Clockwork Bride

Page 32

"Master, why do you look so tired?"

She didn't interrupt Hayden and Alastor's conversation, which suggests she doesn't understand these complexities.

"Didn't Mr. Alastor say he would delete the video for you? Has the matter been resolved?"

As Angela said, the R18G video that the [Bo Xun] organization previously created for Hayden is now disappearing from the internet at an alarming rate. This shows that [Bo Xun]'s information technology is truly astonishing. If Alastor's words are true, and he really did build [Bo Xun] solely by himself and a group of students, then he can only be described as a hacker genius, one in a billion.

"What was solved?"

Hayden shifted in the sofa and muttered something in response.

That being said, the matter has indeed been resolved.

The videos that [Bo Xun] spread will soon be deleted by them, so it's not a problem at all. As for Professor Albion's previous request to Hayden, it was to find out if Alastor was doing anything dangerous, and if so, to stop him if possible. Overall, Hayden has done everything he promised the professor, and now he just needs to report back to him.

However, judging from Hayden's current state of sprawling on the sofa, even a fool would know that he was actually quite unhappy.

So Angela let him lean comfortably against her while asking him, "Master, what's troubling you this time?"

“I have no worries,” Hayden replied curtly.

Needless to say, this only earned Angela an even more helpless look: "Master, if you want to be friends with Mr. Alastor, just go directly to him."

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Hayden immediately shook his head. “As an ordinary person, I have never been interested in any ideals or the passionate atmosphere of changing society.”

But to be honest, Hayden knew that Alastor wasn't entirely spouting nonsense. Even disregarding whether the matter of the wish-fulfilling pearl and consciousness uploading was a conspiracy theory, Hayden was well aware of how wicked those capitalists were.

"But, so what?"

But he still insisted on saying this to Angela, and to himself.

"Accompanying those clueless student hackers who think they can change society to their deaths? That will only lead to our own demise. Forget it. What I need to continue protecting is you and me."

Therefore, Hayden didn't feel sad, lonely, depressed, upset, disappointed, or overly concerned about the issue. He couldn't quite put his finger on what he was unhappy about; he just felt a deep-seated annoyance at the overall irrationality of the world.

"Angela, do you think I should help those idiotic students to prevent them from ruining themselves?"

Several minutes later, Hayden finally managed to squeeze out those words.

However, Angela tilted her head, looking puzzled. "I don't understand what you mean. And frankly, this is something you should decide for yourself. I will be with you no matter what, but there are some things that I shouldn't decide for you."

So Hayden could only sigh again.

He had made up his mind. Tomorrow morning he would report everything to Professor Albion and then get completely out of this mess.

034: Love, Death & Robots

Early the next morning.

To be honest, Hayden found it hard to believe that so much trouble had only happened in a day. But anyway, early the next morning, Hayden dragged his weary feet to Evergreen State University, climbed the stairs of the Arcane Academy, stepped through the wooden door, and entered the office filled with trinkets. There he saw Professor Albion with his silver beard again.

After reading Hayden's report, Professor Albion looked quite serious. His usual smile disappeared.

"First of all, thank you for finding out all of this, Hayden."

The professor said, rising from his chair and beginning to pace slowly around the room.

“I did know all along that Alastor was doing dangerous things, but I never expected that he would be able to build a student hacking group to fight against the Mitra Group.”

His expression looked very old, and his face had darkened.

"By the way," Hayden said listlessly, "I still haven't found out where his money came from. Judging from the film, hopefully he didn't at least kidnap and sell the female employees of the Mitra Corporation."

Hayden knew he should control the sarcasm in his voice, but he simply couldn't.

The old wizard sighed: "Communicating with Alastor seems to have exhausted you. I had thought you two would have a lot in common."

“Professor,” Hayden said wearily, “I know this doesn’t sound good, but I’m serious—he’s just a cocky junior in college, and I’m turning thirty at the end of the year. What do you think we could possibly have in common?”

These words made Professor Albion smile again: "That's probably one of the annoying things about being a teacher: they never completely forget what their students were like back then. You weren't much different in your third year of college than you are now in Alastor."

Hayden frowned: "I never intended to fight a big company head-on."

“But you want to invent inexpensive, high-level healing potions,” the professor said seriously. “If you actually succeed, don’t you know how those big companies will react? Some pharmaceutical companies are even more sensitive about this than they are to terrorist organizations.”

Ah, this... is indeed... very convincing.

Professor Albion continued to stare at Hayden, a strange look in his aged eyes: "So I won't take back my assessment—I think you two should have something in common. You two have a lot in common."

