The Ghost in the Machine
Watanuki frowned as he faced the man opposite him. “So... how may I be of assistance to a man who is not only a genius, but also capable of feats that may seem like magic?”
The old man laughed, his shaggy ponytail shaken out. “So I am talking to the shopkeeper. Very well... even in this thirtieth century, what I wish for is to leave a last curse on the planet. I will solve the most prevalent question... which is stronger, good or evil?”
“Indeed, that seems like a rather complex question,” Watanuki mused. “You are aware that there is a price to be had?”
“I am willing to pay,” the man answered. “Even my life.”
“Your life cannot be taken as payment,” Watanuki replied. “But... should you find the answer which you seek, you merely need tell me. That will be the payment.”
“Agreed,” the man nodded. “I suppose that you wish to know what shall be the parameters of the experiment? Well... my curse shall take the place of the Three Jewels of the Throne. My puppet will have a heart where the spirit of good or evil lies. They shall hold superior strength which manifests their will. And they shall be mirrors that reflect more than their human creators. They are the living encased in a machine.”
“It would be easier to study humans,” Watanuki suggested.
“Bah!” the man shook his head. “Humans are conflicted creatures. They do not have the absolute will needed in my creations. So, I will create two creatures, ultimate good and ultimate evil, and have them fight! But, the scientist in me is not satisfied with only one sample. I must have more than one, all at the same time so that there will be no experimental error. Then, and only then, will I be able to rest knowing the answer to the question I seek.”
“The mess would be much like the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons,” Watanuki suggested. “If I may... if you have already created the 'ultimate good', and the 'ultimate evil', then what happens to all the graduations?”
“Yes! That is the problem!” the man shouted. “I have created 'ultimate good', 'ultimate evil' and the 'middle path'. Finding three souls by itself is difficult enough for a genius such as I, but ninety-seven more is beyond me!”
“So you have come to our store for ninety-seven souls, each of a different graduation of evil.” Watanuki clarified, raising a hand. “Diarmuid.”
The doors slid open. “Master.”
“Bring the big ceramic box, the one with the talismans... ah,” Watanuki nodded as the former Lancer brought open a big box. “Ninety-seven spheres. I wish you all the luck with your experiment.”
Bowing, Dr Roger Dunstan left the shop, with his long-haired servant in tow.
A moment of silence passed. “Master... are you sure that trading those souls were absolutely necessary?”
“Of course, Diarmuid,” Watanuki softly answered as thumps sounded outside, and the sound of chattering laughter rang out. “Say, do you know of a karakuri?”
“I do not.”
“A karakuri is basically a doll with a mechanism to let it move,” Watanuki explained softly. “A tease, a trick, an automaton. The fallacy of using a soul to power a karakuri is very complicated; even if the soul is human, can the vessel be quantified as human? Even as sentient beings, do they have the necessary experience that allows them to understand human morality? And yet despite all, he continues on this road that would endanger all time-lines and worlds.”
“No matter who wins, it is possible that all would die,” Diarmuid caught on. “So... that is Dr Dunstan's research?”
“What defines good, what defines evil... and which is the more powerful when it revives,” Watanuki clarified. “Well, compared to a wish shop, I think the doctor's determination, at the very least, is admirable. If only he could see the fallacy of his own argument. After all, if one side can already see the fallacy of the other, then what's the point?”