Chapter 326: Existialism, don’t we love it?

"I am back~" Ale said as she waved her phone above the digital lock, Big Sister had sent her a digital key to the apartment, all she needed was to broadcast it with a dedicated app and free way to open the door. She also could just use her new mastery over machines and practical application of mana to get the door open.

Actually, didn't that mean that she could very much open most of these locked doors that she had walked past?

[The possibilities of such a weakness to have been left unattended when Technopath Core and Machine Cores are a possibility are low. More so in a sector where the main Villain is a known Machine user make it even lower.]

Main Core was right on that of course, but even so Ale couldn't help but wonder.

[A passive scanning has shown some part of the devices that are sensitive the mana wavelengths, such parts seem to be designed to burst at tampering, turning the attempt at subverting this using standard method unsustainable.]

Oh…

So that was that, Ale sighed at herself as the door closed behind her as she walked in.

[Unless Mistress replaced the whole device in one go.]

"So I can?!?!?" Ale couldn't help but quickly turn to stare at the closing door.

"What can you do?" Big Sister asked as she waved at her from the sofa, she was reading a magazine while drinking from a can… A can that was most definitely not soda.

"Something productive? Or at least entertaining." [Golem] said from the side, he was sitting in a chair made out of stone… In any other case Ale would have been confused, but if she was guessing, he was doing this so he could become his more imposing figure faster.

"Hack the electronic locks." Ale said pointing behind her, "I was opening the door with the cellphone when the idea came to my mind."

"They are designed to burn as soon as someone tried to tamper with them." [Golem] said from the side, "A few years back there was a Tinker core user that got a little too trigger happy, so they redesigned it whole, so now if someone tampers with them using Core Powers they burn and sound a very shrill alarm."

"Yeah, I got that impression from my scan." Ale said nodding, "But my particular version of Core Powers lets me remake them whole, and so, if I flash remake them fast enough, I can get them to open without activating the alarm."

Ale was surprised no one had found that weakness, perhaps she could get one over Alexanders by pointing the flaw of the system?

"… Say… Don't you think she is dumber now?" Big Sister said turning to [Golem], "I mean, obviously she is smarter in some aspects, but I can't feel but feel like she is somehow dumber than before."

"It's more like before she moved and reasoned closer to a machine than a human." [Golem] said shaking his head, "We didn't get as many moments where she was just… a overstimulated teenager with their 'Smart Ideas'."

Well, rude. "I am not… degenerating… I think." Ale didn't think she was dumber than before, her analytic mind worked as well as always, "Right?"

[Mistress general analytic and reasoning skills are above the minimum average human.]

See!

[Also, Mistress is currently acclimating to the changes to the brain associated by mana affecting the higher reasoning skills, so perhaps that is what they are perceiving

"It may have to do with how my Core power works different than before." Ale said, in no so many words. She had already t old and shown how it worked nowadays, so she didn't need to extrapolate further on it, did she? "The point being, if I am willing to burn some extra mana I could probably open any electronic lock."

"And the fact that you don't see the issue is part of why we think you are, perhaps not as smart as before." Big Sister said smiling at her, why? What was so funny. "If all you wanted was to open a door, it would be easier for you to break it down."

"Ah." Ale said the single syllable, that… That was actually true, "I mean… If we needed to enter stealthily…"

"Wouldn't it be easier to use your faculties as a shapeshifter instead?" [Golem] pointed out, "Or we could even use Skye's power since she has shown her powers as a teleporter, could you breach the door and teleport us across it?"

"Yeah, I could probably also check if someone was inside too, and get whatever they want us to get." Big Sister said shrugging, "I mean. Can you even shapeshift like before? Wasn't your thing now fully mechanical now?"

"I… can to some degree… I think." Ale said thinking back on it, "I will need to work on a few things before, but I will probably be able to do it or pass it up as what I used to do before soon enough. Albeit I will probably need to work extra hard to get past the limitation on size… Depending on how I address it."

