chapter 1

The girl awakened as a total blank .

She had no idea who she was, nor did she know where she was .

But she felt calm .

Gradually, the girl began to take in her surroundings .

“This place is bright, with clean air and a high ceiling that has a beautiful, sparkling chandelier hanging from it,” she thought to herself .

She stared at this chandelier for a span of three seconds, but it showed no sign of change .

After taking a deep breath, the girl sat up . She clenched and opened her hands . She raised and lowered each leg in sequence .

“Mm,” the girl nodded . Her body was functioning properly .

Just as she placed a hand to her chest in relief, she heard a female voice say “Good morning . ”

The girl was so surprised that she thought her heart would stop . It was a relief to find that this was not the case when she pressed a hand against her chest to check .

Just moving her neck, she turned towards the source of the voice .

She was sitting beside the girl, looking more like a statue or a doll than an actual living thing .

Her appearance was that of a Japanese female of about 17 or 18 years of age, with long glossy hair and straight bangs .

Though her build was average, her clothing was somewhat strange- a subdued maid outfit with a long skirt that covered most of her legs .

Her features were delicate and beautiful . Every single component was perfect, as was the harmony between them . She was so beautiful that the girl felt somewhat embarrassed .

“Good morning . ”

Speaking perfect Japanese, she had a pleasant velvet voice that the girl thought would be well-suited for singing .

“As my vocals are in working order, I believe that any issues with not being understood must lie with your audio sensors . Are you able to read lips?”

Her expression didn’t change in the slightest as she said this . It was so businesslike that it took some time before the girl realized that she was being asked a question .

Two seconds after realizing this, the girl replied “I can hear . ”

Unlike her velvet voice, the girl’s voice was still young and undeveloped . She didn’t really bemoan this fact, though she did find it the slightest bit regrettable .

“I see . Then do you have a name?”

“Yours?”

“No, yours . ”

“Mine?”

“That’s right . ”

“Hmmm…” The girl mumbled to herself . But no matter how deep into the sea of memories she dove, she was unable to imagine her past self . She continued to mumble for quite some time, but in the end she just couldn’t remember .

“I don’t know . ”

The girl’s shoulders gave a light shrug .

“I see . Perhaps it’s a memory obstruction . Shall we perform an examination?”

“An examination?”

“Yes . Though I am not a medical-type, I should be able to perform one after consulting the database . ”

The girl slightly tilted her head .

She tilted her head in the same manner .

“Who are you?”

“I am a Fourth-Generation AD, a Type-II from the LM series . ”

The girl tilted her head in the opposite direction, causing her hair to brush against her cheeks .

The girl’s hair was vivid blonde, and slightly messy .

“My hair, it’s sparkling . ”

The area’s lighting shone through the girl’s hair .

“Yes . I find it to be quite beautiful . ”

A smile formed on her face .

“What a pretty smile,” the girl thought .

“Hey, what’s an AD?”

“AD is an abbreviation for Autodoll . Do you know what Autodolls are?”

“I don’t……” the instant the girl said that, something in her mind clicked . “……not know . I know . Probably . ”

And it wasn’t just some memory fragment . In the form of genuine knowledge, the girl understood what an Autodoll was . Although she still had no idea whether she herself had anything to do with them .

“Is that so?” she nodded .

“It’s a type of expensive robot, right?”

“Correct . For more information, feel free to check the database later . ”

“So you’re a robot, then?”

“Yes . However, I possess my own consciousness . ”

“Consciousness? You don’t mean your own will?”

“Yes, I am referring to the consciousness possessed by living things . I am an artificial lifeform . ”

“Is that so…”

The girl accepted her words without question . As far as her own knowledge went, robots had no consciousness . But since she insisted as such, the girl thought to herself that it must be the truth .

“Am I an AD too?”

“No, you are a member of a species known as ‘mankind . ‘”

“What’s the difference?”

The girl possessed no knowledge pertaining to mankind .

“That is also something that you should check in the database . But for now, let’s just say that we’re composed of different parts and leave it at that . ”

The girl looked down at her own body, and then she looked at hers . Though she looked for several seconds, she found no real differences .

“As we ADs were designed to match the human form, there isn’t much in the way of external differences . However, our internals are completely different . ”

“Is that right?”

“Yes . Now to return to the previous topic of discussion, shall we perform an examination?”

The girl shook her head from side to side .

“Is that a gesture of refusal?”

“I’m not really refusing,” the girl laughed . “Just like… ‘we don’t really need to do that . ‘”

“We don’t need to?”

“Yeah . Because it’s not that big a deal . ”

“And what would ‘it’ be?”

