“And you saw that?” [Golem] asked from the side as Ale continued doing her sacred mission of shoving food into her mouth trying to dodge the arm of [Fan Girl] who was still hugging her.

 

The older girl was no longer trembling and instead was keeping a steady rythm, Ale predicted that she was more than likely done with whatever she had been doing before, and was merely waiting to return to normal.

 

“And that ends our documental on the newest attack on our lovely city, the birth of a new shining star, the declaration from the brave minion that said she would not bend to the tyranny of those that claim to be heroes…and of course, further proof that [The Theater Master] deserves the title of a deuteragonist…This was Aqua, and we will be seeing you next time at the same time.” With that the lights returned and they saw once more the place, some minions groaned as the light came too soon.

 

But Ale noticed how [Fan Girl] disappeared for half a second only to reaper sitting as if nothing had happened; Ale didn’t even notice when she moved nor how she moved with such speed.

 

“[Detected a localiced flare of Mana disrupting the stability of the space near host, more study is required.]”

 

“Now with that out of the way, you may eat Minions,” [Vulcanus] said as he motioned towards the theater guy who then stood up from the table with the other [Lieutenants] and sat with [Vulcanus], one of the nearby black masks moved the food and then after the minion left, the theater master seemed to start talking with [Vulcanus].

 

Obviously, [Vulcanus] was not partaking in the festivities since he didn’t have a mouth to eat with. Such a flaw in the design…

 

“What’s on your mind Rhapsody?” [Fan Girl] asked from the side, her voice had returned to normal, even if Ale could feel a small tinge of Mana on how the voice was modulated, was she using her [Core Power] to speak?

 

Why?

 

“Was thinking that [Vulcanus] has a poor design on his body,” Ale said aloud; the minions nearby all stopped moving.

 

“Why do you think so?” [Fan Girl] asked nonchalantly, as if she hadn’t noticed how the other minions around them had stopped moving.

 

“Well, he can’t eat for starter.” Ale said as she turned to look around, searching for whatever had caused them to stop moving.

 

No sooner had she said those words than the minions around erupted in laughter. Had someone said something funny?

 

“....yeah, I can see that being a problem, what do you think fearless leader?” [Fan Girl] said amidst laughter.

 

“I can see that being a problem yes,” [Golem] said as he ate one small portion of food in one go, Ale could hear the crunch from the bones of the piece of meat that he had thrown into his mouth whole, “I can still taste some of the flavors here and there, but the more simple things do pass without a taste. Can’t imagine going without flavor.”

 

Oh right, [Golem] had joined with the intention of finding someone to fix his problem of going full inorganic right?

 

“That must suck, did they manage to find a minion with the correct core power yet?” [Fan Girl] asked while pulling some of the pasta in one of the bigger bowls into her own plate; she then grabbed a few of the chicken parts from the bowl near [Golem].

 

“Not yet, they are checking on if we can try one of the Mind Core users to see if this is more of a mental lock first, if they manage to get the right one we will test it.” [Golem] said as he pushed a whole canister of drinks into his mouth, then with one gulp he crushed it using his jaw and ate the thing whole.

 

It made Ale wonder if she could achieve something similar to that.

 

“[Not on the current setting, it would be possible by changing some of the facial structure, but then the visage of a Human would be lost.]”

 

“Ale…please don’t start to nom things like Alexa.” “Nom the world! Born to om, the world is nom!”

 

Ale was tempted, but decided against it, she was better than Alexa after all.

 

“Can’t Rhapsody do it?” [Fan Girl] asked suddenly pointing to Ale, “She did something similar before when fighting the Mind Core girl on her class, right?”

 

She did yes…

 

“We have thought about it, but the degree of modification that I need and the localized modification she did aren’t on the same level.” [Golem] said shaking his head, “Would you attempt it Rhapsody?”

 

“If I can get a target [Blueprint]...then yes.” Ale said slowly, “I do need a [Blueprint] to turn the matter into, it would be better if it was something you are used to. Or there is a risk of disassociation between your [Consciousness Stream] and your [Brain].”

