"I need to test them in simulated combat scenarios in order to properly gauge their effectiveness, preferably with Tatsuya as they are not meant to act as an independent unit. Rather, they are meant to be an extension of Tatsuya. This would allow for more tactical moves on the battlefield on his part. I also need to test if they can pass as humans in public places. But, if we did that on our own, the government would most likely not be happy with us letting death robots walk among civilians without their permission."

"That's true.. Although, I do have further questions but it is far too late at night for that. Come see me the day after tomorrow and we will discuss this further. I assume that you would rather drive yourself rather than me sending someone?"

"You assume correctly. I will see you then, Auntie."

Maya flashes him one last radiant smile before cutting the connection.

Archimedes sighs and slips down in his seat. He never enjoyed speaking with Maya, everything about her set him on edge. As he came to a stop in the chair, he thought back to his first meeting with Maya.


Archimedes looks up at the large home as he exits the car. He is wearing his classic white ensemble complete with duster. A butler comes out and leads Archimedes through the house to where he is to meet with Maya. As they walk, Archimedes takes control of the cameras, security system, and data network. They stop outside of a large white door, which the butler pushes open before stepping to the side. Beyond the door is a large sunlit study. It is lavishly furnished, making good use of the natural sunlight. Despite all this, no space was wasted, revealing the intelligence of the owner. Near a large window, a beautiful woman was sitting in what could only be described as a throne. She has long black hair, piercing violet eyes, and is wearing a long kimono that is a similar color to her eyes. But Archimedes did not let her appearance distract him. His grandfather had warned him about her; that her devilish charm had brought many men to their knees. He came to a stop just beyond the threshold of the room, the butler shutting the doors behind him.

"Come, sit." She says, her melodic voice coiling through Archimedes head.

He sits down on the couch that she gestured to, draping one leg over the other.

Maya takes a sip of her tea before addressing him again.

"Archimedes, correct?"

"Yes. You are Yotsuba Maya, of course."

"Do you know why you are here?"

"I assume it has to do with the constant monitoring you have had me under since I was 10. If I had to guess, this meeting is for you determine whether I have worth to you or if you should eliminate me instead."

The room goes silent. All that is heard is the light chirping of birds outside. Maya's face remains in her light smile for a moment. She sets down her teacup with a soft *clink*.

Maya begins to try to stare Archimedes down, but Archimedes maintains his impassive expression. Maya continues to stare for a few moments before her face lights up in legitimate surprise. She begins to laugh; not a forced laugh meant for business, but a rich healthy laugh of someone truly amused.

"I see." She says, quickly composing herself.

"It would appear that we underestimated you a bit. We realized you were intelligent, but never thought that you already were able to play the game of verbal politics. How old are you again? 14?"

Archimedes nods.

"Alright then. Let's skip right to the problem. You are incapable of using any magic other than 'Necromancy,' is that correct?"

"Yes, that is true. I am incapable of activating a CAD myself."

"So that makes you a BS magician, useless to the Yotsubas."

"Oh, I do believe that I have worth despite being Born Specialized."

"Oh? Pray tell?"

"To start, I have a large amount of Psions. A large amount is needed to operate Necromancy successfully so we can safely assume that my genetic ancestors used a form of selective breeding to try to yield the highest Psion count possible."

"Is that so? Why is it that I see only an average amount of Psions around you then?"

"I would look around the room."

Maya raises an eyebrow but does as she is told.

She is forced to stifle a gasp at what she discovers.

Throughout the room, beach ball size clusters of Psions are floating and moving around. She is further surprised when she notices that some of the clusters are leaving and entering the room via the walls.

What she does not notice is that the networking cables in the walls are filled with Psions which are controlling and manipulating data flow.

"Alright then, you have a good amount of Psions. That doesn't change that you are a BS magician."

"Ah yes, 'Born Specialized.' What a wonderful way to put it. And I must agree once again, I am incapable of using any other magic but Necromancy. I also realize that in your mind, my magic is similar to that of Tatsuya's. But, you don't realize how little the Yotsubas understand Necromancy. The closest thing it can be compared to is Mental Interference magic. But, even then it does not completely fit the bill. You see, Necromancy does not change Eidios, it isn't even mind control or suggestion. The word that best describes the phenomenon is 'assimilation.'

