BXBX NOVEL Chapter 154: A guess too scary to even think about
Not a single clue about what happened with the devices, how could the energy just happen to force the circuits to close on its own… We couldn't even ascertain the quality of the concrete of the core's walls, given how Chihiro judged it to be too dangerous for any mortal or even most cultivators to approach.
Even for Claire and me, just approaching the place was a struggle. A struggle great enough to dissuade us from further attempting to enter the core.
Our observations gave us no insight into what happened.
The prolonged mechanical check of all the devices that the workers later performed came out with nothing interesting in the results.
Even the investigation by the unit Chihiro called left everyone simply baffled by what happened.
Where did all the energy go, both from the initial disaster and then later, when the factory was made to work by those strange sparks?
"So many questions…" I muttered as I watched our surroundings change as the car sped up down the relatively empty ringway, allowing us to cut straight from the city to one of the furthermost of its districts.
"And you really have no clue?" Claire asked while not even bothering to hide the doubt in her voice.
"I mean…"
I took a deep breath.
"I'm actively trying not to think about my own ideas, not to give myself any preconceptions."
Any attempt at analyzing what happened would be influenced by my emotions at the moment.
That's just how humans are.
And even nearly ten whole hours after the disaster nearly played out, the shock of those events continued to haunt my thoughts.
Which was precisely why, I refused to spare a single thought about the matter at large, taking my time and waiting for when I could actually process those weird events.
'In all honesty, now that we left the place… I think I can give it a go.'
I closed my eyes before pushing away all but the recording of the events saved in my memory.
The details I've observed. The small stuff I took notice of. Each precise instance of something weird going on.
I've gathered it all, organized it in my thoughts, and… Infused a considerable amount of spiritual energy I've recovered with the help of Chihiro's artifacts straight into my brain.
And there, I've suddenly faced an extremely harsh decision to make.
I could either accept the results that soon appeared in my thoughts, or opt to keep my sanity and forget all about them.
Because…
"Haaa…"
A long, heavy sigh escaped from my lips as I sank down into the seat, daring not to hold up my enlightened state for longer than absolutely necessary.
But the question persisted.
Should I accept what I've just calculated out of what little I've observed, or preserve the world as I knew it in its current shape and form?
Regardless of my choice, however, the deed was done.
"Oh shit…" I cursed slightly, only now realizing how Claire instantly appeared all over me, her eyes filled with panic as she rushed to check on me.
"We've fucked up bad."
As if the universe itself simply waited for me to make this realization and utter those words, everything stopped.
Just like when the energy in the factory vanished all at once.
Only to then start all over, as if nothing happened at all.
But this time, Claire's eyes widened, responding to something that happened right in this momentary gap in time.
This time, I wasn't the only one who perceived it!
Then again, just like back in the factory, everything vanished, leaving us both as we were.
"I've really fucked…"
"We!" Claire cried out while staring me down with silent fury in her eyes.
"We've fucked up, not just you alone. Now, deal with it!" her voice grew commanding, only for her face to melt as her eyes filled with sadness and her lips started to pout.
"Deal with it and tell me what's going on!"
I took a deep breath.
"Right, sorry," I breathed out as I finally manned up enough to pick my poison. And so, I've decided to face my enlightened realization directly.
'The power was still there. It just never got to the point for us to notice it. And right there, at the edge of it happening… something came to be.'
It was just a vague concept, not a precise recollection of the events or direct instruction on how to unveil the events of the recent past.
But from this vague concept, I could easily draw some pretty scary conclusions.
"I think we…" I gulped my saliva down, "I think we've created either a spirit," I gulped my saliva again.
As the concept of what happened sank deeper and deeper, I've only continued to realize more and more faucets through which it would come back to bite us.
"Either a spirit or a…"
The last part, I couldn't bring myself to utter.
Not because of what it would mean about the disaster, but because of what it would mean about me.
"Either a spirit or something else," I've concluded my short explanation before taking a deep breath and moving to a general one. "Something was born right in the middle of all that power. A consciousness that forcefully closed the circuits and made it so that the process that gave it birth, would continue."
I took a deep breath, struggling to even face the consequences of what would happen if my enlightened calculation turned out to be right on the money.
Yet, the more I spoke about it, the deeper I had to look myself into the shit I've just taken an enthusiastic dive in.
"All of the energy that the factory should produce, had to go somewhere. But, with that something now positioned right where all the energy converged…"
I gulped my saliva again, wetting my throat for the third time in a short while.
"What if it lived on the flow of the spiritual energy itself?"
I looked up, unsure if I was even ready for whatever reaction Claire would offer.
Yet, as I inevitably brought myself closer and closer to knowing the truth by raising my eyes, when I saw Claire's face…
She looked nothing like I low-key expected her to.
Sure, her face was covered in shock, but rather than surprised and taken aback… she was alerted?
"Wait, let me get this straight," Claire suddenly turned all serious as she sat back, gaining some distance as if to get a better, more wholesome look at me. "Are you trying to say that we've created a consciousness within the spiritual energy itself?"
Claire's eyes tensed up as her whole face sharpened in a deep anticipation to my reply.
"Pretty much, yeah?" I shrugged my shoulders. "That's my guess, at the very least."
For a moment, Claire just kept her eyes on me and her face still, as if taking her sweet time to carefully process what I've just said.
Then, she slowly raised her hands to her face, resting her head down on her palms as she heaved a long, labored sigh.
"Please, Tim, tell me that it's just me, but…" Claire raised her eyes as she gave me a dead-tired glare. "Doesn't it sound like something that could be the very thing that allows people to advance over in the spiritual world?"