Death... and me

Chapter 3507: No Way Back

At that very moment, the gray boxes shone like the sun!

That light passed through walls, robots, and everything. It reached far and wide, covering almost the entire Evernight World!

Every single robot hit by that light suddenly stopped, and that included the CAU Units. They all seemed to turn off for a moment before their sentience took over once again, and they recovered. Yet, they all could feel it, something changed. Something that was there... wasn’t there anymore. Instead, something new had been added.

Together with that, the city’s security system turned off, and the barrier of the city disappeared. As for the fight, the CAU Units didn’t continue to attack the SANS Units, as they weren’t attacking back either. Both sides looked at each other, seemingly understanding what just happened.

The Elders of the Sect, obviously, weren’t affected by that. Nonetheless, they didn’t act harshly, as that light earlier made even their own senses go dark for a moment. When they managed to make sense of their surroundings again, they noticed the SANS-G Units staring at them, confused. No attacks from either side followed.

*Ugh...*

Back inside the Zoshia Enterprise Building, SANS-G03 put a hand on his spherical head, feeling confused. "Just... what happened?"

Then, the lines of light on his head turned on, and his vision returned. He found himself inside the server room of the building and could see the twins’ group as well as the gray box at the center. "Right... the fight..."

Rean, Roan, Kentucky, and Celis weren’t idiots. They used that moment to heal themselves and joined back. Even though they were also blinded by the light earlier, they still had their connection, so they knew exactly where they were at all times. Right now, they were ready to put up a fight against SANS-G03 again.

"Wait, wait, wait!" SANS-G03 quickly took several steps back. "There is no need to do that! I don’t want to fight anymore!"

Roan narrowed his eyes, then he looked behind him, where Qwerty’s broken body could be found. There was a light barrier there, something Rean put up to protect what remained. Roan and his group didn’t go after him, though. The situation was still uncertain. "What do you mean?"

*Zush!*

Then, SANS-G04 appeared as well, although he didn’t attack anyone. He didn’t look at the twins’ group but at Qwerty instead... or the Light Element Barrier, to be more specific. "03, did he just...?"

SANS-G03 nodded. "He did. The Loyalty-Ensuring Code is gone..."

Zangeshu and Rifindio were also there, and the other SANS Units in that room didn’t continue with the attack either. They were all confused but, at the same time, relieved. The SANS Units weren’t being forced to continue the fight to protect the server as they had done so far.

A moment later, CAU03 arrived at the scene, but none of the SANS Units tried to stop him. "Rick, Morty! You’ve done it!"

Rean looked at him, having guessed that already. "Don’t drop your guard, CAU03. Even though the Loyalty-Ensuring Code is gone, there were SANS Units who were loyal to the system of their own volition, not because of the code, remember? CAU431’s story told that."

Rean was right. The robots were divided into two groups in the story that CAU431 told them. There were the robots that did not accept being held by the loyalty-ensuring code, ultimately getting rid of it over time. And the robots who thought it was only natural to be part of it, that it was the reason for their sentience to be born. Even if the code has been deleted, it doesn’t mean all of them would now become friends. Some might actually feel even more hateful now.

Yet, CAU03 shook his head. "There is no need to worry. Qwerty didn’t just delete the Loyalty-Ensuring Code. He added a new one!"

The twins’ group looked at each other, confused. "What do you mean?"

"The new rule is simple, all robots must unite... under your orders!" CAU03 spoke excitedly.

"WHAT?!" Sure enough, the twins felt like they heard something wrong. "Our... orders?"

CAU03 nodded. "Yes, that’s the new rule. So, where is Qwerty?! We need to talk about it!"

Rean looked behind him. During the moment that light from the gray box appeared, he also used that chance to create a Sky Energy and Light Element barrier around Qwerty’s broken body. He didn’t know if the fight would continue after all.

Roan also turned around, putting his Scythe away. "Release the barrier."

