Story Reader / Extra Story / EX01 Grand Blue / Story
As Chrome begins calling for a transport fleet from Babylonia, Kamui stirs awake.
You people...
Kamui hops and takes on a combat stance in one motion, wielding his greatsword and pointing it at you.
Why is my M.I.N.D. projection looking like this?
...Well, not like it matters. Fighting's all the same.
...Something is not right.
You have a feeling that this Kamui in front of you is not the Kamui you know.
I should be the one asking you.
Where has Kamui gone? Why can't I talk to him?
Could it be...
Quite likely.
You must be Camu, right?
...You aren't virus embodiments?
Camu freezes with his greatsword still raised. He seems to have noticed his appearance.
...What's going on here?
After spacing out shortly, Camu swerves his greatsword, pointing it at you and the others.
Explain.
Then make it short.
So I'm stuck in this state, because of that Roland?
That's right.
And if we don't get this fixed in time, Kamui's consciousness might disappear?
At least, according to Asimov.
I'm not going back to Babylonia and letting that gloomy nerd experiment on me. Looks like there's only one choice left.
From what you just said, he's a pushover anyway.
If I can just... j-just...
Kamui—or Camu—trembles and spasms. His greatsword gives a dull thud as it falls on the beach.
I'm...
Camu's body tenses, as if trying to resist something.
—Vegvisir…
Commandant! Careful!
Like a spring being uncoiled, Camu's body shoots out like an arrow. With his greatsword in hand, he cuts a wide sweep aside.
If it were not for Karenina pushing you to the ground, the blade would have slit your throat.
Commandant!
Hah... Uugh... Arghhhh!
The viral density near Kamui's frame is rising rapidly! He needs emergency buffers, NOW!
—Vegvisir…
—Asgishjalmur! Asgishjalmur!!
Tsk, looks like he's not listening!
Then we'll have to do it the hard way!
Karenina swings her bazooka to deter the advances of Camu. Using the explosive thrust of the bazooka, she forcefully knocks Camu over and buries him into the soft sand.
Liv! Now!
Lucia and Lee combine efforts to pin Camu's upper body down before he come to. Camu's flailing limbs send spurts of sand flying.
Seeing an opening, Liv hurriedly links a primed buffer to the back of Camu's neck.
M.I.N.D. buffer, at max output!
...Ugh—Ahhh!
...
What... What happened... just now?
I limited your power output to 5% of your original through a buffer. We'll try to figure out a solution before the buffer fails.
...No. What I want to know is why did I suddenly take control of Kamui's body? And why is this body getting out of control in my hands?
The energy control system in your body isn't functioning properly, likely because the M.I.N.D. of your frame is severed...
I can't perform high-precision repairs alone. We might need help from Babylonia...
Once again. Asimov time.
What is it this time? I just went for a coffee break, and you got in trouble, again?
Cut the crap, just tell me what to do!
That's Kamui? How did he wake up?
...Ah. In that case. Nice to meet you?
Let's do away with greetings. Never liked them.
No, I'm just trying to be nice, because I'll be taking a spin in your M.I.N.D. next...
What?!
Yep. Literally.
I have no idea what you're spouting, but you're doing a real good job of pissing me off.
If you find it weird, or have questions, I can give you a short primer.
...Fine. Guess I can crush that comms terminal after I hear you explain.
...Okay. Then I'll begin.
As you should already know, the M.I.N.D. is a system designed to maintain human consciousness for Constructs...
And for some reason, someone added in a set of general-purpose computer I/O terminals to the virtual human brain neural array structure...
...Wait. I think I was that very someone. Well, whatever.
In a nutshell, if the M.I.N.D. can't find the corresponding solution in its error library, the GPC part will endlessly try to open a door that doesn't exist.
Because it only remembers that door.
Even if you, the owner, have moved away from home, kicked it, or if you're head-banging to heavy metal, it'll still keep looking for you. In short, it'll keep looking for the designated doorway until it finds it.
So what's that gotta do with me?
If you're just another average Construct, then it wouldn't matter. But you're not.
Your signals are a hodgepodge, but there are characteristic signals of the Ascension-Network in your Inver-Device echoes.
This means that, though you're not an Ascendant, you're still similar to one.
!!!
Based on [player name]'s description of the situation earlier, I have decided to classify these Ascendant-like beings with special characteristics like you as "Transcendants."
Yes, a Transcendant. Because of the Ascendant nature of Camu from what you have described, and the in-between state of them being on the "the other side" of a Construct, but not to the point of being an Ascendant.
