Redmont Manor,
Serisis.
7:20 p.m. 18th Banem 1092.
King Chu Tianjo sat on a chair at the manor's gates, surrounded by a handful of ministers and numerous guards. The king gazed at the night sky, which was illuminated by a beautiful gibbous moon. A small smile spread across his lips as he muttered, "So, the time has finally come." As he spoke, distant sounds of rolling wheels reached his ears. The noise drew his attention to the end of the street, where a line of carriages drawn by raptors slowly but surely made their way toward the gates.
The Serian King recognized the crest on the carriages, which signified they belonged to the army. Specifically, the garrison at the harbor. With this timing, they could only belong to the delegation he had been waiting for. King Chu Tianjo rose to his feet as the carriages came to a stop in front of the gates.
A soldier dismounted from the driver's seat and then opened the doors to the middle carriage, which also happened to be the most luxurious. King Xafier Anton of Aygorzi, and King Parissius Vermillion of Rosendun, stepped out of the carriage and then walked towards King Chu Tianjo as the rest of the Hopeful Maggots and the ministers disembarked from the other carriages.
King Parissius, observing familial customs, bowed humbly to his future father-in-law. "It is good to see you again, King Chu."
"Haha," King Chu Tianjo laughed as he reached over and patted King Parissius' back. "You should start calling me father soon, don't you think?"
King Parissius let out a nervous chuckle as he admitted, "You are correct. I will endeavor to do so in the future, so long as you agree to call me Paris." The king, eager to switch subjects, turned to King Xafier and introduced, "This is Xafier Anton, ruler of Aygorzi, home to the dwarfs. He has crossed two countries' borders to make it here."
"It is an honor to finally meet you, King Xafier," King Chu Tianjo's eyes sparked with interest and respect as he held out his hand to the dwarven King. "I have awaited this meeting with bated breath for many moons."
"Please, call me Xafier," cajoled King Xafier as he took Chu Tianjo's hand in a firm handshake. "I too have long heard of Serisis' unique innovations, and I must say, I am quite jealous of what you have achieved in this country."
King Chu Tianjo laughed as he shook his head, "It was only made possible through the citizens' hardwork. I share none of the praise here." With those words, King Chu ran a quick scan of the Hopeful Maggots, looking for two people in particular. It did not take long for him to find Leila Lightwood among the crowd. That woman would always stand out no matter where she was.
Leila, catching the king's gaze, smiled and then politely bowed. The king released a wry smile as he remembered how she had outperformed and outclassed both he and his ministers just a little while ago. King Chu pushed the matter to the back of his head as he quickly sought out the second target.
However, after a brief scan, the only possible candidate for Kashi seemed to be an unassuming daeben who seemed eager to blend into the background as much as possible. Could this person really be the enigmatic, powerful daeben famous the world over?
Unfortunately, despite his immense curiosity, King Chu could not abandon the other kings to go seek out a civilian. That would be too discourteous. So, he pushed the matter to the back of his head, choosing instead to focus on that later.
Kashi, meanwhile, let out a sigh of relief when he saw King Chu turn his attention back to the other kings. That was a close one! If King Chu had persisted in his curiosity, then Kashi would certainly become exhibit #1 for everyone else. Which, by the way, he had no intention of becoming.
King Chu, oblivious to the daeben's thoughts, welcomed King Paris and King Xafier into the manor. "You must have had a long journey. Come, let me take you to your quarters. After a short rest, you can join us for dinner." The king looked at Kashi and the Hopeful Maggots. "Of course, I would love to meet you there. I've heard a lot about you all."
"It would be our honor," Leila replied with a polite smile as she realized Kashi still intended on sticking to the background for now.
King Chu glanced at Kashi one last time, a hint of doubt in his eyes, but then turned to King Parissius and said, "You must have noticed the girls are missing, yet chose not to bring it up yourself. I am more and more impressed by you. Having you as a son-in-law might be the best decision I've ever made."
"All due respect, I do not think either of us had a choice in that," King Parissius joked with a pleasant grin.
"Oh?" King Xafier commented, eyes turning from King Chu to King Parissius. "I sense a story. You know we dwarfs love a good story."
