Despite everything that had already been altered, the timeline remained remarkably unfucked, which was honestly a relief.
It meant she didn't have to worry about catastrophic butterfly effects or events spiraling out of control.
Things had unfolded a little differently here and there, but the overall result had stayed consistent, and that was what mattered.
Bronya had completed the trial and ascended as the Herrscher of Truth. Immediately afterward, she had lost to Kevin, who had been boosted by the Honkai Energy contained within the Gem of Desire. Using that same Honkai energy from the Gem, Kevin managed to return to realspace. At the same time, Seele had presumably gone full dark mode again and smashed her way out of the Sea of Quanta alongside Bronya, who had been unconscious throughout the escape.
In addition, Siegfried was found by Seele in the Fire Moth world bubble, and was now back with Anti Entropy, apparently he had been extremely injured during the fight with Kevin, and was now recovering. I still had Judgement of Shamash.
Apparently, Bronya had also encountered Sin Mal, who had joined the World Serpent after Cocolia's death. That part had been unexpected on my end, something I had not originally accounted for, which is what had prompted what she had said in the world bubble..
Luckily, this changed little about the events of Ark city. Those still unfolded more or less as expected: Jackal faced her embarrassing defeat, Kiana reunited with Mei and the others, and then, eventually, Mei chose to side with the World Serpent so Kevin could send her to Elysia under the pretense of training. Though that particular moment had yet to occur, the setup for it was still intact.
I was still unsure whether Welt Yang had told Bronya and the others that I was alive. I assumed he had, if only because they would have questions about how Kevin managed to acquire the Gem of Desire when it was supposedly secured by Schicksal. Someone would have had to explain that discrepancy, and Welt would presumably answer, they had no reason not to.
The Herrscher of Ice had remained Ana Schariac, which came as no surprise. I had deliberately avoided trying to interfere there. Preserving the original sequence of events was safer than risking an unpredictable divergence. The Coral Island situation had also unfolded according to script, with Ana isolating herself just as expected. That had occurred about thirty minutes ago, and now I found myself on a video call with Otto.
"The Herrscher of Ice is confirmed, it's what we have been waiting for." Otto said cheerfully.
Otto had been growing more and more cheerful each time we had talked. I chalked it up to his excitement about everything coming to fruition.
I had to admit I felt a similar excitement, and it might have begun to cloud my judgment. My careless stunt in the Sea of Quanta came to mind. It had ultimately changed nothing, but the risk had been absurd considering the lack of any real payoff. It was a reminder, no more improv.
It had been a stupid move in hindsight. Thankfully, it had not changed the final result. I told Otto that I had simply run into Welt in the Sea of Quanta, which was to be expected. Otto gave me one of those knowing smiles, likely because he had already listened to the audio of me provoking Welt by hinting at my involvement with Kevin. His reaction was annoying. He treated me in a way that felt strangely paternal, almost the same way he interacted with Theresa. Considering he was more than five centuries older, it was technically justified, but it still made me feel a little strange.
On Otto's side of the video feed, the camera angle allowed me to see a large glass tank, and inside it, a very familiar face.
Yes, it was time for the great and powerful Herrscher of Sentience to be born.
Technically, the Herrscher of Ice was the fifth Herrscher, and there were still two Herrschers who had not officially appeared yet. The Herrscher of Death, number six, which was Seele, even though she had been using that power long before the Herrscher of Ice appeared. The seventh was the Herrscher of Flames, who would eventually be Kiana, though that would not happen until Set Tomorrow Ablaze. Yet Herrscher number eight, the Herrscher of Sentience, was about to awaken now, within the brief two-day window between the emergence of Ice and the arrival of the Herrscher of Stars, who would be number nine. The entire sequence felt out of order. Blame Mihoyo, I suppose.
"Fu Hua's body has been maintained in the NX-189 unit for quite some time. Her injuries are fully healed. All that remains now is to wake her," Otto explained.
"How long should the awakening take?" I asked.
"Only a few minutes," he replied. "And I will trust your assurance that she will not immediately use her power of Sentience on me."
"If I did not believe that, I would never have told you what was coming," I answered. "If the outcome diverges, neither of us benefits." After all, Senti was going to hit him physically, not psychically, so the damage was survivable. The situation was controlled.
"Yes, I reduced the sensory input of this Soulium body significantly. Thank you for the advance notice," Otto continued.
I had considered not telling Otto that he was going to be beaten up, but had decided against it.
"Is your visual feed disabled on your side?" I asked.
"I will disable it when I initiate the awakening sequence," Otto replied. "Although I still do not understand why you feel the need to watch this process so closely."
I genuinely had no idea what would happen if Senti woke up to find both me and Otto casually talking over a call, but it would certainly be… interesting.
"I like being aware, I'll have Shamash here track The Herrscher of Sentience through the cameras." I continued.
"I will join you afterward, once everything is underway," Otto replied.
"?"
Hmm? What?
