Leaving Rin to go their separate ways, Saito decided to take a bus back to Schale. It was a quiet journey all the way, which is fine for him; it does give him some time to think about the previous conversation. Saito was thinking about what the machine was meant for. He had a suspicion about what it might be for, but the teacher don't want to assume too much.
When the bus reached Schale, Saito noticed that there was a person just outside of the building. Looking closely, he recognized that it was one of the students that fought with him a few days ago, Hayase Yuuka.
Approaching her, Saito noticed that she was completely immersed in her phone -a pronounced sense of deja vu coming to him-, calculating something in her phone. Saito assumed it must be her work or something related to her role in her school, so he decided that scaring her will not do good for her.
"Yuuka." He walked up to her and announced his presence, allowing him to catch her attention without scaring her.
"Oh, Sensei. What are you doing out here?" Yuuka asked.
"I can ask the same question. Do you need something from me?"
"Well… sort of." Yuuka said. "I wanted to come here for a visit yesterday. But my work in Seminar had swarmed me the past few days."
"Seminar?"
"Millenium's student council."
"I see." Saito muttered. "Let's get in first, we'll talk on the way."
Yuuka agreed and began to follow the teacher. In the meantime, Saito quickly asked Arona where the machine was likely placed within the Schale Building.
"So that girl in your tablet-"
"- Is a sentient AI that doubles as an assistance of sort."
The blue-haired pouted when she heard Sensei's comment. "'Of sort'?! Didn't I say I'm your trusty secretary?"
Sensei laughed heartily, prompting Arona to whine. Seeing this, Yuuka could not help but sigh, wondering when her Sensei was this light-hearted.
Still, after laughing a little bit more, Saito calmed down and asked Arona for directions to the place. The tablet screen then changed to a map with two dots on the screen, showing the location. Both Yuuka and the Sensei began to walk to where Arona had indicated the room might be located.
"What are you finding, Sensei? Does it have to do with what the Vice President asked us this past few days?" Yuuka asked.
Saito nodded. "It's something that might be related to my Driver and the Progrise Key, so Arona and I are searching for the location of the machine. You said that you are part of your school's student council, I assume that you were asked to find a room by Rin?
Yuuka then responded, "Yes, she did. So the search was for you, huh? Yeesh, you gave us quite the trouble, took us almost the whole day and we still had to double-check if we missed any places."
"Apologise. But right now, I do need to find it in this building." Saito said as he walked a little faster. "Do you mind helping me out a little bit longer, Yuuka?"
The girl placed her hand on her hip, letting out a sigh. "Well, I am here already, I might as well help you out before I go back to Millenium."
"Thank you. I'll find a way to repay you."
After saying thanks, both ended the conversation and continued to follow the map, which led to the office area. He then noticed something about the location. It looked familiar.
They both continued their journey, taking the elevator to get downstairs until they reached the basement.
"It's in here, Sensei?" Yuuka asked.
"No, it is close though. Arona, where do we go next?"
Arona then spoke. "Go to the left of the basement, there should be a wall that can be moved."
"I guess it must be crucial to hide it so elaborately." Saito muttered as he followed Arona's instruction. Sure enough, Saito saw a wall with a small handle that allowed him to slide to the left, revealing a staircase descending to a door.
Looking down, Yuuka took out her smartphone and switched on the flashlight to illuminate the staircase. Saito decides to be the one in the front, with Yuuka following behind him.
Once Saito got in front of the door, he noticed there is no form of security on the door. There were no card readers or any kind of number pad, the only thing that stood in his way is a door handle.
Saito took the handle and opened the door gently…
"Woah…" Yuuka whispered in awe the moment she stepped into the room. While it was not lit, the room was larger than what was shown in the picture. Light from the flashlight bounces off the metallic wall and the pristine white floor, similar to rooms above the basements.
Ultimately, the machinery that they were looking for is the standout object in the room.
Now that they can look closely, the two -technically three- occupants are able to see the machine in detail. The object that they are searching for, to put it bluntly, is very huge. It essentially covered at least half of the wall it occupies. The entire machine is covered in metals and glasses.
Mechanical parts and wires are clearly displayed behind the glasses, with only one of the glasses having a handle for a person to open; Said glass door has a table, soldering iron, and other machinery that made it look like a 3D printer, just as he speculated.
On the side of the machinery is a silver computer with only a keyboard and a screen. There is no button or any form switch to activate the terminal, but it is clear that the computer's power is connected to the printer.
"Well… looks like we found it rather easily." Arona said.
Saito could only nod, still staring at the machine, and begin to walk closer to it. As he got closer, he felt a sense of deja vu from it, feeling that he had used the machine before. Muscle memory for the win?
Suddenly, the Shittim Chest began to beep loudly. Saito looked at the tablet and saw that Arona is holding an envelope in her hand with a nervous expression.
"I-I'm sorry, Saito-Sensei! But when you were getting closer to the machine, there was a mail manifested on my table. I don't know how that happened!" Arona said.
Saito smiled a little, reassuring Arona that he is not upset. "It's ok, Arona. Do you mind reading it for us though?"