"You don't need to go all that far just to pretend your power is still working the same as before." [Golem] pointed from the side, standing up and stretching, even if he didn't have muscles to stretch, "Focus on furthering your power, the way you want. If that means you can't no longer fulfill the promise you made to me, that is okay too."

"Oh, that will not be an issue." Ale said shaking her head, "I will be able to help you on that, but not because I am going out of my way to do it."

Even if to some degree, Ale was indeed going out of her way to find a way to help [Golem], "But it will be because my power is already moving towards that. Besides, helping you will net me a nice extra bonus from Vulcanus." Ale couldn't help but smile somewhat evilly at that statement.

"Vulcanus?" Big Sister asked confused, "What does he has to do with this, was this why you wanted to go and speak with him?"

"…Are you also helping him? Did he order you to pursue this path?" [Golem]'s face seemed to turn sharper and his fists grew spikes, as if he was preparing to fight.

"He actually asked me to not pursue this path." Ale said shaking her head, "He didn't call me for this either, he just gave me some extra data on the mission."

Namely, the person providing the information and the reason why he believed it.

"But this." Ale said raising her index finger and extending a tendril of synthetic flesh, the one that formed the… weird tentacle thing that she had released before, "Is the key to all of that, this is not entirely biological, but is also not a machine… in the truest sense of the word."

Ale had scanned the thing with her Core Powers, and this was closer to an amalgamation of biomass and nanite flesh, but it was not actually either, not fully. If one thought about it as machine, then sure, it was filled to the brim with nanites, so it could qualify as machine. But if one thought about it as biological, then it was also true, it had its own bio organic make up..

Bio organic… wasn't that redundant? Either way, Ale was naming it like that and since she made it, then it would stick… and… oh god, she truly was turning more infantile… childish… The horror, she was becoming someone like Alexanders.

"So long you are sure." [Golem] said, still somewhat unsure about it, "So, are you missing someone to speak with while here? Do you want to go and check on Alexa's friends? Your own friends?"

…Ale did not, in fact, want to see the little shits. She wouldn't mind meeting up with Dylan/Bryan. As for other possible friends? All she had was a few Aleniated she kept contact with because they hit up well enough, and some streaming friends. But those she could speak and chat with them through messages. So it wasn't something she needed to worry about.

"Not really." Ale answered after giving that a thought over, "Alexa's friends are little pieces of shit that aren't worth to think a bout. If anything I am still pissed at them for the whole deal with them."

"You mean the rescue mission?" Big Sister asked sighing, "Yeah, we raised a complain about it when we found out, but them the breaks. Big Corpo bullshit."

"The what?" Ale said confused, "They got embroiled in a rescue mission? Serves them right, man what I would have given to see that play out…"

"Vulcanus didn't told you?" [Golem] said tilting his head, "The two sidekicks that you went to rescue, the reason you ended up finding that facility where you ran away from… They were Alexa's friends."

"…They fucking what?" Ale said as her brain turned into mush, "… They…."

Ale rechecked what she knew, the memories she had about the events that happened that day, the memories about what happened, in what order and how they developed, she had been surprised at the fact that the Starcroft brat was a sidekick, one powerful, but she had assumed that was as much as she would end up dealing with. There was no way that more people would be tied to them.

What kind of substandard plot was this?!?!? "REALLY?!?!?!?" Ale screamed as she released all the pent up mana she had saved for emergencies in a way of frustration.

[Notice, reserved mana for emergency measures.]

Or well, as much as she could, since apparently Main Core was still working as intended, or well, ensuring Ale did not do something stupid.

"… I hate it here." Ale said sighing as she let herself fall to her knees. "The little shits that I worked so hard to save, are the sames that tried to bully Alexa into using her powers to save their lives? Even though Alexa would have saved their worthless lives?"

