Preparations Before the Final Battle; Riku's Despair / A Captured Human Settlement; Arriving at the Forest Dwellers' Capital

Because their earlier attempts to analyze An Xiu and the other two had all ended in failure, the Ex-Machina girl before them had no choice but to try to determine their identities and purpose through the inefficient method of asking aloud.

"My name is An Xiu. The two beside me are Jibril and Madoka. Strictly speaking, we don't belong to this world, so you can regard us as beings from beyond it."

"As for why we came to find you, that's simple too. Right now, because you've been trying to analyze the 'heart,' a large number of data errors should have appeared in you, causing you to be discarded by the Ex-Machina collective, correct?"

"Confirmed. Due to a large amount of erroneous data appearing in my computational logic, this unit has currently been disconnected. This unit is presently attempting to continue analyzing the data of the 'heart.'"

In response to An Xiu's question, the Ex-Machina girl gave an affirmative answer.

"In that case, follow me from now on. As long as you stay by my side, I guarantee you'll gradually be able to analyze the existence of the 'heart.'"

An Xiu formally extended an invitation to the Ex-Machina girl before him.

"Question. As long as this unit remains by your side, this unit will be able to analyze the existence of the 'heart'?"

"That's right. After all, the overwhelming majority of intelligent life has a 'heart.' Since you want to analyze the existence of the 'heart,' the best method is naturally to observe and learn from nearby."

An Xiu nodded with certainty.

In the end, when a machine that should originally have possessed no self-emotion or thought whatsoever developed the desire to understand the "heart," the Ex-Machina girl before him had already gained the embryonic form of a "heart."

Under