The destruction of the island caused by the Trishul played over and over in her mind; stinging her skin with goosebumps. The unfamiliar beings and sounds of the world she had entered overwhelmed her—a realm of unimaginable horrors and cruelty. The memories of the lives lost and the brutal killings haunted her. All she could do was pray for them to receive justice.
Drained by the day's events and no sign of mercenaries, she sank into a slumber, hoping to find solace from the whirlwind of her thoughts.
Few hours later. SL displayed the remaining distance to her destination, 82 km. As she scratched an itch on the cheek—a menu of SL features appeared mid-air. Terrified of losing it, she rushed through it. What relieved her was to see an option to enable the conversational mode of SL's AI, labelled "Aery".
She learned several important features of SL that can be used in critical situations, such as flight, parachute, how to increase and decrease her own weight, which caused her to drown in the ocean during practice on the shapeshifting boat, still labelled "Unknown".
Closer to destination, a peculiar mechanical structure had adorned the sky, located 500 km above. With the help of Aery, she learned it to be a barrier formation designed to conceal a hidden aspect of reality. Similar to the one which hid the MS mansion back then, but a unique formation.
Aery has countless capabilities and an intimidating female voice, but lacked a guide or video on weapon handling. The sole reason for her being dumb.
With the destination being a mere 28 km away. Her eyes scanned for an object or any hint to a land, but there was nothing, just a formation in the sky.
'Hostile entity approaching,' Aery said.
Memories of the mercenary island rushed back when robouitos appeared. It stopped a few metres away, motionless, but alert. "What's it doing?"
Unlike Yash, the AI she met on the first mission. Aery was less inclined to talk compared to him, and didn't disturb over a rule of saying her name before commanding.
'It has started the scanning process.'
"Oh, so it's checking me out, thank you Aery." Manya posed in various positions.
Robouito made a few sudden movements. 'Terminating the target.'
"That's mean!"
She dodged the beam attack—aimed at her head. One of the basic features she had mastered was predicting the trajectory of attacks. Approaching robouito was a breeze, just like blinking.
"You know, I thought I might have lost the way, but seeing you. I have never felt so good after seeing someone who wants to kill me."
Only with her fingers, she created a barrier to trap robouito and compressed it.
'Hundreds of robouitos are approaching.' Aery had marked all of them in red.
"There are more? And I was thinking of throwing a funeral for this one." She dropped it into the water. "How long can I fly?"
'You can fly for the next 4 hours,' Aery said.
"Guess I'll have 3.8 hours to relax."
"Life's a long fight. One has to find their entertainment in between."
Laughing, she lunged forward, determined to make the most of this new world by learning and living to the fullest.
"How much I could hold?"
'With barrier capacity being limited because of the test mission, you can hold utmost 10 in each.'
"20!" She considered using the 20 as weapons, hitting others as if holding a bag of stones.
However, once she reached 20, her actions became restricted. Like a cargo helicopter, she could drop them off at different locations, but she had no power to sway them. After dropping the bag idea. She chose trap and blast as her strategy.
"Argh! Why aren't they ending?" she had killed over 400 robouitos. "It's not excited now, I am bored and a little tired."
'The flying time is down to its final 10 minutes.'
"What?" she punched a robouito hard enough to form a hole in the middle. "How long it will take to regain it?"
'30 minutes are required to recharge the flight components.'
"That's no big deal. I'll deal with them from the boat."
As she turned, a scream escaped her—Happy's boat was nowhere to be found. She asked Aery, but it turned out to be a surprise for her as well. "Of all the time, it had to disappear right now!" Think Manya think! "Aery! Track the location they are coming from."
'Location found. Distance to location-20 km.'
"Can I reach there in 10, no, 9 minutes?"
'You can't reach the destination with the remaining power.'
"Let's play dead then."
While exploring features, she came across one that could help her fake her own death. The feature created as a last-ditch during dangerous situations. Once you turn it on, the suit will erase any sign of her being alive and increase the SL's endurance. And given the expensive technology around her, they won't destroy her. But there were two possibilities: they'll either kill her and toss her in the ocean, or they'll take her back with them.
"It's silly, but why's my intuition thinking they'll chose the first one?" she whispered. "Who would want an alive human? Unless they deal in human trafficking."
She had 15 km left and only 4 minutes of flight time left. 'Hostilities approaching.' A unique variety of red robouitos appeared. And to her luck, they reproduce when attacked.
'Please refrain from direct connection.'
"I can see that!" Their multiplication carried a unique allure and a mesmerising spell.
'Further direct contact with them will grant them access to SL.'
She discovered multiple greyish liquid substance dripped from red robouitos attempting to penetrate her SL. Her heart raced, and she dived into the ocean.
"What the hell, they are waterproof?"
'Recharging process started. 29 minutes to full charge.'
"How? Could have told me sooner that this can recharge underwater!"
'The SL could recharge underwater, but only if it remained idle.'
