-2: 76
I walked out of Burningum's office, lost in thought. Even so, I made sure to organize things.
To start with...
Abnormal was officially being reinstated. The facilities would, of course, be on the surface at the Outpost. And while Burningum couldn't properly divert Ark exclusive resources towards running it, since I was the CEO, and since I had reclaimed the 5th Weapons Depot, he could at least give me that, along with what resources I had reclaimed, to help start it up.
In short, I was running a tech start up and allowed to toss on the Ark branding to my company, but it was up to me to bring it up to snuff. Nominally, it meant that people could no longer mess with me, and it also meant that my squad went from being something the Ark could order around to something that could choose to follow requests.
But there was a big caveat to Abnormal being acknowledged as a new manufacturer company.
Specifically, coming up with a means to produce Nikkes. Or at least, Nikke equivalents.
Missilis, Elysion, and Tetra Line all had unique means to produce Nikkes. While the baseline was the same, they had additional steps on top of that to distinguish the production methods.
And while Burningum was apparently in charge of that baseline production method... I wasn't authorized to use it.
In short, to properly be promoted to CEO status and to bring Abnormal as a proper manufacturer company to stand alongside the Big Three and bring me and everyone I cared about beyond the political intrigue of the Ark, I needed to derive Nikkes from first principles.
Now, that would normally be impossible.
After all, Nikke manufacturing was a critical Ark secret and vital to the continued existence of humanity. And it was so well-kept that even that supposedly high-tech 'Eden' that Burningum mentioned didn't possess it.
But he had faith that I could figure it out.
...And his faith wasn't unfounded.
After all, I was already 75% of the way there... probably closer now that Sophia had learned the V.T.C. tech from Neon's glasses.
Still...
'We'll need to shift gears again.'
Once we got Abnormal up and running properly, we could cleanly break from the Ark's control. Rather than a third party or a subordinate, we would become peers.
Moreover, the sooner I was away from the Ark, the better too.
Burningum had confirmed my suspicions in our talk: I was an exacerbating factor.
The Ark was already a powderkeg set to blow from the numerous parties vying for power.
There were the other Deputy Chiefs like Doban, who had their own agendas. There were the CEOs like Ingrid, Mustang, and the one who replaced Syuen, as well as Missilis's board of directors. Then there were the insurgents like Heavenly Ascension and the mysterious cyber threat...
And all of that on top of Raptures.
I frowned, absently making my way through the Central Government office building, still mulling over the next steps.
'The main goal here is resolving the Rapture threat.'
The old win condition was defeating the Rapture Queen.
Considering she appeared to be literally Jenova from Final Fantasy VII and chilling in a freaking space station of all things, that wasn't happening any time soon.
If I was the commander of Goddess Squad or basically any other commander, I'd be pretty much screwed.
But I wasn't.
Raptilion had showed it to me, and I had confirmed it with him: Raptures possessed the ability to adapt, evolve, and coexist with humanity. Not only that, but given proper incentive, they would adapt TOWARDS humanity.
And that was proven more by the existence of Heretic-Class Raptures, which were basically just Nikkes but running on a different infrastructure.
...Which was also strange.
'What is the difference between a Heretic and a Nikke anyway?'
Anachiro was said to be the first Heretic, the one who betrayed humanity and joined the Raptures... but obviously that was shady. There was a story there... and corruption couldn't be the only cause of it.
At least, corruption couldn't be the only difference between a Nikke and a Heretic.
'Hm... Would Rose be considered a Heretic?'
I didn't think about that until now... but the readings had mentioned that she had been repaired with Rapture components when I freed her. Not only that, but she was also missing her Nikke core and was somehow still running.
'Maybe it's just a difference in architecture?'
Nikkes seemed to be running a centralized system. If the brain was gone, they were dead. Very much still human.
But for Heretics... the notes that Burningum recently unredacted for me to review mentioned they possessed regeneration and could potentially recover even if their core was destroyed.
Which made me wonder.
