Androids & An Ally

A/N: Ok, we got the setup out of the way, so this will be where the story really starts. I was mostly using those chapters to get a feel on if this story would work out, if people would enjoy it and if the Technology thing could work. So now that I got a feel for it, this is going to be where the story officially takes off, with this new volume being the start.

"Laws?" Hearing the AI, Shirei cursed to himself. 'Shit, do I look like I went to law school?' He was at an absolute loss. I mean, it wouldn't be an issue if he could change them in the future or just edit them if something went wrong. But these would be permanent, which meant he couldn't leave room for a single loophole.

"Hmm. Well, I guess basing them around areas under our influence would be best. Simple rules like No Unprohibited Killing and No Unauthorized Fighting with dangerous intent within zones under Spectral Order control. I don't know about the rest, though." Listening to Asami, Shirei turned his head and thought for a second.

'I guess making the Laws as rules first and then rewording them into Laws afterward could work?' He didn't know exactly how specifically the laws the AI wanted him to make had to be, so both he and Asami decided to go slow. He used a basis of General Laws he could think of for multiple situations and then paired them with more Combat inclusive ones.

Spending almost an hour on each one, he would then see if Asami could try to find a loophole in it. If she managed to, they would edit it again and repeat the process. After two days of this, they were finally done! "These are the Laws I want the Spectral Order and the Androids to abide by." Taking the list, they made he remotely sent it to the AI.

[Are you sure? This cannot be changed in the future.]

Hearing that last-second warning Shirei overlooked the list one last time before turning to Asami, who was standing next to him. She shrugged as she spoke. "I couldn't find any more loopholes. Plus, we can still add to it later, so it's not that bad." Shirei nodded as he spoke to the AI. "Yes, I can confirm this is the list we want to use."

With that, he heard the sound of confirmation as the Android Creator screen flashed. This time it directly showed a series of different categories containing different Androids in each one. Ground Combat, Piloting, Defense, Stealth it was all here. Using his hands to go through the different categories, Shirei began his selections.

"We're going to mostly be focusing on Defense, Expansion and Information gathering, so…" Shirei dragged three separate Android models onto the screen in front of him and displayed them in full size. "These three should be fine. What do you think?" Shirei turned to Asami, who was watching from behind him.

[SAI Unit]

Category: Stealth & Information Gathering

Manufacturing Cost: 10,000

Base Equipment Cost: 15,000

Description: The SAI Unit is an Android that specializes in Stealth in terms of Infiltration and gathering Information. All Information is immediately uploaded to the Spectral Hub Database unless instructed otherwise. It has the base intelligence of a Human and can even surpass them in its rightful field. The downside of this model is that it is fairly fragile and is quite inept when it comes to combat, having to rely mostly on equipment.

[GCR-1 Unit]

Category: Ground Base Defense

Manufacturing Cost: 20,000

Base Equipment Cost: 10,000

Description: The GCR-1 Unit is an Android that specializes in defense against ground-based attacks. Having keen sensory abilities, including Night-Vision, Sound Detection, and the ability to remotely contact other Units, it is very efficient. That, accompanied with its above-average fighting ability, allows it to easily hold and defend any location. However, this Unit is not very resistant to Non-Physical attacks and is not very mobile.

[AAV Unit]

Category: Direct Ground Assault

Manufacturing Cost: 17,000

Base Equipment Cost: 25,000

Description: The AAV Unit is an Android that specializes in Assault and attack. Able to follow through with strategies and tactics when provided with such. They are also capable of long-range communication and report to the person in command. Excelling in Mobility and Combat, when equipped correctly, they are ideal at medium ranges. While being very efficient in those areas, they do not excel either. Their true strength lies in numbers and coordination.

Putting her hand on her chin, Asami nodded. "They all seem good to me, and they're reasonably cheap considering what exactly they're capable of." Shirei agreed, although the cheapness was due to him cutting down on things. He removed functions and removed certain equipment that wouldn't be useful at the stage they were currently in.

"Alright then." They had around 588,000 after the cost of the Android Creator was paid. In the end, Shirei decided on 7 GCR-1's, 5 SAI's, and 2 AAV's. In the end that left them with around 100k in case of an emergency. Despite how few there were, Shirei was confident this would be worth it.

Numbers mean a lot and could think of all the useful ways he could use these Androids already. [Fabricate Androids: GCR's, SAI's, and AAV's for a collective of -479,000 energy?] Confirming everything, Shirei locked the order into the Android Creator. In a matter of seconds, the mechanical hands surrounding those three tubes began to get to work.

