"Look, I said I'm sorry. I know I have gone too far."
"*Slurp*"
"Seriously, I leave for a minute and everything went haywire."
"This has nothing to do with you!"
"*Slurp*" This cold chocolate milk is delicious. "*Chomp* Mmmmm… *Chomp* Mmmmm… *Chomp* Mmmm…" And this iris fries isn't that bad either especially combine with this special sauce! Holy hell, what's in this?! I need to know! "*Chomp* Mmmmm… *Chomp* Mmm… *Chomp* Mmmmmmm… *Chomp* Mmmmmmm… *Slurp*" The fries is perfect, it's not too crunchy while also not being too soft, not too small while also not too long that it'll get floppy, it's a little bit salty which enhance the flavour of the sauce. This is the perfect iris fries!
"Are you still angry at me, darling~~?"
"… *Chomp* mmm… *Chomp* Mmmm…"
"That's a yes." If only Alpha was as knowledgeable as Purifier in term of human emotion. She may know the theory but she sucks at the implementation. "Aaaahhh… Oh, I know! Hey Igo! Wanna play games with me? There are some machines that I need your help with."
"…" *Nod*
"COOL! Let's go!" Purifier circle her arm around my waist before she summons her riggings and carry me toward where the arcade is, leaving Alpha in our dust. It's nice being around someone honest like Purifier. Unlike Alpha who always mask her emotion, Purifier would just show you what she is feeling. "Here we are!" That beaming smile of hers… I love it.
"…Wow…" This is a ginormous arcade. I've been in several arcades before but not this big and complete. There are several games that I can recognize but most of these machines look foreign to me. Hell, some of their names are written in foreign alphabet. "So which game shall we play, Puri?" One that I can read the instruction on how to play, please.
"Hmm… Which one should we play?~~ Hmm…" Purifier walks in to the arcade while steam start rising from her head. Fufufufu~~ She is cute. She is thinking too hard about this but I don't hate this part about her. Oh… and Alpha also here.
"There's no need to think too hard about it. I'll play any game you want."
"Alright then! Let's play this one!" Puri was quick to choose a shooting co-op game. "Come on! Come on! This one got too hard near the end so I need your help!" She was bouncing furiously up and down while holding the gun in her arms. She has the body of a teenager and the energy of a child.
"Ahahahaha~~ Calm down~~ I'll play with you." I grab the other toy gun and the game immediately start rolling. "Aaahh… Puri…" The game had only start and the score difference was already at the thousands. I've played this kind of game before but my skill was nowhere near Puri's even when I was at my prime.
"DIE! DIE! AHAHAHAHA!" Puri's eyes light up and I swear I could see a trail of yellow lightning coming from her eyes. "TAKE THIS! DIE! DIE! DIE!" Her gun is moving all over the place while also being 100% accurate. If she is this pro at the game and got stuck near the end then how will I be able to help her out?! I'll just be deadweight. I try to help her but everytime a target shows up in the screen, it was already far too late for me. "DIE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"…" What is this brat doing between me and Puri? What a mood breaker. I probably wouldn't mind her being near us if she wasn't exerting such a dangerous and scary aura. "…why you little thieving cat!?" Her tentacles rise up and coming eerily close to Puri.
"Hey! Stop your tentacles!"
"Eeek!" The little twat flinches after I yell at her. "…but…but… you're supposed to be with me…" Why would I choose a child like you over someone with a body like Puri? Bigger tits, better hips, and better personality. Like what else does this brat have that is better than Puri?
"DIE! AHAHA! DIE! TAKE THIS SHIT HEAD!"
"… Die…"
"*BUGH!*" Out of frustration, the brat slaps the living shit out of Puri. Puri's body flow through multiple machines and finally through the walls and to oblivion.
"Hey, what was that for?!" How much does this bitch want to ruin my night?!
"Shut up! You're mine!" Alpha's tentacles charge me down and constraint my movement. "Stop being a bitch! I said I'm sorry, okay?!" Stop shaking me around like a doll, bitch! This is not how you apologize, asshole! "Why are you being so annoying?! That's my job!" You're being annoying, you piece of shit!
"Gghh!"
"Look! What do you want? What do you want me to do to cheer you up?"
"…"
"Endless cold chocolate milk? Ice cream? Iris fries?"
"…"
"Talk to me!"
"Hmph!"
