A sea of numbers filled his mind.
Mixed together with that was a flood of memories.
There was not a single line of memories. Instead, there were three kinds of memories moving around in the sea of numbers.
Along with that sea of numbers and flood of memories was a city. The sights and sounds from the city came through to his mind arrived in realtime, but not from him. They came in from a separate being who maintained his conscience, but acted on itself own.
...I am grateful that I can finally separate myself like this. ...Not being able to do something this simple did hurt my pride a bit.
It had been a false pride, but he had managed to create a small sense of pride while he organized everything. Something he had learned was that humans contained pride in them that he had never felt as a non-human being.
Short lived people tended to hold on to their pride until they died. Some would give it up, but others would maintain it no matter the situation. This was different from certain long-lived who had learned that pride could only get in their way.
He had seen that firsthand.
...So what if I have pride then? ...Would I be a short lived type or a long-lived type? ...Maybe I will be like neither. ...We will see how everything turns out.
These thoughts ran parallel to everything else going on. In a sense, it was something that the white rhinoceros beetle was thinking, but the main body chose to ignore. Because of that it felt strange to think like that as the outside's trees left to make way for the buildings built by the city's residence.
The entire area was familiar to him, so he made sure to place that in a spot where that information would not be lost.
...Now that I think about it, if I were to try, I could simply become a data entity. ...That would make things much more simple.
But...
...Those children would only be able to interact with me when I would enter a physical form. ...In that sense, it would be the worst choice. ...Besides that, I would always be running the risk of being corrupted and becoming a virus-type data entity. ...The main system is able to prevent that by continuously monitoring itself and isolating any foreign data. ...As an individual, that would be hard for me to do.
The white rhinoceros beetle that was flying was a part of him, but it was not a divided mind that could function on its own. The entirety of that white rhinoceros beetle was connected directly to his core. With no way to separate his own mind there would be no chance for him to leave that sort of process to a different part of himself.
Managing and organizing the sea of numbers and flood of memories was already taking up a lot of processing power. The white rhinoceros beetle had been sent out as a remaining portion of himself that could keep up with everything going on in realtime.
...This is certainly taking longer than I expected. ...Those children must have asked for me multiple times by now. ...I will make it up to them after I finish all of this.
An entire section of his core had been filled with data on only those children. That section had been separated and multiple safety measures to make sure nothing could happen to them. Copies of that data were created and were kept alongside other data in general sections.
Those original memories would always be safe.
...Factually speaking, I know why those children are important to me, but I think I should take some data from the other two in order to make sure I can know emotionally why they are important to me. ...This is becoming more and more easy as I see the areas I'm lacking in. ...I wonder if Sthénos has done something like this before. ...Lilith doesn't seem like she would have a need to do so, and I don't know if she has taken in any cores, so she may not even know this is possible.
...The original System sure does come in handy in the most specialized way. ...There is no reason to thank it, but I can at least be glad that I got away from it while still being able to retain information from it.
...Oh, but now that it has come to mind, I should do something about those two.
There was a flood of memories from three different being inside him.
The first were his own memories. Ones he had made himself and would be locked away so that he would never lose them.
The second and third came from the cores of two other Autonomous Trion Soldiers he had taken into his body.
Each core had completely different memories involving completely different people. While one was a creation of someone's past, the other had his own past that would be used against him if he had continued on.
But both of their own feelings were moving through him, making it difficult to organize those memories.
...The main process for incorporating those two has already finished, so all that's left is figuring out what I want to do with the rest of them.
There were many complicated things going on involving their situations. Pyrínas had always shown up during their final moments as cleanup, but now he fully understood them after having gone through their data. That data had been complied into two sections.
Lettering that read "Informative Data" was where he had put important information and information that could be useful later on.
Lettering that read "Personal Data" was where he had put information about their personalities and other information concerning them as individuals.
