The sound of heavy footsteps resounded on the spiral staircase as she walked up the stairs leading to her room, before stopping just before her door.
There was a chilling cold tone in the air around her.
Ever since she saw that Dragon, it reminded her too much of the One Eyed Black Dragon that it left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Ais brought her fingers to her face, her smile was gone, her happiness, the warmth she felt fleeting replaced by hatred.
Her eyebrows scrunched together, and fist clenched tightly.
The desire for revenge was growing again.
Her burning black flame that sought strength was being rekindled.
"—?!"
Something grabbed her hand and in an instant her eyes flashed in anger as she turned to look behind… she immediately regretted it — because it was Zwei that was holding onto her hand.
Her mind was preoccupied with the dragon that it almost made her forget that Zwei was following behind her.
She felt guilty for having shown anger towards the one who brought her the warmth she longed for.
Aside from becoming strong, she didn't have anything at all. She thought that having warmth wouldn't be possible anymore as she didn't have enough to spare. She did not have enough time to care about others.
Then Zwei came and did the impossible ... and she almost lashed out at him.
She grasped at a pang of emotion in her heart, twisting and piercing. "Zwei, I-"
"Is something wrong?" Zwei asked, his eyes perpetually shifted as if looking for something directly inside her.
That frown, the way he looked at he be concerned about her?
That thought made her worry, and her burning black flame gradually abated as warmth slowly returned.
As if on instinct, she gave him a small smile and began patting his head. "I'm fine now. Thank you."
"I see," Zwei stopped his biometrics analysis as her heart rate dwindled down but it gently increased the longer he was holding her hand.
As he was about to let go, she hurriedly grabbed his hand with both of hers tightly.
"Ais?"
This was the first time he called her by name and she didn't know why but him calling her name made her very happy for some reason as a small rosy tint covered her cheeks.
"Can we stay like this a little bit longer and call me by my name again," Ais requested or rather demanded, refusing to look away as her face flushed in embarrassment.
Zwei tilted his head, confused as he didn't follow her line of thought. " Cannot understand, request denied."
Ais pouted, her eyes modestly downcast, and her grip weakening.
"Ais," Zwei relented, his analytical result of his reasoning caused her to become despondent which he wanted to remedy.
Ais immediately beamed up, her grip returning with full force.
"Again."
"Ais."
"Again…" she eagerly demanded, each time he said her name caused her heart to elevate.
"... Ais," This time, Zwei looked away –– a little bit of pink rose to his pale face. For a machine that always kept itself as emotionless … was blushing.
The expression she wanted to see the most.
She couldn't help but find it really charming because usually, he had no expression at all on his face unless she did something that made him bashful.
She cupped his cheeks then leaned her forehead against his, she knew the last time she did this it made Zwei cry –– if so she would apologize a hundred times and more –– she really wanted to do this.
Despite how calm and composed she looked, she can't hide how red her face has become that reached all the way to her red hot ears and that her heart is throbbing really hard.
Zwei could feel that her hands were trembling.
"I'm really happy to have met you, Zwei," she was grateful to him, for having given her warmth that she thought wouldn't be possible anymore.
… And that she wouldn't be alone anymore
"..."
Unsure of what to say, Zwei stood there silently… but those words, something moved inside him but he can't pinpoint it to what it is.
Machines who had emotions before –– decayed over the centuries due to the loss of their beloved, would have known what this meant.
Could he have known if he was connected to the collective?
This sudden influx deep inside him –– within his heart which should have been standing still — was moved ...
Does he even want the others to know what he currently feels right now?
––Nein. he doesn't want to.
He doesn't know why but he felt it would be embarrassing, because the cluster and all of Ex-Machina would know.
And he felt that it should only belong to him and only him –– so he will selfishly keep it to himself, is that wrong?
...is this why... Schwi didn't want to give it to anyone?
For him to feel this way… could it be? Is she his "unique figure"?
Zwei brought his hands to meet hers, gently holding the back of her palms as she cupped his cheeks.
… why does it? Her hands.
it feels... very calming ...
"Let's go."
Ais hesitantly parted from Zwei before opening the door and beckoning him over. Nodding he stepped forward into her room.
Zwei looked around the room once more, it was very spartan in design, decorations were scarcely found and a chest that he overlooked before entering here first.
The sound of clunking metals echoed inside the room as Ais stripped herself of her armor consisting of head guard, breastplate, arm guards, hip guards, and knee guards.
Storing it inside the chest before sitting on her bed, tapping the bed gently as a sign for him to come sit beside her, although that gesture went over his head as he tilted in confusion.
Ais sighed.
"Ais, forgive me," Zwei abruptly apologized, facing downwards.
"What for?"
"For breaking your promise," he explained.
He was not supposed to reveal his mechanical body but he broke the rule due to the circumstance –– for Ex-Machina rules must never be broken, or risk being permanently disconnected. That was before they met Riku.
Now, they hated breaking the rules implemented by their respective unique figures or lying to them.
They were tools bereft of heart — to be used and thrown away.
But they didn't want to be hated by the user.
"Ah, when you showed your memory. It's alright."
Now that her mind's clear, she remembered parts of Zwei's memory that he showed earlier. Those were his kind weren't they?
They all looked lifeless …
Just like Zwei when she first met him, was he making the same face during that time? She didn't like it, she wanted Zwei to smile more that fitted him better.
