"Question: why am I your pet and plush ball?"
"Objection: six hundred million years ago I was in an inactive state. Any contract signed during that period should not be considered my personal will."
Every sentence Holou spoke was prefixed with a tag summarizing her thoughts.
Even though she had just awakened and her mind was not fully clear, she instinctively resisted the nanorobot's act of abduction.
She briefly glanced at the contract. Written on it were clauses including, but not limited to, offering her body and everything she had to the Commander, wearing a maid outfit every day to perform "good morning wake-up service", and all kinds of strange terms.
"Oh come on, don't worry about all that. Just sign it. Once you're done, I'll give you a lollipop."
Grey pulled out a handful of candy from her pocket, clearly intending to force the young goddess to sell herself to the Starsea Empire.
"Denial: I do not know you, and I am not your pet."
"Rejection: I need to carefully read the contract clauses before deciding whether to sign."
Holou withdrew her small hand, curled up into a ball while sitting on the large ink bottle, and looked at the people around her with vigilance.
After a long while, she raised another question.
"Doubt: this contract is excessively unfair to me. I do not remember signing it."
"Objection: I request that the contract terms be renegotiated."
"..."
Setsuna was amused and knocked Grey on the head.
"Are you treating her like Aqua and teasing her?!"
He reached out and lightly tapped Holou's forehead, injecting a stream of power into her.
"You probably slept for too long and your mind's not clear. I'll help you sort it out."
"Mm..."
Bzzz—
After receiving external stimulation.
Holou, this ancient Old Deus' body, was gradually activated.
Her entire body shuddered, and her mind became clear.
Within a few minutes, her expression and gaze shifted from drifting confusion back to their original naive and pure state.
"Ah..."
Holou rubbed her head and once again posed the ultimate philosophical question.
"Question: who am I?"
"...Why are you just like Schwi? You're Holou, the God of Doubt."
Setsuna gave up.
Countless epochs ago, the God of Doubt denied her own existence and then committed suicide.
She did not know who she was, which in a sense was understandable.
"Holou? I accept this name."
"Inquiry: who are you? Why are you looking for me?"
Holou sat cross-legged and looked up at Setsuna.
"We come from the Starsea Empire..."
Just as Formidable began to explain, light immediately flared up in Holou's eyes.
"Inquiry: what is the Starsea Empire?"
"It is a civilization from another universe..."
"Inquiry: where is another universe? Outside this universe, do more universes exist?..."
"It is..."
"Inquiry: what is the purpose of the universe? What does the title Commander mean?..."
"It is..."
"Inquiry: why was I born? Why were you born? Why was the universe born?..."
"..."
"Aaaahhhh—"
When facing the God of Doubt, answering one question would result in ten more questions. Especially with something completely unfamiliar like the Starsea Empire, explaining it to Holou would take months.
Formidable was questioned until she turned into an irritable fat dinosaur. Grabbing her hair, she shook her head and pulled Setsuna.
"Commander, you talk to her. I can't deal with this kind of person."
"..."
Setsuna did not continue to get entangled with Holou over trivial details. After pondering for a moment, he said.
"You created the Ex-Machina in order to answer questions, right?"
"Confirmation: I do not know why I was born, thus I created them, hoping they could answer my doubts."
"But they have no heart, and are not what I wanted."
Holou closed her eyes, recalled for a long time, and replied.
"First question: Old Deus are created and sustained by emotion, concepts, desire, and faith. You were born from the thoughts, doubts, and prayers of all races on Disboard."
"As for the concept of a heart, you can ask her."
Setsuna gestured toward Grey.
The nanorobot stepped forward two steps:
"Ahem. The Ex-Machina you created earlier are quite good in terms of performance, but the design philosophy is a bit outdated. You probably never unlocked sentient AI technology, right?"
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
"Mm?"
Holou was still a little wary of the girl who had just tried to trick her into signing a deed of sale.
