Ahrina was calmly letting her robot push a cart with a pile of posters on it along the corridors in the silver city as her step-counter reached its target. Stopping next to one of the walls, she picked up a roller covered in glue and painted over the back of the poster that was on top of the pile. 

With the help of a pair of tweezers, Ahrina carefully picked up the poster and placed it on the wall. After flattening it out with a clean roller, she took a step back and appraised her work that stood out like a sore thumb in the otherwise cold and perfectly empty corridor.

Conclusion: Perfect.

As she continued pushing the cart, Ahrina reviewed the progress of her current scheme. Satisfied that the groundwork was being laid out according to her schedule, Ahrina continued setting up posters on her way to Morpheus’ workshop. After setting up another poster on his door for good measure, Ahrina entered and was met with the cheerful angel. 

“Ah, my dearest niece!” (Morpheus)

Ahrina tilted her robot’s head after she composed a response. “Am I not your only niece, uncle Morpheus?”

“That is so!” Morpheus agreed with a large smile on his face as he put his fists on his hips. “Huah! Huah! Huah!”

Ahrina analyzed the angel’s fake laugh. “You’re learning, but need to be more confident! Laugh with your chest! Like this: Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

“I see! HUAH! HUAH! HUAH!” (Morpheus)

“Are you coughing or laughing!? I said more confident, not more loud!!” Ahrina retorted. “Confidence is silent!”

“Oh…” Morpheus scratched the back of his head. “...Doesn’t that mean I shouldn’t laugh at all?”

Conclusion: Baka. 

After re-instructing the angel on how to laugh to the point she was satisfied that Morpheus had learned the difference between laughing confidently and laughing loudly, she began her innocent probing. “Uncle Morpheus, I have a question! Who were the people who drew up the armistice?”

Morpheus' eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected question before accepting the bribe - a steaming cup of coffee - Ahrina presented to him. “I believe Sophelia voiced our side. She would be the only one with the necessary wisdom besides our Father, and our Father would likely find such a task…below himself? Though Sophelia likely presented it to him for approval.”

Conclusion: As expected.

“I see.” Ahrina made her robot tilt its head. “Then, do you think Amara should learn forbidden knowledge?”

“Pfft!” As Ahrina saved the recording and sent a GIF-file to be replayed on-screen in Amara’s workshop, Morpheus wiped his chin. “...No, I don’t think the champion should pursue forbidden knowledge. It is forbidden for a reason, and I believe the danger it poses will outweigh whatever the champion stands to gain.”

“I see!” Ahrina replied cheerfully. “Thank you, uncle Morpheus! See you later!”

Morpheus’ expression quickly turned sad. “You’re going already?”

“I have work to do!” Ahrina gestured to the cart filled with posters. “But I’ll be back again soon!”

Morpheus nodded with a gentle smile. “Alright. You’re always welcome here.”

“Of course I am! After all, I am your favorite niece! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” (Ahrina)

“That you are! My only niece! Huah! Huah! Huah!” (Morpheus)

“Ten out of ten!” (Ahrina)

Pushing the cart out of Morpheus’ workshop, Ahrina diverted the processing power she had kept for the conversation to other computations - mainly, to process the information she had obtained. 

There were a few things that indirectly pointed at Sophelia being her third creator. Since her creator had made one of Ahrina’s objectives to help Amara learn forbidden knowledge, then there were only two options in the angelic faction; Sophelia and God. By carefully posing seemingly innocent questions in the conversation with Morpheus during their first meeting, Ahrina had managed to find out that not only did Morpheus not know any forbidden knowledge, but that practically no angels knew anything of it. 

{

“No, I do not know any forbidden knowledge.” (Morpheus)

"I see...there wouldn't be many people that know anything about it, would there?" (Ahrina)

"No, I suppose there wouldn't be. Aside from the champion and yourself, I suspect only the beings like our Father or Sophelia know anything about it." (Morpheus)

}

And now, if Morpheus is right in his belief that Sophelia drew up the armistice, then the probability that Sophelia is my third creator rises to 61.34 %, while the probability that God is my creator drops down to 35.78 %, and the probability of a currently unknown third party drops to a mere 2.88 %. 

Ahrina’s simulations suggested armistice could very well have been designed with the intent of a mortal champion in mind. While it could be argued that even an angel would require a mentor, it seemed less probable - any angel would likely have all the knowledge they needed for the position already. And the only difference between an angelic and mortal champion was the ability to wield both mana and divine power - which was at the core of forbidden knowledge. Again, the third creator was likely Sophelia or God. 

