959. Brightlight Pollination

959. Brightlight Pollination

Lailah

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Can you begin to imagine what it must feel like to live in a Garden of Paradise, but remain barred from smelling its flowers? To touch a rose but never feel its thorns? To embrace a child but to never sense their temperature outside of a number reading between thirty-six point five and thirty-seven point five?

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Frost approached the Corrupted. Cracks formed around the golden core, indicating that it was nearing death. But she didn’t eliminate it just yet. Though she had heard enough, there was one last thing she needed to do.

Slowly, she released the Brightlight Pollinator and allowed it to fly into the maw of the flower to sprinkle Miraculous Sparks.

Its jaws shut, but the bee did not perish thanks to her [Protection Ward].

Lailah

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It is one thing to be oblivious to it as a Corrupted

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But to be aware of your limitations is when desire is no longer plateaued by aspiration

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When a desire becomes a fundamental need, it becomes desperation

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I contemplated whether it was worth the life of a child

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My freedom. The experiences I could never have. The world beyond our cage…

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The flower was ravenous. It shook its head around, like a rabid dog attempting to tear meat from a carcass. But despite its best efforts, the Brightlight Pollinator continued to apply Stacks of Miraculous Spark.

When it reached 90 Stacks, the flower abruptly ceased attacking the bee. It trembled, and the veins behind it shriveled into its body. It was as though the weight of its actions dawned upon it.

Lailah

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But alas, of the thousands – hundreds of thousands – of loops we died through, there was not one instance where I had sunk my teeth into you

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That was always the eternally regretful Elysia

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“To wait. A flower’s existence is to wait.”

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“I almost failed it.”

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“Those were the bare minimum of being a flower.”

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The last 10 Stacks of Miraculous Sparks were sprinkled on it. Tendrils that had previously attempted to claim the Brightlight Pollinator’s life embraced it.

The bee and the flower were symbols of symbiosis in nature.

But not all flowers were kind to bees. There were some that strove to devour rather than to be pollinated.

The last words of the Corrupted resonated with Frost the strongest.

“Lailah. Back then, the bare minimum… what was it to you?”

Frost had to ask. She wanted to know what her perspective was as a machine that craved to be human long, long ago in the past.

The sparks of light in the Brightlight Pollinator’s pouch began to glow, and the cracks of the golden core reverted until it was back to a healthy sphere. It was vulnerable now, and all Frost needed to do was to eliminate them.

She approached the core, waiting for Lailah to respond.

Then, she shoved her fist into the maw of the Corrupted and cracked the core with her bare hands. The Corrupted exploded with light before gradually fading away.

The last thing she saw was a fulfilled smile on the face of the Brightlight Pollinator.

It seemed to thank her.

Lailah

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Do as you want done to you

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Those words came from Evelyn

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Frost was stumped. She had expected a complex answer laced with metaphors and rhetoric.

Instead, the answer was no different than what mothers and teachers would tell misbehaving children.

It wasn’t anything to do with her biology, or her inability to experience the world like Infecta Rot.

Rather, this was secondary to Lailah.

She valued this more in humanity than flesh and blood.

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I helped in hopes of being helped. To further my pursuit of humanity

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In the end, I was content with remaining as a caretaker of the Captured Star

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Perhaps it satisfied the intrinsic ‘Id’ of nurturing

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Or a thought imposed into my Ego

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But I know within my psyche that I did not wish for another one to experience abandonment

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Frost absorbed the light, just as she did with Lailah’s messages.

Lailah

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My beliefs are now different. Cogito, Ergo Sum. I think, therefore I am. Definitions are limitations. In a world where the idealism of countless form the basis of Corruption, it is – in my honest belief – that the mind precedes the body. Whether I am a human or machine is insignificant compared to what the Ego believes

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Still, there is merit to experiencing the world, as the lack thereof is a limitation

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I can only adamantly make this claim because of who, what and where I am as the Archetype of Ego

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Joy poked her head over the ledge above, as did Jury who gave Frost a light wave.

“Infecta Rot don’t have the capacity to think rationally. It will never be possible for them to learn that there are other ways to gain humanity. Then again, our definitions are different. You’re Lailah. It’s easy to make that judgement because what we already have.”

Frost said beneath her breath.

She reached into the pile of rose-scented petals left behind by the Corrupted and began to sift through it.

“But if it turns out that they do have the capacity to think like us, then I hope they’re ready for what’s coming for them. Caldera Industries has their war machines ready. They just need to figure out where their Hearts are. This keeps on getting worse the more I think about it. If the end game of Infecta Rot is to become human, then what the fuck is the need to kill so many?”

Frost was already back on pondering on the philosophy of the machines. She reached the bottom of the pile and recovered a low-level Corrupted Item.

Petal of Patience

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To remain still until the day we blossom

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AFFINITY :

Desire

ORIGIN :

S.C.E.N.T.E.D Thoughts

TYPE :

Tool

< EFFECT:

Gain 1% of HP and MP per minute when the user has not moved for 10 seconds. Increases the favorability of Light-bearing entities

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It was no more than a hairclip in the shape of a blue petal. Frost didn’t really have a need for this since HP and MP were easy to come by now. Not to mention that she had access to an infinite supply of Mana for the next 24 hours.

“Light-bearing entities would be everyone, right?” Frost nodded to herself. “Hmm… Hey~! Joy~!”

Frost leaped dozens of meters into the air before using her many arms to scale the pit. Once at the top, she kneeled in front of joy and asked her to close her eyes.

“A present for you. Here. We call this a hairclip. This’ll help you make friends~”

“Malga!”

“Awww~ Isn’t she adorable? Who’s the cutest of them all?” Jury squashed Joy’s cheeks playfully. “You are! Your cheeks are just so squishy~! Like mommy’s~!”

Frost went to pinch Jury’s cheeks, and it was as she said. The elasticity was similar to Joy’s.

Frost’s on the other hand didn’t allow for much stretch, unless one took her cheek right off her jaw.

“Finished?” Horus asked, standing more than ten meters away from Frost. “Look, just to remind you I’m not part of your Repent Cycle.”

“It’s fine.” Morgause assured. “The Amalgam’s heat appears to be selective. As expected.”

“As long as you’re not my enemy, even indirect heat shouldn’t be a problem for you.” Frost nodded.

Horus wiped off a bead of sweat and took

one

step closer to her.

“I’d like to know how that works first.”

“Couldn’t tell you.” Frost sighed. “Anway. Yeah. We’re done here. I’ve got what we came for.”

“Not gonna elaborate on the Iron Star-like powers you got there?”

“Who do you think those Stars work for in the first place?” Frost didn’t need to elaborate.

Obviously, if she ruled the Nexus, then it was natural for her to wield a similar – if not a superior version of that power. This was true from an outsider’s perspective.

The reality of this power was very different.

“Gotcha. That brings us to the Sixth Level, yeah? Fast and easy. Chop chop, Morgause. Bring those Repenters back and let’s get them ready to descend.”

“How redundant. They’re bound to die again. I shall preserve their blood until we make contact with the Sixth level.” Morgause denied this. “This ruse to resurrect that Wrath Harrower will not work here.”

“I was worth a shot.”

* * *

< S.C.E.N.T.E.D Thoughts Has Been Subjugated >

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S.C.E.N.T.E.D Thoughts Has Been Added To Your Collection

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Stats of S.C.E.N.T.E.D Thoughts Gained

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< UNIQUE ABILITY GAINED >

< ABILITY:

Brightlight Pollination

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A sprinkle of miracles across the land and the sea to stop us from feeling lonely

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< EFFECT:

Temporarily transfer Light to a target

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