Reconnaissance (2)

A man writhed in agony within a dim room.

The only light was a single flickering bulb — until a blue glow began to race along the walls.

The light snaked through hidden channels etched into the walls, weaving in intricate patterns before shooting upward into the center of the room.

Weeeeeng—!

Receiving the light, a long rectangular pillar suddenly jutted up from the floor.

The blue glow transformed into letters and carved itself across the obelisk-like column. Strings of intermingled characters rearranged themselves over and over before dissolving away in a soft shimmer.

A woman's voice flowed from the unidentified pillar, as if pre-recorded for just this occasion.

Though the voice itself was refreshingly clear, its content was starkly mechanical. It didn't spare so much as a thought for the man rolling in unspeakable agony right beside it.

"...Error. Main AI silent."

In that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠instant, the obelisk, still glowing blue, flashed crimson.

The recitation, begun on such ominous words, dragged on and on without end.

And some twenty minutes later, the voice — which had not paused even once — finally approached its conclusion.

CLUNK!

The obelisk, which had looked like a single piece of metal, abruptly split into four sections.

And from within it spilled something the size of a human palm, trickling out like liquid light.

At first it was nothing but a chaotic tangle of blue lines — but gradually it took on shape and form.

What finally emerged was a winged fairy scattering tiny particles from her wings, as if she'd just stepped out of a storybook.

The obelisk, its task complete, retracted back into the floor. And in the fairy's lifeless eyes, a spark of intelligence flickered to life.

Everything comes with a price. There was no such thing as a free lunch.

In a game, you'd simply spend points, restore your talent, and gain power in an instant. But thinking about it realistically... if you force a talent into a body that never had one, would the body really come out unscathed?

"Aaargh!"

I thrashed in agony, rolling across the floor.

Something about the room was flashing blue, but I had no spare attention for it. All I could do was pray for this pain to end as quickly as possible.

"Ughhh... huh?"

I floundered through that long, endless torment for what felt like ages — and then the pain in my heart vanished as abruptly as it had arrived.

All that remained was muscle stiff as stone and a cold sweat, along with a body slumped in the corner of the room.

I must have passed out midway. Thank god for small mercies...

It had been truly unbearable pain, so honestly, losing consciousness was almost a blessing.

Still — how far had I rolled? It looked like I'd practically crossed the entire room.

"Awake at last, I see."

"Hrk??"

I'd been about to close my eyes for a moment's rest, but the unfamiliar voice at my ear jolted me instantly awake.

I didn't hear anyone approach?

Startled out of my wits, I scrambled to sit up — but in that instant, an energy radiating from my heart swirled down through my calves, thighs, and the soles of my feet, and the next moment my head touched the ceiling.

Why?

BAM!

"Gack!"

A crash far too loud to be mere head-on-metal rang out, and my vision flashed white. Then, another fall.

I clutched my skull, which felt like it was about to crack, and groaned.

That's not important right now!

An unidentified intruder was sitting right beside me. Wobbling, I did my best to put distance between us.

But ignoring my efforts entirely, that youthful voice sounded again, right beside my ear.

"...This is a side effect of your psychic awakening. I recommend rest until your body's sensations return to normal."

"A fairy?"

I turned my head and saw a tiny fairy fluttering beside my head.

True, she carried no magic wand. But the airy dress, the crown of flowers, and the wings shedding glittering dust were the spitting image of a fairy from a children's tale.

After the goblins, I could only gape at yet another fantastical creature appearing before me.

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Arwen, auxiliary AI of the Arkon National Research Institute."

"Auxiliary AI... Arwen? Not a fairy?"

"That is correct."

"...Looks like I'm going to need an explanation."

The absurdity of the situation had my head spinning. I slumped into a chair and faced the fairy who claimed to be an AI.

Arwen's explanation was concise. She began with why she had awakened at all.

"...What a staggering coincidence. So this psychic energy is what roused you?"

"Unregistered psychers are subject to containment by default. Though under ordinary circumstances, I would never have awakened... since all the senior AIs are silent, I was selected as the fallback option."

It showed, too — being no true fairy, Arwen used her wings purely as decoration. She didn't even bother to flutter them, gliding smoothly through the air instead.

Somehow, she looked rather pleased with herself.

So they're a kind of superhuman.

Psycher.

A human capable of perceiving and wielding psychic energy.

According to Arwen, psychic power had been a new possibility unlocked by humanity of the future — the ability to alter reality through the power of the mind! And because these abilities could develop in endlessly varied directions, they'd found use not only in combat but across countless industrial fields.

So this is psychic energy?

I brought a hand to my chest, where my heart lay beating.

My heart thumped diligently, pumping blood through my entire body — but unlike before, I could now feel a faint energy flowing along with it.

Thump-thump.

Inner Heart.

This new talent, won at the price of such agony, had made me a psycher — and granted me an organ that produced psychic energy on its own.

