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"Alright." I clapped my hands together after everyone finished thinking about the implications. "Focus. Setting aside the fact that it's now practically confirmed I'm a test tube baby who is likely genetically engineered to be peak human potential..."
Which, honestly, explained A LOT about the stunts I've been able to pull since getting here.
"...We still have to talk about our plans going forward."
"Oh, right!" Neon sat up in her chair. "We were talking about missions before we got sidetracked!"
"Oh yeah." Anis nodded. "All of this started because you said we have to reclaim key terrain, right, Commander? What's the plan for that?"
"Well." I looked at Rapi. "I WAS going to go in blindly. But since we apparently have a legendary Nikke trapped in our friend's head here, why don't we pick her brain instead?"
Rapi frowned. "That's-" Rapi's eyes widened before flickering red. Then a voice that was hers, but shifted a bit differently spoke up. "Sorry, Little Boss. But I'm retired. Think of me as a cheerleader on Rapi's side. Unless you can get me into a spare body or something, I think it's best if-"
"I can though?"
"...Huh?"
===
I turned on the lights to the recycling center. "Alright, Sophia. We have a willing volunteer here for our experiments."
Anis walked in beside me and frowned. "Sophia? Hey, Commander. Have you SERIOUSLY been seeing other women even with all of us here?"
"Not quite." I walked over to the computer and turned it on. Then I said, "Change of plans. We're basically gearing into kingdom building mode and we have a willing scapegoat for any research breakthroughs we make, so now we can drop the pretenses and focus on researching that stuff in earnest."
Silence.
Rapi walked over and said, "Commander. Who are you-?"
Neon gasped and pointed at the console. "There!"
> Creator. You... have no sense of tact, do you?
Endless walked over and stared at the computer for a long moment. Then she slowly looked at me. "...Commander? Am I... not enough for you?"
"E-Endless?"
Endless lowered her head and looked up at me through her bangs, a soft pout on her face. "You were not satisfied with one AI and you built another in solitude...? For self-satisfaction...?"
"...Okay. I'm going to have a word with Mari later. She's teaching you weird things."
> Rest easy, Endless. I am most definitely not romantically interested in Creator. In fact, I want to wring his neck.
Endless frowned. "That does not preclude romantic interest. Lady Marian does as well- MMPH?!"
I clamped my hand over Endless's mouth and said, "Focus. Anyway, Sophia. Give a brief summary about our Reploid and Fluctlight project to the others. Rapi here has apparently dual-loaded minds."
> ...I beg your pardon?
Rapi stepped forward, staring at the terminal. "Miss Sophia. The current status is... Actually. Would a CombiLink connection be faster to judge the situation?"
I blinked. "Wait. You're not going to-"
> It would help a lot, yes.
"Understood." Rapi nodded and picked up a cord from the computer. Then she raised it up towards her chest.
I immediately turned about face.
Anis noticed and said, "Woooow. You're that shy about just a little skin, Commander? Even after everything you've already done to Mari and Endless apparently?"
"No. I just would rather not see a cord stuck into a human-looking body. Mental dissonance is a bit much."
"...Oh. Fair." Anis nodded. "Even for us Nikke, it's a bit to get used to..."
"It's done." Rapi stepped back, fixing up her shirt.
I turned around and said, "Alright. Sophia?"
> ...It's as you posited, Commander. While we do not have conclusive proof, there is a 90% likelihood that NIMPH operate via Fluctlights and that the self-image can affect the form of the body. Nikke are idealized bodies reflecting the sense of self, and considering that Rapi's body can shift to Red Hood's when Red Hood's personality is dominant, it suggests many promising avenues.
I read the message. Then I hummed. "Any chance we can get her up and running soon?"
Rapi froze and slowly looked at me. "Up and running...? Commander. Do you mean...?"
"Yeah." I grinned and looked at her. "Let's bring a Goddess back to life, shall we?"
===
The plan was simple in theory, difficult in execution. At least, a completeed execution.
Since Red Hood was functionally another operating system running in Rapi's hardware... which was a weird thing to think about since it was literally Rapi's brain.
But anyway, since that was the case, and since we knew exactly which parts of the software belonged to a 'self,' it was possible to partition Red Hood out and place her somewhere else.
Of course, we didn't have a spare body for her. Not to the caliber of a Nikke.
I still didn't know how to produce one, after all. As far as I knew, it was black magic since, as far as I could tell, it was literally like Heaven's Feel from the Nasuverse.
But if I treated it as just downloading and re-uploading a partitioned harddrive, it made more sense.
...Well, I said that, but Sophia was the one doing the actual implementation.
I was very much more the idea guy, you know?
As for what kind of spare body we had...
"Well. This is weird." Red Hood looked down at her body and moved her mechanical arms. "...Huh. It's like one of Snow's games."
...Imagine like a default untextured 3D printed figurine, but with a finished head.
Or, if you were familiar with Megaman, the classic reploid, where there was a human-looking head over a mechanical body.
As for what said human-looking head looked like... Sophia managed to pull old pictures of Red Hood, so she modeled it after her real appearance.
Surprisingly, Red Hood looked roughly like Rapi... maybe since they shared a body at one point? That, or Rapi's 'ideal form' was Red Hood?