To be honest, although it's hard to refute, Hayden still doesn't like this assessment.

"Let's not discuss this now, Professor." So he chose to change the subject, "Our primary problem is that a student is in trouble."

Even a fool could see he was changing the subject. But the professor stared at Hayden with his blue eyes for a moment, then nodded without saying anything, "You're right. However, if the information you got from your company informants is accurate, then they shouldn't be in any imminent danger."

If Abigail's account is true, then the minor skirmishes of the [Bojun] organization have never actually caused any real damage to the Mitra Corporation. In that case, the Mitra Corporation wouldn't spend a lot of money hunting them down—because that would only make their financial statements look worse.

“I don’t think Alastor can really cause any huge trouble,” Hayden said slowly as he thought. “Even with the most brilliant hacking skills, a small group of students can only do so much. As for physical force, his students are just a rabble and can’t fight at all. It’s scary that he was able to hack into a police [Rakshasa] drone. I’ve never heard of anyone doing that before, but in the end, it’s nothing special.”

As for hacking into the entire city's police drones, that's not just a matter of hacking skills. With the equipment available to students, it's practically impossible; after all, real hackers aren't as magical as those in games or anime.

“Then I still have time to solve this problem, lest Alastor cause a huge mess.” Professor Albion sighed. “Thank you again, Hayden. I will analyze that bottle of life essence for you as soon as possible.”

“It’s nothing.” Hayden shook his head. “My business isn’t that urgent.”

The conversation paused briefly here.

"I really don't understand, Professor, why you're getting involved in this."

Then Hayden finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been puzzling him for so long.

“Not many professors would go to such lengths for their students, especially since he’s just a regular undergraduate, not a PhD student in your research team.”

This question made Professor Albion raise an eyebrow.

“I just said yesterday that I will always offer help to students who need my help.”

He said quietly,

"Or do you, Hayden, really believe that all love needs to be conditional and justified?"

Ironically, Hayden immediately pictured his wind-up wife at home and was speechless.

"I have lived for 219 years."

The old wizard spoke softly, a deep sadness in his eyes.

"I have never been married in my life, and I have spent most of my time studying, researching, and teaching. I will die someday, and I will have no children. However, I have no regrets. Watching my students grow is an eternal joy. When that moment comes, Hayden, don't be too sad for me. Because you are the marks that my life has left on you."

To be honest, this was a bit too serious compared to what Hayden had originally intended to say. For a moment, he didn't know how to react or how to mitigate the unexpected impact.

Is this a topic appropriate for the Day of the Dead?

Finally, he had no choice but to say this, trying his best not to appear to be arguing with the professor.

"I don't really like this value system that overemphasizes the continuation of life."

I am who I am, why must I be associated with people who have already died?

He barely managed to keep those words from being said.

"This has nothing to do with values; it's simply a fact."

But Professor Albion seemed to know very well what Hayden was saying.

"Think about everything you've been through. Don't you really realize it? It's because of your parents' passing that you want to heal all the poor living, while Alastor wants to let all the poor dead rest in peace. Life and death are two sides of the same coin for you!"

His tone became firm and serious like never before, and he strode around the office, his robes billowing behind him.

"Without understanding death, one cannot appreciate the preciousness of life! It is your love for your deceased parents that has made you who you are today! Their lives continue in your lives, not only through genetic inheritance, but also by leaving an indelible mark on your hearts!"

This is not the first time someone has said something similar to Hayden.

But this time, Hayden was indeed speechless.

Why are even professors starting to talk about "love" all the time?

However, he really didn't know how to refute it, or even whether he should argue about it at all.

So the awkward silence, which was very embarrassing for Hayden, lasted for quite a while.

Finally, Professor Albion stared at him for a while, then slowly nodded, his expression returning to calm: "In any case, thank you, Hayden. You have done a great deal for your juniors."

Hayden shrugged: "That's all I can do."

No matter how convincing the professor's explanation is, he shouldn't get involved anymore. Let the meddlesome professor figure it out, or let Alastor learn his lesson from society.

Anyway, the Mitra Group wouldn't go so far as to kill him.

————————————————————————————

So after leaving university and returning home, Hayden initially felt quite good.

"The job the professor assigned us was supposed to be unprofitable."

After all, this was originally a matter of exchanging favors.

"But thanks to that dark witch Abigail getting involved, we now have an extra 500,000 in income."

Hayden said happily,

"So we can take this opportunity to relax and then think about how to spend this money!"

