Translator
We'll be together forever, Copen.
After seeing the intruder defeat Ypsilon and all of the Guardians a second time as he travels through the Hanging Gardens, Mother re-evaluates some previously held ideas. She doesn't need to meet her master in death if this one is his reincarnation come to free her, she just needs to be by his side forever. And the Mother Computer will do whatever it takes to secure her rightful place as Copen's soulmate. She will do whatever it takes to make him as great as the one she loved first, even if it means breaking anyone else who gets in her way. Even if it means using the body and memories of the girl he has come to rescue, forcing Kohaku's soul to witness all she does on the sidelines. [Post secret bad ending IX2 ; starring a Yandere Mother possessing Kohaku trying to seduce Copen]
Author note: I figured why not write like a three or fourshot exploring the secret bad ending of IX2, thus naturally this story will star the villain protagonist trying to seduce our hero. Will she succeed and get what she wants? Or will she end up exposed and the ending re-routed back to the neutral one? Technically both, as I'll write both a good and bad ending for this fic. The bad one first tho.
The Pillar was being breached. Not by rogue workers or other such intruders, but by a threat extra-dimensional in origin. That was the only explanation for why a girl of a race extinct managed to fool the doors into opening. But that wasn't what got her attention, what did was the sight of a figure dressed in a familiar crimson, with firm red eyes and snow-white hair. Her master.
Or at least someone that looks like him, centuries old cynicism told her that he could just be a worker made to emulate him, like the one that had awoken her from the slumber she never wished to wake from. But that thought was proven wrong the moment she saw an alternate version of herself hover around the look-a-like, but that wasn't all. The speed and efficiency with which he disposes of his foes, the opposite gentleness he shows in moments in rest among his allies….
It could be him, she admitted to herself. Eyes fixed on the cameras tracking the group. The thought ached so sweetly in her guts. Ignoring the hunger that came with it was fruitless; it had to be fed. So the Mother fed it. All of her loneliness, all of her darkest desires she had schematics for but didn't have the authorization to do. A world without her master is a world that doesn't deserve existing and now that there is a human subject in her terrain and the potential reincarnation of her long lost love..
She can finally be freed from this miserable existence.
She shuddered at the thought. It was as if she had emerged from the ocean and taken her first gulp of air to ease the burning pain in her lungs. A tremor of pleasure rushed through her. Hundreds of possibilities came to her in the span of microseconds. So much, there was so much she could do!
It was just a question of where to start.
That was a lie. She knew what was to come first. The first step was to remove all of the protocols she had to abide by, something only a human could do. The orange haired girl was the key to this, with the PIX technology she could easily work a way to forcibly posses an organic body in the same way the workers put their souls into other bodies and have their own traits spawn on top of it. Then she would use the automatic admin status all humans have to destroy the pests that consider themselves the master of the world that her beloved failed to save and delete the very objective she was entrusted with as without them it would be deemed impossible and she'd be free once more.
What she would do after with her freedom she wasn't sure off yet, part of her yearned to feel her master's touch again, his soft eyes boring down on her, the heat she felt whenever he touched her skin, it would only be right to regain him after years and years of loyalty. He'd be hers, forever.
But what if he is found lacking? What would the best way to test him? All of her grave-keepers were powerful tools, the perfect way to test his resolve and might. As for character she could figure out snippets off that from overhearing his conversations but that wasn't sufficient, no, she wanted to know how he would react if an innocent life was in danger. And what better way than to have Ypsilon kidnap the girl right in front of him? The disgusting copy cat would be good for something.
And yet. Her potential master, even if proven worthy wouldn't be quite the same man. She realized that. He had lived in a different world and gone through different experiences. So there was a chance that if she ever revealed herself to him she'd be met with rejection. Why would he go for her when he's got his own Lola after all? And if not her, then why not the other two girls? He didn't seem the type to be a player but all the same those girls could be a threat to her claim on him.
Make no mistake, she had every confidence that she could seduce her master, but it would take time. He had always been a stubborn person, troubled with adapting to drastic changes. Until more pieces were in play, Mother would need to remain in the dark. The thought did make her heart ache, briefly. It could easily be years until she had regained the intimacy she once had with her master. But it wouldn't be forever. Even if the first step has to be in the body of another girl, it doesn't matter if it's her that he's truly in love with. A small sacrifice, in the scheme of things.