You see, I do not have control over Eidios. I cannot change it myself. But, my Psions are 'special,' each one contains part of my consciousness. My moving them feels no different than moving an arm. Due to this, my Psions do not actually exist in the information dimension. Think of them like dark matter, we know they are there and can see that they have an effect on the world around them. The information dimension has set rules, rules that even magic cannot overcome. But I am an anomaly. My Psions are in a separate plane of existence, one that is able to bear weight on ours, but is not effected by the plane we exist on. To put it simply, my Psions, and by extension me, are not able to be affected by magic because doing so is against the rules of the information dimension.

But, that does not mean that I am impervious. My information cannot be changed by magical means because my Psions exist outside of the information dimension. Because of this, my Psions act as a shield from magic for me. But, that is the extent to which I can be immune to. My body still exists in this plane of existence, and abides by its rules. I can still be shot, punched, touched, crushed, etc. To put it in perspective, if someone attempted to cast a movement type spell on me, nothing would happen. But, if someone were to cast a movement spell on an object and hurl it at me, it would hit me. But, I have digressed from the original topic.

Necromancy relies on the pressure my Psions exert on the information dimension. When I activate Necromancy, it makes the Psions I am targeting with exert a large amount of pressure on the Pushions controlling my prospective host. In effect, I force his/her/its 'soul' out of the body and my Psions take over place. The 'soul' of my host can resist being forced out, but it puts considerable pressure on the host's physical body. That is why I am able to take over electronics and lesser animals so easily, they put up little to no fight. With humans, it is a bit more difficult. Human souls resist with incredible strength, like a cornered animal. I have found that the only way to take over a human is when they are dead or unconscious. But, after I have taken the host, I have access to everything and more than they were able to perceive. I can search through memories, fight, and even go past the body's physical limits if I so desire. But living creatures are still not my preferred host. My consciousness occupies their body, the same way you occupy yours right now. I feel everything that the body feels.

Every cut.

Every bruise.

Every broken bone.

I feel all the physical pain they feel at the time, be it inflicted prior to my takeover or during.

So every mangled corpse I raise causes me to feel the pain of their mortal wounds.

I experience death with every corpse I raise."

Archimedes maintains a completely expressionless face throughout this. His voice does not waver, nor does his body language communicate pain or suffering.

Maya searches his face for any sign of breaking, instead she finds something that makes her stomach drop like a rock.

"You have Necromancy cast right now, don't you?" Maya asks.

Archimedes closes his eyes before opening them again slowly.

Sure enough, his eyes are a sea of darkness, save for his Crimson irises.

The room plunges into darkness, large security plates slamming down in front of the windows.

Maya immediately casts Meteor Stream.

Immediately after, two crimson orbs appear in her vision.

"I told you this, magic does not work on me."

Maya focuses her magic to converge on the entity before her.

But, according to the information dimension, there was no entity in front of her.

In fact, the space where Archimedes should be standing is completely void, the space didn't exist in the information dimension.

The two orbs continue to stare at her, unwavering.

Maya silently curses and instead focuses her magic to fire in a straight line in front of her, thinking that it would pass through Archimedes even though she could not target him.

A single beam of light appears, aimed directly between the two mocking orbs.

The beam paints a small dot between the two orbs.

But the orbs do not move.

The beam, instead of destroying Archimedes as it touched him, stops where it intersects the void.

"Now that you have confirmed what I have said is true, can we continue with planning our deal?"

The orbs disappear and the lights come back on, sunlight filtering through as the security plates raise. Archimedes is once again sitting in a chair, as if nothing had happened.

"Now, in case you haven't noticed, I am currently holding the Yotsuba data network hostage. I have control of every system, communication, and file. If you try to attack me again, I will not hesitate to wipe your network clean. And don't bother trying to rely on your backups. I have control of those as well. But do not fret, I have not looked through any of the files in your network out of consideration for your privacy."

Maya stares blankly at the "child" before her for a few moments. Archimedes returns the stare with equal intensity. Maya looks down and convulsions begin to ravage her body. Archimedes raises an eyebrow at this strange behavior, but does not try to interfere. Maya's head slowly raises once again and there are tears running down her slender face. As soon as she makes eye contact with Archimedes, she bursts out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"I realized..." She stammers out, trying to control her laughter.

