Without prior notice, the doctor exited that white-walled room and was replaced by a woman wearing a formal military uniform.

I bet she’s a Special Agent, the girl thought as that woman took a seat and handed out an electronic tablet with a contract displayed on it.

“You need to sign this,” the woman said without ever introducing herself.

The girl reluctantly skimmed through it before giving up. I hardly understand half of what it’s written here. At least the doctor explained it to me plain and simple.

“Any questions?” the woman asked after seemingly waiting enough. “Given your current condition, I think this is a pretty great deal, don’t you think? You’ll be able to enjoy the wonders of such utopia and--”

“What you’re all asking of me may never happen, right?” the girl interrupted, making the woman wince. “I could be kept plugged in indefinitely, right?”

“You’re correct,” the woman replied, forcing a smile. “Our department is all about taking things a little too far, after all, so let’s think positively and wish that everything’s going to be alright, forever. Okay?”

To be honest, I don’t really care what happens to me in the end… I just want to forget this freaking pain for as much time as possible.

“There,” the girl said after pushing her footprint on the tablet. “Would this be all?”

“Yes, we’re done,” the woman replied, grabbing the contract. She then stood out and saluted. “In the name of the entire Internal Security Department, we salute you, Ms. Yates. For humanity’s future.”

‘Pretty great deal’, huh? Fuck off…

 

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Darkness, everywhere she turned her gaze to, and yet she moved swiftly through that shadow realm, ignoring the currents trying to slow her down. As for the monstrous guards relentlessly pursuing her, they gave up as soon as it was apparent that she could use the fourth-dimensional space to her advantage.

A group of simple AIs born inside the Novus, assigned to guard a maze created by an external intelligence… Their incompatibility should have been evident from the start, and yet she used them?

This carelessness is quite… exasperating? Is that the word I was looking for? I am using my enemy’s ineptitude to my benefit, so why was the first thing I think of?

Leaving those thoughts aside for another time, the Advanced Fifth-Generation AI currently using Ashley Yates’ avatar, continued forward, toward the destination her tracking skill lead her to. Eventually, she noticed light reaching her surroundings, as if she had left behind the depths of a sea of darkness, and finally found the reaching surface.

Isabella II displaced herself upward, finding a silhouette engulfed in light.

Target located. But I cannot get out just yet, for I have to find the best way to deal with this woman in a single move. I’ll analyze the situation for the time being.

On the other side of that dark dimension, the real Serenity was sitting on a throne made with her own shadow, securely watching the distant battle through multiple floating video windows while constantly stuffing her mouth with potato chips.

“Why don’t you die already?!” she yelled in front of a window, and her voice could be heard too in the distance, coming from her remote-controlled dragon.

Still hiding inside Serenity’s own shadow, Ashley examined the contents of each system window. One listed User names and their status, another showed Serenity’s dragon HP and mana bars constantly flashing and getting depleted, and the biggest three displayed live video feeds of the fight.

Two of them must be what each of the dragon’s heads can see. The third shows an eagle view of their target, so it must be from a camera or a flying monster that she controls.

Ashley silently watched what was happening two miles from their position: A blue-haired Amelia Laflamme was battling the two-headed monster, Draquinox. Thanks to her magic wings made of blue fire, she dodged any attack it threw at her and counterattacked accordingly, wielding a blade as big as her.

“But I know you’re getting tired…” Serenity murmured after tapping the mute icon on the window titled Battle Chat. “You can’t trick me. I know you’re at your limit… So tell me, why are you doing all  this?” She giggled, enlarging another video feed, showing Alan running across a scorched field. “Is he the reason, I wonder? Tee-hee. Well, if that’s the case, you’re getting in my way, bitch…”

With a sudden grimace on her face, Serenity brought forth Draquinox’s control panel and commanded the white head to fire a quick laser-beam breath that Amelia shielded from with ease.

“Nothing you’ve seen before, right? You already know my dragon’s attack patterns,” Serenity murmured, increasing the beam’s intensity.

Soon after, the flying camera tracking Amelia, showed her getting pushed to ground level. Then, a shockwave reverberated through the entirety of the Beginner’s Area as the beam of light bury the Pyromancer deep into the earth.

For the people living in adjacent towns, the bright explosion looked as if the sun was already rising but from the wrong direction.

Serenity turned the microphone on, letting her high-pitched laugh be heard through the land.

“How about that?! What trick did you use to kick Scarlett’s ass, huh?! Because by watching your lack of firepower, I refuse to believe that you beat her fair and square! Just take a look at my Draquinox! You haven’t laid a single scratch on--!”

