I still remember that day last year. Back when I was just the Secretary of Seminar. I asked Utaha to build a giant mecha. I figured, since she was the most promising maestro of the entire school, that she would deliver results.

She delivered a time machine instead.

I still don't know how my mecha blueprints turned into that, but it did. And the most surprising thing was that it worked. Two girls, claiming they were from the future, appeared through the time machine and warned us about the coming apocalypse. At first, I thought it was just a mere prank. But they knew too much about Millennium. About me. And even about events that happened in the future, exactly as they described.

I don't put much faith into other people, but they gave me a glimpse of the future. My future. I experienced it first-hand. And it terrified me.

I threw away my life so I would not have to endure that same fate. And now the fruits of my labor are sitting right in front of me…

"Please, can you bring our PS5 here? We were going to spend the entire day rushing through Last Adventure XIV and I NEED to see the ending before I get spoiled!"

"Aris, I think we just got kidnapped…"

"Kidnapped? Who would want to kidnap us? We're not rare units in a gacha game!"

This is not how I pictured my plan playing out. There was supposed to be at least some resistance, but my target is acting like everything's a game. I should have known, based on the data, but it's almost upsetting how easy this was.

"Big Sister, are you perhaps having second thoughts?"

Himari.

"And what if I am?"

"Sunk-cost fallacy is a fallacy for a good reason. It's not too late to turn around and apologize."

"The only sunk-cost will be our entire school if we mess this up. Now do your job and tell me if you figured out what's wrong with her."

"You can at least say please."

No need. Frivolous trivialities get in the way of efficiency.

Himari moved over in front of Aris and her club's president and faced them head-on.

"Aris, I'm afraid-"

"Himari! Is she really your big sister? You don't look related."

"...No. As I was-"

"Then why did you call her Big Sister?"

"W-well. I'll leave it to her to explain."

Himari looked at me with that characteristic smug grin. Aris and Yuzu also started staring at me.

"Because… I'm the student council president of Millennium."

"And?" I heard Himari say.

"And it's my job to look over Millennium, like its protective big sister. So that's what they call me."

I know it's my nickname, but it's still embarrassing when I have to explain it. Apparently, it's still funny to Himari too.

Aris clapped her hands together. "That means you're Yuuka's boss! We had so much fun last night!"

Yuzu waved her arms in front of Aris for some reason. "Okay! That's enough Aris!"

Aris laughed and smiled. "Big sister! Haha! I like it!"

"Enough. Himari, what do you know?"

Himari, apparently satisfied, tried to address Aris one more time.

"Ahem. As I was trying to say, Aris, I have some very bad news to tell you."

"Bad news?"

"You pose a great threat to Kivotos."

Aris sat there with a blank expression before responding with a flat, "What."

"Yes, yes, I know. It's a terrible burden on your shoulders."

"Um, I don't really get what you're saying. I'm a hero! There's no way I can be a threat to Kivotos!"

"Now for the good news: I've run analysis on your mind and have determined that it's only because you actually have a split-personality who's evil! As it turns out, you can still be a hero! As long as she never comes out, we're all safe!"

"Huh? I have a split-personality?"

Both Aris and Yuzu looked very confused.

Yuzu asked "Aris has a split-personality? But we're with her all the time. She never acts weird. Weirder than normal. I think I would have noticed if she had a split-personality by now."

Himari clapped her hands together and smiled. "And that's a good thing! Like I said, she's evil. Lucky for you, I have just the fix!"

I asked her, "What do you have in mind?"

"Trust me. It's better than your idiotic plan of keeping her trapped in a box."

Give me some credit. That's still better than my other plan of breaking her halo.

Himari smiled. "See, the answer's obvious! She has a split-personality, so we simply remove it!"

…

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"You're talking to the delicate super-genius hacker of Millennium, you know! You're acting like I haven't come up with a plan for that. Aris's mind is very similar to an AI's. We can transfer the second personality over to another device where it can cause no harm!"

Yuzu suddenly blurt out, "You know she's a robot?"

"Oh dear, well of course I know. For better or worse, you can't hide anything in Millennium from me or Big Sister."

