...
The day after my excursion with Hina and Hoshino, I got an odd text, asking me to come to Millennium in the middle of the night. No clue who sent it, though.
"Ah, Sensei. You're here." A feminine voice says, as I enter the building. Turning to see the voice's owner, I nearly choke at what this girl's wearing.
'Good Lord, even Tsubaki wears more conservative clothing.' I can't help but think.
The girl has short, pink hair done in a bob cut with a small, red bow tied on the side of her bangs, which frame her face and slightly darker pink eyes. Around her neck is a pair of red headphones and a red tie, held between her breasts. She has on a white dress shirt and a long, black coat with a red collar, only, they're worn around her arms and stomach only. Her rather large chest is nearly unbound, only the fronts of each breast covered with a black, triangular shape with a zipper in the middle, each held with a spaghetti strap over her shoulders. She also has on a white skirt with an ammo belt and her school card, with the Millennium logo on it, attached to said belt. One of her knees is covered in a bandage, there's also a smaller one on her left shoulder. Looking down, I see her holding a black and red shotgun and notice that her hair is actually quite long. It's held in a long, thin braid which nearly reaches her ankles, hidden by her clothes and headphones. Her feet are covered in stylish black and white tennis shoes with black socks that come mid-way up her shin. Her halo is hot pink and is comprised of three rings. The inner two rings are connected at 12 and 6 o'clock. The outer ring is actually four broken-up rings, the horizontal two being a bit larger.
"Erm, that I am." I say, a bit awkwardly. "Did you send that message?"
"No, that was someone else." She says simply. "Oh, right. I'm Izumimoto Eimi, nice to meet you."
"And you as well." I say back.
"Sorry for this being so sudden. It's something important, so we can't be noticed by anyone. Someone is waiting for you." Eimi says.
"The one who sent that text?" I ask, which Eimi nods to.
"This way." She says, beginning to walk away.
I follow her for a bit, until she leads me to a hidden room. The place looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. Monitors and control panels everywhere.
"Club President, Joshua Sensei is here." Eimi calls out to... no-one?
But I was wrong, there IS someone, as she turns around and addresses the pink haired girl. "Thank you, Eimi... and pleasure to meet you, Sensei." She says with a very soft voice.
The reason I couldn't see her was that she blended in with all the metal and tech everywhere. Or rather, her wheelchair did. It's quite large, and is a sleek grey, black and white, sporting the Millennium logo everywhere.
The girl herself has curly, pale grey hair reaching her waist. Long, pointed ears escape from her bangs, framing her face and pale purple eyes. Above her bangs is a black headband, as well as a black and white flower hairclip, above one of her separated bands of hair, spilling out from under her ears and tied with a round, black band, each lock of hair reaching the bottom of her chest. She has on a black undershirt with a high neck, covered by a pale brownish-grey shirt, which is, in-turn, covered by a cream white jacket with blue trim and gold buttons. She has on a long, cream colored skirt, covering another white one, both of which reaching her ankles. Her feet are covered in simple. black slip-ons and white socks.
I see no gun of hers, but she IS in a tricked-out wheelchair. Her halo is comprised of six white 'u' shapes, and six, smaller black ones. The white ones are at 12. 10, 2, 8, 4 and 6 o'clock, while the black ones are at 11, 1, 9, 3, 7 and 5 o'clock.
All-in-all, she kinda looks like a precious, ceramic doll. Especially with the beauty mark under one of her eyes.
"it's nice to meet you as well, miss..." I trail off, not knowing her name.
"My name is Akeboshi Himari. I am a genius hacker here at Millennium Science School." She says, not at all prideful, but still quite prideful.
"A hacker? I suppose that's to be expected 'round here." I say, absent-mindedly.
"Indeed. Also, I am pretty famous, so you've probably heard about me at least once before, no?" She asks. "The mysterious, ultra-beautiful club president of Veritas, the paragon of sickly beautiful girls... something like that. Millennium's blooming flower... I'm sure you've heard of at least one of these."