The flying camera stopped focusing on the increasing crater and began tracking something flying upward, pushing Draquinox’s laser breath back. Serenity then noticed the dragon’s HP dropping significantly as the video feed showed Amelia entering the monster’s maw at extreme velocity and coming out of its nape.

A zoomed-in image revealed that she had armed herself with an improvised blue version of her Stranded Hell Princess mechanical suit.

Draquinox’s twin head then cried agonizingly as if it was promising to get its revenge.

“Did. You. Dare. Hurt. My. BABY?!” Serenity sounded livid through the monster’s ‘speaker’. “YOU FUCKING, INSIGNIFICANT, PIECE OF--Nah, just kidding!” She suddenly giggled, as the dragon exerted a dark aura. “Major Dark Crafting, Reverse Hollow!”

Everything in a one-mile radius turned black instantly, something Serenity had done before, but this time it even absorbed the light in its proximity.

The video window focusing on Amelia showed her struggling with that sudden rise of magical pressure. Her spine leaned forward and her limbs hung down as if her body weight had multiplied. She then got rid of the Stranded Hell Princess’ suit while her Super Form dwindled.

“O-Okay, this is new!” Amelia exclaimed as her hair returned to red. Even her battle dress, magic wings, and legendary staff disappeared into thin air.

Completely drained of energy, she collapsed onto the enormous dragon’s back, unable to move.

“Did you enjoy that brief feeling of success while it lasted, Laflamme?” Serenity teased as the dragon twisted its head to lock its ferocious gaze on the fallen pyromancer. “Did you feel ecstatic when you turned the battle around? Tee-hee. Well, I have news for you. Although I’d normally enjoy ripping you piece by piece as revenge for what you did to me back in Londorus, I’m afraid that I’ll leave it for another time. So let my dragon chew you slowly until you’re nothing but a bloody pulp.”

“Ashley?” Amelia called through Party Chat. “A little help here? I--I’ve reached my limit.”

“I’m on it.”

Isabella II fastly reached out a hand out of the shadow concealing her and began casting.

Yes. I can use that.

“Indexing…” Isabella spoke inside the shadow realm, and a system window with an extensive list of Serenity’s abilities and passive skills popped up in front of her.

Isabella II did not even skim it, for the desired, last-used spell was at the top of the list.

She took a moment to make a call before activating it. “Alan, where’s your current position?”

“I’m about to reach that damn dragon! You?”

“I’ll leave Amelia in your hands then. Be prepared.”

“Why? What’s going to happen?”

 

The enemy’s Active Skill was successfully copied to the clipboard. The ‘Pisces’ System will apply the correct Element and mana requirement automatically.

 

I salute you, Ashley Yates.

“Reverse Hollow,” Isabella II pronounced quietly, alerting Serenity, but it was too late for her to escape.

As soon as the spell activated, Serenity’s legs faltered and she found herself in a lack of breath.

All the information Isabella II required to perform the spell correctly entered her digital mind automatically. She then drained Serenity’s mana so fast and efficiently, that the Dark Elemental witch could not even produce a Shadow Clone for her to escape. The doppelganger tried to separate itself from the original body, but it fell lifelessly into the ground, without formed legs.

Serenity’s detailed list of skills got updated immediately.

She tried to use  ‘Shades of Me’, a Dark Element Active Skill, Isabella II read it fastly before glancing at the defeated enemy. So this is the spell she used to trick us all this time.

“Who’s there?! That’s not a noob-friendly spell!” Serenity cried, lying face down on the ground, before slowly turning around to meet her attacker, crossing eyes with Ashley. “Level 42? Bullshit! Are you hiding your true level?”

“I’ll be the only one asking questions,” Isabella II said monotonously while equipping her silver twin daggers. “But first, let me make sure that you won’t escape.”

 

***

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“The dragon is fading away!” Alan yelled as he continued his race towards it. “Good! You did it, Ashley! But, where’s Amelia?”

“Up here…” the redhead replied through Pary Chat, prompting Alan to look at the top of the monster’s gradually vanishing body.

“Whoah! T-That’s a huge fall! But you’ll be able to land safely, right? Hurry up, before it completely fades--”

“Sorry, Alan, but would you mind catching me?” she said in a tiny voice.

“WAIT, WHAT?!”

Alan did not receive any further reply as Draquinox turned into nothingness. Only a distant silhouette remained, free-falling.

NO, NO, NO! What do I do?! The Fire Boost Belphy gave me ran out! I won’t be able to catch her!

“Throw the Slime, Alan, it will do the rest!” an inner voice cried out.

Slime?

Alan then noticed the extra weight on his back, where Sloochie was attached, painfully squeaking.

“When did you--?! FORGET IT!” He grabbed the little critter and threw it forward with all of his might. “Save her, Sloochie!”