"Haha," King Chu chuckled as he led the way into the manor. "This is a tale for the ages. A dinner that turned into a wedding proposal, all without the input of the husband or the brides' father."
King Xafier glanced at King Parissius, who awkwardly scratched his chin with an embarrassed look and then said with a huge grin, "Oh. Now, this I must hear."
The kings laughed and chatted happily as they led the way into the manor, leaving the Maggots a few paces behind.
Leila slowed down her stride until she was next to Kashi. The wisben looked at her guildmaster with a helpless frown as she warned, "We can let it slide now, but eventually, you have to take point. This is a meeting of the highest powers. We cannot show disrespect by having the vice-guildmaster responding all the time."
"Vice-guildmaster is just a title, though," Kashi argued. "You're as much, if not more of a guildmaster than I am. I'd prefer it if you took the lead on this."
Leila, however, shook her head in disagreement. "I may be better in politics, but this goes beyond political skills." The wisben looked at Kashi with resolve as she said, "I am undoubtedly a wiser leader, but you are without a doubt the better one." Leila looked at the kings as she stated, "People do not follow the smartest leader, but the one who inspires their hearts. The one who makes them believe they can achieve the impossible." She turned to Kashi and struck him in the chest with a closed fist. "Never forget. You are the heart and soul of the Maggots. Only you can consistently create and then sustain impossible legendary achievements. This is why, when push comes to shove, you are the one everyone will turn to. This is why you are the better leader."
Kashi rubbed his chest with a blank look in his eyes. The daeben spent most of his time away from the guild, doing his own thing, so he never knew how much of an impact his actions had on its members. Recruits clamored to join the Maggots, and veterans stayed true to the Maggots because of the legend of Kashi: the crazy daeben who performed miracles consistently.
Kashi had never thought of himself as some sort of role model, and suddenly being thrust into that position felt uncomfortable. However, while he was feeling distraught, he felt someone squeeze his arm.
The daeben looked to the side, where a smiling Lunette looked up at him and said, "I'm just like the others. I fell for you because you have a different aura about you. You always make it seem like there's nothing we can't do if we put our minds to it." She chuckled softly as she rested her head on his arm. "Leila is right. You should take the lead. Here at least."
"I agree," Shadow confirmed as he 'appeared' behind Kashi. The assassin raised his head to look at the stunned daeben. "You are the Hopeful Maggots' guildmaster, and the only reason this meeting is happening in the first place. If you don't take point, who will?"
Kashi did not get a chance to respond as Asha immediately added, "You are the reason I am here. You stopped the war in Merriheim. It is only right that you take the lead. I would not have it any other way."
"I am only alive because of you," Larsial simply said. A few words which carried the weight of a thousand words.
"I could say the same," Absalon chimed in with a nod. "No disrespect to Leila, but I would've been wiped if she had her way."
"None taken," assured Leila with a tight smile. "That is very true."
"Hehe, with all the adults confirming it, my opinion isn't really relevant, is it?" Stryke questioned with a chuckle. "But for what it's worth, I also think you should take the lead on this."
Kashi looked at the Maggots, at a loss for words. Even those who did not speak, like Jade and Miote, gave their confirmation through a thumbs-up and a nod, respectively. Syèl revealed a relaxed grin, signifying he had no qualms, while Shokō gave a distracted smile. Eventually, the daeben let out a loud sigh and scratched the back of his head. He then folded his arms and said in surrender, "Fine. Fine. I'll do it, okay. Just this once."
Leila revealed a pleasant smile as she said, "Good. You won't regret this."
"I hope not," Kashi muttered as the Maggots walked into the manor. A couple of handmaidens greeted the crew and then directed them to their rooms, where they could wash off and prepare for the dinner. "See you at dinner," said Kashi as he walked toward a room with Lunette curiously tagging along.
"Later," Syèl replied, and then made to grab Shokō, but the swordswoman deftly sidestepped his reach and followed a maid to a different room. Syèl's brows furrowed as he realized that whatever was bothering her must be more serious than he initially thought. 'Well, whatever. She'll tell me when she's ready.'
