'Herta' quickly opened AI Herta's program, starting from scratch to figure things out.
It turned out that all that bureaucratic jargon came from the selection and training records of the space station's current personnel.
They were stored in the station as personnel files.
'Herta' hadn't known about this, hadn't looked closely, and AI Herta ended up learning it all as conversational models.
"…"
The corner of 'Herta''s eye twitched.
If the real Herta saw this recording, would she develop murderous intentions?
She just wanted to stir up some harmless trouble, not get herself hunted down!
'Herta' held her forehead and let out a long sigh.
Well.
What's done is done. Might as well go with it.
Look on the bright side—if Lady Herta herself saw this footage, she'd probably be furious enough to pop a lung.
When that time came, she could probably secure a big payoff for herself.
Best to just keep causing trouble.
Anyway, by the time Lady Herta found out, she'd probably be so mad she'd want to stuff her into a neutron room and interrogate her brutally.
Might as well go all out and earn herself more lifespan.
At the very least, that nonsense AI Herta just spouted in Herta's voice had already added a bit more to her lifespan.
A decent start, wasn't it?
But before she continued her mischief, 'Herta' needed to put her mind to finding a solution.
If she really got cornered by Herta, even with the real Herta's intelligence, she didn't have access to all the creations and curios Herta had accumulated over the years.
She'd be at a serious disadvantage, no question.
While 'Herta' pondered her options, she kept her hands busy.
She casually streamlined the space station's various departments and their functions.
And, to get back for the earlier headache, she fired all those useless employees who only knew how to spout that hollow, wreck-of-a-conversation jargon.
Also, considering all the awkward one-upmanship and research exploitation that would likely plague the space station in the future, 'Herta', thinking of Herta's personality, casually laid down a whole set of rules to keep those mediocre types away from so-called "practical" and "hot-topic" research.
Otherwise, they'd be kicked out of the station.
If they wanted to chase trends and practical applications, they could go huddle together in the Intelligentsia Guild.
They came to Herta Space Station, yet still chased after what's popular?
How boring.
And so, a notice utterly in Herta's style, brutally straightforward, was publicly issued along with those new rules and the pink slips.
She completely ignored the looks on the staff's faces or how they might feel.
'Herta' felt pretty pleased with this wave she'd made.
And her actual lifespan shot up to a whole hour in one go!
Now that was a major breakthrough!
With all that handled, she left the remaining tasks for the other Herta to deal with.
'Herta' now turned her attention to the thing called Phase Flame.
As the masterpiece of Genius Society #29, Sserkal, the Phase Flame, capable of phase shifting, was enough to let her make a run for it before the real Herta could grab her.
The reason she'd set her sights on this was mainly because she had one among the curios she'd collected.
She'd studied the thing before.
And compared to the method of spatial translocation Lady Herta herself used, this was simpler to implement.
The materials required were fewer, too.
'Herta' needed to hurry, using the principles of the Phase Flame to create a portable device capable of crossing space.
Heaven knew how soon the real Herta would arrive on the scene.
If she got cornered before she'd even figured out an escape route, she'd really be done for—probably tossed into a black hole.
Even though 'Herta' couldn't really make sense of the memories in Herta's mind, it didn't matter.
She didn't need to understand; she just needed the idea of replicating a spark to escape.
'Herta' would use her super-intellect to solve the problem.
And there was more good news.
Even though the space station hadn't resumed collecting curios yet, it had a whole bunch of random materials left in reserve, plus research equipment.
Perfect for 'Herta' to use.
So, soon enough, 'Herta' deployed the lab equipment in the office.
Using the materials available on the station, she attempted to whip up a spatial translocation device by hand.
For Herta, creating something like this, which posed no real technical challenge, was even easier than cooking herself a decent meal.
Really, it took about as long as a meal.
'Herta' encapsulated the phase-shifting device she needed for her escape and held it in her palm.
It was a silver-white ring that looked utterly ordinary.
Slipping the ring onto the slender middle finger of her left hand, she'd only need to think the command, and it would automatically activate the phase shift, carrying her away on the spot.
'But still no movement from Herta… Looks like she must be busy with something else.'
'Herta' crossed her legs, her pointy hat already taken off and hung to the side. She leaned back in her chair, her long hair loose.
Her straight legs, sheathed in black tights, were crossed, the hem of her skirt draping softly, outlining the nearly perfect curve of her thighs.
She raised her fair, delicate left hand, admiring the ring on her finger.
Even having watched the ring being made right before her eyes, 'Herta' still couldn't grasp what kind of thinking went on in Herta's mind.
'Geniuses are just something else.'
To devise a portable spatial translocation device like this in such a short time…
Even if Herta barged in right now, she wouldn't be afraid.
With the confidence of having an escape plan, and Lady Herta herself still unaware of the space station's abnormalities, she couldn't be blamed for going all out!
She hadn't forgotten.
If she could provoke a strong enough reaction from the real one she was impersonating, the feedback would be even greater.
So, for the time she had left, 'Herta' had no intention of holding back.
Next up, she needed to plan how to make Herta Space Station… stand up.
So that when the Antimatter Legion showed up later, Herta Space Station would suddenly transform, punch a hole through the Legion, smash a Doomsday Beast with one slap.
Just imagining the scene…
Wouldn't that be something?
Of course, the space station was already up and running.
Drastically modifying the main structure, which couldn't be moved, into a transformable frame clearly wasn't realistic.
So she needed a more convenient method.
'Herta' unconsciously uncrossed her legs—right over left—and switched, left over right.
The skirt swayed, the faint glimpse of her thighs going unappreciated.
'Hmm… Designing a AllSpark approach is definitely more convenient. Could even place it in the space station later as Curio #0001. The real one would be furious when she saw it, heh~'
Earlier, she'd thought of the AllSpark from Transformers.
It could turn ordinary machinery into self-aware robots.
Of course, the self-awareness part wasn't necessary; a high-level AI would be enough.
'That's it. When the time comes, make the space station stand up right in front of Lady Herta, give her a real show!'
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.