Ashes that littered the lake were neatly bunched up and flowed out of the lake through the draining river. ‘Apparently she can control water currents… should’ve been obvious considering what she is but still looks impressive nonetheless…’ 

• “I thank you for your help, they’ve been plaguing me for decades now.”
• “Eh don’t mention it, I still didn’t get all of them.”

There were still a few survivors that arrived late to be caught in the trap with their wings whining in the air.

• “I can’t expect you to do all of the work, I’ll finish this up in no time.”

Usually gentle river currents and the still lake stirred, animated by unseen force. Under its surface water swirled, creating unnatural miniature eddies and whirlpools. They shot up, targeting the fliers buzzing around, slicing through them, with just enough water and strength to kill them with no wasted effort. Looking closely there were two water currents spiraling each other at such a speed that bystanders would only see it as a single current that shot out and obliterated them. One by one they fell into pieces, until not one of them was left.

‘Waterjet cutting, I remember seeing one of those machines that could cut through stainless steel with abrasive water and tons of pressure. Just normal water should still be able to cut through soft materials like wood and stone. I don’t think my skin is made out of metal, one more reason not to piss off this girl.’

• “You’re quite used to this aren’t you?”
• “I’ve had ample time to practice. With their reproduction cycle disrupted they shouldn’t bother me for a while thanks to you.”
• “I wanted to ask you somethi-”

>Maintenance end…

-Something said interrupting her sentence. Inside her head, within her thoughts. It’s nature was the same as how Alice would reach out to her sometimes. 

>Multiple administrators detected.

But unlike Alice who had awkwards stops and intonations like that of a child learning to speak, this one was crisp and clear, eerily so. Gender of the voice androgynous, swinging back and forth between masculine and feminine.

>Need both consents for integration.

It was like a recorded message announced over an intercom, formal, mechanical and uncanny.

• ‘Where the hell did this thing come from?!’

>Query. Answer. The Alma system was created by the overseers as a self developing semi-sentient evolutionary algorithm to facilitate the use of [Soul Scrying] and [ACCESS DENIED] for sapient lifeform and to further increase the bio-interactivity features compared to the predecessor systems. System rebooted after the maintenance loop was ended by overseer intervention.

• ‘...the hell? Who are the overseers?’

>Query. Answer.

Showing most prominent 5 of 10^23 results for the “Aliases of the Overseers”

1. God.
2. Lord.
3. Death.
4. Yama.
5. Adonai.

• ‘Smug girl with the shiteating grin. Of course who else would it be… What’s this consent about then?’

>Query. Answer. Alma system requires administrators’ consent for full access.

• ‘Multiple administrators hmm… Does that mean it was sent to Alice too then?’

>Query. Answer. Assented.

• ‘God, can this thing stop speaking like a legal document? What do you say Alice? Are we doing this?’

>Query. Answer. Admixed. Will improve Bio-interactive modules in relation to communication.

• ‘Please do. It won’t be long till I start speaking like you do… … Alice…?’
• ‘i will, follow, your decision…’
• ‘Then why not. That girl’s not the type to employ deception for something this small. Didn’t she say I could reach her with something? I guess this is it.’

• ‘okay...’

>Consent from administrators confirmed.

• “Hellooo? Weren’t you going to ask something? Don’t just stand there  and space out like that.”
• “Ah! Sorry I was just thinking…

>Integrating user… standby…

‘I forgot what I was going to ask… uh, just think of something fast.’

Do you know anyone who can teach me a thing or two about any weapons?”

>Recalibrating…

• “Why? Something giving you trouble?”
• “It’s just that I don’t think I can only rely on my magic.”
• “I guess you’re still not used to controlling your magic.”

“Hrm… the highborn used to be known for their swordsmanship, now they’re mostly archers so-

>Initialization complete.

