serial experiments lain > 08. RUMORS

Girl:
So, you want to be hurt too, do you?
Do you want your heart to feel like it's been scraped across with a rasp?
If you do, don't look away, whatever you do.



Taro:
Okay!
Nobody can be sure if there really is or not.
You see, for the most part, it doesn't really matter to the user if God actually exists in the Wired.
You asked them, they don't care.
Uh, hey, just a second there, Lain.
Before you go, let me take this guy off first.

Lain:
What's so fun about this, Taro?
All you've been doing is killing all the other players.

Taro:
Nobody really knows what's fun.
And so no one can really understand why?



Lain:
The name that was written on the door plate was "Tachibana General Laboratories."



Man's voice:
A company as big as Tachibana General Labs would never dream of doing anything illegal.
I've heard some rumors, though.

Lain:
Rumors?

Man's voice:
In the Wired, do you have any idea how we're able to exchange information like this?

Lain:
Oh, so you think you're testing me, huh?
I know you're talking about the IP, aren't you?

Man's voice:
Hahaha...
Sorry, you're right.
We really know the protocol's existence especially with the advanced levels.
However, this 6th-gen protocol has reached its absolute data throughput limit as far as we can tell.

Lain:
So, it's the 7th-gen protocol.

Man's voice:
Yes, the 7th-gen protocol.
Big companies are the ones making it into the new infrastructure.
You see, to control the protocol means to control the entire economy of the Wired without any interference.
I hear that there is constant sabotage attempts going on.
And the party behind all this is...

Lain:
Tachibana General Labs.



Lain:
You okay, Mika?

Mika:
I'm...
I'm...



Lain:
Mommy, daddy...
Can I ask...?
A while ago, some... somebody asked me a strange question.
They asked "Are you Lain Iwakura?"
And then, they also wanted to know "Are your parents really your parents?"
Isn't that funny?
It's funny, isn't it?
People say the funniest things, huh?
Right?



Lain:
Huh?
Oh, hi, Arisu!
Good morning.
What's wrong?
What's wrong, Arisu?
Tell me.

Arisu:
I don't know.
It's just I don't believe it.

Lain:
Huh?
What?
Believe what?

Arisu:
Lain, you didn't do it.

Lain:
D-Didn't do what?

Reika:
I'll bet she's been playing innocent all alone.

Arisu:
Reika! You don't know that for sure.

Juri:
Seriously, you mean to say it wasn't you, Lain?

Lain:
What... are you talking about?

Arisu:
Lain, in the Wired, did you... hm?
No, never mind.
Forget about it.
It couldn't have been you, Lain.
It's all right.
I trust you.
Okay?

Juri:
Ah, Arisu!

Hey, Arisu!



Man's voice:
It's just too dangerous.
We have to avoid approving any more bills.

Girl's voice:
I can't believe it.
How could such a nice guy get himself into such a collection of weird stuff?

Man's voice:
There's an extremely serious bug that has been detected in Protocol 6.
Damage caused by this may prove disastrous in the Wired.

Woman's voice:
You haven't heard the best part.
Every night a child-like person in a red and green striped sweeter appears in her room.

Man's voice:
When she was in high school, that pop singer hit someone with her boyfriend's car.
And then she just fled the scene.

Girl's voice:
I tell you that it's gotta be true.
I heard of the information firsthand.

Man's voice:
Hahaha...
The building's famous haunted spot, you know?
If you look at a terminal at night, internal e-mail shows up, but nobody is there.

Girl's voice:
The Knights don't exist.
Some American students started it as a joke.

Lain:
Shut up! Who cares about any of that.

Man's voice:
Don't you find any of it interesting?

Lain:
Huh?
Who's there?

Man's voice:
You're looking for me, Lain, aren't you?

Lain:
So God makes His grand entrance.

Man's voice:
But how do you define your god?
If it's the creator of the world, that's not me.
The all-powerful ruler of the world?
Sure, you were mistaken.
You give God too much credit.

Lain:
So then, where are you?

Man's voice:
Well, if you define God as one who exists everywhere in that other world out there.
Is that what you mean?
Then yes.
I suppose that you could call me that.
I have only a slight influence on the overall workings of the world, however.

