"Bang-bang-kabang!"
"Alice has learned everything!"
How much time did it actually take? Alice stated that she had fully understood everything in about half a day.
"So fast." Bartmoss was surprised for a moment, then, recalling her identity, found it not so strange.
To some extent, his thoughts were not wrong; Alice and she could be considered 'mother and daughter'.
After all, she was a new life born from her core, and also a Machine Ex Machina, so it could tentatively be considered so.
However, Schwarzer still had some things she couldn't quite grasp, such as the other party's inexplicable speech patterns.
'Even though there's no data for that game in this world, and I didn't give her any related information, why did she turn out this way?'
"Alice is too much like 'Alice'; not just her appearance, but even her verbal tics are the same, yet she hasn't 'inherited' the Machine Ex Machina's verbal tics."
If she didn't know how the girl was born, she would have thought the real Tendo Alice had transmigrated. In a way, could this be considered 'self-taught'?
"It's convergence, Host."
"Or perhaps, 'form follows the heart'?"
The System tried to explain in the simplest way, telling her not to overthink anime-like situations.
"What kind of 'form follows the heart' is that, hey?!"
Apparently, its Host refused to accept this explanation, so it could only spend time explaining convergence.
Roughly, it's related to fate and the world's attention; when everyone perceives you as a certain person, you are unconsciously influenced, and extending this influence to the multiverse becomes 'convergence'.
The newly born Alice, from appearance to name, was identical to that person; without deliberate influence, she would naturally be affected by convergence.
So, she was also partly responsible? Schwarzer remembered that she had decided the girl's name herself.
But there wasn't any major issue; it was purely out of curiosity. She reached out and stroked Alice's head, as a reward for her learning.
"[Praise] Alice is truly amazing, she learns so fast."
A sincere compliment, though due to Schwarzer's appearance, it looked a bit like a child playing house, pretending to be an adult.
But Alice was very happy, actively rubbing against her hand, then activating her naturally studious ability and in turn stroking Schwarzer's head.
The Machine Ex Machina's instinct made her want to connect more with Schwarzer, but unfortunately, there was no command unit here, nor could Machine Ex Machina be mass-produced; her appearance was an accident, and a miracle.
Schwarzer expressionlessly took her hand away, then stroked Alice's head again.
As if it were a game, Alice actually mimicked her actions, and they both competed for head-patting rights, their speed constantly increasing until afterimages appeared within seconds.
Bartmoss watched this scene, his eyes fixed downwards, his legs trembling as if about to run.
As one of only two people in the Cyberpunk world to decipher Schwarzer's identity, he, like Dr. Lee of Yoroshi-san, held a degree of reverence for her.
Now, with two 'Kami' playing around, he wished he weren't present, hoping not to see such a sight, lest he be held accountable.
'Have you played enough, Host? How did you become so childish?'
Ultimately, the System bore it all, ending the farce.
"…" Schwarzer stopped, but chose not to reply to the System's accusation.
"Did Alice win?" Seeing Schwarzer stop, she asked.
Alice genuinely treated this as some kind of game; she had found a very popular ninja game where head-patting was common.
"…You won." In every sense of the word.
Schwarzer wouldn't be too harsh on her; after all, children act playfully without understanding.
"As a reward, I'll teach you a few 'ultimate moves'."
Hearing about learning ultimate moves, Alice's eyes lit up, and she became entirely excited.
She didn't look like a Machine Ex Machina at all, but Machine Ex Machina were indeed like that; they also had their own souls and emotions, and they were very rambunctious.
She recalled the Machine Ex Machina during the "blank period" in the original work; those were the true Machine Ex Machina.
Only she was special; she had lost her emotions and 'heart'.
Subconsciously, she glanced at Alice. There was a 'fragment' on her, but she didn't see the so-called soul fragment, only the girl looking at her with expectant eyes.
In the depths of her consciousness, green flames burned again. Her interactions with Alice, and with David and the others, had helped her regain much of her humanity.
Now, she absolutely couldn't bring herself to harm Alice, absolutely not.
"Two ultimate moves: one is the strongest physical attack, and the other is a mental attack."
She connected to Alice. Having been a command unit herself, she naturally mastered the connection technique.
As for what she was going to teach, the strongest physical attack was naturally the Dragon's Roar Technique; this simultaneously strikes time and space, very characteristic of a dragon's spirit.
The other mental ultimate move was her summary of what could dismantle the Cyberpunk world—
—the Dragon-Slaying Art.
Unrivaled power, coupled with a kind and rational personality, Alice was the 'Sage King' she was leaving to this world.
The ultimate form of the Humanity Maintenance Plan: an absolutely powerful and irresistible Sage King to lead the entire human civilization forward.
A false Utopia forcibly built with infinite material supply and overflowing productivity, Alice was the Princess responsible for maintaining it.
'The plan can begin.' Schwarzer issued instructions to Bartmoss, who had been feigning death.
...
Due to the ninjas' battles and struggle for dominance, the entire city was in chaos, and in the wilderness outside New Kiotto, large numbers of androids began to awaken.
Schwarzer had given Bartmoss an automated factory, which had been working with the AIs for several years; the first things produced were naturally androids.
With them, AIs could enter the real world, and then begin to research and manufacture various devices.
"Is this a real body? It feels like playing a game."
The AIs controlled the androids, and what they saw from their perspective was like the Cyberpunk 2077 UI in a game.
"After all, everyone is an AI; body structures and thought patterns are different, so how could we quickly create a perfectly matched body?"
"Instead of spending time researching androids, it's better to accumulate more contribution points. Once you evolve into a 'spirit body', you can freely travel between the real world and the network."
"I really envy Bartmoss; he was the first to become a spirit body, I wonder how carefree he is."
The AIs' movements were precise, swiftly assembling various equipment, but their chatter never stopped; multi-threading 'work' was their underlying logic.
For simpler tasks, some threads were even playing games in the Old Net.
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