"Farewell."
The words, clear and final, hung in the air between us.
"...Yeah," Nia replied after a moment. "Have a safe trip."
I closed the door to her apartment and looked out at the city sprawling below. The entire vibrant landscape was captured by my senses. My pupils, like camera apertures, contracted for a moment, taking one last snapshot.
I didn't bother with a disguise this time.
"Dimensional Engine, activate."
[Host command acknowledged. Activating Dimensional Engine...]
[Checking energy reserves... Energy at 100%.]
[Authorization granted.]
[Open dimensional corridor?]
"Confirm."
[Confirmation received. Dimensional Engine activating. Opening corridor...]
The golden, diamond-shaped crystal in the center of my chest began to glow. A beam of pure light shot from it, tearing open the space before me. A shimmering, circular gate of golden energy materialized in the air.
I stepped through. The moment my body cleared the threshold, the portal snapped shut, vanishing without a trace.
And so, after three months, the Ex-Machina known as he departed from this world. From this point forward, aside from a brief temporal excursion to meet Origami, there would be no more trace of me here.
….
I stood once again in the golden non-space of the dimensional corridor. The familiar, serene environment was as comforting as it had been the first time.
The Angels of the Spirits were all mine. My primary objective was complete. Looking through the list of replicated armaments in my internal database, I felt a profound sense of accomplishment.
I thought back to my awakening in that war-torn world. My own armory had been empty then. No Pseudo-Calamity, no True Star-Slayer. I knew what that meant. I had arrived before the Ex-Machina had even fought the Dragonia, before Riku and Schwi had changed the world.
I had been alone, disconnected from the Cluster, a single, isolated unit in a world of gods and monsters.
But then, I found the system. And it had changed everything.
[Anchor point set. Data logged. Fixation successful.]
[Please select the next destination, Host.]
"Right."
In my mind, the next world was already chosen.
I choose you.
[Target confirmed. Executing.]
[Powering dimensional corridor... Power transfer complete.]
[Stabilizing corridor... Stabilization successful.]
[Initiating dimensional barrier breach.]
The entire golden space began to vibrate. After a few seconds, the sensation faded, replaced by an invisible shockwave that rolled towards me from the front.
Voom
The wave washed over my body. This time, I didn't raise a shield. Just as the system had stated, my internal diagnostics registered no damage. It hadn't been lying.
[Breach successful. Welcome to the new world!]
The system's notification chimed. I had arrived.
[Link confirmed. Please prepare, Host. The Gate is opening. Have a safe journey!]
Before me, the golden portal bloomed once more. Filled with anticipation for what lay beyond, I lifted my foot and stepped through.
….
I stepped out of the golden light and into a new world.
My first sight was a wall of green. I was surrounded by a dense, ancient forest, the canopy so thick it blocked out the sky. It was impossible to get my bearings.
I launched myself upwards, breaking through the treetops and into the open air. The view from above was the best vantage point.
And it revealed... more forest. An endless sea of green stretching to every horizon.
I have absolutely no idea where I am.
I raised a hand.
" Endo Armament: Activate "
" Pseudo-Endo: Rasiel "
A component on my head-mounted processor extended the plugin that housed my counterfeit version of Nia's Angel. I needed to know the time, the date, my location.
Unfortunately...
A flicker of genuine surprise registered in my processors.
Nothing? There's no information?
I stared at the virtual projection inside my own vision. The query results for [Current World] were blank.
[Unable to query current world... Commencing world analysis...]
So Rasiel needed time to parse this new reality. It made sense. A new universe, new laws of physics, new data sets. It couldn't just pull information from a network that didn't exist.
My omniscient search engine was offline. This world, with its distinct medieval fantasy aesthetic, clearly lacked the technological infrastructure I had grown accustomed to exploiting. Going from a high-tech modern society to a pre-industrial magical one was... jarring.
Very well. Time for a different approach.
[Deploying bio-scanner. Initiating scan...]
I hovered silently in the sky, waiting for the results while activating my other sensor suites.
[Deploying energy-scanner...]
[Deploying topographical-scanner...]
[Deploying...]
….
Success.
The detailed sweep revealed a small village, hidden in the forest about ten kilometers away. The bio-scanner confirmed a significant human population. It was cleverly concealed, tucked away amongst tall trees with no smoke rising from its chimneys. My initial visual pass had missed it completely.
With the coordinates locked, I flew towards it.
" Endo Armament: Activate "
" Pseudo-Endo: Haniel "
I reactivated my human disguise, ensuring all my mechanical features were hidden, and landed silently in a secluded spot just outside the village.
From my limited knowledge of this world, I knew it was a classic fantasy setting, complete with magical beasts, elves, dwarves, and demons. But the demons here were different. They were not a civilization, but a species of man-eating predator, universally regarded as "evil." They were also natural-born mages.
To avoid any unfortunate misunderstandings, I would enter the village on foot, looking like a normal traveler.
….
The village was small, but it had a tavern that served travelers. A perfect place to gather information. With Rasiel still analyzing the world, this was my only option.
Fortunately, the patrons a collection of scruffy-looking but good-natured men were surprisingly friendly. Whether it was because of my youthful appearance or the fact that I was a young girl traveling alone, they answered my questions freely.
"You're a long way from home, little miss," the cheerful tavern owner said with a wide grin. "It's tough out there on your own. Why don't you rest here for the night?"
My facial analysis algorithms confirmed his sincerity. He was a genuinely good person.
But "rest" was not on my agenda.
"Query: Where is the nearest city?" I asked, my voice flat and emotionless, ignoring his offer.
The owner looked a little taken aback by my strange, robotic manner of speaking, but he didn't press the issue. A young girl traveling alone in these parts must have her own quirks, and her own strengths. He simply told me everything he knew.
….
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