Limb's were fabricated and then set aside before being connected to Torso's and being secured with other mechanical parts. It was a process that would take a while as Shirei asked Asami to follow him back to the Control room. Entering the room, he took a seat and looked out the frontal window gazing into space.

"I originally planned to stay in the Konosuba world for a while and situate ourselves here. But thinking a little more, I think it would be best if we head to the next Universe and do it there instead. Although Konosuba is filled with Magic, it'll be way too cumbersome trying to find proper opportunities to grow."

That aside, they needed a place where they could get Energy to fuel the Spectral Hub in abundance. Along with that, he also needed enough Energy to upgrade the functions in the Spectral Hub. The Multiversal Shifter has the ability to shift to Universes, and with enough upgrades visiting Universes they have been to will be possible as well.

Once they get to that point, Shirei could deal with someone like All For One by taking the fight straight to him when his army was ready. "But before all that, there is one last thing I need to do in this world." Asami looked at him, and immediately Kazuma's face came to mind. "Are you really going to recruit him? It was a funny idea at first, but I'm not sure now."

Kazuma was slightly more competent since Shirei convinced him to work with them, and he got that special sword. However, in the end, Kazuma was Kazuma. Putting him in any position of power was a risk. 'But letting someone who was chosen by the AI go would also be a waste. Asami and Kazuma might have been a lucky break but who knows if I'll run into more chances like this.'

Taking advantage of whatever he could was a motto he planned on following no matter the situation. So after a brief moment of hesitation, Shirei nodded. "In the end, the choice is his but if he agrees then even better. I realized judging him entirely off of what I saw in the show was a bit off. He proved that she's capable if he's given the chance. I think that's what the AI saw as well."

With that Shirei stood up and left to the control room while telling Asami something. "Keep an eye on the Android's progress for me and don't tell them to do anything yet?" Asami nodded as Shirei made his way to the external docking area. This would probably be his last time visiting the world of Konosuba for quite some time.

It's still a marvel that he's able to visit fictional worlds at all but he guessed the surprise of it all wore off eventually. After following the same actions as before it was only a matter of before the ship reached light speed. After time passed, Shirei once again arrived at the planet of Konosuba and set the ship down to land in the same place as before.

"Alright." As the ship landed on the ground Shirei stood up and made his way outside, locking the ship behind him. Making his way to the city of Axel he made his way to Kazuma's mansion on the other side of the city. Entering through the front gate Shirei was happy to see nothing was destroyed or burning down.

Considering the personality of Megumin and the others he was expecting to arrive and see total mayhem. Knocking on the front door, Shirei was greeted by Darkness. "Eh? What are you doing here?" Recognizing Shirei, Darkness was surprised as Shirei told her his reason for coming. "I'm here to talk to Kazuma about something."

Hearing that Darkness showed a slightly off look before nodding. Walking inside Shirei immediately heard the sound of laughing. Shirei spotted Kazuma, Megumin and Aqua all relaxing around the dining table talking. Everyone seemed in pretty good spirits especially Megumin to the point Shirei wouldn't be able to compare it to the last time he saw her.

Seeing the look on his face, Darkness said something. "After coming back Kazuma came back he uh… Told us all about what's actually going on and who we are. Along with that he spent all his effort trying to cheer everyone up. Aqua took it the worst and began crying and well me and Megumin were pretty down as well."

It wasn't easy being told your personality and life was made in a way so it could be entertaining to others. But Kazuma looked on the bright side and tried showing how they could still diverge off the beaten path now. It was still their choice to do what they did and no invisible hand was controlling them to that extent.

Tacky sure but effective enough. It was then that Kazuma noticed Shirei and Darkness. "Oh hey I haven't seen you in a month!" Everyone focused on Shirei as he shrugged. "Been pretty busy so I couldn't visit. At the same time, It looks like me and Asami are going to be heading off soon." Hearing that Kazuma showed a slight look of disappointment.

Despite him complaining he had fun doing stuff with Shirei and Asami. It was dangerous don't get him wrong but it was the first time he felt like an actual adventurer at the same time. The thrill of combat is a word he would use to describe his experience. "Hey, Kazuma! You said you would let me see the spaceship thing since you were such a big shot now!"

Kazuma's face turned slightly as he looked at Megumin. "Uh… I don't remember saying that. You were probably hallucinating or something. Anyway!" Kazuma immediately diverged to the conversation as Shirei just smirked. "So Kazuma the real reason I'm here is that I wanted to extend you an offer."

