Lucy appeared in the room, completely naked, her body radiating a soft white light. Everything about her was moving toward perfection-a state theoretically impossible for any human to reach-because, in the strictest sense, she was no longer human.
She sensed her condition.
With a thought, clothing made of unknown matter formed and covered her body.
"Matter..." Lucy whispered.
She lifted her gaze. It seemed to pierce through infinite distance. Information flowed back to her faster than light, simply because she had merged with space itself. In a split second, she appeared at famous landmarks across the world.
People passed by.
No one noticed her.
Even if someone accidentally captured her in a photo, there would be nothing there. It was as if she existed on an entirely different spatial layer.
"Space..."
She extended a hand.
Everything froze.
She waved to the right. Time fast-forwarded.
She waved to the left. Time rewound, flowing backward.
But she wasn't controlling the time of the entire world.
She was moving through space-time herself.
"Time..." Lucy said softly.
Then she frowned.
That person-the man who had helped her reach this state-was gone.
She couldn't find him.
He had vanished.
Lucy returned to the room where she had first materialized. She controlled her time travel, attempting to observe what happened after she entered that state.
This time, she encountered resistance.
The closer she approached that moment, the stronger it became.
The resistance came from herself.
The closer she got, the clearer the premonition became: if she returned to that instant and appeared there, she would disintegrate and vanish.
Why?
She didn't know.
But every cell in her body trembled in warning. She couldn't ignore it. In the end, she stopped, returned to the normal timeline, and disappeared.
When she reappeared, she was standing in the lecture hall.
"So, we can make an inference: if brain utilization reaches one hundred percent..." Professor Norman spoke with his head lowered.
"You merge with the world," Lucy said.
"Who-?" Professor Norman looked up instinctively.
He saw Lucy.
He froze.
Only then did he notice that the entire audience was motionless, silent, like a still painting.
"To them, everything is normal," Lucy said.
"You... you know what I'm thinking?" Professor Norman said hoarsely. "You... succeeded? One hundred percent?"
"No." Lucy shook her head. "If I reached one hundred percent, I would vanish into the universe. If I had to define my current state, it would be ninety-nine percent, with the nine repeating infinitely."
She paused.
"Infinitely close, but fundamentally different. That's why I can control matter, space, and time without fully disintegrating and merging with the universe."
"Meaning..." Professor Norman gasped. "You can stay like this forever? That's practically the power of a god!"
"No." Lucy shook her head again. "This 'nine' is increasing geometrically. Even if each increase is smaller than the last, once it reaches the limit this universe can sustain, I will still merge with it."
Her tone remained calm.
"Time is short. I need to know where Morin went."
"Morin..." Professor Norman hesitated. "He said he was leaving. Going to other worlds. He didn't know when he'd return."
"...I see..." Lucy's expression dimmed.
"Your emotions..."
"Are gradually disappearing." Lucy looked down slightly. "After losing them once and getting them back, I understood their importance. But this loss is irreversible. Just like my evolution."
She seemed momentarily lost.
"Only he can help me. I can't do this alone. Why did he leave?"
Professor Norman thought for a moment. "I hate to say it, but he seemed... disappointed when he left. If someone has already been helped once, they might expect to be helped again. He can't save you every time. Maybe that's why he chose to go."
"Maybe you could try to solve it yourself?"
"I can't." Lucy shook her head. "I know my body."
Silence fell between them.
"If-and I mean if," Professor Norman said carefully, "you had Morin's constant help... maybe you could succeed?"
"I don't know," Lucy said. "But the probability would be higher than doing it alone. And now he's gone to other worlds..."
"Then why not follow him?" Professor Norman said. "Find him."
Lucy was quiet for a moment.
"...If I don't reach one hundred percent, I can't return to the exact space-time point where he left to trace his path. But if I do reach one hundred percent, I'll lose all my emotions, lose control of my cells, and merge with the universe."
She looked at him.
"So it's a dead end either way."
"Well," Professor Norman said, "you're likely to fail anyway. Instead of waiting for the inevitable, why not try? There's a saying from the East: Break it to build it anew."
"...You're right."
Lucy fell into thought.
At 99.99... percent brain development, her logical capabilities were terrifying. Her calculation speed surpassed every supercomputer on Earth by an overwhelming margin.
In moments, she identified the method with the highest success rate.
Even then, the probability was still negligible.
"I will release the limits," Lucy said. "At that moment, my brain development will reach one hundred percent. I'll be able to locate the space-time coordinates where Morin left, identify the world he went to, and follow him."
She continued evenly.
"The danger of traveling between worlds may force my cells to bond together to survive. That might allow me to retain a fragment of emotion."
She looked up.
"That is my last hope."
"The chance of success-"
Lucy interrupted him.
"This is a flash drive containing all the knowledge I possess. Only I can open it."
She extended her hand.
Sand-like matter gathered from nothing, assembling into a black flash drive of ordinary size. It was hard to believe it contained knowledge capable of accelerating human civilization at an unimaginable speed.
"If I disintegrate at one hundred percent, I will remain in this world and guide civilization. If I succeed and leave, I will return someday."
She paused.
"If neither happens, this drive will open automatically in one hundred years. You already have a lifespan equivalent to that. When you choose to die, the drive-and the future of civilization-will disappear with you."
"I..." Professor Norman carefully accepted the drive.
At the same time, a surge of vitality flowed into his body, washing away the weight of age.
"I suppose this counts as settling my affairs," Lucy said.
She smiled.