Hayden certainly wouldn't squander the extra 500,000 he received. Angela's cooking was expensive, and he also had other expenses. However, he felt he could relax a bit, maybe have a couple of drinks, unwind, take a nap, and then spend a couple of days checking on the commissions from the middlemen. There was no rush.

He wasn't in a hurry, and Angela certainly wasn't in a rush to urge him to earn money—in fact, apart from life-threatening situations, Hayden had never seen Angela urge him to do anything. So when Angela heard him say that, she simply replied cheerfully, "Since Master doesn't plan to go out to work today, I can take the chicken I bought yesterday and slowly make soup. Would you prefer bamboo shoot chicken soup or mushroom chicken soup?"

"Anything works!"

Hayden waved his hand, leaving everything to Angela to decide, and then, while she was cooking, he casually turned on the news channel.

Coincidentally, the news channel was broadcasting live today's street protests. The crowd, mostly students and some older blue-collar workers, were parading around a trailer truck blasting inflammatory rock music. Many also carried placards, mostly bearing slogans like "A pure land belongs to everyone!", "Reject exploitation!", and "We want peace!"

This was clearly not a act of vandalism, but a legitimate demonstration conducted after applying to and receiving formal approval from the New Seattle security company. Through the news broadcast cameras, the crowd could be seen walking along the main thoroughfare in downtown New Seattle, with rows of company officers standing on both sides of the road, monitoring the crowd. If the demonstration turned into a riot, they would immediately intervene to suppress it, firing [Stinking Cloud] and [Stunning Arrow] at the procession.

The crowd moved forward slowly under the watchful eyes of the police.

"Abolish the inequality of death!"

After a student leader raised his arm and shouted, the slogans spread out like waves.

"Reject the exploitation of the Pure Land!"

As the slogans rang out, the DJ on the music trailer brought in an interlude, and the crowd's emotions seemed to explode.

"Reject exploitation! Give us back our pure land! Give us back our pure land!! Eliminate inequality!"

The crowd was filled with fervor, and they shouted themselves hoarse as they advanced.

"Master, there are so many people gathered there. There must be more than 50,000."

Angela just happened to come out of the kitchen at that moment, tilting her head to glance at the news footage. With her sensory and computing capabilities, even just looking at it through the news broadcast camera, she could roughly determine the number of people in the picture.

Why do you think it's pointless to do this?

Hayden was about to change the channel, but when he heard Angela's question, he had no choice but to give a brief explanation: "Because they are just a rabble."

He pointed to the corporate police officers lined up along both sides of the road, monitoring the protesters in the live stream: "For example, look at those corporate cops. If the protest gets too extreme, they'll immediately use riot control. In other words, this kind of protest is just a way to complain to the company with their permission. Do you really think that's any good?"

These words made Angela look thoughtful: "I see, I understand. Then, wouldn't it be better to just use force directly?"

“How would I know?” Hayden replied somewhat irritably. “All I know is that it would be a piece of cake for big corporations to kill 50,000 civilians. They won’t do it because it would be detrimental to their business. The main resources and power are with the corporations. What can a large group of ordinary people do with their violence? The anger of commoners is nothing more than banging their heads on the ground. Two corpses lying in the ground, blood flowing five steps, and the world in mourning—that’s impossible in this era. I only know that doing that would be suicide, but I have no idea what the right thing to do is.”

Three months ago, a team of top-notch civilian mercenaries went to assassinate the daughter of a company executive. What was the result? She wasn't even a combatant.

"Hmm."

But Angela frowned.

"Although you often say that, Master, I don't think I've ever seen a large corporation truly demonstrate its military power."

Hayden said with a stern face, "Then I hope you never see it with your own eyes."

As they spoke, the live stream footage kept changing. Soon the marchers stopped in front of the Mitra Group's New Seattle skyscraper, their destination for the demonstration. They lined up at the entrance, waving signs and playing loud protest rock music.

The Mitra Information Group's New Seattle office building is a towering structure that rises far above the surrounding buildings, soaring into the sky. Thick, gray clouds swirl in the sky like flowing ink, making the skyscraper look like the abode of a demon king, a symbol of evil and oppression in this world.

...So Hayden watched the live stream, frowned, and realized something was wrong.

The weather in downtown New Yatu is likely controlled by humans every day. The Mitra Group's weather system determines the weather that will occur in the barrier each day, so it's even less likely that they would intentionally create this kind of cloud cover.

...unless their weather system has been hacked.

Hayden started sweating.

As he just said, it would be a matter of a large corporation killing 50,000 civilians in the blink of an eye, without even needing to use anything special. The power they use to flatten mountains and turn deserts into forests, can't it also be used to kill people?