Once again, the status window offered no explanation, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so I couldn't tell the finer specs — but according to Arwen, it was impossible for an ordinary psycher to hold this much psychic energy straight after awakening.

She said it clearly indicated I had formed the psychic organ within my body — something only a rare few ever achieved.

With the psychic talk wrapped up, Arwen moved on to the main point.

"By protocol, you should be taken into custody by the security team for the appropriate screening procedures... but the situation hardly permits that, I'm afraid."

"Thank goodness. And here I thought an AI would do nothing but recite protocol."

I'd panicked for a split second at the word custody, but Arwen's follow-up put me somewhat at ease. Then again, she wouldn't have been answering my questions this amiably if it were otherwise.

"You misunderstand. I adhere to protocol at all times. And in accordance with that protocol, you are currently my first-priority command authority."

"Huh?"

What on earth was that supposed to mean?

...

"So... this is an emergency situation, then? I'm the only person left in the institute?"

"That is correct. Over 95% of the primary facilities have been destroyed."

Arwen's explanation was straightforward. Since I was the only legitimate sentient being detected in the vicinity, command authority had defaulted to me.

It seemed reckless to hand that kind of authority to just anyone — but apparently, being an Enhanced Human qualified me for it.

...I'll ask about the whole Enhanced Human thing later.

"Why did the institute end up like this?"

I asked the question I was most curious about. Maybe those goblin-like things outside had wrecked the place?

But I doubted a research institute would fall to mere monsters of that caliber.

This is a world where people might casually carry personal railguns, after all.

"...Cause unknown. I am the oldest-generation model among the auxiliary AIs, activated only when needed. It appears something happened while I was deactivated. Communications with the outside are severed as well, so I cannot even update my information."

Unfortunately, Arwen had nothing useful either.

Looking deflated, her wings drooped slightly as she settled onto my palm at some point.

"If you don't know, you don't know. Don't worry about it."

It can't even connect to the outside? Don't tell me it's not just this institute — the whole world's in ruins? I really do seem to have picked the wrong era to be born into.

My thoughts tangled into knots.

"I have a mountain of questions... but there's no time."

The true nature of Enhanced Humans, how to use psychic energy, somewhere to repair the android... I genuinely wanted to know so much.

But Arwen had told me three whole hours had passed since I lost consciousness.

By now, Yumo might have woken up.

Wandering the halls looking for me, he could easily stumble into trouble.

Getting back comes first.

"Arwen. Can you keep helping me? Even outside this room?"

"Anywhere within this institute, at your service."

At my question, Arwen placed both hands on her hips and answered with total confidence.

"Excellent. In that case—"

"One moment. I understand your eagerness, but there is something you must do first."

"?"

...

"Remarkable. This is practically genius-level talent."

"Yeah?"

"Mastering Body Reinforcement a mere thirty minutes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after awakening. However foundational the technique may be... in all my recorded data, I cannot find a comparable case. Truly befitting someone capable of manifesting a psychic organ."

Thwip! Thwip!

I punched the empty air while basking in Arwen's admiration.

Even with the slightest swing, my fist split the air with a sharp crack.

The psychic energy produced by my Inner Heart seeped naturally into my muscles, drastically amplifying the force of every movement I made.

On top of that, it dissolved muscular fatigue — psychic energy, changing its nature according to my intent, was all but omnipotent.

So this is Body Reinforcement...

It was a simple technique of fortifying the body with psychic energy, yet it was also the fundamental discipline every psycher had to train, no matter what psychic power they possessed.

A kind of universal skill, in other words.

Hadn't they said that those who mastered Body Reinforcement to its absolute limit could punch straight through a mountain with their bare hands?

It sounded utterly unbelievable.

In any case, acquiring Body Reinforcement proved far easier than Arwen had feared — like slipping into a suit of clothes tailored just for me.

I'd only heard a verbal explanation, and yet I'd already moved past the stage of controlling psychic energy to the stage of infusing it into muscle and bone.

Granted, Body Reinforcement had many stages beyond that, but for now, this was more than enough.

"So I can head outside now, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?"

I reined my raging psychic energy back into my heart and asked Arwen.

She'd stopped me from hurrying back to the original room, insisting that I at least reach the stage of controlling psychic energy to avoid injuring myself with my own power.

As of now, I'd not only met her requirements but surpassed them by a full step.

"...I have no rebuttal. I shall guide you. However, we will need to use a different door."

"Why?"

"Unidentified lifeforms are confirmed outside the door you entered through. Count: thirty-two."

"Ah... the goblins, huh."

Sure enough, even hours later, the goblins hadn't given up — still waiting for me at the door.

Stubborn little pests, every one of them.

"Specimen designation updated. They will henceforth be recognized as Goblins."

"Yes, yes. By the way, are you going to keep calling me 'you'? It's awfully stiff."

It had bugged me from the moment we first met.

I poked Arwen in the side as she worked diligently away.

"Shall I call you 'Master,' then?"

"Absolutely not."