"Alright then, if you're going to keep being a bitch like this then I guess I've to bring out the big gun." Is she going to torture me? She is going to torture me and force me to cheer up, isn't she? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO! I SHALL NEVER YIELD! "I'll show you why did I put all that information about our destroyer into your mind."
"…I'm listening."
"Ooohh! Noooowwww you're listening!"
"…" *Kick*
"Ow! Sorry." That's what you get. "Look darling, I need you to cheer up for this experiment, okay?"
"…what a very TaCtFuL way of forcing me to cheer up."
"Just smile for me!" …ugh… fine… "I want a natural smile. Not whatever that is you're having right now." Then make me smile through the natural way, moron. I'm forcefully curve the edges of my lip up right now.
"…idiot… bwe~~"
"That's more like it!" Her tentacles stop gripping my limbs tightly and finally gives some freedom. She isn't going to actually free me from her tentacle, isn't she? There's still one wrap around my stomach. "Come on, we need to get near a large body of water." And with that we zoom out of the mall, crashing through walls after walls before we finally reach the outside world. "Hmm… *Snap* where is the closest beach?" Alpha snaps her finger and a holographic screen suddenly pop up in front of her face.
"If you want to apologize to me, our next date should be on a beach and I want you to wear a useless bikini."
"Of course! I'll make sure to wear the most useless bikini that have ever been made!" Good… Hmm… If I can do anything and get anything that I want from her… Maybe I can…
"Hey Alpha… Empress… can you formally introduce me to her?" Our last meeting doesn't feel formal to me at all. If I remember correctly, the last thing I did in front of was running away.
"Hmm? You're afraid of her, aren't you?" I mean, she is The Empress so of course. A normal siren can do so much damage so imagine what The Empress can do. Piss her off and the entire world can go BOOM! "Fufufu~~ Sure~~ I'll invite her on our next date." I wonder if that's a good idea. Either way, I guess I should thank her for giving me the chance of forging an important relationship. Maybe I'm a bit too hard on her.
"…thanks… for helping me…"
"Aaaawww~~ I love your blushing face." I hate your bratty voice. "Oh! I found a beach! Let's go."
TO INFINITY AND BEYOND~~~~~!
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"Hmm… Too shallow…" *BOOOM* "There we go!" The beach that we came to was a shallow beach but it's not more. A big black long rod emerges from between Alpha's limbs and she use it to blast laser beam and 'dig' the beach deeper. "Do you want to stand on yourself or do you still want my help?"
"I want to stand, please." Alpha gently obliges and place me on the scorched sand. "So, what do I need to do?"
"Summon a destroyer first." Alpha swiftly summons a purple wisdom cube in her hand and thrust it to me. "Think of the destroyer, darling~~" I know, I know. I've been through this before. I bring my hand forward and touch the cube.
"Guh…" I'll never get used to the cube's blinding light. "Ugh…!" I wonder if I could use this to torture someone… Blinding light can be used as a torture device, right? "Uh… My eyes…" Thankfully, the cube blast upward before the light gets unbearable for my eyes.
*BOOM*
And it lands back to the earth in the form of a siren destroyer. The good old black and dark red hull with the glowing crimson stripes.
"Now what?"
"Let's get on it." I've had just achieve my freedom to move and she immediately rob it from me again. Alpha brings me up onto the ship using the usual method of carrying me in her tentacle.
"Uh…" My head response with the usual light-headedness but it's not as bad as it used to be. Is my body finally getting used to this? I hope so. Doesn't want to feel that pain everytime I want to summon a ship. "What do I need to do?"
"You summon it again."
"…again?..."
"Mhhmm~~ Again~~ Don't worry, darling~ I'm always here to protect you." Alpha summons another purple wisdom cube in her hand and throw it at me which I panickily catch in my hands. Cubey have shown me what one of these could do if it exploded and I don't want that to happen to me even in dream. "Now darling, relax your body." I take a deep breath and hold it in for a couple of seconds before letting it all out in a single sigh. I repeat the same action several time until my heartbeat returns back to normal. "Calm your mind." I close my eyes and try to clear my mind of any worry or thought. It might be hard because this is my first time but I have to do it. For the future of humanity! "That's right… Let it all come to you naturally… There's no need to rush it…"
"Hah… Fuh… Hah… Fuh… Hah… Fuh…" Alright Igo. Don't fuck this up. You really CAN NOT fuck this up. It's not a suggestion like shouldn't nor is it a possibility like wouldn't. It's CAN NOT as in you physically have to kill yourself if you fuck this up. "Hah… Fuh… Hah… Fuh…"
.