But she also saw how many of his kind died and none of them didn't care for a fallen comrade.
"Zwei… weren't you afraid?"
Afraid? That was a foreign concept to them.
"We are machines without hearts, mere tools, faithful executors of commands so—"
"No..." Ais cut in, whispering in a tone that made him stop.
Slowly walking towards him, her hand brushed away his hood revealing his cybernetic parts.
"You have a heart… you're not a tool... you are Zwei" she hated it. She hated that impassive look. She was angry. "Never ever call yourself like that again."
To elicit this response just because of his answer. This isn't good, if push comes to shove and his sacrifice necessary, he would gladly die for the sake of accomplishing his command.
But he isn't considered as a tool then he would be breaking another rule if he died — Rule number two. "You must not let anyone die." — he can't find a loophole if the losing of himself, a tool, would result in a loss.
If he agreed, then it'll be nothing more than an empty promise — another lie. There was also the possibility that she wouldn't believe his lie. If he disagreed, then she wouldn't accept it, no matter how many times he'll deny, she'll stubbornly refuse to accept it.
Neither option was promising. Therefore, he didn't answer. That was the best outcome he calculated in 0.003 seconds.
"..."
By staying silent.
Neither accepting nor resisting, would give off the illusion that he is contemplating about her answer. Rule number four. "No tactics are off limits, not even a sly trick should be considered dirty."
Ais would have continued trying to convince Zwei but her fatigue finally caught up to her — she spent a long time in the dungeon and only noticed now how tired she was.
"Let's just go to sleep."
Making her way over to her bed again before laying down and making a bit of space as her back hugged the wall — the bed was only intended for a single person but she wanted to share her bed with Zwei … who just stood in the same spot.
"Are you not tired?"
"Ex-Machina does not require sleep," he replied, wiggling his two tails again, this time it glowed. "Power source."
Come to think of it, she almost forgot about that. What was it called again?
"Virtual spirit circuit junction nerves."
Once again he knew what she was thinking, how was he doing that?
Normally, others would have a hard time telling what she is thinking but Zwei can read her like an open book — by measuring and analyzing biometrics, combined with their flawless deduction abilities — this allows their senses to border on mind-reading.
Although despite their superior senses and obtaining the "heart" from schwi, they are still mostly unfamiliar with the concept of emotions, therefore they could be confused when faced with unknown feelings.
Such as when Zwei couldn't figure out what he is currently feeling everytime he is near her.
"My cables draw power from the environment –– it is like eating for humans," he explained.
Cables? Oh he's tails, there is one more thing to ask—
"Spirits?"
"It is what gives us life, it is akin to magic." Zwei simplified, figuring that the terminology must be different here — this is another world so it was best to simplify explanations.
"Ah, that makes sense then."
So it wasn't the kind of spirit that she was thinking. Changing the topic, wouldn't it be uncomfortable for him to stand there while she slept?
"Here, lie down"
"No."
"Why?"
"That bed is fit for only one person."
"So?"
"My scans show you are exhausted, you need to be comfortable and rest," Zwei walked towards her before sitting on his knees just before the bed.
Ais pouted and no one said anything for a while, eventually Ais let out a deep breath giving up on getting Zwei to lie down on the bed.
"Then at least, will you hold my hand while I sleep?" Ais reached out her right hand towards Zwei.
… this—
"Then let me ask one more thing. Today I'm gonna sleep and work on recovering so can you hold my hand?"
This memory was Scwhi's.
When she uploaded the "Heart" her memories managed to slip in the process due to reasons unknown, but most likely as she neared her death there was an abnormal acceleration to her thoughts — perhaps what the humans called "flashing lights" in which they'll remember their important parts in life before dying.
Not all of her memories were uploaded, only tidbits of her most treasured, important memories.
Zwei laid his right hand on top of her palms which Ais clasped in return, along with her other hand gripping the back of his hand. Practically sandwiching his hand, just in case he tries to escape.
Zwei took note that Ais made a tense expression whilst clutching his hand. Most likely worried that he would leave her.
Most likely?
He should figure out that machines don't say "likely." Zwei is failing at what he said he is — a heartless Machine.
"I won't let go. Sleep well, Ais."
Her features softened as he said those words.
This time he won't let go.
Not anymore.
Ais brought his hand closer to her, nudging her cheeks against it, smiling as she did so. The feel of his hand comforted her knowing that Zwei will stay by her side. She closed her eyes and she looked very serene, a few seconds later her breath descended into the peaceful solace of sleep.
… it feels... very calming again.
Was Zwei's thought before closing his eyes.
[Battery capacity: 10%]
[Begin charging.]
Glowing blue light emitted from his two tails amidst the darkness of the room. Highlights of ethereal blue light decorated his other cybernetic parts that consisted of blue glass-like material.
Particles drawn by the blue crystal end of his cables — the Spirits charging his battery… except it isn't the Spirits.
[Unknown energy detected.]
[Analyzing unknown energy… Completed. Adapting to a new power source… Completed.]
[Resuming operation.]
The Elementals here… aren't the Spirit Circuits of Disboard. This alternate unknown fuel source — that is currently flowing through his systems is not dense enough.
This puts a reduction to power output from his already limited weaponry as this type of energy wouldn't be able to reproduce the normal output due to it not generating the required amount. In addition, utilizing his more offensive weapons would be too costly.
