The sun was setting over Water 7, casting long, orange shadows that looked like 'Scan-Lines' across the broken pavement. Amine sat on a stone bench, his system performing a [Background Defragmentation] while he watched Luffy and Koby reunite.
Koby wasn't the small, crying boy from the 'First Chapter' anymore. To Amine's eyes, Koby's 'Character-Model' had undergone a massive 'Patch Update'. His posture was straighter, his Haki was 'Leaking' in controlled bursts, and his presence felt like a 'Security-Guard' program designed by Garp himself.
"Amine-san," Koby said, walking over after his duel with Luffy. He adjusted his glasses, and for a second, they reflected the violet glow of Amine's flickering HUD. "I've been watching you since the fight at the courthouse. There's something... 'Unnatural' about the way you move."
Amine leaned back, his cracked stylus spinning between his fingers. "Is that so, Koby? Is it the 'Frame-Skipping' or the 'Violet-Artifacts' that bother you?"
"It's your 'Presence', Amine-san," Koby's voice turned serious. "In the Marines, we are taught about the Poneglyphs. They say those stones are 'Indestructible Records' of a lost history. When I look at you through my 'Observation Haki', you don't look like a human. You look like a 'Walking Poneglyph'."
Amine's heart skipped a beat—a literal 'System Lag'. "A Poneglyph? That's a heavy comparison for a simple scholar."
"No," Koby shook his head. "The Poneglyphs are the only things the World Government can't 'Delete'. And you... the way you 'Edited' the battlefield to save Robin-san... it's like you're writing a 'Parallel Script' that the Government's 'Admins' can't overwrite. Garp-sensei is worried about you, Amine-san. He says a 'File' that can't be deleted is eventually 'Quarantined' in Level 6 of Impel Down."
Amine looked at the sky, where the stars were starting to appear—the 'Fixed Pixels' of the night. "Impel Down is just another 'Server', Koby. And every server has a 'Backdoor'. Tell Garp that the Pirate Scholar doesn't fear 'Quarantine'. I fear a world where the 'Story' is written by only one person."
[Notification: Relationship 'Koby' – Status: Intellectual Rivalry Unlocked.]
[Data Insight: The Poneglyphs are 'Hard-Coded' Physical Assets. You are a 'Cloud-Based' Entity.]