Chapter 3 (2/2)
In her eyes, these were truly joyous miscalculations. For in just a year, the girl had gained enough knowledge to survive on her own.
If the girl had been an average human, her education would have required ten years.
And if mankind still existed, there’s no question as to what word would have been used to refer to her.
“Genius.”
The girl’s abilities would have likely been a ma.s.sive contribution to mankind. But those humans were already gone, and this world only contained her, an Autodoll.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” the girl said.
Her blue eyes were twinkling. And it wasn’t from the light of the chandelier reflecting off of them, either.
“What is it?”
She tilted her head.
“Now that I’ve been recognized as an individual, I want a name.”
“A name?”
“Yeah. A name. And I think you need one, too.”
She didn’t think so. As this world only contained the two of them, there was no need for personal p.r.o.nouns. Since there was no opportunity to interact with other sentient lifeforms.
Here, there only existed “me” and “you.” It made no difference if it was from her perspective or from that of the girl. As such, they ought to simply continue on as “me” and “you.”
However…
“When considering the possibility of encountering other sentient lifeforms in the future, it should be fine to think of names.”
Her life was rooted in efficiency and logic. However, it’s not as if she was hard-headed. She felt no fear when facing the unknown.
For evolution, change is necessary. Because it’s impossible to achieve different results through the repet.i.tion of the same actions.
“Thank goodness!” The girl brought her hands together in a display of happiness. “Umm, I want you to come up with a name for me. I was going to say that I’d come up with one for you too as thanks, but I’ve actually already thought of one.”
“Ah- is that bad?”
The girl became somewhat embarra.s.sed upon seeing how shocked she was.
“No, no,” she waved her hands in a panic, “it’s not bad at all. I’m actually really happy. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
“Really?”
The girl looked at her with upturned eyes.
Her heart began to tighten up. But this feeling of pressure wasn’t in any way unpleasant. Much the opposite, she actually wanted to ask for permission to hug the girl right this instant.
But she restrained herself.
“Really. The thought of you coming up with a name for me makes me so incredibly happy.”
“Thank goodness…”
Upon hearing her response, the girl placed a hand to her chest in relief.
And then she immediately began smiling the way she always did when she thinking up some sort of prank.
“So do you want to hear it?”
Even though the girl should want to tell her, she still put on airs. She realized right away that this was only because she enjoyed this kind of back-and-forth.
So she played along.
“Of course.” She leaned forward with her entire body as if telling the girl to hurry up. “I want to hear it.”
What kind of name had the girl came up for her? Though she possessed no actual heart, she felt as if hers was pounding.
“‘Kay. So… you’re really nice, you know?”
“Is that so?”
She had no knowledge as to whether or not she was kind, but her ethics subroutines were functioning properly.
“It is. Did you not notice?”
“No. I have no awareness of such.”
“Then be aware of it right now.”
“Understood. I am nice.”
“Yes. Very good.”
She laughed at the way the girl puffed out her chest.
“And well… your hair, it’s really pretty. Like a deep darkness, you know?”
“Like… darkness?”
She found that to be a uncommon way of describing it. Normally, one would simply say that she had black hair.
“Yeah. Isn’t it nice and poetic?”
“I see. You’re using colorful language.”
The girl loved poems and literature.
“So your name’ll be written like ‘kind darkness’ and read as ‘Yuuyami.’ What do you think?”
The girl looked right at her with eyes that held mixed feelings of unease and antic.i.p.ation.
She a.n.a.lyzed the name “Yuuyami.”
First, the way it sounded. Yuuyami. Perfect. Beautiful.
Yuuyami. Truly beautiful.
Next was its kanji. “A Kind Darkness.”
[TN: 優闇]
The word “darkness” doesn’t normally have a very good connotation, but the girl didn’t hold this view. A kind darkness. While drifting in the sea of consciousness, a lifeform must be enveloped in a kind darkness. That is how she felt.
“I like it,” she said, forming a smile. “Thank you so much. I truly am happy.”
These were her genuine feelings. As a matter of course, she never lied. Not because it wasn’t necessary, but rather because she didn’t possess any subroutines for it. And she never would feel the need to incorporate any in the future.
“Yaay!”
The girl pumped her fist.
“And I suppose that now I need to pick a name for you.”
“Yeah. And make it cute, okay?”
The girl sent her a gaze that was filled with antic.i.p.ation.
She picked out 100 names that were popular with Caucasian females from the database.
And then she overlaid each of these names onto the girl, comparing both the name and its image.
This was extremely important. It was best that the name mirrored her mental image as closely as possible. One would never give a lion the name of “Pochi.”
Idea a.s.sociation. As her database had a basic relation structure, similar groups of data were matched with one another. This way, she was able to overlay both the names and their meanings.
Overlaying one name in particular onto the girl, she ended the operation. She felt that this name suited the girl extremely well.
“What do you think of ‘Lydia?'”
There weren’t many matches for the name “Lydia.” The only connections were that it was the same name as an asteroid, and also that of a kingdom that flourished in ancient times. In other words, it was close to a blank slate.
The girl had lost her memories, and resumed function in a state which was also close to that of a blank slate. As such she believed that a name that presently held little meaning yet could change to hold its own in the future was best.
And she also liked the way that “Lydia” sounded.
“Lydia, Lydia…… yeah, it’s cute.”
The girl displayed her happiness with a satisfied smile.
“Then from now on, I’m Lydia and you’re Yuuyami.”
“Yeah. We possess the ability to stand on our own, yet we can also come to each other’s aid. In other words, friends. Nice to meet you, Yuuyami.”
“Yes. And it is nice to meet you, Lydia.”
“She” became “Yuuyami,”
and “the girl” became “Lydia.”
Next >>
</brain>
<script>