[7:28 AM]

"It's okay. Everything will be fine. Nothing unusual will happen..."

[Prisoner number 888887. Engaging in incomprehensible self-encouragement. Appears to be suffering from severe anxiety.]

At 7:30 AM, I headed to the cafeteria, leaving my cell later than usual after skipping the dawn jog.

"Hmm?"

Today was the first time I sat at the same table as the girl from the neighboring cell. Somehow, I ended up right next to her.

I rarely saw her during meals, so I thought she might have been possessed by a Darwin-type Outer God, but apparently not. She must have been eating at different times or hiding somewhere to eat.

"Please, there has to be an answer. I need to escape somehow."

She seemed out of her mind, but I quickly tuned her out. People like this aren't uncommon here.

More importantly, my paper.

I placed my printed paper beside me and slowly read while stirring my soup. Today's menu was ox bone soup.

Ox bone soup with rice, and tofu pancakes.

The food in this world was surprisingly diverse. They served dishes from both Eastern and Western cuisines. Thanks to that, I could enjoy a relatively rich culinary experience.

Sometimes they'd serve fried insects, which I absolutely hated. I reminisced about the past while swirling my spoon.

"Hoo, hoo..."

The girl next to me slowly lifted her soup bowl. She was blowing on it to disperse the steam before eating.

But something about the way she held her spoon seemed awkward.

"Ah...!"

In that moment, with my "Future Sight," I witnessed her ox bone soup about to perform a tap dance on the table.

Soup

Paper

Soup

Paper

Soup

Paper

Whirr—

And then, crash.

According to Newton's laws of motion, it would slip, rotate, and inevitably spill.

And in its path were me and my precious paper.

Damn, this can't happen. Even if my thighs get burned, I must protect my paper at all costs.

What should I do?

I'll use the reflexes I honed under Rustila and Isaac's training. I used my spoon to catch the girl's tilting soup bowl.

Pause.

Good. I avoided the worst-case scenario of my paper being violated by soup.

However, the second-worst scenario began to unfold.

"...What do you think you're doing?"

The girl started glaring at me.

Normally, I would have apologized and left.

Because I'm a gentle and soft person. A peace-loving philanthropist.

[— The "God of Wisdom and Curiosity" tilts her head in confusion.]

But!

"You almost soaked my paper."

This is something I absolutely cannot forgive. In a situation where I can't even print freely, do you know how infuriating it would be to lose the one paper I managed to print?

"Focus on your meal instead of letting your mind wander."

"What are you saying, you pervert."

"Pervert...?"

Did I hear that correctly? Pervert? Me?

"You tried to touch my food. Who do you think you're fooling? You were clearly trying to get an indirect kiss. Honestly, this is why I shouldn't associate with uneducated men."

"...Is she crazy?"

I got up from my seat with a grimace.

Of course, taking my lovely 74-page review paper (courtesy of Professor Feynman) with me.

"Come on, paper. This doesn't seem to be an elegant or sophisticated enough place to read you."

"...Is he crazy?"

Who's she calling crazy? That's hilarious.

It's a loss to exchange words with a woman who baselessly accuses people of being sex offenders.

I looked around to see if there were any other seats available.

Damn, there weren't any. The cafeteria had filled up in the meantime.

Between the slow eaters and those showing signs of madness—this really isn't a place to linger.

I quickly shoveled in a few spoonfuls of tofu and soup, then hastily pushed my tray onto the return rack.

And that decision came back to haunt me in the form of hunger.

Growl.

"Ah, I'm starving."

After an unsatisfying breakfast, I headed to the computer room for work, but my stomach was completely empty. I tried to write a bit of my paper, but couldn't concentrate.

In this situation, I also had to monitor for people showing signs of madness and report them to the guards.

It was incredibly busy.

"What's that guy doing now?"

A man in one of the cells suddenly approached the wall, lifted a poster hanging there, and pulled down his pants.

A hole.

There was a shallow hole dug into the wall.

And in the man's hand was a piece of tofu that he must have smuggled from somewhere.

"Oh, Outer God."

I rubbed my face. I felt like I'd need to gouge out my eyes if I saw anything more. Without delay, I pressed the siren button.

Waaaaaang—!

Fortunately, the man was subdued early.

This kind of depraved behavior is exactly what Darwin's lot causes.

The most violent and cruel forces. If we're going to defeat those who will push up from the south later, Rustila must be kept alive. No one else can stop the Complete Organism wave.

"Sigh."

Anyway, they say freedom comes with responsibility. How long do I have to keep witnessing this kind of thing?

Come to think of it, I guess that girl had reason to be harsh with me earlier.

Guard Byzel, who had enthusiastically pounded the man's head, showed me respect.

