Roland seemed to sense it too, so he changed the subject.
"Hod, are you also from a Nest?"
"Yes, I was born in a Nest and naturally attended a school within the Nest."
"Are the other Librarians the same?"
"Most of them are, though there are some born in the Backstreets and the Outskirts, but only two people."
"But everyone is such an elite talent, ha. So how did you end up living such a rough life?"
"You must have made a huge decision to leave the comfortable life in the Nest behind and hide away in a research facility in the Outskirts to dedicate yourselves to research."
"And everyone was full of passion, yet I betrayed that passion."
"In other words, your claim that you couldn't bring yourself to hate Angela with all your heart was just an excuse for yourself, right?"
"I think so, because I also committed an irreparable mistake."
"In a sense, I don't think I'm in a position to blame Angela."
"But... now I want to become better. I want to become a better person. I want everyone to have that chance."
Ayou listened to Hod's words, wondering what he was thinking about.
"Perhaps this is..."
The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't say them.
"But at the same time, there is still a voice in my heart telling me that I cannot forgive Angela."
"Angela proposed a deal to us, and most of the Sephirah held opposing views."
"What is that?"
"Ah, that was what everyone was called during the time of Lobotomy Corporation. It refers to the nine Designated Librarians sleeping on each floor."
"I see. Most were opposed, no wonder the ones I met before don't like Angela."
"The four of us from the Upper Layer and Hokma opposed her proposal."
"In other words, the remaining four agreed. It seems Angela isn't completely alone."
"It hasn't reached the point of strong approval; rather, they were reserved."
"Wait, what about Ayou?"
"Yeah, what about me?"
"You were... still sleeping at the time."
Roland and Ayou: "..."
"Wait, if you believe Angela can become better, then why did you vote against her back then?"
"It sounds ridiculous, but after everything happened, I still wanted to atone for myself through death."
"Wait, hold on. Do you mean that if Angela hadn't ruined that plan, you would all have ended up dead?"
"Yes, the original story was destined to end with our shutdown. After our long-cherished wish was finally fulfilled, we were supposed to rest in peace."
(You can go back and read the end of the first chapter, then combine it with the current Angela, and think about it carefully.)
"God, were you really prepared to accept such a morbid fate?"
"Roland, you are always surprised by strange details. I thought you would criticize me for still avoiding my own problems even at the very end."
"Hey, that's quite natural. As for me, I'm not like those big shots. I don't have a strong will or an unyielding spirit, so I understand your actions very well."
"To summarize, you initially opposed Angela's proposal because you wanted to end your own life and put a period on your journey of atonement, but now, after taking the time to think it over, you want to give Angela a chance to become better. Is that it?"
"Yes, that's basically it. This is a rather painful story for me, but you've summarized it very clearly."
"The person involved is confused, while the bystander sees clearly. That's just how it is."
"Thank you for listening to me vent so much. Your summary also helped me sort out quite a few things."
"Miss Hod, you are too polite. This is all part of my duty."
"Then you don't need to call me 'Miss'."
"Alright, Hod."
"Oh, right."
Ayou remembered something and said to Hod.
"Hod, by the way, what kind of work did everyone do during the L Corp era?"
"Ah, this... we operated an energy company. Every day, we worked with these Abnormality to produce energy, and the output was a substance called Enkephalin."
Roland heard this familiar term.
"Wait a second, is it a small green box?"
"Yes, the PE boxes are produced after excellent work. And there are NE boxes, which are red and produced when the work result is poor. They are both full of immense energy. At the same time, they are clean, environmentally friendly, and pollution-free. It's just that they have one drawback."
Ayou listened to this description of such a good thing and was surprised it had a drawback.
"A drawback? Singularity technology has a drawback?"
Roland said to Ayou.
"Most Singularity technologies have drawbacks behind the scenes; it's just that they have never shown them to the outside world."
"Yes, the drawback is... after a person consumes it, they will experience hallucinations and it is highly addictive."
Roland recalled that dream from back then.
"This... addictive? I didn't feel it, and now I really don't want to touch that stuff again."
Hod heard Roland's statement, and her ahoge instantly stood straight up.
"What? Roland, you've consumed it?"
"Just, just, just when I was drinking two days ago, Net gave it to me, and one of them knocked me to the ground."
Ayou recalled the scene of drinking at that time.
"That's not right, why didn't I know?"
"You were already drunk and lying on the ground. Later, after you woke up, you threw up on me. Do you remember?"
"Uh..."
At this moment, Ayou awkwardly scratched his scalp.
Hod laughed after hearing this, and the ahoge on her head also began to sway with pleasure.
"But Roland, the fact that you were able to restrain yourself is already very impressive."
"This restraint of not wanting to touch this stuff seems to be out of a psychological aversion."
"Yes, that stuff really isn't good for the human body. Even if The Library can resurrect people now, it's still better not to touch it."
Ayou asked curiously at this moment.
"I want to..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the two of them in unison.
"No, you don't."
"As for Net, don't worry about him; he probably can't quit."
"In the past, my department was the Training Team, which was used for training new employees and providing psychological counseling to employees to relieve their mental stress."
Roland listened to Hod describing her work and sighed with emotion.
"Kindness that cares for others."
After hearing this, Hod's face seemed to darken a little.
"No, I was completely wrong at the time. I wanted to help everyone in my own way, but I ended up doing something bad. I gave them Enkephalin for relaxation."
After hearing this, Roland's expression also went blank.
"Uh, that really was good intentions leading to bad results, but the heart was in the right place, right?"
"Thank you for understanding. After that, I was approached by Angela..."
"Hmm? Why did you stop?"
At this moment, Ayou was listening with great interest.
Hod suddenly stopped moving.
"Hod? Hod?"
Roland shook Hod.
"Wake up, wake up."
"What's going on? Can you hear me?"
Then, Hod began to murmur.
"No, this isn't my memory... No... I..."