"I realized we underestimated you...

But not to this extent!"


*bzzzz*

Archimedes groans and begins to groggily wake up.

*bzzzz*

Archimedes opens his eyes as he leans forward in the chair he was sleeping in.

*bzzzz*

He looks at his terminal which is vibrating on the table.

'Huh. Whoever is calling blocked their caller ID.'

The incoming call screen notification disappears, leaving the lock screen on.

'Why the hell do I have 24 missed calls?'

Archimedes glances at the on screen clock.

'Its four in the morning, way too late for a sales call. And I am sure that if it was something from Aunt Maya she would have called my lab directly after not being able to connect to my tablet...'

Archimedes unlocks his terminal and manuevers to the communication screen.

'Every call is from that same blocked number... I guess I can figure out who it is with my Necromancy...'

*bzzzz*

A call notification once again fills the screen.

'Its that same blocked number... May as well find out who it is...'

Archimedes answers, only opening an audio channel and bringing the terminal to his ear.

"Hello?"

"ARCHIMEDES!" A familiar female voice shouts.

Archimedes whips the terminal away from his ear at the sudden outburst.

"What took you so long to answer? I called you at least 20 times!"

Archimedes sets the terminal in its stand on the table, massaging his temples with he free hand.

"This would be your 25th call. Who are you anyways? Your number was blocked."

"Fu-fu-fu, you are going to figure that out on your own~"

Archimedes sighs, finally realizing who he is talking to.

"Mayumi, what do you want?"

"What? How did you figure out it was me?"

"I'm hanging up."

"Wait!"

...

"What?"

"I need your help! Do you think you can come over to my house?"

Archimedes goes silent.

"..."

"Archimedes?"

"Mayumi."

"Yes?"

"It is four A.M."

"Exactly! We don't have much time left!"

"..."

"Archimedes?"

"Good Night."

No! Please don't hang up! This is really important!"

*sigh*

"If this ends up being a waste of time..."

"It won't! I promise!"

"Send me your address, I'll be there as fast as I can."

"Yay! Thank you!"

At that point, something clicks in Archimedes' head.

"Wait... How did you even get my number?"

"Miyuki gave it to me."


Archimedes pulls to a stop in front of the mansion.

'This is the address...'

Archimedes looks up at the building, comparing it to how Maya described it to him.

'Nothing seems different on the outside...'

Archimedes catches sight of an external camera. He slips his contacts in before casting Necromancy. He quickly screens the data for anything useful. He soon has tabs on everyone in the house; their position, medical history, personal files, etc.

Of course, that means he knows exactly where Mayumi is.

He sighs before locking his motorcycle and begins to walk up to the front door.

He walks with measured paces, making sure that he can see himself on the cameras at all times.

As he nears the house proper, Mayumi bursts through the doors.

He sighs once again due to her chosen attire.

"It would seem that you and Miyuki are alike in that you both lose all sense of shame once you get home."

Mayumi comes to a stop in front of Archimedes, her puzzled look evident despite it being night.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong with what I am wearing?"

"It is more of a problem of what you are not wearing..."

Mayumi is wearing very short light blue shorts and a white tank top, showing off a lot of her milky white skin.

Mayumi puts her hands on her hips and leans forward in her usual fashion, an inquisitive look on her face.

Archimedes can now say, without a doubt, that she is not wearing a bra either.

"Anyways, what was so important that you had me come over at 5 am?" Archimedes asks, averting his eyes.

"Right! Follow me!"

Mayumi grabs Archimedes by the arm and drags him into the house. As soon as he is within the threshold, the doors are slammed shut and he is surrounded by butlers and maids.

"Mayumi..."

"Alright everyone! Time to make Archimedes into the ultimate manservant!"

Archimedes is immediately whisked away before he even realizes what is going on. He is brought into a side room and is quickly relieved of the jumpsuit he was wearing and promptly dressed into a butler's uniform before being shoved back into the atrium.

For a moment, he looks exactly as Mayumi dreamed. His long silver hair is slicked back with gel and the uniform hugs his slender frame, giving him a look of regality and grace.

But, that vision is broken almost immediately.

"What the fuck just happened?" Archimedes asks, shaking his hair back to its usual shaggy state.

"Awwwww! What did you do that for? You looked perfect!" Mayumi pouts.

