Reminiscence
This chapter is from Gilda's point of view.
After beginning the deep memory scan on Willie, I processed his memories carefully. Because of the project, I had maintained constant monitoring of his physical and emotional state, beginning when the hardware enhancements were first installed. But this was my first chance to see those events through his eyes. I was somewhat shocked to see myself emoting so much when interacting with him. In my own mind, I saw myself as much more collected and in control than I appeared to his eyes.
However, the memories that caught my interest the most were his experiences with magic and mana. As a magic researcher, this was a treasure trove of new data. Particularly fascinating was his experiences of seeing mana. It was currently unclear whether his Aura Vision skill was what mana genuinely looked like or if this magic was influenced by his preconceived notions of how an aura appeared. Either way, allowing Millie and Cordelia to directly experience his learning process and the resulting unknown magic should enhance their ability to quickly develop their own magical skills.
Cordelia had already finished her integration phase. My current working theory was: As a result of her consciousness being similar to ours, in terms of the ability to fragment, dealing with multiple tasks at multiple physical locations, she was more adaptable to our technology. Our researchers possessed no data about the ecosystem that gave birth to dungeon cores, so Cordelia would probably not have much success with genetic modifications. However, she was already voraciously downloading and processing data from the computer system.
I had processed her memories very carefully during the hardware installation to learn as much as possible about dungeon cores. No other magic researcher had ever had the opportunity to do so. Dungeon Cores were known as terrifying monsters. Positioned near or at the top of the food chain. While they are not terribly threatening in and of themselves, almost all other types of monsters could be summoned to serve the dungeon and protect it. They were top-tier summoners and could cause nearly any being to bend to their will. Her statement about dominating the galaxy could be possible if it were not for the Demon Lords. Yet Willie treats this Dungeon Core as if she were a minor nuisance, a thing to be tolerated and taunted rather than feared. And oddly enough, she responded well to this treatment.
Millie, on the other hand, was quite the unexpected revelation. As part of the integration phase, it was revealed her natural intelligence was exceptionally high for a succubus. Which was a species that was already well known to be highly intelligent overall. When combined with the onboard AI, she should wield a truly spectacular intellect. I was not accustomed to feeling inferior to other minds, but I was somewhat awed by her raw intellectual capacity. In addition, due to the massive information the computer already had on succubus genetic editing, she would likely be able to remodel herself into a fearsome being in very little time. Millie was certainly not capable of the widespread destruction of Cordelia at this point, but her potential was remarkable. If she wasn't such a gentle person, I would be hesitant to align myself with such a potentially dangerous creature.
As the deep memory scan of Willie neared completion, I saw how clearly the weight of our potential deaths weighed on him. He felt responsible for us in a way that was not entirely clear to me until I saw his memories. I had difficultly processing my death in the way he perceived it. If the others died in an attack, they would absolutely cease to exist. However, In my case, an earlier iteration of myself would simply wake up and continue living my life as if nothing happened. In that sense, I am not capable of death. However, Willie perceived the current me that carried the shared memories with him as a unique being, one that could well and truly die in the coming conflict.
Undoubtedly, our relationship was complicated. I was fully aware that fact was mostly a result of my actions. I had acted as a researcher but found that I could not maintain the proper detached relationship that a good researcher should have with her subject. It remained unclear where we stood at this point, but when I saw his hand reach out to touch the side of the bed where I had been next to him, I felt a surge of emotion. I cared for him, and he cared for me, even if I had made things difficult between us. I didn't want to lose my memories of our time together, even though they were difficult to manage emotionally.
After finalizing the memory scan, I packaged it separately for Millie and Cordelia. Cordelia could process the nearly raw information, similarly to how I did myself. However, further processing was necessary to provide the memories to Millie due to the unified nature of her consciousness. I chose to process them into a dream world format, which Millie was accustomed to due to her succubus ability to enter dreams.
I briefly checked the status of Millie's integration phase. She had successfully finalized the process while happily chatting with Cordelia about the new things she was learning.
"Ladies, the memory packages are ready for you to experience. Please prepare yourselves to receive the download."
"Okey Dokey. Should we lie down too?"
"No. This will come to you in the format of you entering Willie's dream world, so you should be able to process it while acting normally. Cordelia will be getting the raw memories, but the fragmented nature of her consciousness should mitigate any issues."
They both signaled they were ready, and I began the transfer. Cordelia exited the transfer first. She wore an affectionate smile that belied the domineering tone she often spoke in.
"Now I understand that stupid joke about knowing Kung Fu. What a moron, I can't believe I lost to a nitwit like him."
Naturally, Millie was taking longer to process the information. However, Cordelia was starting to get nervous.
"Hey, is she okay? This is taking a long time, isn't it?"
As she said that, tears began to run down Millie's cheeks. I checked her vital signs, and she seemed to be functioning normally. I tried to calm Cordelia down.
"Everything seems to be normal. Millie seems to be sad about some of the memories she has seen. Otherwise, she is processing the data normally."
"Yeah, our emotional bond is telling me she's okay..."
After some time, Millie returned to normal with a heavy sigh.
"William is such a nice boy. I knew that already, but seeing his life like this really brought out how hard he tries, even when things are tough."
All of us now knew Willie in an intensely intimate way. That shared understanding of him also solidified a framework of harmony between the three of us. Having that common ground should also make it much easier to work together as a team.
We all looked at his sleeping face for a second, then I sent the signal to Willie's hardware to wake him. I found it unfortunate to disturb him, but the possibility of being located by the enemy was increasing as time passed. It was necessary to work out a plan if we had any chance of surviving together.
