Infinite Dendrogram - Volume 16 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories

Pandemonium

2044

This was back when Triangle of Wisdom was just another one of the many crafting clans in Dryfe. In their wooden shack — the workshop where their few members were trying to make humanoid robots a reality — there currently stood just two Masters.

“Hey, Fran, there’s somethin’ I’ve been meaning to ask ya.”

“What is it?”

The two people speaking were the clan’s test pilot, AR-I-CA, and the clan’s leader who also served as their project supervisor, Franklin. Since they were the clan’s top pilot and engineer, they often conversed with each other, sometimes alone and sometimes joined by the clan’s accountant — a lady named “Hohlheim.” When there was no one but the three of them around, Franklin spoke in a manner quite similar to Francesca’s; their conversations covered many topics ranging from work to completely random things, and this was yet another such exchange.

“It’s about the monsters ya make with your Pandemonium. Do they count as undead?”

“Hm...? Ohh, you mean, since I use monster materials? As in...corpses?”

Pandemonium was, of course, Franklin’s Embryo — a factory that produced monsters based on the materials placed into it.

It grew larger with every evolution, and was now so large that he had to go out of his way to find a flat expanse of land with no people around to summon it.

If it was this huge in its fifth form, it was hard to imagine how big it would become as it evolved.

Since Franklin could be attacked outside of Vandelheim, producing monsters was now a stressful affair. At that time, he wondered how much a patch of land near Vandelheim would cost, wishing that Pandemonium could walk or at least be cloaked.

As shown by history, by mid-2044, the clan ended up becoming large enough for them to buy the needed land, and when Pandemonium evolved into its seventh form after the turn of the year, it gained optical camouflage as well as legs.

“I know what you’re trying to say, AR-I-CA,” said Franklin. “Pandemonium makes monsters from monster bones and dead flesh, and you want to know how and why is that any different from the creation of undead like skeletons and zombies.”

“Yep-yep,” said AR-I-CA, visibly happy that Franklin had instantly understood her.

“The difference is in the creature type and creation,” said Franklin.

“...Hmm?” AR-I-CA raised an eyebrow. The answer was not quite what she wanted to hear, but from Franklin’s perspective, there was no better way to put it.

“Making undead involves this energy called ‘grudge,’ but I really don’t know much about it yet,” Franklin continued, admitting that the details were currently beyond him. “And even if I wanted to find out more, we don’t have any Necromancers in our clan.”

“...Well, they don’t seem like the type to care about robots. Hell, I don’t think we got a lot of ’em here in Dryfe to begin with.”

“Mhm. I’ll probably never get involved with them, anyway.”

That eventually turned out to not be the case. Franklin would eventually hire King of Tartarus to help in his attempts to develop grudge engines, and that same grudge would be the reason Ray Starling would eventually shatter his plans. This dark energy would eventually affect Franklin’s life much more than he could have ever imagined on that day, conversing casually with AR-I-CA.

“So what are your monsters, anyway?” AR-I-CA asked.

“Well... Do you know Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus?”

“Mhm. I do.”

“Without getting into specifics, the monster in that novel was made by gathering parts from other creatures, combining them to create a body resembling the animals the materials were sourced from, and bringing it to life. That’s more or less what I do.”

“Isn’t that like a flesh golem? As in, an undead?”

“My monsters don’t have grudge, or even a soul. They just have some directive programming ‘burned’ into their brain cells... Which sort of makes them more like robots made of flesh. Oh, but...”

“‘But...?’”

“If I use lots of material from undead, I can make undead out of the residual grudge.”

“It all depends on the mats, huh? So you can make anythin’ the mats let ya make?”

“That’s mostly accurate. I definitely can’t make angels, though. The creature type has an entry in the info menu, but there has never been even a single sighting. I can’t make a creature type without the necessary materials.”

Even if creatures of the angel type did have a habitat somewhere, it’s location was completely unknown.

“Angels, huh...? I wonder if they’re winged and naked! You think they’re kinda horny too...?!”

“...It’s very obvious what you’re thinking, but if succubi wear clothes, I’m pretty sure angels would too.”

Slightly shocked by his friend’s blasphemous words, Franklin brought up a familiar comparison.

In the country of Dryfe stood the created dungeon called “Lust-Devil Palace.” Home to many succubi-like creatures of the devil type, it was a treacherous place no one had cleared yet in spite of the many Masters who had repeatedly tried to do so — and the reason behind their dedication should have been obvious.

It was also worth noting that, since necessary materials harvested from succubi were reasonably available on the market , Franklin could, if he felt like it, actually make that type of monster himself.

“Lack of materials is the reason I never made yokai, either.” Franklin continued. “I heard there’s plenty of them in Tenchi and Huang He to the east, but you never see them here. I’d have to import the materials to make them, but I need a lot to make a monster, so I can’t even imagine how much that would cost...”

“For somethin’ that looks like it can do anythin’, Pandemonium sure has a lotta limits...” AR-I-CA commented.

The Embryo seemed to have a high degree of freedom, but since it depended on the materials provided to it, Pandemonium ultimately had many restrictions. One could say that it was the pinnacle of Embryos that relied on external Resources.

As they talked about monsters and Pandemonium, AR-I-CA began wondering about something and asked, “By the way, Fran, ya compared yourself to Frankenstein, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“Frankenstein’s monster learned human words and culture, didn’t he? What would you do if the things you made gained intelligence or self-awareness?”

If that were to happen, they would stop being “biological robots” and become “living beings.”

AR-I-CA wanted to know what Franklin would do if that possibility existed.

“I go out of my way to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Franklin said, his eyes slightly colder than before.

“That so?” AR-I-CA said, choosing not to ask for an elaboration.

Embryos were mirrors of their Masters. If Pandemonium was a reflection of Franklin’s true nature, AR-I-CA had no intention of prying any further. She could tell that — just like her own eye — Franklin had some baggage best left untouched.

They both had told each other about certain aspects of their real lives, but neither of them tried to tread on the other’s deepest secrets.

“There’s tons of stuff involved, huh?” AR-I-CA said.

“I would say so,” nodded Franklin.

They enjoyed and found comfort in each other’s presence, but never overstepped each other’s boundaries.

This friendship of theirs continued for a long time...

...Right until the day AR-I-CA ruined it all.