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Inside the dim room filled with a girlish atmosphere, Madoka Kaname sat curled up on her bed, her body trembling slightly. She buried her face deep into her knees, as though trying to isolate herself from the outside world and forget everything that had happened today.
Nothing was right.
This was strange, wasn't it?
Mami Tomoe-senpai was dead.
That senior with the gentle smile, who had always treated everyone kindly...
Madoka Kaname gripped her arms tightly. A silent cry of grief screamed within her despair.
Ever since Mami Tomoe-senpai's death, everything had become abnormal.
Today, her best friend, Sayaka Miki, had also fallen and become a witch.
Who could have imagined that the witches who spread despair were once magical girls who spread hope?
The truth she had learned from Homura Akemi made Madoka Kaname realize just what kind of twisted spiral she had fallen into.
"May I come in? I have something to say."
A childish voice asked calmly.
Bathed in the moonlight outside the window was a strange creature with a cat-like body.
The curled-up Madoka Kaname trembled once more.
She bit her lower lip hard, desperately suppressing something, and replied in a lifeless voice,
"Was what Homura said true?"
The childish voice calmly stated a fact.
"Based on the information she revealed, there are no errors that require correction."
Madoka Kaname slowly raised her head.
The eyes that once shone with brightness and joy had become dim and lifeless.
Thinking of her friend's fate, she questioned it with tears already entering her voice.
"You deceived everyone. You made everyone become magical girls so they could eventually turn into witches..."
The white creature outside the window, known as Kyubey, swayed its fox-like tail and replied calmly,
"I hope you do not misunderstand. We did not do this out of malice toward humanity. Everything is for the continuation of the entire world—or more accurately, the lifespan of the entire universe, including Earth."
"Madoka Kaname, do you know the word entropy?"
"Using your human understanding, consider the energy source known as petroleum. Why is petroleum considered a non-renewable resource?"
"Petroleum originates from decayed organic matter. Oil deposits require hundreds of millions of years to form. Such a timespan is unimaginably long for humans, far exceeding the entire history of your species."
"The petroleum humanity uses is merely the accumulation of billions of years of Earth's history. Yet those billions of years of accumulation cannot sustain humanity's consumption for even a few centuries."
"Energy is lost whenever it changes form. Just as ice becomes water when heated, water becomes steam, and with further heating, becomes microscopic particles beyond the observation of ordinary lifeforms. The portion that cannot be observed is effectively indistinguishable from energy vanishing into nothingness."
"The total energy of the universe continually changes from order into disorder. This process is equivalent to energy evaporating in a one-sided manner and will likely continue until the end of the universe."
The strange creature's ruby-like eyes remained motionless.
"Our species has been searching for a form of energy not bound by the universal laws that humans call thermodynamics. The answer we found was the magic possessed by magical girls."
Kyubey's answer was effectively an admission of everything Madoka Kaname had accused it of.
"You... what exactly are you...?"
Her gaze became lost and confused.
At some point, Kyubey had already entered the room.
It continued explaining in its emotionless childish voice.
"Our civilization discovered technology capable of converting the emotions of intelligent lifeforms into energy. It involves what you call the soul."
"The irony is that our civilization appears to possess no such thing as emotions."
"After investigating intelligent species throughout the universe, we found humanity."
"Judging by the number of humans and your reproductive capabilities, the emotional energy generated by a single individual vastly exceeds the energy required for that individual's birth and growth."
"Isn't that wonderful?"
"A human being merely needs to live to possess such a capability. It is almost as though humanity exists to maintain the delicate balance of universal laws."
"Perhaps humans possess the ability to use emotions to gather disordered energy and transform it into ordered, usable energy."
"Put simply, the human soul is enough to overturn our civilization's understanding of entropy and become an energy source capable of offsetting the universe's entropy loss."
"According to our observations, the most efficient extraction of emotional energy comes from the transition between hope and despair experienced by adolescent girls."
"When magical girls like you reach the peak of emotional intensity and burn out in a manner that cannot be observed—or rather, transform into a 'Grief Seed'—an unimaginable amount of energy is released."
"Recovering that energy is the duty of us Incubators."
A shadow covered Madoka Kaname's eyes.
Tears slid down her cheeks under the moonlight as she asked in a trembling voice,
"Are we just disposable tools? Do you want us to die for your sake?"
Silence followed.
"...Countless civilizations coexist throughout this universe. Do you understand how much energy is consumed every single moment?"
"One day, humanity will leave Earth and become one of us."
"When that time comes, would you really be happy if all that remained was a resource-depleted universe?"
"From a long-term perspective, this cooperation is extremely beneficial to humanity as well."
"It's simple. Humans imprison criminals to maintain social stability, don't they? The two situations are fundamentally the same."
"Well... we ourselves cannot understand human emotions or morality, so we have no concrete understanding of what constitutes criminal behavior."
Madoka Kaname raised her head.
Gripping the bedsheet tightly, she shouted in a hoarse, hysterical voice,
"Don't say such ridiculous things!"
"Because of some absurd reason like that, Mami Tomoe-senpai died!"
"Sayaka had to go through something so horrible."
"This is too much... It's far too cruel..."
Kyubey seemed saddened that the person before it still failed to understand its mission.
It swayed slightly and tried another explanation.
"At the very least, we only form contracts after receiving your consent. In that regard, we have already shown considerable respect for humanity's wishes."
"Everyone was simply deceived, weren't they!?"
Madoka Kaname cried as she refuted it.
"That is precisely what I cannot understand."
"We never provided false information."
"When humans regret a decision that resulted from differences in understanding, why do they come to hate others for it?"
Kyubey calmly watched the trembling girl.
At that moment, Madoka Kaname finally realized that there was absolutely no possibility of mutual understanding between herself and Kyubey.
She muttered blankly,
"We can never understand each other. I can't accept your way of thinking at all."
Kyubey still attempted to persuade her.
"Human standards of value are what truly give me headaches."
"Humanity currently numbers 7.2 billion people and continues increasing at a rate of 1.4 individuals per second."
"Why do you become so disturbed over the death of a single individual?"
"The one standing here now is not even the original me."
"The original me was already killed by Homura."
"Apart from the inconvenience of replacing the body, we felt no abnormalities whatsoever."
Madoka Kaname calmed down and replied,
"If that's truly how you think, then you really are our enemy."
Kyubey flicked its tail.
"I came here to explain."
"I wanted you to understand how wonderful the results of your sacrifice would be."
"It seems that's impossible."
"Isn't that obvious?"
Kyubey leapt onto the windowsill.
Its red eyes, like those of a decorative doll, calmly looked down at Madoka Kaname.
"Madoka Kaname, one day you will become the greatest magical girl and then the most despairing witch."
"When that happens, we will obtain an unprecedented amount of energy."
"If you ever decide to die for the sake of the entire universe, come find me."
"I will always be waiting."
After speaking, Kyubey jumped from the window and disappeared.
Once again, the room was left with only the young girl trapped in confusion and helplessness.