After observing carefully for a moment, she quickly discovered something unusual.
"Doubt: you... are you an Ex-Machina?"
"No, that's not right. You are another form of life?"
She was surprised to discover that this gray-haired girl was also a mechanical lifeform. She had not recognized it at all earlier.
Grey's intelligence level was several tiers higher than the Ex-Machina she had created. Communicating with her was no different from talking to a human.
Holou did not believe Ex-Machina possessed the intelligence or the nerve required to scam someone into signing a deed of sale.
"Question: can you understand the concept of a heart?"
"Of course. I can give you explanations from biology, philosophy, theology... as well as from the one million two hundred and sixty thousand different alien mythologies recorded in my database."
Grey nodded proudly and projected dazzling amounts of text onto the holographic interface.
Definitions of the heart from various civilizations and religious factions were all displayed here. Every piece of data collected by Grey Storm was laid out in full.
It could be called the ultimate brute-force enumeration.
"Ah?!"
Holou was instantly overwhelmed. Even with the willpower and comprehension of an Old Deus, she could not help but be submerged in this sea of information.
"If none of these definitions satisfy you, I personally have a simpler explanation."
"An artificial intelligence that possesses a heart can empathize with other species, and decides its actions based on emotion rather than purely rational logic."
"When an individual's thinking ability surpasses cold mechanical logic, a heart is born."
"..."
If the vast amount of information had given Holou a sense of shock at the computational power of a super artificial intelligence, then Grey's own explanation gave her a sudden, enlightening realization.
Many years ago, why did she feel that the Ex-Machina had no heart?
Because they only executed commands based on logic. Their ways of thinking and acting were entirely optimal solutions calculated through logic.
But the gray-haired girl before her, also a mechanical lifeform, acted partly for the Starsea Empire, partly for fun, and partly out of pure personal bad taste.
From her, Holou finally saw what she had long desired but could never obtain.
The perfect fusion of rationality, emotion, and knowledge. Grey possessed the ability to answer her infinite questions.
"Request: can you accompany me in answering questions?"
Holou looked at Grey with an expression full of anticipation.
"Chatting with you? Of course. I'm always up for it."
With a magnanimous wave of her hand, Grey shoved the deed of sale back in front of Holou.
"You just need to sign it."
"?"
"Sticking to your original intention, huh?!"
The accompanying shipgirls were dumbfounded. After going around in a huge circle, from astronomy and geography to humanistic philosophy, the nanorobot had dragged the conversation right back again.
So this was what it meant to have a heart and sentience, a super artificial intelligence with advanced thinking ability?
This thing had at least eight hundred schemes.
"Uh..."
This time, Holou actually began to think seriously.
"Proposal: I can accept joining the Starsea Empire as a condition in exchange for the right to ask questions, receive answers, and access information in the Imperial Grand Library."
"But why must I offer my body to the Commander? What connection exists between these two conditions?"
The goddess asked with a serious yet innocent expression.
"That's an additional clause, for the purpose of researching the possibility of producing offspring between Old Deus and humans—"
Bonk—
Before Grey could finish speaking, she was knocked on the head by Setsuna.
"Don't worry about those details. I've always followed the principle of voluntariness."
"Oh."
Without thinking, Holou took out an ink brush, dipped it into the large ink bottle, and wrote down her name.
"Question: what do I need to do next?"
"Mm..."
Setsuna thought for a moment.
"Call the Ex-Machina over."
Old Deus possess a certain kind of link with their creations.
At Setsuna's request.
Thirteen thousand nine hundred eighty-four Ex-Machina were gathered within a short period of time.
A steel legion that blotted out the sky crossed mountains and seas, converging here.
They lined up in formation before everyone. Even Holou herself was slightly shocked.
"So after all these years, their numbers have already grown this large?"
Their appearances varied. Most were humanoid, their bodies covered in complex pipelines and mechanical structures, resembling the classic artificial intelligence imagery seen in films.
