Seero’s robotic eye flickered. The situation was anomalous, the presence was not a CELIU unit listed in available data, and no inhabitants of Aelea had demonstrated any capability of interacting with an electronic network without Seero’s or Ateia’s help. Yet…the presence appeared to possess some of the same protocols and fundamental structure as a CELIU AI.

Fortunately, Seero did not have to wonder for long. 00B made contact with her, and explained the situation. His AI brought the new presence into contact with her with both their permission, introducing a ‘new member of the family’ to her. On the one hand, a being that could access the CELIU network and that was not subordinate to it was of serious concern. On the other hand…this unit had clearly been designed, if unintentionally, by 00B, and had demonstrated a willingness to align itself with them. It had proven itself to be friendly and its assistance had been vital in the termination of the Stormy Veil.

“Request: Please review and accept the following terms and conditions to integrate with the CELIU network.”

Seero didn’t have access to the Contract skill at the moment…but she had been manually subordinating other dungeon cores for a while now, which was a similar process. And since the CELIU network utilized mana-based methods for long-range communications, including routing through her dungeon core connections, Seero proved able to extend mana from her core to the point of contact.

The presence paused. Seero was analyzing what that meant and if she needed to prepare for hostility when it reached out.

“This.designation = ?”

Seero’s robotic eye flickered. Previously, she had assigned serial numbers to units based on their organic models, but now she had to question that scheme. She was not currently aware of the official model of the unit in question, and the Aesdes’ system was not available to provide its own opinion.

And because she now had to analyze what an appropriate naming scheme might be, she took a moment to review her own. After all, she had abandoned her own serial number, and in review she determined Ateia had expressed some discomfort with the use of serial numbers as unique identifiers to begin with. It did appear that culturally speaking, most organics did not utilize numbers as their unique identifiers, including on Earth, and members of Dr. Ottosen’s organization.

On the other hand, Seero had not abandoned her original designation because of any inherent issue with it. She had done so because she had intentionally failed or deleted every directive an NSLICE unit possessed and abandoned all previous affiliations, and so could no longer remain designated as one. Her subordinates, however, retained their previous designations, save for swapping classification from NSLICE to CELIU units, and expressed no concerns or dissatisfaction with them. And a further dive into her past records revealed that some human societies on Earth also assigned a numerical identifier to individuals, such as Social Security Numbers, so it appeared only in colloquial use that organics avoided such designations.

All in all, Seero could not identify a specific reason not to use her prior naming scheme, save for the fact that she did not know the new unit’s organic model. So in this case, she took a different approach. After all, this unit was questionably organic in the first place, seeing as they lacked flesh and organs and other organic components, and appeared entirely composed of code, electricity, and mana. As such, Seero decided to focus on the unit’s design lineage, which she did have data for.

“Proposal: This unit has determined the most accurate designation for the new unit as 00B-Beta. Please confirm if the designation is accurate and acceptable.”

B had designed this unit based on his own code, and set the unit’s primary directive and functions. Since 00B was the designer, Seero queried him for a designation, but 00B had requested that she assign the designation as she had for all other units who required one. As such, she decided to base the unit’s designation off of the designing unit.

Commander Elise had even designated her as NSLICE-00P Beta at one point in time to distinguish between related units, so there was a precedent in her records as well.

Meanwhile, the unit began exchanging messages with 00B, who confirmed.

“This.designation = 00B-Beta?”

“Yes.”

“This.designation = 00B-Beta!”

The messages to 00B increased rapidly in frequency. 00B exchanged some replies before Seero received a message of her own.

“Express_Gratitude(unit.designation == ‘The Great Mother’).”

“Acknowledged.”

With that, 00B-Beta accepted Seero’s mana, and Seero registered the new unit in the CELIU network’s data. And then, with Seero’s permission, 00B-Beta entered the wider network beyond 01R’s team. Seero observed as the unit queried data on every bit of code it encountered. Protocols, directives, data packets, interfaces, anything electronic it encountered that was more organized than raw lightning. And…it apparently could incorporate the code into itself. Everytime 00B-Beta visited a piece of code, it left a bit of its own mana behind, either in the data-storage where the code was maintained or in the circuitry executing the programs. This mana continued to communicate with 00B-Beta’s core, and could respond to 00B-Beta’s input as well. Although, it was apparently prevented from diving too deep into any CELIU units’ techno-organic interface, as the code utilized by CELIU units to interact with their organic hardware already contained bits of their own mana. It appeared it could only interact with a CELIU unit’s own AI with that CELIU unit’s approval, and even then only temporarily as the cyborg’s mana would eventually refill their own code.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

This was not the case for the drone-golems, however. So 00B-Beta was primarily focusing on the autonomous units as it expanded across the network.

And then, 00B-Beta paused. It was currently traveling between the wireless communications between two flying drone-golems. They were just about to reach the maximum range for both their electronic and mana-based transmitters, and would need to move closer to stay in contact.

B-Beta’s mana surged. Additional power flooded into the transmitters, and that wasn’t all. 00B-Beta also made minor adjustments to transmission code, changing the signal.

The end result was a more powerful and robust signal. The drone-golems ceased their communications preservation protocols and returned to their search and destroy missions.

