"Corruption-chan…"
Corruption-chan had only just put down the comm terminal Lynelle had made specially for her when she noticed Sleepie stretching out a long tail-blade, poking at her little stomach with open curiosity.
"Ah, sorry, Sleepie. I think I held things up for a bit there…" She patted Sleepie's tail in a hurry and said, "You said you were going to take me to meet your… uh, master? Let's get going, then."
"Gallagher… this way…"
The lively Meme gave a happy little wiggle, then flew off in one direction with Corruption-chan following behind.
--+--
A little while later, Gallagher fell silent as he looked at Corruption-chan, who was glancing around with bright-eyed curiosity. "Sleepie, you… this is the friend you said you picked up?"
"Corruption-chan… tasty… friend…"
"T-tasty?" Gallagher looked at Corruption-chan in confusion.
Sure, he was really just a dog, but from what he understood about human common sense, "tasty" wasn't the sort of word you used to describe a friend, aside from certain very special hobbies.
Besides, the girl didn't seem to be missing any arms or legs.
With the size gap between Corruption-chan and Sleepie, one bite would've made that obvious, and more to the point, humans shouldn't be on a Memory Zone Meme's menu.
"Ah, that…" Corruption-chan looked away, suddenly guilty. "Sleepie really did get a literal taste of me. As for the reason, I guess it went something like this…"
As everyone knew, Sleepie served as the bus traveling between Dreamflux Reef and the other dreamscapes, and the way passengers boarded was, well… unique.
So when Sleepie had taken Corruption-chan away from that strange dream, it'd followed its usual method and given her an intimate, heart-piercing ride.
The problem was that Corruption-chan wasn't built like most people in a dream. She was a Swarm King made from three Paths: Abundance, Propagation, and Trailblaze, the last of which had appeared after she joined the Express.
On top of that, she was already moving toward an energy-based and data-based life form, so even the smallest piece of her data held a huge amount of information.
That meant when Sleepie "pierced" Corruption-chan, it couldn't avoid touching and absorbing a little of the data she'd left behind. The result was simple: Sleepie had enjoyed the meal very much.
"In short, because of my special life form, Sleepie really likes my data. And…" Corruption-chan rubbed a small ball of data together on the spot and tossed it into the air.
Sleepie appeared above her at once, caught it with delight, then ate it.
"Friend. Tasty."
"You saw that." Corruption-chan spread her hands. "After eating a few times, Sleepie's gotten much better at talking…"
Gallagher sighed as he looked at Corruption-chan's innocent face while she kept feeding Sleepie bits of her own data. He could already feel a headache coming on.
At least half his fighting strength in the dream came from Sleepie.
Judging by the current situation, even if he tried to drive Corruption-chan away by force, Sleepie probably wouldn't listen. Worse, he might not even be able to win.
But if he left Corruption-chan alone, that'd be trouble too. At this point in time, if she sent word about Dreamflux Reef and Sleepie to the outside world, things would get much more complicated.
Yet Gallagher couldn't lay all his cards on the table either, because for a History Fictionologist, doing that would be no different from suicide.
"Miss Corruption-chan, I've got a favor to ask. Would you be willing to hear me out?"
After a brief pause, Gallagher decided to tell Corruption-chan a limited amount of the truth.
"If I'm not mistaken, you should be a member of the Astral Express… which means you're also here for the Watchmaker's Legacy?"
"Legacy? Watchmaker?" Corruption-chan tilted her head. "What's… that?"
Gallagher: "?"
Corruption-chan: "?"
"Um… Corruption-chan." Gallagher pressed a hand to his head. "When you're on the Express, don't you usually care about things like route goals?"
Corruption-chan shook her head without hesitation. "I don't care about that stuff at all. As long as I can stay by Mama's… mm, by Big Sis Lynelle's side, that's enough!"
Great. She was still a kid. Probably the Express's mascot.
Gallagher took a deep breath, then pulled out a bright golden ticket. "Then I'll keep this simple. We're actually on the same side. In a way, our identities might even be a little alike."
"I'm working hard right now to complete my master's goal. But whether it's Sleepie or Dreamflux Reef, exposing either one would bring a lot of trouble. So… until my plan is complete, I'd like to ask you to stay in Dreamflux Reef for a few days. Is that all right?"
"Don't worry. Dreamflux Reef has some local residents too, and in a few days, I should also have Sleepie bring down some… Anyway, you won't be lonely."
"Sure!"
Corruption-chan nodded without the slightest hesitation.
After all, in their earlier call, Lynelle had told her to stay put in Dreamflux Reef and get along with the people there. Gallagher's offer suited Corruption-chan perfectly.
"Oh, right! Since Sleepie's going to bring people anyway, Uncle Gallagher, can you have Sleepie bring Big Sis Lynelle here too after a while?"
"Don't call me uncle. I'm only thirteen…" Gallagher sighed. "Fine. By the way, what does this Big Sis Lynelle of yours look like? Is she the one who looks almost exactly like you, aside from the colors?"
"Mm-hmm!"
"All right. I'll do my best…"
--+--
Meanwhile, in Golden Hour.
"Whew… I didn't expect Corruption-chan to have already ended up in Dreamflux Reef. That's a nice surprise. Perfect, really. This way, I can also keep her from meeting Firefly. Two birds with one stone."
Lynelle held a straw between her lips and rested her drink neatly against her chest, striking a pose that Herta and Little Senti could never pull off while she enjoyed the dreamscape view. "So where should I go next…"
[Beep beep—]
"Hm? A message from Stelle?"
Lynelle picked up her terminal in confusion.
"Lynelle, Lynelle! Help!"
The moment the call connected, Stelle's voice rang out from the other side.
"I saved a girl from the Iris Family over here, but the Bloodhound Family won't stop chasing me. Lynelle, quick, use your unbeatable Corruption Authority and think of something!"
Being chased nonstop by the Bloodhound Family? Which part of the plot was this again…
Lynelle froze for a moment, then soon realized what had happened.
In the original story, Gallagher had helped Firefly and Stelle out of danger. But now, because Corruption-chan had wandered into Dreamflux Reef by mistake, Gallagher still hadn't returned to Golden Hour.
"Don't panic. Send me your location. I'll be right there."
Ready to deal with the butterfly effect she'd caused, Lynelle stood up at once.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL