'Hi, hi, hi, hi!　What is that thing!
...a doll.
But it's kind of distorted, or... weird, or... weird!


　There have been no demons since we broke through the thirty-third layer of the fifth labyrinth. What we have in front of us now is a doll. The model is probably a woman. But what's noteworthy is that it's moving. It stands on its own. But it is not walking upright. It is on all fours with its arms bent in an unlikely direction and touching the ground. The fact that it moved with a crunching motion gives me an eerie feeling.


The actuality is that................is it going to attack us?
Do you want to get closer?


　About three of them are prowling in front of you, so you approach them. Then they turned their heads 180 degrees and came towards us in the opposite direction. The crawling doll looked like a cockroach.


"Wait!　That was a bad idea!
What?
Mouth!　Look at your mouth!
Oh wow that's great. How does it work?
'Stop being so impressed and do something about it!


　As Aria says that, I first catch the doll still. There is something like a chainsaw sticking out of its mouth, and it is definitely acting hostile.



''Antimatter [Anti-Material] code: reverse [Reverse]''

Substance "material" = anti-material code

Matter 《Materials》: Inverse 《Reverse》 = Primary Ingredient 《Prima Materia》.



Now, go away...


　As usual, he cleaves his right hand to the side.


'Hey...!


　But my anti-matter 《anti-material》 code didn't activate normally.


''Eh, El-san!
I know!


　Rather than using the anti-matter "anti-material" code, I decide to physically destroy it.


How about this!


　I used the ice around me and smelted countless icicles from it to pierce it. And it pierced all the dolls that were coming towards us.





　I'm relieved that it seems to have stopped functioning. But why hasn't the anti-matter code been triggered?　My elemental eye, the Decoding Site, definitely understood the components. I thought that I could return all the matter in this world to the First Quality, the Primamateria. Theoretically, it's possible. So far I've been able to work the anti-matter code and cause it to disintegrate from the inside out.


　But this doll was different. It didn't go through. Displaced coordinates?　If the Personal Field was thick, it might not be possible to specify the coordinates accurately. But there was no such omen.


　What he thought he could do normally was not possible. It was an endless question that came up.


'I mean........what do we do about this?
Let's disassemble.
Yeah I don't like it...
Let's do it.
Yes, sir.


　Then we decided to take apart the broken doll.


'I'll call it a doll for convenience, but I wonder what it really is...'
'Hmm. Anyway, it's weird!
"But you're good with your hands. You know the inner workings better than I do, Aria.
'Really?　But if you say so.......I know something about it.......
....
What?　Do you doubt it!
Yeah.
'I don't understand!　But somehow. Somehow this doll makes me feel nostalgic.
I see.


　I don't think he's ... lying ... I don't think he's lying. If this is how he keeps lying and fooling me, this guy is a great actress. However, I'm not neophyte enough to trust Aria with my hands. After this incident, I've become even more cautious.


　This woman called Aria is still.................not just any person. There's no doubt about that.


'It was just a mechanical doll........ There's nothing particularly new about it.''
Yes. It's something that's made up of all the parts you know. But.....
Yes, sir.
How it was working, I don't know,
'It seems to be using something as energy, but that's not exactly how that mobility works...'
Could it be... some kind of artificial intelligence?
Are you intelligent?
Possibly. It's just that I can't see the root of it. There are parts of it that even my elemental eye, the Decoding Sight, can't read. To begin with, artificial intelligence is created by copying qualia. At least that's how I created a fully independent artificial intelligence.
'Elle, are you........familiar with artificial intelligence?'
'I mean, it's an area of expertise. In the meantime, we've successfully applied artificial intelligence to develop a homunculus.
What?　Huh?　You're a real expert!
Yeah. But I can't unravel it... if you're doing it the same way I am, there should be traces of qualia on it...
What's qualia?
...It's hard to explain. It's called the texture of consciousness, or sensory quality, but a person's intelligence is made up of qualia, the aggregate of the First Quality, the Primamateria.......
So you're saying that you need to be able to sense the First Pledge, the Primamateria, to be funny...?
Yeah. But there's no trace of it on this doll. Even though it's completely independent, it doesn't have the First Quality [Primamateria]... that's why the Anti-Material [Anti-Material] code didn't work.


　It seems that during the battle, the doll was taking in the Primamateria around it, but unlike humans and other creatures, this doll had no part of the Primamateria stored in its brain.

　Basically, creatures store it in their brains, but this doll does not have it. So that means.....


"Could it be some kind of Homunculus?
What's a homunculus?　Something about God made man, so man can also make man artificially...
'That's the gist of it, yes. But the problem with homunculus is that the problem with homunculus is to make artificial intelligence semi-permanent and functional... is that clear?　Is this even possible in the labyrinth?　Or ... was the homunculus already in the practical stage in the past?
...The labyrinth is Lost Technology, I believe, right?
You're well informed. Yes, the labyrinth has several technologies that cannot be recreated today. This doll might be one of them. Well let's get going.
Are you sure?　Do I need to see more?
Enough.
Okay.....


　We proceeded deeper. And as expected, or whatever you want to call it, there was only a doll from here on out. But there were also individuals who resisted alchemy and used alchemy.


''Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!　Hey!　It's stuck to the ceiling!
"A type of gravity manipulation........no, they just fix their relative positions. I didn't know there were individuals who could use such advanced alchemy... this is quite interesting.
'Hurry up and get it done, please!　Ki, it's disgusting!


　 I'm sure Fee will be fine. Fee is not just a platinum-class alchemist. I'm sure that he'd be able to move on.


　That's why we've finally arrived at the door of the 40th layer.


　It seems like it's been a long time, but it's been a short one. If we break through here, there are only ten more layers to go before we reach the lowest level. Almost.........almost.......


''Aria, are you ready?''
What's in it now?
Like a big doll?
I'm afraid of those things because they're creepy................................and even bigger, or I'll definitely pass out.
Well, I'll protect you. Just stay in the back.
Okay.


　I put my hand on the door. And what I saw there was...a completely different scene than I had expected.