Steampunk Era: Mad Abield

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The elevator to the bottom of the underground didn’t get stuck halfway down as in the movies, nor did its cable snap, plummeting to the bottom. Although Miss Dar complained and screamed continuously, she eventually opened the elevator door, welcoming Malin and his party into her control room.

Mr. Big Toe and Mr. Mison were dumbfounded by the forest of cell storage tanks outside the control room. People of this era call those from before the Great Destruction Era the ancients, but they couldn’t truly understand them.

They couldn’t grasp what sacrifices the ancients had made to survive, to preserve life, and to maintain civilization.

"Welcome to my control room. Having Jason as your servant must mean you are an extraordinary gentleman, but looking at your appearance, you do not seem like a descendant of the nobility I’m familiar with." Miss Val had a shell of a fully bionic person, resembling a standard Francais girl... of course, certainly not one from the Zero-Cost Purchase Era, more like a Francais girl from the Sophie Marso era.

"He has a soul from the 21st century, from before the Great Destruction, even before the Union," Jason said proudly. "He can even catch the interest of the Lord of Justice, that outer deity."

"Jason, I’ve told you not to refer to the Lord of Justice as an outer deity. He was summoned by the remnants of the Great Destruction Era at the cost of their own lives."

Malin was somewhat surprised by Val’s words: "The Lord of Justice... was summoned by the remnants of the Great Destruction Era?"

"Yes, Mr. Malin, I’ve noticed your situation. When Jason referred to you in that way, you didn’t show any anomalous reaction, which indicates that you must indeed be from that era. As such, I believe it’s inappropriate for only Jason, an AI, to instill in you his AI-biased views. Therefore, I will also become your companion." With that said, she showed Malin her body: "You see, my body is so realistic, almost like that of a real person. Having me by your side will certainly be more fitting than Jason."

"Shut your damn mouth, I also have a body of my own." Jason appeared to be in a rage of impotence.

And Val’s next words confirmed his predicament: "Your body, are you referring to that little boy who still lies with the Jeanne d’Arc at the bottom of the Western Pacific, or to that adult bionic body that got sucked into the void by crustal and unknown subspace fluctuations?"