[— Current Recovery Rate: 50.12%]

Sonia staggered before connecting to virtual reality again. After paying for ingredients using the account Eidel had given her, she began preparing the meal.

A diet should have balanced nutrition. At the same time, it should be something quick to consume for busy modern people.

Sandwiches and salad, plus juice.

This should be perfectly adequate.

Having made her decision, Sonia quickly prepared the sandwiches. Even while cooking, her head continued to throb.

She felt like she was forgetting something. But she couldn't figure out what it was.

Perhaps because her mind was elsewhere?

She made a mistake she wouldn't normally make. She spilled juice all over her chest.

"Ah...!"

Sonia looked down at her ruined blouse and sighed.

The clothes she was finally able to wear thanks to her master's consideration were now stained so badly that cleaning them would be difficult.

She hurriedly removed the blouse and soaked it in water with detergent.

After changing into different clothes, Sonia quickly delivered the food to Eidel and Ireh before returning to her room and heading to the bathroom. The smell had long since permeated her torso. Sighs escaped her lips repeatedly.

"...I need to wash up."

Drip, drip, drip.

She filled the tub with water and undressed. Hot steam was rising steadily.

Sonia curled up as she soaked in the bathtub. Her gaze fell downward.

A body different from humans.

It was a body she had always taken for granted. After all, she was an android. She never felt any desire to become human or dissatisfaction with her current situation.

But for some reason.

She felt empty.

"..."

Unable to understand why, Sonia submerged her lips in the rising water and closed her eyes.

Bubble, bubble.

The day had been as unsettled as the bursting bubbles.

***

The research to recover Sonia's memories was progressing slowly but steadily.

Although I couldn't directly check the data, once completed, the plan was to inject it directly into Sonia's socket to restore her to her original state.

That way, she would not only recall her memories with me but could also regain her functions as an avatar.

However, this research had another objective beyond that.

While waiting for Rustila to arrive, I had a brief conversation with Ireh.

"The recovery line production is complete again. The new trap is perfectly made too."

"Really? Was this discussed in today's meeting?"

"Yes. Preparations will be finished within a few days."

I took a sip of coffee and continued.

"When the original laboratory collapsed, I wondered how we'd manage, but we're making it work. Once we restore the Aether Belt and isolate the Queen, this crisis will be resolved."

"...We'll get a breather for a while. But don't push yourself too hard."

"Push myself? I don't do that."

"No, I can see you're overexerting yourself."

Ireh leaned in closer.

"Look at those dark circles. You did this during the Rustila situation too, working day and night until exhaustion. No matter how busy you are, you should take at least one day to rest."

"I'll rest after the war ends, after the war."

Just then, we heard the sound of wheels rolling.

Rustila entered carrying a tightly bound living avatar.

"Eidel, will this one work for today?"

"Perfect. Thanks, Rusty."

Ireh and I examined the avatar that was gradually turning into crystal. It opened its eyes and began shouting.

"You inferior beings! Can't you untie this?"

"My, how noisy."

Snap!

I lightly struck the avatar's face with calipers. The avatar's expression turned dumbfounded.

"Listen, friend. You've been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? How ridiculous. You humans think you've kidnapped me, who inherited the Queen's power and wisdom? You inferior species who would crumble at my touch!"

"Still not getting it, are you?"

Snap! Snap! Snap!

"...Urgh!"

"Do you understand the situation now?"

The avatar lowered its head.

"You look like a rock. What was your name again? I can't remember because you're so insignificant. Something Stone, I think."

"You don't know who I am?"

"There are too many of you to keep track."

"I am Two Stone. Remember it well."

"Right, I remember now. Gem Stone."

"I said Two Stone!"

"Sex Stone, welcome to my laboratory."

"Human—!!"

Ireh and I dragged the avatar into the analysis room.

When we removed fragments from the avatar, we found an equal mix of inorganic material and cells. The cells multiplied endlessly—the "immortal cells" characteristic of Darwin's system.

The immortal cells wouldn't be processed here. We would store cell samples and analyze the core, which was the center of the neural network.

Run an X-ray diffraction, then infrared analysis.

After several other tests, we placed it in a capsule.

"What are you trying to do!"

"Your Majesty the Queen, thank you for providing us with our daily data."

"Y-you! Now I see you're the one Her Majesty has been watching. How fortunate to meet you! I'll personally end your life right here!"

The stone avatar struggled. With a clattering sound, pebbles fell to the floor. The pebbles rapidly multiplied like cells, preparing to consume the laboratory floor.

However, the pebbles never completed their metamorphosis.

Clang—!!

Rustila smashed the stone seeds one by one with her sword before they could ignite. The avatar's screaming was commonplace by now. The neural network copying was complete.

Tampering with an avatar's neural network is essentially manipulating its core. The core is Darwin's system's greatest weakness. It's also an object that inherits the Queen's characteristics.

Our goal was to combine the neural networks of various avatars to track the Queen's signal.