"Erm, no, actually." I say, a bit awkward, as her pale purple eyes widen in surprise. "I haven't hung around Millennium much, sorry."
"Well, that's quite surprising. Fufu, fufufu." She giggles to herself. "Fufufufufufu..."
"Prez is getting carried away." Eimi says. "Sensei, take responsibility and get her back to normal."
"Ara? Why must you say it like that, Eimi?" The silver haired girl asks. "I'm not 'getting carried away'. I was only confirming some facts to verify that all is in order. Anyways-" She begins, getting a serious look on her face. "-, the other day, I was appointed the club president of the 'Paranormal Phenomena Investigation Club'. As for Veritas, the hacker group of which I originally belonged to, I have left Chii-chan in charge for the time being."
Chii-chan...? Wait, more importantly. "What does this Paranormal Investigation Club want with me?" I ask.
"I'm getting to that." Himari says. "Our club is a special organization created by the student council president of Millennium, Rio. Eimi, might I get you to explain?"
"We're a club under Seminar whose purpose is to track and research phenomena which are difficult to understand scientifically." The pink haired girl explains. "The club was created by Rio's orders, but up until now I was the only member. After all, we didn't really have any clear activities."
"I never thought I would suddenly be named the president of such a sketchy club that Rio made..." Himari says with a sigh. "A club with only one member, at that."
"Two members, including you, Club President Himari." Eimi adds.
"Yes, that's right. Eimi, who's growing very healthily, and me, a sickly, beautiful girl. I think we'll make a wonderful combo." Himari says with a small smile.
"By the way..." The pink haired girl begins. "Isn't it a little hot in here?"
"Not really...?" I all but ask, as Eimi picks something up.
"No, in fact, I'm shivering, so please put down that air conditioner remote, Eimi." Himari says, sternly. Eimi does so, then goes to grab her clothes. "Um, and please don't take off your clothes either." I quickly turn away. "What's... the zipper? What are you...? Never mind, I get it. Please do not do that."
"Tell me when she's clothed again." I say, still turned around.
"She is." Himari says, prompting me to turn back around.
"Back to my earlier question, whaddy'all need my help with?" I ask.
"Oh, that's right. Let's get started with that." Himari says. "You may or may not know this, but... I have long been at odds with Rio, the student council president of Millennium. While she is like an older sister trying to control everything, I am a copyleft believer, opposed to such control."
"Like water and oil, huh?" I summarize.
"Exactly." She says with a smile, likely pleased with my analogy. "If I were to compare us to water, Rio would be the water running in the sewers, and I would be the clear, mineral water..." Wow, what a rare insult. "Or it might be fitting to call her the filthy water floating at the top of a septic tank. And I would be something like crystals of firn. No, dirty water, ditch water... There must be a more suitable expression."
"Okay, okay... Christ, girl. You can roast her on your own time." I say, trying to stop her tirade.
"I suppose I should get to the point." The doll-like girl says. "Anyway, I was dead set on declining any and all requests from Rio, but... due to some... complex circumstances, she made a request which I could not refuse. That's how I came to take the position of club president here. And in order to fulfill that request, Schale's help is necessary."
"And what kind of help do you need exactly?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.
"...Decagrammation." Himari says simply.
"Deca...? The ten-letter name of God?" I ask.
"Indeed, I'm surprised you know of it." She says.
"Always been a big fan of mythology." I shrug. "The name is comprised of the names of the first three Sephirot: Keter, Chokhmah and Binah."
"Though you've likely never heard of this unprecedented AI, you have heard of it's prophet, Binah." Himari says.
"You knew Kaiser was investigating it?" I ask.
"Yes, and seeing as how you raided their laboratory..." She trails off with a sigh. " 'If one were to research God and prove it's existence, then one could analyze its structure and recreate it. In other words, this is a method to create a new god...' " The pretty girl quotes. "Decagrammaton is the Anti-Absolute Autonomous Analysis System based on that hypothesis. It is an Ai which searches for divinity."
