Next time…

"What is this?"

As the Saotome Institute helped Ruby and Aqua move from their Colombian apartment. Ai noticed an old notebook. It called her attention by the faded pinkish cover, with a couple of drawn cartoons rabbits hugging each other.

"Oh, that is mom's diary. There's only equations there."

Ai opened the diary and read the first entry, written in rough letters; that world's Ai Hoshino was six when she wrote that:

Everyone is a liar. But numbers don't lie.

The diary started with simple mathematical operations of sum and division.

"You want to know what humans are?"

Lumi was in a seaside cliff. In front of her, a girl stood in front of her. She couldn't be more than eight years old. She was surrounded by crows, all of them perching on her head and shoulders.

Lumi also knew there was someone else within her.

"Sir, a massive battleship entered the planet's range! They are playing a message!"

The command central of the Saotome Institute was in a frenzy. General Forrester remained impassive, while Ai, Ruby and Aqua entered the bridge.

"AAAHHHH!"

Ai had her arms and legs strapped to a strange machine. It shocked her whenever the Overseer pressed a button.

"Poor, poor, Sapphire. You say pretty lies about love this, love that, but, even as our ace, you don't understand, do you?"

The Overseer had a smile on his face. The curve of his smile looked almost artificial. His eyes were half-open. It didn't even seem he breathed.

"Due to these lies, Mankind is ten thousand years behind schedule. Love only makes us walk in circles. The lies of love are nothing in face of the truth of hatred."

He pressed the button further, electric current running through Ai's body.

"Hatred is what moves mankind forward. It is what makes us excel, to find new and better ways to crush our enemies. Every single piece technology in this planet exists someone spited, despised, hated someone else. It is our fate to build an Empire of Hate in the stars."

He stopped pressing the button.

"You need to understand that, if you want to be alive."

After taking a breath, Ai finally replied, the smiling coming to her face just like a flower blooming, "It doesn't matter the universe, you're always saying the weirdest things, Kamiki."

"Heh…the Emperor wants to see you."

This time, Ai was surprised.

"Attention humans! This is a message of the Titanium Emperor. The Council of the Seven Emperors has decided you are a threat to the stability of the universe. We, the Titanoid Consensus have decided to eliminate you."

"Sir, we got the reports from Research: that massive ship will fire a solar-powered beam when it's charged! It'll crack our planet!"

"Dammit! We need to prepare a counterattack immediately!"

Ruby and Aqua looked concerned; Sapphire put a hand on their shoulders.

Lumi narrowed her eyes while the grin on the girl's face grew to levels she didn't think it was possible.

"Humans are a bunch of drama-loving bastards!"

Ai skimmed through that diary; the equations became more and more complex, to the point she stopped understanding, due to how advanced those equations were becoming.

But, then, she reached the last page: it had just a phrase written over and over.

THE NUMBERS LIED!

PERFECT ULTIMATE GETTER 2: AI HOSHINO'S THEORY OF LOVE

A.N.: I really appreciate you read this far. I have to admit that this idea came to me last year, out of impulse. I feel I didn't succeed in extracting the best of it. I misinterpreted Ai and I feel my characterization didn't really did justice to her – well, if there any consolation is that no one really understands Ai, not even herself and only around chapter 135 is when someone makes progress in this question. Plus, I don't think I did a good job at designing a mecha. It didn't make a good job in making the difference between our Ai and the Ai of the Getter world. Do I feel like I failed? Kinda. But I did what I could, maybe I should have done more.

I was really thinking of expanding the premise. The second story would've deal with the conflict "lies of love versus truth of hate". Lies are something important in Oshi no Ko and the Getter cult – intending to create a humanity just like the bad future in arc – would work to convince humanity is defined by hate. Therefore, it would create a reason why Ai, of all characters, could have a chance of stopping that.

Still, better luck next time, I guess and, again, thank you for listening to this old man rambling.