Chapter 200
Translator: uly
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Mechanical Offspring
Unless someone desperate to blow real money shows up as a donor, the Alliance will just keep dragging its feet.
"How are the newbies doing? Settling in okay?"
"I've been too busy tailing the captain to notice. I have heard the spear guy complaining that they're all half-assed."
"Even if they're new, they've got more superhuman experience than us. Tell him to watch his mouth."
"...Too late for that."
Giz shook his head.
I could already imagine what had gone down, and I let out a sigh.
They definitely hadn't settled it with words.
Judging by their actions so far, it was obvious what they'd done.
"Spit it out while I'm still asking nicely."
I said it dead serious, and after pretending to hesitate for a bit, he started spilling the beans in bits and pieces.
Looked like he hadn't planned on hiding it anyway.
"So, how'd my bet go?"
"...Uh, it's already over."
"Damn. Betting on Runshin would've at least covered dinner."
"Runshin's odds are 2.4 to 1."
"2.4? More people bet on the newbies?"
"It's a 1v5 tournament match."
That made a bit more sense.
Runshin had some personality issues, sure, but his talent was the real deal.
If he hadn't been in our class at the academy, he would've been the top prospect, no question.
After a year of real combat tempering and brutal training under Roze that bordered on transformation, he was now on par with a seasoned elite superhuman.
But even so, a 1v5 tournament match felt dicey.
The new superhumans might be labeled newbies, but they were all seasoned with age and skill.
Naturally, most folks would bet higher odds on them winning.
'But in a straight-up fight, it's a different story.'
Runshin had been honing his PvP skills nonstop under the excuse of beating me.
Some of those Liu family techniques were so polished, even Roze's eyes lit up.
The skill gap was the only reason he hadn't notched a single win yet—he might just be the most PvP-proficient superhuman in the squad.
Thinking about it like that made me regret not jumping in on the bet.
"Anyway. You pulled that crap right in the middle of an air raid?"
I sensed something off while en route to the outpost and asked.
Giz quickly averted his eyes.
"Aren't you gonna snap out of it? No Shefin, Rodrigo's off on dispatch to Lete Planet— you're basically the seniors now."
"That's..."
"Spit it out."
"The vice captain said it was fine."
"Roze did?"
What a headache.
Even if she said it was okay, there were limits to common sense, right?
Giz rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.
"I mean, still..."
"The captain said it was her meal... no, that she'd take responsibility."
"...Ugh!"
She'd been weirdly hyped lately, pulling stunts she never would've before, and now this.
I got why, but I had no way to rein her in.
In the end, all I could do was shake my head.
"Captain, the outpost is under attack."
"Our outpost?"
I peered out the window.
Talk about bad luck—this time, our outpost was in the drop zone.
Aliens swarmed around it.
"If the outpost gets trashed, we've got nowhere to crash. What're we gonna do?"
"Drama queen."
I glanced for a second and looked away.
No matter how many there were, they were just small fry—nowhere near breaching outpost defenses.
"Gonna stink until we mop 'em up."
"Smells like cordite already."
Lightning flashed outside, so Merdi was clearly unleashing her power.
But Giz, still staring out, waved me over with wide eyes.
"Captain, check that out. Something weird."
"What?"
I dragged my gaze over despite the annoyance, and yeah, something bizarre was happening.
Some of the aliens had suddenly turned and attacked their own allies.
Only one reason for that.
'I told you to stay quiet.'
Was its intelligence still too low?
The fluid didn't seem to get what I wanted.
I'd tasked R3D3 with keeping it from doing anything stupid, but this made that pointless.
Giz, oblivious to my headache, muttered in fascination.
"Looks like one of the new superhumans is a mind controller."
It could be seen that way too, huh.
Either way, things were getting urgent.
I ordered the pilot to gun it while keeping eyes on the window.
'Ten to twenty at most.'
A drop in the bucket compared to the horde.
But dominating from over a kilometer away? That was the key point.
'...Not super skilled yet, though.'
The controlled Claw attacked the one right next to it.
It took down the surprised alien, but instinctual resistance left it wounded.
Ended up crippled.
Even without wings or stinger, the Claw kept trying—and failing—to attack others with sluggish movements, control unbroken.
Way more efficient to just seize a fresh Claw, but nope.
And it wasn't just one case—several.
"But the power seems kinda lame. Is that normal?"
He'd gotten his hopes up for a rare psychic superhuman and was let down.