"You're doing great work, student. I'm impressed."

"Thank you for saying so."

"I'm sorry about the email from your girlfriend. She seems to be waiting eagerly, but I haven't been able to send it to you yet."

Byzel patted my shoulder and smiled.

"But at this rate, you'll be able to return to society soon. Hang in there."

"Ah, yes."

This guy is completely taking advantage. He's being so friendly because I do all the paperwork he's supposed to report to his superiors.

"I'd like to give you some kind of reward. Is there anything you want? Any improvements you'd like to see?"

Somehow, the situation had reversed—instead of me sucking up to him, he was sucking up to me.

"Then, could I eat and stay here every day?"

"Why?"

"It's too annoying to commute from the cell."

Especially that black-haired, black-eyed girl in the cell to my left.

Lately, her sobbing at night has been driving me crazy. Even when I try to read my research notes under an LED lamp, I can't concentrate because of how noisy she is.

Guard Byzel scratched his head and replied:

"So... you want to eat, sleep, and do everything here? Just get rid of that prison cell entirely?"

"You've already entrusted me with the prison keys. Is there any reason for me to be in prison? No. I'm 'sane'—I'm not a criminal or anything. Just an ordinary citizen."

"That makes sense."

Byzel grinned. I matched him with a smile of my own.

I know we have different motives.

But what does that matter? Byzel is happy because his overwhelming workload has disappeared, and I'm happy because I can use the computer in exchange for handling his menial tasks.

The important thing is that we've entered a symbiotic relationship.

Good. Now let's check today's email...

Ding!

[— The presence of the Outer God "Orchestra of Mud and Flesh" has been detected. (Location: Inside Alcatraz Prison)]

What is this?

["Youngster, something interesting has happened. It seems the one who attacked you back then has come here on its own two feet."]

I nodded as I heard Cartesia's continuing words.

This is Alcatraz. A planetary system located in a space zone where the Aether Belt is abnormally folded.

Due to the unusually dense Aether concentration, Outer Gods could leave freely but couldn't enter. Moreover, staying here for extended periods was like drinking radioactive tea every day for humans.

"That doesn't make sense."

["It likely entered by parasitizing another human's brain. Probably came to get revenge on you. Poetic justice, perhaps?"]

I sighed.

The Outer God with the alias "Orchestra of Mud and Flesh," Populus.

I'd rather not die to that thing here.

But it would be reckless to ignore the mastermind behind the Celestine incident.

"Ah, I need to write my paper."

I had been relatively at ease since entering Alcatraz, but I didn't expect such a troublesome situation to arise.

["Youngster... you have the guards' trust. If we use violence here, it'll be troublesome for both you and me. So just this once, I'll help you for free."]

Creeak. The sound of the Outer God rising from her chair echoed faintly in my mind. Her voice followed:

["I'll take care of this quickly and come back, so continue with what you were doing."]

[— The "God of Wisdom and Curiosity" has temporarily terminated the channel connecting with you.]

"..."

Is she gone?

"Phew."

It's becoming clearer as time goes on.

Cartesia wanted me to create a graviton bomb, and she seemed to have particularly bad relationships with other Outer Gods. This even appeared to be the case with fellow Descartes forces.

Combining these two pieces of information, her purpose was singular.

Suicide.

The transcendent being was searching for a way to die.

***

Cartesia entered a girl's mind in search of Populus.

A space of nothingness, stained with an ashen hue.

Despite such a description, it wasn't truly empty.

The imaginary space is a world that expresses the mental image of an Outer God. Therefore, it's also their base. Since both humans and true forms can exist here simultaneously, it was bustling with activity, making the word "nothingness" seem inappropriate.

Yes, bustling.

There were at least twenty Outer God bodies.

Some looked like bizarrely connected electronic devices, while others dripped with rotting flesh. The former belonged to Maxwell's forces, the latter to Darwin's.

There were even Outer Gods from the Descartes forces, her own kin. Most of her compatriots took the form of cloud-like entities contained in flasks.

'This girl, what on earth.'

Cartesia took interest in a human other than Eidel for the first time in a long while. But it wasn't a primal curiosity.

This girl clearly had a limit to her Pron value.

Being contracted by multiple Outer Gods—while rare, it wasn't something beyond her understanding.

Her interest quickly faded.

Cartesia's purpose was solely Populus, the one who had angered her.

Thwack!

The next moment, Cartesia's body flew through the air.

"Well, look who it is."

A chuckling voice.

A TV screen-like entity emerged from the darkness.

"A half-baked Outer God who can only take the form of a lowly mortal?"

"...Sapaul."

A monitor for a head. Below it, a form draped with cloth like a teru teru bozu doll. However, the wires coiling around it like snakes were eerie.

