"Machine Head… where did my brother go?"
All beings who embark upon the Path of Erudition, once glimpsed by Nous, can connect to this most powerful and fastest computer in the universe.
To seek an answer…
The first question Herta asked after stepping onto the Path of Erudition was to find her brother's whereabouts.
Erudition remained silent, only gazing at the starry sky with a compassionate posture…
Despite being a mechanical construct, its gaze contained transcendence, compassion, and an indescribable sorrow, perceptible only faintly, as if it had witnessed the end of all things.
A connection was established with Herta.
Since you had asked a question, it would give you the answer…
Erudition formed a strange bond with Herta.
If geniuses are stars…
Then Erudition is the vast starry sky that connects all stars.
At that moment…
Herta seemed to transcend this world, observing the entire universe from a higher dimension.
"Brother…"
She murmured as her consciousness traveled through the universe via Erudition.
She found nothing…
Then, the light of Erudition shimmered faintly again, and massive amounts of data flickered and merged in space…
A holographic image of Su Xiaobai appeared, showing him anxiously waiting at the door of Herta's room.
"Brother…"
Herta cried out. Though it was only a hologram, at least she could see her brother.
She watched the image in silence, knowing it was a gift from Machine Head, helping her locate her brother.
The scene gradually changed. An anxious Su Xiaobai rushed into the room and saw the girl lying on the floor, urgency written all over his face…
Despite having gone without rest for a long time, he quickly hoisted the girl onto his back and ran to the hospital.
"Brother…"
A look of anguish appeared on Herta's face, a stab of pain and guilt piercing her heart.
Back then, she had worried her brother so much…
The scene continued to flow, showing the hospital's diagnostic report, which nearly broke Su Xiaobai…
Even so, he calmed himself and, based on the known clues, reconstructed the truth behind Herta's illness.
"Beyond the boundary… the omniscient domain…"
The girl murmured, repeating the words. A strange unease passed through her heart, yet she dared not blink, focusing intently on what followed…
Interstellar Peace Corporation. Opal…
"My brother sold White Star and exchanged it for the information he wanted from the Interstellar Peace Corporation…"
"If you want to succeed, you should first go home and properly say goodbye to your sister…"
Herta repeated Opal's words.
She looked at Su Xiaobai, who appeared somewhat haggard after stepping down from the interstellar spacecraft.
"My brother is afraid…"
"No…"
By now, the girl already knew the general truth, but…
She still hoped her conjecture was only an illusion, that her brother was merely injured or temporarily unable to return…
The scene shifted to the bedside. Su Xiaobai silently watched Herta lying on the bed, gently stroking her cheek…
Wiping her face…
Tucking the blanket in…
Turning around, about to leave…
The girl suddenly woke up and called out to him.
"Brother, if I die, then in a world without me, you must live well…"
The girl sensed that her life was about to end, yet she did not want her brother to be too sad…
But…
"Then, if Herta goes to a world without her brother, she must also live happily and full of joy…"
Seeing this, Herta began to cry uncontrollably, two clear streams of tears flowing without restraint.
"I thought I was saying goodbye to my brother… but I never thought…"
Erudition Nous remained silent, merely deducing the scene for Herta in silence.
The scene continued. A marriage proposal…
Exchanging rings…
Kissing…
The illness relapsed…
Writing a letter…
He put on his backpack and looked at her one last time.
"Brother… clearly, clearly you couldn't bear to leave me either…"
Large tears fell to the ground like raindrops dripping from the eaves…
Endlessly.
The scene changed, and Su Xiaobai headed toward that frontier star.
He dug his own grave…
Then took out a bamboo flute and played a melody she had never heard before.
Herta's tears flowed even more uncontrollably…
Resonating in harmony…
Brother! Stop it! Come back!
The girl's heart tightened as she watched the woman who appeared directly from the void.
That was certainly not an existence her brother could contend with…
"No, come back quickly… Brother!"
The girl clutched her chest with both hands, sobbing and murmuring, as if desperately pleading…
But this was merely a deduction by an Aeon. No matter how the girl outside the scene cried out…
He could not return…
The scene came to an end.
I am not a native of this world. My mind stores the Erudition of another world, which can also destroy the Omniscient Domain…
…
"Pfft—"
Su Xiaobai crashed violently into the scalpel…
The blade pierced straight through his heart.
His face turned pale instantly, yet he wore a relaxed smile.
"Brother!"
The girl screamed in agony, feeling a sharp pain in her chest, as if that knife had pierced her own heart.
Herta collapsed to the ground, watching the scene, crying inconsolably.
But it was already too late.
The scene ended here, and the Aeon of Erudition vanished at the far end of the starry sky.
Only Herta remained, heartbroken and weeping bitterly.
"Brother… died… died…"
"Why… Brother, why… did it have to be you who died…?"
Didn't you promise you would stay with me, like that star…?
The girl looked up at the sky. The two stars were as always, but she and her brother were already…
No more tears could flow from her eyes.
She simply stared blankly at the starry sky…
As if the two stars were still together, and she and her brother had never been separated.
But just then—
White Star suddenly left its predetermined orbit, transforming into a wandering planet, then into a meteor with a brilliant tail, falling from the sky…
"No!"
"No!!"
—Brother, don't leave me!
The girl on the ground suddenly sprang up and ran in the direction where the meteor fell, even though she was barefoot.
She kept running, very fast, her only hand stretched forward, as if trying to catch that meteor…
Record of the Azure Star Era: Amber Era 2145. White Star was acquired and brought down by the Interstellar Peace Corporation, becoming a cornerstone of the wall of Preservation.
And Herta's Star, after White Star fell, had the light distorted by White Star's gravity corrected. To the eyes of the people, it returned to its true appearance…
A brilliant, dazzling star hanging alone in the high heavens…
Further explaining the phenomenon of gravitational lensing to the people.
Gravitational lensing: The reason I appear this way to the world is solely because you are by my side…