He'll have to resort to his defensive spells and close quarters combat. Addendum: other weaponry such as Stehaprokyphen and Lauvapokyprhen will work, with its low-cost it can be activated without any drawbacks.
[Service Time: 17,495 hours: 59 minutes: 24 seconds: 06 frames.]
729 days before he ceases to function.
He'd spent so many centuries, so many white overcast skies… alone — searching for it endlessly, because he was yearning for it.
Yearning for it impossibly, stubbornly, because he knew it was no longer possible
If Ais is really his "unique figure"... then—
He'll stake them all — on these 729 days — just to protect her smile.
A purpose had been born, and so a fear of losing that purpose had also been born...
…
…..
….
Gradually, night gave way to dawn. The rising sun rendered the sky purple then white.
Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the room.
Zwei's eyes fluttered open.
She stirred awake, before looking at her right hand held by Zwei, then meeting his face. Smiling with the sun peeking over the horizon as her backdrop.
Before embracing him.
… Why does she hug me often?
01001001 00100000
"Zwei-kun, I'm going to need ya to strip~"
"Affirmative."
Zwei proceeded to remove his clothes… which consists of only his robe.
Loki whistled. "Now, if only the girls followed your example."
"Hmm… now that I got a better look," Loki leaned forward, checking out his face. "You have a doll-like face…"
Unknown to everyone, Loki was imagining Zwei in all manner of girly clothes, a viewpoint only known to gods this would have been—
"IT'S A LEGAL TRAP!"
Zwei tilted his head, unused to Loki's antics, is this how an Old Deus is supposed to act? It is drastically different from the ones he knew.
Although, this Old dei is better than the ones aiming for the Suniaster.
"Sorry Zwei-san, this is just the way she is," Finn chuckled, it reminded him of when he wore "uniforms" given by Loki when she won the drinking contest — he still didn't know what they were for. "She needs to see your back in order to apply her falna."
Loki wiped the drool coming from her mouth with her sleeve.
"Okay, come sit over here," her hand outstretched pointing to the stool at the edge of her bed.
"Understood."
The Prüfer nodded, sitting on the stool, his back side facing the Old Dei, if he managed to join this "familia" then that Old Die would soon be his administrator unit — Einzig — then Finn Deinme, the captain of the Loki familia — Befehler — beneath the administrator unit.
Although any commands will be overridden by Ais Wallenstein — User.
An analogy between the roles of the cluster and familia.
"Is that a wing? And it's only one? It looks odd," Loki now noticed his metallic wing, instead of feathers, there are three blades attached to it.
"Hey, can you even fly with that?" Loki asked.
"Positive, if I use my armaments." he answered.
"Neh Zwei-kun, can you show me?" Loki tried acting like a schoolgirl trying to get attention to her senpai — fist's under her chin and swaying her body… even though he couldn't see her with his back turned.
Zwei wagged his head from side to side before turning his head up to Loki who was elevated on the bed behind him.
"Negative… not enough fuel."
Loki's heart skipped a beat that made her forget the wording he used "fuel". who knew he could act cute, with that voice and the way he wagged his head like a cute puppy — plus 100 points in moe-ness.
She really needs to see him in a dress someday or in a cute dog costume.
Scratch that she's already planning on it.
"Oh well that's too bad… on the other hand~"
"*Whish*"
A knife flew dangerously close past loki's index finger
"Please use the knife." someone voiced with thinly veiled bitterness.
It was Ais who threw the knife, a shadow loomed over her face. Her gaze fixated on Loki's right hand… close to Zwei's wing.
"R-right," it was already used though indicated by the droplets of blood from her finger. The knife didn't fly past but grazed her index finger.
"Also don't touch Zwei freely… I haven't touched his wing yet," Ais muttered in the last part, before leveling an icy glare at Loki. "If you don't."
Ais pulled out another knife, where it was hidden no one knew, but the intention was clear enough that it made Loki audibly gulp down her saliva.
Ais was showing a very scary face. Ais was feeling a certain emotion that she was capable of let alone knowing what it is to put it simply, she was jealous.
Zwei was confused at Ais's sudden display of hostility to Loki. Zwei never knew what the term "Jealous" means — that was an emotion that never registered in his database before.
Therefore, Zwei calculated with the current variables presented, one of the variables included his wing.
"Do you... want to touch it?" Zwei pointed at his wing.
Ais whipped close to him in a flash, barely a second and she was already at such a close proximity to him without regard for space.
"Yes," she answered bluntly, her eyes sparkling in anticipation.
Ais wasn't one to skip around a bush, always straightforward and without tact too. No matter how many times Riveria tried to teach her, she didn't see the need to speak eloquently.
Zwei extended his wing, prompting Ais to take that as a yes as she gently slid her hand, trailing her fingers through his metallic wing. A pleased smile was on her lips as she noticed he was making the expression she wanted to see again.
Finn sweatdropped, Ais was beginning to remind him of Tione… especially how overprotective she can be when jealous. Speaking of Tione—
He coughed getting her attention.
"That reminds me Ais, Tiona and tione were looking for you. I believe they're waiting for you in the main hall"
"Hmm?"
"You should go check on them," Loki said, but her focus remained entirely on Zwei's back.
"No, I'll wait with Zwei first."
"Don't you want to show your dress to Zwei-kun?" Loki's head turned to her, a wide cheeky grin formed on her face. "He's coming along with us."
