The Doll That Learned Only One Emotion

One after another, new messages bloomed across people's fields of vision.

Alerts, displayed directly through the SEED.

And what those alerts meant was enormous. A sudden update to Yggdrasil — in all the years since the world tree had taken root on this planet, nothing like it had ever happened once.

A massive, unforeseen event, occurring the very moment World of Phantasm collapsed. Everyone assumed the two were connected in some way.

Some even speculated that World of Phantasm had been the thing clogging Yggdrasil's update pipeline all along.

The truth, no one knew.

But one thing was certain: this update would plunge the world into upheaval yet again — and this time, the one driving that upheaval was not Latia Soft.

Which made sense. In the wake of the World of Phantasm collapse, a cascade of scandals had erupted one after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠another, and Latia Soft was now teetering on the edge of ruin.

"Grrrraaaagh!!"

Unable to contain his fury, Latia Soft CEO Steebro Latia Duke slammed his fist down on the desk.

"Gabriel. You ungrateful bastard — after everything I did raising you, you bite the hand that fed you?"

CRASH!CRASH! Steebro hammered the desk again and again.

Latia was drowning lately, buried under an avalanche of troubles. The scandals erupting one after another had been slowly tightening a noose around Steebro's neck.

The scandal with Linzea. The human experimentation allegations. And a litany of crimes and cover-ups besides.

Among them were more than a few classified secrets that no one but Gabriel Darius could possibly have known.

He was a Platinum with near-absolute power, but this situation was catastrophically bad.

Worst of all was the fallout from the sudden 'Yggdrasil update.' With labyrinth development tools ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now distributed to the entire world, Latia's monopoly itself was in jeopardy.

Among the other Platinums, whispers were already circulating that Steebro had been the one blocking the Yggdrasil update all along, just to preserve his monopoly.

"Damn it all! Rush the release of Aint! Inject Aint's source code into Yggdrasil now!"

Steebro took drastic action.

It was the source code of a game labyrinth — a top-secret project long in development, the product of every ounce of Latia Soft's development might.

Steebro had absolute faith in Aint.

A game labyrinth based on a masterpiece film about the friendship between an alien and a boy.

Steebro had predicted this game labyrinth would usher in Latia's second golden age — even Gabriel Darius had once expressed admiration for it.

But what Steebro could never have dreamed was the truth of that moment: Gabriel Darius's reaction hadn't been admiration for a 'polished game labyrinth' at all. It had been scorn — contempt for Steebro, smugly congratulating himself for slapping together a 'pathetic game labyrinth' by piggybacking on the original film's popularity.

Having no way of knowing any of this, Steebro gave the order to turn Aint into a game labyrinth immediately.

The developers balked.

Aint was still unfinished. At some point, Latia's development capabilities had decayed, and the source code had hit one wall after another.

It was originally slated for completion six months after the film's release, yet more than a year had passed without it being finished.

So the plan had been revised: two years down the line, the game labyrinth would be unveiled alongside the release of the film Aint 2.

But there was no room for such leisure anymore.

"Silence! You don't defy my orders! If it's unfinished, then finish it! You have five weeks — get it done!!"

There was no conceivable way to conjure, in five weeks, what had languished in development hell all this time.

But the command of a Platinum like Steebro was absolute.

The developers threw themselves into Aint's development, scrimping even on the time they needed to breathe.

Regardless of whether the game labyrinth was ever finished, Steebro launched a massive media offensive to turn the situation around.

He proclaimed that a timeless masterpiece of a game labyrinth would soon be born, and that only Latia could continue producing game labyrinths of true quality.

Even though the update had spread the 'development tools' themselves across the entire globe, Steebro still tried to cling to his monopoly on labyrinth creation.

And so, five weeks later.

The day Steebro had announced to the press arrived.

Timed to the opening of the Aint game, Steebro invited the movers and shakers of the Platinum and Gold ranks to a party.

By unveiling the new game labyrinth before their very eyes, Latia intended to declare that it was still alive and kicking.

Among the guests at that party, one woman stood out above all the rest.