"…They did what?" Big Sister asked, there was now a frown on her face, "We knew they were classmates of Alexa since Eleanore told us to go check on them to see if Alexa had gone with them."

Of course [Eleanore] had stuck her hands in this. Because why the hell wouldn't she?

"They had some genetic defects, Alexa ensured they didn't had them anymore." Ale said pointing at the TV and sending the full scan and diagnosis of what had been going on with Alan Harmonia and Gloria Blackthorn, "

Both Big Sister and [Golem] turned their eyes to that and read the data that Ale had provided, since they seemed interested in it, Ale went ahead and also showcased how they looked after Alexa was done with them. Of course she didn't went as far as including actual pictures (She had access to said data and could stream it if she wanted, but even as pissed as she was, she was still rational enough to not cross said boundaries on the privacy, unlike other people).

"So yeah, the little shits are the reason I believe that we can get you a normal body." Ale said pointing at [Golem], "If nothing else, Alexa has proven that it is possible."

"But they cured issues, not outright remake the body." [Golem] said in a sedated tone, "I do not have a base for you to work out from."

"And that's where you are wrong." Ale said shaking her head, "Our power, both mine and Alexa is not as simple as merely changing something. It looks like that sure, but we are more along the lines of deconstructing the base and making it anew, Alexa made it look like she merely fixed it, but she basically destroyed their body and remade it anew…"

Ale stopped to think about it, remembering a certain story about a ship and the doubts about if it was the same ship if you replaced all the pieces one at a time.

"Actually. Imma go and tell them that." Ale said nodding, "Not to the princess, since that one is as smart as a brick right now. But the kid should get it."

"No." "No."

"… They deserve to know." Ale said indignated, "Also if I am dealing with existentialism, they also get to deal with it."

"They weren't there because they wanted." Big Sister said frowning, "I get that you are mad at them because of what they did, but they weren't there willingly."

"Could have deceived me." Ale said grumbling, "Fine!"

Even so, she didn't want to sour her relationship with Big Sister and [Golem] over two shitstains like those…

"Maybe there is something to your previous theory." Ale ended up saying after thinking it back again, "I have been being more…"

"Moody? Irritable?" Big Sister said with a smirk, "Yeah, you are acting more like your age."

"…I plead the fifth." Ale said shaking her head, "But I guess I am being more affected by my emotions than before, wonder why? I thought that we were already being affected by our brain chemistry and hormones as it was before. Maybe the new body is being more accurate?"

"New body?" [Golem] asked confused, "… What happened to… Wasn't this your usual body?"

"Ah… how to explain it…" Ale said thinking on what she had said, why had she said it like that, "It should be my usual body… I mean, the only thing that actually changed from before is that I haven't refreshed the blueprint? Maybe is it that? Unlike Alexa I was refreshing the blueprint quite often."

More so because she was in combat scenarios quite frequently, so refreshing was a easier way to fix her injuries than actually healing them. Perhaps she had acclimated more to her body, and that in turn had made it more obvious the effects said body and on her psyche?

"But we don't need to worry about that, worse case scenario I can have Main Core ensure everything is okay." Ale said dismissing the issue, she didn't mind the occasional whimsy that came to her, it was interesting to see and it entertained her, Ale could see what Alexa saw on the world when she was like that. "The more important thing at the moment is that we have to prepare to depart for Aquila."

That was the crux of the issue and what she had come to discuss with Big Sister and [Golem], she totally didn't came to ensure that they didn't heard what she had almost done to [Eleanore] and how she had implicitly told the other minions that they were nothing else than an afterthought. I mean… Ale had one hundred percent been sure that she could have dealt with most of the minions in that cafeteria if it had devolved into a fight.

And if it came to it, she was ready to pull the plug and make [Vulcanus.exe] back her up, she doubted the machine would skirt on that… It would have been a low blow from her, of that she had no doubt, but if she could get to blow [Eleanore]'s head… well, it would have been worth it.