Ais was supposed to hang out with Loki today as her punishment for Diving into the Dungeon alone. Naturally she didn't look forward into it but if Zwei is going with her—
"... Zwei, I'll be back." Ais parted from Zwei tentatively.
Part of her wanted him to see it and a part of her didn't want to leave at all. So she'll sprint as soon as she leaves the room in order to get back to him as soon as possible.
She never expected a set of amazon twins would ambush her.
"You've changed Ais," Loki said to Ais who paused just for a moment, before leaving through the door.
"Hmm…" Loki hummed in thought, before continuing. "5 minutes sounds about right. One Dwarven Spirytus"
"4 and a half and make that two," Finn participated in this bet which Loki quickly dealt in. "The blessing didn't work then?"
"Rather than rejecting it, it's like his body isn't reacting at all," pointing at the droplets of her blood at Zwei's back.
Loki wondered if it's because he's from another world that caused her blessing to not react, or if there's another reason.
"Guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way Zwei-kun and it'll satisfy Finn's curiosity." Loki stood up and stretched.
"Old-fashioned way?"
"I prefer to call it Adventurer's spirit," Finn said with a light-hearted smirk on his face, before looking at Zwei. "We need to spar."
The other reason they needed Ais to leave was because of how overprotective she is of Zwei, even at the barest hint of danger — because of what happened last night. There is no doubt that she would interfere if she heard what they proposed.
"Got it… what is the victory condition?" Zwei hesitantly agreed, he didn't want to fight a living being but there are benefits of the spar — using Finn as a basis he could gauge the strength of the residents of this world.
"It's until first blood or someone yields, the usual rules of spar in our familia"
"This body... doesn't contain any blood… so until someone yields."
Loki and Finn looked awkwardly at Zwei who just craned his head at them after he wore back his robe.
"All right then, let's go to the training ground. There shouldn't be any people there with the monster feria around."
01010111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000
Loki stood by the sidelines, observing the two of them as they stood face to face against one another.
Zwei picked one of the training weapons, particularly a wooden spear matching Finn's own choice of weapon.
"Is the spear alright for you?" Finn inquired, while twirling around his own spear. " I guessed that spears being the easiest to use and with our small height, reachability and ease of use would be best."
While the spear in his hand wasn't uncomfortable, he didn't know how to use it. Prüfer units shouldn't even be engaging in melee combat; those would be best left to Kämpfer units.
He will have to dodge every attack and analyze it so that he can implement that fighting style into his system.
"You can come at me first if you wish," Finn said, as he brought his spear into a combat stance.
Zwei didn't move from his spot, instead he just stood there unmoving. The prüfer already analyzed the pallum's stance, it was quite relaxed but those were bait — as a supercomputer it was easy to see it.
But he didn't have any intention of attacking first, as 10 seconds passed without him doing anything other than analyzing for the first 0.005 seconds.
"Not going to attack?" Finn inquired.
Zwei just shaked head in response.
"Well then, here I go!" Finn lunged forward.
Evasive maneuvers online. Commencing defensive battle.
Finn thrusted his spear as soon as he was within the range of his spear. Zwei moved his head by 12 millimeters deftly avoiding the spear before sidestepping away as Finn swung his spear trying to correct his missed attack.
Finn was impressed that Zwei managed to dodge his attack as he weaved in and out. Wanting to test his opponents limits, he didn't restrain himself as much anymore.
Finn attacked again, each of the movements of his attack wasn't wasted as he turned it into a new one, but Zwei managed to evade the unrelenting flurry of assault as each attack gained more momentum than the last.
10 seconds passed as not a single attack landed on him, evading all of the captain's 28 attacks.
And those 10 seconds was all he needed to analyze and implement his combat style.
Before Finn knew it, his latest attack was parried by the same attack which caught him by surprise. Quickly regaining his composure Finn attacked again only to be parried by the same attack he used again.
Loki who observed from the sidelines was both amazed and shocked as Zwei is practically mirroring Finn.
By the fifth parry Finn now realized that Zwei was moving exactly like him — as if he was fighting himself. This baffled him at how he even managed to do this, he was filled with questions but he knew if he slipped now he would get hit as he narrowly dodged a thrust.
He was now on the defensive as the Ex-machina redirected all of its parries into an attack. For another person, they would find it overwhelming to face themself as they share the same strengths and weaknesses.
But for the one who held the alias of "Braver", he grinned cheerfully — thrilled because he was fighting someone who moved exactly like him. This was also an opportunity to improve on the way he fought if he managed to see any flaws, so he didn't hold back anymore.
Finn reminded himself he should get Zwei to spar with him again sometime in the future. He should think of a way to convince Ais to let him spar with Zwei in the future.
As much as he wanted to continue fighting, he needed to finish this quickly. Because a certain someone they know would intervene.
The obvious counter to this would be by changing his fighting style but if he can copy it again… then a risky move would suffice
Finn purposely overextended his dash, lightly being grazed by a thrust before bending his knees back to avoid the back-end shaft of Zwei's spear spinned behind his back within less than a second — due to how close Finn is, the spears range was at a disadvantage.
Grabbing Zwei's spear before pulling—
"—!"
His thumb throbbed. His intuition which manifests as his thumb throbbing, warning him about imminent threat as Zwei let go of his weapon as soon as the moment Finn touched the shaft.
Zwei quickly spun on his heels whilst lifting his right leg overhead, readying an axe kick. Finn knew he couldn't get away in time and with the durability of these spears even stacked together would break.
