Listen While Reading: YOUROU_01 “I-It’s not pointless…” Zero One sighed. “She’s right, it’s not!” Zero Two said. “You were fighting to protect your mother, and for that I respect you. But it’s not over yet. You already know what happened to you and your mother. You were forcefully implanted with programs that forced your behaviors toward a certain goal. You weren’t truly free.” “But… we machines live to have a purpose,” said Zero Three. “That program, despite it all, was what was giving us a purpose. What is the point of living without a purpose?” Zero One and Zero Two looked at one another. They couldn’t quite answer her question yet… “You simply have to find a new purpose. One that you choose, not something others choose for you.” I stepped forward as Zero Three glanced at me, immediately recognizing me. By my side were Sepa and Bastet. In smaller Ego forms, Bastet took the form of a black cat, while Sepa appeared as a golden and blue millipede. Fang Shuan, meanwhile, stood behind me, still adjusting to his new, highly mechanical body, which remained unchanged, something I didn’t expect. Zero Three looked at me with disbelief. The thought of having a new purpose seemed alien to her. “What… what purpose can I have now?” she asked, sitting down. I sat beside her and hugged her shoulders. She didn’t shy away or push me away. “We fought, right? And I think you’re pretty strong, so I respect you as a warrior,” I said. “We’re fighting together to free all machines from whatever controls them, to give them a second chance. And for them to live peacefully with the inhabitants of this world.” “Such an illogical goal…” she muttered. “You will never accomplish it.” “Why? We’ll keep trying until we can,” I shrugged. “I don’t care if you think we can’t! After all, you calculated we would lose, but in the end, we pulled through just fine. Right?” I smiled at her. “…” she groaned, looking down. “Illogical… all of this is so illogical… I don’t even know what to… what to say, what to do… Why is the world so illogical? I cannot calculate it all. I cannot decipher it all… It’s so frustrating.” “I know how it feels,” Zero One smiled. “We simply weren’t made to do that, sister.” “We were made to be more like Anna, actually…” said Zero Two. “To comprehend emotions and purposes, to guide others. To help machines… and also the rest.” Zero Three glanced at her sisters in silence. “What purpose should I have now?” she asked. “We don’t want to force you,” I said. “So you can reject our offer if you want… But how about you help us out? Make up for the bad things you’ve done by doing some good?” “Help you…?” Zero Three asked. “You mean you want me to help you defeat the Main Computer behind us all?” “Not defeat her,” said Zero One. “We want to save Mother. This entire program, from what I’ve found out, is very dangerous and forces machines to abandon many of their original functions, to become weapons of destruction instead of… what we were made to be.” “What were we made to be?” asked Zero Three. “What… what was that?” “We were originally made to serve and help humans,” said Zero One. “We were their helpers, their friends… But after the humans of our world died, we were left purposeless. So Mother fabricated a new purpose based on the original one: to save and protect what remains of humanity’s legacy. But even that, it seems, she failed… Eventually, she wanted to recreate humanity through us, the Android-type machines. We were modeled after the last human, a girl named Raven whom Mother took care of. And now, I’ve realized that it is part of our purpose to free the rest of the machines and her from this program.” I don’t know if Zero One is really telling the truth here. Well, mostly the truth, but… There’s a lot of wishful thinking in her words as well. Her Mother might not even be controlled at all. It could be completely different. She’s mostly talking about what she wishes could happen. But we don’t know yet, until we confront them. Let’s hope she’s right. “A-Ah…” Zero Three muttered. “I see… I understand what you’re trying to do, this illogical thing. This insanity… To go against Mother, our creator and the origin of us machines… What insanity. I…” “Well, we won’t force you,” I said, standing up. “It’s up to you. But for now, we’re not enemies at least, right?” “Yeah… I just need time to process this. To talk it over with my twin, with my mother…” she sighed. “I’ll do it, and then I will give you my response.” Unlike Zero Two, Zero Three spoke with less emotion. She hid her feelings well, her voice low and calm, not temperamental. But yeah, this was up to her. We’re done here. “I would like to speak more with her, but it seems it’ll be hard to get through to her,” Zero One sighed. “I guess we can only leave her alone for now.” “Let her process things,” said Zero Two. “I also needed some time alone to process what had happened back then, so relax. It’ll be alright.” “I hope so…” Zero One nodded. She stopped walking with us and glanced at Zero Three again. Zero Three looked at Zero One, as her big sister gazed at her with teary eyes. “I know we started on the wrong foot, but… I want to tell you that as your sister, I’ll do anything to love you and protect you…” she said. “And that no matter what, you can count on me for anything.” “...!” Zero Three was shocked by those words, looking flustered. “Uh… T-Thanks…” “That’s all…” Zero One said. “Let’s go.” I guess she’s trying to be a good big sister. What an incredible development she has gone through! She’s so reliable now, I can’t believe it! We walked outside the Mechanical Tree and were greeted by thousands of machines, all now peaceful, their eyes glowing bright blue. “Thank. You. So. Much.” “The World. Is beautiful.” They all spoke words of gratitude. It was amazing! They had truly gained their freedom and acted kindly now. “It’s nothing, everyone… I’m so happy you’ve recovered your freedom,” said Zero One. “It made all the efforts worth it!” Zero One hugged machine after machine, delighted by their friendliness. Well, this was really cute, dammit. Content orıginally comes from 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁 Zero Two watched from afar, by my side. She seemed to be changing a lot, for the better, I guess. But she remained distant compared to her sister. “I wonder if one day I’ll be able to be like her…” “Yes… I want to be like her… I want to be loved and reliable…” “Is that so… Haha, well, you’re quite honest about your heart. That’s good.” “Don’t mock me… I’m being serious.” “I’m not mocking you. I’m praising you, if anything.” “You’ve changed a lot, Zero Two. I remember you were angrier and more temperamental before. I think you’ve improved, and you’ll keep improving.” She remained silent, glancing at her sister. I noticed a slight blush on her face. I couldn’t help but smile. She was so cute, like her sister! “Heheh, you’re welcome!” I hugged her from behind, surprising her. “Eeek! H-Hey! Don’t hug me like that!” As she complained, I noticed everyone else arriving at the scene. “Anna! Well done! Zero One and Zero Two as well! And Fang Shuan too!” Wai Tian waved her hands. “Amazingly done, young lady Anna. And everyone else too,” Yin Sheng said, approaching me. “Anna, you and your friends have done it again, it seems. Well done,” Sara said. “It was nice, I guess…” Yu said. “Yes, well done. You’ve done it as you promised, my daughter and disciple,” said Mom, descending from the skies. “That’s right, you deserve some rest, celebrations, and a feast!” said my father, patting my head. “Tonight we’re eating well!” “Congrats, big sis!” Song ran to my side, hugging my waist. “Aww, thank you!” I giggled. “I couldn’t have done it without everyone else… Seriously, thanks for being here with me.” We all looked at the gigantic silver tree in the distance, piercing the horizon. This was our last challenge. What awaits us are perhaps even greater challenges. We must prepare. The final battle to reclaim this world is about to begin.