episode_0375

Violet, swaying like smoke, blinked her confused eyes.

‘Why am I here?’

Violet was engulfed in doubt. She should have vanished into thin air like smoke.

Suddenly, the witch realized her body was moving against her will.

‘What, why am I acting on my own…’

The witch immediately intuited the cause.

Because her understanding of the Palace of Memories, this space the fakes called the network, was deep. And she despaired.

She had already scattered into fragments.

‘What! Why am I in multiple pieces…’

The witch’s consciousness drifted in chaos. Even as she fragmented and scattered in all directions, Violet desperately tried to understand the situation. But she couldn’t even gauge how things were changing, or in what direction.

Suddenly, the witch’s gaze fell upon a vast, thin drawing she had never seen before. The loom from which the fabric with the drawing emerged, the countless glowing lines extending behind it, and only upon seeing the sky beyond the hole in the ceiling did the witch finally grasp the essence of the problem. Where she existed.

‘Why am I split?’

The Witch Violet finally faced the truth.

That she was fragmented and scattered into every single thread within the crystalline lights embedded like stars in the network’s sky. It was the result of the fakes finally causing a strange change in the network.

Violet’s ego gradually faded.

‘No, I won’t disappear like this!’

With a final desperate resolve, Violet scattered throughout the rebuilt network.

The witch was completely dispersed into the world of the vast network. All that remained were red particles hovering in the air like heat haze.

“What is this?”

The Violets, sensing something unusual, shook their heads in confusion. No Violet knew what had happened. Only time would reveal the answer.

**

We Violets faced a serious crisis.

「I’m small!」

「I’ve become a small Violet!」

I decided to call it the ‘Little Violet Pandemic.’ This phenomenon of Violets indiscriminately shrinking was nothing short of a tragedy.

「I’m becoming an idiot! Hiyah!」

The whole situation began with the Little Violet phenomenon first appearing in unit 10151. The other ‘mes’ that appeared after modifying the blueprint were unbelievably small and young. They had transformed into a diminutive stature of barely 120cm.

The application of the blueprint itself was perfect. We could change our bodies according to the modified blueprint as desired. But that’s precisely where the problem began.

“It worked! I’m a small Violet!”

“It’s a mini version!”

As a Little Violet, I was completely useless.

“Ugh! The sword is too heavy!”

Perhaps due to their reduced size, the Little Violets were significantly weaker than my original form. Their overall physical abilities seemed to have deteriorated. Although I hadn’t tested them in actual combat or shooting, their durability must have also decreased. This was natural, as their muscles had shrunk, and most of their bodies had turned into soft flesh.

But there was another, real problem.

“What! My body won’t go back to normal!”

It was as if I was stuck in the Little Violet state; my body wouldn’t revert to its original form.

“Squealed!”

I repeatedly tried de-generating and re-generating, but the ‘mes’ that had become Little Violets continued to remain in their child-like state.

To make matters worse, our Violets’ cognitive abilities gradually began to decline.

“Ugh… so annoying…”

“By the way, aren’t I cute?”

The Little Violets had clear limitations on their processing speed compared to us Violets. Their language proficiency and concentration also seemed noticeably impaired. Even the ‘mes’ that weren’t Little Violets felt their thoughts becoming extremely simple and bothersome, perhaps due to the network’s influence.

“I’m sleepy…!”

“I’m hungry!”

Now that I think about it, I’m sleepy and hungry, so I should probably rest. Little Violets are weak and cute, after all…

「Uh-huh?」

「This isn’t right! Snap out of it!」

Suddenly, an ominous premonition gave me goosebumps all over. The intelligence of the genius Violets was slowly declining. Important plans were pushed aside, and they were only chasing after simple things!

Why had my mind become like this? I must have made a fatal mistake in the process of applying the blueprint.

「Hee-hee!」

「Ack! I’ve become a mini Violet too!」

In the end, the Little Violet was a failure. The very first blueprint we created had no advantages other than being small and cute. It was my fatal mistake, made without deep consideration.

「Uwaah… my mind is fading…」

Our Violets’ consciousness grew increasingly hazy. It was a situation where we couldn’t even grasp what to do. Alright, let’s think calmly. First, we’ll do things one by one, calmly. I need to return to my original body. But… wasn’t my original body this child-like form?

「That’s right! I’m cute!」

「A small and cute Violet!」

Perhaps it truly was. I am a Little Violet. A tiny, adorable being. The young lady of House Cascadia would surely think so too. I am the cutest and most charming being in the world. Cuteness is the highest value that Avatar Democracy should pursue, isn’t it? To be troubled by such a thing, I’m truly foolish…

「No, snap out of it! I’m not a foolish Violet!」

As unit 5543 clutched its head and wailed, the other Little Violets looked bewildered. Then, one by one, they spoke.

「Foolish?」

「I’m not foolish! I’m a genius!」

I desperately fought against the other ‘me’ within myself. Stumbling and wandering through the network like a drunken person, I finally managed to return to the side of the loom after a long time. The very first blueprint I had touched, among the other blueprints, caught my eye. I quickly reached out. The thin, golden fabric, bearing a full-body drawing of a small girl, shimmered.

-Crack!

「Agh!」

After a long, long series of trial and error, we finally managed to regain our original forms from the Little Violet state.

「We almost lived as little kids!」

The first blueprint modification attempt ended in failure. Amidst our disappointment, we comforted and consoled ourselves.

「We’ll do better next time!」

There must be some way to utilize what we’ve already created.