The robouitos, who couldn't keep up with her speed—caught up to her. Hundreds of them dived into the ocean. She lifted her arm and gave a shy wave. "I didn't mean to hit you guys." She smirked. "But I won't lie. It was fun."
***
With a sufficient charge, she soared back into the sky, capable of staying afloat for thirty minutes. "What a cheat!" Excitement turned to despair as the hoard of robouitos closed in, their position unyielding and their laser shots unending.
"Aery, for my sake, please tell me how to yield a weapon!"
'As I have informed before, I wasn't able to find the information regarding your request.'
"How the hell am I supposed to shoot them? It's not like I can point my fingers at them." She made a gun from her fingers. The imprint of a handgun on her arm seemed to come alive and morph into an actual gun, clenched in her grasp. A chill ran down her back. "No way… I did it. I did it!!"
"Hey! At least help me with the guns!"
"I already did."
She clenched her teeth. "Hate you!"
A grin crept her face. She dropped the gun right after. The gun was once again reduced to a mere imprint. Once again, she armed it again. With each passing second, her excitement grew stronger. Her curiosity drove her to equip everything, but she struggled to equip others.
A realisation struck her. The handgun appeared when she formed that shape, but it wasn't the proper shape—it's how she would grip it. She formed a gripping gesture of the rifle's trigger and used her other hand for stability. Within a mere second, the rifle materialised in her arms.
"Oh, you guys are so dead!" She dropped the rifle. "Aery, will the shock grenade affect me?"
'No, the products regis—'
"Shut up."
She mimicked the action of gripping a grenade. And it appeared in her hand. She activated it and flung it just seconds before the explosion occurred. As the robouitos collided, a surge of electricity crackled through the air, causing them to fuse before plunging into the water below. Behind the falling robouitos, she glimpsed at something else waiting for her. Heartbeat pulsed in her ears. After the layer stood her archenemies. The wings of these angels were brown, shiny and had restrictions, with a faint brown halo.
"A-A-Aery, can you hide my face?"
'Your face is not visible to entities except MS.'
"Really?"
'Affirmative. Distress detected. Initiating calming measures.' A cool mist with ocean fragrance crept her nose, with a calming sound of drizzle. 'Please state the source of distress.'
"A-Angels… wings."
'Altering the face and wings of said entities.'
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regain control of her trembling limbs.
'Alteration done.'
Opening her eyes, a laughter escaped her. Instead of normal facial features. Aery had drawn eyes and other parts with a pencil or a brush. And their wings covered in excessive decoration; covering every trace of feathers beneath brown vines and flowers all over them.
"This world doesn't seem so bad. Ok, now find a route out of here."
'Displaying the shortest route to the destination.'
It was the shortest route, if only she could find her way through. Dealing with angels was already challenging. Right when the last batch of stunned robouitos collapsed into the water; she armed herself with the heavy rifle. With it secured against her shoulder, she prepared to charge at them, leaving no room for advantage. But before she could charge away, a circular barrier had already been formed around her, collapsing and absorbing the bullets.
Her SL particles started fading, revealing her bare skin. "Aery! What's happening?"
'This barrier has technology to disintegrate SL particles.'
The gun turned back into a pattern and sooner faded into air. "What about me? In a few seconds, I'll be naked!" Her breath quickened over the cold ocean a few feet below.
'Basic SLs aren't capable of enduring such pressure.'
"What about officials taking care of unranked during the mission?"
'Not in primary objectives.'
"Aery! Do something."
'There are no vulnerable devices within range.'
In a reflexive action, she rushed to conceal her private parts closer to be exposed. "Aery!" She hoped for sympathy from angels. However, their response was laughter. Taking pleasure in every aspect of her embarrassment and vulnerability.
Just as panic was about to consume her, a sudden warmth enveloped her back. Within an instant, a new thin layer emerged on her stomach, followed by multiple others on her shoulders. The air itself was being manipulated to fashion a new SL, safeguarding her privacy, and projecting an image of modesty.
"Wait, a minute—this is…" It was the SL she got on her first mission. "Thank you! Thank you so much, Aery!"
'The responsible action does not match my programmed directives.'
"What does it mean?"
'I didn't bring out this mysterious layer.'
"Then who? Yash?" Whoever it was, she was grateful for its unexpected appearance and warmth. "I am still flying?"
"Should we end her?" An angel said.
Every alteration by Aery disappeared. She waited for her limbs to freeze. But all she experienced were the trembling of fingers. "What's your worth?" She opened and closed her fist over and over.
"Nay, she shall indeed become a magnificent boon unto the lord with such a rare assemblage," another angel said.
"What if she were to face rejection? It would indeed bring harm upon us."
"They shall not even perceive her amidst a multitude of thousands."
"To what extent could our blessings reach?"
"Above our loftiest imaginings, and with such talents, it shall be of immense magnitude."
She understood they had all agreed to auction her off to the highest bidder. Yet she could not comprehend the entire situation. The enclosing barrier turned into a compact rectangular shape, limiting her ability to move.