Once upon a time, Shua stood at the precipice of answers. He would happily walk to his workplace, where children would gather around and inquire avidly, much like how birds would flock to seeds on the ground in the park. He always enjoyed their smiles, their excitement and their innocence, shining bright unlike the facade that adults displayed upon their faces and mannerisms.
Yes, he thought. This was what he taught for.
The world needed this light of the children, when the adults couldn't even muster it within their hearts. The darkness of responsibility encroached upon their every action, and rendered them incapable of the wondrous imagination that they once beheld.
Children should stay as children for as long as they can, his father always said. There was no greater joy than facilitating their budding worlds, and blooming futures. It was with those words he pushed forward into his desire to teach, and to guide those who needed it.
The hearth he sought with effort was one splendidly built. Many of those he taught there would grow into magnificence, he always thought. Better their lives so that his may follow suit.
But as with any story, evil rears its ugly head when left to fester.
The flames of greed burned bright, fueled by small, unmoving bodies.
Young blood seeped into the ground, staining it forevermore, its red tarnish painting the green of the grass in its horrid image. The day they died was the day his hopeful dreams too, died. The burning land stared back at him like a demented mirror on the wall, beckoning him to take action.
The strings pulled by the old men who ruled the world with their fallacious ideologies begged to be cut, and he too deemed their lives forfeit. Powerless as he was, he sought change. It was then he made a mistake, taking the hand of that man who promised a better world, ruled by those who wished only for the best of those around them.
Was he truly better than those old men, having taken that step?
There he was again, standing at the crossroads of his life. Would he have taken that step, or would he not, knowing just what he would become? The him of the past, fueled by agony and righteous fury, would absolutely do so. However, as he was now, he could only look at it with forlorn regrets.
"A failure is all you'll amount to."
These words taunted him at every moment, from the man who had fooled so many of them. They were truly no better, having followed every command he made with no hesitation.
Hearing those words, he could only smile and nod. Despite how wrong he had been up to that point, that was the one truth he could live behind. He truly was a failure, and would never become more than that.
There was no redeeming one such as him, of hands stained with the blood of innocents, of a man who had made so many mistakes.
A jovial facade, a smile so fake it hurt to look at it in the mirror, and thoughts that simply just kept condemning every action he made.
Yes, he thought. Even if this was a new world, the mistakes he made would always creep up his back like an ever present weight…
There truly was no redemption for someone such as him.
"Arisu!" Shua shouted in exasperation, "Those documents are not meant to be eaten!"
"Hrmph…?" Arisu made a sound of non-understanding, before she quickly removed the documents from her mouth. "Order understood," she robotically said, before staring into the distance outside the window blankly.
Shua had his head in his hands, as he just simply couldn't figure out why she was doing things like this. While some might've found it endearing, he couldn't help but worry for her safety at every given moment.
Ever since he took the helicopter back from the ruins, Arisu seemed to be taking to everything like a newborn child, and he had to prevent her from putting things into her mouth at several instances as a result. She even had tried to put his gun into her mouth… and that had been a disaster that he simply didn't want to speak of.
He couldn't even take the gun from her without ordering her to stop. Her strength was just so monstrous he couldn't even contend. There were even indent marks on the handle of his pistol the size of her fingers.
Better to prevent than to regret, he thought. He locked the gun in a safe only he knew the combination to immediately afterwards, along with all his ammo.
"No! Not the tax documents!" Shua let out an agonized wail, "I don't want to have to do them again!"
He fell to a fetal position on the floor, upon which the remains of the documents that had been torn out of Arisu's mouth sat.
"Sensei…" Arona sighed, before trying to placate Shua. "It's fine, you made many mistakes on that one as well, so it had to be redone anyway."
Shua motioned to say something, but relented. He knew Arona was right, but it nevertheless hurt him to see his work be torn to shreds like that.
Shaking his head, he slowly stood back up from his not-so-flattering position on the floor, and stared at the girl who still wore his suit jacket.
He didn't have clothes of her size, so he had to settle for that for now. He'd most likely have to call in a favor from the General Student Council or from one of the other schools in order to get clothing her size, but considering the fact that this girl had no affiliation or records from the preliminary research he did with regards to the schooling systems, it was doubtful he would be able to get her enrolled into any of them.