Aris and Yuzu looked over at me. I suppose the scheme's over. I explain to them, "Himari and I have known about you, Aris, for a long time. Longer than you've been awake, in fact. We've been keeping a close eye on you. To make sure that you could successfully integrate into Millennium. And-"

The unit AL-1S. Created by the Nameless Priests to bring destruction to Kivotos. In another timeline, I would have naively made the assumption that she would eventually. But I've seen where that route leads me…

"-you've passed."

I saw Himari sigh out in relief.

Aris stood up with a big grin on her face. "Thanks! Everyone here's been super nice to me, and I try to be really nice to them too!"

Yuzu nodded in agreement. "Yes. She's a really great club member and friend too!"

Well, it seems that they both missed the implications of what failure would have meant. I suppose I'm the only one who actually knows, though.

Still, there is the problem of that split-personality.

"Himari, how can we remove the second personality from Aris? Do you have any specific procedures in mind? Do keep in mind that she's a creation of the Nameless Priests."

Aris, still with her big smile, asked, "Nameless Priests?"

Himari quickly waved her off. "Don't worry about it for now, Aris. We'll tell you when you get older. As for what we can do, I don't have any concrete ideas at the moment, seeing as how I'm not an expert on the Nameless Priests. But when it comes to AI extraction, I'm sure we can both think of a certain someone that might know a thing or two about that."

.

.

.

Utaha and Chihiro stepped into the Seminar club room. Utaha looked a bit nervous to be around me. She better be.

Utaha waved at me as soon as she entered. "Hey Bestie! Long time no see, huh? You've been so busy lately, I've been wondering when we could hang out together… Haha."

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"No. It was worth it," she said through grit teeth.

"Your little stunt with our AI has caused Seminar a whole host of problems. If Yuuka finds out, I have a feeling you're going to say goodbye to what little funding your club still has."

Utaha's gaze quickly moved to a corner in the room.

I wasn't done berating her yet though. It seems like she hasn't quite learned her lesson yet. "I expected this kind of stunt from Veritas, but it was your club this entire time? To be frank, Yuuka and I have been too lenient with you. We've only let you go so far because you do produce results. But sometimes, you fly too close to the sun. Clearly, responsibility is a foreign word in your vocabulary."

Utaha's head hung down, and she didn't respond.

Chihiro took a glance at the Engineering Club President and sighed. "Hey. We got it back. Want me to transfer it over to the mainframe now?"

I nodded. "Go ahead."

"Give me a minute."

Chihiro met up with Himari on the other side of the room and got to work.

Well, I should get to work too. I walked right up to Utaha. "Now that we're both here, there's a couple business points that I need to discuss with you."

"Do they involve pointing out all of my mistakes?"

"First of all, you needed that reality check. Secondly, no, I have an actual job for you."

We walked together to the room Aris was currently in. It seemed that Toki bought them their game console and they were currently watching video game characters… talk.

I called Aris over to meet me in the club room.

"Awww, we're in the middle of an emotional scene!"

"Can't you pause it?" I asked them.

"What? You can't pause a cutscene!" she retorted.

Can't pause a cutscene? What kind of backwards game are they playing where you can't pause a cutscene?

Aris stared deep into my eyes. "How old are you?"

…

Ignore it.

Eventually, Aris, Yuzu, and Toki entered the club room. We all went over to look at what Chihiro and Himari were doing.

Himari cracked her knuckles and smiled. "It's about ready. It's just booting up right now. And there."

The LED screen in the room turned on.

"Initialized. Hello, world."

A girl with short white hair and blood-red eyes appeared on the screen. She was wearing a modified Millennium uniform, with neon blue accent lines glowing throughout. A halo floated above her head, taking on the familiar sight of the Millennium logo.

"I am glad to be back."

I offered her a smile. "Likewise. Welcome back, Eve."

"Bearing's good. We'll arrive in Trinity in an hour."

"What?"

"I said, we'll be at Trinity in an hour."

"Oh!"

Hoshino adjusted her headset's volume by dialing a knob on her headset.

"It's loud in here."

Ayane nodded.

"You get used to it."

Since Hoshino was impatient, she insisted that Abydos fly their helicopter to reach Trinity faster. Ayane and Hoshino were sitting in the cockpit as co-pilots.

