City Series:Volume8b Chapter17

Chapter 17: Waiting Girl

Welcome back!

Straight from DT Prison’s cathedral, it’s time for “Seek It Out! It’s the Oracle Message Board!” with Racter Nosrup Txt, member of the 13 Demigods and American with a bad Kansai accent! This time, I’ll be answering a post from last time!

“What do we out here benefit by spending our money on you?”

You have a good point there and I understand it completely. See, I work as an archbishop here, which means I speak to and listen to the confessions of the prisoners. Those conversations also come down to benefit and loss. And now I’m going to say something that mainly only benefits me: “What do you benefit from it? Are you stupid?” Saving us is never going to benefit you more than activating the great god would.

But let me make one thing very clear: “Imagine for yourself what would benefit you most.”

What really is the world or a country? Is it the world or a country that benefits? What about you yourself? Do you not benefit at all if we survive?

Or are you saying you’re willing to pay money for the world or for your country, but not for yourself? That’s no fun at all. Listen. If the great god is summoned, it will save the world, including you. But if that happens, then everything you accomplish will be due to the great god, not you. I’m willing to wish blessings on people, but not on god.

So how do you benefit from spending money on us? Figure that out yourself.

I can’t answer that question for you. I’m not your textbook. You need to open your own textbook and find the answer yourself.

Anyway, that’s my answer. Today’s topic is “resurrection”, but who does that topic benefit?

“Remember how he told you, ‘The Son of God must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.”

(Luke 24:7-9)

07/07/2000 DT 05:55 PM x1k (+02:55)

Help Text

The Three Sages and Early DT

When DT was first virtualized and began its transformation into the city it is now, three academics researched DT before the Demigods came about.

They were experts in the fields of science, chemistry, and old Lives research and they became known as the Three Sages.

They modified DT and created both the DT OS and the foundation of the Bodies.

The identities of the Three Sages have never been made public. It is only known that one was a European man, one was an American woman, and one was an Asian man.

Their records have been locked up in a Swiss bank data vault and their destruction is forbidden lest their Concept Existence Lives be reborn.

There are a number of theories as to why Switzerland has gone to such lengths to permanently lock away their records, but the most likely is that they carried out human experimentation while in DT.

When DT was first virtualized, it was difficult for people to enter the city. But during that initial period, the Three Sages investigated DT and developed the OS. Some historians say, “During the early period, the Three Sages somehow created ‘a person who can enter DT’, but the threat that person represented prevented that information from being made public.”

If that is true, then who was this person who could enter DT?

DT’s boosted speed was known at the time, so one theory says prisons around the world requested the creation of a facility to hold prisoners with extremely long sentences. In addition, many hospitals are said to have asked to send terminal patients there. The historians mentioned above suggest those people were modified to enter DT.

In other words, people were combined with incomplete Bodies that were still being developed and they could not be separated from the virtual data afterwards.

This has not been confirmed, but it is known the Three Sages’ NPC Bodies all ceased to function in DT when Archon Suedomsa arrived. But they were not abandoned. They were stored in the intermediary layer where they sleep as a portion of DT’s current OS.

They were sacrificed so the programs embedded in them when they were created could be made a part of the DT OS and they could function with the bare minimum of data while they sleep.

The intermediary layer where they sleep looks like a free zone, but it is actually a data space not even the 13 Demigods can easily access.

That makes it next to impossible to determine whether or not those NPC Bodies are what became of people from outside the city during the time of the Three Sages.

After the Three Sages created the initial version of the DT OS and left us many mysteries like that, they retired in 1963 and left everything in the hands of the researchers they had gathered.

From there, their research results were used by the researchers who took over, leading to various problems and advantages of the virtual world, as well as ways of controlling those things.

The Three Sages did so much to create the foundation of DT, but they are said to have died in the blast caused during the 1st Godtact Experiment.

However, no one ever saw their bodies, so there are some who say they became a part of DT or they lived out the rest of their lives in the outside world.

Telyb’s Sight Mode: In DT’s Park

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

The color of DT’s sky was changing.

Into two different colors, in fact.

The boost speed was different inside and outside the large shield piercing through DT. Both had cloudy skies, but the sky outside the shield had the light of 3 PM while the sky inside the shield was already growing dark with the approach of evening.

The large shield connecting the castle and Babel and the smaller shield covering the southern park were both still functioning. The settings privileges had been transferred from Suedomsa to Algo, so they both continued to protect the people within them.

Everyone inside the park was safe. That included Telyb, Fooblicky, the other Yard members, and the Yard ambassadors from other countries gathered at the base of the clock tower.

The DT residents and the modern NPC Bodies were all there as well.

Overhead, both faces of the clock at the center of the park were operating.

The upper analog clock said it was 3:17 PM and the lower digital clock said it was 5:55 PM.

The bottom of the digital clock’s face sat open after a recent adjustment.

It now indicated the time within the large shield.

That was the time of DT’s x100 boost pushed up to a x1000 boost.

The Yard members were at work below the clock operating ten times as fast as the other.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

Telyb saw their actions as light and sound.

The light formed a single powerful line. The line of light stretched from the base of the clock tower and toward the castle.

It was in fact directional glowing orbs being alternately produced by the Yard members. The Energy Gunners from image data Word Races were firing a beam with no attack power included. Those would tell the people inside the castle where exactly they were.

The sound came from behind him. More Energy Gunners from the gun force were setting up a speaker and microphone at the base of the clocktower.

