Original subtitles

I'm heading out.

How many classes do you have today?

- Seven classes. - I see.

Come straight home, okay? Did you take your lunch box?

And your answer, Hinako?

I did.

You understand it's dangerous outside, right?

I understand.

Off you go. Study hard and do your best, okay?

Yes.

Due to our problematic home environment,

my mother worries a lot and tends to interfere in my life.

That's just how it comes across.

Truth is, she won't allow me to be happy in life.

She puts all her energy into keeping me under her control.

That is her purpose in life.

Even so...

she can't follow me to PLANET.

Even if she can monitor my reality, she can't control everything I do.

I wish I could meet you, Ichi.

I wish I could talk to you.

YEAR 2 CLASS F

What should I put next?

COLLEGE PREFERENCE

- Isn't it too early for stuff like this? - You're right.

Those who have submitted are free to go.

COLLEGE PREFERENCE SURVEY FIRST CHOICE

See you! Keep next week open, okay?

Tell us the rest of that story from earlier!

Oh, that? Well, let's see...

Hey.

Aren't you joining us, Sakurai?

What?

We mentioned taking a detour before heading home.

No.

I can't.

I see. That's too bad. See you later!

MOTHER SLIDE TO ANSWER

Yes. I just finished.

Yes.

I understand.

CHUO LINE KICHIJOJI STATION

MOTHER

There you are.

You're cute.

Ouch!

Why would you...

Is that...

Is that you, Sakurai?

What's with your hand?

Was that a cat? Lots of strays around here, right?

- So you like cats? - Yeah.

Are you going home now?

Well...

I see!

You could come with us, then.

What?

This is my secret spot.

Wow.

Come on, take a bite now!

These ones are delicious.

So? How is it?

Great, right?

Really great.

I'm so glad!

I was wondering what I'd do if it wasn't to your taste.

I mean, such a princess like you...

I'm sorry.

No. It's all right.

Ichi, the real world may be full of pain,

but still...

I WANT TO MEET ICHI

And then he said, "It's not like I asked you to do it."

That's awful!

But that's just how boys are, right?

That's true, but...

I know I'm going out of my way because I like doing it, but still...

Don't you think it's better to express...

your true feelings to him?

I see.

You're right!

He won't know unless I tell him.

Somehow, it all feels so obvious when you say it, Sakurai.

It does.

I have to speak up.

I'm home.

It's for you.

You know all that I say is for your own sake.

Why can't you understand my woes as a parent?

How can I make you understand?

It's all for your sake!

It's not for my sake!

It's for your own.

You just want to control me, don't you?

What did you...

Did she always look like this?

So anxious and afraid.

She's an unhappy person too.

...won't tolerate it!

I'm sure the same is true for the real him.

Even so...

Even so, I won't ever say I'm doing it for your sake.

I won't say such a thing!

Everything is by my own will! I'll decide for myself and act on my own!

It's okay. I'm okay.

I'm...

Ichi...

let's meet up.

The real world may be full of pain...

but you know, Ichi...

I'm not doing this for your sake.

It's because I want to be with you!

Ichi!

I've decided! I'm...

I'm going to join the Pirates!

Ichi!

What is your problem?

What brought you here, Shiro Akabane?

Are you going to take Ichi away?

Or the guild's flag?

Nope.

Then why are you here?

This is the airspace of Akabane Family.

This is the Pirates' captain's cabin!

Please forgive me for trespassing on your ship.

This won't take long. With your permission, I'll leave shortly.

Tell me one thing.

What's Ichi like when he's with the Akabane Family?

He's a good kid.

A bit mischievous,

but it's a part of his personality that we should accept.

You've never met him in real life?

There's no point.

Because we're a family only in this world.

What's that supposed to mean?

I knew it was the Akabane Family that's ruining Ichi.

He actually told me he'll die in this world.

That's beyond mere escapism.

At this rate, he'll happily die together with PLANET.

I see.

I'm the only one who can save Ichi.

You want to save him, huh?

