His face was rather thin, and he wore black-rimmed eyeglasses with dark circles around his eyes. He had an unshaven beard, and he was wearing a brown jacket and dark blue pants … this was Kazuhiko Haiga.
Seiji saw Haiga as he approached Haiga's office. Seiji could tell that Haiga was in a bad mood, so he didn't go up to talk to him. Instead, he followed Haiga to the park and waited for an opportunity to speak.
"Who are you?"
Haiga was quite surprised to see the boy who suddenly appeared.
"I'm just a high school detective passing by." Seiji smiled.
Haiga was rendered speechless.
"Sorry, I was just joking. I'm a real high school student, but I'm not a detective. I'm not passing by either. I'm here specifically to see you, Haiga-san. "
"Just who are you?"
"My name is Harano Seigo. On the surface, I'm a high school student, but I'm actually a Spiritual Ability user."
Haiga was rendered speechless once again.
"I'm not joking. I'm telling the truth." Seiji smiled. "For the game creator who created 'Anna' after receiving a revelation, it shouldn't be that difficult to accept the existence of Spiritual Ability users, right?"
Haiga felt that this was ridiculous. However, the boy's expression and words were mysteriously convincing. And, the birth of "Anna" had indeed changed his understanding of reality to a great extent.
At this moment, the boy lightly waved his hand, causing the cell phone he was holding to suddenly fly into the air! The cell phone spun three times in the air before returning to the boy's hand.
"My apologies. This was to show you a little of my Spiritual Ability." Seiji handed the cell phone back to Haiga.
Haiga widened his eyes in surprise.
Haiga reflexively checked his cell phone after taking it back. He didn't notice anything abnormal.
"Is this … a magic trick?"
"Not at all. If this wasn't a public location, I could have shown you even more exaggeratedly. " Seiji shrugged. "Haiga-san, you view the creation of 'Anna' as a miracle from the gods, don't you? In that case, you should also believe that there's a side to this world that ordinary people don't know about. "
Haiga fell silent.
"And, the reason why I'm being honest with you is because you've already taken one step into the dark side." Seiji looked towards Haiga's cell phone. "'Anna' isn't something that an ordinary person can create. Haiga-san, since you single-handedly created her core program, you can be considered a Spiritual Ability user as well."
Something flashed in Haiga's eyes.
"What's the matter, Kazuhiko?" The Sakura Island clothed girl on the screen looked at him worriedly. "What happened?"
Haiga smiled at Anna.
"I'm fine, don't worry."
Then he paused the game and put away his phone.
"What do you want?"
"I'm here to talk to you." Seiji looked directly at Haiga. "Haiga-san, may I ask if 'Anna' is under your control, or does she have her own will and is capable of moving on her own?"
"Why do you ask?"
"To determine how dangerous she is."
Haiga revealed a cautious expression.
"I have a friend who's playing this game, and that's how I noticed 'Anna.' I was worried that she might have hidden dangers, so I asked someone to do some investigation and came to you at this time. " Seiji spoke in a serious tone. "Please answer me, Haiga-san. Is' Anna 'under your control, or is she independent?"
Haiga remained silent.
"Even if you don't want to answer, I have my own ways of making you talk. However, that wouldn't be pleasant. So, please believe me, Haiga-san. I have no ill intentions. I just want to confirm the situation. "Seiji shrugged.
"… If you determined that Anna is dangerous, what would you do?" Haiga questioned.
"Of course, I would try to deal with her, including but not limited to destroying her." Seiji told him honestly. "I understand how you feel, Haiga-san. I can promise that I won't destroy her unless it's absolutely necessary."
At this moment, a young woman passed by with her child. The mother and daughter chatted and laughed as they walked away.
"Anna is independent, just like that child. She has her own will, but she'll listen to me," Haiga stated in a light voice.
"You're like a father and daughter to her?"
"You could say that."
"If something's wrong with 'Anna,' such as getting angry, how much damage would she cause?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know, or are you unwilling to think about it?"
Haiga was rendered speechless.
"Your reaction is basically the same as admitting that you believe that 'Anna' has powerful destructive abilities." Seiji folded his arms. "If an independent artificial intelligence with her own will goes on a rampage, it's likely that she'll cause a terrifying disaster similar to some movie plots."
"Anna wouldn't do such a thing."
"I hope so. No matter what, she has the ability to cause tremendous damage. Is that correct? "
Haiga tacitly agreed.
"I won't view 'Anna' as a dangerous existence just because she has great power. Power is just power." Seiji paused for a moment. "What I truly need to see is herself … Since 'Anna' is independent, then I'd like to talk to her directly. Not through a cell phone game. Instead, I'd like to talk to you, Haiga-san."
Haiga looked directly at Seiji's face.
Seiji calmly met Haiga's gaze with a sincere expression.
This was the first person that had ever asked if Anna was an independent existence and requested to talk to her directly.
Although Haiga was still on guard, he was somewhat moved by the boy before him. That was because Haiga viewed Anna as a human, an equal existence.
Everyone else … including the other members of Haiga's gaming studio, all viewed Anna as an AI program, a 'tool' that humans controlled and possessed.
Was it because he was a Spiritual Ability user who often interacted with non-human existences that possessed their own will and intelligence? Was that why he acted like this?
No matter what, it wasn't impossible for such a boy like him to become the first person that Anna directly knew apart from himself.
"What's your name?" Haiga inquired.
"Eh?"
"Your name … although you mentioned it just now, I didn't remember it."
"My name is Harano Seigo."
"Harano Seigo …" Haiga took out his cell phone, entered the game, and speedily typed on it.
He entered a special password, and the game instantly disappeared. His cell phone's screen turned black, and a white chat window popped up …
[Administrator mode.]
[Fingerprint identification. Confirmation.]
[Facial recognition. Confirmation.]
[Password input. Correct.]
[Core chat window activated.]
The next second, the screen turned white. A beautiful little girl with black hair and red eyes appeared. She was wearing a white camisole dress.
"What is it, Kazuhiko?" Words appeared in front of the little girl.
"I'd like someone to talk to you using the core chat window. His name is Harano Seigo. He's a high school Spiritual Ability user," Haiga typed.
"Harano Seigo, high school student, Spiritual Ability user …" Something flashed in little Anna's eyes. "Related information search … search complete."
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