 

Ale did not wish that upon anyone else, it was part of the reason she left the shifts to [Main Core] and to [Core], they seemed to have a knack for how to do it best.

 

“So you could do it?” [Golem] asked as he slowly turned his head toward her, “Could you return me my Humanity?”

 

Could she?

 

Ale didn’t think she could give such a thing to anyone else, it was debatable if she even had that to begin with, even if Main Core, P4, Core and even the goddamned asshole that was Alexanders said that she had it.

 

“I can attempt to, but the shift from nonorganic to organic can be harsh, we….Alexa…I mean… Body dysmorphia is a bitch.” Ale ended up saying, and as the words left her mouth her hand darted straight to her mouth to cover it.

 

When no one said anything, Ale sighed in relief, unsure about what had prompted that reaction, it seemed to be linked to her reflexes, “I need a target to attempt and change the material of your body into, and I don’t understand how [Core Powers] interact with the body quite yet, chances are your [Core] will just return you to this form again.”

 

“But you can do it,” [Golem] said again, this time more convinced of the fact.

 

“I can turn you into Alexa, Alexandra or myself right now yes.” Ale nodded, “Or at the very least attempt to do it, if you wish.”

 

Ale said that extending her hand towards Golem, her finger pointing at him. [Golem]... hesitated and retracted his arm away from her touch. Ale had made sure to leave a few centimeters of clearance between herself and [Golem].

 

“[Notice, changing of foreign material tied to another Core and Consciousness Stream has not been tested…]”

 

 

“[No evidence of such event or experiment was found within database.]”

 

Interesting…yet again.

 

Somehow [Core] seemed to imply that it was possible and that there was a way to increase the success rate, even though Main Core had not found evidence of such claims, nor had Ale found them, they didn’t have this [Core] for long, and Ale had access to pretty much every waking moment after Alexa left the installations. How could [Core] guarantee the success.

 

“I’ll…refrain from turning into a little girl,” [Golem] said finally after hesitating for a few minutes.

 

“Are you sure? She is kind of cute, and her adult form…it makes me wonder if being straight is worth it,” [Fan Girl] said from the side hugging Ale from behind and rubbing her masked face against Ale’s mask.

 

“What do you need to guarantee success? What do I need to get?” [Golem] asked in a lower tone.

 

What did she need?

 

“[Biomass] to fuel the transformation and [Energy],” Ale started with the easy one, “Around 200 kilograms of [Biomass] should be enough, as for [Energy]...around 20 kilograms of [Sugar] or a similar should be enough.”

 

Ale didn’t think she would need more than that.

 

“Easy enough to get, do you need the biomass thing alive? Or is frozen meat viable?” [Golem] asked in a somber tone.

 

“....What are you on about? Are you planning to kidnap some poor soul?” [Fan Girl] asked in a somewhat frosty tone.

 

What?

 

“Meat is meat, be it [Giant Rat] or [Burgers].” Ale said from the side, “I would rather it be dead, but if you want it alive it makes no difference to me.”

 

“Oh…and the blueprint thing? What is it? What do you need?” [Golem] said with some relief in his voice, what was the problem with using live or dead meat? Ale didn’t quite get the issues; if it was up to her, she would nab a few [Civilians] and use them since that way, she would need to make fewer things and could import them as is.

 

“If you have some [Genetic Material] from yourself before you triggered that would be fine, if not I can attempt to reverse engineer something from your body I guess?” Ale wasn’t sure if she could get some genetic samples from rocks from [Golem], but it was worth a try.

 

“Hmm….I do have…something, come close,” [Golem] said motioning for Ale to move closer, so she did.

 

They were sitting on the same table anyway, so moving her chair closer to [Golem] was easy enough.

 

“Sylph, can you give us some privacy?” [Golem] asked turning to [Fan Girl], she only shrugged and raised her hand upwards, with her index finger pointing up and in one smooth motion she pointed down.

 

The wind reacted to her movements and a curtain of wind surrounded [Golem] and Ale a few moments later, Ale couldn’t see anything from the other side, and she assumed no one else could see something from the other side.

 

It was quite an interesting phenomenon as Ale noticed that the sound was also isolated from the outside.