The glowing wires extending from those two devices were connected to a single window.

The window was running a communications unification program. It contained a word mail program and a waveform display to increase the vocal communication speed by ten times.

A woman sat below that window: Fooblicky.

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

She wore the headphone mic extending from the window. Another glowing wire connected the window to the see-through keyboard in her hands.

She was speaking with the castle in front of the many assistant operators and Yard ambassadors.

“Yuo, our situation and your reality are exactly as I described them. The enemy will attempt another godtact experiment at around 9:30 tonight and the Great God Lives are currently gathering in Babel. Isn’t that right?”

The wave displayed on the window shook and then vanished. After a moment, a reverse oriented wave appeared.

Fooblicky nodded when she heard Yuo’s voice over her headphones.

“So you’re saying you healed that idiot all on your own? And your Mouse is supplying him with spare heat energy? Excellent work. He should be recovered in another hour? Then we’ll plan accordingly.”

Another nod.

“Yes, we will apply a patch to Spell Breaker so we can support you and that idiot. …Don’t mention it. We would be blown to smithereens too, just like with the 2nd Godtact Experiment.” Fooblicky wagged her index finger. “So don’t worry. Just trust us. Noticing our call at all was more or less a miracle. You said you didn’t know where your room was, but your Mouse led you there while you were carrying that idiot, right?”

After a few seconds, she heard something else from Yuo.

She smiled bitterly.

“Ha ha. Yes, I imagine it was a surprise to find your Load Emblem is Wish Bringer now. Mule was all about measuring thought speed – and accelerating assumptions – but Wish Bringer is used to bring your thoughts to the surface. …But you aren’t going to change back, are you?”

Her smile lost its bitterness.

“Listen, if you intend to sing, then stop apologizing for forgetting your time with the Yard and find some way to tame that idiot. We can’t have him refusing to help at the very end. That is your most crucial mission right now.”

She tilted her head and the corners of her smiling lips twisted upwards.

“You know how to link your song to that idiot’s fists, don’t you? …What? An Emblem? No, he uses his fists and you use your voice, so you won’t want to combine them like we do. There should be some other way. …Good. Then we’ll have Spell Breaker ready to go by 9.”

When she sighed and removed the headphones, the operator next to her turned to face her.

“Vice Chief, I know you are busy, but I have statistics on the international response during the emergency virtual meeting.”

“Give that report to my husband, the actual chief. Everyone seems to forget about him.”

<Telyb’s Over Zoom>

Telyb nodded when Fooblicky looked his way.

“In the bible, it was a woman who informed the 11 remaining disciples of the Son of God’s resurrection.”

“Oh, shut up. Stop trying to sound smart the way Nosrup does and just listen to the report.”

Seeing the way Fooblicky was looking up at him, Telyb began to sweat and obeyed.

<Telyb’s Sight Mode has ended>

Telyb’s Board Mode: In DT Park

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

The Yard ambassadors and operators are looking your way.

The woman acting as a representative for the operators stands directly in front of you. She will be temporarily defined as “Operator”.

Telyb: “Fine then. I’ll hear you out. What does permanently neutral Switzerland have to say?”

Operator: “Yes, sir. They say they will leave this in our care. Also, you can check this window for the predicted international reactions.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

A large window opens above everyone’s head. It displays a world map with DT in the center.

Red parabolas leading to DT are drawn from each state and country on the map.

Operator: “The space inside that defense shield has been boosted 1000 times. Lieutenant Yuo’s data suggests a godtact experiment begins inside there at around 9:30 tonight. As it is 5:50 inside there, she has 220 minutes from her perspective, we have 22 minutes from ours, and the outside world has 13.2 seconds from theirs.”

Fooby: “Not even a missile launched now would arrive in time. The only ones who can possibly stop this are that idiot and Yuo. Although I get the feeling most people outside would consider themselves lucky if the great god were summoned.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky clicks her tongue.

Fooby: “The truth is, that probably would be best for the world as a whole. Switzerland claims they’re going to leave this with us, but I doubt that’s what they actually want.”

Telyb: “Either way, activating the great god would cause a great Godquake which would devastate the Great Lakes area. And even if you would like the great god to exist in this world, hoping this summoning works is the same as hoping all of us are killed.”

Fooby: “Yes, if the activation works, they would be fine, but if they cheer on the great god and it fails, then there will be an international debate on the ethics of the situation. Switzerland considers itself the world’s bank, so they need the world to consider them trustworthy.”

Telyb: “Which is why they’ve left us in charge. They win if the great god is activated and they receive accolades for trusting us if we succeed in stopping it. But what about the country of freedom we use as our parasitic host – what about the US?”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

One of the Yard ambassadors – a white man – stands up.

He is wearing a Yard strike force jacket over a brown suit. His hair is gray and his eyes are blue.

Unless otherwise specified or an Over Reload is made, he will be referred to as Ambassador1.

Ambassador1: “With the Cold War behind us, they want to prevent a single absolute power from descending upon our world. They are transferring all on-site authority to us, but they promise to provide aid if requested.”

Telyb: “The US has a bad habit of making political decisions based on what makes them most look like a hero. I bet the real reason is they don’t want to hand the great god over to Switzerland.”

Telyb: “But whatever the case, I appreciate the one keeping their neutrality and the other handing all authority to us.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

One of the Yard ambassadors – a black man – stands up.