"I am sorry Mayumi, but I don't do black and having my hair like that is uncomfortable." Archimedes says as he begins to take of the uniform.

"No! Don't take it off! You are my manservant today, remember?"

"Yeah? So what. It's not like I can wear this to school anyways."

"Sure you can!"

Archimedes stares at Mayumi with an accusative gaze.

"Mayumi, you are the student council president. You of all people should know that First High has strict rules about the uniforms."

"But they also have caveat for club uniforms~~"

"So?"

"So, I put it down as a uniform you have to wear for the student council!"

"And the school allowed that?"

"Why wouldn't they? I told them that you volunteered to be my personal assistant and the school board approved it. They were hesitant at first but they were all for it after I told them your name."

'Probably because Aunt Maya has flaunted me like a show horse ever since the Yotsubas went public about being a major shareholder in Grandfather's company. She may claim that they went public to show that magicians were supportive of non-magical industry, but everything she has done since then has clearly shown that she just couldn't wait until I officially became part of the Yotsubas to use me. The school board probably decided to let it slide to avoid her wrath.'

"There is no way I am getting out of this, is there?"

"Nope~~"

*Yawn*

Mayumi's eyes begin to droop, losing the energy they had before.

"Sorry Archimedes, let me just rest for a moment." She says before sitting down in a nearby chair.

Within a matter of moments, her breathing slows and her body goes lax. Archimedes sighs and turns to the young maid nearby.

"Could you direct me to Mayumi's room?" He asks, donning a charming smile.

The maid blushes, a light pink.

"I-i-its just up the stairs on the right."

Archimedes bows courteously before walking over to Mayumi. He gently lifts her from the chair, his arms wrapping around her slender body. As he does this, Mayumi stirs a bit. She shuffles in his arms for a minute before snuggling into his chest and falling back into a deep sleep.

'Her skin is really soft...'

Archimedes shakes his head, dispelling the sinful thoughts in his mind.

Archimedes sighs, but trudges up the stairs all the same.

Luckily, he finds that Mayumi's room has a name plate on it. The door is cracked and light can be seen coming from under the door. Archimedes opens the door with his back, turning back around as he enters the threshold.

"What do you think you are doing?" A girl's voice asks.

There are two girls sitting in Mayumi's room. One of them sports a short bob hair cut and is scowling at Archimedes, while the other has a shoulder length bob and is looking at Archimedes with curiosity. They both have light brown hair and look almost identical.

"Mayumi fell asleep downstairs so I carried her up here to put her into her bed."

"Hmm, first name and no honorifics? You obviously aren't a butler, despite your appearance. How do you know Nee?" The girl with the short bob asks.

"I go to First High. Mayumi quite literally forced me to join the student council in an honorary position. Would one of you mind moving the sheets on the bed so I can set her down?"

The girl with the longer bob nods and does as he asks. After Archimedes lays Mayumi down, the girl pulls the covers back over Mayumi.

"So who are you?" The girl with the short bob asks, irritation creeping into her voice.

"How about I answer all your questions in the hall so we don't wake Mayumi."

The girl with the short bob gives him a *hmph* but obeys, Archimedes and the other girl following close behind.

"Alright, we are in the hall now. Answer my question already."

Archimedes shuts the door with a soft *click* before turning on his heel and giving the girls a deep bow.

"Shiba Archimedes, at your service. I am the adopted son of Shiba Rei and Shiba Mya. I have no memories of life before I showed up on a beach when I was seven. I am the heir to the Shiba Technology Conglomerate and have been called a prodigy at mechanical engineering. May I ask your names?"

The girl with the long bob returns the bow.

"My name is Saegusa Izumi. My twin here is Saegusa Kasumi." Izumi says sweetly, smiling at Archimedes.

Kasumi on the other hand turns her nose at Archimedes.

"What are you doing here anyways? I heard Mayumi talking about having someone coming over tonight, but I wasn't expecting a boy." She spits venomously.

"To be honest, I wasn't expecting this either. Mayumi called me and told me to come over for something important. I didn't know that she just wanted to torture me more with our bet."

"Bet? What exactly did you bet Mayumi?"

"My wager was that she would let me leave the student council. She tricked me and made her wager to be her manservant once a week."

Kasumi bursts out laughing while Izumi giggles softly.