'Is it a distributed system then? Maybe encapsulated on a small level and then synchronized to maintain a cohesive whole? But to do something like that you'd need like nanobots or something-'
I came to a sudden stop.
"...Oh. That WOULD explain it, wouldn't it?" I murmured.
Raptures used nanobots. That was common knowledge... I think.
Bit fuzzy on what they covered in the academy these days with all the other stuff I had to keep track of.
But if Raptures used nanobots, and if Heretics were the bigwigs, then Heretics must just have advanced nanobots.
And what was the epitome of nanobots?
A complete system miniturized and distributed across a frame. Just like a blockchain in cryptocurrency, where each chunk could repair the whole.
It wasn't perfect, of course. Even for blockchains, it was theoretically possible to hack it and corrupt future records. You just couldn't reasonably do it.
...At least, not where I came from.
But here...
Okay.
If we treated nanobots- No, 'nanomachines.'
If we treated the nanomachines making up a Heretic or a Nikke as a blockchain which encompassed the 'self,' then there were three main attack vectors.
The first was technical integrity. That was attacking the infrastructure itself.
In blockchains, that would be taking over 51% of every single node running the blockchain. Considering the internet ran blockchains, and considering the sheer number of devices back in my world, pretty much impossible.
But for a Nikke or a Heretic... not impossible.
It was a contained unit. The thing in front of you WAS the blockchain.
So, if you had some way to disrupt the infrastructure... if you could delete the nanomachines themselves... then they would just turn back into normal people. Or at least, MORTAL people.
But I didn't know how to do that, at least not cost-effectively.
I was sure I could figure out some scheme where we used energy waves to disrupt the nanomachines or some biological method to bruteforce the physiology to fight against the nanomachines on a cellular level, but that wasn't efficient.
The second, and slightly more feasible, way to attack blockchains was with a network attack. Instead of attacking the infrastructure itself, you attacked what it was calling out to. The means of communication.
I wasn't sure how you would do it for something like Bitcoin... maybe put out a blockchain of your own as a virus that updated in sync with the Bitcoin blockchain and blocked any communication?
But that was functionally what I did with Marian and Liberalio. Maybe with Wolfie and the others too.
Because I had laid out a set of clear axioms that were self-proving, it basically filled in the gaps where the Rapture Queen tried to operate.
...No, I guess it's more because I was running closer to the bare hardware?
The Rapture Queen was definitely competent. If we had to analogize, she was running proper compiled code on her Raptures and Heretics, as well as any Nikke she tried to corrupt.
But I was running raw binary that had been optimized to each bit.
In other words, skill issue, heh.
The third, and most feasible for me, way to attack blockchains was through fundamental cryptographic vulnerabilities to generate data that looked valid, but was fraudulent.
It would be near impossible to do back for Bitcoin due to the fact that you would have needed to break cryptography in half and over your nears in the first place, which would have made breaking Bitcoin like, the lowest priority on your list of things to exploit.
But here... it was definitely possible.
In fact, that was probably why Wolfie called me 'King.' And how Liberalio said I was similar to her mother...
I DEFINITELY wasn't a normal human. That boat had left shore AGES ago at this point.
But while I didn't know how or why, that meant that I counted as 'valid' to Raptures. And that was why they were confused when around me.
Since I felt like their leader, but slightly different, unless they got direct orders from the Rapture Queen to attack me, or unless they had a strong sense of self or will, they likely wouldn't.
...Or in other words, Lord-Class and higher, threats. Anything below that, complete non-starter.
Which meant that if I took advantage of that attack vector and then made sure to lay down a complete framework that was more all-encompassing and self-proving than the Rapture Queen would know how to do by virtue of her DEFINITELY not being human-
"Excuse me, Friend."
A polite and mature female voice broke me out of my thoughts.
When I looked up, I saw a beautiful woman with snowy white hair and violet eyes looking at me. She wore extraordinarily fluffy looking jacket with cranes and clouds embroidered on the hems, a... Chinese? Traditional dress with a hem that went to her mid-thigh and then black tights and white heels.
