Kaijin no Karashrer: Glossary

The Finished World

The world that has already ended.

The world died for some reason on the day when the Pillars, also known as the Mega Engine Clocks, stood up in various places.

Civilizations disappeared. Nations have disappeared. Cities have disappeared. All humans, animals, and plants have disappeared. In the two years leading up to the novel, the few remaining humans, animals, and plants were all mowed down by the Cyber Zombie. This world is dead. It's all over. Only one life is left behind.

Factor

What led to the world's end?

Memories of the few survivors are mixed up, and even the mechanical records are unclear about it.

No clear answer has been derived.

There have been various speculations about it, mainly among the surviving Scholars that it was caused by an underwater temple that appeared in the Southern Pacific or that it was caused by countless machine titans, but those who have already said such things have been killed by the Cyber Zombie.

Engine

A machine that served as the cornerstone of civilization prior to the world's end. Its origins came from a power Engine invented in 1690. It is that which powers all Engines, a computer that can perform advanced calculations, an information processing device, and is the very cornerstone of prosperity across the world. It is a combustible Engine, and the larger the Engine, the greater the output.

Scholar

An honorary title for notable scientists. They are considered to be a rare human resource responsible for the development of humanity, and are always respected.

Ruins

All parts of the city in the world are in ruins. However, there are some whose lifeline have been maintained, Most of these places have been maintained to masquerade as "living tows and private homes" for Cyber Zombies to use in luring any survivors, but sometimes these places have been maintained by Megadynes. Whenever Gene saw a light from there, she'd approach it with the thought of "there might be someone living there" and "it could be a place where Gene can live". Kyrie would always stand by Gene's side in these sorts of things, even if he knew that the one there is a fang-bearing Cyber Zombie.

Death of Physical Laws

In a world that has ended, even the laws of physics are dead. The most obvious one are the Cyber Zombie.

They are abnormalities of steel that transform and grow large by ignoring the law of energy conservation, activating itself by ignoring the law of gravity, turning inorganic matter that can't be dissolved into an incomprehensibly thick ooze, and eventually alter the rules of matter around them. By the end, they rot away and turn the land into one where the laws of physics are "dead".

Gene has also assumingly referred to this "Death of Physical Laws" as "pollution", where Humans are incapable of setting foot on land that has been highly polluted and where the death of physical laws prevails.

Machine Zombie (Cyber Zombie)

Abnormally-looking monsters that appeared the day after the world ended.

Their goal is the annihilation of any living beings that have survived the world's end.

They normally appear like humans, but this is nothing more than mimicry. The true nature of these monsters are that they are truly monstrous, distorted steel machine devices whose sole objective is to exterminate any living thing in their territory with their abnormally aggressive nature. Physical effects from anything other than a Cyber Zombie do not apply.

In place of artificial intelligence, there were some who advocated the theory that the brains of the machines were imbued with the soul of the deceased, but those lives have been lost in the past few years. Naturally, they were killed by the Cyber Zombie.

In this world where all forms of life have been destroyed, the Cyber Zombie reign over as though they are the masters of the world, but they are not living things and have no life. In losing the warmth of their skin, the radiance in their eyes, the loss of their flesh, they simply groan in a world where even the laws of physics are dead. Over the past few years, the remaining plants and animals have been cut down. 

Cyber Zombies also have strange laws. The biggest example of which is "there is only one Cyber Zombie in one town." Meaning for every city that is in ruins, there is always a Cyber Zombie.

Additionally, there are no two Cyber Zombies who are identical to each other. Both the human-like appearance and true form of a Cyber Zombie are always different from one to another.

At present, the number of Cyber Zombies who have completed their objective in exterminating life have drastically been reduced. However, should any life were to appear in their surroundings, the remaining Cyber Zombie would resume their activities and attack.

Machine Doll (Megadyne)

The crystallization of cutting-edge technology that was being developed prior to the world's end. It was still under development, thus not many were made. Even at the time of the world, not many would have known the existence of Megadyne. 

Many of them are humanoid, and based on the three principles made by a famous scholar at the time, they were given the role of preserving humanity and assisting human activities. Most Megadynes have mechanical parts that are easy to identify, but there are few who have an appearance that are "fully humanoid" where they have an appearance that closely resembles that of a human. 

Most of the Megadyne that were still active after the world's end had some sort of flaw. Megadyne and Cyber Zombie share similarities in several aspects such as the driving mechanisms of their joints, the format of their pseudo-nervous system, and the elaborate artificial skin trait of "full humanoids".

Mega Engine Clock/Evil Pillars (Karashrer)

At the world's end, a total of thirty three gigantic, strange objects pierced the planet's core and stood all over the world. Although their appearance closely resembles that of an old "grandfather clock", its size is unusual as it ranges from a mile (1.6 kilometers) long, to a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) long. Their origin is unknown. Their material is unknown. The hands point exactly at the 0 hour and do not move.

Gene has vaguely recognized this as "the hands that stopped on the 0 hour marks the end of the world".

Clock Hand Fragment

The so-called clock parts such as the minute hand, hour hand, second hand, gears, and so on. They are always black in color.

Their appearance greatly resembles that of the Mega Engine Clock, but their origins are unknown. When Kyrie would find himself in a predicament during a battle, it would suddenly appear before him as if it had been there from the start. In reality, however, this appears in even in places where nothing existed there before that.

It is a cursed fragment that brings Kyrie's body closer to that of a Cyber Zombie.

Cracking Light

A special light that is emitted by a select number of weapons that can destroy the Cyber Zombie. As it's not an optical light, it can't be reproduced in images recorded by photographic equipment. Weapons capable of emitting this light often takes the form of an optical device such as a laser oscillator. 

Expanded Transformation (Paradigm)

When a Cyber Zombie's will, one that seeks to annihilate life, is heavily suppressed, their killing intent swells considerably, their ego (or something of the sort) vanishes, and the Cyber Zombie transforms into an even more abnormal form. The Cyber Zombie in question, having taken on the appearance of a "demonic" figure depicted in religious paintings that existed in the past, have become beings that transcend the laws of physics, with their offensive and defensive capabilities becoming greatly enhanced.