Lain:
Who in the hell are you?

Man's voice:
I'm you.
Surely you must have realized it sometime.
That another you has always existed on its own terms here in the Wired.
You are merely a hologram of that other you.
You are a sentry, just a body.

Lain:
You expect me... to believe that?
Impossible... it's crazy.

Man's voice:
But you don't think that the you in the real world is the same as the one that's standing here in the Wired, do you?

Lain:
Well... No.
Because I'm me...
I'm me...


[B-Part]


Lain:
A... Arisu...?
Arisu... where are you?
Arisu...?
Arisu...?
Arisu... where are you?
Arisu... where are you?
Arisu...?



Lain:
What did I... What did I do?
What did I do in the Wired?
What's the other me doing while I'm sitting here?



Teacher:
Are you sure it is all right for you to be doing this with a teacher?

Arisu:
No, it's not.

Teacher:
So then, why are you doing it?
Won't you get into trouble?

Arisu:
Because I want to.
Huh!

Lain:
Shame on you, Arisu.
Say, do you have any idea who Arisu Mizuki likes?
And do you have any idea who she is thinking of when she plays with herself?

Arisu:
They were right!
It was you who told everyone, wasn't it?
The rumors that were going around school were true!
Lain!
You've always been sitting there quietly just watching me.
You saw what I didn't want anybody to know about.
When I didn't ever want anybody to see what I was doing in here.
And then when I...

Lain:
Hahaha!

Arisu:
Tell me, it can't be!
Lain, tell me!
Lain!
You deceived me!



lain:
Hahaha...

Lain:
Who are you?
You're not me.
There's just no way.
I'd never do the kind of things that you've been doing.

lain:
Oh, spare me.

Lain:
Just stop it!
Why are you acting like the part of me that I hate.
I wish you would just go away!
I'll kill you...

lain:
Look at me.
I'm committing suicide.
Hahaha...

Lain:
Why... Why are you so warm?
Why is it...? Why do I have to feel your body heat?
Is there no escaping you?

lain:
But how can you?
I'm Lain just like you are now, aren't I?

Lain:
No!

lain:
Hahaha...

Lain:
What the hell?
What are they?

Man's voice:
They're all you.
I said that you've always existed in the Wired, didn't I?

Lain:
Yes?

Man's voice:
You're exactly the same as me.
You're omnipresent in the Wired.
Forever.
Wherever anyone is, wherever they go, you have always been there.
You've watched what they didn't allow any of the others to see.
You've told everyone about it, that's all.
It was the right thing to do.
Don't worry.
The Wired's information should be shared, shouldn't it?

Lain:
All of it... all you've said... it's a lie.

Man's voice:
Why is that?

Lain:
Arisu and all of the others, they said that they saw me in the Wired when I know I wasn't there.
What really matter is that as long as I'm aware of myself.
My true self is always right here inside of me.
You're telling me that you've been passing of these dupes as me all along?
What a load of garbage!
If I'm really... If I'm really what you say I am, if I'm totally deluded then...

Man's voice:
Then what, Lain?

Lain:
All their memories of being seen by Lain... I could perhaps delete that information.

Man's voice:
That's true.
Give it a try.
You were born with that kind of power inside of you.



Arisu:
Lain!

Juri:
Hey Lain, wait up!

Lain:
Could they really have forgotten?
They forgot?

Arisu & Juri & Reika:
Lain!

Lain:
They really did!
Arisu!
Wh... What?
What the...?

Lain:
Arisu!
Hey, I wanna go to Cyberia today!
Come on, let's go!

Juri:
I second!

Reika:
This is unusual.

Arisu:
Sure!
We can get changed at my place again and go from there!

Lain:
Great!
Hahaha...
Hey, Arisu, what do you think I should wear?

Lain:
Stop it!
Arisu, I'm over here!
It's me!
I'm over here, Arisu!

Juri:
Come on, hurry up!

Reika:
Hey, wait for me.

Lain:
That's right.
It's just like you said, "Lain is Lain."
And "I am me."



Lain:
Hello, Navi.

Navi:
Hello, Lain.

Lain:
I am me, and the only me, right?
And there isn't any other me but me.
Isn't that right?


[ED]