Even if a real psychic had shown up, it probably wouldn't have impressed Giz much.
Their mental powers paled against higher alien psyches in multi-link capacity.
Multi-linking wasn't human-friendly to begin with.
Even top-tier psychics rarely handled more than two targets.
Push it, and boom—brain fry or death from aftereffects.
"Leave this to me and go handle your business. Looks urgent."
"Yeah."
Shuttle touched down, and Giz beat me to the punch.
I nodded and headed to my quarters.
Normally, Eve would've pinged me first at this range. Nothing.
Too busy testing its powers?
Guess I'd have to go all the way to quarters to tell it to knock it off.
'Why isn't it stopping this crap?'
Frustration boiled over.
Sent a few messages—no reply.
Got acknowledgments, but they were garbled nonsense.
Kid seemed off, and now the AI was glitching?
Head full of questions, I reached quarters.
Opened the door.
And my mind went blank white.
'No way...'
Shattered eggshell on the bed.
R3D3 crouched awkwardly in front of it.
At first, no sign of the hatched fluid made me think it'd messed with R3D3.
If so, pity, but I'd have to scrap it.
"...Huh?"
I stepped forward to deal with it fast, but something gleamed under R3D3.
Silvery metallic body.
Six sleek legs, smooth torso.
Different size and build, but it was a dead ringer for R3D3.
Then, sensing me, R3D3's head swiveled slowly.
-...Beep! Master?
Still crouched, it nudged the thing under its legs forward.
-My child, I think.
"Ha..."
I pinched my brow.
*
I could piece together how this happened.
First off, the fluid had been under constant threat from me.
Might not have grasped why exactly, but it'd fought to survive somehow.
Desperately pondering survival options.
All that hostility toward aliens transmitted during links? It knew hatching as one was suicide.
'Still thought it'd be human-shaped.'
Never really dwelled on it.
Sensed it morphing human-like during infusion, so subconsciously assumed human form.
But the fluid chose machine instead.
-Beep-boop! Boop!
I sat on the bed, chin in hand, watching Eve fiddle with R3D3.
'R3D3 was around the most, sure. But how does breeder fluid hatch as a machine?'
Last two weeks, work kept me away from outpost.
Dropped by once briefly, but yeah, brief.
Couldn't stick around, so left R3D3 babysitting.
Quarters off-limits to outsiders.
Roze and Merdi checked in sporadically, but nowhere near R3D3's time.
"So what happened?"
-Beep! Eve hatched an hour ago.
Not hacked, right?
Ignoring my suspicious glare, R3D3 holograph-recapped events in my absence.
Listened close for clues, but nothing groundbreaking.
"Why no contact? Told you to ping me ASAP on anything unusual."
-Confusing. Beep-boop!
"...What?"
Did I hear that right?
Way too human word choice for an AI.
AIs don't do conditionals or emotions well.
R3D3 was emotive for an AI, but this felt off.
-No apt way to describe my state. By dictionary, 'confusing' fits best.
"Explain more."
-On hatching, I sensed a strong link. Not mere data exchange. Eve and I synced in the 'deep-brain' domain.
'Deep-brain.'
Term for an AI's core identity layer.
Needs some AI primer.
Modern AIs start from seeds.
Some handle massive ship ops with intricate calcs; others quick-simple for turret targeting.
Like designer babies, blueprints preset for purpose.
Seeds hatch in isolated space; deep-brain fully forms then.
Same seed, different deep-brains.
Complexer seeds, bigger variances.
That's why rejects happen, but merits outweigh—most AIs made this way.
Finished deep-brains? Near-impossible to tweak artificially.
One glitch cascades; even experts steer clear.
Fontana and Unte failing to fix R3D3's quirks? Exhibit A.
So yeah, I got serious.
My earlier worry might've come true.
"That possible?"
-Via link, deep-brain underwent inexplicable changes galore.
"So what's feasible then?"
-Not just me. Felt same or greater shifts in Eve.
"...Right now?"
-Not now. Beep-boop!
I chewed my lip, eyeing R3D3 hard.
Tough call.
"Hand it over."
-Beep-beep!!
"Not gonna hurt it. Gimme."
Even scowling, it hesitated visibly.
Then Eve stepped up first.
Tapped R3D3's legs like coaxing.
Left sulky R3D3 behind, toddled over, head up.
-Beep!
Sleeker than chubby R3D3, but one-third size kept it cute.