...Very dangerous looking. Also very much S-class zettai ryouiki and absolute territory.
The white-haired woman smiled at me and then handed over a tablet. "My name is Snow Crane. You are the Commander of the Brave Squad, yes?"
"That's right." I took the tablet, confused. "What's this for? Did Deputy Chief Burningum have something he forgot to give me?"
"No, no. This is a delivery from a client of mine. For more details, please refer to the tablet itself. I'm sure they will contact you shortly. Then, if you'll excuse me, Friend." Snow Crane smiled and then walked deeper into the offices.
"Huh."
Since it was probably important, I decided to make my way out of the Central Government offices first before taking a look at it.
But the moment I took a step, a notification popped up on the screen, along with a message.
Thankfully, there was a privacy screen protector on so the message was only visible to me.
Even so, I reflexively hugged the tablet to my chest and quickly walked out.
And the reason for that...
===
[Syuen (THE REAL ONE DAMMIT)]
> Syuen: Hey! You crazy inhuman bastard!
> Syuen: I know you have this!
> Syuen: You had BETTER not forget about me!
> Syuen: Those goddamned cheating bastards killed me and stole my body, so don't fall for any tricks, got it?!
> Syuen: Also, get the hell out of the Ark! Things are about to explode there!
> Syuen: Maybe literally!
===
...A flurry of angry and instant text messages popped up one after the other the moment I glanced at the screen.
I had... SO many questions.
But Syuen was right. I had to get out of here before things hit the fan.
So, making sure to hold the tablet securely under my arm, I pulled out my phone to tell everyone to meet up and head back to the Outpost.
And then someone called out to me. A familiar voice, and one that belonged to the person who was just texting me.
"My, my, Commander. Meeting with the Central Government before me? Even after all I did for you?"
I looked up to see Syuen... No. 'Something' wearing Syuen's body standing before me.
She looked similar, but slightly different. Still young and petite. Also still with that black hair and lilac highlight.
Her voice was the same too.
But I could immediately tell it wasn't her.
Because that 'something' was holding her face up with her hand and keeping one arm crossed over her chest. Something that would have been alluring or teasing on another woman, and what that person probably thought came off as petulant.
But Syuen hadn't been like that.
Straightforward with her duplicity, easily frustrated, on-edge like she HAD to get things done... That was Syuen.
Not this relaxed, analytical, and smiling 'thing.'
...And yes, 'thing.'
Because whatever the hell this thing was, it didn't come off as 'alive' to me.
Instead, it was something faking being alive.
Still, I smiled and said, "Duty calls, Miss Syuen. And I heard you were busy. That's why I didn't get a chance to talk with you about my last armor upgrade."
Fake Syuen chuckled and said, "Well, since you've been moving on up in the world, make sure to not forget Missilis. And thanks for keeping an eye on Matis for me. Make sure to send them in for maintenance soon."
I smiled back and said, "They're still a bit busy. But I'll make a note of it." I looked at her and said, "I heard that you became a Nikke recently... those bastards really forced you into it after you gave me the V.T.C. technology, huh?"
A test. A probe.
I was sure of it. Nobody but me and Syuen knew our real dynamic after that incident.
But if they took her brain, it was possible they scanned it... and also possible they learned what we talked about.
So this was a test. If she knew any details about Fluctlight or the other things we talked about...
It would be a hassle, but she had to die here.
Still-
"Well, it's for Missilis' sake." Fake Syuen giggled and said, "I'm the face of the company, so with everything going on, it's only right that I take responsibility. But I think becoming a Nikke messed with my head a little... What exactly did we talk about with the V.T.C. technology again?"
'...Huh.'
A plausible excuse.
The conversion process was known to cause personality shifts and also memory loss. So it would definitely cover any gaps in her actions.
...But this person clearly didn't know then.
If Syuen became a Nikke voluntarily, due to knowing how Fluctlights worked along with everything else, she would have had perfect recall.
