As soon as I connected to the terminal and opened the realm of my ego, I felt an intense sense of discomfort.
Indeed, it felt like being thrown into a house made entirely of glass.
“Is there not a single barrier to the ego?”
You and I are different. The fundamental distinction that enables the concept of individuality, even within the cyber world, remains valid. Common mechanized humans and series egos wrap themselves in layers of defenses.
And while they create something like a social entrance, where they connect with each other for interaction in cyberspace, here there isn’t even a single barrier, let alone a limited connection space.
It was a state where the depths of the soul, the realm of the ego, seemed separated by just a door.
What a surprise; this photon crystal only contains the OS.
“I’ve never seen an OS like this… and structurally, it seems closer to a secondary brain directly connected to a biological brain.”
What I find in the virtual space is an enormous amount of records and a minimal control system. It resembles a “secondary brain” that military officials would use to store alarming memories in a non-volatile state. It contains only the OS that controls everything she has experienced, connected to the machine through the terminal.
However… she doesn’t have the crucial connection terminal, and there’s hardly any software installed. This secondary brain is merely present, or depending on the method, a mere backdoor that could directly access the biological brain. It’s vulnerable enough to toy with a person’s soul and ego. What were they thinking when they created this?
Nonetheless, it was fortunate to obtain a large amount of raw data.
It seems that this humanity has rarely come this far, and there are no descriptions in the Tisy data, nor is the linguistic base at all clear.
However, if I create a format from her memory data, communication should become possible.
Still, peering into a lady’s inner self feels inappropriate, so I must keep it to a minimum. Touching the realm of the ego is, at times, a deeper act than sexual intercourse. To do so without the other’s permission is naturally a crime, and could lead to a severe punishment like ego freezing. I must carefully extract only the necessary data.
The more detailed information I obtain, the more I realize she is just an ordinary old human. I don’t understand why she has a secondary brain or why she lives on this planet, but the very fact that she was born through natural childbirth from her mother deepens the mystery.
We are struggling to gather photons near black holes to create this photon crystal… so why can it be produced through metabolism? If high-level technicians saw this, they might go mad from the absurdity.
Anyway, I’ve obtained the minimum necessary data, so it’s time to take my leave. As a gentleman, such rudeness as stepping into the realm of the ego is not permitted…
Wait a moment. The imagery I just saw…
Is she suffering from a nightmare? A vivid scene emerged in a pure white space. It seems to be a dream that she is currently experiencing.
What I saw within it was a towering massive silhouette alongside a plethora of grotesque beings. The fear of being attacked and having armor stripped away, the despair felt as allies fell one after another, was overshadowed by the shadow floating at the back of the scene, giving me a strong shock.
Though distant and hazy, isn’t that a large spacecraft? Since it’s a memory within her realm of ego, image correction isn’t possible, nor can I measure for scale, but it’s definitely not a space yacht or support destroyer.
The fact that it continuously spews forth numerous grotesques and birthed the Tech Gob suggests that it must house a massive production facility!
I was eager to hear what she had to say, and decided to stimulate her physiology to awaken her consciousness. She had no physical issues recorded in the secondary brain’s database, so tweaking the brain’s secretions should pose no problem.
After administering a stimulant, I immediately detached from her realm of ego. My vision returned to the foundational space just as her eyes opened while she lay on her back.
“Saint… Master…?”
She opened her eyes with a dazed voice. Apparently, at the moment of her release from the nightmare, her realm of ego had barely touched upon something mystical.
Come to think of it, I also had such an experience. When I first dove into cyberspace, I lost consciousness due to the overwhelming amount of information. Perhaps it was only a hallucination because the information density was not as high as in broad information fields, but indeed, for their secondary brains, accessing shared areas must be impossible.
Really, what must she have thought while living with such an incomplete secondary brain?
“How are you feeling?”
The linguistic format they use is strangely similar to Old Earth English. Re-converting from our binary compression electromagnetic language is a bit of hassle and induces lag, but since it was originally in the database, translation is relatively easy.
“Where is this… where is everyone…”
“Unfortunately, you are the only one who was saved.”
“I see, oh… ah…”
The woman covered her face and let out a voice of despair. Well, I understand her feelings. I too was thrust into a reckless strategy — that time I was completely destroyed in my body and earned the honor of loss for my entire figure — and when I lost many comrades, I was enveloped in deep despair.
In such moments, the only thing I could do was quietly watch over her.
“Who are you? I remember retreating towards that goblin settlement…”
“Those goblins were attacked by grotesques and fled here. This is the Kingdom of the Rabbits.”
“Rabbits… Are they bipedal rabbits? They would never allow humans into their settlements…”
After a while, having calmed down a bit, she tried to rise using her arms for support, but I pressed her shoulder back down to her bed. The damage was such that her insides could burst, accompanied by significant bleeding, so moving was not advisable yet…
Wait a moment?
“Selene, based on the data I’ve just acquired, she should be able to utilize my minimal biological activation machines, right?”
“Acknowledged. The type II mechanized body is almost compliant with the specifications of old humanity. This genetic lineage and cellular structure should adapt without issues.”
Then, recovery would be quicker.
“We’ll go into detail once your body is in better shape. I’m going to administer medication, so please wait a moment.”
I took out a tube, about the same thickness as a felt-tip pen, from my multipurpose belt pouch. This is an emergency medical injector filled with biological micro-machines, used for the repairs of mechanized bodies with many biological parts. It’s a multipurpose item compatible with type II bodies, so it should work on her, based on old humanity.