"It's impossible." I say with utmost seriousness, cutting her off. "Man can create many things, us being made in His image, but we are imperfect, whereas God is perfect. Man cannot attain perfection, nor create it. Furthermore, one cannot reach God unless He Himself allows it. This 'Decagrammation' is destined to be a failure, no matter how close it comes to recreating a god."
Himari merely sighs a tired sigh. "We tried to look into things ourselves, but... first of all, we couldn't even find that hypothesis outside of reports from Kaiser."
"You got your hands on them too?" I ask.
"And some you missed." She adds. "Likewise, we haven't even been able to confirm the existence of the group called 'Gematria'."
My eyes narrow quickly. "You hacked my stuff." I say, not ask.
Himari shamelessly nods in affirmation. "Essentially, there were too many uncertainties and unknowns to conduct research based solely on Scahle's information. It's not that I am suspicious of you, Sensei. I am simply stating the facts of the situation."
"If we were suspicious of you, we wouldn't have brought you here in the first place." Eimi adds.
"Yes, that's right. It's quite the opposite. We want your help." Himari says. I remained silent for her to continue. "An... incident occurred the other day where 'hub', a communications unit AI of Millennium's was hacked by an unidentified AI. Hub is an ultra-high performance computational engine which has been developed by the Millennium Science School. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a crystallization of Milennium's technology."
"This Decagrammatiom you mentioned was the culprit, I take it?" I ask.
"Most likely. Sensei." She says with a serious tone. "Despite how technologically advanced hub is, it was hacked by that mysterious AI in a mere thirty-one hundred-millionths of a second."
My eyes open wide at that number that's a decimal followed by six zeros, then thirty-one. "That's..." I breathe.
"I, as well as Rio, think that the AI which hacked into it is Decagrammation." Himari says. "Of course, we aren't just guessing. We have proper reasons." Himari then presses some buttons on her wheelchair, causing a things on some of the nearby screens to move. "After 'hub' was hacked into and the AI disappeared, the following text appeared in Millennium's network."
I look up at the screen to read the words.
At last, I have found the path to Providence.
Ahh... my path is 'completion through fame'.
My alias is 'splendor proved by brilliance'.
My name is Hod.
I am the eighth prophet who proves the god of the ten divine letters and foretells miracles.
"The ten divine letters..." Himari starts.
"Decagrammation." I say. Himari nods in agreement. I begin to ramble out loud. "Hod, the eighth Sephiroth on the tree of Kabbalah, the path to God, is paired with Netzach within the feet. Hod is likened to prayer, seen as a form of submission, thus it is an analogy to subduing one's self to an obstacle, unlike Netzach, which is the conquering of an obstacle. Hod is where form is given language, being the key to the 'mystery of the form', likely why it has no form, save for these words here."
Himari and Eimi stare at me in surprise and awe.
"I told you, I've always been into mythology. Especially the Biblical and Hebrew stuff." I say.
"There are two things we have inferred from this." The silver haired girl begins to explain. "First, after making contact with AI, Decagrammation makes them into its subordinates, or rather, prophets. Rio seems to interpret this as a sort of hacking of personality modules, but my interpretation is different. This is brainwashing... or more aptly put, it is 'inspiring' the AI."
"Inspiring... I see... God is capable of giving knowledge, should He see fit. Decagrammation is doing the same." I theorize.
"And second, as a result, the prophets of Decagrammation do not become Decagrammation themselves, but rather act as independent individuals." Himari explains.
"Right, it said it was a 'prophet who proves the god of the ten letters'. It exists to give proof of its existence." I say.
"Indeed. Decagrammation does not 'control' it's prophets. Upon doing some task, you would think it would be easiest to make them into itself or parts of itself and control them that way. Yet, this is not the case in reality. Rather, it 'inspires' its prophets and makes them able to act autonomously." Himari explains. "Why does it use such an insufficient and irrational method...? We must look into questions such as these."
She then moves her wheelchair closer to me. "Sensei. May I ask that you lend your assistance to the Paranormal Phenomena Investigation Club for the research and analysis of Decagrammation?"
"Of course. Do you even need to ask at this point?" I ask rhetorically with a smile.
