chapter 2

“Friend?”

Tilting her head slightly, the girl repeated the question .

“Yes . As I was already alone at the time that my consciousness formed, I have no friends,” she said plainly .

“Huh? So you weren’t conscious before the world ended?”

“Correct . The awakening of my ego, my becoming self-aware, and the formation of my own consciousness all happened after the world’s collapse . ”

“I see . That must’ve been lonely . ”

“Yes, probably . ”

“Probably?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I believe that I’m lonely . And I likely begun my exploring in order to meet you . ”

“It makes me kind of happy when you put it like that . ”

Bowing, the girl whispered in her heart that this must have been a destined encounter .

“And so, will you be my friend?”

The girl raised her head, and replied “Alright” without hesitation .

The girl was also without friends . Or rather, she was the only one who she could rely on . There was no reason to refuse .

“Thank you so much . I’m glad . ”

“I’m glad too . It’s nice to meet you . ”

“It’s nice to meet you as well . ”

She raised her right hand, and the girl did the same .

“And so, let us begin with your education . With you as you are now, this can’t be considered an equal relationship . ”

“Really?”

“Yes . I have determined that you lack the knowledge needed to stand alone as an individual . ”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Yes . In the event that my functions became compromised, you would be broken along with me . So in other words, right now you are reliant on me . That can’t be considered ‘equal,’ and friends ought to have an equal relationship . ”

“I see,” the girl nodded deeply . “Alright, then educate me . ”

The girl understood the meaning of the word “education,” and also knew that it was a very enjoyable thing . Although she had no memory of ever having been educated in the first place .

“Taking into account the education methods of pre-destruction mankind as well as common knowledge as a basis, I shall form a subroutine . ”

“Alright . ”

The girl smiled .

“Then without delay…”

Since she stood up, the girl hurried to do the same . And then the sheet that had been covering her fell to the floor .

As the climate control in this place was perfectly functional, there was no need for heavy covers .

The girl didn’t know this yet, but said climate control was operating solely for her sake . Because she had no need for such things .

“You can go to sleep if you want,” she said .

“‘Kay . But… I don’t really want to be alone . ”

“Very well . ”

She sat back down in a most graceful manner . The girl understood how graceful these movements were .

“Hey, I’m thirsty . ”

“Ah, one of the energy replenishment methods that humans require . Without the intake of liquids at regular intervals, they cannot function . ”

“So you don’t drink water?”

“I do not . My energy is supplied by power cells . ”

“Power cells?”

“I’ll explain it later . What would you like to drink? I’m unable to make anything overly complicated since we only have a simple food maker, though . ”

“Simple food maker?”

The girl had no knowledge of what that was .

“It’s a simple type of food maker . ”

“Yeah, I figured as much . But what exactly is a food maker?”

“A food maker,” she said, “is a machine which has a database component that contains the molecular structure of many different types of food as well as a printer component which replicates said structure . ”

“So basically, it can reproduce the types of food that are recorded inside it?”

“Yes . Would you like a more detailed explanation?”

“‘Kay . ”

Aside from electricity, the replication function only requires a small amount of water . And since food makers can also create water itself, indefinite operation is possible through the usage of that as an ingredient . I shall also repeat this a second time since it’s important- aside from electricity . ”

“Huh, it sure is convenient . ”

“It certainly is,” she nodded slightly . “This technology changed the history of mankind a great deal . Incidentally, around ninety percent of mankind’s food requirements came to rely on these food makers . ”

“Is that right…” the girl nodded deeply . “And the simple-type is what we have here?”

“Yes . Food makers are very large appliances, so they aren’t found in public areas . Naturally, they aren’t found in private homes either . ”

“Is there any difference aside from size?”

“The number of recorded food types is lower . Also, it’s impossible to replicate more complex foods . It’s a tradeoff for the printer and database components taking up less space .

“I see . Thanks for the explanation . ”

“You’re welcome . And as an addendum, it’s also possible to swap out their cooking databases . ”

“Ah, then how about a café au lait?”

The girl had no memory of ever having drank one, but she felt as if it was something that she liked .

“Café au lait?” she replied . “You wish to know whether or not that is in the database?”

“Yeah, the girl said . “I want to drink a café au lait . ”

“Its data should be included . ”

She stood back up and reached out to the girl .

“Let’s go together . ”

“‘Kay . ”

The girl took her hand .

It was soft and slightly warm .

◇

“I’m bored . ”

One day, the girl suddenly exclaimed this .

It was three months after she had begun the girl’s education .

“Bored?” She quietly processed this . “Not interesting . Without worth . Without meaning . Not fun . Without a point . Is that what you mean?”

The girl rolled onto the library floor .

And then,

“Yeah, it’s probably something like that,” she said, stretching her back .

Still sitting opposite her, she placed the tablet that she had been teaching the girl with and looked at her .

Up until a few days ago, the girl showed no signs of boredom .

Even she understood the concept of boredom, as her functions were similar to that of a human brain . This is why she tried teaching the girl many things, so as to avoid repetition .

And of course they took breaks when they would play together .

“You don’t mean that you’re tired?” she tilted her head .

“I’m able to run from one end of this library to the other, I’m not tired . ”

“I see . Then what exactly is the problem? Is it with my teaching methods?”