...If I consider the pros and cons, make a decision, and put it into action then I'm sure the others will help if asked. ...As for the children...
He gave a sigh that was lost in the sea of numbers. Humans would do this during times like these, so he had mimicked that action for himself.
...I hope they would be fine with it.
"Is he asleep...?"
Pyrínas did not stop his organizing, even as the voice reached his inner thoughts.
The voice was not one he was too familiar with, but he knew it from somewhere. Because of that he chose not to put his guard up.
Instead, he waited for someone else to speak.
And when they did...
"He is probably organizing things in his mind right now."
He recognized the voice.
.
Well this is something. I did not expect him to be this invested in his organization.
Trochískos his a smile behind his Black Trigger book while looking down at the white rhinoceros beetle.
Oh, but he is humanoid right now. I must remember to show him respect for all he has done.
News of what Rhinoceros Beetle 07 had done reached him. While he knew that he would have been able to handle anything that happened, he could not intervene since he was not part of Mikado City. The white rhinoceros beetle was not originally from Mikado City either, but he had managed to incorporate himself into it well enough.
It was because of that that Trochískos decided to view him as a fighter for Miden than an Autonomous Trion Soldier of the Wanderers.
"And now here we are," he said under his breath.
Standing next to him was a black haired boy with a strange creature in his arms. The creature was still a bit unnerving, but Trochískos knew that there was nothing he could do about it now.
"Excuse me, Rhinoceros Beetle. I have someone here with me who would like to speak with you."
"...I am aware of that. ...I'm sorry that I have to stay like this, but I can still hold a conversation."
The organizing the white rhinoceros beetle was doing must have been important time consuming if he could not even move from his sitting position. His eyes were closed and his posture was a slumping one.
It may have seemed off for most people, but Trochískos could see the value in that kind of position. Laying down make it more difficult if someone comes from the side. Sitting up like that means he can be ready for an attack from any direction. The white rhinoceros beetle must have thought about that before beginning its organization.
"...You're...Sasamori Hisato, right?"
"Eh? Oh, yes! Sorry to interrupt you."
Trochískos wanted to tell him that it was fine, but the white rhinoceros beetle waved him off.
"...What did you want to speak about?"
"Ah... Well, Caster-san said that you would be able to take care of this little guy while I'm away."
"...Away... ...Oh, that's right. ...You will be-..."
Trochískos lifted his Black Trigger book to hide his smile.
It seems that even this broken off piece of the Pyrínas System knows what it is.
The white rhinoceros beetle had opened its eyes to see what exactly Hisato had been talking about. As soon as he saw the slime creature in Hisato's arms he turned to Trochískos, who in turn looked away and covered his mouth.
It was always best to feign innocence during these kinds of situations.
"...I see. ...Well, if someone will not do something about it, I have nothing to say on the matter."
"What do you mean? Do you know what Bubbles is?"
"...It is not my place to say anything."
That was similar to what Trochískos had told them, but only in words. The reason behind his words were much different than the reason the white rhinoceros beetle had for not letting Hisato know.
The white rhinoceros beetle took another glance in his direction before looking back at Hisato.
"...I won't be able to take care of that...at least not at the moment. ...I do promise that I will be ready by the time you need to leave."
"Oh, that's fine! Phew... I just didn't want to leave this up to Kasei. Knowing that he will be here is nice."
"...I'm sure he would have been fine."
.
Hisato knew that it was true the slime creature would be fine with Kasei, but he was unsure if Kasei would end up taking the babysitting too far. There had been too many times when he hadended up getting overly attached to the job and refused to let either Hisato or Hanzaki take the slime back.
During those times it had been up to Daigo to get the slime back from his younger brother.
The two of them really are close.
It was because of that that Hisato was worried how Kasei would react to knowing that his older brother would be away from some time. Leaving the slime creature would give him some company, but that may also lead to something bad.
I should ask Maya-senpai's little brother to stay especially close to Kasei while we're all gone.
