The dramas have ended.
All is profoundly hushed in this cold and dark room.
The researcher sighs and starts settling the messy papers and dusty tools on the table.
Why is it mistaken for a utility room? Is it because of the mess?
Metallic footsteps come from outside the door.
???: I am astonished by the fact that you were interacting with others.
Another trespasser.
Enigma: They broke in.
The robot in charge of the Laplace Scientific Computing Center shrugs and refuses to make any comments. She has already heard all the information she needs in the corridor.
???: If it was a complaint that you were making, you know it is within your rights to submit an interdepartmental complaint within seven days after the incident.
Enigma: Don't bother. That file means nothing to me.
Enigma: I didn't file it because it's a report against the rules. Why bother to submit such a log full of personal feelings and emotional behaviors to our great, rigorous Foundation?
???: Is that so?
???: I am gratified to find that you still have some sense.
Enigma: I, too, am gratified that you still have no idea that I was being sarcastic.
???: Oh. That was sarcasm.
Enigma: ...
Enigma: Never mind. What do you want from me, Madam Lucy?
He asks as he bends down and organizes the papers scattered all over the place.
This is the best effort he cares to make to receive a guest.
Enigma: You went all the way to this dusty, run-down place so hurriedly that you even forgot to put on that pathetic mask. This is not because of some old files, I assume?
The faceless robot inclines its head in agreement.
Lucy: Certainly.
Lucy: I hope you can be the cryptographer of the Manus Vindictae's ritual. You are still the best.
Enigma: You're asking me, a human, to decode the ritual of a pure-blood arcanist group?
Enigma: I don't see how I'll be helpful to this project.
Lucy: You cannot evaluate your own level of being of value, Adler.
The researcher keeps unfolding more dusty folders without raising his eyes from the table.
Enigma: Well, you evaluate our value, test us in experiments you set, prove the hypotheses by exhaustion, make mistakes, and start all over again. You repeat the process, like a roaring locomotive that pulls the research center out of this chaotic disaster.
Enigma: You question not what is ahead of you, nor whether the path you've taken will be regular or easy. The only idea you planted into your little brain is to move forward, to "improve."
Lucy: Thank you for your compliment. Credit goes to everyone.
Enigma: That was not even a ... Never mind.
Enigma: Guess you agree, a life without creativity is not worth living, and that's the life that I wake up to every day. I'm no longer the person you thought you came here for.
Enigma: I'll never be able to combine human technology and arcanum, and I'll never comprehend even the slightest part of it.
Enigma: I am useless to you.
He squares up the paper on the desk in a grumpy manner, making a huge knocking noise.
Enigma: I don't expect someone made of tin to understand the human mind, but I beg of you: leave me alone.
The robot ignores his emotional speech and keeps talking.
Lucy: The work of analyzing the masks of Manus Vindicate did not go well.
Lucy: A side effect occurs in the researchers, and it is getting worse. The isolation wards on the basement level are overwhelmed.
Enigma: What a scene! Have you aborted the experiment?
Lucy: Not yet.
Lucy: We have conducted the arcanum imaging experiment on the masks and found the component which also exists in the raindrops of the "Storm."
Lucy: But knowing what it is composed of does not help explain how it works. What we are looking for is the original ritual that the Manus cast on them.
Enigma: Ha. You are trying to figure out one's career planning from one's physical examination report. I wonder why it is not working.
Enigma: Even if somehow you managed to find the original ritual, you still need a proper environment to test it, which is the outside world with a coming "Storm."
The researcher turns to her. Wisdom and sarcasm glow in his eyes.
Enigma: That's why we can't tell if we're getting the results even if we have the right ritual, proper permission from the Foundation to travel, and strong-minded volunteer subjects.
Enigma: Experiments performed in the ivory tower won't succeed, because—
Lucy: An experiment about the "Storm" can only be done in a "Storm."
Lucy: Glad to see your brain is not rusty yet. It only took you three sentences to draw the conclusion, which took the seminar a week to reach.
Lucy: That proves you are capable of the project.
Enigma: ...
The robot in charge puts a document on the table.
Lucy: The History Maintainence Team has forecast different critical points of this "Storm." Foundation investigators are on their way.
Lucy: If Manus Vindictae still plans to accelerate the "Storm" like what they have done in 1929, there will be a high possibility that their people will show up at the transformation point of history and society—also known as the critical point of time, the center of the "Storm."
Lucy: Your sister, Greta Hofmann, is also one of the investigators.
Enigma: I have no interest in any Hofmanns other than myself. We have different perspectives.
Lucy: It is okay. I am just here to inform you that ...
Lucy: If any of the investigators successfully send the information of the ritual back, the research about the immunity of the "Storm" will be conducted immediately.
Lucy: Take your time and be mentally prepared. But once the "Storm" alert is issued, we only have 24 hours to verify the feasibility of the ritual.
Lucy: I wish you will be fully prepared by then.
The robot gets out of the room, leaving him no right to choose. Her feet crash into the floor, making a steely sound.
Enigma's eyes flicker toward the document. The face on the top is familiar to him.
He pulls out the drawer and takes out a scrap of paper.
This is the last code he didn't give anyone.
Writer of the Report: One thing is for sure now ...
Writer of the Report: The age of humans has come to an end.
