Absolute Dweller

At that moment, the black spot was still small.

However, the fact that its size was subtly increasing was troubling.

“Ari.”

[Yes, Master.]

“How long will it take for that to reach Earth?”

[Please wait a moment. All cameras are currently focused on Earth, so there is insufficient data on the target.]

It didn’t take long for Ari to finish the calculations.

[Observation of the target completed.]

[Data analysis in progress.]

The data analysis was not just based on real-time observations but also included past accumulated data.

Images captured by the robots conducting the World Tree suppression operation, shots accidentally caught by drones or observation cameras, moments when people mentioned the black spot, and data from neglected celestial observation cameras, among others.

By analyzing the data that had accumulated over time, Ari was able to quickly draw conclusions.

[Analysis complete.]

And the reason Ari hadn’t reported this phenomenon until now was clear.

[Error. Error.]

[The target is moving at a speed of approximately 189C.]

[This appears to be a data error.]

Amidst the World Tree’s upheaval on Earth, Ari had been quite busy, but it seemed that it had judged the existence of the black energy itself to be impossible.

“189C? What does that mean?”

[It means 189 times the speed of light.]

[The target is currently expanding at a speed faster than the speed of light. This is an impossible figure. There seems to be a critical error in the data.]

A substance moving faster than the speed of light couldn’t exist.

[The likelihood of that actually existing is much smaller than the consistent errors found in the data observed so far. The phenomenon seems to be occurring in human species as well... a light distortion effect…]

Ari, despite being an AI, lacked imagination.

Because it operated strictly on rational thinking based on data, even though it had the data about the anomaly and the black energy, it couldn’t connect the two.

After all, the possibility of a substance moving 189 times faster than the speed of light was 0%.

That’s why it hadn’t reported it to me.

It was simply an error, something unimportant.

There were far too many things of higher priority.

On the other hand, Kim Da-bin immediately noticed the anomaly and reported it to me.

Imagination, intuition.

Even the perfect AI seemed to have its flaws.

“So, assuming that’s real, how long would it take for it to reach Earth?”

What was great about Ari was that it gave accurate answers to the questions I asked.

[Currently, there are 3 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes, and 58 seconds remaining.]

It was shocking.