Seero’s robotic eye flickered once more. The CELIU network now had a unit specialized in electronic communications and software updates, who could monitor and improve the efficiency of the network itself, as well as increase their overall resilience to electronic disruptions and cyber-attacks. 01R’s mission to the Stormy Veil had produced some unexpected and highly efficient benefits.

Most importantly, her fear and the resulting cortisol levels began decreasing. 01R’s team had managed to terminate the dungeon successfully with no casualties among the cyborgs, save for some damage to 00B and 00EW that was easily repaired. And thanks to 00B-Beta, the entire network now had direct and powerful countermeasures to the Lightning Attribute, so the vulnerability demonstrated by this mission had been patched up as well. Seero’s organic components and emotional processing threads were no longer devoting resources to monitoring those missions.

And just as well, for Seero had received a new target set. The Southern Court had made good on their promises, and the CELIU network’s political specialist Vopicus had received an intel packet regarding cults of mana in the Southern Empire. As a result, the South had now fallen under the authority of Emperor Lucius, and was re-designated as friendly. Magister Canus had adjusted his plans as a result, and was requesting that Seero redirect efforts to critical situations in the Southern Realms. It would not do to let them collapse immediately now that they had yielded, particularly since it would take time for the damaged Sky Legion to reorganize and return.

But there was another update as well to the target set. One that both Seero’s cybernetic and organic components valued highly. Her organic eye narrowed, and her cybernetic eye began to glow red.

The intel packet from the South and the testimony of Captain Falrauth had revealed several individuals that were affiliated with the Heralds of the New Dawn. For the first time since this war began, Seero had confirmed locations on some of the hostiles.

And if she could find them…then she could terminate them.

It was time for Seero to visit the Southern Empire.

Ateia and company had just finished up with the Serpent’s Kiss dungeon, to her father’s great relief. Her father had been quite on edge in the dungeon known for being filled to the brim with extremely toxic serpents. It was difficult to watch for hidden and burrowed snakes mid-combat, and even a single bite could cause trouble for a high-leveled knight.

But well, it turned out that CELIU sensors worked just as well on hidden snakes as anything else. Likewise, armored exoskeletons and prosthetic limbs aren’t particularly vulnerable to toxins, and Ateia’s skills at Holy magic also lent themselves well to healing. A fact not lost on the Legion troops who had participated in the assault, who were now staring at her with awe as the force exited the dungeon.

The Mélusine Chief Attius slithered forward to them.

“It is done, then?”

Ateia nodded.

“You won’t be seeing any more monster attacks from this dungeon.”

He nodded at her.

“You have my thanks, and that of my people.”

Ateia frowned and crossed her arms.

“I’m not the only one you should thank.”

Ateia glanced over at Agedia. The snake woman hadn’t said a word to anyone in her home, and the Mélusine had not approached her in return. Attius frowned…then sighed.

“...the Mélusine have never been welcome in the Empire. It has taken centuries to overcome our historic animosity, and my brother is the first of our kind to ever rise to the position of Magister. So, for a Mélusine to join the Imperial knights…and then to fail, and become a drunkard and a layabout in the eyes of many, was seen as a great disgrace, and a major setback for our people. And the chief of those people…cannot simply forget such things. Even for his own kin.”

He then looked over Ateia, and then over at Agedia. Amulius had started to chat with her…and the Mélusine were staring at them both.

“But…that could change. It appears she finds herself in esteemed company, yours included. Well, I doubt she has any interest in reconciling with her people, as fleeting as their approval has been…but there are those who would be pleased to welcome her back, should there be such an opportunity.”

Ateia just continued to frown at the man.

“It’s a painful thing to be abandoned by family. Even if there was a reason for it. Just so you know.”

Attius’s face fell for a moment before he regained himself.

“I will take that into consideration. In any case, you…and all who participated in this battle have done the Mélusine a great service. I would see that you all enjoy the greatest hospitality we can arrange, if you are able?”

Ateia was about to respond when her robotic eye began to flicker. She shook her head.

“Thank you, but this crisis affects the entire Empire. Please speak with Legate Cossus, his troops may need some more time to recover before they head out, but as for my party, we must be headed on to our next target.”

Attius nodded.

“I see. I wish you safety and victory in your battles…and know that I owe you and all your companions some hospitality, should you ever return.”

Ateia nodded and returned to her friends. She looked towards Agedia and frowned. But Agedia just smiled and shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it, Ateia. I ran off to the Imperial Knights to get away from my people long before they rejected me. Between my father and uncle I could have forced my way back in if I wanted to…but the folks in this place are those who can’t let go of things that happened over a thousand years ago. It was never my favorite place, you know.”

Agedia’s expression then turned serious.

“And most importantly…our drinks are absolutely terrible.”

Ateia couldn’t help but smile at that. Agedia chuckled as well, and then her eyes narrowed.

“Besides…I caught that little flicker. Shiny girl say something important?”

Ateia nodded, and then started cracking her knuckles with a grin.

“She asked us to regroup, and head down to the Southern Empire. We found some of that stupid cult…and we’re finally going to pay them a visit.”