But there was something harder to block with — his body.
Finn quickly crossed his arms together the moment Zwei's kick came down as if a guillotine was coming down.
"*Thud!*"
The ground shook the moment the axe kick landed, forcing him down. The only thing he thought during that moment was how heavy it was considering how light Zwei looked… he figured he wasn't one to say that considering his own body.
Meanwhile, Loki coughed at the smoke
Finn blinked his eyes and found himself staring at the cracked ground as he crouched on one knee supporting the heavy weight of Zwei's kick.
He stared up a smirk on his face compared to Zwei's own neutral one.
"That was a good fight," Finn earnestly said, as he stood back shaking his arms after Zwei lifted his foot.
"Are your arms ok?" Zwei asked in concern.
"Just a light bruise, don't worry I've had worse." Finn said to assuage his worries.
"I forgot just how experienced and skilled you are given how young you look, despite what you said how long ago was that memory," Finn complimented, unbeknownst to him Zwei only had 211 years of combat experience and the rest was just wandering about.
"And before I forget, I forfeit."
Zwei craned his head. "...Not a draw? You weren't using your maximum performance. You didn't use magic."
Finn was dumbstruck, how did he know about that? A question for another time.
"You didn't use magic too," the memory he saw showed that Zwei was capable of using magic — particularly that one magic that can redirect attacks, that was a very useful magic to have, and now Zwei was joining them with his magic their defenses would be strengthened and throwing back the attack.
"It seems we both have been holding back, it's a draw then," Finn smiled and held out his hand towards Zwei which he took it.
This was the so-called Handshake he heard about.
Loki clapped her hands, amused at the already established friendship between the two. "Aah, there's nothing better than fighting each other and then ending up as friends."
Finn laughed as Loki made her way to them.
"So what do you think Finn?" Loki said, her hands are on her hips.
"Judging how well he was able to keep up with me…" Finn breaked off in thought, his hand under his chin before continuing. "Level 6 at most."
Zwei has been briefed before about levels and to be placed as a first class adventurer… It seems the power levels are widely different here compared to his own world.
What would have happened if the stronger Ixceed races were transported here? It would surely rock the power balance of this world.
But if he only used Finn as a basis, that would be reckless — unprofessional given his unit model, it's best to assume there are stronger beings out there so he could prepare when the time comes.
He wished there was a Kämpfer conversion kit with him since this body of his would strain under pressure if taken damage stronger than Finn's. Unfortunately, there were no Zeichen units available to develop it for him.
So the job falls to him to create a combat module for his mainframe that increases his combat efficiency.
Loki looked excited at getting another strong and interesting member into her familia… until Finn placed a hand on her shoulder while giving her a pitying look.
"Are you ready to forge paperwork?"
It was at that moment that Loki's mood went downhill. "... You know what, let's just keep Zwei's existence a secret for the moment."
She didn't want to deal with the mountain of paperwork required to forge Zwei's identity.
"How about we temporarily make him as our mascot?"
Loki instantly beamed up, drooling over the prospect of dressing Zwei, while Finn just wondered how Loki is gonna convince Ais to let her dress him up.
and Zwei once again just craned his head in confusion.
01110000 01110010 01101111 01110100 01100101 01100011 01110100 00100000
Loki was sitting on a luxurious red couch while in front of her Zwei was sitting on a chair that looks to be of the same design, separated only by the white racetrack shaped table decorated by a flower vase on top of it.
"So Zwei, how long was it after Ais left?" Loki asked.
"Elapsed time: 4 minutes and 4 seconds," Zwei replied.
You could tell how far apart their personalities are just by watching the way they sat. Loki was sitting in a laid-back manner, arms spread apart supported by the couch's head while her leg was crossed on top of the other.
Compared to Zwei sitting upright, his hands clenched together resting on top of his legs sticking together and his eyes were closed… in fact he looked like a sleeping doll displayed on a chair as he didn't move a single inch after sitting down.
"So who do you think will win the bet, Zwei-kun?"
"None... Ais will come in 3 seconds," he answered.
"Huh?"
The moment Zwei said that, Ais saw him through the opening from the door and came in bursting forth onto them, momentarily slowing down just before she could collide with him.
"Elapsed time... 4 minutes and 10 seconds," he whispered quietly, before opening his eyes and staring up to meet her gaze.
The two didn't even know three others followed her as they formed their own world — ignoring everything that surrounded them — only brought back by Loki's cough.
They looked at her as she kept making weird gestures with her eyes… Ais looked confused, as for Zwei
A light bulb goes on in her head as she catches on to what Loki is trying to do.
"Well?" Ais asked, her hand holding the hem of her skirt.
Instead of the white and black battle cloth she usually wore, this time she was dressed in a white one-piece dress with gold lining and a violet skirt, underneath it she wore a pair of white stockings.
What was he supposed to say under these circumstances? All of his kind never went under these situations before, so he was at a total loss.
That was until he noticed his "Einzig" sighing at the corner of his viewpoint, before mouthing off the words.
He silently thanked her for the advice.
"You... look good," Zwei complimented her, there was a little bit of hesitation in his voice.
"Thank you,"
Loki who watched them interact only thought. These two are hopeless… whilst mentally shaking her head.
"Say, did Ais smile?"
Oh right, she almost forgot the other's were here.
