I Favor the Villainess

Claire-François (first (·) circumference (·) eye (·)) perspective.

"I don't want to get out to zero now. Whatever you do, you keep it."

On my way back from the director's office to the lab, I was rebelling against the director's words.

Needless to say to him, zero presence is still essential for research and planning.

It is true that the Perpetual Robbery Regression Loop system was built around me, Raine, and Zero, but the central figure was definitely Zero.

There are already a number of concepts in the plan that only she can understand, and without her, the plan can no longer stand.

Zero is said to be okay by us alone, but in reality, that was impossible.

"Speaking of, how can you convince that zero...?

Zero is my pace, good or bad.

You won't have the ear to listen to semi-life persuasion.

With my head bothered by that, I looked outside the hallway.

You can see countless city lights under your eyes.

They used to call it a million dollar night view a long time ago, but not now.

If we are not protected by the power of science, we will not be able to pass the night.

A glimmer of hope for mankind filled with such a sense of obstruction - that was a zero-thought loop system.

(If we don't keep zero anyway... but how?

I opened the door to the lab with concern.

"Ah, he's back! Hold on, Claire!

"Lane? What's wrong?

"Zero says she's leaving the lab today!

Looking at it, Zero threw his desk luggage into a crate of cardboard.

"Wait a minute, zero! Everything is too fast!

"I have prepared the handover materials. You two will be fine later."

Neither my words nor zero seem to stop me.

I was in a hurry.

"Zero. This plan isn't as easy as you think. You're the only one who understands too much."

"It is written in the handover materials where it is likely to come to fruition. It's okay."

It is true that there is no island.

"Zero, why do you want to quit so much? Is there a reason?

"... nothing. I just thought I'd quit after work."

I had something to pin on.

She felt like she was hiding something.

"Zero, come here a minute."

"... Claire?

"Don't worry!

I pulled zero into the conversation room.

"Sit down. I'm going to make some coffee now."

"I don't need it. There's nothing to talk about."

"It's okay."

When I forced Zero to sit, I switched on the coffee maker.

"If you think about it, we've been through a lot of research and barely talked about it personally."

"I didn't have to."

Zero turns away from me in a reckless manner.

The content of the conversation is not tangled.

Really? I want to know more about you, Zero. Especially about your philosophy. "

"Nothing... nothing like that."

I lifted two cups of coffee and sat with one of them out to zero.

They received me with zero tenderness.

"Before the research started, you said, I wonder if humans need flesh."

"... you remember that very well."

"I can't forget. Anyway, I've never seen anyone seriously say such a thing."

I laughed as I put milk in the coffee.

Zero looks bad.

"After all, in this project, the flesh became ants."

That's right. It was artificially prepared only in the early days of civilization, and then left to natural reproduction. "

Zero insisted, until the end, on shifting humanity to a quantum existence, which was not approved by the United States government.

"Why do you hate flesh so much? Is there a reason?

"... nothing"

"Is that something to do with your sexuality?

There was a clear expression of astonishment on her face.

I saw zero upset for the first time.

"Well, why...!?

"If we spend this much time together, we'll get to know the boulders. You're a lesbian, aren't you?

……

Zero did not answer, but the silence was above all eloquent in telling the truth.

"Can you talk to me if you want? As I said earlier, I want to know about you."

"... it's a boring story."

Zero said so, but started talking sluggishly.

"My home country, Japan, is a conservative country."

"Really? I thought it was a pretty big country for sexuality."

"Sure, if you do a poll or something, you'll get results that are close to Liberal. Discrimination is not good. She told me that homosexuals also have human rights. But...."

"But?"

"Such is the image of other people and entertainment. It's surprisingly conservative to react when it turns out that sexual minorities are close at hand."

Zero said that there may be a relationship between the authenticity of Japanese characteristic and the culture before the building.

"Of course, not all of us are conservative. Some people understand. But it's troublesome, so please explain and understand."

That would be an inevitable pain for sexual-minority.

"That's why I've been thinking. I wish I didn't have any flesh. Then... if humans were to exist only in their hearts, they wouldn't have to struggle like this."

For the first time, I understood what I meant by zero as a bloody opinion.

Zero is nothing but a new stage for humanity, an end of evolution, and so on.

Simply because the shackles of the body are annoying, I can't help it, and I want to be free from it.

With that in mind, I have continued my research in the field of quantization of souls.

"Zero..."

"I don't need sympathy. I'm not even asking for understanding. This is the only way I can live. It's just that."

It was very painful for me to see a zero mocking myself.

I couldn't help laughing at someone I've spent less time with for the past six months like this.

But...

"But then why do you say you're off the plan? If you're studying the quantization of souls, isn't there no more environment?

High-performance computing equipment is essential for quantizing souls.

Time was supposed to be a good place for that.

……

Until then, the words spoken suddenly broke down.

Unnaturally, my eyes turned away, and I thought, oh.

"Zero?"

"... nothing. As I said, I just want to quit because the research is over."

That's enough, and zero tried to take a seat.

"That's a lie. You're hiding something. Isn't it?

"That's enough! Leave me alone!

Zero roughened his voice with a screaming tone like a cut.

I will nevertheless take one more step.

"Don't leave me alone. We're friends, aren't we?

That's how I grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards me.

Zero looks like a spiral laugh.

"Friends? Ha, you don't know anything, do you?"

"If you don't tell me, I won't know."

"Then shall I say it? I'm craving you."

Now the other way around, zero grabbed my shoulder.

His eyes looked dangerous, but he seemed to have a violent light.

"Me?

"Didn't you notice? You've been exposed to a lot of insecurity, right? I thought you were inviting me."

Zero embraces me in a lotus way.

"Do you want me to stay? That's fine. If you will be mine."

……

"You can't, can you? Isn't that disgusting? You wouldn't want this guy on your side, would you? That's why I quit."

Zero smiled and let go of me.

"That's what it is. Are you satisfied? Bye."

Zero turned her heel and tried to leave.

I...

She hugged her back.

"... Claire?

Fine.

"What about it?"

"I'm saying I'll drink on that condition."

Zero looked incredible in my words this time.

"... are you crazy?

"This is insane. If that keeps your talent going, it's cheap."

"... are you selling yourself for a plan?"

"Should I? Or do you want it from your heart?

As I provoked, Zero looked sad for a moment.

But with an expression that immediately ridicules itself,

"No, just your body. Regardless of your personality, your body seems to be enjoyable."

Well, then, that's a deal.

I brought my face closer to the face of zero.

"I'm sorry."

"I won't."

"If you're going back..."

"Shut up."

I blocked my zero lips.

This is how a nostalgic relationship began between me and Zero.