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“...But now, you’ve found a way, right?” said Eden. “It’s been years. That’s why you called me here, isn’t it? You know how to deactivate the System without killing yourself!”
Pan stared at her for a very, very long time without answering. And it took that long for the reality to sink into Eden’s mind. Her heart dropped, slowly realizing the truth.
“...You haven’t,” she muttered. “You mean... You want me to kill you with it?”
“It’s alright, Eden,” he said. “You’re not making that choice, I am. I swear I have tried everything, but… since Father’s death, the Core has been the only one to modify me. I’m... closer to the System than ever. I’ve tried to fight back, but the System is still heavily reliant on me. If you deactivate what keeps me alive, you’ll end the System that easily.”
“No,” she retorted, stepping away from him. “No, Pan, no way. I refuse. You can’t ask me to do that!”
“I understand you’re upset,” he nodded very calmly. “I expected that reaction from you. It’s funny how your reactions are easier to predict now...”
“Don’t read me!” she shouted. “Both you, and Father, I am so fed up with you making all these decisions for me! I don’t care what you say, I can’t... I can’t kill you!”
“It’s not killing me. Not really. I’m sorry you think of it like that. But really, I’m not–”
“Not alive?” Eden retorted. “You’re here! You’re talking to me! You’ve been right by my side, ever since I was born! You said it yourself, you felt love for me! You’ve been protecting me! You can see, you can hear me! You can feel feelings! If that’s not being alive, then what the fuck is?!”
This time, Pan seemed really surprised, staring at her with wide eyes as if it had just hit him. He remained silent for a few seconds, then his eyes went around as if looking at the room for the first time. He chuckled nervously, then turned to her again, that smile still on his lips.
“I guess... you’re right.”
He hid his mouth with his hand, looking strangely happy.
“I never... I mean, I had a rough idea of what being human, and alive, was supposed to be but, I... Eden, you...”
He walked up to her, looking as if he was about to hug her, but he brutally stopped himself, his hands hanging mid-air, inches away from her. His expression slowly fell, into a bitter-sweet one. Eden was still staring at him, confused. Was he meaning to hug her? …Could he hug her? However, Pan seemed to renounce it, with a sad smile.
Eden hesitated and suddenly stepped up to him, hugging him anyway. It was a strange sensation. His body was warm, but it felt like... something a bit different from the warmth of a human body. Warmer, even. Was the computer struggling to represent her brother’s virtual figure? She heard him chuckle, and the warmth suddenly embraced her back too.
“Thank you, Eden.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she sighed, letting him go. “We still haven’t found out how we’re going to save you while destroying the Core.”
“No, you can’t,” he shook his head. “I understand what you feel, and I really appreciate it, but your need to save me just can’t be measured up to the importance of shutting the System down. You came here for that, remember? Thousands of lives depend on it as we speak.”
Eden kept shaking her head, stubborn. There had to be another way. She couldn’t even fathom losing someone else today, but of all people, her own brother, and after everything he had endured...
“Tell me more,” she said, “about... Dad. I need to know. The Governor said... he betrayed the Edge and he chose the Core. It doesn’t make sense, right? If he knew, all along... Why did Mother and I have to leave, to run? What happened to Father? How did things... I don’t understand why he did this to them. I need to know.”
“Don’t worry,” Pan smiled. “Father... He knew the Core better than anyone, right? What was the best way to create a counter-attack force that even the Core wouldn’t find, and try to destroy?”
Eden frowned, trying to wrap her head around this.
“Wait... You mean... He lied to both the Core and the Edge? He made the Core believe he was manipulating the Edge, but he was really... manipulating them? But... the Edge failed.”
“Did it?” smiled Pan, tilting his head.
Everything changed around them again. Eden was now in an empty room with Pan, completely white, with only a large screen next to them. The twelve mugshots from before were brought back.
“Don’t worry,” said Pan. “The Governor has no idea you’re in here with me. He still has no idea about the truth behind the Edge’s creation.”
“What truth?” asked Eden. “They didn’t make it. Almost all of them died, and Circé was even forced to work for them!”
“Father knew how risky it would be to create the Edge. He knew he would have no choice but to gather the best hackers in plain sight of the Core, making them think it was all a large-scale test. In fact, he did absolutely everything in plain sight and didn’t risk it by hiding any of what the Edge was doing. The only thing he was counting on was the actual people he had chosen.”
Pan turned to the figures, and four of them were brought forward, strangers Eden didn’t know.
“These four were the less... reliable ones. Where Father recruited them from, they were known as criminal hackers, but also committed crimes such as money extortion, slaughter, murder, and an even longer list of crimes. In other words, he wasn’t counting on them at all.”