She was a ghost in terms of identification and history. There simply was no data on her, as much as he could search for. So, he had opted to insert her into the Student Data System, with Schale's extra-judiciary privileges. But that left the question: What school could he enroll her into?
There simply were too many options, pros and cons that he had to consider. Each school had their own culture, and many of them held things he would rather not have Arisu exposed to and assimilate, considering how problematic she was now. Gehenna was a land of mischief, Trinity a land of political strife, Millennium a land of questionable scientific practices, and the other schools he wasn't very well-read upon beyond Abydos.
Abydos was simply not an option. As much as he thought well of the students there, and the fact that they would like a new student, he would rather not expose Arisu to the problem that was their exorbitant debt.
…Was this how a father felt when trying to pick a school for his daughter? This was a weird feeling he thought he would never feel. He loved to take care of children, but he never thought he'd ever have one of his own, but he felt like he was skipping quite a number of steps here, thinking of Arisu in such a way.
But there was something left he could opt for, with a thought that surfaced on his mind as he stared at the blank eyes of Arisu.
"Arona, could you put Rin on the phone for me for a bit? I have a proposal to make."
"E-Eh?! You want to call Rin? This is a first…"
Arona's puzzlement was warranted, considering Rin was usually the one who called in to check on him to make sure he was actually doing his work, not the other way round. The fact that he was opting to call her only meant…
"Wait, do you want to make her a student under the General Student Council?!" Arona's eyes turned into ditzy spirals, as she was completely taken aback. This was unprecedented by all means, considering the process of how General Student Council students were chosen.
Apparently, their status as GSC students was completely decided by the General Student Council President back in the day, wherever she was now, and now they lacked the capability to even add people to it. However…
Shua nodded in response. "That's right. Schale's got that same privilege that the GSC President does, though the extent of which I'm not so certain about. I might be able to pull some strings here for this."
"Alright then, Sensei… if you say so… I'll put her on now." Arona's uncertainty was palpable, but she acquiesced without much hassle.
With those words, Arona vanished from the Shittim Chest's screen, and immediately a call directed to the GSC Headquarters began.
"Ring… Click!"
"...It's not often that you call me, Sensei." A stern voice briskly answered his call, one that he was very familiar with as the owner of it had chastised him quite often for his erroneous reports. "I assume this is regarding work?"
"...Ah, yes." He was taken aback with surprise for a brief moment, not expecting her to answer that quickly. "I've got a request for the General Student Council to handle."
"...Are you perhaps offloading your work to us?" Rin's disdain reverberated throughout his very core. It reminded him of some worse days. "We're too busy for that, and your responsibilities are your own."
"...Nothing of the sort." Somehow, he felt very worried, and none of his coping mechanisms, especially his faux perverseness that he employed to ease people seemed to be appropriate for the situation. "I've got a student here who's effectively a ghost. No affiliations, no history. Is it possible to have her under the General Student Council's wing as a student?"
"Hmm…"
Rin's silence seemed to stab like needles in his heart. He feared for the response that she would inevitably make.
Just what would she say? This would affect the future of Arisu immensely, and he couldn't help but worry about it. She was an innocent girl, even if she was a robot, and she deserved education and a good life.
"...That is not possible." Rin sighed, as dread set in completely in his heart. "But what an interesting situation. A ghost, you say?"
"...Yes, she has no history whatsoever. I've searched far and wide." Shua stated, shaking his head despondently. "Facial, retina scans and whatnot have come up negative in every way. I found her recently and she had nowhere to go, so…"
"...You're taking care of her, then. I see." Rin's image on the tablet seemed to have a contemplative look on her face, before she continued with a glint in the eyes: "Why not have her under Schale's jurisdiction?"
Huh? Shua was completely taken aback by the statement. He could do that?
"...I can do that?"
"Yes, you can." Rin affirmed. "Schale effectively works as a club with you as the only member, but beyond that, it is an organization that is above the schools and has privileges like them, much like the General Student Council is. You can enroll her into Schale directly as a student. That usually would result in political issues, but if she truly doesn't have any affiliation or history, that's not a worry. Effectively…" Rin paused.
"Effectively…?" Shua's curiosity was piqued.
"You'll have her as a teaching assistant, effectively. She'll carry heavy responsibilities as a result, but the fact that you're asking for her well-being to such an extent means you're willing to help take care of that. Just make sure she's capable, and the GSC will have no qualms."