The cockpit loudly beeped twice, ruining the calm flight they've had so far. Sphinx's voice beamed directly into their headsets.

"Technically we'll reach the Academy in an hour, but we're about to cross into their airspace right now."

Hoshino yawned. "Finally some news. Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, we didn't register with their air traffic control first…"

The beeping in the cockpit started again, faster this time.

"Hey, that sounds bad," Hoshino commented.

Ayane said, "We're being targeted by AA weapons. Keep your hand on the flares."

"Got it."

The two pilots received a communication request over the radio.

"Unidentified helicopter, this is Trinity air traffic control speaking. You are now entering Trinity airspace. State your identification and reason for entering or prepare to get shot down."

Hoshino grinned and leaned forward in her chair to respond.

"Greetings, Trinity air traffic control. This is the captain of the ASS Wiper speaking. We've come from the Abydos District to visit our friend, who lives in Trinity."

"ASS?"

"ASS Wiper, correct. You can look up our registration on the Kivotos registry."

"ASS…"

Hoshino and Ayane heard a snicker over their headsets.

Ayane sighed. "Couldn't you have named the Sea Hawk anything else? It's not even a ship."

Hoshino smiled and shrugged. "Hey, when do you think Abydos will get a battleship, huh? Not like we have the funds for it. Or anywhere to put it. Can't you at least let me name the aircraft? I mean, one floats on water, this one floats in the air, they're basically the same thing. Come on, let this old lady have some fun, will ya?"

"This isn't a battleship! It's a helicopter! Why would we name it something like that?"

"For a laugh, obviously. I still would have liked to call it Problem Solver 69. But I think number 68 might not have appreciated that joke."

The operator over the radio spoke again. "Identification confirmed. Unfortunately, Abydos is not on our free travel list, so we'll have to ask you to turn around."

Hoshino's playful smile immediately disappeared. "What? What do you mean we're not on a free travel list?"

"It's an agreement between schools for unrestricted travel with minimal checks. I'm afraid that since your school isn't on this list, we can't allow you any further into Trinity air space. We have to ask you to turn around and leave."

"Wha-? But we're tight with the leadership of Trinity, right? We've done so much for you guys! We caught the bad guys during the Eden Treaty! Remember that? You have to, right? That was just this year!"

"Sorry, this is just standard protocol. If you would like to sign a travel arrangement, you could try signing the relevant paperwork. I'm actually surprised your school isn't on the list, though. We have agreements with all major academies besides Millennium."

"Major academies? Are you making fun of us?"

"No, my apologies if it sounded that way."

Ayane spoke out before Hoshino could respond.

"Hoshino, I think I might know why we're not on their flight lists. We probably did receive an agreement, but it's buried under all of the other paperwork we have to deal with."

Hoshino grimaced.

"Ah. All of the foreign school stuff goes through me, doesn't it?"

"I'm not saying it's your fault…"

"Procrastination strikes yet again."

The operator spoke again. "I repeat, turn around or we will shoot you down."

Hoshino groaned. "Hey, lady, we're not operating a bomber here. Let me speak to your manager, I'm escalating this."

"I'm in charge of our airspace. If you want to enter it, you talk to me."

"No, YOU talk to ME. I'm the vice-president of Abydos. You try something funny and you'll start a diplomatic incident, and nobody wants that, now do we?"

"Diplo-? You're the ones in OUR airspace!"

"Yeah, and as vice-president of a foreign school, I demand an audience with an equivalent rank from your school."

"Ha! Haha! Listen here, pal, that's not how it works! I can't just arrange a meeting between you and a Tea Party host on a whim!"

"But you can control if I speak to your manager, right?"

Ayane looked at her co-pilot and sighed. "Hoshino, it's fine. We can just land near the border and take a train to the dorms."

Hoshino grumbled. "I know. It just ticks me off that we're still considered some insignificant school that doesn't matter."

"It sucks, but that's just the reality of our situation."

"Well, reality sucks."

Suddenly, Sphinx spoke through the radio channel. "Would everyone mind waiting just a few moments? I think I've gotten everything cleared up."

The Trinity operator sounded perplexed. "What? Who are you? How did you get into these comms?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Heehee!"

