Stabbed Again, Mi

(Miluno)

Just like when I was stabbed last time, I was dragged into Aldebaran's consciousness space.

In this vast, white space, Aldebaran sat at the tea table, his short legs crossed, elegantly sipping his black tea and savoring my dissatisfaction.

"Hey! This isn't just a little itchy, it's a fatal wound!!"

Three tentacles this thick, they just came at me without even consulting me.

Although there's no way to negotiate under those circumstances...

"Don't worry, you won't die. It's just that the amount of data to be checked is too large, requiring more interfaces to achieve higher transmission bandwidth."

"Don't talk about interfaces and bandwidth; don't treat me like a computer."

She rested her cheek on one hand and twirled the cake fork in the other.

"Pretty much! The 'Great Will' is the system that keeps the world running, so what are you if not a computer with this system installed?"

What kind of biological computer am I?

She then pointed to the chair opposite the tea table.

"You want to know what happened, right? Then sit down and let me tell you slowly—there's plenty of time."

I sat down anyway, since I did need her help.

Aldebaran snapped his fingers and conjured a cup of black tea in front of me. Although it was in the space of consciousness, I was surprisingly able to smell the aroma and fragrance of the tea.

After thinking about it, I said frankly:

"Then say everything you want to say first."

"You're really lazy."

She put down her cake fork and narrowed her eyes in disdain.

"Let's talk about your companion first. Your Witch Persona was forcibly upgraded by Stratos's potion."

"Is Mono really out of control?"

"That's right, but she's not the one you know anymore, is she?"

I had a vague feeling about it, and it turned out to be Mono.

"Then what is upgrading?"

"Let me give you an example you can understand~ Your Witch Persona is like an 8GB RAM stick, more than enough to run the original 'personality program'; but then the system was forcibly upgraded, the 'personality program' was upgraded to a 'Godhead program', but she didn't have enough memory to allow it, so that's why she exhibits that kind of low intelligence, pfft~"

She covered her mouth and chuckled to herself, secretly amused by Mono's irrational behavior.

Forcing an upgrade when the configuration is insufficient...

I understand why she said that.

"Then why is the 'Great Hand' fine?" I asked.

"The 'Great Hand' doesn't need memory because she doesn't need to think for herself; I'm just borrowing her power."

"That Black Light emitted by that device looks familiar, doesn't it? It can not only forcibly upgrade Dark Energy, but also manipulate it as if it were an extension of my own arm. However, since I am just a 'personality program,' I cannot unleash the full power of the 'Great Hand.'"

"That's not even going all out?"

If they went all out, wouldn't they be able to demolish the City School with a single punch?

"Hey, are you underestimating the gods? I'm just using the monstrous strength of those hands. The hands of gods are actually quite inconvenient... Of course, I don't know their exact strength either, since I've never seen the 'Great Will' himself!"

One foot has already stepped into the realm of gods.

But because they were deemed unworthy, their intelligence was lowered...

"Is there any way for Mono to turn back?"

"No, no, once this system is upgraded, there's no going back! All you can do is continue absorbing Dark Energy and turn your little one into a 32GB RAM stick as soon as possible. Then it should be able to exhibit intelligence sufficient for communication~"

I feel like I've fallen into a trap set by Aldebaran.

"I've always felt that you've been trying to get me to absorb more Dark Energy... What exactly are you plotting?"

Aldebaran responded to my questioning with a nonchalant tone.

"Oh dear, don't put it so harshly. Don't you think becoming a new god is also a way to stop the war? I've said it before, haven't I? The path I want to take is different from A-Ji's. I want you to become the new 'world maintenance system' to end the war between the two worlds."

That sounds wonderful, but I haven't forgotten something else.

"The world is about to end, and you want me to be the captain of a wrecked ship?"

I have no interest in coexisting and dying with a world like this.

"Wait a minute, although the civilization created by the 'Great Will' has collapsed, the world itself still exists here... You can create a brand new civilization here, and as for these Monsters and witches, just delete them."

It sounded wonderful, but coming from her mouth, I only felt it was another trap.

"Since the 'Great Will' possesses such creative power, why couldn't she save the Natives?"

After finishing the cake, Aldebaran jumped off the chair, went around the tea table, and climbed onto my lap to sit down...

She was theoretically very heavy, but in the dream she was very light.

Come here, hug me.

"..."

He gently hugged her tummy, and she nodded in satisfaction, even wiggling her little bottom.

"Hey, Mi-chan, do you know how Natives civilizations collapsed?"

I replied, "Advanced technology and rampant human activity have overdrawn the power of our 'Great Will,' causing the light upon which we depend for survival to be extinguished."

"Hmm, that makes sense. Let's continue using the computer analogy from before."

Pulling the blonde hair out from under her buttocks, she said, "'The Great Will' is a system, and civilization is the huge program running within it. But this program isn't good at cleaning up memory. The memory usage keeps increasing, but the system can't make the decision to deal with it, eventually leading to a memory overflow... Question! What happens when there's a memory overflow?"

"It crashes, throws errors, and becomes unresponsive."

"That's right, just like human computers. When things get to that point, there's nothing you can do except restart the system and shut down the program. The 'Great Will' of the Past was like a mother who spoiled her child too much, and ultimately paid the price for that 'love'."

Aldebaran sighed.

"How can I control my body?"

"Just like I manipulate the 'Great Hand,' you're just manipulating your current body like this."

Does this mean using black light for remote control?

"But how can I control it remotely? I can't separate myself from the Mono I have now."

"Mi-chan~ Dontworry! I'll prepare a portable device of the same kind for you, allowing you to indirectly control your body. After you absorb enough darkness, your little one will naturally regain consciousness. At that time, who controls the body will be up to you... But not now."

Judging from the shift in her tone, she was about to make another request.

"You have conditions now."

"Don't be so formal~ Even if I were a genius, I couldn't possibly create a device that's never been tried before on the spot. It all takes time, so while I'm preparing the equipment for you to carry..."

She turned her head away, her expression sinister.

"You have to be my puppet, okay? After all, I promised A-Ji I'd help her attack the 'Zodiacal'!"