instead?"
Casting a sideways glance into the audience, she subtly pointed out the existence of the twins, to which I smirked.
"You knew. Would you like to meet them?" Raising an arm, I flicked my wrist and the girls began to float through the air towards us.
Although their combined weight was slightly higher than the maximum weight of 50 kilograms their telekinesis could carry, making themselves float was no problem as long as they were together.
Why couldn't they float like this when I rescued them from the Hirane facility? That was because they weren't used to controlling their powers very well at the time―something they improved after consistent training at home.
The speed would have to be worked on, though.
"...Abducting children now, are you? It appears there is no restriction on how low you can stoop."
Hm?
What a hilarious accusation.
"Ahaha, how funny~! Oh, but since I'm talking to someone of your intelligence, I'm not sure if you're being genuine or not? You can't be, right...?"
"What do you think is so funny? This is no laughing matter. Stealing children and putting them to work under you, do you think it's some kind of joke?"
"Oh, but saying that is going too far, isn't it? You are calling what I have done an act of evil, when in reality I have saved these innocent children from a horrible fate. Would you have preferred I leave them all alone in that facility, just to waste away as human test subjects, then?"
"You know well that that isn't what I meant. Of course, taking them away from such an awful environment is better than ignoring them there, but leaving them under your care would carry them away to an even more tragic fate in the end."
"Aww, how can you say such a thing? I plan to show them a good life, you know? There may be ups and downs, but isn't that just a part of life?"
Perhaps she took my words a different way, as after gritting her teeth for a moment, Avon Laura unclenched her jaw and spat out some vicious words, "...I was briefed many times on just how terrible you are, but it never ceases to amaze me, witnessing your continuous descent in morality with my own eyes."
I shook my head.
"That's where you've got it wrong, see; what you and everyone else considers to be 'morality' is simply distorted by your personal views, experiences and opinions, whereas I view things objectively."
"Knowing the truth doesn't give you the right to be gatekeeping morality. It isn't something so simple that it can be decided by a mere 'yes or no' question. No, you have no right to be discussing the matter in the first place; you are a person who doesn't even understand the reason a mother would mourn for her deceased child."
What is she talking about? I understand that perfectly well.
―How could I not after seeing such things first-hand?
"No? A mother grieves because they know their child cannot come back. That abrupt disconnect―something they adore with all their heart suddenly disappearing, never to return―that is painful to them, and that pain leads to mourning."
Although there are also mothers who wouldn't grieve the death of a child, I don't think those are who she was talking about.
For some reason, Avon Laura, who stared at me with contempt, seemed to give up with something as she sighed quietly.
"...It's clear this is going nowhere. You simply are incapable of anything more than a surface-level understanding when it comes to morality, ethics, or any other kind of human concept."
"Well, if you say so. It's true that I don't experience the same things as other humans―things they might claim are 'normal'―but it's also true that I can know anything; I don't need to experience those things to understand them."
"That is exactly why it's nothing more than surface-level. You can never truly understand what having those values is like because you simply do not possess the required human qualities to experience or understand them. You can ask all the questions you want about human emotions, like what they are and how they come about, but that doesn't mean you'll ever be able to experience them directly."
She continued with a final line.
"――Just like an artificial intelligence program, you are an utter fool when it comes to understanding humans."
"Ouch. Well, you think whatever you wish about me, it will never change the truth."
Just in time, the twins also arrived.
Moving behind me with that camera still in their hands, they gently lowered onto the ground.