"...So is this what it looks like when someone overthinks things when it comes to someone important?"
"Have you not seen this yet?"
"...The people I know tend to think too little instead of too much."
"I see. That would explain the things I have seen while in this city."
"...It really is a strange place."
"...But also an interesting one," the two men said in unison.
Hisato tilted his head as a bubble floated in front of his face. There was no color to it, so he was able to see through it. The sparkles it contained added some shine to the other side of the room. It shined in a way that made Hisato look down to see what the slime creature was doing.
It was opening its mouth in delight.
That's so cute!
But there was also something he thought about it.
"The two of you think this city is strange? No offense, but the two of you are pretty strange yourselves."
"...You are not wrong," they both said again.
It was Caster who elaborated on it after chuckling behind his book.
"But to us, this city is much, much stranger. I mean, where else are we supposed to see normal people who do not rely on Triggers decide to take care of...your little friend there? More than that, you are getting along well with this rhinoceros beetle and a long-lived."
"Well, besides him, I met Caster-san as a normal person. I didn't find out about you being a Neighbor or long-lived until after that. There's no reason for me to get on your for that."
Caster blinked from behind his book and the man on the bed only patted Caster's back. Maybe what he had said made no sense to them, but he understood that this was just how he felt about the situation. There was no reason for him to go back on his word here.
The slime creature in his hands seemed to agree with him since it blew more bubble into the air. Each one of them popped around his head, sending a rain of sprinkles falling all around him.
Feeling even happier after that, he lifted the slime creature up and rubbed his cheek against it.
So cute! Especially when Hanzaki's playing him with him when he thinks no one is looking! Or when Daigo is watching him with actual interest!
A laugh reach his ears as he went through his thoughts.
When he looked back he saw that it was Caster. The man on the bed only nodded as if understanding what the laugh was about.
"...I will make sure to take care of your child, Hisato."
"Eh!? What do you by that?!"
"It certainly does act like a spoiled child, does it not? Hisato also acts much like a dotting parent. Oh, but Yoshito and Daigo act like this as well. So really, it is all three of their child."
"...I see. ...What a complicated relationship."
Maybe he had gotten too use to it, but Hisato felt like it was a pretty average relationship.
"...Speaking of complicated relationships..."
Hisato felt himself confused once again as the man on the bed looked out the nearby window. Next to him, Caster raised a brow, also unaware of what was happening.
The man on the bed gave a slight huff before speaking again.
"...It looks like I finally made it to the base. ...But what exactly is going on? ...Oh, that was a close one."
A trion spear had been sent into the nearby wall, catching the attention of everyone else in the room.
Oh, it looks like it's RB07. I should apologize to him later.
Chisato thought that to herself while removing the trion lance from the wall.
Without a word she moved back to sit on her previous chair. Once she sat back down, she held out the trion lance in front of her like a cane. Everyone else looked at her with some reservation, but she knew they had bigger things to worry about.
"What the hell's wrong with ya!?"
"I didn't do anythin' wrong!"
"All the hard work Chisato and I put into their relationship's goin' down the drain!"
"I just did like I was told! Leave me alone!"
Like the captain of Ikoma Squad repeatedly shaking the squad's Shooter to the point of him having three heads.
Once everything had been settled, Tatsuhito had called her to explain what would be happening soon. At first, she had been disappointed in knowing that he would not be around, but he had already promised her that he would make up for it before and after everything.
It was had to keep myself from blushing right then and there. But there's no way I was going to show that kind of expression to anyone but him.
Those moments were always reserved for each other instead of the public. Tatsuhito may be fine showing it, but she knew that there were things he would refuse to show to anyone but her.
"Hey Chisa-chan, aren't you gonna do somethin' 'bout this?"
"Why would I do that? Satoshi deserves this." She nodded two times and let the white rhinoceros beetle land on her shoulder. "Eri told me about what happened. I feel bad for her, so I'm letting Tatsuhito take care of things."
