CHAPTER 34

[DAMIAN'S PERSPECTIVE]

"As I was saying before we were interrupted," Andrew said, "would you be able to help my daughter?"

"I'm not sure that's possible," I said. "My ability only works on creatures with a soul. I'm not sure it would work on AI's, even if they've developed consciousness and gained emotions."

Andrew sighed. "I see."

"Isn't she just data?" Jenna said, causing everyone to turn to her in anger. "What?

"Emotions or not, exomorphs are still lines of code stuffed into a body of metal," Jenna continued. "Why not create a puppet like that and transfer all her data into it?"

Before we continue, let's clarify that Andrew's daughter is an AI. She recently got infected with an extremely dangerous virus, created by a powerful technomancer to deter a group of AI's who were after his life. Moments before his death, he released the virus. After completely destroying the entire assassin organization, the virus went on to continue infecting other AI's.

Andrew's daughter was from a group of advanced AI, created using both magic and technology.

Their bodies were made of Arcanite, a metal with the capacity to conduct mana. Their batteries were of two kinds: regular batteries made through tech with the ability to recharge themselves using kinetic energy, and S class mana cores that could both be used as a battery or a source of magic power.

Over time, the AI's continued to advance and evolve until they developed their own consciousness and emotions. At some point, they decided to form their own race, which they called the Exomorphs.

You might be wondering why they couldn't just hack the AI and manually eliminate the virus. Let me tell you: You cannot hack an exomorph, even if you waste your entire life trying. Only extremely powerful technos could do that.

All right, back to the story!

DING!

[ YOU HAVE CREATED A NEW AVATAR: EXOMORPH]

[AVATAR: SOPHIE WOULD BEGIN AT LEVEL 20]

[ CONGRATULATIONS YOU'VE ADDED A NEW RACE TO THE CATALOGUE]

[REWARD: PHOENIX-TYPE PUPPET]

" Was it successful?" Andrew asked

" I think s..."

DING!!

[ ABNORMALITY DETECTED IN NEW AVATAR]

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 1 FAILED]

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 2 FAILED]

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 3 FAILED]

"What the f**k?" I shouted, making everyone turn to me. "Who on earth created this virus? Even I am struggling to remove it from my avatar!"

Andrew's eyes widened. "If even a fragment can't save my daughter, who can? Oh, my poor Sophie!"

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 4 FAILED]

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 5 FAILED]

[ CORRECTING ABNORMALITY... METHOD 9 FAILED]

[ COMMENCING SEALING PROCEDURE... METHOD 1 FAILED]

[ COMMENCING SEALING PROCEDURE... METHOD 5 SUCCESSFUL]

[ABNORMALITY TEMPORARILY CONTAINED]

[ TIME LIMIT ADDED TO MAIN QUEST]

[QUEST: COMPLETELY FUSE WITH A PUPPET]

[TIME LIMIT: 60 DAYS]

"I've successfully contained the virus," I said. "But it's only been contained, not removed. It can still come back. I have to bring myself to full capacity within sixty days."

"Wait - you mean you're not at full capacity?" Andrew asked.

I told him about the forbidden spells and my predicament.

"Thank the gods!" Andrew exclaimed. "I knew the virus was no match for a fragment.

"Thank the gods!" Andrew exclaimed. "I knew the virus was no match for a fragment - if you weren't weakened, you could have dispatched it."

I subconsciously stepped back, taking in the look in his eyes. This man placed far too much faith in fragments. What level of fanaticism would it take for someone to look like that? Had he ever met a fragment before?

As I listened to Andrew's words, I began to wonder just how powerful fragments really were. I could see how much faith he had in us, but was it really warranted? Perhaps they really were as incredible as he believed. Or maybe he was simply idealizing them, blinded by his own hope.

I simply decided to shove all that to the back of my mind. That was a problem for the future me to face. In the meantime, I should probably focus on getting to the Inverted Island to find the flowers and any clues I could about Chaos and his abilities. I wasn't sure if he was still alive, as the dreams seemed to thrive on suspense. But it wouldn't hurt to know more about him, even if he was dead.

With that thought in mind, I woke Sophie up and we set off again. As we left, I could hear Andrew shouting around town about how his daughter had become one with a fragment.

SIGH!

What a bother!