-if you’re fine with archery then any one of their rangers or whatever could help you. But with any luck,-

>Feedback systems active.

that refugee leader is still alive and kicking, he might be able to help you as he knows a thing or two about swords. However there’s an iss-

> Educement protocols ready.

-ue about how you look. They most likely won’t see you as who you are but more likely to see you as one of the Monstrous spiders. Though they used to be more common now I haven’t seen them for a few centuries now. Perhaps they’ve gone extinct.-

>Initiating telemetry.

Simultaneously following the content of what the two dissonant voices were talking about quickly overwhelmed Alicia’s mind so she could only nod along while trying to digest all the information.

>Ready for basic use.

Finally one of them stopped. Her head was smoking - metaphorically - from overworking.

-To them you’ll look like a monster so you’ll have to disguise yourself somehow.”

>Recommendation for action ‘Disguise’.
Acquire <Mimicry>. Educe 〔 Anthropomorphic mimetics 〕.

• “Right, I might be able to do something about it.”

‘What are educements?’

>Query. Answer. Educements further develops and modifies a skill to allow it to exhibit abilities previously restricted. Educements uses Alma system allocation points. Educements do not modify administrator ability statistics.

‘Oh this ride just never stops does it? What is auto execution? And stop saying ‘query’ every time, just say the answer from now on.’

>Acknowledged. Auto execution process acts on behalf of the administrator to best achieve results in the interest of the administrator, balancing efficiency and effectiveness.

‘Sure why not I should have some leftovers.’

‘Wait I haven’t actually seen anything after getting this skill so I can’t do it right now.’

• “Do you know where I can find them? I need to see them.”
• “I’m not sure. They like to scurry on trees like rats. You can find them if you follow the river flowing southwest, the one that drains the basin. If you’re going to meet with them, be sure to tell them that you’re a type of spirit. And lastly I’ll teach you magic that can be used as a decoy, it will help you escape if they turn aggressive. It’s name is mirror image. It’s easier to show than it is to explain so look closely. Here we go.”

A blob of water raised up, the amorphous mass took a vague humanoid shape. The spirit’s own reflection visible on it, it eventually formed into an exact replica of her. To someone who didn’t know any better it would look like she just went through mitosis.

• “Now you try. First trap your essence within the water then envision it in your image. Then supply it with magical energy allowing it to take shape. At this stage it will be very unstable and prone to falling apart. Lastly even out any odd imperfections and stabilize it. Later you can control the actions of your mirror image through your magical energy. If you lose focus, deplete your magical energy or you go out of range and are unable to supply energy it’ll fall apart. You can create a mirror image from any element but water is the most efficient.
• “Sounds complicated. Well here goes nothing.”

‘Take the water, put my reflection in it? Then form it into shape… Difference in mass is quite big huh… I never knew I was this large… even though my upper torso is literally a half a person. ’

After multiple failed attempts Alicia managed to create a single successful mirror image.

• “Well done.”
• “Yes! I did!”

>Notification. Energy reserves under 75%

However in her excitement at success and startlement from Alma she lost her focus causing it to fall apart yet again.

• “And there it goes. Remember to not get distracted.”
• “Got it.”

>New spell branch unlocked. Spell Mirror image acquired.

• ‘I don’t remember being able to monitor my Mana…’

>Under normal conditions Alma system Telemetry functions will notify administrators vital information. Administrators from now will be able to monitor their condition.
‘Don’t scare me like that…’

⟨ Pallesthesia ⟩ ⟨ Presence Detection ⟩

‘Hurried light steps… strange gait… not coming close… orbiting around… I know this behaviour… It’s that girl again…’

• “It seems that girl is coming again. I’ll be nearby, keep her visible in the open okay? I’ll come out when I’m done.”
• “I don’t know what you have on your mind but be careful.”
• “I’ll be fine! Just don’t scare her off.”

‘If what I’m thinking works out… I’ll have legs! I mean humanoid legs. Bipedalism! Long have I missed you. I never appreciated you then. Now let me amend that fatal mistake!’