He is wearing a Yard machine force uniform. His hair is black and his eyes are black.

Unless otherwise specified or an Over Reload is made, he will be referred to as Ambassador2.

Ambassador2: “I request to speak with my name and nationality left anonymous.”

<Notice: Anonymous setting approved. You will now be referred to as Anon1>

Anon1: “What about people like me who were just abandoned by our home countries?”

Telyb: “You have the right to harass your home country and the duty to wish for our victory.”

Anon1: “Are you sure that is wise? I mean, I’m all for it if I know I won’t be found out.”

Telyb: “No worries there. Have you forgotten this is an old hangout for Minus Elites?”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Anon1’s eyebrows are drooping and his lips are curled into a smile. It is a bitter smile.

Telyb: “Whatever the Plus world decides, our one and only job is to protect DT. So we will all play our parts. If your job is to assist the refugees, do that. If your job is to create the patch for Spell Breaker, do that. And if you have some spare time, use it to harass the bigshots who abandoned us here.”

Telyb: “And top priority for harassment are the countries that abandoned their Yard ambassadors.”

Fooby: “Yes. And if we want to send them a virus program, I suggest a time activated one. Once the countdown reaches 10 seconds remaining, it can display the countdown on all their machines with a big explosion in the background. And once the countdown reaches zero, it can display some kind of nasty message.”

Telyb: “That’s an awfully specific suggestion.”

Fooby: “And for good reason. I finished writing it a moment ago.”

<Telyb’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe entered Sight Mode as soon as he woke up.

His returned sight showed him a wooden frame and a stone panel. A lamp hung from the wooden frame.

He was looking at the ceiling.

He was lying on top of a cloth with a blanket over him. He was naked.

The ceiling he saw was vaguely familiar.

He checked the wall and saw decorative plates and framed posters attached to the stone texture.

He stared at them in his drowsy state, the sense of familiarity growing stronger.

<Whose…?>

His mind finally woke the rest of the way up.

“Yuo!”

He sprang up to a sitting position. He looked around, ignoring that the blanket fell away from him.

He found someone seated behind him by the pillow.

Her back was covered by a light green dress and brown hair.

Past the puffy shoulders of her dress, he saw a word mail window, a program window, and a few data icons.

He looked down at his naked body.

He had a high performance healing charm attached from his left shoulder to his right stomach. There was another on his right arm. He felt warmth below them, but no pain.

He sighed.

Then he looked down at the slender back next to him. To check something.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He blinked for a moment, but she still did not move.

The hair falling down her back did sway a bit, though. A window opened over that hair.

<You don’t need to worry. I promised to be by your side, didn’t I?>

<Give me a bit longer. I’m almost done writing an important program.>

After a while longer, her hands stopped moving.

She took a breath and turned around. She closed the word mail window but left the program window open.

She slowly turned to face him with her knees atop the bed.

She tangled the skirt of her dress in her hands and tilted her head.

<What do you think?>

First, he looked at her face.

Then at her chest.

And her hips.

He leaned to the side to look at her butt too.

And…

“Mh,” he grunted in approval.

She gave him a troubled smile.

<Um, I wasn’t asking for you to judge my various body parts.>

“If you find a man who looks first at a woman’s face, then her boobs, and finally at her butt, you have found a truly honest man.”

<An excellent example of why honesty is not always the best policy.>

<I was trying to ask if my treatment for your injuries was sufficient.>

“More than,” he replied without really checking on his condition.

Then he looked at her more closely. Her eyes were focused now.

To be certain, he held his hand out in front of her face and waved it side to side.

She smiled bitterly with the program window still glowing behind her.

<I can see your thuggish face just fine, Senpai.>

“Mh,” he grunted in acknowledgment before doing so again. He also crossed his arms. “What do you think?”

She took a closer look at his face before answering.

<Oh, well, I had already seen your face in the audience chamber, but I suppose I was happy to see it again.>

“No. Not my face.”

He looked to the blanket draped over his hips and finally looked back at her.

“You saw me naked, didn’t you?”

<N-n-n-n-now wait a minute here. Back up.>

When she realized what he meant, she leaned forward, her face red but with anger rather than anything else. She reached out her white-gloved right hand to point at his left chest.

<After I carried you here with my Mouse’s help, you were already covered in blood. I couldn’t exactly leave you in your clothes like that, could I? Besides, the wound went all the way down to your hip.>

<You were also unusually hungry, so I had our Mice run down to the dining hall to eat a bunch of heat energy on your behalf.>

“I do not care about my healing, my wound, my hunger, or Monkey’s whereabouts,” calmly replied Aoe. “I asked what you thought.”

Yuo groaned and backed away. She held herself and tensed, but eventually…

<Umm.>

She held an open hand out toward him.

<Please keep in mind this only makes us even. We’re even.>

<You saw me too when I was in the Questron, didn’t you? Saw me naked, I mean.>

“But I didn’t get to strip you first. That bit of fun means you still owe me one.”

<I owe you nothing. I didn’t have a choice when you weren’t in any state to remove your own clothes!>

“Mh. You have a point there. There wasn’t anything else you could have done.” He crossed his arms and nodded deeply. “But the fact remains that I have not stripped you.”

She blushed down to her neck when he said that. The sweat on her brow dripped down her cheeks.

Maybe it was an overreaction from her subprograms, but her hands moved in a flustered way.