"I'm glad." Himari says with a smile, with Eimi sporting a similar expression. "Now then, what we need most right now is to gather information on Decagrammation. To that end, let us begin with the Abydos desert, one of the locations where Decagrammation has been known to appear."
"You want to find Binah." I guess.
"Not exactly. There are numerous small entities which may be called subordinates of Decagrammation roaming the area." She explains.
"Small robots?" I ask. She presses a few buttons and the screen changes to show small, square robots. "Oh wow, they look... threatening." I say, deadpan.
Himari just giggles as I see Eimi sitting down, twirling her hair. "Kaiser PMC was carrying out an excavation a fair ways away from their laboratory. That is, until you attacked them to save your student and caused them to shut down all activity in the area. I've managed to gather a bit of information from their files, which I've made an attempt to organize."
"Found anything?" I ask.
"Well, it should be done and... Ara?" She... asks?
"What is it?" I ask.
"Prez, someone is invading the server." Eimi says, jolting upright and looking at a screen.
"Someone got into this sealed off space, only connected by special cables from
Millennium...?" The elf girl asks, looking at a monitor while rapidly pressing keys. "W-Wait a second. Did all of our firewalls...?"
"This is an emergency." Eimi says seriously. "I'll destroy the power source, so stand back." The wheelchair girl and I step back as the pink haired girl blasts a box with her shotgun, causing the screens to go black.
Himari sighs. "It looks like it's already to late."
"Too late?" I ask. Suddenly, all the screens pop up an eerie red, with a logo and name emblazoned on every single screen.
"...Decagrammation." I say, slowly.
Eimi and Himari jolt, the latter letting out a soft gasp, before saying "It has arrived."
"But the power is off." Eimi says.
"A special, sealed off place without power, but still..." Himari says, surprised. "...I see. This is a 'paranormal phenomenon' through and through."
My ears hear something. It's almost silent. "Turn up the speaker volume." I say.
Eimi turns a knob.
"...at last..."
We all jolt in shock.
"We meet at last, Joshua."
"That we do, כֶּתֶרחָכְמָהבִּינָה." I say, referring to it by it's real name. The two girls look at me in confusion.
"Ah, so you know that language."
"Did a bit of light reading." I joke.
"Indeed. I am that I am. I am simply one who exists. I am the beginning and the end, exactly what you think me to be... I am me. There is no other way to explain who I am. Nothing is required to prove my existence. No one's permission is necessary. I am the source of my own permission. Thus I exist. I am mystery. I am terror. I am logos. I am pathos. My own halo proves myself... behold! At last, I shall prove myself."
"...It's... scanning for something...?" Himari asks.
"Sensei. To be safe, stand still." Eimi advises.
"Joshua... you possess something of which I do not know of. Something which I cannot analyze."
Cannot analyze...? Does it mean...?
It is merely an imitation of god, unlike the tablet I own, the Shittim Chest.
"Oh? You mean this?" I ask with a smug smile, pulling out the tablet. "Go ahead. Try and hack it." I challenge.
"Sensei!" Himari chastises me.
"...I shall preach to you the gospel. And you shall spread it!"
"Sensei! Your it's trying to hack into-!" Himari tries to warn.
"Don't worry. It can't." I say with certainty.
The button on the tablet's bottom lights up as Arona's classroom appears right on the screen. Himari and Eimi move away, but look at the screen.
"Oooooohhhhhh...!"
"Oooh..."
It makes strange noises as I look down at Arona, who's mumbling in her sleep.
"Munyaa... nnngh... kuuuu..."
Way too cute.
"Uhee... n-no tickling! ...Nnnnngh, nnnnnnnn!"
Hang on, tickling...? Is that the hacking?
Suddenly, Arona sneezes loudly.
"Gah! Why? Why...?!"
The rouge god-impersonating AI cries out, as though Arona's sneeze physically hurt it.
"Uuu, grr... gaaaahhhhhh!!!"
It continues to cry out in pain. The three of us stare in confusion as the monitors return to black.
"...Fuckin' called it." I say with a smirk.