"The Queen is female, so the orientation is female."

"Urgh!"

"As an outer god, her hierarchy is high, but since we can't let her become stronger... we'll significantly lower her rank."

"My, my power...!"

"We should also reduce her violent tendencies so she'll listen better."

"Kill me! Please just kill me!"

"Done."

I removed the unconscious avatar from the capsule and placed it on a cart. We'd extracted everything we could from it. The rest would go to the Outer God Life Research Lab where the Hueritia mother and daughter worked. They would use it as they saw fit and then dispose of it.

[— The outer gods subordinate to the "God of Wisdom and Curiosity" are shocked.]

The ability to train defeated avatars. Human technology had already reached this level.

"Is this enough?"

"It should be fine."

We created a new neural network by combining the core data from all the avatars we had collected. And we imprisoned it in a computer so it couldn't resist in any way.

I swallowed hard and pressed the transmission button.

Soon, logs appeared on the screen.

Thunk, thunk, thuuunk.

The laboratory lights turned off one by one.

Rustila charged her sword. I drew my calipers, and Ireh loaded her holy bullets.

[— An indescribable madness is rising.]

This was despite replacing the neural network to minimize violent tendencies.

How evil must the original be?

We swallowed dryly as we stared at the text appearing on the screen.

Strings of incomprehensible alien language appeared. Yet we could all read those words. The built-in interpreter was translating the outer god's language into Federation common language in real-time.

[Have you summoned me?]

Queen Aurore.

This was our first encounter with her.

***

The cores of Darwin's system avatars have two functions.

First, life maintenance and thought.

Second, communication with the outer god that serves as their parent.

Outer gods can interfere with lower dimensions by creating avatars. Interference ranges from simply experiencing the five senses to exerting influence on that dimension.

An outer god doesn't die when its avatar dies. In this sense, avatars are both the outer gods' avatars and efficient war machines.

And recently, a third use for these cores was discovered.

It was the ability to indirectly communicate with the outer gods.

"The material I'm showing you now is a record of our laboratory's conversation with part of an outer god's neural structure. As you can see, since we're reading text refined into common language, there's no risk of falling into madness."

Ireh continued her presentation enthusiastically.

"Of course, this doesn't represent all of the Queen's thoughts. However, we can at least partially understand what kind of thinking the Queen possesses. To get straight to the conclusion, the Queen is considering a conditional retreat."

"A retreat?"

"Yes. Let me show you the next conversation log."

Ireh moved to the next screen. The log of our exchange with the Queen from the day before yesterday appeared.

[The previous invasion was my final act of mercy toward you. You seem to think you've secured victory, but my forces are still overflowing. If I so choose, I could mobilize all my power and reduce everything to ashes.]

[However, fighting even with inferior species is quite bothersome. So I've decided to give you a chance.]

[Eidel von Rheinland. Hand that one over to me. If you keep just that one promise, I will immediately withdraw my army and not interfere with the restoration of the Aether Belt.]

[You would do well to consider carefully. If you choose to fight to the death, I will make you pay an appropriate price.]

The presentation venue erupted in chaos. Ireh raised her voice into the microphone.

"The Queen has made a proposal! She says she'll guarantee the end of the war if we hand over the head of the Rheinland family! But I disagree with this. You all know what kind of beings outer gods are!"

People nodded their heads.

"It's an obvious lie!"

"We don't know what will happen to our Federation's unity without the head of the Rheinland family. Even if the Queen's words are true a hundred times over, we must make our judgment with the possibility of other outer gods invading in mind."

"It seems resistance is our only answer."

"This concludes my interim research presentation. Thank you."

Ireh descended from the podium amid thunderous applause. Afterward, she was bombarded with questions from scholars. I found the sight quite heartwarming.

This research was entirely her creation. She came up with the idea, and I merely assisted her.

I approached her as she swayed slightly and spoke to her.

"Ms. Hazlen, you've really accomplished something here."

"...del."

Ireh turned around, clutching her chest. She took a deep breath of relief.

"This is the first time I've presented in front of so many people and received such a positive response. Honestly, I'm a bit... nervous. Yeah."

"This research will be the cornerstone for humanity's fight against various outer gods. It's all thanks to your ideas, Ms. Hazlen."

All that remains is to turn this research into a paper and restore Sonia's memories.

I looked at the expressionless Sonia standing beside me and steeled my resolve. Not having slept properly for several days, a yawn escaped me. Sonia and Ireh asked with concern.

"Maybe you should get some sleep?"

"Mr. Hazlen is right. It would be best for you to get proper rest."

"I'm fine. This much won't kill—"

But at that moment.

Suddenly my vision blurred, and the world began to spin.

"...Huh?"

My consciousness instantly sank below the surface.

***

"My brother collapsed again?"

"Yes!"

"Again?"

Seti couldn't believe it. She pressed her forehead and checked the securities firm information.

"Oh shit, my stocks."