Chapter 130: Secrets

"...Mycena, I did what you asked...can I rest now?..." Ashlyn murmurs exhaustedly, feeling bad about having lied to Zenith about why she wasn’t going to class today.

"[No, I’ve helped you a lot. Are you going to give up now? Finish what I asked you to do and then do whatever you want. If you stop now, you’ll have to start over next week, and you may not have time for that]" Mycena says in a manipulative tone.

"..." Ashlyn says nothing as she continues using her powers on an entire block. Mycena has been training her and helping her with several things involving gaining more confidence around Zenith and increasing the range of Ashlyn’s powers.

Before, Ashlyn had trouble using her powers on more than one person. Now she can affect the minds of an entire block for a few minutes, and after pushing herself to exhaustion, she gets a few minutes of rest before having to try again.

"Y-I’m so tired...I-I don’t think I can do this anymore..." Ashlyn sits down on the ground so she won’t collapse.

"[You’re being awfully spoiled. Can’t you see how much progress we’re making!? Your ability to affect people’s minds has increased tremendously! You can now create nightmares for them without needing to be nearby, and you can affect multiple targets even if you have less control over them than what appears in their nightmares]"

"[It’s simply perfect! So put a little more effort into it]" Mycena continues encouraging her to increase her powers.

"...Why do you want me to get so much stronger in this part of my power...it doesn’t even help i-in fights..." Ashlyn murmurs, unable to get back up because she’s so exhausted. Unlike when training her to create stronger shadows, Mycena is only helping Ashlyn strengthen the part of her power connected to people’s minds.

"[First, it’ll help you communicate better with the Cube, which is your teacher’s new prosthetic. Second, it’s a useful power, and do you really have the right to criticize my help?]"

"..." Ashlyn still doesn’t know what Mycena wants, so she remains very restrained about doing what Mycena asks. She expected Mycena to leave her head after some time, but it’s already been several months, and she still talks to Ashlyn constantly.

"...How-"

"[Do you want a valuable piece of information in exchange for training more?]"

"Valuable...information?"

"[Exactly. I recently got access to some good information. Apparently, this is the thing your dear teacher has been hiding and the reason she’s been focusing so much on making you stronger]"

"...It’s not something I should know..."

"[Aren’t you curious? Rules don’t apply when we’re talking through our minds. I’m still trapped in the same place, and you don’t have to tell anyone, just get stronger]"

"...Okay..." Ashlyn gives in to her curiosity. Zenith promised to talk more once they all graduated, but Ashlyn knows her teacher won’t tell them everything, so she wants to find out more on her own.

"[Good that you want to know. What I discovered was simply what is really happening. Recently, a veteran arrived at the ’hospital.’ He has connections with some very important people]"

"[But there’s no way they could talk in that hospital without me hearing something, so I was paying very close attention. It turns out that this veteran and someone very influential were secretly talking in the basement]"

"[Smart idea. Nobody would expect that. Anyway, what I heard is that right now there is a huge prediction that Nêmesis will attack, and not only that, but also the fact that she had infiltrated us]"

"[And by using Nexus and a complete 3D scan through thousands of drones, they mapped every corner, every crack, every hole on this island in search of her bases, and they found some]"

"[In short, they know she has several plans, and thanks to the fact that I’m with you, I managed to see a little of Zenith and realized that she has something to do with Nêmesis]"

"[From Zenith’s attitude, I judge that somehow Nêmesis is after her, or at the very least, Nêmesis doesn’t like her? Something like that! The government doesn’t seem to have noticed because they don’t have the full picture!]"

"[But because I’m with you, I managed to see not only the government’s side, which is being very cautious about this, but also Zenith’s side. She has a strange level of caution about this! She’s hiding secrets!]"

"...Would it?...This...I don’t think...this information is reliable...w-where’s the proof?"

"[Believe it or not, anyway, I think your dear teacher wants you all to fight. I’m sure!! From what I’ve seen over the past few months, everything seems to be lining up for that future]"

"...I-Is that so..."

"[Go back to training now. I’ve talked enough. If you don’t believe me, just wait until your dear teacher reveals more about this. You’ll see that the pieces will fall into place]"

"Mycena...why do you keep helping me?"

