dispassioned | From AiB episode 2.06

[The memory opens in what appears to be a courtroom and the first thing you notice is the smell. It stinks. The stench of sulfur and burned flesh and blood permeate the room.

At the center are five tables arranged in a pentagon, with large scales arranged above each of them. At three of tables are human remains. Dead bodies burned and melted by acid. One of them is fresh, acidic smoke still wafting up from it.

At one of the remaining tables is Chishiya, strapped to a chair with a digital tablet in front of him. Sitting at the table opposite him is an older man in a suit and glasses.]

Chishiya: [Looking tired and fed up, his attention still on the smoking body] You know, she said the value of everyone's life isn't equal. I wonder if she still thought that just before she died.

Kuzuryu: Have you seen the underside of this world with your own eyes? Infants die because they can't get antidiarrheics that cost mere pennies. Little girls are sold to pay off their parents debts. All the people who can't escape the never ending cycle of poverty.

[Chishiya turns his attention more fully to Kuzuryu, looking intrigued]

Computer: A new rule will be added. When someone chooses 0, whoever chooses 100 will be the winner.

Chishiya: I see. Since the result is always the average multiplied by 0.8, as long as there are just two of us, whoever chooses the lower number will win. In other words, if you keep choosing 0, you'll win for sure. But thanks to this new rule, everything is fair now. If one of us chooses 0, the other will win if they choose 100. But if a person predicts that will happen and chooses 100, then the other person will choose 1. Those are the only three choices if you want to win this game. Now it's fair and simple, a toss up between 0, 1 and 100.

[He somehow manages to sound both apathetic and amused as he continues.]

Chishiya: But I can't choose the same number as you even once if I want to win. I'm still in a difficult bind.

[Kuzuryu says nothing]

Chishiya: You know, you seem desperate to make things fair. What's making you do that?

Kuzuryu: Tell me, if you had one million doses of a life saving vaccine, which one million people would you save?

Chishiya: I see. Now I understand. It's not that you're trying to measure the value of life. You don't want to have to measure the value of a life.

Kuzuryu: Yes. I don't know what makes one life more valuable than another. A life that's worth saving and a life that's not…what is the difference between the two?

[Kuzuryu sighs a little before continuing]

Kuzuryu: So, how would you answer my question? I'd very much like to hear the answer from someone like you.

Chishiya: I'd give them to children without parents or money.

Kuzuryu: How unexpected.

Chishiya: That’s what I would try to do. But ultimately it's money that talks. If you've got money, it's very easy to end the lives of poor children. I know you've seen that world with your own eyes, haven't you?

Kuzuryu: Yes, I have. Since a certain company wouldn't pay a settlement, people died because they couldn't receive proper treatment.

Chishiya: [with obvious bitterness] Then you know, there's no such thing as fairness or equality in this world.

Kuzuryu: [emphatically] Because there isn't…Isn't that why we should fight?

[Chishiya is quiet but seems affected. Intrigued, troubled, pensive. Like this thought has struck a nerve. It takes him a moment to respond]

Chishiya: [taking a deep breath] Very Interesting. I think I may have come to this land just so I could play this game with you.

[Kuzuryu says, again, says nothing]

Chishiya: [after a pause] I'm choosing 100.

Kuzuryu: [shocked, suspicious] What are you up to?

Chishiya: [looking a little unhinged, like he might be half a step away from a total mental breakdown.] A little assistance.

Kuzuryu: Are you insane? If I know you'll choose 100, the only way you can survive is if I choose zero!

Chishiya: [Looking Kuzuryu in the eye, taking a breath] Mine is a life that is charging headlong toward death. Does this life have value or not? I'd like for you to decide.

[Kuzuryu looks perplexed, Chishiya offers a bland smile that has a definite edge to it. He’s expecting to die. They make their choices.]

Computer: Time had expired. Here are the results for Round 13. The winner is Chishiya-sama.

Chishiya: [incredulous, almost angry] Did you seriously choose zero?

[The acid bath in the scales above Kuzuryu's head fills a little more]

Computer: Round 14 will now start.

[Chishiya chooses 100 again, Kuzuryu chooses 0]

Computer: The winner is Chishiya-sama.

Chishiya: Each of us only have 1 point left. The next round will be the last one.

Computer: Round 15 will now start.

Chishiya: How about it? Can you decide? If you won't decide for yourself, then just kill me. That's a fair rule, right?

Kuzuryu: You think I am unable to decide. Was that the reason you lured me into this tie?

Chishiya: I simply want to know what the last number you choose will be.

[He chooses 100 again and picks up his tablet to show Kuzuryu]

Chishiya: If you choose 1, you will win.

Kuzuryu: I don't understand the value of life or its meaning. I'm sure I won't be able to make that decision in the future either. But what I need to do now is…

[He makes his choice]

Computer: Here are the results for Round 15.

Chishiya: I see you've decided that determining the value of a life isn't your decision.

Kuzuryu: For my ideals.

Computer: The winner is Chishiya-sama. There is a participant who has -10 points. The game is over for this participant.

Chishiya: What happened to your usual wry look?

Kuzuryu: At last, I think I've been able to decide how I want to live. It's thanks to you.

[The acid bath scale tips, Kuzuryu dies. Chishiya appears, numb, disappointed]

Chishiya: It feels a little unfair. It's like you won and quit on me. I envy you.

[The belt that’s been holding him in the chair unlocks and he’s able to unstrap himself to leave. He stands and takes one more look around the room, before heading out, the memory fading as he leaves.]