Chapter 146. The Weight of a Friend (1)
Victoria hesitated for a moment at Alpha’s offer.
She had called Victoria here just to ask her to become friends?
How was she supposed to answer something like that?
After a brief moment of thought, Victoria asked with a determined look,
“You’re the Foreseer, aren’t you?”
“Don’t you already know what answer I’m going to give?”
[I do.]
[There is a 37% chance that you will accept my offer.]
Alpha answered calmly.
Thirty-seven percent.
A strangely uncertain number.
What happens if I refuse?
More importantly, this was the heart of Abraxas.
If she angered Alpha here, both she and Yukgap could be put in danger.
In that case, there was nothing wrong with going along with her for now.
And more than anything else, seeing a lonely girl ask her to become friends stirred an unexpected sense of sympathy inside Victoria.
After thinking it over, Victoria smiled brightly.
“All right, Alpha.”
“I’ll be your friend.”
[Really?]
Alpha asked again in surprise.
She looked as though she had genuinely not expected Victoria to land on the thirty-seven-percent possibility and accept.
Victoria held out a hand without hesitation.
“New friends are always welcome.”
“Especially kind ones like you.”
[I’ve never heard anyone say that to me before.]
Alpha’s face turned red inside the monitor.
She reached toward the screen.
Victoria gently placed her palm against Alpha’s.
With the glass between them, it looked almost as though the two were holding hands.
“So what should we do?”
Victoria asked playfully.
“Just tell me.”
Alpha beckoned with one hand.
[Come farther inside.]
[I prepared something.]
She looked visibly excited.
Lights came on deeper inside the room, revealing another corridor.
Apparently, Alpha had prepared a separate space beyond it.
“Alpha...”
Reuben looked at his excited daughter and could not finish whatever he had been about to say.
Alpha turned toward her father with an innocent expression.
[Dad, can Victoria and I go play in my room?]
At that moment, she looked no different from any other girl her age.
Just a teenage girl excited to play with a new friend.
Reuben opened his mouth, then gave up and simply nodded.
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
[Thank you, Dad!]
With that, Alpha disappeared from the monitor.
Is she really that happy?
Reuben was left speechless.
“Don’t worry.”
Victoria tried to reassure him.
“Nothing’s going to happen.”
Then she looked toward the illuminated corridor with determination.
She had no idea what waited beyond it.
But there was no point trying to run now.
Victoria took a firm step toward the place where her new friend was waiting.
[Come in, Victoria!]
[This is my room!]
Alpha excitedly guided her inside.
At the end of the long corridor was a spacious bedroom.
There was an ordinary bed, small pieces of furniture, and cute dolls arranged all over the room.
In many ways, it looked no different from any other girl’s room.
“You’ve got a lot of cute things in here.”
[Yeah!]
[Dad and the Archons bought them for me!]
Alpha answered happily.
Projectors emerged from all around the room.
Their images converged toward one point.
Then Alpha slowly appeared in the middle of the room.
[What do you think?]
She floated in the air and spun around.
Light sparkled around her before a princess-style blue dress formed over her body.
Victoria blinked in surprise.
“A hologram?”
[I don’t have a body that can play with you.]
[So I installed this.]
[At least inside this room, I can materialize like this.]
[Doesn’t it look real?]
Alpha answered proudly.
Unlike the flat image she had shown on the monitor, this version had texture and depth.
At a glance, it was difficult to tell she was only a hologram.
Victoria stared for a moment, then deliberately changed the subject.
“Hmm.”
“So what are we going to play?”
Alpha answered immediately, as though she had been waiting for the question.
[Princesses!]
“Princesses?”
At Victoria’s question, Alpha snapped her fingers.
The television in the room turned on and began playing an animated series.
Alpha gazed at it with obvious admiration.
[This is my favorite cartoon!]
[Princesses from different countries gather together, drink tea, talk, and play.]
On the screen, girls wearing elaborate princess dresses were happily playing together.
Watching Alpha stare at them so intently, Victoria felt a natural sense of pity.
No matter how overwhelming Alpha’s computational ability was, no matter how much control she held over Abraxas...
At heart, maybe she was simply a child who wanted to play with friends and loved cartoon characters.
Thinking that, Victoria deliberately joked,
“But I’m not wearing a princess dress.”
“If I stand next to you like this, people will think I’m your maid.”
[Hehehe.]
[I knew you’d say that.]
One wall automatically opened.
Behind it was an enormous dressing room.
Dozens of elaborate dresses hung inside.
Victoria stared in surprise.
“You prepared all of these?”
[I picked clothes that would suit you.]
[Choose whichever one you like.]
Alpha urged her on with an excited face.
Victoria thought for a moment, then picked the first dress she saw.