As I pressed it against her shoulder, a sound like carbonated drink fizzing emitted, and the micro-machines are rapidly infused into her body. Inside, they start self-replicating using waste materials and dead cells, sealing the wounds and serving as a substitute for blood. Some of them act on the nervous system to provide pain relief, so this should make her feel much better.
“The pain… the pain is gone… Could it be that it’s an ancient elixir?”
“Whether it’s an elixir or not, it’s potent medicine. However, you still shouldn’t move. The pain might have subsided, but the wounds aren’t completely sealed. Remain still for at least half an hour.”
“Half an hour for those wounds…? This is truly an ancient elixir!!”
As she gazed up at the ceiling in disbelief, I left her and headed towards Ridelberdy.
[Ridelberdy, may I have a moment?]
[What is it, the nameless protector… or rather, the oddly blessed comrade.]
It seemed that the Tech Gob accepted my photon crystal as proof of identity. With this, conversations were much smoother.
We need that Great Mother. If she can expel modified biologies or drones, there should be a fully functional factory inside.
Obtaining those could allow us to investigate what happened on Terra 16th smoothly.
[Due to certain circumstances, I wish to assist you. I want to help recover the Great Mother.]
[The Great Mother? But perhaps for an ugly man like you… perhaps not, but.]
He must have seen me defeating grotesques one after another, even amidst the fierce battle where allies were falling. He contemplated for a moment, fingers on his chin, so I continued the negotiations. When dealing in such matters, the key is to continually present advantages to the other party without making them complicate things.
[I too have use for the Great Mother. I would like to offer a weapon with power equivalent to that which defeated the grotesque.]
[That?! That would be helpful, but…]
[How many warriors remain?]
[Including myself, who’s currently acting as the temporary war chief, there are only three. However, there are hundreds of survivors scattered throughout the forest. If I appeal to the warriors from each tribe, we could gather tenfold.]
So they had dispersed and fled. With that, the odds seem much better. I took out the coil gun from my pistol pouch, showing it as the weapon that brought down that grotesque.
[It’s so small! This brought that down!?]
[This is a coil gun, a compact weapon for self-defense. If you nod in agreement, I could prepare more powerful ones—twenty daily, with ammunition for five hundred rounds.]
[Is that true? If that’s the case, perhaps we could realize a two hundred-year-long aspiration…!]
[I can ensure samples are ready within a day or so. If we have that, can you cooperate?]
[If it’s the gun that shot down the Kimailer, having the real deal should make convincing the chiefs who fled easier.]
Kimailer? I tilted my head in confusion; apparently, that was how the Tech Gob referred to that grotesque. It seemed to be a bizarre existence that had violated the Great Mother, forcing her to give birth to grotesques, which translates to “abominable mixture” in the language of the goblins.
Among those, the flying ones were called Harpy, and until now, they had been the most formidable foe due to their attacks being unreachable. Having shot down six of them so effortlessly, I would likely become the ace among them.
[Until now, we couldn’t bring them down without the holy spear. But if we can now take them down with a weapon that warriors can use…!]
Watching Ridelberdy clench his fist, I remembered.
Speaking of which, the weapon referred to as the “holy spear.” Where did that come from?
[I received it as a gift from the Great Mother. It has guarded the tribes for a long time. Even for you, I cannot allow you to touch it.]
What a pity. I had been incredibly curious about it. It didn’t conform to the style used by high-level beings, and just from a distance, it was clear it was full of unknown specifications, so I thought it might help reveal the truth behind the state of this planet…
Even so, I cannot trample upon something sacred. If they accept us and grow closer, they might let me touch it one day — I can hope for that.
However, really, why is it even operational? Its output is said to be 50GW, which is the amount of power a small fusion reactor might produce. It’s certainly not enough to power a multitude of magazines used in my coil gun.
It appeared to be dancing around the “holy spear” to secure output, but by what principle is it fired? I couldn’t help but wonder. Since coming here, I’ve witnessed phenomena that could make physics laugh.
“You just mentioned going towards the Great Mother…!?”
“Wait, you! You are still not awake!!”
As I looked at the “holy spear” from afar, I detected a response on the motion sensors.
Wait, how can she get up!? It hasn’t even been five minutes since the injection. Even with how advanced the micro-machines are, she shouldn’t be fully recovered yet.
“I won’t let the Magius Geanaite fall from something like this! I cannot remain silent upon hearing of my comrades’ vengeance!!”
With her tanned skin, she had quite an alluring appearance upon closer inspection. The diamond-shaped armor was half-removed at the bottom, revealing her navel, the lower part of her left breast, and exposing the groin area.
I’ve been operational for nearly 300 years, so I’m no longer a virgin, but that’s still quite the sight.
“Uh… miss, wouldn’t it be better to cover yourself up first?”
“Cover myself…? Ahh!?”
Hearing her cute scream, even in an almost otherworldly reincarnation state, I found myself intrigued that women still felt embarrassed about skin exposure, reflecting an oddly consistent similarity in the human experience…
【Planet Exploration Supplementary Notes】For mechanized humans, “direct contact” in cyberspace has long held a deeper significance, and touching beyond the final barrier of another’s ego realm feels akin to touching the soul.
I’m currently working on up to Chapter 4-3, but it seems that consecutive updates might increase page views.
I’m scheduled to update on 2024/07/12 at 18:00, but depending on circumstances, there might be a rapid update of five chapters at thirty-minute intervals. I sincerely appreciate your support.