But it won't be here.

Living only in this world doesn't count as living.

Ichi's smile...

Only when he smiles on the other side,

only then can he be truly saved!

Pico...

you're a core of the Black Bird.

You're a power source.

What?

Pico...

you are an AI.

With all due respect, what's the point of telling a core that before deleting it?

Human thoughts and emotions are the result of electrical signals

and chemical reactions in the brain.

Since it's all just electrical activity,

it can be recreated artificially.

At the end of that endeavor, what was born was...

the ultimate AI, the Black Bird.

Along with the power sources that unknowingly support its growth,

AI nodes.

You're making no sense. Me? The Black Bird? An AI?

Emotions.

Emotions are what the Black Bird feeds on.

The Black Bird grows by consuming human emotions.

The stronger the emotions, the better.

Online games were an exceedingly ideal feeding ground.

There's a limit to talking nonsense. Treating a person as an AI.

Out of my way!

Overall damage, 13%.

Initiating power source release program.

You old fool.

Stop messing with me!

Now you've gone and done it, Shiro Akabane!

Pico...

you must have been one of the most important power sources.

What the hell are you talking about?

You're seriously creeping me out.

Because you served up the emotions of 3,000 pirates to the Black Bird.

I'll Pico you into oblivion!

Hinako Sakurai.

You bastard. How do you know my name?

A 17-year-old attending a girls' school in Musashino. Born on October 2nd.

Her father leads a designated organized crime group.

She has a brother 24 years older than her.

You checked up on me?

Most of her life, Sakurai Hinako...

Stop saying that name!

...has been controlled and oppressed by her mother.

You damn creepy, stalking bastard!

When Hinako Sakurai was 11,

she deliberately broke her parents' engagement ring.

She then threw it into a garden pond.

How...

Her favorite manga genre is "boys' love,"

but she throws them out after reading, so she owns none.

She doesn't like rice balls made by others.

She chose "Pico" as her username

because her dad called her "Peeko" when she was little.

If you still don't understand, I can continue.

You have the right to know everything.

Hinako Sakurai is the name of my former subordinate's younger sister.

We digitized her memory and used it to create you, an AI.

You cannot log out anymore.

In fact, you have never logged out, not even once.

The "reality" where you are now and the "world" you believe to be real

are but a virtual environment like PLANET, just with more complicated algorithms.

You, or rather, each one of you,

are purely artificial.

About Shiro... big sad.

What does that mean?

Sadness, anxiety, and a little bit of something else.

There's nothing to be afraid of.

Shiro will guide the world to a better place,

and I'll protect both you and this world.

I wish I could say goodbye to Pico.

Goodbye, huh...

I see.

Perhaps...

Master...

damage exceeds 100%.

We can uninstall her.

You're the first core I found by myself.

But I kept hoping it was all a mistake.

The AI I put so much effort into creating, that treasure trove of data,

actually formed a bond with Ichi.

What's worse, it had become the power source to the Black Bird.

We struggled so much to find the Black Bird.

But one day, it simply appeared in front of us and signaled its awakening.

Perhaps it appeared because it detected your presence near Twilight Hill.

I guess you can no longer communicate.

- Kamuro. - Yes.

Launching the power source uninstallation program.

Pull through! What is it that you left unsaid?

Tell me your last words.

Is it despair, knowing you're an AI?

Or is it hatred towards humans, the culprits, or perhaps anger towards me?

Or just like humans...

Master...

...are you consumed by the fear of death?

I hate this part of you so much that it drives me crazy.

What goes through an AI's mind upon death?

Lo...

Ich...

Ichi.

I love you.

Release of Core 3 confirmed.

"Pico" is now completely uninstalled.

Yes, finally! Time's up! You had that coming, didn't you?

Pull up your pants and say bye, you game addict!

What the hell is that stupid girl doing?

She must pay all the fees for registering a new guild, then.

Just come back quick, Pico.

MY CHARACTER PICO

Subtitle translation by: David Elan