"Does that mean ya won't do anything yerself?"
"Oh, I will. I'm pretty pissed at him too."
Oki and Minamisawa took a step back and Hosoi nodded with crossed arms.
She wasn't the only one who understood Tatsuhito right now.
But there was something else she understood.
There's a real reason why he chose Takeshi. Satoshi isn't the type of people to not take this sort of thing seriously. Maybe not for himself, but definitely for someone else.
So what was his reason here?
"I guess it doesn't have anything to do with me. I wasn't asked to be part of this, so it's up to everyone else to figure it out."
"...That sounds rather lazy to me," the white rhinoceros beetle said. It must have created the sound so only she could hear it.
Yeah, I can see why you would say that.
Getting too involved would mean she didn't think they could handle it. After having spent enough time with them, Chisato had come to understand that Ikoma Squad was able to get things done. They were just weird about it.
Chisato wanted to tell the white rhinoceros beetle, but she stopped once something came in.
A message. A strange one from someone she had not expected.
Musashi: "Hey, what am I getting the feeling that I need to shoot someone in the foot?"
Ortlinde: "Probably because you do it to yourself more times than I can count."
Musashi: "You can't count to ten? Wow! I just learned something I can use against Chisato now! Whoo! Today is looking good!"
Ortlinde: "It's already evening, you idiot. You must have really been hit knowing that Ruri is leaving your ass behind soon."
The line went oddly silent for a moment. Chiasto took that moment to watch as Hosoi looked over at her monitor before moving towards it.
After a moment of reading she spoke up.
"Hey, Chisato. Someone started spammin' us and said we need to pay compensation for somethin'."
"Feel free to block him, report him, tell him the cops will be called on him, and send him my way. Oh, but in reverse order of what I said."
Hosoi gave her a thumbs up while typing with one hand. Chisato knew she could do that on a phone, but putting an entire message on a computer felt like a bit much to her. This small action was something Chisato could respect.
Musashi: "What did you doooooo!?"
"Oh, a message came in from an idiot."
From the corner of her eye she could see Oki and Minamisawa moving their arms as if to say "Safe! Safe!" She didn't know what that was about, but they looked like they were having fun.
Dealing with Musashi right now would have made her more mad at the current situation. Knowing that, she closed her phone and formed a trion lance in her hand.
"Now, where were we?"
.
The way the girl handled her trion lance reminded Pyrínas of how an officer would brandish their gun to warn someone. The only difference was...
"Now. Why did you take Takeshi like that?"
An officer would ask questions first and listen to the answer.
Chisato chose to forego the waiting part and instead threw her trion lance at Mizukami without hesitation.
Mizuakmi had managed to dodge the sudden attack by shifting his body in an odd way. The trion lance moved towards the wall before crashing into a shield. The shield was odd in the fact that no one in the room seemed to have made it.
...Maybe it is an automatically forming shield due to which squad is in this room?
Thinking about it too much might have forced him to do a sudden reset, so he moved back to make sure he would not think about it directly. This also helped to keep him out of the line of fire.
...Even if this entire room can be considered a battlefield at times.
No one seemed to mind this kind of atmosphere, which made him think that this was normal for them.
Fortunately, due to Yuki's past, he knew he could also handle this.
"The directors said we could pick anyone who didn't already have a teammate on our team. I didn't have anyone from Kotowari Squad on my team, so I picked Take-chan. He looked so lonely that I thought he'd enjoy being picked."
"But Eri was also a captain. You knew that she would pick him, but you still chose him over someone else. And from what I heard, you had better choices."
"Now you're just being mean to Take-chan."
Another trion lance was thrown. Mizukami moved to an even weirder position to dodge it. The trion lance crashed into another automatic shield.
"He already knows what I think of him, so I'm safe."
"What's it to ya anyways? Iko-san I get. He's a lunatic."
"Hey!"