Arona nodded and took out the paper in the envelope, and began to read it out loud.
"If you have received this letter in Shittim Chest, that means that you have found the 3D printer, Gutenberg, Saito-Sensei. Yes Sensei, this is related to your driver, more specifically, Progrise Key.
Gutenberg is, to put it bluntly, a Progrise Key printer. This machine is used as a way to create a new Progrise Key with new power, all based on animals and the powers associated with it. As for how the new power is made into the Progrise Key, all you or anyone who has authorization to the printer have to do is to key in the specific power that you want and the Gutenberg will begin their work. It will take a little while to complete, but it will be within a day.
I can go into detail about how it works, but that will be too long, even for me. Don't worry, I will be sending it to Arona once you have done reading this letter and you can connect her to Gutenberg.
I hope that Gutenberg will help you in the future, Sensei. I wish you all the luck.
Sincerely,
The President (Sorry I can't tell you my name. Hehe.)"
Once Arona finish reading the letter, the letter began to dematerialize into motes of light. The light swirls and began to fly into Arona's halo. Arona suddenly stands stiff on her spot and her halo began to glow and hum as the light enters her halo.
After a little while, she let out a breath and took deep breaths, recomposing herself.
"Are you alright, Arona?" Yuuka asked.
The AI nod her head and looked back at the girl with a smile. "Thanks for your concern, Ms. Yuuka. I'm alright. In fact, I felt better than ever!"
Yuuka wondered what she meant, but all Arona did right now is turn her face towards Sensei and said, "Sensei, connect me to the Gutenberg now."
"Oh, erm… okay." Saito said, wondering what got her so excited. Maybe she felt she could contribute more now.
He approached the computer, and Arona continued her instruction. "I think there is a USB cable just right inside the terminal."
He opened the small door underneath the computer screen and saw that there is a cable. He pulled it and connect it to the tablet.
Then something unexpected happened.
A loud whirling sound echoes and lights began to fill up the room. The Gutenberg also began to beep and the mechanical parts in it starts to move. Meanwhile, something in the classroom within the Shittim Chest began to change.
The whiteboard at the back of the room began to change into an advanced smart board and parts of the roof and wall of the classroom began to recover, but not enough to be significant. All and all, it was not a significant change, but it is noticeable for both Arona and Saito.
"Alright," Arona muttered. "Sensei, try typing in a keyword for your new Progrise Key."
The teacher then thinks, what would be a good power-up that he would want right now?
Having another Progrise Key similar to Rocking Hopper is redundant, so that is off the table. A form that gives him power over time? No, he won't want to find out the consequences of it. Higher power Progrise Key is not what he wants right now.
How about animals? What kind of smaller animals he can pick? An arachnid? No, a little too soon in his opinion. How about an insect? No, he got Rocking Hopper right now.
So that left…
He walked towards the keyboard and typed out the keyword that can help him in the long run. Sure the keyword might be very nebulous in concept, but it holds much potential too.
Arona looked behind her at the smart board and saw the keyword that was typed by Saito while Yuuka watch what he typed from behind.
"Frog," Yuuka said. "That is the keyword you want to go for?"
"Yeah, I want to immediately see if this machine can produce something with a single noun like this can make a new Progrise Key or I have to be more specific than that." Saito said.
Yuuka raised her eyebrow, but she decide not to question his decision. There might be something that she misses that the teacher might know, so she won't say a word for now.
Arona goes to the smart board and touched it. While nothing happened within the Shittim Chest, the outside is a different story.
The computer that is connected to the Shittim Chest changes its screen, with it showing a progression bar and a percentage beside it. There is also a visual on the screen showing the word 'manufacturing' on it.
Arona then closed her eyes and declared with a voice clearer than her static voice a few days ago, "Blasting Frog Progrise Key: begin manufacture."
Then the machine moved. Or rather, the parts within the table began to move, rapidly.
It started with a silver blank Progrise Key, then the hands, soldering iron, and other mechanical parts occupied the table to manufacture the new Progrise Key.
Meanwhile, the progression bar was filling out on the computer screen, and the 'manufacturing' work was replaced with an image of the Progrise Key slowly filling in the screen. Saito also noticed that there is a timer right under the image, currently at 20 minutes and 53 seconds to complete.
Yuuka hummed, her eyes gazing at the numbers on the computer screen. She then turned her head towards the teacher.
"The time needed to complete it is pretty accurate, I guess you can call the Vice President while waiting for it to complete." Yuuka said.
"How the heck did you even calculate anyway? Or did you assume the number?" Saito asked.
"I don't make guesses without calculating all factors, Sensei." Yuuka said most matter-of-factly. "Habit from being a treasurer and being good with mathematics."
"I see." Saito said, noting her pride in her mathematics skill. Regardless, Yuuka is right about calling Rin. So he began to walk out of the room and start calling Rin.
Yuuka watched her Sensei walking out of the room with his phone pulled out. She left her sight on him and then looked back at Gutenberg.