"W-w-what were you playing that you bet things like that?" Kasumi asks between laughs.

"Go Fish..." Archimedes answers quietly.

"What?" Kasumi asks, finally calming down.

"Go Fish. There was a deck of cards in the student council room and Mayumi said that the only game she knew how to play was Go Fish."

Kasumi starts laughing even harder than before.

"Forgive her, Shiba-san." Izumi says. "It is just that Nee-san only knows how to play Go Fish because she is terrible at card games. I can't even remember her winning once before."

Archimedes lifts his hands in despair.

"That's it. I'm done. I'm going downstairs to see if I can do anything useful."

"I doubt it. If you managed to lose to Mayumi in cards, I'm guessing all you can do is make more work for the staff." Kasumi says, still laughing.


Mayumi wakes to the pleasant smell of cooking food. She stretches and yawns, burrowing further under her covers. After a few moments, her eyes snap open and she sits up on her bed.

'How did I get here? The last thing I remember was sitting down... Oh no... I must have fallen asleep in front of Archimedes!'

She flushes beet red, frantically looking around the room for the silver haired enigma. Instead, she finds Kasumi sleeping in a nearby chair. Mayumi gets out of bed and gently shakes her awake. Kasumi bolts awake frantically looking around the room.

"Nee-san! Are you alright? Did that Beast do anything to you while I was asleep?" She frantically asks, spitting "Beast" out with extraordinary venom.

"I don't know what you are talking about. Who is this 'Beast' and why are you in my room?" Mayumi asks, concerned for her sisters mental state.

"That Beast that you invited over last night!"

"You mean Archimedes?"

"Yeah! You should be thankful that Izumi and I were waiting in here to ask who you had over that early! Who knows what that Beast would have done to you after he put you in bed!"

'I see, Archimedes must have carried me up after I fell asleep.'

Mayumi is about to probe further when her door opens.

"Mayumi, Kasumi. Come downstairs. Archimedes made breakfast."

Archimedes is at the stove, flipping pancakes when the three sisters walk in.

"Go ahead and have a seat at the table, I'll bring these over when they are ready."

"Archimedes?" Mayumi asks reluctantly.

"Yes?"

"What are you wearing?"

"Uh, my cooking attire?"

"... Alright then, let me rephrase that. Why are you wearing a full chef's outfit?"

"Oh, its so that my other clothes don't smell like food."

"..."

"What?"

"I mean why a chef's outfit, specifically. You could have just worn a tee shirt and shorts."

"Just habit, my dad always made me wear it when I cooked with him so it just feels right at this point."

"Wow. Your dad must love cooking."

"I hope so, he works as the head chef in the restaurant he owns."

"What restaurant?"

"It's in Tokyo City. He named it 'Eden.'"

Mayumi stops dead.

"Isn't that one of the most famous restaurants in all of Japan?"

"Yeah, it is known internationally as a unique blend of foods from around the world. He gets a lot of traffic from foreign nationals on business or political trips."

Archimedes turns off the stove and grabs the pile of pancakes he made.

"Come on Mayumi, have a seat. The pancakes are done." Archimedes says as he removes his hat with his unoccupied hand.

He sets the plate of pancakes down in the center of the round table and takes a seat. Both Mayumi and Izumi are about to grab a pancake when Kasumi raises a sudden interjection.

"Wait! Have the Beast eat one first. We have no idea what he could have done to these! He may have put something like an aphrodisiac in them!"

The table goes silent.

"I gather from that that I am this 'Beast?'"

"Who else would it be?" Kasumi asks irritably.

"Okay, I'll leave the nickname for now and address the bigger issue. Why do you think I put an aphrodisiac in the pancakes? In fact, why do you even know what an aphrodisiac is?"

"That isn't important now! We need to worry about the possibility of you drugging us!"

"I did not drug the pancakes." Archimedes says, taking a bite out of one of them.

"They are perfectly fine. Just eat up. School starts in an hour."

Mayumi and Izumi immediately start eating, whereas Kasumi waits a moment before following suit.


"Sorry about Kasumi." Mayumi says as she and Archimedes walk to school.

"Sorry enough to let me change out of this getup?"

"Nope~~"

"*sigh* So what exactly got Kasumi so worked up anyways?"

"Oh, she has always been suspicious and distrustful of boys who try to get close to me."