Pyrínas could only agree.
"But you ain't like that, Chisa-chan. Ya know I'm not gonna mistreat him. There somethin' I should know about?"
Chisato stopped mid lance and looked between Mizukami and Ikoma. She wasn't the type of person to just show this kind of motion, so she had done so knowing that Mizukami would be able to see it.
Mizukami followed her line of sight, met Ikoma, then turned back to Chisato after Ikoma turned away. It was a strange series of motions that had Pyrínas curious as well.
"Hey now, let's calm down," said Oki from the other side of the room. "I don't think we can swap squads at this point, so there's nothing that can be done about this."
Chisato made one more swipe with her trion lance before breaking it herself and settling into a seat.
"You're pretty forward here, Chisato."
The seat she had taken was Ikoma's lap.
"You might be losing a Shooter on your squad real soon."
"Are you going to replace him?"
"That's fine with me. I don't mind the others right now."
"Then I'm cool with it. Mizukami, get yer ass outta here already."
Mizukami only gave a flat expression and moved to the other side of the room.
...I think I have seen enough. ...Now...how to get out of here.
"Anyway, It's not like I didn't notice yer reactions." Mizukami moved to the door and motioned for Oki. "Hey, can ya go to the other room for a second, Oki?"
"Hm? Sure, but why?"
"It'll be a real problem if you're in the room in the next few seconds."
As if to prove his point, someone on the other side of the door began knocking.
Pyrínas used his sensors to figure out who it was before Mizukami could open the door. While doing so he saw Oki get up and start moving to the other room.
With Oki in the other room, Mizukami started for the door again. A quick glance was sent Pyrínas's way before doing so.
...So he was also aware of me.
There was something about that boy that reminded him of Yuki. When going through the memories that had been organized, he figured out why.
...It isn't my place to say or do anything.
All he could do was observe the things around him as a single unit. The information he was getting would be sent to his main body and organized alongside all of the other information.
So for now he would take his change to leave.
.
Chisato saw the white rhinoceros beetle fly through the top of the door before anyone could notice it. The only one who seemed to do so had been Mizukami, but he was pretending that there had been nothing there.
After he had opened the door, Mizukami had led someone into the room.
"As a squad member, I can't just ask him what's up. But I've managed to get this guy here so he can say something."
The pair of glasses gave a slight bow as Mizukami put a hand on his shoulder.
Chisato had not spoken to this boy yet, but she had seen him in the two matches Ikoma Squad had against his squad. That was why she could say his name without issue.
"Hello there, Mikumo. Sorry for the trouble this guy is causing you."
Another thing she could do without issue was throw a trion lance at Mizukami.
So she did.
...They are as strange as Yuki's memories show.
But they also lived how they wanted. Pyrínas could respect that without judging them.
Living that kind of lifestyle was what he wanted for both himself and the people around him. The children came first, but there were still other people he wanted to see enjoy themselves.
Some of those people were ones who were now known as his siblings.
...I don't know anything about siblings, and Yuki's memories are the worst for that, but leaving Lilith and Xeno without any help can only be bad. ...Playing this part will benefit both myself and the both of them.
Being something he was not had been his short existence already. It was for that reason he was now organizing all of his data in order to figure out exactly who he was.
There was still more for him to do, but this was the start he knew he needed.
"Oh, are you making your rounds?"
"...What do you mean?"
While he had been busy organizing things, a girl had come up to him.
Normally, someone would try to swat him down. They would see a bug that managed to get into the base and hit it until it went down.
That was not the case here. Instead, this girl had spoken to him as if already knowing what he was. And from what he knew, she likely did.
"White rhinoceros beetles aren't exactly common. Besides, I know that form from when your group come to Mikado City before."
"...I am a separate unit from the piece that broke off. ...So that means I am even further detached from that group."
"But you are the same being, aren't you? Then I can speak to you like I am speaking to the main body."