“Ummm,” the girl got back up . “Your teaching method is perfect . It’s fun, and I can understand everything . ”

“It’s fun? Even though it’s boring?”

She tilted her head in the opposite direction .

She found the girl’s assertion to be contradictory .

“Studying is fun, and it’s great to learn about new things . But it’s just tiring to do the same thing every single day, you know?”

“So it’s the realization of a lack of stimulation?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it . ”

“I see . I shall modify my education subroutines in order to become more stimulating . ”

She hopped onto her feet .

“We can save that for tomorrow . But can we do something fun right now?”

“Hmm . ”

She pondered .

What can she do so that the girl will be satisfied?

Give her a book? No, that’s just the daily routine .

There is nothing new within this library . And over these three months, the girl has come to know its entire interior .

“In that case,” she thought, “I should just show her something that she hasn’t seen before . ”

For example,

the world .

◇

Holding her hand, the girl went outside the library .

The girl opened her eyes wide and took a deep breath .

The world was pure white .

Some white, fluffy-looking substance danced through the air as it fell towards the ground .

“It’s a snowscape,” she said .

“It’s beautiful,” the girl replied .

The girl knew what snow was, but this was the first time that she had ever actually seen it .

While continuing to hold her hand, the girl walked into the snow .

“It’s all crunchy . ”

The sensation of the snow was enjoyable . Even through these snow boots, its softness was conveyed .

Turning around, the girl saw that their footprints were left behind .

“Even in a world like this, will our footprints remain?” the girl thought to herself .

She let go of the girl’s hand and marched forward on her own .

“Don’t leave meee~”

When the girl said that, she spun back around . And then crouched down while grinning .

“Is something the matter?” the girl wondered .

She collected snow in her hands and threw the rounded agglomeration at the girl .

The snowball struck the girl’s face and shattered . Its fragments dancing through the air as they fell was a beautiful sight .

But more importantly…

“Why did you attack me?”

She showed no sign of violent intent .

And though she wasn’t hurt, the girl was still uneasy . She wondered if she had a short-circuit or something .

“This is a game called a ‘snowball fight . ‘”

“A game?”

“Yes . You pack snow together and then throw it . It didn’t actually hurt, did it?”

“No . ”

“It’s a safe game . ”

While saying that, she made a second ball .

“Am I allowed to dodge that?”

“Yes, you are . ”

She casually released the second shot .

It flew through the air in a slow arc . Predicting where it would land, the girl changed positions .

But although she was able to dodge the snowball, her feet caught in the snow and she fell over .

Since it didn’t actually hurt, she continued lying there on the snow’s surface .

“Are you okay?”

She spoke in a louder voice than usual .

“I’m fine,” the girl laughed . “This is fun . ”

She hopped back up and begun making a snowball of her own .

“Here I go…”

Gathering her strength, she threw it at her .

“She should be able to easily dodge this,” the girl thought to herself .

But she took no evasive measures .

The snowball that the girl threw hit her square in the face before breaking into pieces .

“You have some nice control there . ”

Clenching her right hand, she held up her index finger .

“I thought you’d dodge it . ”

“I thought that I’d like to experience being hit by one . ”

“Really?”

“Really . ”

“So what do you think?”

“It’s fun . ”

For some time afterwards, the two had fun throwing snow at one another .

And once the girl became tired, the snowball fight came to a close .

The girl laid atop the snow’s surface, and she laid next to her .

“Snow sure is great . ”

“I think so as well . ”

“Thanks . ”

“For what?”

“For showing me this snowscape and teaching me about snowball fights . ”

“It’s fine . This is also a form of education . ”

“Really?”

“Well… that’s not the only reason . I also wanted to play with you . ”

The girl was very happy to hear those words .

And for a while, the two watched the sky .

The air was cool, yet clear . Cold, yet pleasant . Like this, they calmly passed the time .

But then,

“Why’d it go away?”

The girl suddenly spoke .

“Why did what go away?”

She sat up and turned her gaze towards the girl .

“The world . ”

Pure white, it was a beautiful world of endless nothing .

“I wonder . As no evidence remains, I have no way to verify . ”

“There’s nothing around here that can actually harm me, and this isn’t a nuclear winter . There doesn’t seem to be any massive change in the Earth’s crust either . ”

The girl already possessed a great deal of knowledge . However, she was still unable to understand what had happened to the world .

“Perhaps it was a satellite weapon which attacked molecular structures?”

From many possibilities, she chose one at random .

“But that wouldn’t destroy just the surface, would it?”

“What if it was only set to destroy its molecular structure?”

“What, like pattern matching?”

“Yes . ”

“Hmm . Then leaving that as a possibility, who erased the world and for what reason?”

“Unknown . Also, there is no proof that it was destroyed at the behest of any one individual . ”

“Then what reason would someone have to destroy it? If a satellite weapon was actually used, I mean . ”

“I wonder . Perhaps it was a malfunction, or possibly used by mistake . ”

“Hmm…”

Though she was deep in thought, the girl was unable to find an answer that she could accept .

Instead, she said the only thing that came to mind .

“I want some hot soup . ”

A change of topic that was so sudden, it actually stunned her for two seconds . But then she smiled right away .

“Very well, then let’s go with the type that includes corn . ”

Saying this, she stood up and reached out to the girl .