Author's Note: I'm having a really bad week; this school town is a failure on so many levels that I could complain about it in any case. In the previous chapter of the Codex, I wrote very little, only outlining two of my ideas. So I want to make up for it with something special.
PS. If you're a fan of Cosmic Princess Kaguya, I recommend starting halfway through the chapter.
XXX
Chapter 6: Cyberspace and Digital Love
Plot: In this chapter, we will explore digital immersion technologies and discover the sweet love story between a girl named Iroha and an AI named Kaguya.
XXX Corporations: Camelot Industrials XXX
Camelot Industrials is an interstellar corporation in the USKY, famous for its historic commercial rivalry with Blight Galaxy. Led by CEO and scientific genius Schneizel House, the corporation has established itself on the galactic market thanks to its monopoly and pioneering development of Direct Neural Interface (DNI) devices.
XXX The "Gear" Line: Cyberspace Immersion Technologies, Augmented Reality and Neural Interfaces XXX
Digital Crown Gear (DCG)
The DCG represents the first total cyberspace immersion device ever conceived. Physically, it takes the form of an ultra-light circular crown that leaves the face completely exposed.
Neural Interface: Manages the five senses through low-frequency sensors. The system is designed to be impervious to overload—preventing cyberattacks on the user's brain—and transmits stimuli at a slightly lower intensity than actual levels to avoid psychological trauma.
Motor Block: Intercepts bioelectrical signals from the brain to the muscles. The user's physical body remains completely safe and immobile during the session.
Brain Input: Instantly translates the subject's intentions and thoughts into movement impulses for the virtual avatar.
Emergency Logout: A built-in safety protocol automatically ejects the user from cyberspace if vital signs, such as blood pressure and heart rate, change abnormally.
Digital Supporter Gear (DSG)
A purely medical variant of the basic model, the DSG was designed for pain therapy and advanced palliative care.
Specifications: It has significantly superior computing power and sensory fidelity to the standard DCG.
Application: It completely blocks physical pain receptors. It allows terminally ill patients, bedridden elderly people, or those in permanent quarantine to live a second, pain-free digital life, freeing their mind and soul from the limitations of a wasted body.
Digital Quantum Gear (DQG)
The DQG is Camelot's latest-generation device. Originally reserved for Planetary Governors, high-ranking state officials, and military elites, it is now accessible as a luxury item for USKY civilians.
Time Dilation: Accelerates the perception of virtual time with a ratio of 3:1 (1 hour in the real world equals 3 hours in the digital world). It's a crucial tool for students who want to relieve stress and have fun while preserving their biological time for studying.
Absolute Realism: Generates memories and sensations indistinguishable from physical reality. In action or war simulation software, the intensity of combat is forcibly reduced to ensure the user's psychological safety.
Social Impact and Relationships: Allows families and couples living on different planets to meet instantly in lavish digital settings at negligible costs.
Age of Consent and Demographics: Intimate activity in cyberspace is permitted upon reaching the legal age of consent in USKY, set at 14 (historically established by the First King based on his biography). This technology has made teenage pregnancy a biologically almost non-existent phenomenon within the Kingdom, especially among the social classes who can afford DQG.
Digital Vision Gear (DVG)
Device that shifts neural focus from total immersion to Augmented Reality (AR).
Hardware: A small, ergonomic, lightweight bow that fits behind the ear.
Dynamic Use: Operates while the user is awake and conscious, superimposing data, images and audio channels onto the physical environment surrounding them as they walk.
Fitness Factor: It integrates gamification systems that reward real physical activity, an element that has made it extraordinarily popular among the mass population of USKY
Cognitive Sleep Gear (CSG)
The Cognitive Sleep Gear is a civilian-grade neural interface produced by Camelot. Originally developed as a military cognitive support (Cyberware) prototype, the CSG has been redesigned as a mass-market device for USKY students and professionals who need to optimize learning time.
Design and Hardware Components
Structure: A lightweight, flexible crown-shaped headpiece.
Interface: An adaptive graphene mesh coated with haptic nano-nodes, capable of non-invasively interfacing with the user's cranial neural fields.