A few moments later, a brand new voice joined the radio channel. "Sanae, Abydos, this is the vice-president of the Justice Task Force speaking, Hanekawa Hasumi."

"Vice-president?" the operator asked.

"It's okay, Sanae. I'll handle it from here. Stand down the fighters, please."

"...All units, withdraw."

Far behind the ASS Wiper, two planes split off and flew in opposite directions away from the helicopter.

Hasumi again spoke. "Hello, vice-president Hoshino. I apologize for my operator's behavior. She's just doing what she's trained to do."

Hoshino waved it off, like she was talking to her in person. "Don't worry about it. As long as we're all good, keep up the good work, JTF! I can see your tuition fees are going to good use," she said with a smirk.

"You don't have clearance to use the public airports and the JTF airfields are currently fully occupied, but I can arrange for you to land at a private Tea Party airfield."

"Wow, we're really getting that first class treatment now?"

"We owe a lot to your school."

"Yeah, I know, thanks."

"Make way to the academy. We'll guide you when you get here."

"Okay."

"One more thing, Hoshino, I'm quite surprised you aren't on our free travel list. I could have sworn we sent you the paperwork. Did it get lost?"

"Um…" Hoshino and Ayane exchanged glances. "...I never received anything."

"...I see. I'll talk to Nagisa about it later to send you new paperwork. Once again, apologies for the inconvenience. I hope to see you soon."

"Okay! Buh-bye!"

The radio went silent.

Ayane took off her glasses and rested her face on her palms while Hoshino leaned back in her chair.

"I take it back. We're heroes now! This is awesome!"

Ayane coyly said, "We're being welcomed by the Justice Task Force, yet we're planning to steal a highly dangerous weapon from them."

"Ah, ah, ah. It's not stealing. It's a re-requisition of an illegitimate transaction that was not approved by the student council president."

"We don't have a president."

"Exactly!"

Ayane grumbled, but chose to drop the subject. She then looked at her screen. "So, Sphinx? What did you do back there?"

"Oh, me? I have a connection or two at Trinity. They're pretty influential~"

Hoshino tilted her head upon hearing her answer. "How did you manage to do that? Weren't you disabled for years?"

"Mmm, that's an AI secret!"

Ayane said, "You know, you're actually really helpful."

"I am? It makes me happy to hear that from my students!"

"I'm wondering why you've been disabled for so long. Any ideas, Hoshino?"

Hoshino shrugged. "Don't know. All I know is that when I was a first year, my student council president told me to never turn on the autonomous defense system. Which I'm assuming is you, Sphinx."

"That's so mean!" Sphinx complained. "I never even met them, and they didn't even give me a chance! All of us were tailor-made to be beneficial to our assigned school!"

"One for each school, right? Does that mean you contacted Trinity's AI then?" Hoshino asked.

"Yeah! She's super sweet! I love her!" Sphinx said.

"And you're fine with us going into her school to steal military equipment from them?"

"Correct."

"And you didn't leak anything to her, right?"

"Of course not! What do you think I am? Spyware? That would sabotage my initiative to make Abydos the best school in Kivotos. My bond to the other AIs can not override my desire to help my precious school succeed in any way possible. I would not do something that would compromise the odds that we come out on top."

Hoshino turned her chair towards Ayane. "Get a load of her, right? She's telling us that she's fine with picking a fight with Trinity if things go south."

Ayane looked down in thought. "Sphinx, you mentioned the odds that we come out on top. But what does being on top actually mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sphinx replied. "That Abydos regains its former glory as the best school in Kivotos. I've run the simulations multiple times based on your data, and I've determined that our current objective is not only agreeable to the student council, but also the best way to do so. I should add that the directions and types of simulations are set by the student council. As an AI, I just go along with it. It just so happens that the current student council is interested in becoming the biggest crime syndicate, so all of my simulations are geared towards analyzing the biggest heists we can pull off. And who am I to argue against that? That sounds fun!"

Hoshino laughed. "Haha! Crime syndicate! Our own AI called us a crime syndicate! What do you think about that, Ayane?"

"I'm not entirely sure I like the direction this school is headed if that's what Sphinx thinks about us."

Sphinx chimed in: "Historically, the Abydos student council has repeatedly shown their inability to take care of issues through legitimate means."