Shua stared into the blank eyes of Arisu that lacked any semblance of higher thought who stood behind his desk, and then at the soaked, ripped papers that were on the floor.
…Was this girl ready for something like that? He honestly couldn't say yes.
A teaching assistant that didn't even know left from right at this given moment? He didn't think greatly of his chances. But now, this was a student he had to take care of, no matter the trials and tribulations that lay before him. This was a student, that if he played his cards right, would be able to help him with his goals… and perhaps, she could even…
This needed work, immense work, but…
It was something that sparked a fire in him.
It was something that he could do.
"...Alright, I'll work on the documentation, then." Shua nodded.
"See to it." Rin ordered, before inquiring: "What is her name, by the way? I'll see if I can figure out anything on my end."
"Her name is Tendou Arisu. Tendou is her surname." Shua couldn't help but feel some relief for having come up with a name just earlier today. She probably didn't even have a name to start off with, so he felt some guilt leading Rin on a wild goose chase.
Rin pushed her glasses up. "Interesting. Well, thank you for the call, Sensei. Do you need anything else?"
His knee-jerk reaction was to say no, but Arisu clearly needed some things…
"Yeah… Can I have some clothes for this girl?" He looked at Arisu and her state of dress. "She's kinda just wearing my suit jacket at the moment."
"..." Somehow, the silence was damning. Rin shook her head in disappointment.
"Get her to one of the changing rooms in the building, where her measurements will be taken. I'll send some clothes over when I get the numbers." Rin's expression darkened. "Sensei, I know you wouldn't, but you didn't do anything, did you?"
For a moment, Shua didn't quite understand what Rin was getting at, but…
The sudden realization of what the words he said implied struck him like a brick over his head.
"...I just realized how bad that sounded." Shua's face twisted in disgust. "...I assure you, I haven't done anything."
"You better not have, or I'll have you removed from your position and thrown on the street." Rin's chastisement came at him like a knife to the throat, and this time he couldn't laugh it off, because this was something he took absolutely seriously as well.
There simply would not be anything of the sort.
"...Yes, Ma'am. Crystal clear."
With the crisis regarding Arisu's clothing averted, Shua could only ponder about the curriculum that he would have to employ for this girl. Her speech was still robotic, but that could be worked on. He needed to figure out her thresholds and capabilities.
As much as he hated to take note of it as a metric, strength was definitely a non-issue. Considering that Arisu basically manhandled him when he was trying to take his gun back, he reckoned that her strength was basically beyond most students. Hell, she left indents on hardened steel with just her grip force. That wasn't normal by any means.
He looked at Arisu in mild fear, who now wore a similar plain white dress shirt to him that fit her perfectly with a sky blue tie, and a black skirt with mild blue rims upon the edges that reminded him of the sharks he used to see on television back home. She also wore a plain white hoodie that only seemed to contrast greatly with her absurdly long black flowing hair that fell to the ground. She had a lanyard over her neck that held a card with Schale's logo upon it.
Considering it was the GSC that sourced these clothes, the colors made sense. White seemed to be their prominent color, though what they provided was much more casual than the office outfits that they all seemed to wear. Rin came through quickly and aptly when he provided the numbers, though he couldn't help but feel something was missing with Arisu's clothes. Perhaps it was the color scheme. Maybe he should buy some new clothes for her in the future.
But beyond that, it was time to get to thinking. First, he needed to test how well she could learn, and how quickly she picked things up. Her comprehension was key, and if that was good, he could work on her problem solving skills next.
Considering she could hold a conversation with him, even if it was robotic in nature, her comprehension was at least serviceable. She also seemed to have a database to refer to innately. Perhaps, he thought, written literature would be a good way to jumpstart his plans.
Then came problem solving. Considering she was a robot, her skills in arithmetic were most likely beyond him, so what mattered was being able to come up with intended and or good solutions to real-life problems. A written test wouldn't quite be an apt solution, so…
Why not video games? They tested and facilitated one's comprehension, problem solving, and other measurable metrics. Visual novels were most likely a good choice, and could teach her some things to remedy her robotic lexicon, but he didn't want her to just end up utilizing slang that was prevalent in such games at every given moment, so he would only let her do that after she did some proper reading. He quickly asked Arona to prepare a list of games on one of his laptops.