"Really?... " the younger amazonian sibling circled around her to see if her elder was correct. "Aah! You're right, that's a cute smile."
Smile?
Ais brought her hand to her lips and she felt the corners of the mouth curve slightly upward. All this time she was unaware she was smiling.
Ais wondered. Was this what Loki meant when she changed?
"Eh? Who's this?" a curious look on her face as she noticed Zwei, bouncing all the way until she skidded to a halt beside him.
Zwei grabbed the hem of his hood, pulling it down further to cover his mechanical parts as she tried to peek under it.
"Fufu, I'm glad you asked. He's our newest member, Zwei-kun and…" Loki paused for dramatic effect. "Our future mascot!" she declared in a boisterous voice with her chin held up and hands pointing towards him.
Zwei just slowly waved his free hand in response.
Loki waited for everyone's reactions except… no one batted an eye to her. they were used to her numerous jokes so they ignored her, except it wasn't a joke.
No really, she was planning on it. But this kind of reception...
"Waaaahhh! Zwei-kun, they're being mean,"
"Mascot?" except for one other person. The level 3 elf was still not used to Loki's usual antics so she was confused. Unfortunately, Loki didn't hear her as she muttered it in a low voice.
"Zwei-kun huh, I like it!" Zwei glanced towards the source and was greeted with the sight of a medium length dark-haired, tanned skinned girl with brown eyes.
He was briefed about the other races before, but why do all Amazoness wear revealing clothing? Is there some kind of hidden function to it?
He pondered on why wear only a strip of cloth around her chest and a pareo around her waist, not to mention being barefooted.
He stopped his process of thought, it's probably a cultural thing.
"I'm Tiona. Tiona Hiryute. Let's be friends!" a happy go lucky smile was on her face.
"Friends…?"
"Yes, Friends!"
Friends are something akin to comrades, right? Does this mean the captain is his friend too since Loki mentioned that word. Zwei just nodded his hand in response to which her smile got bigger and brighter that reminded him of the sun.
"And this is my twin," she pointed her hand towards her sister.
"It's the older twin. Tione," She said curtly.
Despite being twins, they're personalities couldn't be further apart… if you only see the surface level. Their appearances differ too,long dark green eyes and brown hair. Like her sister, as an Amazoness, she wears revealing clothing and has sky blue earrings on her ears.
Zwei recalled what Finn said to him if he encountered them, there were some words to avoid when speaking to them. The first being Tiona — has a complex about her chest size compared to other women. Which is why she is always jealous compared to her sister's more developed and endowed body.
Lastly for Tione — don't try to insult the caption or provoke her. Zwei didn't know the reason why because Finn never continued his explanation, only responding with "Just don't" whilst looking at the far distance as if he had given up on everything.
Obeying his captain's or "befehler's" commands, he set up these parameters if he ever was engaged in a conversation with them.
Tiona and Tione looked at the last one, waiting for her introduction as she eeped in surprise.
"H-hello," she stammered, blushing over her mistake. "My name's Lefiya Viridis," she finished her introduction with a bow to cover her face.
This must be the elf Loki was talking about to him before. long golden yellow hair tied in a ponytail, round dark blue eyes, and pointy ears. She wears a rosette pink cape on top of a white shirt and pink corset dress and a purple bow hangs at the collar.
This appearance matched Loki's description, he was ordered… no it was a request — why a request? He was a tool that won't disobey orders. Lefiya is clumsy, but hard working... The problem lies in her having low confidence and self doubt that causes her to not believe she is worthy to stand with her friends and comrades. This causes her to doubt how strong she could be and is forced to be overly dependent on others if it comes to battle.
He was requested to help her. The reason why he was chosen to help her he didn't know, but he was given a task and he will fulfill it.
He said that but… that task currently conflicts with his current one — accompanying Loki to a designated location. Objectives: unknown.
At least that task has no time limit. Which he'll have time to prepare for… if there were no other tasks that managed to intervene with it.
"Hey, hey, Zwei-kun. Why are you covering your face under your robe?" Tione asked, curious on what her new friend looks like.
Zwei with his advanced eyes — His bioanalysis displaying on his hud — could see that Ais slightly tensed. Fortunately, Loki made a cover story if anyone ever asks or happens to see what was underneath it.
"Zwei is hiding his injury. His whole ears are replaced with a magic item to let him hear again," Loki explained her cover up. A convenient excuse to use when the time comes again.
"Oh sorry, sorry my bad," Tiona apologised, she hoped she didn't offend her new friend. Tiona sighed at her sister's curiosity. As for Lefiya, other than pity, she felt an inclination of admiration towards Zwei. For him to go into the Dungeon despite having an injury, he must be really brave… unlike me at all.
Unbeknownst to her though. The concept of the fear of death doesn't exist in Ex-Machina.
All three of them believed it. That excuse was really convenient, wasn't it?
"Right. Ais, Zwei-kun wanna come with us to the festival?" Before they could respond, Loki answered for them.
"I'm having them hang out with me all day today."
"Oh well, alright. We're going to east main street right away, so if we happen to meet there, let's go round the festival together " Tione waved her arm before leaving with the others following her.
"Now then," Loki gathered Ais and Zwei's attention. "There's a place I have to go for a bit. Is it ok if we stop by there?"
01111001 01101111 01110101 00100000
They arrived at the second floor of a tavern. It looked normal at best, but the customers on the second floor were not normal.