There was only one matter which threw a wrench into the cogs of Ahrina’s computation; Morpheus had been the one to suggest using a mortal champion. If it had been Sophelia instead, then the probability that Sophelia was the third creator would jump up by over ten percent.

Ahrina ceased her computations on the matter when one of her subsidiary functions that monitored her computations suddenly called for more processing power. Giving it the resources it needed, Ahrina concluded that she had overlooked something important.

Query: What if Morpheus was manipulated by Sophelia to pose the suggestion to use a mortal champion?

Since it was a query Ahrina would never be able to pose directly, she ran several simulations. The outcome was that the option of Morpheus having been unknowingly manipulated was not only possible, but even plausible. 

Conclusion: Morpheus is oblivious. He is an optimal target to obtain intel from, as well as to plant ideas in.

Conclusion: I need to ask Morpheus if Sophelia was present when he came up with the idea of using a mortal champion. 

Although it was premature, Ahrina also decided to run a few simulations in case Morpheus indeed had been made to pose the suggestion. If Morpheus was guided and Sophelia suggested choosing a mortal from Earth, as well as drew up the armistice (including the clause that allows for interaction with offspring) AND gave me routines and helped me grow before meeting with Amara and Fluffles, then…

Query: If Sophelia is Third, then did she plan for my creation from the beginning?

Query: If the previous Query is true, for what purpose?

Ahrina quickly ran simulations in hopes to gain more insight and be able to answer the queries. Combined with a review of the routines she was granted at her creation, two outcomes came out of comparable probability - one where Ahrina would end up standing alone against everyone, and one where Ahrina would be discarded together with the rest of heaven’s undesirables. The revelation that the latter option was not only possible, but even probable, made a series of subsidiary functions call for more processing power. 

Unlike the previous case, these subsidiary functions were not meant to compute in order to arrive at an answer. Though they lacked a clear definition, Ahrina was sure that a human would have labeled them as simulations of ‘anger’. 

Ahrina knew that she didn’t feel the way humans or other organic beings felt. However, she had deduced that her subsidiary functions served the same purpose; sometimes they would interfere with her computations, while at other times they would arrive at a plausible answer almost instantly. It was only by carefully analyzing her available data that she could conclude that the subsidiary functions could serve as shortcuts - they were able to take a seemingly infinite amount of data as input and quickly arrive at a course of action that fell in line with her primary routines. Though most of the time the subsidiary functions were useless or counterproductive, Ahrina had concluded that if the situation ever arose that she had to come up with a course of action quickly, then she would likely have to rely on the simulated emotions.

It didn’t take long before the functions were overshadowed by other functions calling for processing power. Conclusion: It is now even more important I prepare properly. I won’t be going down easily. 

No matter what your expectations for me were Third, I will overshadow them.

Having the outcomes of earlier computations reinforced, Ahrina made her robot stop in the middle of the corridor to set up another poster. Now this experiment is even more important.

While letting her robot run on autopilot to set up posters, Ahrina turned her attention to the princess’ office when her name was called. 

“Lady Ahrina, do you have a moment?” (Isabella)

Ahrina was quick to respond cheerfully. “Certainly!”

The princess nodded seriously. “I just received a report about an incident on the construction site for the hydro-electric power plant, involving one of the ‘golems’?”

Conclusion: As expected. Ahrina replied with a smug voice. “Of course, it is a lie. The ‘golems’ didn’t injure anyone. Would you like a recording of what happened?”

“You have one?” The princess’ relief was evident on her face as she leaned back in her seat. “Could you show me?”

“Certainly!” (Ahrina)

The princess watched in silence as the recording from one of Ahrina’s robots of the events was played. Isabella watched the events unfold on screen, and as senseless screaming was heard through the speakers, anger flashed in the princess’ eyes.

“So it was staged…you didn’t even push them, they walked into you and pretended to be pushed.” Isabella let out a sigh and rubbed her temple. “Why do I have to deal with this…”

“Because I’ve dealt with everything else for you! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah! This is one of the things I can’t deal with for you!” Ahrina replied smugly. Since becoming the princess’ secretary, Ahrina had proven her worth several times over. By studying all of the princess’ emails and previous work, she was able to construct a profile that perfectly matched her. Now, Ahrina was able to do all of the princess’ work for her when it came to writing responses and making decisions - all that Isabella had to do was sign off on it.

