“...Well, we did succeed in our soul cloning, but we did not realize our own folly. There's a large divide of incomprehension between a human clone and a real Artificial Intelligence... Higa-kun, show them that thing.”

“Ehh—spare me already. It'll be really messy.”

Higa shook his head unwillingly, but sighed thereafter and started operating the console unwillingly.

Suddenly, the screen that was showing the mysterious foreign country darkened.

“Then, loading copy module HG001.”

Tan. Higa tapped the enter key -and there was a fractal light shining in the middle of the screen. The middle was nearly white, and the sharp outer boundary of the red light was flickering irregularly.

“...Is the sampling complete?”

An unexpected voice could be heard from the speakers above, shocking Rinko and Asuna. They heard Higa's own voice, but there was a rather melancholic feeling behind it, perhaps because of the thin metal.

Higa, who was sitting on the chair, took the flexible microphone on the console and answered the voice that was similar to his,

“Ahh, the sampling of the Artificial Fluctlight was completed without a hitch.”

“I see. That's good then. But...what's going on? It's completely dark here. I can't move my body. Is the STL malfunctioning? Sorry, let me out of the machine.”

“No...unfortunately, I can't do that.”

“Oi oi, what now? What are you saying? Who are you? I've never heard your voice before.”

Higa was giving off a cold sweat as he remained silent for a while, and then answered in a slow tone,

“I'm Higa. Higa Takeru.”

“...”

The red light flared, and suddenly cringed back. After a moment of silence, the sharp extremities expanded as if they were resisting something.

“Damn bastard, what are you saying!? I'm Higa here! Let me out of the STL!”

“Calm down, don't get upset. This isn't like you.”

At this point, Rinko finally understood the meaning of the scene in front of her.

Higa was talking to the clone of his own soul.

“Then, think about it calmly, try and recall. Your memory should be interrupted the moment you entered the STL to extract the Artificial Fluctlight clone.”

“...So what? Of course that's the case. I was unconscious during the scan.”

“You remember what you said before you entered the STL, right? If you don't feel your body when you wake up, and if there is darkness around you, it means you're a clone of Higa Takeru.”

The light again shrank back like some sort of sea creature. The long silence continued for a while, then 2, 3 weak spikes reached out.

“...Impossible. There can't be such a thing. I'm not a clone, I'm the real Higa Takeru. I...I have my own memories. I remember everything from kindergarten, university until the time I got onto the Ocean Turtle...”

“That's true, but that's to be expected. We cloned the complete memories of the Artificial Fluctlight... as a clone, you are truly Higa Takeru. Therefore, you should have a superior intellect. Calm down and analyze the situation over and over again. Let's work hard to achieve our common aim.”

“...Our...you're saying us?”

There was a highly emotional feeling within the metallic voice of the clone, and at that moment, Rinko's hands trembled mightily. She had never seen such a cruel and grotesque 'experiment' before.

“...No...no, I can't believe it. I'm the real Higa. What kind of experiment is this? It's alright now. Just let me out of here. Kiku-san...are you there? Don't play any disgusting games now and let me out.”

On hearing that, Kikuoka showed a melancholy expression, bent down, and brought his mouth to the microphone.

“...It's me, Higa-kun. No... I should be calling you HG 001. Unfortunately, the fact is that you really are a clone. You took many instructions before the scan, talked with me and the other technicians, and you should have been mentally prepared to emerge as a clone. You entered the STL with that belief in the possibility.”

“But... but... no... NO ONE TOLD ME IT WOULD BE LIKE THIS!!!”

The shrill voice of the clone rang through the control room.

“I...I'M ME! IF I WERE CLONED, YOU COULD HAVE GIVEN ME THE REALITY OF BEING A CLONE... SUCH A THING... SUCH A THING IS TOO MUCH... NO... LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!”

“Calm down. Remain calm. The error correction function of the Light Cube is not as great as that of the brain's. You should know the dangers of losing your cool when thinking.”

“I'M PERFECT!! I'M HIGA TAKERU! IF THAT'S THE CASE, HOW ABOUT I START A PI RECITING CONTEST WITH THAT FAKE!? OI, LET'S START! 3.1415926535897932......”

The red light expanded, dissipating from the screen and disappeared from the center. A small sound resonated as the microphone went silent.

Higa Takeru sighed long and hard again, weakly pressed the key on the console, and declared,

“It collapsed. 4 minutes and 27 seconds.”