Chapter 142: Pride and Confidence
"...Nadir, so you managed to get some time off. That’s really great, vacations are always nice. I wish I could have a vacation too...but now I have a vacation forever thanks to you." I say to Nadir, taking a jab at him for getting me out of the military. We meet in a plaza where he was waiting for me, and he has a somewhat idiotic smile after talking about his vacation.
"Yeah, an entire week...well, now it’s five days, but that’s still plenty of time. By the way, I’ve already gotten rid of my phone for now. What are you trying to hide? Normally you don’t try to get rid of Nexus, you just block it." He obviously noticed, after all, I told him to get rid of anything that had Nexus.
"Let’s go to my new house. I don’t want Nexus knowing anything about what’s in my house. I’ll explain what I’ve been hiding once we’re there. There could be a camera, a lost phone, or random things that have Nexus in them around this plaza. For now, let’s focus on what matters. You’re back, and this isn’t the time to celebrate. I’m making preparations to face Nemesis." He lets out a sigh when I say that.
"I figured there’d be something like this, Zenith. Unfortunately, you’re right. I’d love to spend these vacation days with you, but we can’t exactly celebrate much when Nemesis is probably preparing to come kill us." He shakes his head as I give him a small smile.
’I’d better talk about something good too. Nemesis is a problem, but she’s a problem for the future!’
"Yeah, Nadir, it’s something we still have to deal with, but let’s leave that for later too. I want you to know that I learned robotics and programming! Intermediate level. You’re going to see that I’ve made some interesting things. I even paid for a 3D printer to build things." I tell him excitedly.
"You seem happy...ah...yeah...we were never able to go to a school or academy, and everything we learned was through military training or practicing on the internet...it seems you found something you like. I’m happy for you." When he says that, I freeze.
My tail makes a movement that causes several cracks because it is so abrupt, the vertebrae adjusting from the sudden stop.
’It’s true. I like robotics and programming. The two fit together really well. It’s fun, and I really haven’t put this much effort into learning something in years...’ I really enjoyed learning this, even though it became very difficult after the intermediate level.
"...Something...I like." I think about robotics and programming. Robotics is still difficult, so I can only create small robots that aren’t very useful. Programming is slightly easier because I have Aya’s support, but they really are fun things to learn.
"Yeah, you could say I liked learning these two new things. It’s really cool, and I’m good at it. Really good! If we’d had better lives during childhood, I think I might have had a talent for this field." When I say that, his smile grows a little.
"Now let’s go to my house, Nadir. We can leave these conversations for later!! I want to test something to help us get to my house faster since your time is very limited." I say in an irritated tone because he’s acting even more idiotic than usual.
...
...
...
"Here we are, Nadir. This is my house." Zenith says to me with a smile, showing me her house. She managed to build her house in a place that fits her perfectly. It’s far from the city, empty, and even though it’s in part of the forest, which isn’t something she likes, the house still gives off an air that screams it’s Zenith’s house. I can even see weapons on top of the house.
"Your house really suits you. Small, armed to the teeth, with walls that also have weapons and—" I begin describing her house playfully just to see her reaction.
"Stop!! Don’t describe my house like that! It’s just a normal house! Why do you always do this!? Urgh, it’s so annoying." She gets embarrassed, which is cute. Most things don’t really give off any sign that they’re Zenith’s because Zenith doesn’t customize the things she owns or leave her "mark" on them, but the house is absolutely her.
’It’s so much fun whenever I find something Zenith modified to suit her tastes. It’s rare, but it’s always something special...it seems like she really likes this house.’ I’m happy for her. It’s a small point of "normalcy" in the chaotic life she’s always had, and it shows that my decision to get her out of the military wasn’t a bad one, even if it wasn’t perfect.
"It’s embarrassing how you always try to find signs of me in my things..." She opens the gate to the house and pulls me inside. A small drone immediately comes over to us.
’This drone...does it have an AI integrated into it?’ The drone’s movements are more precise than those of automated drones, so it catches my attention since Zenith hates having help from Nexus with various things involving the control of objects.
"[Zenith-sama, welcome back. You came back quickly...]" The drone speaks to us while I think about the way we got here. Zenith was being pretty reckless. She wanted to test a boot with an air cannon built into it to make extremely high and long jumps.
It was faster, but the boot stopped working after three uses, and it even exploded on Zenith’s legs. It didn’t hurt her because she has prosthetics, but it could have hurt her, although I think she was already expecting it to explode. She had an extremely arrogant smile when I got worried.
"Who’s this drone, Zenith? Is it Nexus or something?" I ask Zenith, who looks at me with a very big smile.
’Her smile is always beautiful to see...she should smile more...but I guess the rarity of those smiles is part of what makes them beautiful...’
"This is one of my creations. She’s A.Y.A Nex. You can call her Aya, and she’s an AI for assistance and support. She’s the one who’s been helping me develop my weapons, as well as train and maintain a healthier life."
"She has no connection to Nexus whatsoever. I made a point of using an old database that Nexus doesn’t have automatic access to in order to create her. I spent days and entire nights planning and programming Aya myself." She looks very proud when she says that she spent nights planning everything.
"I’m using a chip-based system. Since I’m new to programming, there’s no way I can create Aya all at once, so I created a simplified version of her and I keep giving her upgrades through chips I’m making with updates for Aya, and Aya herself helps me update her!! And also—"
"[Nadir-sama, I consider your presence here valuable. Can you convince Zenith-sama to eat healthier? She has been resisting eating healthier quite a lot simply because she doesn’t want to learn how to cook properly.]"
"Pfff hahahaha." I laugh at Zenith, already imagining what she did. I’m sure she wanted an obedient AI with no opinions, so seeing her own AI ask me for help is hilarious.
And it’s even funnier because the AI is asking this only a few seconds after Zenith bragged about building her.
"..." Zenith blushes as she bites her lip. It’s rare to see her blush from embarrassment. There are very few times when that happens outside of an intimate context.
"Nadir, let me introduce you to Aya, a stupid AI that sometimes has opinions that are far too strong because of a few directives." Zenith gives the drone a warning look, making it back away a little.
"[Zenith-sama, you were the one who ordered me to take care of—]"
"Quiet! Don’t say too much! And don’t even think about mentioning the training I do for Nadir!! If you do, I’ll delete you and create A.Y.A 2.0!!" Zenith seems tense about something.
’Training?’ I get curious about that. Zenith has never tried to hide her training from me before.
"Aya, you called me Nadir-sama, so do I have some authority over you?" I ask, wanting to know more.
"[Yes. It’s part of the programming of the 100 rules of my first chip.]"
’So Zenith gave me permissions...how cute.’ I like that. The fact that she remembered to give me permissions shows trust. Zenith almost never directly says that she trusts someone, but actions like this show when she does trust someone.
"What training is that?"
"[I have videos and can show them as a hologram right now—]" Zenith punches the drone, completely destroying it.
"...Let me guess, there’s something sexual and...oops." I dodge one of her punches when I say that. The punch actually displaces a mass of air, and she looks irritated by my insinuation.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Zenith, that was dangerous!!! I’m not asking anymore." I raise my hands in surrender.
’Would Zenith find out if I asked Aya about it in secret? Besides, she must be feeling lonely...it makes sense. We’ve always lived together, but ever since she left the military, she hasn’t had me around anymore...’ She lets out a deep sigh.
"Whatever. Just be quiet. Let’s go inside my house. It’s a little messy, so don’t complain about anything, or I swear I won’t miss when I punch you again."