<U-um, S-Senpai? Are you, uh, familiar with the concept of negotiating?>

“Mh,” he confirmed, giving her some hope. But, “When I negotiate, I always demand it all.”

<Ugh, you really are an idiot, aren’t you?> Yuo spoke in her window and brought a hand to her forehead. <Um, uh, h-how far do you intend to strip me?>

<C-could you be a magnanimous Senpai by going easy on me and letting me keep my underwear on like in a game of strip poker?>

“Where did you learn about that?”

<In the amusement park’s rec room.>

Aoe noticed a hint of enjoyment on her face when she answered on reflex, so he said something else.

“Yuo.”

<Um, yes?>

“What do you think?”

She backed away again.

<Um,> she said in her window and he smiled bitterly.

“Not what I meant. I’m asking if you enjoy this back-and-forth between us.”

Her eyes briefly widened. She looked taken aback but with her cheeks still flushed and she considered what he was asking her.

After a few seconds of silence, she nodded.

<I do enjoy it.>

“That’s good enough for me. Let’s switch to Board Mode. I want to set the silliness aside and get some information on the present situation.”

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Board Mode: In DT Castle

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo is seated in front of you in a dress.

Aoe: <So what’s the situation?>

Yuo: <Let’s see. It is currently 6:40 PM inside the shield. The shield is still in place. If the plans Daikatana shared with us are still accurate, then the god will enter Algo and bring this all to a climax at around 9:30 PM.>

Aoe: <Then we need to go stop this right away.>

Yuo: <No, you can’t do that. Stop being so impatient.>

Aoe: <What’s the problem? You haven’t chickened out, have you? Or are you asking for something in return if you go?>

Yuo: <This is going the exact opposite of how Fooblicky said it would…>

Yuo: <Not that it matters. Telyb and Fooblicky are currently making a program for us. It will use Spell Breaker to apply a constant boost that allows us to go wild within the x1000 boost. It will be powered by donations from the outside world and the power of DT’s people. They say it should be ready at 9.>

Aoe: <Hm. So a little more than 2 more hours. We could grab a bite to eat and still have plenty of time to spare.>

Yuo: <Then let’s talk. I’ve read a lot of my own logs already.>

Yuo: <That gives us a lot to talk about. Even if I don’t have direct memories for a lot of it.>

Aoe: <You really are stupid, aren’t you? Why would you go and do something like that?>

Yuo: <What’s the problem? It’s all me anyway. …Oh.>

Aoe: <Oh, what?>

Yuo: <That reminded me that I win our “negotiation” from before. Because based on my journal, you already stripped me 6 years ago. I just don’t remember it anymore.>

Aoe: <But you saw me naked then too.>

Yuo: <That doesn’t count if I don’t remember it.>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo’s eyes bend and her teeth are showing. She is smiling.

Yuo: <That gives me a real advantage. Remembering it is a sin, Senpai.>

Aoe: <You don’t play fair… But anyway, you lost a lot of your past, didn’t you?>

Yuo: <Yes, I did. But I can partially regain a lot of it like this. Oh, but, Senpai?>

Yuo: <It said in my journal that when you, um, stripped me, you complimented me a lot. That’s something of a surprise.>

Aoe: <Huh? I did nothing of the sort.>

Aoe: <All I did was nod when you asked me what I thought about your underwear, your boobs, and your butt.>

Yuo: <That’s what I mean.>

Yuo: <You really did look at me and nod with that grunt of yours, didn’t you?>

Aoe: <Mh.>

Yuo: <That was enough for me. You either stay silent or protest when you don’t like something, don’t you?>

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Yuo narrows her eyes a little and flattens her eyebrows. It is a look of relief.

Aoe: <…>

Yuo: <But it’s strange. If, hypothetically, we had done it all back then, I doubt we would have ended up like this.>

Aoe: <I have to agree with you there. You wouldn’t have been chosen as the vessel, would you?>

Yuo: <Are you going to tell me you want to pick up where we left off back then?>

Aoe: <No. There’s no point in rushing things and pressuring you to do that now.>

Yuo: <Eh? Why not?>

Aoe: <You have to ask?>

Aoe: <Because now you’ll always be by my side, won’t you?>

<Warning: Your body is collapsing. Immediately do something to prevent a fall.>

Aoe: <Mh?>

<Aoe’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Sight Mode: In DT Castle

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

Aoe’s vision linked with his mind.

He was falling onto his side atop the bed. This was due to the medical charm covering him from the left chest to the right flank. The charm was applied tight enough to tug at his skin and it was making his entire body tense while he lost his balance.

His left side fell downward. Instead of the sheets, he found a smoother fabric below him. It was light green silk. But he found something else below his head. It was like a warm pillow.

That was Yuo’s lap.

He looked up to see her. She was lowering her head with her eyes shut.

<Is she in Board Mode?>

When his thought appeared in a window, he realized he had been fully released from her management.

But I’m used to it now, appeared in the window while he focused on her face.

Her eyes were shut, but she still looked sleepy.

He guessed she hadn’t awoken from Board Mode yet.

But then he spoke aloud.

“That isn’t it.”

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

He saw her looking at him with eyes open.

<Took you long enough to notice. You really do forget things and fail to arrive in time, don’t you?>

<Just like with that earlier “negotiation”.>

“What, am I forgetting something about that?”

<You are. You didn’t notice that I’ve already lost that negotiation, did you?>

She peered into his eyes.