The fact that this person was probing meant that she didn't know anything.
Especially since she perked up at the V.T.C. technology.
...But this was a good chance for me then.
She didn't know what I knew. But I could learn what she knew.
I made a show of looking around and leaned in to whisper. "You know? The fact that the Vatican had the soul transfer technology for human bodies and that the NIMPHs are actually alien technology. We were planning to use it to flip the board on the other manufacturers and the Central Government. Remember?"
It was a lie. But at the same time, it could be true.
I spoke it with conviction because I anticipated something like that existed. And considering that the person in front of me wasn't Syuen but a fake, it was already proof in the pudding.
But as for the Fake Syuen...
Her violet eyes genuinely widened in shock. Then she quickly looked around before staring at me with mild frustration. "You can't just say those things in public, idiot."
Not a denial, but instead a confirmation paired with a warning.
...Damn.
So we WERE doing that storyline, huh? Church found alien tech, Pope figured out how to be immortal by bodyhopping, and Nikkes were a byproduct...
Fake Syuen shook her head and said, "I'm busy. You are too, right? We'll talk soon, but don't go blabbing your mouth." After that, she walked off, mimicking Syuen's habits a bit.
But as for me...
Well.
I was sure the real Syuen had a lot to say considering the tablet clearly picked up whatever was happening around it for her.
For now though...
I pulled my phone out and sent a message in the group chat to meet back at the elevator.
After that, I headed towards Royal Road.
...Since I was here, I might as well do a bit of shopping. Play it cool for a bit and pretend to not be a threat while organizing information.
Marian was completely safe since she was with Eternity, and Suri was paranoid enough to pick up on any issues.
Rapi was with Neon, and since the latter had become Nova Neon as well as stupidly overspecced and overpowered, I didn't have to worry about them either.
In fact...
"Huh. Am I... the weakest link right now? Well, I guess I'm always the weakest link, but-"
"Oh my god! The Valiant?! Here?! In the Ark?!"
I blinked, looking towards the person who called out.
Then I did a double take, because that was NOT who I expected to call out to me. "Ark Ranger Black?!"
Ark Ranger Black laughed and ran over, her blue-tinged gray ponytail fluttering as she did. Wearing her usual black body suit, she beamed at me and said, "I'm a huge fan!"
My eyes lit up and said, "No, I'M a huge fan!" I eyed the glowing blue gem on over her collarbone and said, "Do you really transform?"
"Yes!" She struck a pose and said, "Never fear...!"
"No way...!"
I watched with wide eyes.
Because, goddammit this was a REAL Sentai transformation- NO. A full-on POWER RANGER transformation.
Blue light spread from her gem, wreathing her body. And then when it finished, she was wearing a full sleek black suit, complete with a black lion themed helmet.
Ark Ranger Black pointed at me and said, "As long as the Ark Rangers are here, the Ark will never fall!"
"Oh, I have to do this. I HAVE to."
Seeing her in full gear, I swept out my left hand, where my glowing White Dragon- I mean, White POWER Gem was resting.
"...Eh?" Ark Ranger Black tilted her head. Then, although I couldn't see her face, I could practically feel the enthusiasm radiating off her. "Is that...?!"
"It's morphing time! White Ranger, Drago Dinopower!"
White light erupted around me before immediately reshaping my armor and clothes into the Power Ranger- I mean, 'power armor' suit.
Drawing my Zweihander, I pointed it at the sky and said, "Have no fear, the White Ranger is here!"
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"So long as I stand, the world will never end. Because...!"
A crowd started to form. Phones were out, pictures were being taken...
And seeing that, I showboated a bit more, resting my Zweihander on my shoulders before striking a pose, pointing up at the sky. "I am the Valiant! The Hero of Omnipotent Powers Annihilated!"
*BOOM*
...And of course, as if to spite me, an explosion erupted where I pointed, creating a hole in the Dome of Eternity and the artificial sky.
Son of a-!