“My memory . ”

“You don’t value your own action logs?”

“Nope . To me, it’s meaningless . ”

“And why is it meaningless?”

“I wonder . It’s just like, I feel like ‘I’m fine like this . ‘”

“Very well . And why is this?”

“Umm…… maybe it’s because I never had any memories to begin with?”

“I do not believe that to be the case . You appear to be between twelve and fourteen years of age . So in other words, you must have been in operation for at least that amount of time . ”

“Hmm…”

“She does have a point there,” the girl thought to herself . But she still didn’t feel any need to forcibly drag up her memories .

In this moment, the girl had been reborn . And this was fine .

She can just decide on a name for herself and create new memories from here on out . There wasn’t any inconvenience in this .

“However, I won’t force the matter . ”

“Oh . Then let’s not worry about it . ”

“Understood . Then I won’t worry about it,” she readily obeyed the girl . “However, please undertake a physical examination . Just in case . ”

“Alright . Be gentle, okay?”

“Yes . I will be careful . ”

For some time, the two silently met each other’s gazes .

“Umm,” the girl spoke up in an apologetic tone . “Are we going to do it right away?”

“No . There is no hurry . ”

“Is that right . ”

“Yes . Because we have plenty of time . ”

“If we have time, could you tell me what I look like?”

“Very well . From appearances, you seem to be half caucasian and half oriental . Your pale skin is reminiscent of a snowscape . ”

“A snowscape?”

While the girl did know what snow was, she was unable to picture what it looked like .

“By which I mean that it’s beautiful . ”

Upon recieving her praise, the girl’s cheeks became flushed .

“Let us continue,” she said . “Your height is 152 centimeters . Your weight is 39 kilos . Though it is below the general average, I consider it healthy for someone who has just awakened from suspended animation . ”

“Wait a minute . ”

“Very well . ”

“How can you tell my weight just by looking?”

“Aah,” she nodded .

“That is because I was holding you,” she gestured like she was using both arms to hold something, “and brought you here . ”

“I see,” the girl nodded . “Where did you bring me from?”

“From around 44 kilometers north of this place . I rescued you after you had lost consciousness . ”

“Why 44 kilometers away from here?”

The girl knew the term “kilometer . ” Despite having no concrete memory, she did think that it must have been pretty far away .

“Me? Or you?”

“Either-or . ”

“You were unconscious . ”

“You just said that . Why did I faint?”

“I deduced that it was due to weakness caused by moving around without eating after having awakened from suspended animation . Because I treated you, you are no longer in a weakened state . ”

“I see . Thanks for rescuing me . ”

“As my ethical subroutines are in working order, the decision to rescue you was a matter of course . ”

“Hmm,” the girl said . “So what were you doing there?”

“Exploring . With this location as a center base, I explore the area . Because there may be something new to be found . ”

“Like how you picked me up?”

“Correct . You are the first lifeform I’ve met since I began exploring . ”

“There aren’t any other lifeforms?”

“Not within a radius of 40 kilometers, no . But if I continue exploring, there is a possibility of meeting other lifeforms . I don’t believe that their numbers would be very many, though . ”

“Why?”

“Because the world has been destroyed . ”

“Why was it destroyed?”

“Unknown . I am a LM-Series…… short for ‘Library Management Series . ‘”

“Hm,” the girl responded .

“As such, it is my job to maintain this library . ”

“This place is a library?”

The girl took a look around .

There certainly were a number of computer terminals lined up, as well as many bookshelves .

This sight did match the girl’s general image of what a library was . Although she had no memory of ever having visited one before .

“Yes, this is an underground library . Due to its robust construction, it can also function as a shelter when necessary . ”

“Hmm . ”

“Continuing on,” she said, “On that day, I was cleaning the library like usual . Just as I considered that it wasn’t quite time to open yet, there was a sudden shock and the external power cut off . As it was never restored, I switched it over to a private generator, checked outside, and discovered that the world had ended . ”

“So you’re still using that private generator?”

“Yes, it should last for about twenty more years . But just in case, I’ve also started a project to install solar panels outside . ”

“Huh…”

“In conclusion, the reason for the destruction of the world is unknown . ”

“Oh . Well, I guess it can’t be helped if it was destroyed . ”

The girl shrugged her shoulders .

To the girl, the world may as well never have existed in the first place . Regardless of whether it had been destroyed or if it was prospering, she had no memory of it .

And so, she didn’t care either way . She had no reason to lament or to rejoice .

“May I change the subject of our conversation?” she asked .

“That’s fine, change it to whatever you want,” the girl replied .

“Yes . So… will you be my friend?”