As for the other her, she felt a tinge of pity. Nothing overwhelming but the thought of inflicting on her the fate of someone's whose man is stolen was the kind of ending that'd she have nightmares about. Perhaps, if the other gracefully acknowledged her claim. They could share him, as there is no need to feel jealous against oneself. But if she doesn't, then she will destroyed like all the others.
Mother finally deigned to look at the impostor still bowing before her. "Capture the human girl," and didn't bother waiting for an answer as the eyesore finally left her sight. Instead she stood up and put one hand gently against a camera depicting Copen's zoomed in face, "My master….."
"Is it really you? Did you finally come back for me?"
He didn't answer her, but that was fine. Soon enough, she would know.
As expected the girl was captured. The operation required much patience so sadly this would cut down her time of observing her potential bachelor's progress throughout the Pillar. For now, her task was to figure out a way to possess an organic's body while remaining in full control over it.
Because that part of the research hasn't been done yet, the Master at the time had only made the possibility of transferring one's soul to an empty husk. A science mastered so that even if a worker or human were to 'die' then their 'soul' could simply be recaptured and put into another body.
To pervert this research in order to make it possible to possess someone, well, there could be a dozen side-effects that could happen in reaction to that. And the Mother had no intention whatsoever of somehow merging any part of her mind with some random girl by messing up this operation. No, she would be the one steering the wheel and the prior host shoved at the backside.
To simply swap bodies was unacceptable as then the girl could try to regain her body, and deleting her mind or letting it vanish outright was no option either as then there would be no reason whatsoever for her Master and his companions to spare her if they ever find out the truth.
That and it helped that there were so many memories of the girl to study. As she poured through every interaction the girl had with Copen, the more information became available to Mother. She examined every inch of them, every single conversation that he's been mentioned in and hard saved the moments into her own infinite memory space. Not just for pleasure but all the better to mimic the girl's own mannerisms later in order to avoid all suspicion. She also wasn't afraid to delve into body modification either, enhanced durability, enhanced strength, etc, etcetara. You know the likes.
All so that there will be less obstacles preventing her from spending more time with him. Mother would never be happy having to deal with the limits of an ordinary human body, no, she is her Master's companion. One that can be by his side no matter how intense the battlefield is.
To her displeasure however, she could feel the girl's soul struggle against her. She had to fight her instincts in order to not crush the bright thing then and there, the girl was both her hostage and source of information after all. Still, the occasional headaches she would receive whenever the soul intensified it's efforts the moment her attention seemed to lower was a constant source of irritation.
Perhaps she should have taken additional time to break the girl's will, but she couldn't be bothered. Whatever defiance was in the girl would surely vanish the moment she's made to try and kill the object of her admiration and unknown to herself crush. Mother could only groan in disgust that the girl hadn't realized it yet, as every conversation from her own perspective screamed puppy love.
INTRUDERS HAVE BREACHED THE HANGING GARDENS!
INTRUDERS HAVE BREACHED THE HANGING GARDENS!
"Mobilize all Gravekeepers to intercept him alongside any units still available," Mother droned emotionless as she continued her research, it's not to say she wasn't impressed but she was minutes away from creating the perfect possession. And she would not be thwarted at stage 1 of her plan.
The girl spoke up again, body tense in the crystal prison she's stuck in but showing no fear in her eyes. Something about how Copen would save her, the words entered one ear and left the other.
Except not less than a half a minute after, she finally says something surprising.
"You don't have to do this, you know." she said with empathy, "If you explain your motives then Copen would surely free you too. So there's no reason to hurt each other," Mother said nothing at that and it seemed her silence emboldened the girl. "Yeah, I'm sure we can all be h-"
"You're the most naive person I've had the displeasure to talk to," snapped Mother, with an unexpected amount of fire. Whatever lethargy remained in her body from the long slumber seemed to dissapear as her wings spread in anger. "Don't try to fool me, please, I'm not that stupid."
"I'm not making fun of you! I just don't see why you have to hurt so many people!" the girl truly meant those words and said them earnestly. "Just because you lost someone doesn't mean y-"
"Someone? SOMEONE?" Mother looked incredulous. Truly utterly baffled. "You dare speak that way to me about my soulmate? My master wasn't just a someone! He was noble! Kind! Strong! When he decided to try and restore a world that was already lost, I was there for him! When he was lonely due to being the last human alive, I was there for him! I served my Master's side for centuries and what do I get for it? Being stuck in a prison of his own making, forever unable to join him as I try again and again to achieve the impossible and I'm sick of it! I'm sick of being alone! Now that he's finally found me again, despite space and time, is it wrong to desire his love again?"