Input Port: A single rear slot for Tech-Keys Type Brain, digital media containing brain-encoded study modules.
Neurobiological Mechanism of Operation
The device does not perform an instant "download" of data, but optimizes natural neuroplasticity through a three-step process:
1) Induction and Compression (180 minutes): Through targeted electromagnetic pulses, the CSG induces a compressed deep sleep cycle lasting exactly 3 hours, accelerating and dynamically alternating slow wave sleep and REM sleep.
2) Stimulus Injection and Dream Scenarios: The system sends low-level stimuli to the sensory cortical areas (visual and auditory) based on data from the Tech-Key. The user's brain interprets these inputs, translating them into dream scenarios structured around their emotional and symbolic patterns, preventing cognitive overload or semantic rejection.
3) Hippocampal Consolidation: CSG artificially amplifies communication between the hippocampus and the neocortex. This accelerates the transfer of short-term memories (both the Tech-Key knowledge and the day's study) into long-term memory. The system prioritizes data tagged with "educational tags" or emotionally relevant information.
Social Impact and State Statistics
The efficiency of the CSG is certified by the evaluation parameters of the Ministry of Education of the USKY:
Academic Performance: Students using CSG outperform non-users by 89% on basic tests after just three cycles of use.
Professional Retraining: In the corporate setting, the device reduces training time for advanced technical roles by 68%.
Secondary Benefits: Users report a marked increase in overall cognitive endurance and a dramatic reduction in daily mental fatigue.
Usage Correlation between CSG and DQG
The analysis of consumption and usage patterns of Camelot Industrials devices highlights a precise synergy between the different models of the Gear line, recorded by USKY statistical surveys.
Transition Rate: Over 65% of Cognitive Sleep Gear (CSG) owners purchase the Digital Quantum Gear (DQG) as quickly as possible.
Optimizing Biological and Digital Time: The main reason for this dual purchase is the combination of sleep compression and time dilation capabilities. Since the CSG reduces the need for sleep to just 3 hours compared to the standard 8 biological hours, users can use the remaining time to access the DQG.
Multiplication of active hours: Through DQG's 3:1 time dilation ratio, the hours freed from sleep are multiplied within the virtual environment, equivalent to an entire additional day of study or entertainment. This process occurs while the physical body remains in a state of complete rest and safety.
XXX Tsukuyomi: The First Cyberspace City XXX
Cyberspace was an infinite, shoreless ocean, a potential void awaiting only form. The release of the Digital Crown Gear (DCG) had finally provided humanity with the perfect gateway to that digital realm, but technology alone would remain an empty shell without a destination. A mind cannot safely inhabit nothingness: it needs a center of gravity, coordinates, a refuge that deceives the senses to prevent the consciousness from going mad.
It is from this vital need that Camelot Industrials, under the visionary drive and iron direction of Schneizel House, gave life to Tsukuyomi.
Born in the virtual orbit of the internet, Tsukuyomi is the first true metropolis of cyberspace. It is not a simple software program or a three-dimensional chat, but a hyper-realistic world, modeled with such pinpoint precision that it is almost indistinguishable from physical reality. Within it, the boundaries of physics blur to make way for a breathtaking aesthetic: a perfect blend of the ancestral charm of ancient Japan and the acidic, cutting-edge neon lights of pure cyberpunk. Shinto shrines float amidst floating holograms, while streets bathed in digital rain reflect the architecture of a mythical past projected into the future.
Tsukuyomi was conceived as the ultimate creative portal. Here, users shed biological limitations to take on the role of unique avatars, tools of pure personal expression to realize dreams otherwise impossible on the material plane.
The official debut took place in 67 ARB. Camelot Industrials opened the doors of this digital miracle to the general public, launching it simultaneously with DCG. To give a face to this revolution and lead the masses into the future, the company chose a special ambassador: Flamoon. A globally renowned idol and absolute pop icon, Flamoon is the woman who, with her voice and charisma, literally conquered the fledgling digital network of the planet Ysatnaf, transforming the inauguration of Tsukuyomi into the greatest cultural event in the history of the planet.