"[Because as long as you stay alive, I’ll be able to keep watching. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll be taken out of that old water tank, right?]"

"...For someone who has the instinct to destroy humanity, you’re...v-very restrained."

"[People who give in to instinct are animals]"

"..."

"[I’m human, or at least I still believe I’m human to some degree. I’m not just going to give in to my instincts. Being trapped for years makes you think more calmly. If I were free, maybe I’d be making plans to bring down the island or something]"

"I-"

"[Stop talking and stalling and get back to work!! I want you to be able to affect an entire neighborhood for an hour by graduation. You can only last 45 minutes!! Still not enough]"

"...Okay..." Even though she’s exhausted, Ashlyn starts using her powers again, pushing them to their limit despite Zenith already telling everyone to be careful with excessive training because it can affect their bodies due to the Core.

...

...

...

"Hmmm..." I bite down hard on a lollipop, listening to its sweet crack as I watch television.

"Nexus, things seem to be going well lately. Anything to say about that?"

"[Yes, Zenith. Things have been making some progress. Several new technologies have been made available in inferior versions for lasers, food production, among other basic uses, so the social situation has started to improve, which is reflected on television, where the news is reporting more good news]"

"Makes sense. It’s been about five years since things have been full of good news on television. It’s funny how this happens every four to seven years. The government is so malicious."

"[You think that’s bad?]"

"No, Nexus, I don’t, but it is a fact that they intentionally take a long time to release this stuff and then release a bunch of new things to make it look like they’re being nice when they’re really just throwing out old trash."

"After all, I know several of the things the television showed, and I know some of them are 25 years old. That engine over there from the flour factories, that’s a Model 7 engine from ten years ago. That thing can’t even sustain the powerful military vehicle it was created for anymore, which means it’s trash."

"Since factories need less power than that, it ends up being useful, so it’s literally military trash being turned into common technology. That’s the only funny part about it."

"But it’s not bad. I know very well how one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure. Besides, the factory that makes my lollipops bought one of those! Production increased and the cost went down!! Which increases the chances of my lollipop continuing to exist."

"[So that’s what it’s about. You’re only happy because of your lollipops. That’s a really petty attitude on your part, Zenith]"

"It’s not like I’m not satisfied with other things, but yes, my lollipops matter more to me than most of the other news...actually, I think I’m going to buy a car. I wonder if they’re still too expensive?" Seven years ago, I thought about buying one, but the price was absurd and I didn’t have the money for it.

"[Cars have gotten cheaper, about 1,535% cheaper compared to cars from ten years ago]"

"...Wow...that’s still way too expensive. Wasn’t the reduction supposed to be 2,409%? Why didn’t it go down that much?"

"[They discovered that the parts can be reused in new ones, but in return, they discovered that the car’s battery is inferior to what was expected, forcing a more robust construction. So while manufacturing became cheaper and the quality remained the same, the cost of important parts became more expensive because they required more material]"

"...Damn...looks like the dream of owning a car doesn’t exist...that still costs a fortune...I’d rather run while jumping across buildings. It’s more practical and just as fast."

"Ah...wait, what about the military benefit?! Can’t I use it to buy a car?"

"[Do you need to go to the hospital urgently on a frequent basis?]"

"No..."

"[Are you dependent on vehicles?]"

"...Technically, no."

"[Do you have military contacts who can provide you with transportation support?]"

"Well, yes, but that’s not the point-"

"[Then the benefit isn’t necessary for you. Without an urgent and frequent medical need, without being dependent on vehicles, and with the option to call someone to come pick you up, there’s no reason for the military benefit to buy you a car]"

"B-But I have prosthetics! Shouldn’t that count?! I don’t have arms or legs!"

"[Zenith, if you want to talk about prosthetics, how about talking about the fact that you’re using the Cube, a military research artifact, as your new prosthetics, now destroying the possibility of studying it like before?]"

"Okay, I get it. Everyone has their own problems...tsk..." I wonder what the point is of having so much good news for civilians if I, as a supposed civilian, can’t even buy a damn car because the price is absurd.

’Hopefully things will get cheaper three years from now...’