"I will be the one to decide her fate," Castor muttered, repeating Auditor's words in a slow, silent voice.
The man didn't order him. He didn't put a burden on him either.
The Auditor simply informed Castor about the new reality that he had no other choice but to accept.
That was the level of difference between the two of them. Castor was just an insignificant worker in the beehive. And the Auditor, alas not the queen, was a being that transcended Castor's ability to comprehend.
In short term, the auditor was barely different from a god to someone like Castor.
'First, I need to read this document,' earth's overseer thought, following the orders and lowering his eyes to the pagebook on the table.
"Evaluation report of Catlea Numbrain [AHE93:ER197:AN3301 991478329:14129:18]" the title said.
The code Castor was actually familiar with. Just like Catlea, as someone who ventured into space, he was assigned one as well.
The first set of characters described the location the girl came from. AHE stood for the code of the string that described the local thicket of mass within the entirety of the universe. The number reflected the hegemon in charge of the said sector, pinpointing a singular area of influence, an area that one could map without using mana and relying on a standard physical model and its uses.
Or to put it in terms of the primitive civilization on the planet below, it was the area of the entirety of the observable universe.
The following code reflected the sector of galaxy mega clusters and the number that followed described a particular supercluster within.
'Following the earth's naming system that would be respectively Laniakea mega cluster and then Virgo supercluster,' Castor thought, recalling what little he knew about the primitive civilization on the planet below.
The last of the location numbers reflected a particular local group within the supercluster and then a specific galaxy inside said, local group.
In other words, the first part of the entire code could be read, as the humans on the planet below called it, a milky way.
The second set of numbers described a person themselves, with the settlement number, class number, and then personal number pinpointing the certificate a person received when obtaining permission to venture into space.
Or to put it all in short terms, it was a unique identification code that everyone who moved beyond the atmosphere of their home planet would receive.
And just like one could expect from childhood friends, Castor's number changed only in the last two parts of his personal ID, with his class number preceding Catlea's by two and a completely different certification number.
'It's about her, there is no denying it,' Caster thought, moving his eyes below the title and at the several articles highlighted on the girl's profile.
Reading through the entirety of the report would not only be a monstrous task, as it detailed records of her entire life in space. That's why, for convenience's sake, all the important bits were conveniently arranged on the first few pages.
Castor was a slow reader. He didn't particularly enjoy this kind of duty.
And yet, once he started reading, he glued his eyes to the pagebook.
Soon, all the colors left his face. His hands started to tremble.
A moment later, his eyes filled with rage, disappointment, and extreme sadness. Yet, rather than vanishing as he continued his lecture, those three emotions simply switched places from time to time as he discovered more and more about the girl that he used to like so much.
"Subject bugged the academy's interface to mix the records, effectively stealing credit points from Subject ID:[...]" Castor unknowingly whispered as he read.
"Subject engaged in explicit relationship within the Orcana cult despite partaking in official engagement with Subject ID:[...]" Castor muttered as he read.
"Subject falsified the reports of Subject X, taking the credit for..." this time, the report already switched from showing Castor's ID by assigning him a number personal handle. It was an occurrence often used to limit the data by granting personal handles to the people of importance within a particular person's life.
By the time Castor finished his lecture, all the emotions were void from his face.
Whatever connection he believed to have with Catlea turned out to be false.
She wasn't his childhood friend. She was a manipulative viper that first wrapped him around her finger before claiming all the benefits that were supposed to be assigned to him.
Her mind upgrades were a reward for the blueprint contest Catlea won after switching her submission with Castor's.
The reason why she broke up with him was to hide the degradation of her genitals and then her genital socket.
'Degradation of genital socket...' Castor thought, gritting his teeth. 'This is something rare even in fucking brothels!'
Pssst...
A sound of a syringe emptying reached Castor's ears. He didn't even bother to turn his head to look, recognizing the wave of insane relief that the medicine brought with it.
'That's some top-grade stuff,' he thought once the chemical blockers separated him from an abyss that his newly obtained knowledge threw him into. 'As expected of an Auditor's supply,' he thought, raising his eyes to look the man in the eyes rather than wasting time having his brain commit self-termination.
"Are you done?" the auditor asked once Castor took a deep breath and raised his eyes from the pagebook.
"Yes, sir," Castor replied, not showing any signs of terror or even anxiety.
The residual hate, self-disrespect, and overwhelming depression now turned into but a shadow, a residue that only served to feed the multiplication of blockers, feeding into the positive feedback loop that made said blockers such an ingenious invention.
"What do you wish to do with her, then?"
Castor turned his eyes and looked at the girl for the first time since starting his lecture.
And Catlea... couldn't really decide what face she was supposed to make.
Her empire of lies that she built over the last three thousand years came all crashing down on her. And against information provided by the auditor, she had no means of refuting them.
Yet, when she saw the empty look in the eyes of the man that she exploited so much, more often than not just to put him down just for her own personal amusement...
Rage was what she chose.
"Who the fuck do you think you are to look at me like that?!" Catlea erupted, her mind implants failing to contain all her emotions. "Just sit back and die for me, you filthy piece of shit!"
Even the elites that held the girl up in the air were shocked by her sudden outburst.
It was one thing to be the worst type of person possible, the type that was bound to appear in the world of plenty that the hegemon cultivated. It was another to then try to blame their victim once all their lies saw the light of day.
But it was a whole different matter to act so rashly in face of a damned auditor!
"Sir, with all due respect..." Castor said, standing up before bowing his head deeply before the auditor. "I claim not to be able to deliver a sound judgment along the lines of the fleet law standards," he reported, shedding the responsibility for the girl.
"What do you want me to do with her, then?" the auditor asked, ignoring Catlea's outrage.
"May Sir judge her as Sir sees fit," Castor requested, bowing his head even deeper.
"Fine," the auditor smiled, finally granting Castor his request. He then turned his head and looked towards the elites keeping the girl at bay.
"Send her to the abyss."
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