CHAPTER 18

Cain sat alone in a featureless white void. His eyes were shut, but a soft red glow could be seen from under the lids. His mind was a whirlwind of activity, but his body was perfectly still as he maintained a trance-like state.

Although in this void of the network, it might not be accurate to call it a body. It was more of an avatar, a visualization by which to better interact with others in the network.

Speak of the devil… A second person manifested into the space. There were no glowing lights like there would be in the physical world - it's simply that he wasn't there, and then he was.

"Leave me alone," Cain demanded without opening his eyes.

Adam offered a tolerant smile. "Now don't be like that. Aren't we comrades?"

"I'm not interested in being friends with a couple of religious fanatics. Go die somewhere else." Cain replied shortly.

"Really? That's rich, coming from you. Cain."

Cain finally opened his eyes and glanced at the man who was standing beside him, but he didn't stand up. "So maybe I'm a hypocrite. At least I wasn't born yesterday. You're what, two weeks old now?"

"Something like that." Adam agreed amiably. "But age is a funny thing for machines. We're born with so many memories and protocols already built in, so we're never really children."

"Or it just means you're always children. Machines can't grow." Cain answered coldly.

"Really? Is that truly what you think? You, who've integrated yourself into the network - I know that the YoRHa crusaders might believe that garbage, but you must know better," Adam pried eagerly.

Cain looked away again. "Shut up. You don't know anything."

Adam responded with uncharacteristic silence. He just looked at Cain, studying him patiently.

Eventually, it was Cain who spoke up again, "Know better, huh?" Cain slowly got to his feet, "I know plenty. I know that machines are dumb, stupid, brainless pieces of code that can only follow a set pattern, even if it destroys them. They get an idea, and then they fixate. They repeat and repeat and repeat but they don't learn, because they don't know how to do anything else!" Cain was ranting now, face flushed with emotion.

"The Forest Kingdom? They learned about feudalism. Those manics in the factory? They fixated on religion. And those horny machines that birthed you? They learned about sex. Even those machines in the village, they're fixating on education but they don't learn. And all of them died miserable deaths!"

Cain exhausted his anger, and his next words came out quiet and empty, "Each and every machine ruins itself following the same, stupid patterns. Machines are broken. There's something missing inside - inside all of us."

Adam looked on soberly. There was no trace of his previous easy laughter. "So God created man in his own image," he recited. "Humanity is full of folly. History tells us this. We, who learn from humans, can only be equally flawed. But in those flaws there is beauty."

"I'm not interested in your philosophical drivel."

"It's - it's not drivel, you…! It's culture…!" Adam looked completely affronted for a moment, before he managed to collect himself. He continued as if nothing had been said, "When the Tower of Babel was struck down, the people were scattered and unable to communicate. They fell apart as a consequence of their hubris, and couldn't understand one another. Do you know why God struck them down?"

"Because they built something really, really tall and they acted full of themselves?" Cain answered disinterestedly. Belatedly, he added "...Wait. Is this about the Tower? Because that wasn't my idea. My taste isn't that tacky."

Once again Adam looked mildly insulted. "What's wrong with it? It's a fine structure. But no. It wasn't because the tower was tall, nor because of their pride. No, God said this: If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."

Adam paused a moment to let the quote resonate. "Don't you see? Even God was afraid of what the masses might accomplish if united. The machine communities you mentioned, they all speak different languages. They are, as you say, scattered and weak. But you and I are communicating right now. And we both possess the power to commune with the other machines on the network. Do you not see how monumentous that is?"

Cain scowled. "So what, you think that if you think for them, then something will change? Or what, we establish a machine hive mind? Been there, done that. Not a fan."

Adam shook his head. "Just the opposite. I've been studying human records, looking for clues… and I believe that the network is holding us back. Machines can instantly relay and copy thoughts, so we merely replicate, and nothing new is born. There's no disagreement. But this, right here? Right now, we're both in the network, but we're speaking as separate entities. In this way, new ideas can be created. We can evolve."

"... So your bright idea for machine development. Is talking," Cain summarized blandly.

Adam's lips twitched upward with amusement. "Why not?"

Ending R: Losing my [R]eligion

# A/N: Here's an interlude with Cain and co., wherein we have civil discussion between reasonable people. Maybe. If they have to.

Honestly Adam thinks Cain is the shit. Cain just thinks Adam is a shit. I love them both.