With a hoarse breath, Lewis pressed his right shoulder with his left hand and turned around. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had a raging look within them.
"A piece of data… that isn't even a human-based program… and you dare to sever my arm!"
Lewis yelled as he saw Alice stepping forth.
"You waste of data, you laugh at me, the God!"
"God…?"
Alice's mouth twisted into a smile, and she took another step forward.
"If we are pieces of data, then what are you now…?"
Lewis' eyes widened upon hearing this. Alice giggled, and at the same time as Jack, she started moving towards Lewis again.
"The 'god' of data, no… the 'aggregate of data'. You're nothing special, you're simply dust. Aren't you just like us?"
"… Shut up…"
"… Even if the Dust says something to the Dust, it won't change anything. Nothing can be changed. The only thing you can change is your own will. What you can change is your own actions. And nothing else can control it. That is what it means to live."
"Shut up!"
As Lewis shouted, the void he wore swirled around him and rushed at Alice.
"Be gone! If you interfere with me! I will have everything reset!"
Towards the vortex of the void, Alice extended her right hand.
"Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of voids may be spread, but we will not disappear. This thought, this heart, is proof that we are alive and breathing!"
The Bandersnatch that Alice was clad in formed a cone-like shape and shot out towards the void. Then they clashed, triggering a violent anti-annihilation reaction. However, just as the void was about to spread… Alice's Bandersnatch spread wide and engulfed Lewis' void. And then it assumed the shape of a ravenous beast's jaws and 'chewed' with all its might.
In pieces, fragments of data rained down like snow. Lewis was stunned and howled as he shouted.
"What the… hell…? What have you done!"
"… Emptiness is data in the negative direction… This Bandersnatch is data in the positive direction. I just bombarded it with more capacity than the void you've created."
"…"
Aghast, Lewis stepped back, pressing his right shoulder.
"Lies… Liessssssssss!"
The old man screeched, and the void around him grew exponentially larger. After observing this, Alice closed her remaining left eye and muttered softly.
"Philrain… Raffi… thank you. He said that I am a mass of exacerbation, but he might be right…"
"…"
Jack stood at Alice's side, keeping his Dáinsleif at the ready.
"But even if I am a mass of exacerbation, I am still… a force to be reckoned with."
Jack said softly to Alice in the surrounding void.
"And it is your… own will that wields it, Alice!"
Alice reached out her right hand again, supporting it with her left. She and Jack stood together. A high density of Bandersnatch coalesced around the fingers in the form of a gun in Alice's hand.
They reverberated, amplified, and swelled to an infinite degree. The rainbow-colored light spread everywhere. And Alice, she fired the Bandersnatch at Lewis, Charlot Marvel.
◇
"Wake up from my dream?"
Alice addressed the man whose face was a mosaic. He was sitting in a field of flowers, weaving a crown of flowers, and he nodded slightly in Alice's direction.
"Oh. This is a dream, Alice. Unfortunately, that's true… so you'll have to wake up soon."
"I refuse… That's… that's…"
Alice let out a strangled cry and clung to the mosaic man. The crown of flowers he was weaving slipped from his hands and dropped to the ground with a clatter.
"I don't want to leave Raffi and… everyone else…! I want to stay here forever. I want to stay here forever with everyone…!"
Before long, Alice and Raffi were surrounded by many shadows. All of them had mosaics on their faces.
"We are data, Alice. We're programmed to operate. But you are different. Your soul is…"
When Raffi said this, Alice cried out in tears.
"Why? Everyone is alive! Why do you say such a sad thing? Everyone is just as alive as I am!"
"Alice."
The man in the mosaic embraced Alice gently. Then he stroked her head.
"You will soon be healed, there will be no more scars, no more abscesses. You will begin a new life as you are. Together with us."
"Together…? Together with…?"
Alice seemed to have no idea what he meant, but Raffi appeared to have smiled at her.
"As long as we're in your mind, we'll 'live' forever. From now on, we will live in your heart. So, Alice. You're not alone anymore. We'll be together always and forever."
"That's…"
Alice gazed up at Raffi with a smile on her face.
"Does that mean we'll be happy forever?"
"Yes, it's a HAPPY DAY!"
The people surrounding them clapped their hands and called out Alice's name joyfully.
◇
HAPPY DAY.
That's right.
I am…
Alice, in the light of the spreading Bandersnatch, turned to Charlot with a sobbing smile on her face. The old man's body was enveloped in light.
Then the light exploded.