Spirito quickly grabbed Qualia’s arm. Then Ace ran and grabbed the hem of his shirt. Lobelia had not foreseen this, so she was at a loss for words.
Qualia did not explain that the red blinking was the return mechanism, or that it served to turn him back from a human into a weapon.
“Qualia, stop that.”
“…I have a bad feeling about it. I feel like you won’t be a human ever again if you activate that.”
The light was probably enough for them to infer that it was something dangerous. This return mechanism, and the humanoid autonomous combat android Shutdown for that matter, were made in an environment without humans, so such irregularities were probably to be expected.
“Qualia. It is inferred that this is a mechanism for you to go back to being the humanoid autonomous combat android Shutdown.”
“…This…!?”
“Affirmative. I learned about it yesterday during the shower, when Ina told me.”
Lobelia and Spirito heard about Qualia’s attempt to return to being a weapon. Normally, such a thing would be considered a delusion, or a fairy-tale, but Qualia had used too much advanced technology up until that point for it to be discarded as such. They saw too much advanced technology from another world.
Qualia focused on logic, so they could imagine him trying to turn his body into a metal monster.
Ace’s face remained blank, but despite hers being the smallest body in the room, she gave off an indescribable feeling of pressure.
“Qualia, I won’t allow anything that will make Ina sad. And you taught me about being a human, so I won’t allow you to not be one.”
“I don’t know how things will turn out… But stop that. I’m saying this based on feeling alone… But I’m smelling something even more dangerous than an ancient magic stone…”
Spirito’s fear was transmitted through the way she was holding his clothes.
Qualia detected a force so delicate, that it seemed strange that it came from Holy Sword.
“…I don’t want you to not be human.”
Everyone reacted the same way as Ina. Even though he was just changing his hardware, even though it was the optimal solution, even though it was the best way for him to fulfill his role as a guard knight of Hello World… They rejected that option.
Everyone feared Qualia turning into a lump of metal.
For an artificial intelligence, this was illogical, and the wrong choice, but Qualia could not bring himself to think that.
Especially after turning to the bed, and seeing Ina’s face.
If she was awake, she would hug him from the front and stop him. She would remind him of her heartbeat.
With that in mind, he turned to Ina’s sleeping face again, as if trying to convince her as well.
“Qualia will stay human. That was pro-mised to Ina.”
“Really?”
“As you all said, the return mechanism is something to acquire the hardware of the humanoid combat android Shutdown. But it will be activated in a restricted state to install two functions.”
“…”
No one understood.
Qualia himself could not guarantee what would happen a hundred percent. The return mechanism was only a prototype to begin with, and it was unclear if it would even return him to being Shutdown if it was fully activated.
And he was going to activate it with restrictive conditions that had not been originally hypothesized.
He was doing it to install functions to eliminate Zero Division and make contact with Liebe, things he could not do on his own.
“…It’s scary. It’s like you’re going off somewhere people can’t reach.
Lobelia had a stiff expression on her face, while Spirito touched her sword, still not fully convinced.
“Qualia… I’m still Holy Sword, you know? I’ve been studying the blade so I don’t have to lose anything important to me… So leave it to me. I’m your master.”
“There are fears that you will lose your ‘tasty’. Request that you reconsider. I will guard this space to the death.”
Ace was also not letting go.
“I received a request from Ina. She wanted me to fight alongside you, when you fulfilled your duty as a member of Hello World. She said she wanted me to look at your heart, and show mine to you.”
Of course, Qualia understood. Spirito and Ace were stronger than him. Relying on them was an option.
But Qualia looked at Ina’s face again, and remembered seeing her bloody.
He did not want to face that again, and those feelings welled up strongly.
“You two carry a high degree of trust. But trusting and not protecting are not the same. Qualia requests to Qualia not to let you fall into the same state as Ina precisely because Qualia trusts you. And to protect your ‘tasty’.”
Qualia promised the girls that wanted him to remain human. It was a request from the bottom of his heart, to continue experiencing ‘tasty’.
“Promising again. Qualia will remain in a human body.
Type SHUTDOWN Process 0.1%”
The return mechanism rang, as if prompting a reboot.
“Qualia…”
Lobelia reached out, but Qualia let out a signal from his mouth before she could reach him.
This was the first step towards becoming the weapon that once excelled in chaos and destruction, destroyed super technology, and would surpass anything that existed in this world of magic.
“Return.”
Qualia raised his head, and a ring appeared.
It was as though it was night condensed. Space itself condensed. It was darker than an ancient magic stone black hole, and seemed to lack any color.
It was a colorless black, that seemed to exemplify the lack of life and heart of a weapon.
“…!?”
The girls saw for just a second the dark humanoid weapon overlapping with Qualia.
“Wah…!?”
But that disappeared in the blink of an eye, almost as if it was a subliminal image.
And then, it came down, crushing Qualia from above.
The impact removed sound from this space. Despite the power that seemed to almost be crushing the world, Spirito and Ace were only thrown back a little. The curtains also fluttered, and a gentle breeze touched Ina’s hair.
Qualia was still human. Not Shutdown.
But the space ring decorated him above his head. Furthermore, he was equipped with circuits of Shutdown.
Lines ran through his cheeks, one at a time. From his eyes to his cheeks.
Like a small river. Like tears.
“Executing Teleportation.
Loading map. Executing function one, Teleportation. At the same time, second function…”
He executed Teleportation, and only seconds later, the second wave of Zero Division broke in.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
