Amil and Dumal walked side by side, their footsteps the only sound in the vast, desolate land. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows over the shifting sands. As they moved forward, Amil's voice broke the silence.
"What is evil?" he asked, his tone thoughtful yet uncertain.
Dumal glanced at him briefly but said nothing, continuing his steady pace.
"Why are you asking?" Dumal finally responded, though his tone remained neutral, as if the question itself was irrelevant.
Amil stopped walking, his mechanical eyes fixed on the horizon. "Because I don't understand. Why would Neato kill the world? What made him do it?"
Dumal didn't stop. He pressed forward in silence, his face unreadable. After a few moments, Amil resumed walking, following in his path.
As they walked in the fading light, Amil spoke again, more quietly this time, "Did God create evil?"
Dumal's response came without hesitation. "No, he didn't."
Amil furrowed his brow. "But didn't He create everything?"
"Yes," Dumal answered.
"Then how does that make sense?" Amil pressed on, the confusion evident in his voice.
Dumal paused for a moment, then spoke slowly, as if weighing his words carefully. "Does the cold exist?"
"Yes, of course it does," Amil replied. "Haven't you felt it?"
Dumal nodded. "It's true that you can feel it, but the cold doesn't exist. The cold is simply the absence of heat."
Amil was quiet for a moment, processing this. "What about darkness? We see light, but darkness… it's something too, isn't it?"
"No," Dumal said, his voice steady. "Darkness is not a thing that exists on its own. Darkness is just the absence of light."
As they walked, Dumal's voice grew quieter, more reflective. "In the same way, God didn't create evil. Evil is just what happens when we push God away. When we lose love and faith. Love and faith are like light and warmth."
The scene shifted to the bunker, where the Professor had once toiled in isolation. His body, lifeless, lay slumped in the corner, surrounded by the remnants of his final moments. The weight of his guilt and the echoes of Jeff's words still haunted the air, though the Professor's suffering had ended.
Dumal's voice echoed over the desolate scene. "Without God, we're left with cold and darkness. Without God in our lives, evil takes its place."
The image of the empty bunker lingered before returning to Dumal and Amil, their journey continuing under the dimming sky. Amil's gaze fell to the ground before lifting again to the horizon, where the faint outline of a distant ruin marked their destination.
"Then is Neato evil?" Amil asked quietly, his voice almost lost in the wind.
Dumal didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the horizon as they pressed forward. "No," he finally said. "He lost faith."
And as they walked, the darkened sky overhead grew even darker. The distant horizon, where Neato waited, loomed closer with each step they took, an inevitable confrontation drawing near.
END OF CHAPTET 66