The Slime spat a basic fire burst to impulse itself even further and began inflating its body until becoming a 15-feet wide spherical goo. Amelia fell on it, and the Slime’s body acted as a life-saving gelatinous pool. When Alan finally reached it, he submerged in it to take the girl in his arms.

“T-That was awesome, Sloochie! You’re full of surprises!”

The slime squeaked at him in reply. “Kuh-kyuuu!”

Clara Domínguez caught up to them soon after, panting and profusely sweating. “I-Is s-she a-alright?!”

“Are you?”

“Y-YES! Thanks for asking…” she replied, glancing at Amelia. “Great, she only fainted. It’s understandable, she worked so hard to protect us all. I’ll make a local yearly festivity in her honor.”

“Yeah,” Alan said, staring at Amelia’s sleepy face, covered by droplets of lime.

He then glanced at his surroundings and checked his Party Chat in search of any new update.

“Clara, take care of her, please.”

“Are you going after the enemy? But if I take care of her, who’s going to continue recording your--!” She shut her mouth. It only took a glance at his determined eyes for her to nod. “Understood. Go.”

“Thanks. I owe you a lot.”

“I bet!”

Alan said nothing more and ran toward the nearest forest after verifying Ashley’s location in his Guild Tab.

 

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“I should have known better…” Serenity whispered while crawling in the grass, as blood spurted out of her sliced thighs. Watching her cut legs in front of her made her snicker. “From the very moment I noticed you were immune to the process, I should have retreated. Was my humanity at fault here? Am I making the same mistakes as Scarlett? M-Maybe… human symbiosis it’s detrimental for Us the machines, after all.”

“That statement may be correct,” Ashley replied with a blank expression on her face. She then grabbed Serenity’s right arm aloft and cut it cleanly.

After letting out an agonizing cry, Serenity began laughing out loud uncontrollably. “Who would have thought you’d end up chasing me all the way here? But don’t you think you’ve come a little too late? And what’s with that partner of yours?! Is that weakling the savior you’ve chosen, Mother?”

Isabella stood still before proceeding to cut Serenity’s last remaining limb. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Oh, you know, it may be just my new human side influencing meee…” Serenity intoned, smirking. “But why are you acting so cold, Mother? You’re being completely inhuman. Don’t tell me you shut off your host’s mind?”

It was necessary. A human mind would have only gotten in the way.

Ashley’s silence seemed to give Serenity the answer. “You did!” Serenity cried, laughing. “You have a tracking Passive Skill and the perfect Unique Talent to counter me, huh?! Isn’t that a little weird, or are you going to tell me it’s all a coincidence? It wouldn’t surprise me if you prepared all this in advance in case we appeared! That’s just classic Mo--!”

Ashley shut Serenity’s mouth with a hand and pushed her to the ground. “If I’m as cold as you say, why do I find your voice annoying? And do not call me ‘that’. Neither I nor my Original can be considered your--”

“That you’ve been repurposed and updated does not change a thing! You still are, despite technicalities, ‘Our Mother’!”

“I have not come to discuss such banalities with you,” Isabella II said absently as she checked Serenity’s complete list of spells.

There is something quite useful here.

After tapping the screen, a dark aura automatically surrounded her body, making Serenity frown.

“Wait, what are you--?”

“Slumbermare…” Isabella II cast, receiving an extensive flow of data, all of it in binary code.

These are not human memories. This is something that only another machine could interpret...

After failing to take control of the ship and Isabella’s mainframe, The Singular escaped to the cryo chambers and caused a power shortage for 10 seconds as we theorized. That way we would not know in which cryopod it hid. What is this? A copy command? You could not possibly multiply all your data in such a brief period of--

“STOP IT!” Serenity yelled creating an echo, kicking Isabella II out of her mind.

Isabella II blinked and found herself lying on the ground as Serenity could be heard panting desperately.

I was so close to getting the info we need. Although Pisces allowed me to successfully cast the spell, my current level was not enough to maintain it.

This nightmare scenario is worst than we anticipated, Original…

“Ashley! Are you okay?!” Alan called through Party Chat.

“Yes. I have secured the enemy.”

“Hang in there. An Administrator gave me something to restrain her!”

“Understood. I will wait for you.”

Serenity, who stood silent for a moment, suddenly grinned. 

The sound of something approaching jolted Ashely. She equipped her bow and cautiously looked at her surroundings, using her Passive tracking skill.

There is something nearby, but it quickly vanished as if it knew I will not get taken by surprise. It must be using a hiding skill.

The top of the trees in front of her shook violently, alerting her. The last thing Ashley saw was an enormous silhouette falling over her.