A robot, playing games. It almost seemed funny, but he figured it was a good choice. But first, he wanted to have a good baseline set for Arisu, so…
He walked over, reached into the bookshelf, pulling out a certain book that seemed quite apt for this world in particular. He wasn't sure why this book existed here, but the lessons it taught were undeniable.
"Lord of the Flies." Shua muttered as he passed the book along. "Arisu, this is a book. It's not for eating, rather, it's for reading."
"Reading…" Arisu paused, before continuing, "The database says that is to process the words written on any form of medium. A book constitutes as one of said mediums."
Shua smiled as he nodded, "Correct. I would like for you to read this book, and would like to hear your opinions on it later."
"Opinion… Arisu doesn't understand, but Arisu will read this book as ordered." Arisu nodded stiffly, as if she were trying to mimic Shua's motions just prior, and she moved to the nearby couch to sit down and read.
It seemed she did have some form of common sense, at least, if she could decide to sit down on the couch, Shua noted. Or was she merely copying what she saw from him? He did sit down there just earlier to check a few documents. That meant he needed to watch his behavior carefully from now on, lest she pick up something that he didn't want her to.
His thoughts went back to the book he gave her to read. Lord of the Flies was a cautionary tale on what could occur if children were to attempt to govern themselves without oversight, of individuality and groups, and the dichotomy of morality and immorality. Considering his views on this world, it was best to try and get his new assistant on the same page, pun notwithstanding. It wasn't that his concerns were unfounded either, considering the chaos that occurred daily in Kivotos.
It would be a good starting point to see whether she was capable of understanding such concepts. If not, he would explain it thoroughly, and try to see where she fell short.
"I'm done with what you told me to do. Hmm, is this a good idea, Sensei?" Arona questioned with her eyes narrowed, "That's not an easy book to decipher for a first timer. You had to explain it to me in detail before, after all."
"It's a test." Shua shrugged, "If the lessons that book conveys make it through to her, it makes it much easier. I have a hunch it'll awaken something in her."
"Why is that so, Sensei?" Arona asked, confused.
"She refers to an inbuilt database avidly," Shua said. "This means she's capable of processing words into things that make sense to her logical mind, but subjective concepts such as morality and immorality will most likely have her pause and ponder."
Shua closed his eyes, thinking back to the times where he too had questioned such notions.
"Such a conundrum will most likely have her question the nature of her existence, and have her fall into an existential crisis, forming some form of ego as a result. We can work with that, after all, you most likely had this dilemma as well, as a self-aware AI yourself."
Arona's eyes lit up in understanding. "I see, Sensei. You really thought this through, didn't you? Even though this is kind of a mean thing to do."
Shua shrugged again, not knowing how to respond. He stared at Arisu, who seemed to have a conflicted and confused look on her face as she read through the book speedily.
Now, Shua narrowed his eyes. All he needed to do was wait for her to finish.
He sat down back at his desk, heading to redo his own work that was destroyed just earlier. He sighed. What a problematic affair.
He sat in silence while he worked for a while, with a calculator to his side to assist in his endeavor. He never was any good with this kind of job, but he had to learn, just like anyone else.
The minute tapping of his fingers on the calculator, the scrawling of the pen on paper, and the sound of a book's pages being flipped. That was the scene that overtook the room for a while.
The casual reverie in the room was suddenly broken by a streaming outburst from the girl who was sitting in the other corner of the room.
"I don't understand, Sensei!" Arisu's voice was overwhelmed, her face scrunched up in confusion, the book tossed to the side.
"...What is it?" Shua looked up from his work and questioned, inwardly smiling.
She used 'I', instead of 'Arisu'. This meant his plan was working splendidly.
"Why is it that these children opted for rituals to decide what to do? Why did they decide to kill the one that clearly had their best interests in mind?"
"Humans aren't particularly logical in every action they make, Arisu." He sighed, thinking of himself as a prime example. What a hypocrite he was. "Morality, immorality. Two sides of the same coin. Morality is a thing that can be trampled upon by those who seek results and change, especially if it makes sense to them. Understanding what makes right is up for you to decide."
"...I don't understand." Arisu muttered, discouraged.
"Even adults struggle with such things, Arisu." He smiled sadly, before his features turned to a happy grin. "But clearly, you're thinking about things carefully. That's good."
Arisu frowned. "Morality… just what is it, Sensei? The database states that it's a system of concepts determining what is right or wrong, but that doesn't make sense. What was morally right for these children, they ignored because they wanted to push onwards, as their own form of righteousness."
