20 Aia

Aia was a heaven-defying computer able to process data for millions of other people in an instant.

Himel was an actual soldier that leads his team, not only that, but he also strongly believes in superstitions. Wouldn't he be able to make more kinds of invocations this way?

While Vin still had reservations for Himel, he couldn't help but think that he'd be one of the keys for their survival now.

As someone who had been brought up to colonize new places, he found it his current goal to build a civilization in this land.

Just as Vin was lost in his thoughts, Nathan did not move his eyes away from the spells that he wrote.

Nathan is just a simple, average man, despite his issues. Due to the two helping him defend Vin, he already built trust for the two. Even then, he could tell that things would move even faster than before. "I'll be a full mage at this point with these people." he thought.

Unlike Nathan and Vin, who were lost in their own thoughts for their future. Aia began to think of her future with a frown. For someone like her who was manufactured, it shouldn't be terrible if they made more of her.

But with all her augments and modifications, she had one fatal flaw. All of her kind only has around ten years' worth of lifespan.

While the things she could do breaks almost everything thought impossible by the people in the 21st century, there is always a price for everything.

For the first year, Aia was raised until she can finally remember. On her first birthday, they started to augment the already modified toddler.

With only a singular objective, AI-A began to operate. For 248 years, she diligently processed, produced, and procured information as a server for the colonizers.

A total of 248 years, serving over 346 million people throughout five different galaxies. Despite her being physically a child, it is safe to say that she had the experience of all the 346 million civilians who were monitored down to the last thing they touched.

Just like Deep-IEQ, she began to develop personalities. As a countermeasure, these personalities were thrown into different entertainment systems such as games with 100% realism or turned into virtual actors with the perfect character to make movies with.

Her very own personality has failed to build. With all the suppressants tied given to her, there was no reason for a little girl to exist.

That was until a spy broke off the calculated orbit of the station she was in. On her 6th birthday, the space station that she was in fell onto the black hole.

She woke up on this planet, screaming, "System error."

That was only until the white orb gave her a personality.

Simulating an average life of a six-year-old, she gained her very own persona that suppressed all the other personas in her head.

Just like Vin, all the external technology installed into her was nowhere to be found. Thus, everything that suppressed her memories, and all began bursting.

An average six-year-old kid being shown the variety of emotions and cruelty of 346 million people with access to their specific fetishes.

This included Vin's thoughts. Relatively speaking, Vin is more of a normal boy wanting the typical likes of an adolescent. Even then, the vivid thoughts of sex and survival were too much for a kid.

If it weren't for the second white orb, which returned her systematic processing, she would've died drowned in insanity.

With this, she began to change once again. With the ignorant six-year-old persona as the base, adding a sprinkle of doubt, cubes of disgust, and a dash of the devil's advocate. The Aia of today was born.

Considering her options, her frail body led her to ask for assistance. Why is that? If it weren't for the white orb, giving her the experience of living an average life for six years, she wouldn't be able to walk. Let alone survive.

This led her to rely on Himel, which found her just sitting on the ground with a lost daze.

Tied up to machines all this while, besides being able to crawl like a toddler, there's really nothing else she could do physically. Not to mention her idea of surviving in the wilderness involves high-tech tools.

As such, she quickly trusted Vin. She had an idea of how Vin is as a person, especially compared to those who were on the extreme side. Vin was just lonely; he wasn't psycho, nor did he lose his rationality.

Aia trusts Vin and Himel wholly, but she found Nathan to be stupid and reckless. While she saw how Nathan defended the incapacitated Vin as nothing short of amazing, she also thought that it was incredibly short-sighted and lacking.

First of all, a maze with windows just so he could see the target, control their positioning while maintaining the high ground. That was smart, but a bird can fly, not only that, but the bird can also rearrange his maze.

When she saw how Nathan reacted, she could tell even Nathan was surprised along with the thoughts of "how?!"

It was a good thing that everyone focused on their needs first before their wants.

Only those who were coerced or forced were the ones who actually acted, the rest just observed from afar. They needed the information about what happens more than killing someone who's still growing stronger.

But even with all her ramblings, she really couldn't think of a better defense than what Nathan had built.

While it wasn't the most effective, to Nathan, it was the most efficient. Such tactics are never available to Aia as in the future, physical fights stopped, money and resources are the only weapons they needed to fight. In cases where money does not apply, such as now, there's nothing she could do.

Even a computer can only process things if it has sufficient data to start off with.

But, compared to the people she was familiar with, being a primitive person, relatively to her, of course, she felt a foreign emotion whenever she looks at Nathan. She felt safe under Nathan's eyes.

It was just as foreign where she felt cared for by Himel.

"Will Nathan do that for me, too?" she thought.

It was the very first naive thought she had, but it was also very hopeful.

But she quickly shook off the thoughts as her gaze landed on the spells. Then she heard Nathan speak.

"That reminds me, wizards are beings who use magic through understanding, while sorcerers use their innate talents to use magic."

"Me and Vin..."

Aia interjected in a cold tone: "Vin and I."

Nathan blinked his eyes thrice at Aia, seeing a child speaking this way. Is she from an anime?

"O...k? Vin and I had been using both, so we call ourselves magicians as those are more of a jack-of-all-trades situation." he resumed.

"How about you Aia, what's your job class?"

"Such childish words coming out from a young adult. But why is the thought making me feel... happy?" she thought in herself before answering: "I... I think I'll be a wizard then."

Vin was surprised at Aia's answer, contrary to the single-minded AI-A, Aia seems to be an actual person compared to the one he talked to every day back in his last life.

"That settles it, let's talk to Himel after he's done with the renovation. Let's create more spells!" Nathan exclaimed.

Aia and Vin stared at each other, both smiling. "This kind of childishness is really refreshing," they both thought as they nodded back to Nathan.

"Seems like a better path forward had opened up for us," the three of them thought.

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