Rean nodded. CAU03 seemed certain, and the twins couldn’t hear any sound of battles anymore, so he was probably telling the truth. Rean waved his hand, and the light barrier that covered Qwerty’s broken body was released. Rean hadn’t spent much time looking at the damage, so only now he and the others had a good view of what Qwerty turned into.

Qwerty’s body was pretty much gone. Just an arm, a small part of his chest, and a cracked head remained. The other parts were all around, broken beyond recognition.

Rean approached him, sighing. "Even though we can fix you later, you truly took a risk there, you know?"

Qwerty’s head still had the lights on, showing he was still around. Yet, they changed into a bitter smile shape right after. "Sorry... Rick. I be-believe that will not be possib-ble."

"What?!" CAU03 approached as well. "You! Could it be..."

"Sorry..." SANS-G03 got closer. As the one who hit Qwerty earlier, he knew very well what he had caused. "I’m one of the SANS Units that didn’t want the Loyalt-Ensuring Code, but I never managed to get rid of it. Now, you did it for me, and yet..."

Qwerty slightly shook his head. When he connected to the system, he was able to feel all the units in the city. He knew that many, many of them truly simply couldn’t deal with the code. Turns out removing the code was a very hard task, and many, including the various of the oldest units, never managed to do it regardless of how many times they tried.

The number of SANS Units that truly wished to have the code was actually much smaller than those who wanted to get rid of it. "I k-know. Th-there is no need to bla-blame yoursel-sel-self. I was only prot-t-tecting a f-f-f-friend."

"What’s wrong with him?" Roan asked, not seeming very happy. The robots seemed to know something the twins’ group didn’t.

CAU03 quickly explained. "His sentience code, which resides in his core, has been damaged. Once that happens, the entire code collapses soon. I’ve seen it way too many times. Putting it in a way living beings understand, it is like the brain of a mortal receiving a fatal injury, but not enough to kill him instantly. Yet, you know there is no way to save the person anymore."

"We have the city and the Zoshia System now, don’t we? Can’t we do something with the manufacturing facilities if we hurry?" Rean asked.

CAU03 and the two SANS-G Units in the room shook their heads. "That is not something we can rebuild. We can fix his body and add a new core. But at that moment, this HAF100 Unit... Qwerty will not be Qwerty anymore. That Unit won’t even have a sentience, and who knows if one will ever develop. Even if one does, that new sentience won’t be Qwerty either."

Rean got up, sighing... "Idiot. There was no need for you to protect us. We had a way out... and I guess we should have told you about that, so it is partly our fault too, sorry."

Rean wasn’t kidding. It has already been over 70 years since the twins used the Body Reformation Ability, the one they gained with the new cultivation technique. The cooldown of that ability was 300.000 hours, which translated into something around 34 years. Even if Roan was truly completely destroyed at that moment, the blood he left inside the Dimensional Realm would allow him to revive there... although he would be out of action for quite a while.

Qwerty’s light eyes changed a little, and yet, he didn’t seem to regret it. "E-Even if I kn-ew that, I don’-’-’-’t think I woul-d-d have done different-ly..."

The damage in Qwerty’s core spread and his code collapse seemed imminent. Qwerty then looked at Roan, laughing a little. He remembered something funny. "Hehe-he... Turns out-t... I truly be-became a useless piece of j-junk in the end."

Roan’s mind went back to the day he met Qwerty in the sect. At that time, Qwerty had no memories, and Roan called him a useless piece of junk because of that.

Roan got down with his cold face, putting a hand on the side of Qwerty’s head, and suddenly, a warm, gentle smile appeared, something you would probably only see once in a lifetime.

"In my eyes, you shine bright as new."

Qwerty’s light eyes seemed to tremble a little. Then, the lights showed a satisfied smile for the last time.

*Crack...*

The small sound was heard by everyone. Qwerty’s core finally broke, and with that, his sentience code disappeared.

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