"...I'm glad you got that, Arisu." This certainly was eye-opening for him, seeing that Arisu did have the means to understand and comprehend, way more than he expected. "As mentioned, what determines right is all subjective. Whether it inflicts harm on others or not is usually a metric used to decide whether it is right or not, but that doesn't always apply, considering it does not coincide with what punishment is. Is punishment correct or wrong, as it inflicts harm on those who have inflicted harm on others?"
"...I don't know, Sensei." Arisu's crestfallen look made him feel guilty for a moment, but he knew this was for the best.
"The truth to it is that there's no real answer to this question. It's subjective, and I'd like for you to think it through and discuss it with me in the future," Shua trailed off for a second, pulling out a laptop from the desk drawer below that Arona had prepared. "For now, I'd like for you to play some games."
"But… there is no answer?" Arisu looked confused again. "Wait, you want Arisu to play games?"
"Here, I've prepared a few games." He walked over and passed the laptop over to Arisu. "They're role playing games that have you act out as a character in accordance to the setting."
"You want Arisu to become another person?" Arisu put her hands over her head and slouched over. "But… Arisu is Arisu? How can Arisu be someone else?"
Shua grinned. This really was going better than expected. "You 'act' as them, not become them. You don't need to throw yourself away in order to do it."
"...Arisu really, really doesn't understand, but if it's an order, I will do it."
His eyes twitched. That really needed to be curbed immediately.
"I'd like for you to do it, but you can decide not to do it. You are yourself, and have the free reign to decide."
"I…" Arisu paused, before saying, "Okay, I want to play it."
"Alright!" Shua clapped his hands together in excitement. He was so looking forward to this. "I've got a catalog for you to go through. Please play through them at your own pace."
"U-Understood!"
The day soon turned from midday to night, and it had been quite the productive day. Arisu seemed to attain proper self-awareness from the book she read and the games she played on his laptop. The myriad of role playing games that he had on the laptop seemed to come in handy for something beyond leisure for once, and that was certainly a boon.
In addition, he now had someone to discuss them with! That was the best part about it. The final game would most likely have her burn the midnight oil here, considering the game's mechanics and the way it pushed for you to run through it quickly. Her hand to eye coordination was quite astounding from what he saw, but that was to be expected.
The final game was one that had the player wield a massive variety of guns to destroy demons and other mobs quickly, and it'd make for a good way to teach her what guns were, considering she tried to put one in her mouth earlier. The game even rated you based on how stylishly you killed enemies, so it'd make for a good way to teach her of utilizing the options she had at hand for the best results.
He also learned that despite being a robot, she too needed to eat. She had some form of biological processors that were simply beyond any of the technology that his world had, and food she ingested would be converted effectively to energy in accordance to the calories it contained.
So, she was basically a normal girl through and through beyond her certain quirks. It certainly helped to see her that way, as a student he needed to take care of. It was certainly quite nice to have someone else at the dinner table eating along with him.
He honestly was struggling to see her as a robot now, considering how much more natural she was at speaking, alongside adopting proper intonation in her words. What a lucky break, he thought. He was honestly looking forward to teaching her for the future and having her assist in his work.
And maybe, and maybe, when he gets ousted as the failure he was…
She could…
No, that was too soon to think of. He had to make sure she could handle the responsibilities first.
As he watched her speed through the game, abusing game mechanics faster than he ever could, he could only smile proudly. She really learned so darn quickly. She beat the records he set on the game in such quick succession, attaining perfect ratings on all of them once she got accustomed to the controls with his guidance. Honestly, it had him left feeling inadequate, but he was only just a normal human.
This girl was something special. Truly.
Her focused look as she played through the game reminded him of better days, and she definitely looked like she was having fun with that big smile on her face. These were all things that made people what they were, and she damn well was passing off as just a student now. Playing games, doing work, socializing…
Hmm, he probably needed to get her some friends. It wouldn't do for her to only have him to talk to, and it'd be prudent to get her to talk to others more to help with her lexicon.
Yes, a thought flashed through. He could bring her to a commission that Abydos had requested just earlier this week, and bring her along as they solved each issue as they went. That would most certainly help him and help her get accustomed to her new responsibilities.
He honestly, for once, was looking forward to tomorrow.
He couldn't help but smile in anticipation.