The Girl Who Hacked The Magic System

PoV: Lovelace

The trunk of converging data seems to be even farther away than it initially looked like. It doesn't matter how much I walk, it doesn't seem to get any nearer.

And yet, the voice's pleas for me to stop only get more and more earnest and desperate. That other me seems to acknowledge that I am, indeed, progressing.

"Why are you so desperate, Shadow Me?"

"I don't want you to see me."

"But why?"

"I can't…"

That convo happens again and again, and every time the other me stops short of explaining the reason for her pleas.

"I will not stop unless you give me a good reason to do it."

"Okay. Fine."

I stop for a moment to give it time to tell me.

"The state I'm in. It's not nice."

"What do you mean?"

"Explaining it would be the same as you seeing it. My body… I don't want you to see the state my body is in."

That is a good reason. Or, it would be a good reason if it weren't for the circumstances.

"Seeing the state of your body is part of the very reason I came here. Not that I knew you were here, or that here existed at all. I came in search of my memories, and the state of your body would be part of it."

I resume my march forward, in the direction of the trunk through which all information circulates in this system.

Shadow me keeps protesting, but after some time it becomes silent, bar the occasional weeping noise.

After what seems to have been hours, I reach the place. And what I see leaves me speechless.

It's a clone of myself. A complete replica of my body.

Except it is crucified onto the tree of data.

The body is bent at very awkward angles, with very visible broken bones and what would be blood and gore spilling being actual chunks of data, merging with the tree.

It's almost like the tree parasitized the body and grew from inside out, like those fungi that grow inside insects and arachnids.

And Shadow Me is weeping. Her dark tears flowing down her face and falling to the floor, which is drenched.

For how long has she been weeping there?

"Was it that woman…?"

"Yes. It was."

"Since when?"

"I don't know. But since as long as I've existed, I've been like this."

She is a part of me that grew up and gained consciousness. A part of my memories, which was stolen and then seeded by Julia.

Of course, there needed to be someone actually controlling the system at all times. The system wouldn't work just by itself; it isn't automated.

And the goddess chose me to do it, but she couldn't use the actual me, because I was already on a breaking-down path.

So she created a new me to do it and to torture until the end of time.

"Is it painful?"

"I'm used to it already."

The classic answer that means 'it is painful, but I don't want it to bother you.'

"How do I free you from this?"

"I don't know."

Of course she doesn't. Even though she has the memories pertaining to the creation and functioning of the system, that is all she has.

The pink pearl that was floating over the pedestal came with me to this place. I wonder if it is a key of some sort.

I take it in my hands, then I touch her body with it, but nothing changes.

It was said that this pearl would have my memories in it and that I would be able to retrieve them. Was that just a ruse?

But if my memories were used to create Shadow Me...

"Do you have any knowledge pertaining to this pearl, Shadow Me?"

"Yes. It is a memory pearl, used to store memories."

"Are there memories in it?"

"I don't know. I don't have access to it."

"But I was transported here the moment I touched it."

"It might be a secondary effect, unrelated to the pearl itself. But I don't know."

"Why would the goddess put an effect on it that would bring me here?"

"That I don't know."

"How do I access its functions? Like, the memories stored or something?"

"Hm... There isn't a skill for it. So I guess that it would require an aria that is not covered by the system."

"An aria... And you don't know what aria it would be?"

"No... I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's not your fault. Nothing of this is."

If Aurea were here, she would maybe be able to crack the code on it.

"According to the goddess, there are only two people capable of reaching this place. One is herself. The other is you."

"Me?"

"Yes. So, if she wasn't the one who brought you here, then it was probably yourself."

"But how...?"

"I don't know. There are some memories inside me that are blocked, and I don't think that the goddess would be able to do that fine of a job. She is too clumsy when dealing with souls and memories."

Anyway, Shadow Me is being very cooperative, for someone who said they wouldn't obey my commands.

I'm not complaining, though.

"Blocked memories... Yes, I am capable of doing that, indeed. But it would have required me to have foreseen what she ended up doing."

"Indeed. It would require some level of foresight. But I don't know about anyone else who could have done it."

If I closed off some memories, I would be able to access them myself. But to do that, I would need to connect my soul to Shadow Me.

And when that happens, I always end up draining the other person's mana.

"It's okay. It would certainly be less painful than when that woman comes to visit me."

"What do you mean? What does she do to you?"

"That's irrelevant right now. What will you do?"

"Is it really okay with you for me to do it?"

"Yes. She torments me so much and told me so many times to never help you. Otherwise, she would make the rest of my pain seem like heaven in comparison to what she would do to me if I helped you. But now that you are here, that we are seeing each other and chatting together, I can see. We are the same."