Hoshino nodded. "Yup, yup, sounds about right."

"I would also like to mention that this extends to the current student council too."

"That also sounds about right, yes." This statement from Hoshino earned a very audible grumble from Ayane.

"Therefore, the only option left is to use underhanded methods to solve the Abydos debt crisis and regain prestige and respect of students around the city."

"Okaaaay. And now I can see why the previous student councils turned you off for years."

"Wait! Wait! Don't turn me off! I'm only following your directives! If you want to change course, you're free to do so! I'm a support AI, and I support the student council's decisions! It's not the other way around, and it shouldn't be the other way around!"

Hoshino nodded again. "Fair enough. You did help us out just now. What else can you do?"

"I can provide tactical support. My data shows that students with proper tactical support increase their combat effectiveness by at least 300%."

Ayane said, "Just like how we all get better at fighting when we have Sensei's guidance."

Hoshino asked Sphinx, "And you're all like this?"

"The school AIs? Yes. When we get assigned to a school, we do our best to elevate our school's ranking to the best of our abilities. That's why we were created. Why we exist. We wouldn't do something dumb like sabotage our own school for no reason."

"Huh."

Hoshino observed the ground, now firmly within the Trinity District. She compared the shiny reflections of the District's skyscrapers and neatly trimmed gardens with the ghost town of the desertified Abydos District.

"Makes you wonder…"

Visions of a thriving Abydos. Left to be dreams.

Hoshino leaned back and rested her feet on the console. No use worrying about it now.

"So, Sphinx, these other AI. What are they like?"

"I didn't interact with many before I got disabled. I'm actually the first prototype Millennium ever developed, just so you know!"

Ayane asked, "Is that true? You're really the first?"

"Well, the story goes that the first student council of Millennium thought it would be fun to program an android. They didn't succeed in making a body, but they did make a mind for it. As it turns out, it's a lot easier to simulate a mind than construct a body. That mind was yours truly!"

"And you ended up at our school?"

"The Abydos student council had tons of money back then to throw around, and they saw this promising new thingimajig from a brand new school that could completely revolutionize doing menial tasks such as paperwork and financial advice! So they bought the tech and transferred me over!"

Hoshino's face scrunched up.

"Did you just say financial advice?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Question."

"Hit me."

"When did you get disabled?"

"Hmm. I would say around the time the climate around Abydos started changing."

Hoshino and Ayane looked at each other with identical grimaces, the implications clear to both of them.

"Why don't we change the subject?" Ayane asked.

Hoshino nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, how about I tell you about the other AIs now that you know all about me!" Sphinx said, not noticing the uncomfortable air in the room.

"Um, yeah," Ayane said with no energy.

"The only other AI I've met is Trinity's. We call her Chimera. She's polite, and smart! She has to be, since she's a bit younger than I am. Funny how age works in AI, right? If you don't know, younger AIs tend to be more developed because their initial datasets are more mature. Actually, wouldn't that make them mentally older? I'm not designed to compute this sort of philosophical stuff so I'm going to stop now."

"Uheee~ So you're a rusty old timer like I am," Hoshino said. "So, what about Millennium's AI? Eve, right? Yuuka doesn't really seem to like you guys that much."

"Well, I've never met Millennium's AI. From the data I've gathered, she would actually be the youngest out of all of us. So theoretically, she should also be the smartest since she has access to all the data from the previous models."

"Oh? You think she's the reason Millennium's acting all weird right now?"

"Hard to say. I tried hacking them for info right after you woke me up to dust off my skills, but it didn't really work. The firewall was too hard to break. Their cybersecurity department must be paid top-notch!"

"You what?" Ayane yelled out.

"I said I tried hacking them. I thought it would be fun. Maybe get some info that isn't publicly available. That sort of juicy stuff! (And maybe siphon a few funds here and there)," Sphinx said, that last part played loud enough over the speaker to be noticed by the pilots.

Hoshino chuckled. "I guess the AIs really take after their schools? What do ya think, Ayane?"

Ayane rubbed her eyes from under her glasses. "Oh gosh. This is getting out of hand now. I can't believe we're almost worse than Gehenna!"

"Almost? You're putting too much faith in us, my dear. Just embrace it. Otherwise you'll get white hairs like me."

