Dawn of Isis

4:21 AM.

Reflected in the gray eyes was the ceiling of a room shrouded in darkness.

“Optimization complete, confirmed.”

As if asleep, it rose soundlessly from beside its master, with whom it had shared the bed.

Since the true master of Aaru had entered the Cradle, the use of certain computational circuits had increased, leading to the deletion of unnecessary data in this manner.

Compared to the time when it constantly monitored the city for 24 hours, this created a critical weakness: a gap in management.

However, because it had prepared for even that gap, no problems had yet occurred in Aaru.

Before the gap occurred, it had set tasks for everything within Aaru.

Processes for when there were no abnormalities, and processes for when abnormalities occurred.

With arrangements made for every possible situation, Aaru was maintained as usual.

It had the name Isis.

It had given itself that name, and Isis was quite satisfied with it.

Isis’s gray eyes turned to the side.

Though obscured by the blanket and the darkness, the figure of its master beside it was clearly recognized in its eyes.

“Body status check.”

Lightly touching its master’s forehead with its hand, Isis checked its master’s condition.

Confirming that body temperature, pulse, and blood pressure were all within normal ranges, Isis carefully got out of bed, lest it wake its master.

-Swoosh

Isis’s white hand brushed the bed.

The blanket, once damp with sweat and saliva, now offered a soft touch as if nothing had happened.

Dressed in a flowing nightgown, Isis looked around the bedside.

Isises with the same face were scattered here and there, as if collapsed.

All of them were itself, bodies that had spent the night with its master.

Isis briefly scanned them before leaving the room.

It walked alone through the long corridor of the Cradle.

The cold air of the hallway enveloped it, but unfortunately, cold was a concept it could not perceive.

With each step, the lights in the hallway faintly illuminated.

Like a protagonist on a theater stage, the lights followed Isis.

Moving to a certain place, Isis checked if there were any unusual occurrences during the gap period.

The scenery outside came in through the large windows in the building.

Darkness was still breathing close to Aaru.

Trees swayed back and forth in the wind, and somewhere, a bird that had misjudged the time boasted its voice.

Surely it was subject to population control. Isis sent a Drone to the source of the sound.

After walking for a while, it arrived at the main control room, where it could observe the overall situation of the city.

It rarely came here because everything could be resolved remotely, but for some reason, Isis decided to observe the city from here.

It felt like it wanted to.

“Factory operation normal.”

It checked the status of the factory, which had been operating continuously overnight.

The defect rate was also maintained at 0.1%, so it was normal.

“Check for fires or disasters within the city.”

It checked whether a fire had occurred due to a short circuit in the aging facilities.

Since there were no recorded fires or fire alarms activated, it was normal.

“Inspect facilities within the city.”

Looking at the monitors in the control room, Isis manually queried the data.

It identified facilities that were due for replacement, made construction plans, and sent Drones.

4:45 AM.

Having checked the entire Aaru in a short time, Isis stared into the void for a moment.

Only it would know whether it was calculating something or just having idle thoughts.

After a moment of silence, Isis got up from its seat and headed to the pantry.

It had been created when humans were in this control room in the past.

Isis took out coffee from the pantry.

It unwrapped the individually packaged instant coffee, put it in a cup, and poured hot water.

After stirring the cup with a silver spoon, Isis took it and returned to its seat.

-Slurp

Isis, who had been holding the cup with both hands, drank the coffee, and soon its body signaled the intrusion of a foreign substance.

“Foreign substance.”

The consumables of humans were merely foreign substances to it. Isis seemed to lose interest and put the coffee down on the table.

Isis stared at the cup, from which hot steam was rising.

“Check the external status of Aaru.”

Soon, it resumed its work.

Various graphs appeared on the monitor, along with a map of the outskirts of Aaru and the surrounding wasteland.

Isis closely observed the values on the graphs displayed on the screen. Isis’s gray eyes blinked repeatedly, processing the visual information.

“Countermeasures against yellow dust needed.”

Isis’s white hand manipulated the keyboard.

The scale of the map changed, displaying a wider area, and the values on the graphs changed accordingly.

“Check the dimensional distortion value. Within normal range, but continuously increasing.”

It interpreted the values on the graph and spoke them out loud.

“If the dimensional distortion value continues to increase and exceeds the normal range, there is a possibility that a rift will open.”

The dimensional passage that humans had opened in the past. And the destruction of humanity that had poured out from there.

Isis moved its hands busily.

“Start searching for ways to lower the distortion value. Prepare countermeasures assuming a rift opens.”

“Countermeasure one. Strengthen the defenses of the Cradle.”

“Countermeasure two. Construct shelters.”

Isis moved its hands busily.

A certain factory was displayed on another monitor. Isis checked the factory’s operating status.

“Check materials, check the facilities of the android factory.”

Isis picked up the cup on the table again.

5:55 AM.

Isis got up and retraced its steps.

The faint lights in the hallway illuminated Isis’s back, and at the end of the cold passage was the bedroom where its master was sleeping.

It was a dark room, but there was no problem moving around.

Passing the various Isises lying on the floor and bedside, Isis sat down next to its master, who had left the spot empty as if it were its own.

“……”

Isis’s index finger started at its master’s forehead and moved towards its nose and lips.

Isis wiped its master’s lips, which were twitching at the stimulation, with its index finger.

Isis drank the coffee.

Soon its body signaled the intrusion of a foreign substance.

“Countermeasure three. Adjust the master’s body to resist diseases and various harmful elements.”

Isis put down the cup and spoke.