There was a sacristy in the back of the cathedral that was typically off-limits. The Tears of the Moon were kept there, as well as many other valuable ceremonial items. To bring something out, one needed the approval of two people ranked cardinal or higher. To merely enter and inspect the items however, the pope’s approval alone was sufficient. Lilly, Elie, and I entered the sacristy together with the pope.
“This way.” The pope pointed to the back wall of the sacristy. I thought it looked like an ordinary wall until the pope put her hand on it, causing it to slide to the side and reveal an opening. From there, I saw a set of stairs heading down.
“This entrance is a secret passed down from pope to pope. Beyond it lies the mainframe’s server room,” the pope said before descending the stairs first. The rest of us started following behind. “We’re entering TAIM’s territory now. As I explained earlier, there’s a defense system we need to get through.”
“Will the Demon Queen’s plan work?” I asked.
“I don’t know. But we have no choice but to take our chances.”
After Lilly, bringing up the rear, began descending the stairs, the wall slid closed behind us. For a moment, we were blind in darkness, but a light soon flickered on. Strangely enough, the light wasn’t one of magic but of science, filling me with a sense of nostalgia for my old world.
“Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Initiating extermination protocol,” a mechanical voice blared. Guns protruded out of panels along both walls and fixed their sights on us. I braced myself, but the guns didn’t fire; they seemed to be hesitating over something.
“A motion of doubt has been put forth against the Loop System. Until deliberation is finished, administrator privileges will be suspended.”
“A motion to veto has been put forth against the motion of doubt. Administrator privileges will be restored in: thirty minutes.”
“An objection to the motion to veto has been put forth. Administrator privileges will be suspended further.”
I didn’t really know the particulars, but it was clear that the defense system was malfunctioning.
Before we came here, the Demon Queen had suggested we deal with the defenses through stalling the Loop System, made possible by abusing the fact that the Loop System functioned by having multiple units deliberate amongst themselves. The Demon Queen, Elie, the pope, and I were all reflections of an entity who had access to the Loop System, so we were able to interfere with it by expressing doubt as to the legitimacy of TAIM’s administrator privileges.
Our access to the Loop System came from the Demon Queen. After our battle, she had been captured by TAIM and tossed into what equated to the Loop System’s garbage bin, but she had somewhat foreseen TAIM’s betrayal and created a backdoor in the Loop System independent of TAIM, which granted us the access we now had.
This didn’t mean we had completely stripped TAIM of her administrator privileges, but we were succeeding at freezing them for the time being.
Curious, I had asked the Demon Queen why she was so willing to help us. With a disgruntled look, she replied, “I’m not doing this to help you. I am simply doing what I must to save Miss Claire.”
I couldn’t help but think that was definitely something I would say.
“Let’s hurry,” the pope urged us on. “We have no way of knowing when TAIM will regain her administrator privileges.”
We ran down the stairs with me carrying the much slower pope. After descending what became a long, winding staircase, we were finally before what seemed to be a vast wall.
“Is this…?”
“Yes. This leads to the server room,” the pope said with a nod. She put her hand on the wall like she had done in the sacristy earlier. Perhaps there was a fingerprint reader on the surface. Regardless of how it functioned, the wall slid to the side, allowing us a clear look inside.
I was stunned speechless. I had imagined the server room would look like something I was used to seeing in my time period, but instead there was just a single slab the size of a building. It appeared to be made of black, metallic components, and lights pulsed across its surface like veins, which made it seem more like a living, breathing creature than a computer.
“This is the backbone of the Loop System, the main body of TAIM—the brain directing all the nanomachines scattered across the world,” said the pope. “The mainframe.”
I found myself awed, standing before the object responsible for humanity’s continued existence over an unthinkably long eternity. It felt like something beyond mere machine. Something divine.
“Jeez… You really don’t know when to give up.” A girl with a voice as pleasant as a bell appeared before us. She had silver hair and red eyes—not uncommon features in this world, but her beauty was beyond compare. Inhuman and uncannily lovely, she was—
“TAIM.”
“Hello, Rae Taylor. I believe this is the first time you’ve seen me in this form?” she replied with a thin smile. That slight gesture of warmth sent a shiver down my spine. Instinctively, I knew: She was dangerous.
“Give Miss Claire back!” I yelled in an attempt to quell my rising fear.
TAIM shook her head. “That I cannot do. She must sleep for humanity to persist unto eternity.”
“If you don’t give her back, we’ll destroy this whole server room!”
“Would Claire François want that?”
“What?”
“I think you’re misunderstanding something, Rae Taylor. Do you think I forced Claire François to sleep?”
“Didn’t you?”
“Absolutely not. Claire François gave herself to the Loop System of her own accord,” TAIM said with an affectionate smile.
“Liar!”
“It’s the truth. You can confirm it yourself if you’d like.”
“And how would I go about that?”
“Claire François has been turned into quanta and now resides in the Loop System. If you’d like, I could convert you as well and bring you to her.”
I blinked a few times, bewildered. I could meet Claire, just like that?
“You mustn’t, Rae Taylor. It’s a trap,” the pope warned me as my heart wavered. “The quantum world is the world of the mind. If you travel into the Loop System, your body here will be left defenseless. There’s no telling what TAIM might do.”
“I’ll have you know I’m not some monster, Clarice Répète III,” TAIM said. “But if you’re so worried, I’ll give you a promise: I won’t lay a single finger on Rae Taylor’s body.”
“You may not lie, TAIM, but you also never speak the whole truth. Can you promise you won’t try to ensnare Rae Taylor’s mind in the Loop System as well?” the pope challenged.
This time, TAIM didn’t reply. But her silence was answer enough.
“If I can convince Miss Claire to return to this world with me, will you release her?” I asked.
TAIM replied in no time at all: “Sure, why not?”
“Rae Taylor!” the pope exclaimed.
“R-Rae!” Lilly cried.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be too rash,” Elie cautioned.
“W-wouldn’t it be better if we just destroyed this—this mainframe whatever and saved Miss Claire?!” Lilly said.
“Indeed,” the pope said. “I find it hard to believe Claire François would wish to stay in the Loop System in the first place. She is not that sort of person.”
“You two make some good points, but I don’t think Miss Claire would want us to take that path.” I looked at them head-on. “I also don’t think Miss Claire would willingly surrender herself to the Loop System. But knowing her personality, I know she also wouldn’t want us to destroy the Loop System for selfish reasons. For the rest of her life, she would blame herself for humanity’s eventual demise.”
“Th-that’s…” Lilly trailed off.
“Quite possible,” the pope agreed.
Elie aside, the other two knew Claire quite well and could tell my fears were grounded.
“Well, hold on. Shouldn’t we prioritize freeing Miss Claire first?” Elie asked. “There’s no point worrying about whether she’ll regret being freed if she isn’t even freed at all.”
“Allow me to cut in here,” TAIM said. “If you destroy this server room, then all the quanta data stored in it will be destroyed too. In other words, Claire François’s soul will be lost with it.”
“Then the only choice we have is for me to go convince her directly?” I asked.
“Yes.”
So we’d had no choice from the beginning.
“W-wait, Rae. We should think about thi—” Lilly began.
“We have no time. If we dawdle, TAIM will regain her administrator privileges, and that’ll be the end of it,” I said.
“B-but…”
“I’ll make it back. Please, believe in me, Miss Lilly.”
“You’re so unfair, Rae.” Lilly reluctantly relented with tears in her eyes. She really deserved better than this.
“Do it, TAIM,” I said.
“Very well, then. Safe travels, Rae Taylor.” TAIM put her hand on my forehead.
I felt my consciousness gradually fade before it cut away completely.