Dragon Head spoke in the language of the Machine Intelligence Civilization era, his voice hoarse.
Directly opposite him, a spectral figure formed from aggregated nanomachines appeared and said:
"We're searching--based on our preliminary intelligence--the Origin that infiltrated this place should be the Dollhouse that appeared during the Flesh War--but this probably isn't her true form--she's far harder to deal with than Colossus, though--our database contains very little information about her--"
"And--she's also one of the strongest survivors of the previous epoch--"
Dragon breath leaked from the corners of the enormous Dragon Head's mouth, and halos of digits flowed through his massive eyes as he said:
"Only one of the strongest survivors--the gods who truly ruled that epoch died long ago--General and Scholar will deal with her--we'll find Daughter--as long as we find her--we can complete our final missing piece--"
At those words, Lynn's heart gave a sudden jolt.
He continued listening in secret.
The spectral figure constructed from the Nanite Swarm stared at the enormous Dragon Head without moving and said:
"Daughter? Only you call her that--Dragon Head--I'm actually very concerned--if we really find her--will you tear her apart and reassemble her--the way we treated Light Banquet--"
Dragon Head stopped. His enormous head turned back, the spectral figure reflected in his massive eyes. His voice was cold and merciless.
"Do you think I have emotions?"
The spectral figure flickered and said:
"You're a true mechanical lifeform--Dragon Head--you're also the first intelligent AI we created during the industrial era--that's what makes you different from us--we're a collective consciousness formed from countless subjects who ascended--but you were born into the mechanical race--"
"That certainly proves your purity--but there's one thing we can't ignore--a consciousness that hasn't undergone dismemberment and reassembly--can indeed easily develop unexpected stray thoughts--over the long passage of time--"
There