“A good player tries to read out such tactical problems in his head before he puts the stones on the board. He looks before he leaps. Frequently he does not leap at all; many of the sequences his reading uncovers are stored away for future reference, and in the end never carried out. This is especially true in a professional game, where the two hundred or so moves played are only the visible part of an iceberg of implied threats and possibilities, most of which stays submerged. You may try to approach the game at that level, or you may, like most of us, think your way from one move to the next as you play along, but in either case it is your reading ability more than anything else that determines your rank.”
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“They say that fools learn from their experiences while the wise learn from history. I hope you’re not a fool.”
“This is about finding the truth behind people’s lives and deaths. If we want to uncover it, we naturally have to risk our lives!”
“The answer is always hiding inside your story.”
“Getting cooped up in such a small place not knowing who everyone else is, don’t these guys feel uneasy?”
“You can’t participate in the social networks if you’re afraid of anonymity.”
“This isn’t virtual. If someone gets hit, they’ll bleed, and a single knife can take a life away. This is the real world. And yet, they don’t even know who’s right next to them. They must be out of their minds.”
“Hold on a second, please. I’ll look it up.”
“You don’t need to. It’s recorded in my brain.”
“Why is that tens of thousands of users don’t notice they’re fake?”
“Because it’s not a matter of real or fake. These avatars are idols on the net. in other words, icons. Icons cannot solely exist through their own will. Neither Hayama nor Sugawara established their status on their own.” They were able to become Talsiman and Spooky Boogie because their fans idolized them based on their own distorted perceptions. The idols’ true feelings and colors are not the same as the ideals their character represents. It’s not surprising that a fan could do a better job than the real owners of playing the idol fans expect to see.”
“That’s a lie. Everyone here is the same. They don’t notice anything. They don’t say anything. And they don’t think anything. They are merely a shell of their former selves and soon they will disappear like the melting snow. This epidemic leads innocent people to their deaths, and yet, its pathogen will never be eradicated. This is a disease called serenity… a form of death that people have wished for.”
“You get provided with a powerful weapon like the Dominator. Do you really have to engage in this much combat training?”
“Yeah, I do. Especially because the weapon is powerful and superior, its user has to be stronger and tougher. It’s me who kills a person, not the Dominator. In order to keep that in mind, I have to feel the pain here.”
“Hey, listen to me seriously.”
“I am listening. It’s not just Okubo. I heard that Masami Yamaguchi in Class B has been absent, too. Something bad is probably going on in this academy. So?”
“”So”?”
“I wouldn’t get near something bad from the start. I wouldn’t gossip, either.”
“What are you saying?”
“I feel like a careless action could really put us in serious danger.”
“The fact of the matter is, as much as our medical system has advanced, statistically, the average lifespan is actually decreasing. Well, this data will probably never be made public.”
“That’s not surprising. In this era, everything that could be called a reason for living has died out. No one tries to talk seriously about what life should be like anymore.”
“This academy is a girl’s boarding school. What do you think of their education policy, Mr. Makishima?”
“It’s out of date, but because of that, there’s value in its rareness… perhaps. If parents want their daughters to receive an education in an old-style environment in this day and age, this is the only choice they have.”
“Chastity and grace… traditional virtues that have been lost… they comprise the educational ideology of Ousou Academy. They’re priorities that are not valued in boys, only in girls. After having them instilled in us, we’re shipped out as brand-name product, “refined, sheltered maidens,” and purchased by men who seek a classic piece of furniture called “a good wife and mother” in a formality known as marriage. Students in this school are all components that will be processed into an artwork called the “lady”. They are rough stones waiting to be polished and finished up. They live sad and boring lives… even though there are many other possible ways they could bloom.”
“Well… if you don’t realize it, then I guess you can’t even reflect on it.”
“According to a survey, it seems that a majority of people have answered that they feel reluctant to be more than 50% cyborg.”
“I do understand the reluctance that those people feel. In the end, it’s a matter of degree. For example, you… You’re quite the cyborg, too.”
“But I don’t use artificial arms, artificial legs, or artificial organs.”
“But you do have some form of portable information terminal, right?”
“Well, yes… but doesn’t everyone?”
“A costume device, too?”
“Of course.”
“And, at home, you probably have home automation and an AI secretary.”
“Yes.”
“What would happen to you if all the data in those devices was lost due to a disaster or accident?”
“Well… I wouldn’t be able to do any work until it gets restored.”
“When you entrust so much of your everyday life to those electronic devices, the argument that you aren’t a cyborg isn’t very convincing. To you, those portable terminals are already your second brain. Isn’t that right? It can be said that the history of science is a history of the expansion of the human body’s functionality, in other words, the history of man’s cyberization. That’s why it’s a matter of degree.”