 

“Okay, this please keep it a secret, but…my body isn’t quite fully….inorganic,” [Golem] said as he raised his shirt and on his chest slowly the rocks started moving to the side, giving way to the internals…

 

Most of these looked petrified as if they had turned into rocks, but as they moved away, Ale noticed something. Something that she couldn’t quite believe she was seeing, for at the back of a metal plate…

 

“[Detected organic material, studying…]”

“[Categorized, heart. Vena Cava, Vena Aorta….]”

“[Veins connected to crystal component…Should not sustain life…more study is required.]”

 

[Golem]’s Heart was connected to a group of crystals growing around it, and from these crystals, blood flowed out…and flowed in.

 

“[Detected high pressence of Mana…]”

“[Notice, detected pressence of Core.]”

 

“This is what you could call the last figments of my body. This is my Heart and I guess you could call my Core?” [Golem] said pointing at his own beating Heart. “I keep it safe by growing and placing the hardest metals I can find around, before it was steel. But after coming here I keep some durasteel around it, for safe keeping you know.”

 

“....Yes….That should work…” Ale said as her eyes traced the impossible things that she was seeing; biological beings didn’t work like that; not even at her peak using [THE CRAB] had P4 managed to fuse organic and inorganic like that.

 

Her organic functions did interact in some degree with her inorganic functions, but it wasn’t quite like this.

 

“May…may I?” Ale asked as she removed her gloves.

 

“Just try to not poke the important bits if you can,” [Golem] said, his voice still sounded firm, but Ale could see his [Heart] accelerate, so that was proof enough that he wasn’t quite unflippable as he pretended to be.

 

“Sure, I just need a few samples…” Ale said as she extended her hand slowly towards the interior of [Golem], “If it helps you may want to look away,”

 

Ale didn’t mind him seeing, but still say so, mostly because if she wanted to not disturb the organs she would need to use the wiggles, and if [Fan Girl] reaction was something to go by, [Humans] didn’t quite like the wiggles.

 

“Okay, just tell me when you are done,” [Golem] ended up saying as his stony face closed his eyes and turned to look towards the ceiling.

 

“It will be fast, Main core…please point the most efficient targets,” Ale said aloud, mostly for [Golem]’s benefit.

 

“[Highlighting most optimal sites for biopsy, highlighting Core within Human Designation: Golem for study.]”

 

That was the most important bit, Ale’s fingers elongated and then slowly turned into very thin tendrils, one by one they grew and latched into [Golem]’s exposed vitals. One went straight towards the beating Heart.

 

That one extracted some cells and isolated them as they retracted back.

 

The next two tendrils went towards [Golem]’s artery and veins, one towards the blood that came in, one towards the blood that left, both took a sample of said blood and retracted after isolating it.

 

Ale systematically went and picked a small sample from every organic component she found; soon, she had almost everything she needed, and as far as she could see, [Golem’s Heart] had calmed down to a steady rhythm of 59 beats per minute.

 

Now it was the hard part, “I’ll now take some of the nonbiological samples; this will be a little more forceful.” Ale said aloud to [Golem], to his credit he didn’t flinch as hard.

 

“Go for it, anything you take I can replace it later, if you need to cut some of the meaty bits go for it. I’d rather you take a chunk if it means that I get a normal body faster.” [Golem] answered.

 

“I have enough biological samples already; anything more will not make it easier,” Ale answered back; really, why was he so desperate to cut parts of his important bits? Didn’t he have self-preservation?

 

“[Highlighting important areas, host may proceed with the biopsy.]”

 

In Ale’s vision, new areas started shining to her eyes, some parts of the crystal growing and below the [Heart], a small marble that was surrounded by meaty tendrils that pulsated at the same rhythm as [Golem]’s Heart.

 

His [Core].

 

Ale’s tendrils first took material from the immediate area of [Golem]’s meaty bits, then a little farther away, and she continued in this manner till she got to the exterior; at that point, she doubted there would be anything new.

 

That was the easy part, the next? It promised to be more dangerous.