.
"Uhm Alpha, what's next?" My question receives no answer. Hmm… Is she pranking me? "Hey Alpha, I will get angry if you keep ignoring me." Still no answer whatsoever. Sigh… this bitch really is getting on my nerves! "Hey Alpha! …uh…" I was expecting to see the cheeky smile of that bitch, Observer Alpha but in reality, I was greeted by a white empty void.
Ah… fuck… this space again…
Well, at the bright side, I'm one step closer to my goal but on the other, without Alpha here, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do next. Should I scream? I don't know the reason behind that thought but hey, there's nothing wrong with trying, no? "SUMMON!"
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"COME FORTH!"
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"BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON!"
.
Well shit… The void didn't response to my command. I hate this void! Why can't it pop out a blue eyes white dragon like I ask it to?! I mean, between a shipgirl and a dragon, which one cooler?!
"Sigh…" Well, screaming doesn't do jack shit. Now what? Hmm… Hmm… Maybe I need to remember what I know about the space inside a wisdom cube. I've been here a couple of time by now and I've also learnt some things about this place from Cubey too. "Hmm…" Cubey is a good start for my train of thought. He is the personification of the wisdom cube after all.
From all my interaction with him, I learnt that this place responds especially well to thought or imagination but if it did, a blue eyes white dragon would've been summoned when I conjure its majestic name and yet, I don't see any magnificent dragon anywhere.
This place isn't a physical place either especially when it's in my dream. Is this a dream inside a dream? A dreamception? Either way, there's shouldn't be any sort of limit to what could've been summon in this place if my memory serves me right. Hell, Cubey manage to summon an entire world for God's sake.
Hmm… how about I trace back where this all start… Observer Alpha… She did mention that this is an experiment and if I have any information about an experiment is that there are several variables that is set in stone. A control that can be used as a guide or a wall. Maybe… she put some walls and restraint as to what I can summon inside this place so that I can focus on one thing. That something must be the destroyer because she insisted on summoning one.
Alright, I feel like I'm getting somewhere. How about I dug into my mind and bring out the information regarding the destroyer. If the void reacts then I'm on the right track.
I start refocusing my mind to build an image of destroyer and because Alpha's hijinks, the image is super clear. Trimaran, black, dark red, several panels that emit a glowing crimson light, a superstructure, 2 smoke funnels, 2 single barrel deck guns, 2 secondary guns, and a pair of wings on the front deck gun.
"Wow…" I'M ON THE RIGHT FUCKING TRACK! HHHHEEELLL YYYYEEEAAAHHH! As the image of the destroyer got more and more refined, the void reacts by changing itself into a particular scenery. "Where... is this…?" I ask to myself involuntarily as the puzzles fall into their places. Where I'm right now can only be described as a shipyard…? A factory…? A combination of both? I've seen shipyard before but I don't remember it being in a building as packed as this one. When I say packed, I mean it is packed with robots and all that sort of stuffs. Fully automatic. Sure, our current modular way of construction a ship also uses a factory to build the part but not to this extent.
I guess it's better off for me to explore this place and scout out the area. I scan the entire facility for any interesting place and my eyes immediately land on a viewport high above. There's a stair that I can access from this level so I guess that's my goal.
"Ugh…" I carefully make my way toward the stair while also taking account of my surrounding. If I scream right now, it'll echo like hell and with no visible way for the sound to get out, it'll just bounces off infinitely. Probably not a good idea. "Oooohh…" As I reach the middle point of my journey, I notice something else. There's a section of this place that has a dark flooring or the ground has been painted in a dark colour but on closer inspection, that flooring is the surface of a basin of water.
Since it piques my interest, I take a closer look of it and notice that it was deep. Like hella deep. I can swim but I think there's no benefit on getting to the bottom of this basin. I can't make out anything down below but I don't exactly want to know either. Shit fucking scary yo! On the other side of the basin from me is a gate. A huge fucking gate. Like Godzilla's size gate. What on earth do they make here that it needs that much of a space?! Mecha Godzilla?!
Yeah, fuck this. After making sure that there's nothing interesting other than the scary depth of the basin, I decide not to go into it and resume my way to the stair. There's probably nothing scary in there but I don't want to be the one to make sure that 'probably' is a 'definitely' or not.
