Chapter 524

But he saw many figures appearing under the 'Saigyou Ayakashi' at some point.

A blonde noblewoman holding a feather fan with a smile on her face.

A woman with nine fox tails.

And a little girl with a red bow tied on her head.

Who are these people... I have no impression at all before...

Dr. Bright suspected he had drunk too much and had hallucinations.

He squeezed his eyes and looked there again, only to find that there was no one there, only cherry blossoms falling gently.

So, he stopped struggling with this matter.

This is the territory of 'SCP-C-2299' after all, it's quite reasonable for some anomalies to appear occasionally.

He shook his head, stood up to sober up, and then looked at the girl who was making sandwiches herself:

"Suppose you knew before that this was for burning corpses, would you like it?"

"No, to be honest, I'm quite scared."

Lynx's action of spreading crab roe sauce paused, shaking her head like a rattle.

"Yes, this is human nature, even without anomalous memes, one would think so."

"So?"

Lynx didn't know what a "meme" was, nor did she know what an "anomalous meme" was, but that didn't stop her from continuing the topic.

Dr. Bright shook his hands and did a few chest expansion exercises.

"The people in the Memetics Department think this might at most be an expansion of the psychological level toward a specified target, belonging to a meme with very special and weak effects."

"Normal memetic resistance is ineffective, but because of its harmless anomalous nature, there is no need to specifically target it."

"And..."

Dr. Bright's gaze became profound, he looked at those undead wearing D-class uniforms, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"After those people died, their souls came here, planted these trees, and possess huge uses."

"We shouldn't use their creations and still kill them, otherwise I don't know what will happen."

"This is the Night Cherry Blossoms of the Dead."

Dr. Bright grinned.

Here, the void in his heart caused by 'SCP-963' was briefly forgotten.

Alcohol, undead, cherry blossoms, and that inexplicable banquet atmosphere made Dr. Bright feel that the trauma on his soul could be temporarily forgotten.

At least, here.

He was no longer the only lonely soul.

And in the distance, 'Herta' space station, in Herta's office.

A pleasant and smooth conversation was in progress.

"Don't even think about it!"

Herta clenched her little hands into fists and whispered.

This is what Leonard and the others saw and heard after leading everyone to the office.

Bai Xuan and his party were fine, they had no reaction, just watching how geniuses quarrel.

Leonard's brain was already overloaded, conceiving a thousand ways he was fired by the space station and accidentally died on the way home.

He was crying without tears.

At this moment, it was impossible to leave, and it was impossible to continue listening.

"．． I'll say it one last time, I don't care what Ruan Mei whispered in your ear again, want to shut down the Simulated Universe? No way!"

Facing Herta's blame, Screwllum was very indifferent:

"Herta, this is my decision."

"Question: What have we invested in this project? Hundreds of system hours, the resources of an entire planet, and the most advanced technology in the universe."

"And what have we gained? Unknowns, doubts, and a series of errors."

Hearing this, the little Herta puppet tried hard to raise her head, glaring at Screwllum.

Bai Xuan stood a little further away, arms crossed, silently watching the performance of the two geniuses.

Impeccable.

He naturally knew that this was the script of the two, a play performed together to lure 'Silver Wolf' into the trap.

But writing scripts, planning plots, and performing in person are two different things.

Especially some micro-actions involving emotions, it is difficult to achieve realism and non-awkwardness without experts and actors who have been involved in the field for many years.

However, standing here is a Herta puppet, a mechanical life.

Both successfully avoided the possible unnaturalness in the performance.

Even if 'Silver Wolf' is a rare genius girl, she can't read emotional changes from a tin can, right?

Screwllum continued to explain:

"Initially, we defined the Simulated Universe, hoping to create a miniature world capable of peeking at the traces of Aeons."

"But now, it is moving further and further away from this goal."

Herta stared, her tone very dissatisfied:

"'The Simulated Universe needs errors', this is what you said yourself, the status quo is perfectly consistent, why are you not satisfied?"

To this, Screwllum was noncommittal:

"I appreciate the flow of knowledge, but I do not recognize that the Simulated Universe is always just a contract on the to-do list."

"Herta, think about it, how many surprises has this project given you? Think again, how many disappointments has it given you?"

"The Simulated Universe never disappoints me." As if poked in the sore spot, Herta's voice raised three octaves.

"What disappoints me is you... Screw."

"Do you think you are great? You are like a guy from the 'Genius Society' now."

"..." Screwllum was suddenly speechless.

Even though he knew this was just lines according to the script, he felt as if Herta was really angry.

Perhaps, this is the huge difference between organic life and inorganic life.

They are more inclined to rational calculation and consideration, and it is almost impossible to become emotional.

"Herta, I have no intention of questioning you, nor will I deny the efforts you have made for the Simulated Universe."

"It's just that I hope to give knowledge and inspiration more space to grow freely."

"Enough!"

Herta sternly interrupted Screwllum's follow-up.

"If you don't want to do it, just quit, go tell the remaining two people yourself... oh, take your technology with you, I don't care."

"I can go to Adrian Taylor, I can go to the red-nosed old man of Epsilon, or even go to the Genius Society—at least they won't quit halfway!"

Saying that, Herta walked quickly to the office door and then stopped.

"Screwllum, we have known each other for so long. This is the first time I..."

"Feel like you're just a piece of cold iron."

As the words fell, Herta didn't look back and rushed out of the door. ===== CHAPTER 526 =====