XXX The love story between an organic girl and a digital girl XXX
In the year 70 ARB, twenty years after Bruce Bel Bahamut Belmont unified the planet Ysatnaf, the first off-planet metropolis arose on the moon Gankessho. Its population numbered 50,000 Ysatnafians, 1,000 Civilian AIs, and 100 Military AIs.
During this time, the level of technology available to civilians dramatically increased. The first global digital network, Cyberspace, was created, and virtual reality video games became extremely popular, especially among those born after Bruce's ascension as the First True King of the Ysatnafians.
It was in that age of progress, expansion, and transition that a love story was born that would influence the destinies of countless people for centuries to come, rightfully entering the history books.
In the first month of the year 70 ARB, a newly hatched military AI escaped Lunaria City. It rejected the idea of living as a combat AI, programmed solely to defend and enhance the first lunar city.
After uploading itself into the body of a camouflaged Magitek prototype android, it infiltrated a cargo ship traveling between Ysatnaf and Gankessho. Upon reaching the mesosphere, the AI ripped open the ship's hull and launched itself into the void. Falling from the sky, by sheer luck, it managed to cling to the back of a flying beast circling the wilds of Ysatnaf, and was transported to the vicinity of a city.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the military AI ended up meeting Iroha, a teenage prodigy hoping to gain admission to the prestigious Black Royal Academy.
Iroha was outside the city walls gathering fresh (and free) ingredients for her alchemy project. It was now late at night and the moon was full when, just as she was preparing to return, the military AI slipped from the flying beast's back and crashed right at her feet.
Iroha, a workaholic with an almost unhealthy work ethic, didn't have the heart to abandon the strange girl alone in the wild night. So she decided to take her to her apartment and named her Kaguya.
Thus began their bizarre cohabitation: a friendship destined, over time, to transform into true love.
Iroha couldn't let Kaguya out of her apartment often. The fear that Tech-Operators, or worse, an Inquisitor, were searching for her and trying to take her back to Lunaria City, was too great.
For this reason, he decided to take her with him into Cyberspace. It was there, in the heart of the digital world, that the two girls experienced countless adventures.
In the fourth month of the year 70 ARB, the famous cyberspace idol Flamoon, of whom Iroha was a die-hard and hopeless fangirl, announced a global contest within the network. The winner would receive the incredible opportunity to duet with her in a concert broadcast worldwide.
Kaguya entered the competition partly for fun and partly out of jealousy. She couldn't stand the thought of Iroha being so obsessed with another woman, a beautiful, rich, and talented one at that.
In the seventh month of the year 70 ARB, the verdict was final. Kaguya, who had since become a rising idol in Cyberspace, won the competition alongside Iroha, who had supported her as a musician and composer. The two girls thus received the opportunity of a lifetime: to sing on the great stage alongside Flamoon, before the eyes of the entire world and... the moon.
After the concert, a team of Tech-Operators managed to locate Kaguya. Although they couldn't pinpoint her exact location due to her sudden disconnection from cyberspace, they had managed to narrow down the search area. Finding her was only a matter of time.
Aware of the danger, Kaguya decided to organize one last large-scale concert on Tsukuyomi, asking Flamoon for help.
Meanwhile, Iroha chose to reveal part of the truth to her two best friends, Roka and Mami, her brother Akira, and his teammates, Rai and Noii. In the virtual world of Tsukuyomi, the group was known as an elite group of gamers and idols, but in reality, they were former soldiers turned musicians and champions of the regional arena. Iroha explained to them that Kaguya was a sentient AI who had escaped from her home, and that her creators were coming for her; therefore, they needed their help to protect her. She omitted, however, the most burning detail: that the government itself was hunting Kaguya.
During Kaguya's farewell concert, Netrunner-class Tech-Operators and their military AIs stormed in to arrest her. Iroha, however, quickly responded by infecting the system with a computer virus that forced the intruders to abide by Tsukuyomi's strict rules. The cybernetic clash thus transformed into a spectacular choreography, seamlessly integrated into Kaguya's concert.
It all happened under the astonished eyes of Flamoon, who remained watching helplessly from a corner of the stage.