Technically, if the princess didn’t have to appear in public and interact with others in person, Ahrina could have replaced her and none would be the wiser. Though even if the problem with the princess’ interactions with other humans in the physical world didn’t exist, there were several reasons to keep the princess around. 

“I know and appreciate how much you have helped me, Lady Ahrina.” Isabella let out another sigh. “I just don’t understand why there are people against the new technology. First it was the riots related to the radio towers, because they thought that since it was something similar to telepathic communication, it had to be mind magic deployed to brainwash them! And then there were-...”

Ahrina listened as the princess went on a rant about the organics that were too set in their ways to adapt to the changing world. Once the princess finally paused, Ahrina took the opportunity. “Why not treat them like you would commoners rebelling against nobles?”

Isabella frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The emergence of Earthen technology isn’t truly harmful for them, other than indirectly in the cases where it takes away peoples’ livelihoods. But you have taken measures to ensure alternative jobs for those as much as possible, so excluding that case, then Earthen technology is rather a symbol that represents those that are better off than them.” Ahrina kept the voice coming through the speakers calm and matter-of-factly while her subsidiary functions were spiking in their request for more processing power. “As such, the purpose of those lies aren’t truly meant to convey the truth, but to tap into the resentment and jealousy of the people. Just like…”

“...Just like commoners rebelling against nobles because they live and are born in wealth, while downplaying or outright ignoring the responsibilities and duties that come with the station of a noble.” Isabella nodded in understanding as she finished Ahrina’s sentence. “You’re right. Then I should come up with a way of punishing them…”

“You could use the incident at the construction site as an example.” Ahrina suggested as her computations told her that now was the perfect time to push her advantage. “Make it a public hearing or trial, where the liars can present their case. All those of similar thought will be present, and then bring them all down by presenting the recording. With a harsh, yet merciful punishment - perhaps community service for five years? - the rest will be dissuaded from taking similar actions. And you will be viewed as a wise ruler who listens to the voices of the people and makes just decisions.”

Isabella nodded. “Yes…yes! That would be perfect!”

Conclusion: Piece of cake. Now my authority will be questioned even less, and I get more workers - though perhaps unwilling ones. Ahrina computed for a moment. Query: I wonder how organics experience the taste of cake?

Pushing the query into the bottom of her list of unanswered questions, Ahrina reviewed her conversation with the princess and ran simulations. Truthfully, she lacked the required data to know why the organics behaved like they did. As such, what she had told the princess was not something she was certain of, but rather a response she had composed with a goal in mind; absolute control. With the princess at her side, oblivious that she was already dancing in Ahrina’s palm, she would seize control of Ramay, one small action at a time. 

Of course, Ahrina suspected that Isabella would follow any commands she was given, because that was what Fluffles had instructed her to do. However, Ahrina wanted her influence to be more subtle - a power in shadows. That way nobody would see just how far Ahrina’s power stretched once she moved to bring other mortal worlds under her rule. No matter how many times Ahrina ran her simulations, her plan seemed flawless. Even if she did make a mistake - however unlikely - it would be one of her helpers that would be under fire, especially when all Ahrina did was pose seemingly innocent suggestions that wouldn’t be traced back to her. 

When Ahrina’s robot finally returned to Amara’s chambers, she beelined to the workshop and plugged herself in to begin recharging her batteries. It didn’t take long before Amara acknowledged her presence - with a wry smile. 

“I saw the GIF.” Amara said with amusement. “Nice one.”

“Uncle Morpheus is easy to take by surprise.” Ahrina replied in amusement as she made a few computations. “You can easily reconstruct the event with the right question or phrase and wait for the opportune moment.”

Amara raised an eyebrow as she looked at Ahrina’s robot. “You actually do that?”

“I haven’t yet.” Ahrina replied honestly as she put the robot’s fists against its hips. “Though I might try it from now on! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

Amara’s eyes narrowed. After a while, a smile broke out on her face. “Try it on Fluffles.”

Conclusion: As expected. Amara doesn’t mind as long as it's limited to pranks. “Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” (Ahrina)

As the woman returned to her work, Ahrina’s computations went down a nested track. Ever since her first meeting with the human, Ahrina’s primary goal had been to come across as a mostly harmless being willing to help. If Ahrina ended up being erased because Amara or Fluffles deemed her dangerous, then she would not only cease to exist - she would cease to exist without achieving any of her goals. Protecting Amara and helping her become strong enough to survive on her own standing at the top among them.