Kazuma tilted his head as Shirei cut to the chase. "After a little bit of analysis, the AI of the Spectral Hub had decided you could be given the rank of Lieutenant Commander. So basically we were wondering if you wanted to join us?" Suddenly everyone in the room froze as they stared at Shirei and then at Kazuma.

"Wait what?" Aqua was the first to say anything slamming her hands on the table. "You want him! Of all people?" Pointing at Kazuma with a look of disbelief on her face, Darkness, who was standing behind Shirei, spoke up as well. "I mean he's capable I suppose… But still! Kazuma is you know… Kazuma!"

It was only Megumin who showed an actual look of concern looking between Kazuma and Shirei. "Me?" Kazuma finally spoke up as he clarified himself and Shirei simply nodded. Kazuma's thoughts raged for a moment. 'I could join them and travel across all kinds of worlds.' That same exciting experience he had when Shirei and Asami began to well up inside Kazuma.

But at the same time he looked at Aqua, Megumin and Darkness. He would have to leave them all behind and to his surprise he felt hesitant about that. Seeing that hesitation Shirei sighed to himself. "How about this. You come with us for a Year and help us. By that point we should have grown by a significant margin. At that point you can come back here whenever you want or hell you could even recruit all of them to work under you."

Hearing that Kazuma's eyes began to glitter. 'A year…' Megumin looked over at Kazuma and saw that very same shine in his eyes and moaned. "If Kazuma wants to go then I wont complain." Both Darkness and Aqua looked over at Megumin surprised. "What! Megumin, what are you saying. They're taking Kazuma!"

Darkness showed the most defiance speaking up. Megumin nodded and replied. "I know but what can we do about. As creepy and trashy as he is, Kazuma spent a lot of time trying to cheer us up after learning about the truth. And he's been talking nonstop about how he fought against that massive Golem and Titan. He's dying to go on another adventure I can tell."

To that Darkness couldn't say anything she had noticed it as well and the truth was Kazuma got into a lot of trouble dealing with them. They had never seen him so excited and happy to go off and face danger and fight. "But but… What will I do! You still need to defeat the demon king so I can go home! I dont want to wait another year!"

Unlike Megumin and Darkness, Aqua listed purely selfish reasons to which Kazuma grit his teeth and grabbed Aqua by the head. "You stupid Goddess! Why couldn't you just stay wholesome like Darkness and Megumin? You ruined the atmosphere!" Seeing them fight Shirei thought to himself for a moment before coming up with an idea.

"Actually Aqua, the position Kazuma is getting, is pretty high up there. If he comes with us and helps up development by the time you see him next the Spectral Order will probably have enough power to destroy the Demon King and his army. And if he just so happens to set up a branch in the Konosuba world I can probably authorize that."

Though Shirei spoke coily, Aqua immediately caught on. If Kazuma went with Shirei he could come back with an army and wipe out the Demon King in the future. And that meant she could finally go back to being a Goddess." The thought made her drool and at the same time she straightened her posture and patted Kazuma on the back.

"Well it would be rude if you turned them down. It's like a promotion but for life!" Hearing the sudden shift in tone Kazuma glared at Aqua. In the end he knew Shirei was giving him a lot of leeway here and an opportunity. He really didn't want to turn it down and he appreciated Megumin sticking up for him like this.

It was then that he felt Megumin tug on his shirt and whisper something to him. "You better not die during that year though. I swear if you don't come back then I'll come chasing after you." Despite how threatening the words were, all Kazuma heard was worry stuck in her throat as he turned to her and nodded while smiling. "Trust me a year will pass in a blink of an eye."

Just like that no one could raise any more of a fuss within the hour Kazuma had already gotten his stuff ready and packed. Both he and Shirei were standing outside of the mansion looking back at Aqua, Darkness and Megumin who were seeing them off. It was obvious they were still hesitant about letting Kazuma go but at the same time, they wished him luck.

Kazuma was mixed with all kinds of emotions and while the one of missing his team was great the feeling of going on a journey was even greater. "So you're really coming along?" Shirei looked at Kazuma. He honestly didn't expect him to actually come along with them. Kazuma nodded as he smiled. "Of course! My name shall echo through hundreds of worlds as Kazuma The Great!"

Of course outside of those two reasons Kazuma's egotism still remained as Shirei shook his head. "Alright, then no turning back now."