An elegant traditional gown from the old East, and jet-black hair fine as silk. Every single one of her movements drew the eye.

Several guests approached to strike up conversation, and she handled each with practiced grace. Then yet another man made his way toward her.

"Is this seat taken?"

At the sight of him, the woman blinked, her face flickering with mild surprise.

"Well, well. I didn't expect you of all people to attend this party."

The man drew attention in an entirely different sense.

And no wonder—

"Mister Gabriel Darius."

He was, at this very moment, standing at the epicenter of every scandal, just like Steebro himself.

Few had expected Gabriel to show up here, given that he had all but drawn a line in the sand against Steebro and declared himself his enemy.

"The pig apparently has some nerve after all — he sent me an invitation too. I don't need to guess why. He wants to broadcast that Latia is still standing."

Gabriel leaned back against the wall and took a sip of wine.

"And you are? I know nearly every face that comes to Steebro's parties, but yours is new to me."

"Call me Zero. I'm of 'Platinum' blood, but regrettably I failed to hold my rank and was demoted all the way down to Silver — hardly someone worth remembering, I'm afraid. It seems the invitation arrived out of some lingering respect for my Platinum lineage."

The woman introduced herself as 'Zero.' It was clearly not her 'real name,' but Gabriel paid it no mind.

"I'm not anyone so remarkable myself. Now that every person on Earth holds 'Gamer' qualification, a former gamer like me is worth next to nothing."

"No gamer qualification, hmm... Heh heh. Did your account get deleted, by any chance?"

"Something like that. Yggdrasil granted 'access rights' to everyone on the planet, but those who've had their accounts deleted were excluded from the grant."

Gabriel took another sip of wine.

It was widely known that the final opponent Gabriel had faced in World of Phantasm was the 'Demon God Di-Ark.'

Gabriel had broadcast the events of the 50th floor to the entire world, but he had manipulated the footage so that his own face never properly appeared. Only those who had been present that day knew the Demon God Di-Ark's true identity was Gabriel Darius.

"My, my. Are you telling me the great Gabriel Darius was bested by Ryu7017?"

"Ryu7017 was simply better than me. That's all there is to it. Now, then—"

Gabriel's eyes turned toward the stage. A stage decorated so gaudily it bordered on the ridiculous.

"Shall we enjoy the farce about to begin?"

"A farce? I heard they're unveiling a revolutionary game labyrinth that will lead the next generation."

"Watch, and you'll understand."

Steebro ascended ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the platform.

A physique so grotesque he could barely walk without his mechanical supports — a mountain of blubber symbolizing his filthy wealth.

Gabriel stared at him in silence. He didn't even bother to conceal the hostility in his gaze.

"Shall I tell you an old story?"

"What old story would that be?"

"The story of a certain doll that knew nothing of emotion — and reclaimed only a single one."

The doll possessed the power to do anything — but it lacked the ability to understand the hearts of others.

It couldn't even comprehend what a 'heart' was in the first place.

The creator who had made the doll refused to give up, and tried again and again to teach it what a 'heart' was.

But the creator's efforts were in vain; the doll never came to understand.

Then one day, through a tragic accident, the creator left the doll's side forever.

Everyone else grieved. The doll did not grieve. Its mind was filled with other thoughts entirely.

Why did the creator die?

"The doll investigated the truth of the incident. Fortunately, the doll had more than enough ability for the task. And in the end, it discovered that the creator's death was no mere accident — it was 'murder.'"

"You mean someone killed the creator?"

Gabriel nodded.

The filth of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Platinum class.

It had to be dealt with swiftly — before word reached anyone else.

And the False King's 'treasure' had to be secured as well. If its secrets could be uncovered, this world would advance further still.

Under the banner of advancing the game labyrinths, a 'False King Subjugation Order' was issued to the doll's creator and a number of other capable gamers.

"Could this be... the World of Genesis incident?"

Gabriel nodded at Zero's words.

"Created by those rotten, festering pigs—"

The doll weeps tears of blood.

Without ever understanding what that emotion even was.

"A nauseating nightmare."