He had forgotten that this girl was a clever one.
"...Was there something you needed..."
"Feel free to call me whatever. I am assuming you already know my name."
He did know it after searching through information.
"...Then can I ask again, Svantje?"
"That's fine," she said with a nod. The girl fixed her glasses and smiled at him. "I guess the main thing I want to say is that I am sorry."
"...What do you have to be sorry about?"
They had barely interacted before this, only exchanging a few words when Minoru would pick up Michelle. For her to apologize to him meant she had done something without his notice.
She gave a slight laugh, but never lost her smile.
When he compared that smile to others he had seen he could say that her's was genuine.
"Because I was too slow, you ended up having to fight. That put you in an awkward position, didn't it?"
"...While I wouldn't say it was fun, it was also something I had to do. ...Who told you about that?"
"Oh, I just figured that was the case. Michelle said you couldn't watch her because your body was doing something. A blank space was founding in an area where fighting was happening during that morning, you can take in trion soldiers, and something was going on since the day before. Well, as far as basics go."
"...I can see why you are so terrifying. ...I'm sorry. ...I shouldn't be saying that to a nice girl like yourself."
"You didn't say anything wrong. Well, I mean, if you said it to someone else, they probably would have had a problem with it. But I know you don't mean anything bad by it."
If he had a head then he would not. Instead, he flapped his wings in a way that made a sound that gave away his thoughts.
She was able to understand it and nodded her head instead.
"...In any case," he began. "...It worked out in the end, so there is nothing to be sorry for. ...Besides, you had your own thing going on, didn't you? ...That Neighbor who was the root cause for everything that happened."
"His information gathering skills are still really dangerous." She gave a sigh, but she didn't seem as down as others would be. "He had been just ahead of me to start everything. Shirō and I managed something agains him the day before, but that had mostly been due to Yui and Futo."
That was news to him.
Everything going on with Xeno and Lilith had taken his attention away from a lot of things. One of those things was Futoyuki accompanying Jin to meet with someone they knew. Beyond that, Pyrínas knew little.
...I would ask about it, but it seems like something I should stay away from.
It was not his business, and it didn't seem to involve the children around him. That was enough to keep him away.
Still, there seemed to be too many things going on around him. Everything was building up to a point where he would be unable to do anything by himself. Even splitting him up would mean nothing if there were still losses in some shape or form.
Then he remembered soemthing.
It was something that was always in Yuki's memories. They tended to be pushed aside, but Yuki seemed to have finally accepted it for himself.
"...Svantje, I don't see anything you need to apologize for. ...But if it will make things easier, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Hm...? Ah~ Wait. I am sorry about that. Go on."
She had already figured it out.
But that was fine. It didn't change what he wanted to ask.
"...Can I ask that you watch over Lilith when you can?"
.
There it was. The question she had expected to hear from the rhinoceros beetle.
And he didn't ask for the other one.
Just like she had thought.
"What about her friend?"
"...As long as Lilith is fine, he will also be fine. ...Besides, Xentaro probably needs to man up a bit more before he can really be relied on."
Border would not be relying on those two, so Pyrínas was speaking his personal feelings.
The way he was saying it was different, but the meaning behind those words was familiar. So much so that Svantje could only smile and nod.
"I might be busy soon, but I can keep an eye out when they are around."
"...Thank you for this. ...If there is anything I can do, feel free to come to me. ...While I may not be human, I can do things humans can't. ...So I can be pushed much further than humans."
There was no need for that, but telling him that would lead to a pointless conversation. Those can be fun at times, but this one really wouldn't be. Agreeing to this was the best outcome for the both of them.
More than that, she knew that he really would not have time to do much of anything.
This conversation alone had told her more than enough.
"Glad to hear that. Now then, you probably have something to do, don't you?"
"...It is not even surprising at this point."
A lot of people had told her that before.
"...But yes, I do have things to do now. ...So please, excuse me."