For now, all we know is that Camu's "transcendence" is the work of Roland. Roland has granted him Ascendant characteristics somehow.
Comparing it with previous cases, we can see that Camu's case bears a high degree of similarity to the Kowloong leader Qu.
And, Camu's appearance has essentially confirmed a hypothesis I reached with President Hassen before: There are more Ascendants than the ones that we know of.
There are likely Ascendants with other purposes in mind, or even Ascendants who are willing to work with us.
Ah, I seem to have gone off topic. Let's continue.
Let's return to the door metaphor. "Camu", you are the one who moved houses, making the control system in your body unable to find the door home. That is what happened.
If you are indeed the Camu from the Kurono data I have, you have transferred the I/O terminal ownership to Kamui in the past to let him take charge.
In other words, your consciousness does not have the authority to access or use most of the terminals on this frame.
Action module terminals keep no locks—you feed them any signals and they'll move. But your energy-related terminals require additional plug-ins and authentication...
When the superuser consciousness enters a lockdown for some reason, other consciousnesses can do nothing about the energy system going out of control.
...Just tell me the solution.
Return to Babylonia for maintenance and repairs. We'll completely separate you from Kamui and plug your consciousness to another frame.
...
Of course, because of the unknown factor of Tenebrion, even if we separate you from Kamui... We can't guarantee that Kamui will recover.
...
But this should be able to buy both you and us the necessary time to solve the problem, at least.
[player name], before you went on your vacation, I remember giving you a special tech prototype...
It's a little something I made after getting ideas from the collars on the Nighter. It's essentially a necklace-sized remote connection pod.
What are you waiting for? Finding it weird that it's so small? Hurry up and whip it out.
Put it on. Then I'll explain.
It's pretty much the same thing as from April Fools' Day.
But I remade it into a system-on-a-chip, and then had the WGAA make me a shell.
Then I wrote a masking algorithm that reduces the consciousness stress to 0.27% of the original, even with the same power output.
And then some more tech magic, and it's done.
Okay, caught the signal. Camu, I want you to get as close to [player name] as you can.
?
Camu walks over with a doubtful expression.
Liv, how long can the buffer last?
The effect will start to fade after ten minutes.
More than enough for me to redirect the gateway.
Okay, beginning access.
?
A little warning—it might tickle.
...Okay. I'm in.
Hm? What's with this visual interface...?
Oh. Never mind.
Camu, your energy output should be back to normal. You can try... Well, try moving around a little.
Oh, forgot about you. It's okay. You're now seeing the visual interpretation of Camu's M.I.N.D.—in other words, Camu's cognition.
Too much trouble rewriting a visual interface for a Transcendant. Camu will be the one doing the fighting anyway, not you. So I redirected your visuals to his M.I.N.D. instead of the frame.
You'll be fine as long as you have access to the energy modules and tactical authority. Which is why I'm keeping everything simple.
Transcendants might require a completely different system at the root level... It might take some time to create a full set of compatible terminals. The frame will also have to be redesigned the way Nikola intended...
I just tried it out. Everything's going smooth.
...Guess you do know your cogs and gears, eh.
Okay! Then it's sorted. You can stop worrying about the small stuff. I'll provide [player name] with a signal reference for visual support. You should head towards Roland with the others.
I found traces of his signal a little further ahead of you. Looks like he's still keeping a close eye on your condition.
...
...Let me get this straight—I still don't fully trust you.
But to get Kamui back to normal, I'll leave my "half" in your hands for now.
Oh my. Who do we have here?
Such a bad, bad boy—squirming through the filtering this way.
Did you know? Most converted Constructs become zealots of hatred and despair, when those emotions are merely amplified by the filtering...
Of course, past that point of no return, it's a fare-thee-well to their souls.
Whatever. Just tell me how to get Kamui back.
Heh... As the true master of your mind, is that all you want? How revolting.
Did that phantom of a Kamui weave some dream so sweet that you can't pull yourself out of?
I'm not here to make small talk...
I'm stuck here in this outdated frame, just to make you spit out what I want.
I'm mad, so prepare to pay.
Got it?
...Hahaha.
...Hahahahaha.
...Ahahahahahaha!
My hero, MY! Looks like you truly did escape the "trial" in some way...
Humans... and you lesser-than-human thing! You're all the same!
The network chose you! But you always let the network down!
Fine. Come on.
Time for a good whipping, my bad, bad boy.
After all, it's the teacher responsibility when a vile little rascal doesn't grow into a proper, functional "human" being.