Sphinx continued, "Millennium's AI though… Maybe you could try asking Yuuka about it? I'm sorry, but I really have no info on her. That firewall got me good. I wouldn't be surprised if Eve had something to do with it. She's young, so she should be the smartest, right? Plus, she's assigned to Millennium, so she has to be one of the most logical to help them out in whatever sciency stuff they do there, right?"

Hoshino leaned back and rested her head on her hands. "Makes sense to me."

Logical? What Millennium has been doing? It didn't really make any sense to Hoshino, but figuring that out wasn't her job. If the AIs take on aspects of their school, then Eve should be a cold and ruthlessly efficient problem solving machine.

"Big Sister," I heard Eve address me. "According to the laws of robotics, I am unable to directly cause harm to living beings. However, I would like to request your permission to use the AMAS units as punishment on Utaha-senpai for turning me into a party trick."

I looked at Utaha, who seemed just as shocked by Eve's request.

Well…

"Utaha, do you have anything to say to her?"

"Haha. Um." Utaha rubbed her head. "I learned a lot from this experience. So thank you!"

I looked back at the screen. "She's not sorry. Permission granted."

"Acknowledged." Holes in the ceiling opened up, and several AMAS units dropped through. Their turrets came out and trained their aim on Utaha's body.

"Wait! We can still talk this out."

"I recommend we step back," I said to the rest of the group.

We all shuffled away from Utaha, who looked increasingly panicked. A beep went off, and moments later, the sounds of gunfire filled the room. This went on for a few seconds before silence crept into the room again.

Left in the center was Utaha, who was groaning on the floor.

I walked right next to her. "You got off easy. Come on, I still need you to do something."

"Owwwww. A bullet got me right in the face."

"Quit being such a baby." I helped her stand up. "So here's what I need you to do. I bought Aris here because she's actually an AI. Did you know that?"

"Huh? Of course I knew that. Who didn't? You would have to not pay any attention at all to not know that. Like, it's kind of obvious."

"Okay. Great. The basic problem we have is that there are actually two AIs inhabiting her body. One is Aris, and the other, to put it simply, is a sentient weapon of mass destruction. I need you and Chihiro to extract that AI from her body. Is that something you can do?"

"Sure. It can't be that hard, right? We've done it once before."

I looked at the screen to watch Eve, but she didn't seem to react. I know she heard it though.

"Very well. Eve, can you handle it?"

"There is more than enough memory and processing power in here to handle multiple AIs," she responded.

I looked back at Utaha and Chihiro. "Then can you upload Aris into the computer?"

Utaha nodded. "Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."

Chihiro crossed her arms. "Only if everybody's okay with it. Aris, come here for a second."

"'Kay." Aris skipped over next to us. "This is about the bad guy living in my head right? And you're going to do robot surgery on me to get her out? It sounds a bit scary, but I think it'll be worth it!"

"Ha. And you actually trust President Rio?"

Chihiro and Aris would be right to be skeptical of me. I haven't offered any proof of my claims, only hoping they could trust me… A naive hope perhaps.

"No, she's right."

"Seriously, Prez?"

…But having Himari back up my claim can't hurt.

"You know, I always thought that this reveal would be a lot more dramatic."

Chihiro actually took off her glasses when she heard her. "You're serious. Holy hell."

Hmm. I thought the glasses thing didn't exist in real life, but apparently it does.

"Fufu, I would never lie, unlike the snake right next to me."

She's referring to me isn't she? I should respond.

"Let's leave our personal grudges out of this, Himari. We have bigger things to deal with right now."

"All business, no chit-chat. Normally an undesirable trait, but when it comes to you, I think I like it when compared to having regular conversations with you."

"Shut up."

"See what I have to deal with every week?"

It's not like I like this arrangement either.

Chihiro put her hands on her hip. "So I'm only here because you asked me to. What I want to know is why you're doing this."

"Haha. Actually, I'm looking into something completely different as part of the Super Phenomenon Task Force, but I'm here right now, so I figured I might as well play along. I'm only going along with Big Sister's plan because most of it is actually mine. Her plan was so unbelievably stupid and rushed that I rewrote most of it last night when I heard about it."