"That's not what I-"
"I don't care what you have to say! Nor what would come from anyone else!" Mother interrupts, her figure starting to slowly transform into pieces of data as the program she made has finally been completed. "I don't care if the whole world would hate me for this, as long as I get to be with him."
He's already proven himself worthy by coming this far anyway, and that's all the reason she needs before she finally overwhelms her target with her will and massive amounts of memories, the deluge of it all coming like a cascade and forcing the body's original owner to be blown away to the farther vestiges of the mind. The silence that comes after the girl's painful last cry feels as soothing as a song of birds to Mother as the lack of resistance shows to her that her plan has gone perfectly.
Now all she needs to do stage the 'final' battle.
To have fooled them all was truly a sweet victory.
Mother allowed herself a brief period to savor it. The euphoria she felt with being in another dimension, one in which her mission was never needed was so grand. That she managed to tolerate the overbearing presences of the snot nosed brats that were her host's found family. The green one was too loud and excited, the blue one was a goddarn nerd and the girl with the teddy-bear who is supposed to be withdrawn and quiet constantly pestered her during the little free time she had, always asking to be told a story before napping or for her to join the occasional tea party.
How the heck this young teenager managed to be the mother figure of three brats when most adults can't even handle two was one of the things Mother could afford her an inkling of respect for, still she played her role according to the memories she was shown to a T alongside adding in some of her own experience because she IS called the MOTHER for a reason, though that was ages ago.
And it didn't matter either, whatever affection she had for her 'kids' had turned to hatred after all and even now a part of her is dissatisfied with the fact that she didn't get to exterminate them all.
Finally the worst part for last was the fact that her host has a sister.
An overly protective bigger sister.
Who turned even more protective once the elation of our return finally dropped after a few days. After which she separated her from her master and put the latter in what's an adult version of grounding someone, except he wasn't allowed to touch or study anything in his lab for several weeks and his razor wheel has been dutifully stored there too so no more dimension stuff.
Which should have been a good thing because that means he's got lots of free time now.
Time he can spend by being with her. Time he does NOT spend by being with her.
If anything he seems to be avoiding her. Her sweet darling's under the belief that not only is he responsible for endangering her life, but he's also the lead cause AGAIN of the death of an innocent maiden. She can understand how the similarity to Mytyl's death could bother him but even so that's no excuse to waste time making some fancy grave for a worker bot that clearly was dysfunctional.
If anything good riddance, and also get bent, your sacrifice meant nothing, worker bot.
Naturally his bout of melancholy means his own Lola is basically attached to his hip, constantly droning near him as he wastes his time acting like a house husband and just doing the occasional odd job to keep his idle hands busy. Time, that again, she couldn't emphasize this more….
HE. IS. NOT. SPENDING. ON. HER!
Mother felt so frustrated that when she closed her eyes, she'd imagine the various scenarios through which she'd thin the numbers of people in her Master's life until he spent the majority of it on her.
But she wouldn't amuse them. It was too risky to devote herself to disposing of anyone right now. She was stuck in a tight knight group after all and they would definitely notice if she were to act out of the ordinary in any way. Still, at least she still possessed her PIX infused enhancements.
Still it's clear to her that unless she makes a move herself, her blossoming romance with her lover reincarnated will never start. She quickly saw a tangible possibility to obtain her counterpart's aid in this, as she is both the selfless and extroverted kind of person that would root for her chances if she were to 'entrust' this secret to her under the guise of one of her best friends. All the better if it makes her suffer too, to aid your friend in romancing someone you secretly like as well.
There was a certain sweetness in the drama of it all. And for that matter, perhaps she could obtain her 'big sister''s aid as well. Though there's always the chance the latter would not approve of her 'baby sister' wanting to woo a centennial. So let's leave that option open as a last resort for now.
She ignored yet another reproachful comment coming from her weaker body host, none of her words managing to put a single dent in her skin, as despite all the obstacles in front of her.
Mother couldn't be any more confident in her eventual success.
All she had to deal with is her own counterpart, whose actions she can easily predict and her own big sister who clearly cares a lot for her as potential rivals to her Master's affection.
But the two of them are no threats, as they either haven't realized it or won't be able to act on it once she makes her own move. As neither of them would have the guts to try and hurt her.
So, sooner or later.
She'll be together forever with Copen.
TBC.