"Fuh…" I finally reach the most dreaded part of this entire journey, the stair. I remember how exhausted I was climbing the stair on the Sakura island. This doesn't look that bad so I can sigh in relief and take the first step.
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"Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… Fuck! Huff… Huff…" I FUCKING HATE STAIR! ESCALATOR! ESCALATOR! UPGRADE PEOPLE! UPGRADE! WHY DO WE KEEP USING OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY AND IGNORING THE FUTURE!? "Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff… fucking hate stair…" With my last breath, I lean my body to the door and push it open. "Ah… Aaaaaahh…" The cold wind washing through me is a breath of fresh air. FINALLY! TECHNOLOGY!
Other thing that is technology in here is what inside this viewport. This place reminds me when I was still stationed in the mass-produce KGV especially the lower bridge where the computers are. All of the computers are on which is a waste of electricity but more importantly, they're… locked? As in the screen is showing me something but I can't move the cursor nor can I type anything.
Well, all of them except for one and are you surprise that there only one file that I can open with this computer? It's like someone want me to do this. Is Observer Alpha guiding me from somewhere? Yeah, it's more likely. It's kinda comforting though.
Alright! Time to continue. I confidently open the file and it shows me the blueprint for the siren destroyer in excruciating detail. I ignore most of it though since I already know it but one of the most important things that caught my attention was the name of the blueprint. Destroyer Mk.1. Mark 1? So there are more powerful version of these things out there that the siren hasn't bust out?! HOLY FUCK!
"Damn…" Why? Why wouldn't the siren let out the most powerful version of their ships? Are they toying with us? Pity? Trying to make us suffer? Or is there a more logical conclusion to this question? Could there be a drawback to the more powerful version? Some sort Achile's heels? Or are they not done designing it? "Fuck…" Deep breath, Igo. Deep breath. You won't get anywhere asking these questions to no one. You could only know the answer after you see the better version of these ships. Right now, I need to focus.
I push the cursor to the top left corner where a dropdown button was resting and press it. Just like the rest of this experience, most of the function are locked except for the 'Build' function. Does this mean that this factory/shipyard thingy will build me a destroyer? Hell yeah! Let's see this thing working. Without waiting a single millisecond, I press the build button and the entire factory instantly get to work.
Sections of the factory walls open up and out come parts of the destroyer. Guns, panels, power source, radar, engine, electronics, and etc. could be seen appearing from the holes in the walls. Where's the hull? Where are they going to put all of that without a hull?
As if mocking me for my impatient, the hull suddenly burst out from inside the basin of water like a great white shark. What a grandiose way of coming into the scene. The robot arms instantly get to work inserting all the necessary components into their respective place.
"Uoohh…" The hands are moving with extreme precision and speed. They're building something so complex and yet the robot arms are moving as if their life depend on it. Should I go down there? I should check if I could do anything else here before taking a closer look at the destroyer. I refocus myself on the computer in front of me and do a quick investigation.
Not good. I can't do anything else. Guess the only thing I can do now is to approach the destroyer that is currently being built. As I was making my downstair, the sound of clinking and clanking become louder and louder compare to when I was inside the viewport. The fact there is no ear muffler anywhere nearby could only indicate that this place isn't OSHA compliance.
*CLINK* *SSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH* *CCLLLAAAANNKK*
OH! The superstructure is being lowered from the ceiling toward the hull. Looking at the process this close really remind me of those assembly toy or figure but this one is 1000 times my size. The superstructure finally makes a gentle touchdown with the hull before the arms hurriedly weld them together. Should I be surprise that the water in the basin isn't as rowdy as I thought it would be when the superstructure touched the hull? I was expecting waves not ripples.
*SSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Ssssssshhhhhh*
I assume it's done. All the robot arms have retreat back to their dens, leaving the destroyer and me alone. I wait for a little bit more just in case there is an extra after credit but after 5 minutes of nothingness, I conclude that this is it. This is the siren destroyer fresh out of the oven.
Now what?
I don't see any instruction anywhere near me. Maybe I should try screaming again?
"I AM YOUR MASTER! COME FORTH! DESTROYER!"
… … … … …
Welp, nothing. Now I look like an idiot screaming at a ship. At the very least, the destroyer is humming so it's not awfully quiet like the last time. But it's still not giving me any hint for my next move.
AAAAAA! TELL ME!