Syèl pushed the matter to the back of his mind as he followed a maid to his room. The rest of the Maggots also dispersed, promising to meet back in about thirty minutes.
Genaco Entertainment HQ,
Tokyo, Japan.
9:30 p.m. 25th June 2024.
Director of L.N.E and head developer, Justin Tan sat in a dimly lit conference room, studying the images on the smart wall next to him. If Suzuki was present, he would have recognized the video playing as cherry-picked moments from Kashi's life this past week.
Ever since their humiliating retreat at Meilfour, Justin Tan had held a deep-rooted grudge against Kashi and the Hopeful Maggots. He instinctively hated anyone who acted like they were better than him, even more so, someone who humiliated him in public. Unfortunately, Adjudicators were bound by so much red tape that he could not personally act against the daeben, or his avatar would be destroyed.
Luckily, Adjudicators were allowed to place surveillance on 'persons of interest' within L.N.E.
This feature was put in place after the company discovered that some traffickers used King's Journey to discuss their trade with clients and exchange gold. It was meant to allow the company to acquire proof of criminal activity since most criminals wiped their recordings after each playthrough.
Justin was abusing this privilege to keep tabs on the daeben, but even he knew he could not keep this up for long. Eventually, it would revoke his permission and stop his surveillance. Until then, he had to acquire enough information about how the daeben and his guild operated to destroy them and acquire her.
Whoosh!
The conference room's door swished open, drawing Justin's thoughts back to reality. The director turned to the doorway to see an excited intern clutching a stack of papers in his right hand.
"Justin-san!" The intern excitedly shouted as he waved the sheet. "I found it! I found it, Justin-san!"
Justin frowned, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the young man and cautioned, "Slow down, Hana-kun! Use your words! What did you find?"
"Kashi's information! His real name!" The intern called Hana announced as he ran up to Justin and plopped a stack of papers on the table.
"What!?" Justin's exclaimed in shock as he picked up the papers and began examining the contents. "Where'd you get this?"
"Hehe," the intern proudly laughed as he rubbed his nose. "I thought Kashi might have participated in King's Journey, so I tracked his current ID to see if it matched any data we had in King's Journey."
"How'd you get the ID? Everything's blocked?"
"It was in the file we received before," Hana revealed. "The data might have corrupted, but I made sure to memorize the ID."
"That's a series of 20 digits!" Justin raised his eyes, shock in them as he gave the intern a once-over. "You memorized all that?"
Hana laughed as he nodded. "I used to play memorization games as a kid." The intern then pointed at a sheet of paper and said, "It was hard to find, but I managed to dig up an old draft for a contract between the Broadcasting Division and a Mato Suzuki. Get this... His avatar was the famous Razznik Y'Terlow!" The intern shivered and rubbed his arms as he said, "Oof, I'm getting goosebumps. To think he was such a legend!"
Justin's eyes, however, had turned red with rage as he gripped the sheet of paper. "Razznik! So it's not just once, but twice that this kid has humiliated me!" Looking at the intern, he asked, "What did you say his name was again?"
Hana pointed at a different sheet of paper as he said, "The contract is signed to a Mr. and Mrs. Daichi, but only as guardians for a Mato Suzuki. Judging by the name difference, he was probably adopted."
Justin's eyes shook with excitement as he clutched the paper and glared at the other name on the sheet. The promisor of this contract was none other than Shouyou James himself. Now, why would this high-level CEO take part in such a low-level contract?
Hold on. Could it be?
Justin asked for confirmation. "Hey, kid. What's the boy's name again?"
"Mato Suzuki. Why?"
"Mato. Mato. Mato." Justin repeated, his gaze unfocused as he suddenly pulled out his phone. "It can't be, can it?" The director, disbelieving his hypothesis, pulled up an ex-employee's personnel file. He skipped through the fluff until he reached the next of kin fields.
Justin's eyes went wide, a massive grin spreading on his face as he burst into laughter, "Hahahaha! What kind of coincidence is this!? Good! This is good! Now I get to pay back this debt!" A sinister light appeared in his eyes as he turned to Hana and instructed, "Get the Virtual Drives ready! I'll be going in any minute now."
