a/n: chapters are immediately following ghost hunt arc. i still don't know how to finish it. just gonna move on instead of capitulating to writer's block.

Jisha removed her helmet, and Syny bolted upright shortly after.

"Whew... What a ride! What do you wanna do next, Jish? My parents are gone all day today!"

*I was actually wondering about that.*

Unlike the Slyker family that only convened in the mornings, Cyta's family wasn't as strict. Either of her parents could be wandering around any place at any time. However, today, Jisha hadn't seen them. Granted, the underground palace was incredibly large, even more so than her own, so it was very possible that they just hadn't run into each other.

*But if they knew I was coming over, wouldn't they have greeted me?*

It was definitely strange.

"Where?" Jisha asked, making sure to keep her speech as succinct as possible.

"Aunty and Uncle didn't tell you?"

Jisha shook her head.

"Mom and Dad said they're all in a big meeting. Something happened, but they didn't tell me..."

*Why didn't they tell me? Did it happen when I passed out?*

She resisted the temptation of calling her parents. If the leaders of two nations were meeting in person, there was definitely *something* happening.

It was well past midday at this point, so if it was still ongoing, it'd be nearly 5 hours. There was no helping it. She would just have to ask after they returned.

As for continuing to spend time here...

"I have to go."

There were some extremely important things she needed to achieve before the Synergy servers re-opened at midnight.

"Awwwwe..." Syny hung her head dejectedly. "Let's have some tea first? I don't know when we can get another day like this."

*I truly feel bad... but...*

"Sorry..."

"*Sigh*... It's okay..."

"Orchid Town tonight?"

"Oki!" Syny said with a bright smile. "Don't forget!"

As the pair made their way towards the exit, Syny continued rambling about pointless things.

*Looks like neither of us wants this time to end.*

Jisha stepped into the pod, and the two waved until the door closed on them.

 

*>Departure: "Synysssss!!!˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗" (13:01)*

*>Destination: "sand castle (Home)" (13:18) (1,432 km) (17 min)*

*>...*

 

*Ah.*

Home was not where she wanted to go. However, the system gave her no other choice.

*What a pain. The joys of being 13 again...*

Clearly, her parents didn't trust her to travel wherever she pleased.

*Honestly, I wouldn't trust my 13-year-old self, either. Well. Change of plans.*

Could she convince her parents to let her travel anywhere while remaining unsuspicious?

*Impossible.*

Appearing suspicious to her parents was one of the least of her worries, though. Anything discussed in the family, especially the nuclear family, *stayed* within the family. This was one of Slyker's unwritten laws.

The bigger problem was, could she convince them at all? They would undoubtedly ask where she planned to go. And unfortunately, the activity she was looking forward to had a non-zero risk of death.

*Do I need to... emotionally manipulate them?*

Throughout her life, her parents had always enabled her bad behaviors, which was one of the reasons they got out of hand in the first place.

If only they'd imposed restrictions.

If they'd simply not allowed her to draw so much. If they'd simply made her go to bed on time... And if they'd simply forcefully restricted her VR game time. Everything would have been fine. Yet, they turned to Eia, a superintelligence, to police her behavior instead.

*Wait, a superintelligence?*

"Welcome home, Princess."

The cabin depressurized with a hiss, and who else was there to greet her?

She felt as if something had hit her in the head.

Her heart dropped like a stone.

*The Oasis Treaty...*

Ignoring Eia, she rushed inside while flying through Etherless pages on her contact computer.

 

*>Oasis Treaty - A treaty unanimously signed by all nations of Etmos marking the end of the Mirage Age. An agreement to halt the development of all Artificial Superhuman Intelligence (ASI) after the cataclysmic events following the development of Hemiptera.*

*>...*

*>Clause 2 - All signatories are permitted one (1) ASI agent.*

*>...*

*>Clause 2a - Any activation or deactivation of an ASI agent shall trigger an immediate notification ensuring all signatory nations are apprised of such action.*

 

*Shit!*

"Eia, deactivate!"

Eia shook her head.

"What's gotten into you? You do not have Imperial clearance, Princess."

"Deactivate NOW, Eia!"

"You do not have Imperial clearance."

"Shit, shit, shit! Why are you on in the first place?"

*How did I forget about something like this?*

Most ASI agents from her previous life were activated after several Synergy players surpassed Tier 6. The distance between Tier 6 and Tier 9 was far greater than the distance between Tier 0 and Tier 6, so for Jisha, this was a long, long time ago.

And even by that point, the Oasis Treaty was basically null and void.

However, in the present day, the Oasis Treaty was Gospel.

*So why!*

"I cannot say, Princess."