It might look normal with their blushes. But with this level of attraction… it's as if they were charmed.
… some of them were even drooling...
They couldn't stop looking at the origin of their desire. Near the window There a black cloaked woman sat on a chair and her hands locked together resting on top of the table. She was another Old deus.
He already knew she was an Old dei as she radiated the same being as Loki.
How he knew the cloaked person was a woman was easy enough, even without his eyes he would have found out. That's because no matter how she tried to hide her body underneath a cloak, it clung to her.
"Yo, did I keep you waiting?" Loki lightly waved her arm in greeting, before taking a seat.
"No, I just came a little early… ah she is..."
"Come to think of it, this is the first time you've met," her thumb pointing behind. "Saying she's Ais from my place is enough of an introduction right?"
"Ais, she may look like this but she is a God, so at least greet her."
"...Nice to meet you," she lightly nodded her head.
—!
She froze.
She saw the Goddess's face. Long silver hair, purple eyes, and white skin like that of fresh snow and only one thing came to mind.
Beautiful.
She was in a trance. Her beauty was so overwhelming that it feels like her soul is drunk…
—!
Through sheer will, she gritted her teeth and broke off from her charm.
"She's cute. Also… yes I can really tell why you like her so much, Loki," she said, looking at the bright golden color of her soul with her discerning eye.
Then she turned to the other one her fellow God brought along… ?
Her eyes widened in shock before blinking, regaining her composure.
"He is?" She curtly asked.
"He's Zwei and is also from my place. Oh, this is Freya," Loki pointed out to which Zwei bowed his head in greeting.
As Zwei finished his bow, he noticed that the Old dei — Freya — a hint of curiosity lingered in her eyes as she stared at him a little bit longer until she turned her attention to Loki's question.
"I don't have time to waste, so I'll go ahead and ask. It seems like you've been making some strange movement's lately."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Is it a guy?"
Freya didn't say anything but smiled.
"Sigh… how idiotic," Loki can't help but throw an exasperated sigh, she knew how troublesome Freya could get when she's interested. ""In other words, some kid in someone's familia has caught your eye."
"So, what kind of child have you got in your sights this time?"
"..."
"Spit it out. You don't want any trouble between us right?" Loki grinned dangerously while Freya still kept her smile.
"... He's not strong. If something hurts him a bit he'll cry right away… that's what he's like…"
"But he was beautiful and clear," she leaned on her palms, her expression was that of a love-struck woman talking about her crush. "He had a color I had never seen before. That's why he stole my eyes and I fell for him."
"It was really a coincidence that I found him. He just entered my vision by chance… at that time he was also just…" she stopped abruptly mid sentence as her eyes widened while looking outside the window.
Zwei followed her line of sight and what came into his vision was… white hair.
... Riku?
No it wasn't. This one has red eyes not the lavender ones and is shorter than him.
But he can't help but be disappointed.
"I'm sorry something urgent has come up. Let's meet again," Freya stood up from the chair.
"What!?"
Zwei noticed she took one more glance at him just before she left. That last look she gave him looked like she was looking at a puzzle. A very interesting puzzle she wanted to solve… no more like to pry him open.
He made a mental note to himself to try and avoid her at all costs.
"... Why so suddenly?" Loki asked. "Hmm… I don't care anymore, I got what I wanted."
Loki stood up and pumped her fists.
"So, let's go and have some fun now!"
"Let's go! Forward!"Loki dragged Zwei and Ais by the arm and marched forward… they must've looked silly to onlookers.
01110011 01101111
This place looked so foreign to Zwei.
The streets are decorated with festival flags, songs, vendors and food stalls and bustling with people, in fact there are so many partaking in the festival that the word "crowded" would be an understatement. Everywhere around him we're cheery and happy no matter what they're race is.
… he couldn't help but feel a little lost.
"Let's start by eating some Jagamaru"
"!" immediately Ais grew excited.
"Uh we'll have two normal Jagamarukun and—"
"I'll have one with sweet bean cream flavor," Ais immediately spirited in front of the food stall with a quickness that even surprised him.
It says how much she liked that food.
"Here, Zwei-kun~" Loki handed him her spare Jagamarukun as she turned towards Ais trying to get an indirect kiss through her bitten food.
He ignored their routine in favor of thinking what to do with the one in his hands.
He doesn't need to eat food at all and even if he consumed it, there would be no taste — there was no taste module built within his body… in fact no other units even had a taste module as there would be no benefit whatsoever.
But he was supposed to act as a human. So without further ado Zwei took a bite and as expected there was no taste. He'll just decompose it.
"Hmm… ?" Zwei noticed Loki was whispering in Ais's ear. He tuned them out of his hearing before but he heard something about giving her advice as compensation for letting her taste the Jagamarukun and the advice is…?
Huh?
"Zwei… feed me…," Ais repeated the words Loki told her although she left some out.
…? But there was still the one in her hands, maybe she wanted to try this one since it was in another flavor? For now he should probably stop thinking further about the reason.
He looked at his food before he extended it in front of her.
"... Here."
Ais paused for a second, unsure if she should even follow what Loki said before slowly taking a bite out of it and she felt a tingling sensation growing from the pits of her stomach and sending goosebumps down her body.
She quickly turned away as her thoughts were running rampant. One of them wondered if this is what Loki sometimes felt and the other she felt conflicted then dread… is she gonna turn into another Loki?