Hana ran out of the room to prep the device, leaving Justin to stare at the wall with an evil smile and eyes filled with hatred and scorn. "Don't worry," he muttered as he rose to his feet and made his way out of the room, "...I'll take good care of your son."
Back in the room, the image on the wall flickered, revealing a handsome man in his twenties with sullen, sunken eyes. Underneath the picture, his name flashed for a moment before the image disappeared.
Mato Ryumaki – Lead Project Designer.
Redmont Manor,
Serisis.
7:34 p.m. 18th Banem 1092.
Kashi, oblivious to the approaching thunderstorm, entered the room assigned to him by a maid. The daeben smiled in appreciation as he looked around and inspected the room. As expected of a royal manor, the room was beautifully adorned with numerous artworks and décor on the walls. The daeben glanced at a massive bed with comfy looking quilts and then turned towards the door leading to the bathroom.
"Wow... It's really pretty."
"Yeah, it is," Kashi off-handedly replied but then realized something was off. Why did he hear Lunette's voice? The daeben turned around and was shocked to find Lunette near the doorway, admiring a chandelier hanging off the ceiling. "Lune?"
As if on cue, the maid called from the door, "Miss, your room is this way, please." Kashi nodded as if to say, 'that makes much more sense,' but then Lunette's response threw that thought out of the window.
"It's fine," Lunette politely refused with a gracious smile. "I will be staying here, thank you." The songstress' smile was polite but firm, causing the maid to pick up a strong vibe that did not encourage any dissent.
The maid smiled and then said to both of them, "The bath has been pre-heated. You may go in anytime. If you need me, I will be stationed outside the door." As if realizing she said something off, the maid covered her mouth as she assured, "Do not worry. These doors are soundproof. You may go on about your business as you please." Lunette turned red, her gaze turning playfully hostile, while Kashi raised a brow in question. Without waiting for their reactions, the maid quickly ducked out of the room and shut the door behind her.
"Weird girl," Kashi remarked with a chuckle and then pointed at the bathroom as he turned to Lunette. "Do you want to go in first, or?"
"I'm fine," Lunette replied as she looked around the room, eventually finding what she was looking for. "But before you go, can you take a seat over there," she asked as she pointed at a small dresser set in front of a large obsidian mirror. Destia's technology had not advanced enough to produce modern-day mirrors, but it seemed that some nobles had access to obsidian mirrors made from polished obsidian ore.
"What? Why?" Kashi asked, puzzled by the strange request.
Lunette smiled as she took out a pair of scissors and a comb from her inventory. "I finally have you in one place without some important thing you need to take care of."
Kashi raised a brow as he looked at the comb with a bemused smile. "...And, what do you plan on doing with those?"
"Obviously, I'm going to fix your hair," Lunette replied with an excited glint in her eyes. "Muko introduced me to a hairdresser. She taught me for this very occasion." Snip! Snip! The songstress's eyes shone brightly as she snipped the scissors.
Kashi's eyelids twitched in line with the scissors' snips. "How good are you with that?"
"Only one way to find out," teased Lunette. "Don't you trust me?"
"Yeah, well, it's not a matter of trust or not," Kashi struggled to defend himself as he ran his right hand through his hair. "Just don't want a situation where I'm forced to cut it all off, you know." The daeben shivered as he imagined himself bald, with the sun glinting off his obsidian skull.
"Ah, then don't worry," Lunette assured as she took out a vial from her inventory. "There's this new hair potion going around. A few drops on the scalp, and you'll have shoulder-length hair within minutes." Looking at the vial, she added with a sigh, "Sadly, it doesn't cure baldness. Only works on people with healthy hair."
Kashi once again shivered as he questioned in disbelief, "Isn't that too convenient?"
"Not really?" Lunette replied with a shrug. "I think the developers put it in so we can easily switch between hairstyles. Plus, it's plant-based, so it doesn't put any animals in danger of extinction."
"Ha..." Kashi sighed as he resigned himself to his fate and sat on a chair in front of the dresser. "Fine. Just don't mess it up, please."