 

She hadn’t found [Stellar’s Core] when she made the [Blueprint] for Alexandra’s body, she hadn’t found it when checking on Meli-Meli, nor when interacting with [Fan Girl], so far she hadn’t found evidence of anyone else having a [Core]. But here? right now?

 

She could actually see the condensation of Mana within [Golem’s body], and now…she would attempt to take a sample.

 

“Main Core, be ready for combat situation, prepare countermeasures.” Ale sent inwardly and turning to [Golem] she said, “This will be the last sample, this one may…sting a little.”

 

“Go for it, I’m ready.” [Golem] answered instantly.

 

Ale doubted he was ready but nodded nonetheless, “Here goes nothing,” And in that tone Ale sent her group of tendrils, she had moved almost all her tendrils to move near the [Core], and without hesitation she fused five of them into a drill and sent it at the [Core].

 

“Khuu-” [Golem] strangled a scream and Ale retrieved her tendrils as fast as she could as [Golem]’s chest closed before her eyes, Ale jumped backward as far as she could as [Golem]’s body seemed to spasm.

 

“Everything okay there?” [Fan Girl]’s voice sounded as Ale’s body hit the wall of wind and pierced it on the middle of her jump.

 

Ale had forgotten that thing was there, “Yes, you can lower that thing.” Ale said as [Fan Girl] did just that.

 

Looking around Ale noticed how most of the minions near them had vacated the area, people had moved away from them and weren’t looking at them, that seemed…oddly convenient.

 

“They decided to give you both some privacy when I asked them,” [Fan Girl] said with a shrug.

 

“Of course we will give privacy, especially if you throw one of those wind cutters my way!” One black-masked minion shouted from the far end of the room.

 

That one had very good hearing.

 

“Shut it Karl!” [Fan Girl] screamed back, “Is the big guy okay?”

 

“...I think so,” Ale said turning to look at the wind cocoon.

 

“Yes, I’m fine…” [Golem] said as he walked out of the thing, he had once again his shirt on, and while his stony face didn’t betray his feelings, Ale couldn’t help but feel that he seemed to be….hurt. “Didn’t expect that to hurt, hadn’t felt pain in quite some time, sorry about that Rhapsody….did you got enough? or do you need another try?”

 

“Don’t do anything that can incriminate us too, we know you are rock hard-” The voice was suddenly drowned as a gust of wind hammered down at the far end.

 

“Shut it Karl!” Screamed [Fan Girl] once again as she turned to look at her and [Golem], “Ignore him, he is drunk, so…what is the verdict? Can you do it?”

 

Could she do it?

 

“I need to study these and see if I can get a working [Blueprint],” Ale said, looking inwardly to the samples she had now hiding in her arm; she hadn’t started her analysis quite yet, “And I may need a couple arms.”

 

“Why do you need weapons for?” [Fan Girl] asked confused. “Aren’t you going to school tomorrow?

 

“Not those weaponry, I have enough of my own make,” Ale said shaking her head, “Actual arms, maybe one or two freshly harvested. Does it hurt you if I take one of your arms later?”

 

Ale would need to practice in a smaller sample before attempting the full body reversion after all, and what better target than one arm or two. Maybe if she managed to do it right she could harvest a couple kilograms of meat for her dinner even!

 

But she would first need to make sure [Golem] was tasty, it wouldn’t do to eat a rocky meal after all.

 

“It should be fine, any inorganic part I lose regrows on their own later and when I have lost arms they turn into normal rocks after a few minutes,” [Golem] answered as he tapped his arm, “You can have as many as you need, hell, if you can manage to return me to normal I won’t mind you stabbing me again…I don’t know what you took a sample of, but that hurt as if you had carved through my Soul.”

 

…

 

“Come on big boss, Rhapsody is a little girl, no way she could hurt you that bad,” [Fan Girl] laughed at the expression.

 

But Ale did not, she was not sure what a [Soul] was on this setting, but she could guess that it had something to do with the [Consciousness Stream] and if [Golem] had his housed like Alexa had done with hers... then his was within his [Core] too. And Ale had indeed carved something from there.

 

So the wording was quite unfortunate in this example, for Ale had quite literally carved through this theoretical [Soul].