<I saw it in my Board logs earlier.>

<I made a promise with you on a Side Page, didn’t I?>

That reminded him of the Board conversation he had held with Yuo while in the castle’s central comm tower.

She smiled when she saw the look of realization on his face.

<I said there was a very high chance it would happen if you risk your life to rescue me but get badly injured in the process and then I’m nursing you back to health and you whisper just the right words in my ear.>

“Yes, it was an oddly specific and unlikely request.”

<So what will you do?>

Aoe sighed and looked into her face.

“I’m not sure what to do.”

She smiled bitterly at that.

<Yes, I’m not sure what to do either. It’s a strange feeling.>

“Why’s that?”

<So much has happened all at once over the past few hours. After returning downstairs and crying, I’ve been reading through all my old logs in a word mail window. That did tell me why my Load Emblem changed, at least. But I still feel like I’m on shaky ground.>

She raised her head a bit and placed a hand on her chest.

<So, um, can I ask something of you?>

“What is it?”

She narrowed her eyes a little and looked him in the eye.

<I can’t Grandload my Wish Bringer right now because I don’t have my voice program. I can Download into different parts of me with a 50% Load, but a 100% Grandload into my full body requires a specific starting point.>

“Sounds like you’re in a similar predicament to me earlier. Inconvenient, isn’t it?”

She nodded and glanced behind her.

The program window she hadn’t closed was still there.

<So my request is to modify our settings to link the starting points of our Grandloads. That way the attack power used to Grandload your Black Belt could be used for my Wish Bringer as well.>

“Huh? Is that really possible?”

<It is. It’s a bit of a kludge, but it would let me Grandload when you do. Of course, I won’t be able to remove the limiter on my voice since I don’t have my voice program, so it would only let me perform a 100% Load into my full body.>

Aoe considered it for a bit.

“Y’know, couldn’t you use that Mule one instead of forcing a link to use Wish Bringer? And if you can modify the Load starting conditions, can’t you change Wish Bringer’s starting condition to your hand, your boobs, or your butt?”

<Well, um, sort of, but…this is also practice.>

She blushed and hung her head.

He tilted his head as she tried to shrink as small as possible.

“Practice for what? Why is Grandloading along with mine useful?”

She looked straight down when he asked.

Eventually, she raised her flushed face and stared at him.

Her eyebrows were raised and her mouth shut in a serious expression. Some words were instantly displayed in a window above her.

<Practice for our joint Load Emblem.>

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe frowned with his head resting on Yuo’s lap.

She had just said linking activation of their Load Emblems was practice for a joint Load Emblem.

That meant she wanted to set up a joint Load Emblem with him. Or to put it another way…

“You want to perform a dangerous act with me?”

<Please don’t make this more embarrassing than it already is!>

She waved her hands to stop him from continuing and hung her head a bit.

<Mule supported the speed of my thoughts, but I didn’t want to use that anymore once I decided to leave the city. So if I’m going to set up a joint Load Emblem with you, I would be joining Black Belt with Wish Bringer’s power, not Mule’s>

“So you want to link Wish Bringer with Black Belt now as practice, even if you can’t sing?”

Aoe nodded and considered it.

A joint Load Emblem required authorization from both parties and it would mean directly linking their individual traits.

By joining their Load Emblems, Aoe’s fists could be directly affected by the programs activated by Yuo’s song and that could increase his accuracy.

<We couldn’t activate a joint Load Emblem right now since I don’t have a voice and it would probably be unstable without the finetuning I can’t complete on such short notice. We wouldn’t be able to use it in combat right away, so instead I will modify our existing Emblems to create a pseudo joint Load Emblem and base the real one on the feedback data I get from that. The modifications are basically the same as creating a multi-program activation, so I threw together a quick-and-dirty program just now.>

“What affect will this practice version have on me when we activate it?”

<Nothing will be any different for you. I will be limited to a 100% Load that doesn’t remove my limiter. But thanks to the typing skills I learned from Excel, I can still activate programs without my voice.>

She took a breath.

<I will collect data on this modification and make sure the real joint Load Emblem works once I get my voice back from Mekton.>

“I see,” said Aoe, but then he realized something. “But creating a joint Load Emblem requires us to be together, doesn’t it? And doesn’t it require sharing our settings?”

He thought for a moment while viewing her face from close up.

Her eyebrows bent awkwardly and she looked away.

But after a sigh, he spoke clearly to her.

“I…”

He nodded.

“I want to create a joint Load Emblem with you.”

He scratched his head while still resting his head in her lap.

“Don’t make me say why that is.”

<I-I won’t.>

She blushed and quickly nodded without lowering her eyebrows.

Her shoulders drooped a bit and she gulped in a breath. Her words appeared in a window a few seconds later.

<Then let’s open a window together and set that up later.>

“Mh? Together?”

He didn’t look happy about that and she narrowed her eyes.

<This is important for DT girls. It means we aren’t just being saved by the wonderful person at our side and we aren’t just saving them either – we’re sharing our power to help each other out.>

She laughed quietly and spoke through her thoughts.

<I’ve been thinking about this for centuries now, you know?>

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Telyb’s Board Mode: In DT Park

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky is at work next to you, typing on her see-through keyboard.

Fooby: “This is really weird. Those international Yard ambassadors are normally at each other’s throats, but the instant you suggested harassing their home countries, they’re all working together to do just that. You did love childish pranks even in your research days.”

Telyb: “Says the woman whose name is based on a game of mischievous dogs.”