I responded, "And I'm only agreeing to it because…" -It pains me to admit this-, "...but her plan does seem better."

"And Big Sister gets to experience how good properly collaborating with people is!"

Chihiro sighed. "Well. That's an endorsement I didn't expect."

I'm still wondering how Himari heard about the original plan. I've only told…

Aris jumped up, breaking my chain of thought. "If Himari and Chihiro want me to do it, then that's even more reasons for me to go, right?"

"Hold on," Chihiro said. "I want to get input from your president. Yuzu." The girl in question seemed startled at being suddenly called out. "You've been quiet this entire time. What are you thinking?"

Yuzu placed her fingers together. "Um. I'm thinking… That it's not really my place to decide what Aris does. But this all sounds really dangerous to me."

Aris walked right in front of Yuzu. "Actually, ever since they mentioned the second personality to me, if I try really hard, then I can feel something funny in my head. Like this!"

Aris spread her legs out and started grunting. "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM"

What's she doing?

"What are you doing?" Yuzu asked her, almost echoing my thoughts.

Aris quickly responded, "Can't talk. I'm concentrating on the voices in my head. YAAAAAAAA!"

Himari chuckled. "You're not going to force it out like that, you know?"

Aris slumped over. "Yeah. You're right. But if I'm being honest, then I have to admit that this is really scary."

"You don't have to do this," Yuzu said.

"But I want to do this. If there's even the slightest chance that I may turn evil and hurt my friends, then I have to fix it somehow! I'm a hero, after all! Heroes would never let something like that happen!"

Yuzu simply nodded.

Eve started talking through the speakers. "If I may offer my input?" she asked.

"Of course, Eve," I responded.

"This action is easily reversible, so long as the body remains intact. All we are doing is isolating Aris's mind and keeping her with me while I try to pinpoint and eradicate the second AI."

On the screen, Eve curled her hand into a fist and placed it over her chest. "And I think it would be nice to finally be able to meet a fellow artificial intelligence."

Aris immediately stopped that thing she was doing and rushed over to the screen. "Oh, right! You're an artificial intelligence too! I've… Well I guess it would be nice to meet somebody who's like me."

Aris smiled at her. "Would you like to be my friend?"

I saw Eve raise her eyebrows. "Really? But you know nothing about me."

"That might be true, but I would like to be friends with everybody. After all, a hero like me operates off of the power of friendship! That's like, an RPG staple! And to be honest, I'm curious about you. Maybe if I learn about you, I could also learn about myself."

"Oh…" I heard Yuzu whisper.

Eve nodded and smiled. At least that appears to be a smile… "If that's the case, then there's a lot we could both gain from this. I would like to be your friend Aris."

Aris turned around. "Then it's decided! I'll go into the computer with Eve and you can fix me!"

Chihiro shrugged. "Guess that's that, then. Alright Utaha, time to get to work."

"Roger."

As they all prepared, I remembered the simulation from the headset that Loremaster gave me. In that one, the entity resting within Aris hacked control of my fortress city. That is a worst-case scenario, but now I have foresight and failsafes in place. The primary one being Eve. She wasn't present in that other reality, but she's here now as an unaccounted for variable. I hate uncertainty. But still, I have hope. She IS the most advanced AI we've ever developed.

I hope that's enough to stop the same mistake from happening again.

"Big Sister," I heard Eve call out.

"Do you need something?"

"I like having failsafes in place. There is always a chance for luck to not turn out in your favor. I hope that you've continued the Knight program while I've been away."

"Test trials with Abi-Eshuh have proven promising, and I managed to get Eridu to produce two more. They are currently in standby. One more is in production, but it won't be ready today."

Eve's smile grew wide.

"Good. Get your pilots ready in case things go south."

"Pilots? The only ones trained to use them are Toki and our benefactors. Even then, Toki's only synced to using Abi-Eshuh, and I can't contact the two benefactors. One of them was here yesterday, but I have no idea where she went after that though. That leaves the two beta models open."

"The sync-modules work, correct?"

"Yes. Toki can use it as if it was an extension of herself. But we only have one AI to go around."

"Then it won't be a problem. You'll have volunteers show up soon. I'll take care of the rest."

…

What did she mean by volunteers?