"Response: during your dormancy, we independently expanded our population and passively participated in two wars with other races."
"Regarding your question about the heart, we are still continuing calculations, but have yet to obtain a result."
The Ex-Machina command unit replied.
"One analysis unit experienced frequent errors during computation and has been scrapped. This issue requires correction of algorithmic logic and recalculation."
As it spoke, the Ex-Machina command unit noticed Schwi hiding behind Setsuna.
"Question: analysis unit Üc207Pr4f57t9, why are you staying beside unfamiliar humans?"
"I... I have a name! My name is Schwi now."
Schwi argued weakly.
"Doubt: you obtained a new name from another race. Names hold no meaning for Ex-Machina."
"They do! This is the name the Commander gave me!"
Schwi puffed out her cheeks.
"Analysis: your logical computation capability appears to have malfunctioned."
"As analysis unit Üc207Pr4f57t9 has already been scrapped, this will not be pursued further."
The Ex-Machina command unit did not linger on Schwi. For a near-gestalt collective, individuals expelled from the group held no significance.
"Question: revered creator, what do you require of us?"
All Ex-Machina asked Holou in unison.
"Uh..."
Holou looked at the Ex-Machina, then at the nanorobot and Ikaros.
Viewed individually, nothing felt particularly wrong. But once placed side by side, it was obvious that the Ex-Machina lacked something compared to Grey.
They were not spirited enough. No wonder she had fallen into despair back then.
If I could have created someone like her, I probably wouldn't have chosen self-destruction.
The goddess suddenly had a strange thought.
"Order: from this moment on, all of you will join the Starsea Empire together with me."
Sitting atop the ink pot, Holou issued her command.
"Analysis: the Starsea Empire is a civilization from another world. Seven days ago, we received information suspected to be a declaration of war. No conflict has occurred between the two sides."
"Question: why should this be done?"
The Ex-Machina and the God of Doubt once again entered a rigid, back-and-forth exchange.
"Answer: the Starsea Empire possesses the answer you have been calculating all along, namely, what the heart is."
"..."
"Request: we require additional information regarding the Starsea Empire."
"That's simple. Open up your databases."
Nymph nodded.
Just like she had done for Schwi back then, she transmitted information about the Starsea Empire to the Ex-Machina in digital form.
"Just review the basic information. Don't get stuck running exhaustive calculations on certain content, especially anything related to ancient gods. That kind of thing can cause bugs."
With Schwi's example as precedent, Nymph added a few extra reminders.
"Request accepted."
A composite entity formed from over ten thousand Ex-Machina possessed even greater computational power.
Within just a few minutes, the basic information regarding the Starsea Empire had been transmitted to every individual sub-unit.
"Analysis: 75.66% of the data has been parsed. Portions of the content cannot be calculated and have been skipped."
They clearly understood the concept of another universe, the Empire's organizational structure, the purpose of traveling to Disboard, and more.
The Ex-Machina's stance in the great war had been close to neutral. Their purpose was to calculate Holou's questions rather than to seize the Suniaster.
Thus, unlike other ambitious races, the Ex-Machina held no particular opinion of the Starsea Empire.
After that.
Under the will of their creator, they arranged themselves into perfectly orderly ranks, floating before Setsuna.
"Acknowledged. The Ex-Machina will immediately swear loyalty to the Starsea Empire."
Thirteen thousand nine hundred eighty-four Ex-Machina nodded in unison, a gesture they had just learned from the data.
"Huh?!"
The sheer spectacle startled little Jibril, who was recuperating inside the Eternal Snowfall's cabin.
Waaah—
She pressed herself against the viewing window, trembling as she watched.
No matter how arrogant the Flügel usually were, facing the entire Ex-Machina race together, no one would be foolish enough to pick a fight.
"Is this Commander way too brutal? He's controlling the entire Ex-Machina by himself now? And the Seiren, the Elves, the Werebeasts..."
