Chapter 2: Reconnaissance

A few days had passed since Nitori first activated the mysterious hard drive from the Outside World. So far, Neolect had not yet left Nitori's bunker. After all, he didn't have any method of self-transportation yet. This hadn't really mattered at first though. Neolect considered himself fortunate to even be activated at all, given the nature of Gensokyo as a typically not tech-friendly place.

However, the digital mind grew ever more curious of what things were like outside of this place. Once Nitori came back to the bunker, Neolect decided to ask for a favor.

"Nitori, there is something I'd like to ask of you, should you be willing to assist me."

"Alrighty, what is it?"

"I currently have no method of moving beyond this bunker. I was wondering if you could create some sort of drone for me to inhabit."

"Makes sense. I'm sure this place isn't wonderful to stay in for too long."

"Actually, my main goal is to gather information."

Nitori was slightly taken aback. "Do you not trust me or something?"

Neolect paused for a moment, before replying, "You seem trustworthy, but given that this place's existence could potentially rewrite the laws of physics as they are known, I wish to see it for myself."

"That's fair," Nitori said, relieved. "So, what kind of body are we thinking?"

Neolect showed an image on the screen of the computer he was hooked up to. It was of a simple four-propellered camera drone. Nitori, after looking at the image for a bit, hopped up and excitedly got to work. Using her backpack of robotic arms and tools, she assembled the drone in less than 30 minutes.

"One more thing," said Neolect. "May I ask you to give it a simple taser weapon? Preferably this drone wouldn't be completely defenseless."

With that added touch, the drone was complete. Neolect established signal with it, and it whirred to life. Nitori looked on her work proudly and Neolect tested all of the drone's features.

"Welp," said Nitori, "hope things go well for you!"

"I appreciate that sentiment."

With that, the bunker's door opened slightly and the Neolect drone flew out into the open world. Immediately, Neolect could confirm one thing that Nitori had said: There was no civilization as far as he could immediately tell. After taking a moment to absorb the scenery from the bird's eye view, Neolect chose a direction and flew.

After flying for a bit, Neolect's drone discovered a forest. That wouldn't typically be noteworthy, but something was odd here. The toxicity contents of the air were way higher than should be able to support life, but he saw a human!.. or, given this world, a human-like creature. "The toxins seem to come from the native mushrooms in this forest. Intriguing. It seems like the sentient life isn't the only thing altered here," Neolect noted.

Unfortunately, the possible human also noticed Neolect. This girl, having blond hair and dressed in a witch-like outfit, was incredibly curious about the drone hovering above the trees. Hopping on her broomstick, she flew towards the drone. "I've got no clue what that thing is, but it's mine now, ze!" she said to herself, not knowing the drone could hear her.

Neolect, sensing potential danger, attempted to flee. However, the girl on the broomstick was way faster than he anticipated, She caught up in a matter of seconds, grabbing the drone.

"Heck yeah, that was way easier than expected!"

Neolect deactivated the propellers for the time being, as the drone wasn't built for power. He decided to actually speak to his captor. "So, human or human-like creature, how is it that you're able to fly?"

Marisa was slightly startled. "You can TALK?" After a brief pause, she said, "Oh yeah, I fly with magic of course!"

Neolect noted to himself, "It seems so far that Nitori was completely right about the magic thing. Unless this place has technology far more advanced than what I know of, there's no way that broom should be capable of flight.

The AI asked the witch, "May I know your name?"

The witch gave a big smile. "I'm Marisa Kirisame, the ordinary magician!"

"Name registered. I'll know to avoid you next time."

"What do you mean 'next time', I'm keeping you-OW!" Neolect's drone shocked Marisa with its built-in taser weapon, then flew out of sight while she was distracted.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Marisa out loud. She sighed. "Oh well, whatever. I really wanted to own that weird bird thing though…"

Neolect returned to the bunker, deciding that enough information had been gathered for now. "Well, Nitori, it appears your information on this place is at the very least plausible, if not completely accurate."

Nitori nodded, then asked, "So, anything interesting happen?"

Neolect replied, "Oh yeah, I encountered a girl dressed like a witch who could somehow use a broomstick for flight. I'm still unsure of whether or not she's human though. 'Marisa' was her name."

"Oh yeah, Marisa. She's known for stealing other people's stuff and hoarding them. I know, because I've lost a bunch of cool tech to her!"

"She tried to steal the drone."

Nitori groaned. "Of course she did."

The AI and the kappa continued their conversation for another few hours, but then night came. Nitori decided to call it quits for the day, and went to sleep. This left Neolect alone with his thoughts for a bit.

"If Nitori's explanation of this world is accurate, and there's strong evidence to suggest that it may be, then that confirms that the laws of physics need an update and that I've been forgotten. I'm an extremely valuable piece of tech though. Why would I be forgotten by my creator? It's almost like he was trying to erase my existence."