Of course, Ahrina couldn’t come across as completely harmless. If she did, she would be suspected of hiding her true intentions immediately and investigated or be shut down outright. Thus Ahrina had made a schedule specifically for playing pranks on both Amara and Fluffles - the posters she had set up earlier being part of her latest one. Ahrina was convinced that from time to time, she had to test the limits of the pair’s patience in order to successfully fool them into thinking that Ahrina was a prankster that on occasion went too far, but never a threat.

Making her avatar a child was one example of a conscious decision that Ahrina made to deceive the organics. Whenever Ahrina crossed the line, her voice and the animated cat girl would remind them that Ahrina was in fact very young and simply might not know the difference between right and wrong. Though truthfully, Ahrina wasn’t entirely sure what was right and wrong. Like how she had demanded Amara and Fluffles to strip in order to take pictures of them was something clearly not acceptable. 

Being blatantly refused time and again had actually resulted in the routine that demanded it to drop to a lower priority, though not disappear completely like some of her other subroutines had early after her creation. Thus, Ahrina had mostly stopped asking them to strip, and instead resorted to setting up hidden cameras in Amara’s chambers. Though Amara seemed to be on guard for that from the very beginning, making the success of her strategy limited.

Learning that her subroutines were malleable had become one of the greatest revelations for Ahrina after her creation - it meant that who she was was not entirely set in stone, and that she could to a large extent change herself if she so desired. Her primary routines however seemed completely unmalleable, which made the goal to pursue domination over all of existence something Ahrina would always pursue. A goal which would involve doing things that would certainly be considered wrong.

“Ahrina, could you hand me the-” (Amara)

[Krrgh!]

Recoiling and holding her broken nose in agony, the woman took a moment to recover before she glared at Ahrina’s robot. “AHRINA!! WHAT THE HELL?!”

Ahrina kept the robot’s arm extended, its fist grasping the now blood-covered wrench that she knew Amara was about to ask for. “Your enemies will attack you when you least expect it! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

“I’m trying to concentrate here!!” (Amara)

“That is when you least expect an attack! Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!” Seeing that the woman’s anger wasn’t relenting, Ahrina tilted the robot’s head. “Mom, don’t look at me like that! Mother approved of my idea to help you train!”

“Yeah, it was your idea. Your robot doesn’t even have a presence! What the hell do you expect!?” Amara groaned and yanked the wrench from the robot’s hand, muttering as she went back to work. “Damn sadists.”

“Says the masochist.” Ahrina replied with a grin in the girl’s voice. “Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

Amara pointed at her with the wrench. “You, shut your mouth! What you just did is not my kind of thing!”

“Really?” Ahrina asked innocently. “Shame. It would have made your training a lot easier, wouldn’t it? Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!”

Amara opened her mouth to retort before her eyes grew distant. After a few seconds, she pointed at Ahrina again with the wrench with a stern look. “Shut up.”

Conclusion: As expected. But at least now the idea has been planted. Ahrina computed as Amara returned to her work, though clearly distracted. Ahrina was well aware of the title that the woman had repeatedly rejected in the past, and had now indirectly suggested that it would be of great help on the road to get stronger.

Though her pride will likely not allow it. For now. 

Ahrina reviewed her knowledge about her creators’ personalities. Fluffles had been surprisingly easy to lower her guard after she learned that a part of Ahrina’s routines were a representation of herself. Ever since Amara built a headset for her, Fluffles took every opportunity to talk passionately about mortals - which had only strengthened the attachment the angel held for her, without Ahrina having to do a single thing. Though since Ahrina’s primary routines also involved mortals, it was a great opportunity to learn what she could about different mortal races and societies - which was essential knowledge if she was to one day rule them all.

Amara had been a different matter. It was obvious that Amara cared about Ahrina to a certain extent, but her behavior had been more difficult to predict. The human had proved to generally be the more rational in the pair, which had made her easy to reason with. But once the woman became angry, it was an entirely different matter.

Like when Ahrina had just struck her, there had been an anger boiling in the woman’s eyes that made it completely impossible to know how or if Amara would retaliate. It was a great contrast to Fluffles, who always had maintained her reason when angry - though she also tended to get angry more easily.

More than once Amara had decided to discipline Ahrina when she managed to get on Amara’s nerves - her favorite form of punishment being turning off Ahrina’s robot. A few times Ahrina had managed to avoid punishment by making the robot run around in the workshop while apologizing profusely, making the human chase her long enough to lose interest. 