...I think this was kind of like an Emiya Shirou and EMIYA kind of deal. Like when Shirou lost his arm trying to save Sakura and had to get Archer's arm embedded in him, gradually adjusting his body to suit the stronger soul-
Huh.
Funny coincidence.
Rapi blinked and stared at the female android across from her. "...Red Hood?"
"Hold on, Rapi." Red Hood awkwardly moved her arms and said, "Huh. Lil Boss, I get that you and your AI friend are smart for being able to pull me out of Rapi's head... but do I really have to control this body like some game?"
I nodded. "We managed to extract your... Well, I guess it really is a 'DNA Soul' from Rapi's NIMPH. Anyway, we managed to extract 'you' from Rapi and store you in a quartz crystal lattice meant to hold photons via modified fiber optic technology-"
"Blah blah... save the fancy stuff for someone like Snow, Lil Boss. Just give me the rough and dirty version."
Rapi blushed. "R-Red Hood!"
"What?" Red Hood spun her head around to look at Rapi. "...Whoa. Wait, can I spin my head all the way around? ...I can! That's freaky... I love it." Red Hood laughed.
Rapi sighed. "...Commander."
"Yes, Rapi?"
"I'm resigning."
"Resignation refused."
"Darn."
"Uh." Anis slowly raised her hand. "I get that we're running a clown show apparently now, but... we have guests." After saying that, Anis pointed off in the distance through the window, where Marian was walking back with three other Nikke in tow.
"Oh, cool." Red Hood chuckled. "More people to spook."
"Red Hood. I swear." Rapi sighed. "Can you PLEASE behave. Just for a bit? I'm still trying to process this..."
Anis nodded. "Yeah... me too. And look at Neon. She's literally fainted."
"Huh?" I glanced over at Neon to see that, yes, she had indeed fainted. And she was muttering things like 'Ultimate Firepower' and 'Army of Mecha Neons...'
...Hm.
Noted for later.
I could TOTALLY make a Gundam in hindsight...
But anyway.
"Alright. I'm off to greet our new team members. Behave while I'm gone, Girls."
Rapi sighed. "I'll try to get Red Hood adjusted. There's a lot to talk about."
Anis sighed and walked over to pick up Neon. "I'll bring Neon back to her room... Endless, you coming?"
Endless nodded. "Yes. I have more ideas to discuss with Neon when she wakes."
"...I don't like the sound of that. But... eh, not my problem. Right Commander?"
I paused. Then I sighed. "...Yeah. It's my problem. But I'll deal with it later."
Too much was going on right now...
One thing at a time.
===
Back in my office yet again.
I'd skimmed the brief about Matis transferring over, so I at least recognized each member's face.
But I didn't know anything about their personalities or personal details, wanting to get a proper first impression.
"So you're the commander!" Drake laughed and said, "You have the perfect face for a villain, you know?"
Laplace crossed her arms and said, "He does not! He has the face of a hero!"
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
Maxwell sighed. "...They're always like that."
"...Alright. I can- Wait." I did a double take when I saw Maxwell's face.
Maxwell blushed. "W-What is it, Commander?"
"Saber?"
Maxwell blinked. "...No? My name is Maxwell. And I don't use swords..."
Laplace's eyes lit up. "YES! Maxwell! You should wield a saber! It would be super heroic!"
Drake covered her face, her mask snapping into action around her hand. "Yes... yes! A sword... it would be perfect for me as well! A true villain should have a glowing crimson blade!"
Maxwell sighed.
I coughed. "Sorry about that. You just reminded me of someone."
Maxwell tilted her head. "Really? Who?"
Laplace's eyes lit up as she looked at me. "Yes! It would HAVE to be someone heroic if Maxwell reminded you of her, right?"
"No!" Drake crossed her arms and said, "It's obviously someone villainous!"
I paused. "...Technically, both?"
Saber DID have an Alter form, after all...
Maxwell gave me a blank stare. Then she muttered, "Oh god, he's just like them."
"Excuse me?" I blinked, looking at Maxwell.
"HAH!" Drake puffed her chest out, causing her crimson coat to flutter like a cape. "I knew it! Our Commander is definitely villainous! A true Demon Lord! That's why he has a harem of beautiful women!"
"That's not true!" Laplace immediately rebutted her. "Commander is a hero! Only heroes get beautiful women to fall for them!"
"Not true! Villains get aaaall the ladies. Look it up!"
"H-Heroes do too!"
Maxwell groaned. "Can you two be serious?"
I chuckled and said, "I don't mind. It's fun."
Laplace's blue eyes lit up with joy. "Really?! You don't mind it?!"
Drake's crimson eyes lit up with excitement. "Hah! I knew it! A true villain doesn't care what the normal citizens think!"
Maxwell covered her face. "...This is my life. They were bad enough, but our Commander's an enabler..."
...Sorry, Maxwell. You'll get along better with Rapi and Marian.
But...
I looked at Laplace and Drake and said, "Villain, Hero... only fools label themselves with such trifling titles. Me?" I stood up and placed one foot on my desk, leaning forward with one knee up. "I'm the protagonist."
"WHOA!"
"OOOOOH! COMMANDER!" Laplace gave me a thumbs up. "AMAZING!"
I chuckled. "If you think that's amazing... behold!" I stuck my left hand out and said, "Sealed within this arm is a great evil... the Dark Flame Dragon."
Maxwell groaned.