“Explain what charisma is.”
“I used it to mean the nature of a hero or a ruler.”
“I’d give that answer… twenty points. Charisma has three elements. The nature of a hero or a prophet, an ability to simply make you feel good when you’re around them, and the intelligence to eloquently talk about all sorts of things.”
“You maintain a healthy and sound life by sacrificing other lives. But if people only seek youth for their bodies and lose sight of the means to cultivate their minds, naturally, it will only lead to an increase in the number of living dead. How foolish, don’t you think?”
“It’s certainly true that I’m new. And you are a respectable senior to me, Inspector Ginoza. But please don’t forget that we’re on equal footing in terms of our rank! I’m managing my hue just fine. You may be senior to me, but I’d like you to restrain yourself from questioning my ability at the workplace and in front of the enforcers!”
“Don’t panic. Don’t be scared. Calm down and look for the escape route. The more we panic, the more we play right into their hands.”
“An unforeseen situation… An unexpected turn of events… In the face of those, you too will face your true self.”
“No matter how severe the situation, if you continue to stay there, you’ll accept everything as everyday life.”
“You’re a nice guy. I hope that won’t cost you your life.”
“For a system, rather than functioning perfectly, it’s more important that people continue to trust that it is perfect.”
“How do you define crime to start with?”
“Even so… when there were all these people here… what are they, scarecrows!?!”
“The witnesses’ testimonies are very similar. They said they couldn’t understand what was going on. I don’t think we can blame them. Someone being killed right in front of you… You can’t imagine it. The idea wouldn’t even occur to you. All these people have lived up until today without ever even considering that something like this could happen.”
“With me, flattery will get you everywhere.”
“Books are not something that you just read words in. They’re also a tool to adjust your senses.”
“Justice is subject to dispute; might is easily recognized and is not disputed. So we cannot give might to justice.”
“I have long since learned, as a measure of elementary hygiene, to be on guard when anyone quotes Pascal.”
“I think humans are clever. We can involuntarily try to avoid our responsibilities.”
“Why? You should’ve been able to understand the joy of omnipotence and the pleasure of governing the world…”
“Just like God? That might be pleasurable in its own way, but unfortunately I’m not into being an umpire or a referee, as I couldn’t genuinely enjoy the game if I were one. I love this game that people call life from the bottom of my heart. So I’d like to continue to participate in it as a player forever and ever.”
“There’s no right answer. There’s only compromise.”
“Bureaucratic administration dominates the people through knowledge. Technical knowledge and practical knowledge: keeping that knowledge secret increases their superiority.”
“Rather than a system, isn’t it a huge prison? Panopticon: a facility that allows you to observe everyone at once. You can control the maximum number of prisoners with the minimum number of people.”
“There are some aspects of him I can understand. I don’t know anything about his past. But one thing I’m certain of is that there was a critical turning point in his life… the moment that he realized that he was idiosyncratic.”
“It’s not justice. It’s an obsession. Even though you know there are other, wiser ways to live, if you turn your back on it, everything you have built becomes a sham.”
“The ideal you imagine isn’t clear and firm enough to deny the social order achieved at this point.”
“It’s hard to investiage a site that’s been thoroughly messed up like this.”
“What would Mr. Kogami consider the most undesirable result?”
“Letting Makishima get away, right?”
“Then what would his second most undesirable result be?”
“Being found by us before he kills Makishima… perhaps.”
“Yes. Let’s think about things in that order.”
“You sure say some funny things. Solitude? Does that only apply to me? Who isn’t alone in this society? The time when our connection to others was the basis of our selves is long gone. In this world where everyone is watched over by the system and live within the system’s standards, a community isn’t necessary. Everyone just lives in their own cell, and the system tames them by giving them each their own personal serenity. ”
“Because it’s illegal. Because I can’t overlook a crime.”
“Why are you going that far to obey the law when that law can neither judge a criminal nor protect people?”
“The law doesn’t protect people. People protect the law. People have always detested evil and sought out a righteous way of living. Their feelings… The accumulation of those peoples’ feelings are the law. They’re neither the provisions nor the system. They’re the fragile and irreplacable feelings that everyone carries in their hearts. Compared to the power of anger or hatred, they are something that can quite easily break down. People have prayed for a better world throughout time. In order for those prayers to continue to hold meaning, we have to try our best to protect it to the very end. We just can’t give up on it.”
“If there ever comes a time when everyone feels that way, the Sibyl System will probably disappear.”
“Everyone is alone. Everyone is empty. People no longer have need of others. You can always find a spare for any talent. Any relationship can be replaced. I had gotten bored of a world like that.”
“Isn’t using the net just like using knives for cooking or using paper to write things down? It has nothing to do with good or bad. It’s like, it’s there, so we accept and use it.”
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