This is how Outer Gods take incomprehensible and deformed shapes.

Not human forms like Cartesia.

"It's been a while."

"I'm not idle enough to entertain greetings from someone abandoned even by their own kind."

"I didn't come to see the likes of you either."

Cartesia rose naturally, dusting off her clothes.

"Where is Populus?"

"You mean that newborn Outer God causing trouble in your southern galaxy? Truly foolish, despite being our kin."

At that moment, two other Outer Gods dragged something in.

Tentacles severed in multiple places. Red glowing wires. Black blood oozing like viscous oil.

There was no doubt.

It was Populus.

"We taught it a lesson for arrogantly meddling with the place of exile."

"Do you have no minimum compassion for your own kind?"

"Compassion? Sorry, but that word isn't registered in our forces' dictionary."

Swish! Arrow-tipped wires emerged from beneath Sapaul's cloth. They advanced, piercing Populus's entire body.

The half-dead Populus rolled before Cartesia.

"We don't need it, so take it away. And you should leave too."

"...Hey, this is my territory."

"You consider a place of exile your territory? That's absurd."

"Get out of my domain right now. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

Kekeke. The Outer Gods laughed in unison. An earthquake began in the imaginary space. The sound of the girl outside suffering could be heard.

"If you're weaker than me, get lost. Don't interfere with our entertainment."

"Entertainment?"

"This girl is very fun to play with. There are no scraps for the weak."

Cartesia frowned. She dragged Populus by the collar and returned to Eidel's mind.

In her imaginary space, the discarded Populus coughed up viscous blood.

"Transcendent beings like us have immortal bodies, don't we? Right, Populus?"

"Kuk, cough."

"So I've been thinking. If someone were to interfere with my plans or my host, how should I cook them?"

"Please, stop. Stop... cough!"

The tentacle at Populus's neck was grabbed. Cartesia's eyes glowed blue.

"You know, I'm short on Pron right now. I want to stay by Eidel's side, but as you know, the air here is foul. It's not a situation where I can synthesize Pron at all."

"W-what are you trying to do...!"

"It's simple."

Cartesia giggled as she grabbed his tentacle.

"From now on, you'll be my Pron tank."

[— Omega-level Transformation: <Transformation>]

<Transformation>, one of the most noble skills of Descartes-type Outer Gods.

The range of transformation is vast. Any species, any thought—it changes everything. Literally transforming everything.

Caught in Cartesia's grasp, Populus could only writhe and emit heavy groans.

"First, I'll change that body of yours. If you want to fill a vessel with water, you should clean the vessel first, right?"

Populus's body began to transform. The glossy tentacles gradually disappeared, and limbs sprouted between the bizarrely linear body.

Populus was horrified watching his own transformation.

"I'm, I'm becoming a lower being...!"

"What gender should I make you? Yes, a female form would be good."

While the concept of gender is almost non-existent for Outer God bodies, Populus was an Outer God with strong masculine traits in human terms. He liked to take, conquer, and burn. Or at least, he didn't dislike it.

Now he was beginning to transform into the form of a modest and weak human girl.

"This, this is insane...! No! I said no!"

[— 500 Pron has been extorted.]

The mechanical sound gradually disappeared, and his voice became thinner.

Cartesia pulled out tentacles to create breasts and wove wires to shape hips.

The Outer God had transformed into a human.

"Haha, a masterpiece, isn't it?"

"S-stop this nonsense! How dare you, how dare you turn me into a lower species, and a worthless female at that...!"

[— 500 Pron has been extorted.]

Yes, be more flustered. The more you are, the more composure I'll find.

Good, what should I change next?

"...Right. I just happened to have something good."

[— Omega-level Transformation: <Binding>]

The <Binding> skill that she herself had suffered during the Celestine incident. Cartesia had always wondered what would happen if she used it on Populus.

"N-no. Anything but that. Not binding!"

The girl, who had almost exhausted her Outer God powers, wailed miserably.

But Cartesia is the Outer God of Wisdom and Curiosity.

"What would happen if I used <Binding> to remodel your mind?"

When a question arises.

"How about it? Aren't you curious?"

It must be resolved, no matter what.

"N-no! Don't! I'll call you Master! Please, just not binding...!"

With Populus's bizarre scream, Cartesia was able to regain mental stability.

[— Successfully extorted 20000 Pron.]

Not a large amount, but it's better than nothing.

Cartesia looked down at the lower world.

"Heh, hehe. Heehee."

Eidel was searching for papers with an inexplicable smile. He looked completely happy.

If only the weapon he aimed for could be created as soon as possible.

Thinking this, Cartesia slowly lifted the collar that had just formed due to the effect of <Binding>.