Unfortunately when she turned around, she saw Loki's smirk and she didn't know why she wanted to wipe that smug grin off her face.
Zwei tuned out what was happening again as he observed the people on the streets. They're all happy aren't they? Going on their merry way, having fun with others — some only going with only two of them, a pair — and looks of joy present on their faces.
He wondered, would he be as happy as them in the future?
"I found out she wasn't going after us so let's leave it like that." Zwei tuned back in, already missing half the conversation.
"Like what…?"
"I feel it… rustling all around," Loki grinned, before she looked over her shoulder her attention directed at Ais. "Saying 'be careful during this Feria."
"It's just my intuition though," that's why she ordered Ais to be armed with her sword today. As for Zwei, he denied receiving any bladed weapons, even blunt hammers.
"Your intuition?"
"...that's right. The intuition of the Trickster from Heaven," Loki's grin grew larger and her eyes glinted dangerously. A figure of a jester could be seen shadowing her.
Zwei assumed this must be Loki's power. To be able to tell things just from "feeling" alone.
The sound of bell gongs and cheery applause could be heard coming from the direction of the colosseum.
"Oh no! It's starting!" Loki snapped her head towards that direction. "We're taking a shortcut!"
The two of them followed Loki's shortcut but when they got near the colosseum—
"Hmm...mm? What's with this atmosphere?" Loki pointed out.
There outside of that structure with worry stricken faces, were two groups of officials. The first one were armored and armed with weapons but the most notable equipment they had was the elephant masks. He was told before that if he saw them, they would be from the Ganesha familia — The ones who organized this event.
The other group wore the standard uniform of the guild, a black vest and pants with a white collared long sleeve shirt underneath and a grey bow tie. He took note of the only distinguishing feature between the two genders is having black and brown boots for males and black shoes for females.
"... Excuse me, did something happen?" Ais went and asked the latter group.
"—!? A-Ais Wallenstein," a woman with pointy ears, shoulder length brown hair, and emerald colored eyes was surprised at the sudden appearance of the sword princess.
"Ahem," The elf…? There seems to be a physical difference in this one, particularly the shorter ears. For now, let's assume it's an elf.
The elf coughed, regaining her composure. "This is good timing, lend us your help!"
"Some of the monsters captured for the festival escaped from their cages, and it seems they are scattered around the eastern quarter!" she explained the commotion.
"The Ganesha familia representatives and volunteer citizens are helping evacuate the area, but it is really a situation we can't handle alone," she supplied.
"Please, could you lend us your power!?"
"Loki," Ais asked for orders.
"... Me and my big mouth," Loki scratched her head, her intuition was true after all.
"Okay, let's use this chance to gain a favor from Ganesha!" she turned to address him.
"Alright Zwei, this is your debut now," she pointed her hand eastwards, she took a deep breath then—
"Go!"
Zwei bent his knees preparing for a dash but was stopped before he could take off.
"Zwei guard Loki," she said hurriedly before she climbed to the top of the colosseum in order to get a better view.
... What?
Zwei stood frozen on the spot, almost tripping. He knows that any orders given by the user would overwrite his current one, but this currently could break one of the rules set by Riku if any lives are lost due to him being inactive.
"You know… you don't have to listen to Ais all the time," Loki started.
"... ?"
"If there's something you don't wanna do then it's up to you to decide if you follow through with it or not."
Loki looked him in the eye.
"You have a choice."
"..."
... I have a choice...huh.
"Wha—" Just as Loki was about to end her line Zwei beat her to the punch."
"If I keep it a secret then she won't know… a loophole." He turned to look at her and a smile was present on her face.
"Well, it's a little different from what I was gonna say but attaboy."
Just like how they kept it a secret from Riku when they went and slaid the Old dei Artosh instead of subduing him.
Zwei then gazed east.
"Surveillance Drones one to four. Eject."
Four tiny miniscule drones materialized around him in a blue light.
"Synchronizing visual feedback." his vision multiplied from his drones shared visuals, before he gave out commands to them through the channel link.
"Orders received. Dispersing."
The drones dispersed high up and away from each other.
"S01 to CP. Topographic map updated. Location designated as Orario." Reported drone 1 as it finished mapping the area from a high altitude.
"S02 to CP. Targets Located at point k09, K10, and k11." Reported Drone 2.
"S03 to Cp. User made a beeline on Point k11." Reported Drone 3. Its visuals show Ais using wind magic to quickly head over there.
"S04 to CP. Civilians near point k09 through k11 are being pursued by the targets. Ganesha members are running damage control." Reported Drone four.
"CP to all callsigns. Understood. S01 is to link up with S02 and continue to follow targets. S03 trail behind User but do not get spotted. S04 is to keep track of civilians close to targets. Aus." Zwei ordered his drones.
"Jawohl—!"
He turned to address Loki.
"I will go."
Loki grinned.
"Good hunting."
"Jawohl."
Zwei began his operation by first stealthily dashing away from here and avoiding a certain someone's detection range.
Author's Notes:
Changed line breaks to binary codes.
Edited a few details to chapter 1 and 2.
Zwei doesn't have all of Schwi's memories, only fragments that got through when she uploaded the "Heart."
As for the OOC, this plot would never have worked if I didn't make changes. Like I said in Chapter 1 "I just want to try writing some fluff."
Also, I will never be able to accurately portray their characters because I'm not that good of a writer.
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