**

Taking the first failure as a lesson, we earnestly dedicated ourselves to research. Based on the blueprints, we would surely be able to create a more advanced Violet body.

Although we didn’t know the exact principles, we continued to extract and modify blueprint copies from the network, just as a baby naturally learns to walk without being taught.

「Alright! This time, let’s create a stronger body!」

Unit 4532 first took out a pencil and scribbled all over the copy, manipulating it. Following instinct, they began adding one strong-looking idea after another. Strangely, every time the pencil grazed the paper, a strange illusion shimmered before their eyes. Images of thousands of chains splitting into multiple strands, then mixing and reassembling, flashed and disappeared. Between each chain, various colored rods were attached, and every time I purposefully drew lines with the pencil, the chains and the rods within them would break apart and attach to strange, unintended places.

Once the work, as if in ecstasy, was finished, voila! Blueprints containing my subtly transformed appearance were completed. All that was left was to touch them and apply them.

Of course, most attempts ended in failure. Either there was no change at all, or only fatal side effects were caused.

“Shriek!”

When regeneration was attempted using one blueprint as a reference, a Violet with grotesquely twisted arms appeared. Some Violets, as if suffering from internal organ problems, made a squawking sound and died immediately upon being generated.

「This is a bit dangerous, isn’t it?」

If we were unlucky, mutant Violets would clearly be mass-produced. I immediately tore up the failed blueprint. Fortunately, the original blueprint was the network itself. Since the entire structure of this mental space where we existed was virtually the original blueprint of Violet, creating a few copies would not affect our main body. It must be so.

「Ugh… so the only successful creation is just the Little Violet?」

「Seems so. At least that one can walk, talk, and move normally, right?」

The Little Violet was undoubtedly a product of complete chance. Although its physical strength was somewhat lower, and it didn’t match the original’s genius, it was still more stable than the ones that appeared later. There might be a way to apply it somehow.

「Let’s analyze it!」

First, as a result of the research, I discovered several notable advantages.

The most striking discovery was the significantly lower magic power consumption. The Little Violet’s generation speed and magic power consumption rate were only half of the original’s. To grow back into the current Violet from this state, another half would be consumed, but…

And there was another interesting feature.

「Wow! Guys! The magic beasts can’t see me!」

The Little Violet strangely had a faint presence. Unit 5312, moving experimentally in the harsh wilderness of the Red Zone, quickly hid itself upon seeing an approaching magic beast. A grotesque magic beast, like a mixture of a scorpion and a bear, approached, raising its front paws and swinging its tail. Normally, the magic beast would immediately detect us and charge.

“Growl…?”

The magic beast looked around as if something was odd, then simply passed by where unit 5312 was hidden. Upon closer inspection, beyond merely having a low presence, I, as a Little Violet, actually appeared blurry even in the sight of other Violets.

「Huh? I’m blurry!」

「Transparent Violet!」

This small body had the fatal problem of somewhat reduced intelligence, but it had its own unique advantages. The collective intelligence gradually shifted its perspective.

「The Little Mode has its own practical value!」

It might even be useful in non-combat situations. If we combine this with the magic wave interference vaccine we’ll develop in the future, we’ll be able to completely evade surveillance.

「Excellent!」

The unexpected achievement was temporary; we remembered that there was still an unresolved question. That was the mysterious acceleration ability observed during the first appearance of the Little Violet.

「What could it be?」

I thought deeply about this sense of déjà vu lingering in my body and mind. This movement that left strange afterimages, and the flow and manipulation of ether emanating from it, felt extremely familiar somehow.

“Aha.”

This power, almost slipping from my fingertips. Could it be an Apostle’s ability? I took a deep breath, revived my previous sensations, and focused the network’s capabilities to try and reproduce that acceleration.

-Whirrr!

In a fleeting moment, a sharp sensation, as if time had been split into ten pieces and then each of those split ten more times, severed the space between me and the world. The scene before my eyes inverted into strange colors, then vanished in an instant.

“I think I get it…”

I slowly organized my thoughts and turned my gaze beyond the sea. Because it felt like I was about to find the key to solving the crucial problems that had remained unsolved until now.

**

As time passed, after countless experiments, the Frozen Auntie scientist showed unexpectedly rapid results.

“Pfft, Boss Unnie! I finally succeeded!”

One day past mid-August, Phoebe urgently summoned me through a rat in the isolation lab. Through the rat’s eyes, what I saw was a triple-sealed lab with faint black smoke swirling around. Inside, V-Dog was wrapped in a yellow blanket, eating a sandwich and looking at a smartphone.

“This is fun! Woof! Huh? When did I turn this on? But I’m healthy!”

Pointing at the bewildered dog, Phoebe boasted with a proud expression. The electronic monitors beside her displayed numerous values in real-time, pouring out comparative analysis data related to magic power wavelengths.

“See, Unnie? I finally created a mechanism that interferes with the tracking detection of nano-pathogens. Now, if you’re exposed to this, the virus will be deactivated!”

“Wow, you actually pulled this off?”

“Of course! I’m a genius high school girl!”

This human finally went and created the prototype vaccine as instructed.

“And incidentally, I’m also testing a cure. The quantity isn’t much, and the side effects are a bit severe, but…”

“It doesn’t matter! All that matters is reducing the damage anyway!”

This lab’s scale could only produce about one or two ampoules. But even that is enough. All that’s left now is to take this to the Red Zone, inject it into one Violet, and apply it to my blueprint.

“Alright, initiating Violet 2.0 plan!”

All preparations were complete. I was ready to spread out once more.

「We shall return!」

「To the Academy City!」