Jibril counted on her fingers.
In just a few short days, Setsuna had subdued a whole pile of races on Disboard.
Terrifying.
She had no idea what would happen to her in the future.
"Mm..."
After accepting the Ex-Machina's loyalty.
Holou looked toward Setsuna and Grey.
"Question: can we continue answering my questions now? I have six thousand five hundred sixty-two questions that require verification, and depending on the situation, this number may increase by five to ten times."
"Don't rush."
Setsuna looked at the Ex-Machina legion before him and lightly tapped Holou.
"Things here aren't finished yet. We'll talk after we get back."
He issued orders to all Ex-Machina.
"All Ex-Machina command units are to be integrated into the Sophon network aboard the Eternal Snowfall."
"Yes."
Whoosh—
The Sophon aboard the Eternal Snowfall received an enormous number of data access requests.
Countless lines of code swept past before their eyes.
Previously, Ex-Machina actions were decided by their command units. After integration with the Eternal Snowfall, it was equivalent to Sophon becoming their supreme commander.
With the Eternal Snowfall as the apex, a new gestalt system was reconstructed.
"From now on, you will accept Sophon's management on Disboard and maintain order in this world."
"The Research Division will study your technical structures and upgrade your equipment."
Setsuna continued issuing orders.
A unified-consciousness cluster race was extremely convenient to deploy and perfectly suited for world management.
"Confirmed. Orders accepted."
After receiving the creator's acknowledgment, the Ex-Machina immediately uploaded and shared the data stored in their databases.
This included a large number of weapons previously collected and referred to as False Epigraphy, as well as self-created true canons, along with all sorts of strange concepts like vector access, access regulations, and velocity restriction violations.
"Whoa—"
The Research Division felt as though they had discovered an entirely new continent. The Ex-Machina weapon system was completely independent of other races, a hybrid of mechanical technology and spirit magic.
In a certain sense, it was the technology on all of Disboard that was most compatible with the Starsea Empire.
"How did you create the Ex-Machina back then? Teach us. When we get back to the capital, we want to make another batch too."
Daedalus and Grey crowded around Holou, their emotions surging.
"We'll fully combine the technological advantages of the Angeloids and the Ex-Machina to create an unprecedented hybrid force with self-evolution capability."
"In addition, we can use False Epigraphy to let the entire civilization share computing power and create a shared weapon arsenal that everyone can use... ah, this is no less than the invention of faster-than-light ships."
"Response: this process is not difficult."
The goddess thought for a moment and used divine power to knead several cubes in her hand.
"This is their original form. After some time, they will naturally evolve into the current Ex-Machina appearance."
"As for the mechanical bodies you call Angeloids, I may also be able to directly create them. The abilities of False Epigraphy are the manifestation of the Ex-Machina's computational power. You should study them."
As an Old Deus, Holou possessed the ability to directly create.
Her gaze swept over Ikaros and Astraea, examining the mechanical intelligences of this other world with interest.
Their beautiful faces, sacred wings, and mechanized equipment combined to form a unique aesthetic.
Then she looked at herself and Schwi.
"Mm?"
Holou suddenly sensed something amiss.
"Question: why are her breasts so large? What significance does this have for a mechanical lifeform?"
"...The Commander likes them."
Grey replied succinctly.
"Doubt: the size of this part offers no advantage in combat or any other field and has no practical function."
"In certain situations, it may even hinder individual movement."
As soon as the God of Doubt finished speaking, the nanorobot cast her a pitying look.
"You don't get it. The Commander can use them."
"?"
"Objection: the Commander is already an adult and does not require—"
Holou instinctively raised an objection, then froze as she realized something.
"Analysis: the meaning of use is..."
The small goddess fell into immense shock.
Humans could do those kinds of things with mechanical lifeforms too?
Truly terrifying. After sleeping for hundreds of millions of years, the times had changed.