"More than it already is?" Lunette shot back with a snarky grin as she walked up behind him. She then took out a series of drawings depicting different styles and placed them on the table in front of the daeben. "Pick one."
Kashi quickly glanced through the options and randomly selected an option, not particularly caring about the end result as long as it did not get in the way during battle.
"Thank you, customer," Lunette snarked as she took the drawings into her inventory. She then took a deep breath, and only then did she finally put the scissors to Kashi's hair.
Kashi, well aware of her deep breath, asked, "Should I be concerned?"
"I've got this," Lunette promised. Whether that was for Kashi's benefit or her own, only she knew. Silence followed shortly after, as the sounds of snipping scissors became the only thing one could hear.
Kashi sat within the silence, watching Lunette's strangely desolate expression as she worked on his hair. After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence, the daeben finally broke. "Are you going to say what's on your mind, or what?"
Silence followed for a few moments before Lunette finally responded in a small voice much unlike her, "What're you talking about?"
"I'm talking about this situation." Kashi pointed at his hair, and then looking at Lunette's reflection, he said, "I know just how busy you've been. There's no way you had time to learn how to cut hair."
Lunette hesitated, raising her eyes to meet the daeben's reflection. "You knew and still let me?"
Kashi shrugged as he replied, "I figured it must be serious if you felt you needed to go this far. Well? What's wrong?"
Lunette paused... her pupils visibly shaking as she struggled to firm her resolve. It took a moment longer than she would have liked, but the songstress finally got her nerves under control. She lowered her gaze, returning to her task on Kashi's hair as she asked, "...Do you think A.I's can fall in love?"
"Huh?" Kashi questioned, stunned by the question that came out of left field. "Where'd that come from?"
"I heard Paris is getting married to the Serian Princess," replied Lunette in a low tone. "I was curious. Do A.Is truly fall in love? Or is that just a couple of zeroes and ones that can easily be manipulated?" Lunette hesitated but then repeated her question. "What do you think? Can A.I's love?"
To her surprise, Kashi did not take a moment before answering, "Every sentient living thing can love."
"You consider A.Is as living beings?" Lunette questioned with a strange look in her eyes.
"Maybe not every A.I out there," Kashi replied with a shrug. "But at the very least, I think the ones in this game qualify as living beings."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if you want to look at it scientifically, there are seven characteristics a thing must fulfill to be classified as living," explained Kashi and then began counting them off his fingers. "Nutrition, Respiration, Movement, Excretion, Growth, Reproduction and finally, Sensitivity." The daeben paused, taking a breath, and then exclaimed with a chuckle, "Oof, thanks, Ms. Nomura. I guess Health Science wasn't as useless as I thought." Kashi, slowly getting into his own world, continued, "If you think about it, the A.I's here fulfill all those categories. They eat, breathe, walk around, grow old, have children, can touch and feel each other, and I might have to consult with Paris, but they most likely use the bathroom too."
Lunette chuckled as she imagined a scene where Kashi asked the King of Rosendun if he uses the bathroom. But then, realizing it was Kashi she was thinking about, she felt compelled to say, "Don't do that. Please."
Kashi raised a brow but then shrugged and said, "Fine, I'll just ask the forums later."
Lunette shook her head, unable to tell if the daeben was joking or not. Hence, she decided not to bother her brain and instead switched the topic. "You said scientifically. Is there another way to determine a living being?"
"Yes," Kashi replied. "The only one that matters."
Lunette's curiosity was officially piqued. "What is that?"
This time, it was Kashi who went silent for several seconds. Eventually, the daeben pointed at his chest and muttered, "The heart."
"What?"
"The heart," Kashi repeated in a louder voice. "As long as you can feel love or hate, care for someone else, grieve for a loved one and feel guilt when you betray someone who trusted you, you are alive." The daeben paused, his gaze growing heavy. "If you are incapable of feeling love, then you are not alive no matter how many scientific checkboxes you fill."