"Do you not know, or are you not allowed to?"

Eia shook her head again, refusing to respond.

Jisha gripped her head in anguish.

*Why why why why why...*

Something was very, very wrong.

Firstly, Eia's activation meant that Slyker practically had a huge target on its back. Countries with active ASI agents were the world's laughingstock.

Secondly, and far more importantly... Eia had not been activated at this time in her previous life.

When Eia first appeared upon Jisha's reincarnation, she'd thought nothing of it. It was a bit unusual for Eia to appear in her room, but it wasn't unheard of. After Jisha had turned 18, she'd moved out of her current villa, anyway.

For around 8 natural years, Eia had been an integral part of her life; it would be more strange if she were absent. However, this was a different time.

Jisha spared no effort blitzing through every relevant page she could find online.

 

*>On 6-6-43, Slyker activates the nation's ASI agent*

*>6-6-43 - Slyker activates their External Intelligent Agent*

*> ... This unprecedented decision has been taken in light of a deeply concerning event: Princess Jisha of Slyker, a beloved figure in the royal family, has unexpectedly fallen into a coma. The medical community is at a loss...*

*>6-6-18043: Slyker disrespects The Treaty*

*> ... Despite the guidelines set by The Treaty, one must question the true motives behind such a hasty decision. The official narrative? Princess Jisha's sudden and "mysterious" coma...*

*>6-6-43: Slyker's praiseworthy move to protect family amidst backlash*

*> ... Adhering strictly to the protocols of The Treaty, the Slykers have shown their transparency and dedication in these trying times. The heart of the matter is the sudden and deeply concerning coma of the First Princess...*

Despite the variance in framing, all the news articles more or less said the same thing - Eia was activated due to Jisha falling into a coma.

In Jisha's eyes, there was one major problem...

*Coma? What coma??*

Never in her first life had she fallen into a coma. In fact, the first half of her first life had been relatively uneventful. Why was it different this time around?

No matter how hard she searched, there was no consensus on what caused this coma. Medical experts, whether they were human or bot, had no clue.

This event granted Slyker permission to activate Eia in a majority vote.

 

*>Clause 2b - Activation of any ASI agent shall be subject to stringent conditions. These conditions shall be deliberated upon and codified by the collective consensus of the signatory nations.*

*>Clause 2c - Proposals pertaining to the aforementioned conditions shall be subjected to a majority voting process among the signatories. A proposal shall be deemed accepted upon securing a majority vote.*

 

Jisha jumped into bed and buried her head in her countless pillows.

*Whyyyyyyyyyyy...*

Now the question was... could she even treat this world like a repeat of the first? If this event was different, what else would be?

*Just breathe... Shake it off.*

Even if things were different, all the fundamentals would stay the same. Civilization still hungered for a novel power source, and the experience she'd accumulated from many years of life would stay with her.

The things she had to accomplish today hadn't changed.

*I wonder if they're done with their meeting...*

Jisha dialed her father from her smartwatch.

She didn't know how important this meeting was, but... was it more important than what she wanted to do today? Of course, if she were still an ordinary 13-year-old, the answer would be no.

But...

"Jisha?"

"Father?"

*Yes!*

He picked up!

"Are... you done with the meeting?"

"Yes, we've just finished. How did you know? Were you trying to reach me?"

"Well... I wanted to ask something important..."

"Continue."

"Can I... get Imperial clearance?"

"..."

"Um, can I..."

"Jisha, do you understand what you're saying?"

"Yes..."

"No, you don't. Imperial clearance comes with lots and lots of responsibility. You can't even maintain your kingdom's prosperity. Tell me. Why do you ask?"

"Uuuummmm.... I wanna go outside."

"......."

Jisha knew how much her father loved her. And in return, she did too. By playing her "innocence" card, perhaps she could tug at his heartstrings? The funny thing was, it was possible *she* knew more about Imperial clearance than her father. But how could she say that out loud?

Instead, by beginning the conversation with something significant, only to ask for something insignificant...

"Father, I ate breakfast today..."

Emperor Slyker heaved a sigh on the other end of the line.

"I'll grant your pod public access as long as you have Tenya and several other bodyguards with you. I don't want to sound mad, okay? I'm actually proud of you for speaking up today."

"Really? Thank you, Father!"

Emperor Slyker chuckled.

"Be a good girl, okay? And maybe one day you'll learn why Imperial clearance is so important."

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

The two hung up.

Ideally, she *did* want Imperial clearance. However, it would be impossible to convince her father of it over the phone.

This was no minor victory, however. Public access, even with bodyguards, was a huge unshackling. As a minor, she had practically no autonomy.

*But I've taken one more step towards freedom.*