I punch the destroyer out of frustration and the moment my hand touches the metal, roots appear. Roots of light start spreading from my hand on the destroyer's surface exactly how it was when I first touched the wisdom cube or when Cubey teach me how to create more wisdom cube.
Uuuuhh… is this really the answer?
I place both of my hands on the destroyer to fasten the pace of spreading. I couldn't visually see the progress of the light roots but I somehow know. It's more like a gut feeling but should I trust it? "Hah… Fuh…" I push myself to keep my palms on the ship even when logical brain telling me not too. I was concern that I about to turn this entire destroyer into a pile of wisdom cubes but it's not like I have any other doors, right? I guess I have just to fuck around and find out. Hopefully this doesn't blow up in my face.
The progress of rooting the destroyer is going smoothly. I can feel it coming closer and closer to a close. I wonder what would happen when it—!
Crack start forming all around me as if I was in the middle of a dome made out of glass and everything were blown away causing me to fall to yet another blank space of nothingness. I assume that I'm in the right track if this is happening. Now, I just wait for the next stage.
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"The KANSEN, although powerful, is extremely limited." Eh? Aoste? Why is he here? "Isn't that right, Igo?"
"Huh?" Eh? What? Since when did I stand behind him? Why am I wearing a lab coat? What the fuck is going on? "Uh… What do you mean by 'limited'?" Calm down… Let's try to blend in and not cause people to be suspicious.
"It means that he is an incel who hate women." Who are you? I was more surprise when I see a woman wearing a lab coat just like mine standing next to me. She is wearing a black tank top, brown pants, lab coat with wet stains in its hem, glasses, and a very untidy hair. Is she researcher? Why is she so messy?
"Don't you dare pull that card on me, Anzeel." Aoste point his finger at the woman, Anzeel. "Last time you slander, I have to spend a good part of the week to clear everything up." The last time? What did I miss? "Igo, what I mean by limited is that you can only have one instance a ship at a time." One ship at a time, huh… I guess that mean I can't summon 10 Sheffys to polish my pickle.
"What's wrong with that? It's not like we're running out ship to build."
"Actually, yes we are." Really? How much have you summoned? "Unless we can start pulling ships out of our asses then the number of ships that haven't been built is dwindling." Well… nothing is infinite. You're going to hit a roof sooner or later.
"If it's that true then what are you proposing?" I wonder how many ships that have been summoned in my world… If we somehow hit the same wall as this world's Aoste then maybe knowing his next move would be a good idea.
"I'm not proposing, I call you here to show you my progress." Huh? The world around me expand and it show me that I'm standing in some sort of a room. Well lighted, cold, clean, and there's a calming tune in the background. The vibe of this room is screaming 'THE FUTURE' to me. "Explorer, if you may."
"Yes, Dr. Aoste."
"!" A plain, uninterested, cold, almost robotic voice sends a shiver down my spine. I turn around to see where the voice was coming from. What I see is a little girl with a bob cut white hair wearing a black bikini and a black jacket with big sleeves. Her eyes are yellow similar to Observer Alpha but unlike her, there's no expression on this girl's face. Just a calm, cold, and not changing stare into nothingness.
"White hair… you really know your fetish, huh…"
"Bite me."
While the 2 researchers behind me bicker like children, my eyes never left the girl as her face slowly turn my way. Is she the terminator? Is she scanning my face? Can I ask her to evaluate my handsomeness? The girl kept watching me for a solid 5 minutes before she walks toward me.
"Uhh… Hello…?"
"Hello. Good night, Igo. Please state your command."
*CRACK*
*SHATTER*
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"Wow! Wow! Are you okay?" Alpha…? Ugh… fuck… everything… everything hurt… My body and mind are in shambles. My head is burning and my body ache like I had just finish a marathon. "You look like you're not. It's okay, you can calm down." Aaahh… Alpha's caring voice… It's refreshing for my ears not have to hear her cheeky tone when I'm this tired. "You did it, darling… you did it…" Alpha turn her face forward and there, standing in front of me, was Explorer, the shipgirl version of the siren destroyer mk1.
"Uh… yeah… Ah…"
"Please state your command, Igo."
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"Can I ask her to be my sex doll?"
"You need some help."
"I'm going to regret this."
"Let me wash you in my color."
"I'll let you if you do a good job today."
"Tell me if it hurt, okay?"
"Get off me, pervert!"