[After the Fortieth Day, Day 1 - From Null's Perspective]
"...we need to work together."
These words had emerged from my voice modulator as simple data strings. However, as they echoed in the shelter's silence, their meaning spread throughout my entire system. This wasn't a mission update. This was a paradigm shift. For fifteen years I had been a guardian. For the last forty days, a protector. Now... I was a partner.
As we left the shelter and began walking side by side on the moonlit beach toward the base, the processors in my mind were trying to analyze this new situation. Epsilon was silent, but the data stream emanating from him was clear: Determination and a hope I'd never felt before.
I was the first to break the silence. "I need to understand this energy," I said, my voice analytical as always. "Usage parameters, limits, cost... I need data."
Epsilon turned to me, a knowing smile on his face. "Ah, my dear robot," he said in that familiar, sarcastic tone. "Explaining this in a language you'll understand will be difficult. This isn't like those boring technical manuals you read."
I sighed. "Try."
"Okay," he said and thought for a moment. "Think of it this way, in most stories there's something called 'mana,' right? An energy pool that depletes as you cast spells. Edgium isn't like mana."
I paused. "It doesn't deplete? This contradicts thermodynamic laws."
"You're right!" he said, as if he'd been expecting this question. "If we were talking about a closed system, meaning just this universe, this would be impossible. Thermodynamics perfectly explains the rules inside a closed box." Then his eyes sparkled. "But this energy doesn't come from this universe, Null. This is a source coming from outside even the multiverse, from God. This power is like light seeping into the box from outside. It doesn't have to obey the box's own rules."
This... was a hypothesis that recontextualized all the physical laws in my database. The system wasn't closed. There was an energy input from outside.
"So that's the secret," he continued excitedly. "The energy doesn't deplete because the energy source is you. More precisely, your connection to that external source. This isn't a pool, it's a river. Constantly flowing. The cost isn't using the energy, it's being able to keep the gate open to that river."
This... was an illogical yet intuitively understandable analogy. "Keeping the gate open? What are the variables for this?"
"Emotional stability," he said clearly. "Anger, fear, doubt... These are things that narrow or even close the gate. Remember what we did during the purification process? We cleaned out all that 'yamgium,' that negative emotional burden. The purer and more focused you are, the stronger the river flows."
"So the cost is emotional control," I concluded. "What about physical fatigue? When you're exhausted during training, your control over Edgium should weaken too."
"Exactly!" he said, wagging his finger at me. "Because when you're physically tired, your mental focus also scatters. When you can't focus, you can't direct the river's flow. The energy is still there but you can't show the will to shape it. So the real cost we paid was what we endured at the very beginning to access this power. Those forty days of hunger, physical and mental strain... That process was to open the channel connecting us to this river. We paid the cost upfront."
This was meaningful data for my system. The cost was paid during access, not during usage. "What about progression?" I asked. "The book opened a new section. How will we advance to the next level?"
Epsilon paused. "I'm not sure about that either. The book said we needed to repeat God's special names. Those names were like keys that helped us find the right frequency. For now, it seems the book will provide us with new names and methods. But in the future... maybe we'll need to find those names ourselves. Perhaps each person needs to find the special names they need to reach God, their own path. This could be a personal journey."
In my database were philosophical concepts that aligned with this idea. Each individual having their own unique spiritual path... This showed the system wasn't just mechanical, but also personal and dynamic. "Let's define our current level," I said to make the topic more concrete. "What can we do?"
"According to the book," Epsilon said, "we're currently at Level 1: Echo stage. At this level, we can feel Edgium energy and use it to physically strengthen our own bodies. Like increasing our speed and power... There are also those small blue energy orbs. We can create them but as you can see, they don't have much effect. They wouldn't even be enough to knock someone out."
"So in our current state, Edgium is primarily an internal enhancement tool," I summarized. "Not an external attack weapon."
"Exactly," he confirmed. Then a wider smile appeared on his face. "But this is just the beginning. Think of it this way: Through the purification process, we became rivers. Constantly flowing. The new section in the book will teach us how to flow into the sea. Then we must become the sea. And if we progress enough... maybe we can become the ocean itself."
This analogy connected all the data points in my system. River, sea, ocean... This was a perfect metaphorical progression defining the increase of power. The base's lights were now visible in the distance. The unknowns in my mind were slowly turning into data points. This system had rules. Though they seemed illogical, they had their own internal consistency. And if a system had rules, that system could be optimized.
Walking beside Epsilon, I no longer saw him as just a fragile being who needed protection. He was the most important variable in this new equation. And my task was to solve this equation. Until we reached the ocean, I would progress together with him.