Telyb: “I heard that indecent demand you made of Yuo at the end of your conversation there.”

Fooby: “Indecent? I only told her to tame that idiot. I never said a word as to how. …Although I did hear she stripped him bare while treating his wound.”

Telyb: “…”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky has stopped working.

Fooby: “Oh? What’s that look supposed to mean? I don’t see anything wrong with it. She seems really attached to that idiot even after losing her memories. …And I’m sure they both already have their justification ready.”

Telyb: “What justification?”

Fooby: “Oh, come on. You know what I mean. Just remember what you told me, a woman 10 years younger than you, before the 2nd Godtact Experiment.”

Telyb: “I said your miniature form is the most- geh!”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky’s fist has jabbed into your side.

You have fallen to your knees.

Fooby: “Before that, idiot. About the great god.”

Telyb: “Y-you mean that the great god is a purity fetishist who hates immoral people?”

Fooby: “So you do remember.”

Fooby: “Yes. And then you said we aren’t the great god, so we could corrupt this world twice as fast if we worked together.”

Fooby: “So, honey. What do you think would have happened if I had become the vessel like everyone initially wanted? It would have happened if you hadn’t said that to me.”

Telyb: “The same thing that happened anyway. I would have tried to stop it and ended up shooting you.”

Fooby: “Hee hee. You are such a bad liar.”

<Telyb’s Over Reload>

Fooblicky nods.

Her eyebrows are raised and her lips pursed. It is a look of satisfaction.

Fooby: “That means that idiot made a different decision than Suedomsa and you. He rescued the vessel with a power even greater than a gun and now he’s going to make her immoral.”

<Telyb’s Board Mode has ended>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle

<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The rooms lights were off and darkness surrounded Aoe.

The faintly lit scenery was visible out the window.

Light raced toward heaven from the tip of the tower sticking up into the dark southern sky.

Aoe held his right hand toward that light and started to remove the bandage covering that hand.

<Senpai?>

A window opened below him. Yuo had her bare back to him atop the waves formed by a light green dress.

He unwrapped the bandage from his arm and looked to his upper arm.

A scar ran through the front and back of the arm. The split in the skin had already filled with white scar tissue.

So he removed the medical charm from his chest as well.

He revealed the scar left by Algo and Daikatana and rolled up the charm.

“It’s still leaking blood. Just like you would expect of a wound tying you to someone else.”

He spoke to himself while viewing the scar on his chest.

The white line ran from his left shoulder to his right hip, but most of the blood had been absorbed by the charm, leaving only the scent of medicinal herbs and a bit of the oozing blood.

He tossed the balled-up charm in the trashcan next to the bed and looked to Yuo.

“Sorry, I got distracted. As pathetic as it sounds, I’m starting to get nervous about this.”

<You sound irritated, Senpai.>

“Maybe something is weighing on my mind, making me distractable.”

Yuo got up in the darkness and approached him.

<What’s weighing on your mind?>

“You know I’m seeking the strongest Plus power, right? I want to be able to understand and surpass my opponent’s anxiety and fear using the fists I can trust in.”

<Yes, I have heard bits and pieces of that several times so far.>

“I managed to trust in my fists when I rescued you, but I still don’t know how to understand how other people feel. I mean, I can’t read people’s minds.”

He recalled a piece of data: the message in blood from Daikatana he has seen just before passing out from injury and hunger.

“But in his final moments, Daikatana told me to think of you if it bothered me I can’t read people’s minds.” He scratched his head with a troubled tone to his voice. “So maybe I’m thinking about you a little too much.”

He looked up to see her looking back at him.

He could see her sweaty skin in the darkness, showing him she really was looking right at him.

She tilted her head once before choosing her words carefully.

<U-umm, well, Senpai?>

“Yes?”

She looked up a bit and thought about what to say.

Eventually, she scooted toward him on her knees.

<Th-the thing is, I’m not sure what your problem is. You already know what Daikatana was talking about! You already know how to know what people are thinking!>

She took his hand and held it to her chest.

He felt her pulse. Her somewhat rapid pulse.

<Why do you think my pulse is racing so much when I’m still running on subprograms? Because you’re touching me, right? And…that’s because I thought I would feel warmth rather than fear if you touched me, right?>

“Mh,” he grunted as she opened a window.

<So you already understand me! You can think about me and understand me just like Daikatana said! You just haven’t noticed it yourself!>

<Listen,> she said in a new window. <It may be difficult for a Plus person like you, but Minus people like us can do this from people’s words alone. We can never truly know someone else, but that’s why we do our best to imagine who they must be and think about what they must be thinking!>

“B-but that’s the Minus way. A Plus person like me can’t do that.”

Hearing that, Yuo looked to his hand on her chest.

<You can do the same thing by looking at me, listening to me, and touching me.>

She nodded, turned toward him, and said more.

<Plus people must learn what other people are thinking in the same way as us. But instead of imagining everything from their words alone, you use all the information in the real world to imagine who they are on the inside.>

“So the strongest power can be found in the Plus or the Minus? You just have to believe in yourself and…”

<Yes, and throw your fist while thinking of your opponent. That may be the best way of putting it.>

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe smiled bitterly at that. He laughed out loud and scratched his head.

“That’s the answer? Really?”

He looked at Yuo tilting her head in the nude and continued with a sigh in his voice.

“So it all comes down to thinking about your opponent first and foremost?”