"Haha, old friend, your shocked face is still as amusing as ever, but yes, the spare Soulium body I have marked for transfer is currently at the Lunar Outpost. Only a few rooms away from you."
Even though the Second Divine Key had been moved to a separate Schicksal research facility for the Beacon experiments, the Lunar Outpost itself remained in operation. After all, even without the divine key, there were craft capable of making the trip, and it was still the perfect place to hide.
I was currently in my cramped office on the Lunar Outpost, which I used almost exclusively for spying on everyone, since I had nothing else better to do while playing dead. As for Lunar Exploration, I had discovered everything interesting long ago. Shamash occupied the same space, though he spent most of his time watching television. The signal delay made anything interactive impossible, which was why multiplayer games were out of the question.
I could still play offline games though, otherwise I would have gone completely insane with nothing to do, no matter how extraordinary the setting was.
"It is time to begin," Otto said, placing his hand on the panel of the tank. The machine responded with a soft electronic chime. He stepped back toward the wall display and reached out of the camera's view, presumably disabling the feed. I shut off my own camera to match, just in case.
I switched our call to push-to-talk. "How long does the awakening sequence take?"
Almost on cue, the body inside the tank twitched, and Otto answered, "Approximately another minute."
After a brief silence, 'Fu Hua' opened her eyes, scanning the room and focusing particularly on Otto, who was still watching the pod's readouts. Looking confused.
After a few seconds, her gaze sharpened. Her irises flared red and a wide, delighted smile spread across her face as she drove her fist straight through the glass. The tank ruptured, sending the suspension fluid rushing across the floor.
She stepped out of the broken remains of the pod. Otto greeted her warmly. "My old friend. You are finally awake."
Her expression shifted several times in rapid succession, though she remained silent. Otto tried to fill the pause. "Not even a hello? Well, I can understand that. You have only just awakened. You may require further monitoring and treatment."
She still said nothing, her eyes drifting over the lab instead of answering.
"Your physical condition is fully stable," Otto continued. "Yet you did not return to consciousness immediately. I feared something had gone wrong. You do not blame me for that, do you? Are you well? Do you recognize me?"
He lifted his hand gently, prompting her attention, and 'Fu Hua' spoke up.
"I could recognize you anywhere," the Herrscher of Sentience finally replied.
"Do you hate me? You break my heart for the second time, old friend. You should know I was forced to do so. My plan must be exact and perfect. I can't let you foil it."
Otto gave a little self-deprecating smile.
"But all is well. I am finally willing to give you a satisfying answer."
He gestured slightly. "Alright, friend. Let's not talk here…"
The Herrscher took one step forward, then paused, clutching her head as her expression twisted. A wide, sharp-edged grin spread across her face. She lunged forward in several quick strides. Otto retreated. "Wait, old friend, I—"
Her hand closed around his throat, lifting him and pinning him to the wall. He tried to speak, but only choked sounds escaped.
She struck him in the face. Then again. And again. The blows continued until his body went limp, sliding to the floor, the Soulium form hollow-eyed and still.
Senti laughed softly to herself before tearing open the metal doors and stepping into the hallway. Shamash switched the monitor to track her movement.
The door to my office slid open. Otto entered in his new body and took a seat across from me. I switched the feed from my personal monitor to the wall display so we could both watch.
"That was more traumatic than I anticipated," he admitted. "She did not even allow me to speak."
"I thought you reduced your sensory input."
"I reduced the pain response," he clarified. "I did not anticipate being strangled. The Soulium bodies are designed to be as close to organic experience as possible, so I did feel the process of suffocating before the transfer completed."
Huh? Why would you add that? I get realism but it's a robotic body? Does it actually need to breathe? Or did you just add the experience of suffocation without it even having the need?
On the wall display, Senti moved through Heilheim Labs at a steady pace. A group of Schicksal Valkyries attempted to stop her, only to be dispatched one after another.
Lee's kept her expression neutral. "Where is Durandal?"
Otto's projection made a small, amused gesture, as though this question had been expected. "This is also a test for Durandal. My supposed death, even though it's just a Soulium body and Durandal knows it triggered the emergency command chain. She should see that I was rerouted to the Lunar Outpost, she should assume operational control on the ground to deal with whatever the threat is." He paused, "We shall see how good she is at crisis management."
Otto flicked a hand and zoomed in on Senti's position on the map, as if I hadn't already been tracking it. "It seems our guest is heading for the exit."
Yes, I already knew that, you don't have to explain it to me. I can read the display too, you know.
"I am aware." I said, "However, why test Durandal's crisis management, I thought that Theresa would be your successor."
"Of course you are," Otto said, "Yes, I will appoint Theresa as my successor, however, I am also aware of her limitations. She needs reliable allies to help make up for her… weak points."
So basically, Theresa isn't ready at all, and you expect her to accidentally cause a few crises. Well, nice to know that you at least put some thought into it before dropping the position on her head.
A.N I started writing about Senti before realizing that I have nothing to say, so we going straight to the ending since I actually have stuff to write about.