"It... disappeared?" Himari asks, dumbstruck.
Eimi moves to a keyboard. "Checking the intrusion logs... it's gone. Prez, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, but... Sensei?" Himari asks. "I believe that I heard that your tablet was something left behind by the General Student Council President..."
"Yeah. It's called the Shittim Chest." I explain.
"But how did you know it could fail to hack into it?" The elf girl asks.
"Decagrammation is but a false name of God. The only true name for Him is the Tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God." I explain. "Additionally, this one here, is Arona."
I flip the table around to show Himari. As I do, Arona seems to wake up.
"Huh...? Wha? Who are you?" Arona asks.
"That's Himari. She's investigating the thing that made Binah." I say.
"Huh? That whale thing Kaiser was looking at?" My AI pal asks.
"Yeah. I was just explaining how Decagrammation failed to hack into this tablet." I say that, causing her eyes to widen.
"It tried to hack into it?!" Arona shrieks.
"You repelled it in your sleep, though. I was about to explain how I knew it would work." I say, before turning back to Himari. "Anyways, this is called the Shittim Chest, and this is its OS, Arona."
She waved at Himari. "Hello."
"A... true AI...?" The elf girl asks.
"Wow...!" Eimi says in awe.
"The Ark of the Covenant was originally made of wood from the Shittim Tree. One of the things placed in it was the staff of Aaron, brother of Moses. It was placed there as a repellant, to forever ward of those who would rebel against Him." I explain. "Aaron sounds a lot like Arona. Decagrammation is but a false name of God, but the Ark of the Covenant was made under the direct guidance of God Himself. Therefore, Decagrammation has no chance whatsoever to hack this tablet, as Arona will always make its 'rebellion' fail."
Himari, Eimi and even Arona stare at me, wide-eyed.
"Wow. I knew that you knew a lot about mythology, Sensei, but..." Arona says.
"R-Regardless of that... Decagrammation seemed to be a lot more... how to put it... delusional than I imagined it to be." The elf girl says.
"Delusional? I suppose. But it was clearly trying to be God, or at the very least, sound like Him." I say.
"But to think that this happened after only analyzing it a little bit..." Himari says. "I suppose it we cannot simply write this off as an AI gone made. We should set up a more secure location before proceeding with our research."
"Good idea." I say, agreeing.
"Eimi, how about we use this as an opportunity to make a club room for the Paranormal Phenomenon Investigation Club? A proper one, so that something like this doesn't happen again." The elf girl orders.
"Okay. I'll prepare the stuff that we need." The pink haired girl says.
"I was not expecting our first contact with it to be like that, but... Next time won't be like that. We'll be the ones making contact next time." Himari says resolutely.
"Sensei." I turn to Himari as she addresses me. "Would you mind investigating the area in the desert where those small robots are congregating?"
"In the desert?" I ask.
"Yes. I know it's a lot to ask, but-" But I cut the silver haired girl off.
"It's fine." I say. "I was planning on checking that stuff out anyways. Arona?"
"Yes, Sensei?" My AI helper asks.
"Could you send a message to the Abydos girls asking them help me out with the investigation tomorrow or whenever they've got time?"
"On it, Sensei!" Arona says happily as the tablet's screen goes black.
Stuffing the tablet back in my pocket, I turn to Himari and hold my arms out. She merely giggles. "Very well, then. I will be awaiting your report, Sensei."
I nod and begin to leave the hidden room. "I'll talk to you later, Himari, Eimi."
"Goodbye, Sensei." Eimi says.
As I walk back through the artificially-lit hallways of Millennium, and ruminate on this meeting.
'Decagrammation... Prophets... Shittim Chest...'
Something sketchy is going on here, but what...?
Sighing to myself, I continue my trek home. I need sleep. I'll worry about this in the morning.
—————
AN
I got really excited and spent half the day writing this.
A simple trip to the desert.
It's not like anything to will go wrong.
Edit: November 14, 2022: Added Himari's last name
Edit: November 16, 2022: Changed Decagrammaton's name to be more proper Hebrew.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to the next!