Kashi continued, his gaze downcast and solemn, "These A.Is can feel pain when they are hurt. They cry when their friends are killed in front of them. They are capable of loyalty, the likes of which I've never seen. In that respect, many of these A.Is are more alive than some of us humans."
"But those emotions are as a result of coding," Lunette argued. "Anyone can tamper with their code anytime. Can that be considered real love then?"
"And if you smack the human brain the right way, you can eliminate our emotions altogether," replied Kashi. "At the core of it, most of what we call human emotions are a result of chemical impulses causing the neurons in our brain to fire off 'good' or 'bad.' With enough expertise, you can probably tamper with a human's brain, causing it to fire off 'bad' whenever they see someone they were previously in love with. The only difference with A.I's is that their 'brain' is much easier to access than a human's."
"Yes," Lunette agreed, but then added, "Because humans made them. They were made, so they can't be alive."
"Ignoring the possibility that humans were genetically designed to be as we are, A.I's can be considered the next logical step in evolution. Just because they were borne from human intellect rather than biology doesn't negate it," Kashi proposed with a bright light in his eyes that surprised Lunette. She had never seen that look in his eyes before
Lunette paused and could not help but give the daeben a strange look, "You've done a lot of research into this."
"Haha, yeah," admitted Kashi with a chuckle, but then his smile dissipated as he muttered, "Suzuki did a presentation on emerging technologies in elementary school. It was one of the rare times father had time to help him on a project."
"Oh," Lunette muttered, unsure how to respond. "Sounds like it was beautiful."
"It was nice," muttered Kashi, but then quickly changed the subject, "So, does that answer your question? I believe A.Is can love just as much, if not more than humans."
Lunette paused for a moment, catching Kashi's reflection in the mirror. "In that case, what about an A.I and a human?"
"What about it?"
"Can a human fall in love with an A.I?"
"Why not?"
"What?"
"Why not?" repeated Kashi with a smile. "If you think about it, nothing is stopping A.Is and humans from loving or hating each other. If you spend enough time together, eventually, one party will develop feelings for the other, Artificial be damned."
Lunette hummed as she returned to working on Kashi's hair and then asked, "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you think you can love an A.I?" Lunette asked.
"I'm not sure I'm capable of love," Kashi instantly replied, almost as if by reflex. The daeben paused and then added, "What I do know, though, is that I enjoy being around Summoned just as much as I enjoy being with Residents. In fact, I think I enjoy spending time with Residents a little more. Life's so much easier with those guys."
"Well, what if I was an A.I? Would you be creeped out?"
"Nope," Kashi replied with a shrug. "But it would answer a lot of questions."
Lunette's brows furrowed as she stared at the daeben's reflection. "What do you mean?"
"I told you I know how busy you've been," stated Kashi as he sighed. "I also know that ever since I've met you, no one has ever noticed you logged out." The daeben raised his fingers and said, "So, either you're an irredeemable NEET, terminal patient, or an A.I."
Lunette let out a depreciating chuckle as she muttered, "Somehow, A.I sounds the best option amongst those three."
"You think so?" replied Kashi as he raised a brow. "Doesn't really matter to me. I want to believe that what you are isn't important. It's who you are." Kashi held Lunette's hand, stopping her from cutting his head. He then pulled his head backward, so he looked up directly into her eyes. "To me, you are Lunette Falsetto, the amazing, beautiful singer with a scary younger brother."
Lunette's heart quickened, racing uncontrollably as she stared into the daeben's sincere, red eyes. "That's not fair," she complained as she pushed his head back into position. "You don't get to do that to me when I can't do the same to you."
"...What are you talking about?" Kashi asked and made to look at her again, but Lunette held his head in place with a vice-grip.
"It's not important," Lunette retorted. "Now stay still. I'm almost done." When she was sure Kashi wasn't moving, she continued cutting his hair.
Snip.
Snip.
Snip.
For a while, this was the only sound in the room. Both Kashi and Lunette were absorbed in their own thoughts.
Snip!
Lunette's resolved expression reflected on the silver scissors as the final lock of hair slowly fell off Kashi's head. The songstress raised her eyes, gaze meeting the daeben's in the mirror as the lock struck the ground.
"I'm an A.I."