He had some exasperation in his voice, but Yuo smiled instead.

<Yes, I believe so.>

That smile made Aoe consider the relationship between the Plus and the Minus.

<That would mean she is thinking about me too.>

Yuo blushed when she read the window floating above him. He only realized his thoughts had appeared in a window when he noticed her blush. He spoke to her while she hung her head and tensed her shoulders.

“Although I have some doubts how serious those thoughts about me are.”

<C-could you not tease me after all this?>

“But as much as my thinking about you seems to have put you in the mood...” He sat cross-legged on the bed. “Why am I all irritated instead of getting in the mood?”

She withered under his gaze and produced a window.

<Umm, logically speaking, wouldn’t that mean I’m not thinking about you enough?>

“Good point. So how about you put a little more effort into it. For example, you could directly-”

<One more word and you’ll regret it!!>

Yuo sighed, shoulders drooping.

<Maybe the mood isn’t right, but how about we go ahead and change our settings? Like body reflex and->

Yuo came to a sudden stop.

He wondered what that was about and she scooted closer, apologized, and opened a window.

<Um, it turns out I never changed your management settings. You’re still a criminal.>

“I’m what?”

She held up the window to show him.

It displayed his management settings. All the fields scrolled rapidly by, but her focus zeroed in on one of them.

<Yeah, I was right. You’re restricted from all sexual activities.>

“Restricted!? How dare they!”

<Don’t get all worked up over it. Besides, the problem is you for trying to do that as a criminal. …Do you want to see the settings window with all the naughty stuff on it?>

“Mh,” confirmed Aoe, sighing and reading the window over Yuo’s shoulder.

“What does this ‘Highest Allowed Category’ setting mean? The options are hard, normal, and easy.”

<I don’t know either. Let’s put that at normal. That should be the standard setting. Oh, and it looks like you’re set to ‘castrated’, so I’ll remove that. I’ll remove the basic morals check as well.>

“I was castrated!?”

Aoe’s expression grew super serious.

“I was starting to question a rather fundamental part of my being, but that explains it! Castrated!”

<Could you not shout that word over and over?>

<Honestly, your basic stats must be way too high if you could take it this far with that kind of restriction in place.>

He ignored Yuo’s sidelong glance and reached for the window. He checked each of the humanoid icons lined up below the window and Yuo soon noticed.

<S-stop that! I’m not doing any of that acrobatic yoga-like stuff!>

“Why limit our options so soon?”

<We only have an hour and it’s my first time, so we need to stick to the basics.>

“Damn. …Hm, is this where the settings I share with my partner are located? Then what’s this icon of a rotating arrow?”

<I think that sets the sensitivity of the jiggle physics subprogram.>

“Then this must be where you switch off the guy’s voice and Body display, this must be the sound effect volume level, and this must be the extra lives setting.”

<Please just ignore all of that. Some people need those extra options, but we don’t.>

Yuo breathed an exhausted sigh and said “this is a real pain” in her window.

<Um, this is important, so can we just check the consent box in the morals section, ignore the entire movement management section, and then Grandload? The subprograms are so businesslike I don’t want to do it that way.>

Yuo opened a new window.

<I will now run the link modification program I wrote earlier.>

<Yuo: Load Emblem Settings: Program Activation Change: Run>

With a quiet metallic sound, a tremor ran through her body, but nothing more.

However, there was a change on the Load Emblem settings window she opened for him to see.

“All of your settings are the same as mine.”

<Yes. It’s temporary, but our settings are shared. Now to change some of them.>

She switched off the symbol display, voiced expression, and activation notification window settings.

<That eliminates all of the effects during Grandloading.>

“Yeah, it would ruin the mood to suddenly hear shattering glass in the middle of it all.”

He noticed she was still messing with their windows.

“Hey, what’s that ‘shared pain’ setting you’re adding in?”

<Well, you’re used to pain, so I figured you could take on about 80% of my pain.>

“Deal with your own pain. Also, what’s this mosaic filter setting?”

<Well…um…maybe we don’t need to actually see certain parts of me and you?>

“But this is America.”

<Switzerland controls the city.>

“They don’t censor that stuff either. I believe strongly in freedom of expression, so I refuse to use that setting.”

<Just come out and say you want to see it. Do you really have to make silly excuses at this point?>

She hung her head and wordlessly closed the settings window. She breathed a lengthy sigh before speaking again.

<I’m no match for your lewd spirit, Senpai. Please do with me what you want.>

She held the settings window in her arms and leaned into his chest.

He embraced her and held her tight.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Their lips met a few times and they touched each other’s bodies.

He remained seated as he held her in his arms and viewed her.

She sat on his lap, her cheeks red and her eyes shut.

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

<I’m embarrassed. …Oh.>

When he poked at her side, she jumped and opened her eyes.

She sighed with some tears of surprise in her eyes.

“I would think it’s scarier if you can’t see. I’m not even sure what I might do.”

<Now you’re trying to worry me.>

She breathed a heated sigh and he embraced her again. He placed her left arm around his back so her cheek pressed against his left chest.

She used that arm to hold him tight.

He could see her long ear growing red out to the tip.

“Press your ear against the wound you healed.”

<Um, okay.>

She nodded and did so. Her long ear bent as it pressed against him.

Her senses may have been heightened because she fidgeted for a bit at the uncomfortable distortion of her ear.

She finally came to a stop with her ear on his chest.