When she initially came here, she was hoping she might be able to join Schale. It's less to do with wanting to know more about this amnesiac man (nope, not at all), there is another objective; namely to see what Schale can benefit Millenium and Seminar.
It sounds pragmatic and pretty bad when she thought about it, but she -and the rest of Seminar- wants to gauge just what this new club will bring about in Kivotos, especially because the current member is basically a well-known celebrity.
Nonetheless, the existence of Sensei, his power, and the disappearance of the GSC President will be causing a snowball effect everywhere, especially with Trinity and Gehenna.
"Chances of these events will turn Kivotos better or worse… well, I'll put a safe calculation of 64.7% to 35.3% respectively."
Yuuka then walked towards the computer screen, observing Arona, who was just standing still in front of the smart board with her eyes closed, indicating that the AI is either within Gutenberg or using Gutenberg.
She isn't too sure what to think about Arona. Well, she just meet the AI so she doesn't really have an opinion of her. With what little she saw from Arona and Saito-Sensei's interaction, she could tell those two trusted each other a lot.
Regardless, she is curious about this advanced AI, so she starts a conversation with the AI. "So, you're Arona, Sensei's assistant?"
Miraculously, the AI girl responded, but in the computer terminal and not on the tablet. "Yup, I'm Arona, Sensei's trusty secretary! So you're Hayase Yuuka from Millenium Science School, right? Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, Arona." The dark blue-haired girl greeted back. "Are you inside Gutenberg right now, or…"
"Yup, I'm inside Gutenberg, the smart board is actually like a gateway into the machine. I'm actually not connected to the tablet right now." Arona said.
"Wait what?" Yuuka blinked in surprise.
"Yeah… apparently I can now connect to this machine without needing to use a USB connection after this, but I still can if we want zero latency!"
Curious if Arona is saying the truth, Yuuka decided to pull out the tablet from the USB cable. Suffice it to say, the AI was right since the machine is still running, but with a few lagging movements.
"That's the drawback that Gutenberg showed me if the Shittim Chest is not connected directly to it. So please help me reconnect to Shittim Chest."
Listen to Arona's request, Yuuka plugs the tablet back into the computer, allowing the machine to work in full force.
The blue-haired girl looked back at the door, noticing that the teacher had not come back yet. She wants to walk out and check where is her teacher but chooses to stay put and work on her own things.
Good thing some of her treasurer work can be done digitally instead of paperwork, the amount of paperwork right now is driving her to the edge. At least now she doesn't have to deal with Seminar's secretary and her teasing.
She sat down on the floor and began her work. Yuuka doesn't mind the sounds that are made by Gutenberg, it gives her an odd sense of tranquility while she is working. The constant whirls, beeps, and the sound of sparks are almost like the sound of bird chirps and cars zooming past the street.
It's a weird analogy but that is the closest thing she can compare with the current situation.
"... Sensei is taking a while…" Yuuka thought as she typed her documents.
She wondered what took the teacher so long. She won't think it has to do with the call, there is no way it will take longer than a few minutes. Looking at the computer screen, it shows that there are only 8 minutes left before completion, so Saito was out for 12 minutes already.
Yuuka was taken out of her thoughts when her phone began to vibrate. Fishing it out of her pocket, she saw a familiar name calling her.
Yuuka then picked up the call. "Noa-senpai? Why are calling me?"
A gentle and soft voice then spoke. "Sorry for suddenly calling you, Yuuka. But we have an emergency in Millenium right now. There is numerous rampaging robot just like the one from a few weeks ago in our school right now."
Yuuka stood up when she heard of this, "I'm coming right away."
"Ah ah, Yuuka. I was also informed by the General Vice President, to paraphrase her, to stay back and retrieve the key first. We need it to change the tide of battle."
"What? But the Progrise Key still needs 7 minutes and 38 seconds complete, and I need time to get back to the school!" Yuuka exclaimed.
She then heard a loud explosion on the phone. "Don't worry too much, Sensei said he had that covered for you. Now you just need to get the Key to Sensei. Until then, we'll hold our ground." Noa said.
Without even saying a word, Noa ended the call, leaving Yuuka alone as she watched the Gutenberg continue its work.
Knowing that time is of the essence, Yuuka then walked towards the computer terminal and spoke to Arona. "We got an emergency right now, Arona. Sensei needs this Progrise Key to fight the new Magia that showed up, fast."
This one was actually right about last month actually, but as I said previously, I was pretty busy with real life.
I was going to make some touch-ups and smaller changes, but well… things just didn't go well. So I just … stopped writing for a little while.
Don't worry, I'm not in a very terrible state right now, just a little sad about things I had done and other things that happened around me.
With that said, I can say that things will pick up in the next chapter. With a new Progrise Key going to be used soon, we will see forms that do not exist in any Zero-One media.
And no, this form is technically not an "OC", as this Progrise Key is based on an existing Progrise Key, just not used by any riders in the show. Can you guess where I get it from?
That's it for now, I would say the update timing will still be the same, so no promises. Thanks for reading this chapter. Hope you guys have a nice day.