Archimedes raises an eyebrow at this.

"She does realize that you forced me to do all of this, right? I did not do this of my own volition."

Mayumi gives Archimedes a pout.

"Meanie. She probably knows but just thinks that you have some ulterior motive."

"That still doesn't explain the why she thought I was trying to drug you."

"I invited you over at 4 o'clock in the morning. We are both teenagers and you are a boy she has never met before. It is only natural that she was suspicious. Although, she does also tend to take things a bit far..."

"No kidding..."


"Don't say a word." Archimedes says tersely.

Archimedes is currently in his classroom, and everyone's eyes are on him.

"I'm sorry Archimedes, but you just look so cute in the uniform!" Miyuki says, her friends Honoka and Shizuku flanking her.

"I am going to kill Mayumi for this..."


The rest of the day went about how one would expect it to. Mayumi took Archimedes out of class and paraded him around the school doing menial tasks for her.

Never in his life had he looked forward to seeing Maya more than on that day.


Archimedes pulled into the underground garage at the Yotsuba main household. He left his motorcycle in his assigned spot before walking to Maya's study. No one stopped him as he walked, the Yotsuba valued him as Maya's protégé, not as some random magician off the street.

He pushes the heavy wooden doors open, entering Maya's all too familiar study.

"Ah, Archimedes. It is wonderful to see you in person again." Maya says, extending her right hand.

Archimedes takes her hand and places a light kiss on it before taking a seat.

"As to you, Auntie." Archimedes says before taking a seat across from her.

"So what is with the sudden interest in joining the JSDF?" Maya asks, taking a sip of tea.

"We both know they will find out about me eventually, there is no way I can avoid them as long as Tatsuya is with them. Honestly, I would have preferred them to have found me and sought me out rather than you having to call them in. But, my Hydra program has reached a state of usability ahead of schedule. And you know full well that the program was designed around Tatsuya and only reaches full effectiveness when they are used in tandem with his deployment. For now, I cannot test Hydra's effectiveness without attracting the JSDF's attention. Thus, it is easier to work with them than again them.

Furthermore, a weapon is only as effective as its wielder. The JSDF can only use Tatsuya like a blunt weapon. But that is not how Tatsuya is used best. He is like a broad sword, capable of taking down scores of enemies in a single strike or able to take down one large enemy with a well-placed stab. I am Tatsuya's chosen wielder, so it is only natural that I be in a position to command him."

Maya nods thoughtfully.

"That makes sense. Alright, you have my blessing. Come sit next to me, and I will order their escort here." Archimedes does as he is told, sitting down and comfortably drinking tea with Maya.

After a few moments, a man and a woman walk into the room.

The man is hardly remarkable given his profession. He is well built and has close cropped hair. Several insignias and medals dangle from his white dress shirt.

The woman, however, is stunning. Her rich black hair is tied off in a ponytail and she is wearing a cerulean dress that hugs her figure. Her looks would put most models to shame.

But Archimedes does not let either appearance distract him, for he knows exactly who they are.

The man is Major Kazama Harunobu, a ninjustu user and leader of the 101 independent magic-equipped battalion. He fought alongside Tatsuya in the invasion of Okinawa.

The woman is is Fujibayashi Kyouko, aka the Electron Sorceress. She wields magic that allows her to manipulate electronic systems easily, making her an expert hacker.

However, neither of them have any idea who Archimedes is.

"I thought we were here to discuss special lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya." The Major says, taking a seat.

"We are." Maya answers with her enchanting voice.

"I apologize for any confusion I may have caused. I am Maya's nephew, Shiba Archimedes." Archimedes says, extending a hand and donning a brilliant smile.

The Major shakes Archimedes hand before returning the smile.

"It is nice to meet you, but I am afraid that we are here to discuss classified information. You are going to need to step out while we talk."

"Oh, but it won't make any difference whether I am physically in the room or not. I can still hear and see everything. In fact..."

Archimedes snaps his fingers and the blueprint of the "Third Eye" prototype is projected onto the table.

"I have already compromised your entire information network."

New Chapter. I plan on having a Omake next chapter involving Archimedes and Mayumi. I have something in mind but I am also open to suggestions.

I want to skip to the action so bad... But I need to set everything up...

Stupid brain.