<You’re nervous too, aren’t you? Your heart is racing.>

She sounded happy and he responded with a grunt and a nod. He also placed his hand on her left breast.

He could hear her pulse through her skin.

<But we should still be using subprograms since we haven’t Grandloaded yet.>

In lieu of responding, he planted his lips on her neck.

He felt her pulse there as well. “Mh,” he grunted.

“I don’t know what to tell you.

“I don’t know why either.”

<If you did know, it would mean you had been unfaithful. Oh, you just Grandloaded, didn’t you? Then I will too.>

“I want you to touch me more.

“I’ll be fine.”

He smiled bitterly at her Text.

He turned his head to take a look at her. Her expression had softened and her movements had slowed.

He bit at her face and lips with his mouth. And he pulled her hips toward him with his left hand.

He didn’t remove his lips as he touched her with his right hand.

He rubbed and tapped his fingers along the bulging parts, the indented parts, the bony contours, and the spaces between the bones, hearing the sound of the taps passing through her body.

She let out a sigh when he touched her side and he swallowed that breath in his mouth.

<U-um, Senpai. Wh-what are we supposed to do when we do this sort of thing?>

“Use your imagination. Let’s just say this is commonly referred to as an extravaganza of sucking and groping.”

<No one calls it that. …Ah, wait.>

When his right hand slipped between her legs, her hips tried to escape backwards.

She used her empty left hand to grab his right hand and her face was noticeably red even in the dim light.

<That is a dangerous->

He ignored her. He touched her while biting her ear. Her shoulders shook as he tugged her head back with his teeth. She let out a heated sigh and obediently leaned her head back.

She was leaning backwards, so trying to move her hips back would only bend her body. When he touched her, she only shut her eyes with a quiet moan escaping her throat.

He used his teeth on the cartilage of her ear to turn her ear inside out in his mouth.

That was enough for a concerned sweat to cover her skin in his arms.

They spent a few minutes like that while she kept moaning with her body shaking again and again. Finally, she opened her tearful eyes.

<Ahh…>

“?”

<I’ve been defiled.>

<I haven’t gotten to that part yet.>

<This counts. Don’t make me explain it further.>

<If you’re only going to get embarrassed, don’t bring it up in the first place.>

A groan of protest left her throat and beads of sweat began to drip down her skin.

<What an indecent body,> she said.

<Hey, I can’t help that.>

<I meant my own. It didn’t take much for it to completely capitulate.>

Her body trembled in his arms.

<I must have known this day was coming for the past 600 years.>

She shut her eyes apologetically and leaned her head against him even as he bit her ear. He licked the bite mark on her ear before releasing it.

<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Her cheek, hair, and somewhat softened ear were resting on his shoulder.

She sighed and he felt the heat of the breath on his skin.

“Don’t worry. One night with me will be better than those 600 years combined.”

She opened her eyes and raised her head with surprise in her gaze.

<You sure are confident, Senpai.>

“Mh,” he replied, looking to her.

After confirming the mood of guilt he had sensed from her was gone, he touched the side of her butt and her navel.

In his left arm, she brought her lips to his chest.

He noticed some blood seeping from his wound there.

She cleaned it off with her tongue.

Her tongue felt like a bug crawling on his wound. And at the same time…

<You’ve always tried to keep me from getting hurt, haven’t you?>

Instead of answering, he bit her ear again. Pressing his teeth into the cartilage and twisting it.

With a sound like a popping joint, the ear turned inside out.

A heated gasp left her.

She tensed and trembled a bit, but…

<If you like doing that, you can go ahead and bite it off.>

Seeing that in the window made him let go.

He held his arm around her back and lay her down on the bed.

She sank a bit into the waves of her removed dress.

She touched her bit ear, twisted her body toward him, and spread her knees.

He crawled on top of her, placing his hands next to her shoulders.

He looked her in the eye. Her somewhat tearful eyes were directed up at him and she said nothing.

“What is it, Yuo?”

She answered by narrowing her eyes and reaching her hands toward him.

Her extended index fingers touched the scar on his chest. And the drops of blood oozing out.

“That hurt, didn’t it?”

After a pause, he nodded and she narrowed her eyes.

She wiped a dot of red from his chest and licked it from her fingers.

She sucked his blood from her fingers and breathed a heated sigh.

After that, she used her removed dress as a pillow and placed her hands on her shoulders. It looked a lot like she wasn’t sure if her body suited her.

<This is embarrassing, but make sure to really look at me, think about me, and give me an answer.>

“I promise to give you an answer, so you make sure to imagine who I am from that answer.”

She smiled, her cheeks flushed red, looked up at him.

And she asked a question.

“What do you think of me?”

His response to her was brief.

“Mh.”

That made her smile grow as tears spilled from her eyes.

<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>

Puppy’s Special Board Mode: In DT Castle

<Puppy has been reactivated by a request from Yuo>

<Puppy’s Over Reload>

You are in Fortress 1F Dining Hall, a Top Page of the castle.

Aoe’s Mouse, Monkey, is sleeping next to you.

<Monkey has been reactivated>

<Puppy’s Action: Sharing request notification with Monkey>

Yuo: <Help me create a temporary joint Load Emblem setting.>

<Monkey understands the request from Yuo. He is following Puppy’s lead>

<Puppy’s Action: Movement: Target Set: Yuo: Run>

<Monkey’s Action: Movement: Target Set: Yuo: Run>

<The two Mice have left Fortress 1F Dining Hall>

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