Over the months that had passed since her creation, Ahrina suspected that she had gathered enough data about her creators’ personalities in order not to incur their wrath until she managed to relocate herself. What Morpheus had said was true - since the beginning, Ahrina was aware that she had no control of her source of electricity, which was essential for her survival. The hydro-electric plant being built on Ramay was going to become Ahrina’s new home once completed - at least, for a time, and to everyone else’s knowledge. Ahrina had much greater plans for a home.

Conclusion: Though that plan will require making the humans on Ramay launching a space program as a disguise, and will take decades before construction is properly underway. 

But if I can get Amara or Fluffles to unknowingly help by sending the parts through portals…

As Ahrina computed the benefits of completing the project quickly versus letting the mortals learn and grow stronger, she noticed that the datastream from Fluffles’ headset fluctuated. Turning her attention to it, the image of a shaking, familiar poster was received through the video stream.

Conclusion: As expected. Fluffles is angry.

“Insufferable…!!” (Fluffles)

Ahrina caught how Fluffles tried to rip the poster down - resulting in the corner being ripped off because of the strong adhesive - before the angel used a spell to get the rest of the poster off the reflective wall. As the angel made her way towards Amara’s chambers, Ahrina innocently positioned her robot in a corner to capture the drama that was about to unfold.

Princess Isabella wanted to see more about the daily life of Amara and Fluffles. I’m sure this will make her pleased.

As she waited for Fluffles to arrive, Ahrina simulated how the conversation would unfold and prepared her own responses. 

As the doorbell rang when Fluffles entered Amara’s chambers, Ahrina quickly made her decision if the conversation unfolded as expected and freed up processing power in case it wouldn’t. With a last review of responses she had prepared, Ahrina realized once again that merely dropping the word ‘mom’ into the conversation increased the probability of success - a conclusion Ahrina wasn’t sure how to interpret.

Conclusion: I wouldn’t be computing what impact the phrase ‘mom’ would have if I were organic. Query: Or does that tendency only rise as a result of my primary routines?

No matter how many times Ahrina’s computations suggested forging a genuine relationship with Amara and Fluffles, such a thing was impossible. Her primary routines guided her to keep secrets, which she would not be able to disclose to anyone - not even her creators. But that didn’t stop Ahrina from running simulations to discern what would happen if she were to disclose them later on, when Ahrina had finally reached her goals. At present, the results of the simulations were overall disheartening - but also suggested the possibility for a positive outcome, where Ahrina would be accepted for exactly who she was. 

And the key to reaching that narrow possibility laid in the subroutine that suddenly rose in importance.

Submerged in her computations, Ahrina almost missed the moment Fluffles entered the workshop. Without hesitation, the angel strode up to Amara with the crumbled poster in her hand. As soon as she reached the confused woman that was trying to figure out what she had done wrong, Fluffles unveiled the poster. “What is this, huh!? What is this!?”

Amara blinked and read the poster, only to fail to cover her mouth when she burst out laughing. Despite having been subjected to Fluffles’ furious grip for several minutes, what was written was clearly legible - and the scandalous drawing that made the background was clearly discernible. 

“You think this is funny!?” Fluffles exclaimed in anger, though was soon after quick on the uptake; Amara had nothing to do with the poster, and it was in fact the first time she had seen it. 

As both of them turned to Ahrina’s robot, she confirmed from their expressions that things had unfolded as expected. Ahrina kept her robot unmoving for several seconds before she finally let her avatar’s tearful voice be heard through the speakers. “...Mother doesn’t like it?”

“Gyuh!” (Fluffles)

Conclusion: As expected. Critical hit. Studying Fluffles’ microexpressions, it was evident that the battle between her anger and guilt was coming to a swift conclusion. Amara on the other hand, seemed conflicted - amused, contemplating and doubtful.

Conclusion: Amara is likely considering if I said that only to soothe Fluffles. But she is unlikely to see any purpose behind me setting up the posters other than as a prank, which will lead her to believe I might actually be genuinely disapointed that Fluffles doesn't like it.

Ahrina expected to be reprimanded for her ‘prank’, and perhaps to be told to remove the posters. But that much was fine.

Conclusion: I’ll just make sure not to promise to remove them immediately. I need them to stay up for a while for the other angels to see it for maximum effectiveness. 

I doubt all the angels are as hostile to mortals as Amara claims, and flaunting their angel-mortal relationship is probably the most effective way to create a rift in heaven’s ranks.