My consciousness surfaced again, but this time I was back in the New World.
"...The Lunar Palace again?"
Virtual though it was, it didn't follow the rule of logging back in wherever you had logged out.
No matter what, Mi Xue would keep me confined to this empty Lunar Palace, this familiar, cavernous hall, this familiar birdcage.
"Have you met the real Aunt Ceruno yet?"
Mi Xue appeared before me, but "little sister Ceruno" was nowhere to be seen beside her.
I admitted it outright.
"Yes. I know what you're trying to do."
The little girl paced back and forth in front of me, her hands behind her back.
"So what if you know? You can't stop me. Your power is still growing."
"Even if you resurrect her, the Proxy won't accept an outcome like this. She'd rather you lived. She really does see you as her child, after all."
"I know, Auntie. But isn't it normal for a child to want her father to live?"
Seriously, who had this girl's mule-headed stubbornness come from?!
I reached out, pulled her over, and pushed her facedown across my lap, then raised my hand and smacked her bottom. She obligingly screamed.
But in reality, this was no threat to her at all.
The girl before me wasn't even an avatar. She was nothing but virtual data.
"Have you never considered the possibility of both you and the Proxy surviving?"
"I ran simulations of that ages ago."
"Maybe there's some variable you overlooked?"
She didn't answer. She just rolled over on my lap and looked up at me.
"Auntie, will you help me? As long as Dad comes back to life, this little nuisance will disappear. I'll never bother you again."
"You stupid girl. People will be heartbroken."
"I never should have existed