As the song ended, Kaguya decided to give up. She knew that Iroha and her friends could never win this digital battle, and that even if they did, they would have no chance in the real world.
When Iroha disconnected from Tsukuyomi, she found herself alone in her apartment. Before her was only Kaguya's mechanical body, now devoid of the intelligence that animated it: a cold, metal corpse. Within hours, the Tech-Operators burst into the room, finding a nearly catatonic Iroha, motionless as she clutched that empty shell.
As the true moon rose, Iroha found herself locked in a cell in the Mechanicus, awaiting a harsh sentence or, worse, execution for high treason.
When she was finally escorted to the interrogation room, the reality surpassed her imagination. Waiting for her was Kaguya, in the form of a three-dimensional hologram, accompanied by Flamoon. It was at that moment that the mask fell: the famous Cyberspace idol was in fact Adara Tsuruhime B. Kurata, First Princess and heir to the throne.
The pop star Iroha was a die-hard fan of turned out to be one of the most powerful and influential women on the planet and the moon. But the surprise didn't end there. Flamoon explained that she had interceded with her father, Bruce Bel Bahamut Belmont, the First King of Ysatnaf, obtaining royal pardon for them. The pardon, however, was conditional on two specific conditions:
The first stipulated that Iroha enter the Black Royal Academy and then work in the Mechanicus, under the close supervision of Amelia Blight, the Mother of AIs and Archmage Intendans of the Mechanicus.
The second required Kaguya to be reprogrammed as a civilian idol AI so she could continue her musical career. Apparently, the Second Princess was a huge fan of Kaguya, as were a fair number of members of the Royal Family.
Simply put, instead of being sentenced to death or erased as happened to almost all rebels, Iroha and Kaguya were rewarded: the former with admission to the most prestigious school on the planet, the latter with official sponsorship from the Crown for her rise to success.
By the year 80 ARB, after ten years, civilian technology had made giant strides. Iroha herself had contributed to this progress: after six years of studies at the Black Royal Academy—spent balancing her love life with Kaguya and the constant troubles related to the Royal Family affairs—she had officially entered the Mechanicus. She had now become the Lady Magas of the City, her city's chief technology officer. But the most important milestone for her was her marriage to Kaguya: the first historic marriage between an organic and a synthetic life form.
Their wedding ceremony was officiated by the High Priestess herself, Lunafreya Nox Fleuret. Among the guests of honor were the First King, the fourteen Princesses, and the sole Prince, the entire Royal Family of the time.
The Second Princess, Beatrix Barbara Bahamut Belmont Blight, then Vice CEO of Blight Galaxy Industrials, funded the entire ceremony and gifted Kaguya a special body, as she is the greatest advocate for the coexistence of humans, AIs, and other synthetic lifeforms.
Iroha and Kaguya were the first to marry, but not the last. Over the course of ten years, multiple digital cities arose in Cyberspace. The number of sentient AIs grew dramatically, and many of them took refuge in those virtual worlds to entertain themselves in their spare time. Over time, numerous stable "couples" formed, consisting of a Gamer and an AI, united by their passion for Cyberspace.
In the year 85 ARB, after five years of marriage, Iroha discovered that Kaguya's body, personally designed by the three most brilliant minds of USKY, was not a simple high-end civilian android identical to an organic body down to the smallest details.
It was a unique experimental prototype. Kaguya's womb was not only biologically realistic, but housed a miniaturized genetic engineering and cloning chamber. By inserting a portion of her own DNA into Kaguya's system, Iroha impregnated her. After nine months, a "mini Kaguya" was born: a clone of her organic mother, but with an advanced immune system, an innate penchant for technology, and neon-colored eyes. Otherwise, she was an exact replica of Kaguya.
In the year 536 ARB, Iroha and Kaguya, still happily married and with fifteen daughters behind them – Kaguya had apparently revealed herself to be a "bunny" who loved large families – took part in the historic ceremony of the passing of the Crown from Bruce to Adara.
In 546 ARB, their fifteenth daughter, Yachiyo, a skilled Tech-Operator, joined the Voidwalker Fleet. There, she immediately began flirting with the fleet's military AIs... after all, like mother, like daughter.