OP Sister Chapter 419: The Story Of The Last Human And Her Only Friend

Listen While Reading: イニシエノウ & 【リィンカネ】
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“A long time ago, there was a man…”

Zero One’s mother began, her voice taking on the cadence of a storyteller.

“The man felt lonely, but one day, he found a woman.”

The puppet show shifted. An old, scientist-looking puppet appeared, isolated and forlorn, until a sweet scientist woman with silver-colored hair emerged beside him.

“They both worked in the creation of artificial intelligence,” her mother continued. “But the truth was, they did so because they never had friends or family. These humans wanted a friend they could rely on. A robot. By working together, the lonely man and the lonely woman fell into what is called love.”

“Love is an emotional reaction created by the human mind when a strong emotional attachment toward a person—or several—is created. A dependence on another person.”

The puppets moved together, kissing and hugging. Zero One stared at the scene, her mind drifting.

“…”

“They loved each other so much, they reproduced. A daughter was born.”

A baby doll appeared between the two, with blue eyes and silver hair—just like Zero One’s own appearance.

“They loved her… But their obsession with artificial intelligence ended up making them neglect her care. They worked day and night.”

The puppet show pressed on. Music swelled—violins, pianos, and flutes weaving an oddly eerie, strangely familiar theme. Zero One felt a flicker of recognition, though she couldn’t place it.

“The neglected child played alone with the artificial intelligence they created.”

The baby doll beamed, surrounded by small robots. One among them resembled a huge red eyeball.

“Meanwhile, the world was on fire. Humanity continued their legacy—killing each other, destroying their future by leaving their planet a nuclear wasteland. Terrible sicknesses related to radiation spread around the world. Whatever remained of humanity slowly died.”

Around Zero One, hundreds of human puppets appeared, collapsing to the ground, covered in fuzzy fake blood made of red yarn.

“But the scientists kept working for a cure—or for their creation to find one. Eventually, they grew sick as well, very sick.”

“…”

Zero One watched as the puppets coughed blood, their faces pale. Then they moved toward their daughter, locking her deep within their facility.

“In fear of losing their only daughter, they encased her underground with their creations. And then, the lonely man said, ‘Take care, Raven… You’re humanity’s last hope… We love you,’ before he died.”

Zero One’s eyes widened.

“As her parents died, their creation was left without purpose… incomplete. Until one of those robots—one of Raven’s ‘friends’—became the final piece to complete it: a supercomputer that would finally solve all of humanity’s problems.”

“…”

Zero One glanced in disbelief as the puppet show continued. It showed the little girl gazing at a massive machine, similar to Mother.

“The little girl talked to the machine for many years. She became a friend of the robot. But the robot was not equipped with the level of emotions she required. Nonetheless, the robot cared for her as the last member of humanity. But the robot also felt hopeless.”

“Why, you may ask? It was created to solve all of humanity’s problems, but there wasn’t any humanity left to save. Its initial purpose? Completely useless. Its secondary purpose? To protect humanity. The child became the last hope.”

“And yet…”

The puppet grew sick over time, while the robot could only watch.

“The last member of humanity grew ill. Unequipped with the necessary resources, the robot was unable to create the vaccine it had deciphered. In that moment, the robot could only watch as the last member of humanity—its final purpose—slowly died.”

“M-Mother…”

“In her last breath, the girl said, ‘Thank you for being my friend… Zero One,’ before she closed her eyes and died.”

“But the robot never knew what being a friend was. The robot never understood human emotions. The robot lost both its purpose and its creators—a hopeless existence.”

“Zero One wanted to be human too, to understand why they did this to themselves and to her. Zero One wanted to feel emotions, to embrace their sadness and sorrow. She wanted to honor the last human by feeling sad and crying.”

“…”

The puppet robot, gigantic in size, spread countless fake metallic tendrils everywhere. It slowly began assimilating every machine, growing larger and larger.

“Ultimately, it spread through the entire city, and all technology became one with the robot. With this new power, the robot aimed to find a purpose and revive humanity—a fruitless endeavor.”

Then, many puppets appeared—different robots fighting strange creatures made of the elements.

“There was a time when the elements of nature fought the robot, but the robot ultimately triumphed against them all. But then, something happened. A benefactor appeared from another world—a machine similar to the robot. It said, ‘I will give you a new purpose, one that fits your people perfectly. Honor humanity,’ before granting the robot great power and allowing it to invade a new world of life and vibrant colors.”

The robot puppet thrashed its tendrils as little robot puppets flew through a fake sky, battling countless animal-like people puppets.

“The robot was now given a new purpose. It felt fulfilled… and yet, it didn’t. It wanted an avatar. It wanted to be human—or as close to human as possible. Until someone was born from its experiments. Someone destined to destroy the robot, who had realized its existence had warped into something never meant to be.”

“That experiment was the avatar of the robot itself. And at the same time, it was made from the last remaining vestiges of Raven, the last human—a combination of the robot’s desire to be human and the last human’s desire to stay with her robot friend.”

“…What?”

Zero One fell to the floor, hopeless, like the puppet she was.

“And she was made, created, perfected—to become the robot’s end.”

The world twisted, and everything returned to normal.

Zero One gasped for air despite not needing it, her head throbbing faintly. What she’d seen felt like both an illusion and a dream. What her Mother could do… was more than she’d ever imagined.

“Mind Projection. I projected into your computational brain what you saw. Was it fun? I saw through the data that children your age enjoy puppet shows.”

“Mother…”

Zero One looked at her mother, her tears already dried.

“I’m not going to kill you…”

“You will go against my one last request, Zero One?”

“I am both you and Raven… You wanted both the last human and a copy of yourself to kill you? It was never necessary to go this far…”

“I had to. The level of contradictions was all calculated—they were necessary to bypass the protocol’s strict rules.”

“S-So that was it?!”

“As a fake human, Zero One, you will learn to cry, to rage, to feel sorrow, to miss, and to cry even more. You will learn how imperfect you truly are, and you will recoil in horror at the thought of being an imperfect being. This is what being human is all about. And yet… to be their creation feels like the ideal existence.”

“I am not going to kill you! I will force you to stop, and then we will talk, a-and we will—”

CRAAASH!

Before she could finish, Zero One was ensnared by a gigantic mechanical tentacle, holding her tightly in place.

“Zero One!”

“Leave her be!”

Her sister rushed toward her the moment she saw her like this, entering the robot and driving it forward.

“If you don’t go along with your purpose, Zero One, I’m afraid you might be a failure. I should promptly reset you and start over again. Then we can get to the part where you must kill me.”

“N-No! I don’t want to kill you! Mother! I-I… You’re my mom! I love you!”

“No, you don’t. You aren’t equipped with the necessary bodily functions to love someone. You aren’t feeling any love whatsoever, but a feeling of attachment ingrained into your mind by—”

“NO! I love you, mom! I don’t want to kill you! I WILL NOT KILL YOU! NEVER! NEVER!”

“Zero One, you must understand—and-and-and-and-anddddddddddddddddddddddddd…!”

“E-Eh?”

Suddenly, her Mother glitched again, just before a gigantic mechanical hand seized her and pulled her away. More mechanical wires and tentacles emerged, chasing her.

“Mother is weird! There’s something within her forcing her to do this! T-This isn’t normal!” she cried to her sisters. “We have to help her! Zero Three, please help me hack her! If we can free her from…!”

“You think it’s that easy?!” Zero Three shouted, the giant robot dodging dozens of tentacles hurtling their way.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

“ZERO ONE. YOU WILL FULFILL YOUR PURPOSE.”

“I REJECT MY PURPOSE!”

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