As far as Aha was concerned, there was one thing the Elation had always been dying to figure out:
Where, exactly, did 'Calypso' get her power?
Setting aside the strength granted to her by Nanook and Aha themselves, 'Calypso' possessed the innate ability not only to transform into others out of thin air but to simulate their power with pinpoint accuracy.
In the early days, she had rely borrowed the strength of mortals.
Now, things had spiraled into the realm of the absurd. From so unknown source, she had unearthed the operational logic of various Paths and mastered them completely.
Aha had, of course, peeked at all the equations 'Calypso' had ever revealed. For an Aeon, the logic of the equations wasn't difficult to grasp.
The real mystery lay in how they were generated—who had created them and handed them to her?
It couldn't have been her own doing; that simply defied logic. After all, you cannot clearly draft the underlying architecture of a thing without first understanding its fundantal principles.
After a period of observation, Aha noticed that 'Calypso' was effectively utilizing the power of emotions.
When it ca to the power of sentint—or feelings—Aha had experinted with similar concepts elsewhere. However, the phenona involving "willpower" in the Simulated Universe were essentially propped up by the power of Elation in the background.
So, by what chanism did 'Calypso' convert her use of emotions?
The mont Aha reached this step in the puzzle, the Aeon realized they were stumped.
THEY couldn't see through it; no matter how THEY looked, it remained an enigma. Even after attempting a bit of direct contact, the logic stayed shrouded.
There was definitely a secret hidden within 'Calypso's' body—a secret that transcended the Tree itself.
Aha mused that if Akivili were still alive, THEY would probably be even more obsessed than Aha was. But sadly, Akivili was dead.
Otherwise, Aha could have dragged a partner-in-cri along to peek, soone to share the impact of the punches whenever 'Calypso' decided to vent her frustrations on THEM.
The good news, however, was that the Astral Express had set sail once more. Akivili might just return to life. When THEY did, Aha would have to break the news. Whether it was good news or bad was up for debate.
After all, staring at a mountain of treasure without the key to the lock—forced to scratch your head in frustration behind a fence—is a special kind of tornt.
Just like Aha was feeling right now.
Anxious, restless, and utterly stuck.
Fortunately, Aha wasn't the most stressed of the bunch. That honor belonged to Nous and HooH, so Aha's mood brightened just a little at the thought.
On the other side of things, 'Calypso' had no idea what Aha was brooding over. She was currently hard at work optimizing her simplified equations.
It sounded simple enough in theory, but the problem was that 'Calypso' hadn't fully mastered the Erudition Equation.
While it wasn't difficult to cobble together a rough first draft with her current knowledge—and she could always polish it later—it wouldn't be an instant success once put into practice.
The primary issue was compatibility.
On one hand, this hand-crafted, simplified version struggled to achieve the "plug-and-play" seamlessness of the original equation.
On the other hand, 'Calypso' wanted these equations to support the iterative operations of the entire Simulated Universe, rather than just acting as a buff for the simulated Aeon of Erudition.
Much like how the fragnts of the Elation equation had once attracted the simulated Aha and led to him wreaking havoc inside, the Erudition equation would naturally draw the attention of the simulated Nous.
Of course, those weren't the only problems. Countless other trivial hurdles needed clearing. However, the bulk of the issues boiled down to two things: the performance of the Simulated Universe couldn't keep up, and the simplified equations 'Calypso' produced weren't quite elegant or perfect enough.
To handle this massive undertaking, Divine Herta and Screwllum decided to mobilize resources from the Land of Light and Planet Screwllum, initiating a hardware overhaul of the entire Simulated Universe.
anwhile, 'Calypso' turned her attention back to the other Path equations she had mastered, deconstructing and reorganizing them once more.
Pinpointing the key strings of code wasn't the hard part. Although the compatibility logic for each Path differed, there were common threads. The real issue was the high level of technical sophistication.
Understanding how it worked didn't an you knew how to script a new one from scratch. And if she simply copied parts directly, they would carry the "source code" of the Erudition equation.
All she could do was try her best to learn from these "perfect" equations provided by the System.
At this point, 'Calypso' was almost tempted to invite the real Nous over and let that massive head do the calculations for her.
Fortunately, she managed to restrain herself. It felt too much like inviting soone else to study the System's secrets.
As her greatest secret, 'Calypso' intended to keep it to herself.
Besides, even though the programs she wrote were currently a bit lackluster, she could see clear signs of progress. They might not et the requirents yet, but the future looked promising.
While the project advanced steadily, the Simulated Universe entered its formal upgrade phase.
To ensure no labor went to waste, 'Calypso' hauled Celenova back from her vacation in Amphoreus. Joining her as "guest labor" was Asta, who had been staying in the Land of Light.
Celenova stared coldly at the pink-haired girl standing before her, then turned to 'Calypso.'
"What's the aning of this? It's bad enough you dragged back to work, but I have to take orders from this brat?"
"Well, there's no way around it," 'Calypso' replied. "You've studied here for a few years, but you've never actually done any field work."
"Don't let Asta's age fool you; she's been working in the Land of Light's research institutes for years. Tens of thousands of Giants of Light follow her lead. You can't really compete with that experience."
"Is it because I don't want to do field work?" Celenova ground out, glaring at 'Calypso.'
Was she unwilling to lift a finger? No, this person clearly wouldn't let her do anything!
"That's not the sa thing. Besides, if you want to turn over a new leaf, I wouldn't mind trusting you a bit more. Don't think I don't know you've been ddling over in Glamoth recently."
"How should I know? This avatar of mine is practically being abandoned," Celenova huffed, falling silent in a foul mood.
Her current avatar was in a state of neglect. She had even proactively cut herself off from the Legion's movents and intelligence—a process she had carried out bit by bit over several years.
Although she was the one who chose the isolation, as ti passed, she felt as though she had completely lost touch with her true self.
If it weren't for the fact that her connection to Harmony remained intact, she might have felt like a completely independent entity. Because of this, while she knew her other avatars were busy working, this state of ignorance left her feeling restless.
"In any case, the organization has decided: you're the assistant."
"Tch." Celenova clicked her tongue, ultimately standing behind Asta with a dark expression.
A few years had passed, and the young Asta had grown into a fine young woman.
Not only was she elegant and poised, but perhaps due to her long stay in the Land of Light, the pink-haired girl now carried a certain noble, lofty aura characteristic of that place.
"Alright, Asta, the upgrade work is in your hands. If you're short on people, you can call for reinforcents from Herta Space Station, the Land of Light, Amphoreus, or Planet Screwllum."
"It's enough, it's enough! We have plenty of robots and researchers on the station to finish the job," Asta said, shaking her head quickly. Who was she to command the forces of so many major powers?
It hadn't been easy for her to find her footing in the Land of Light over the years. The physical capabilities of the Giants of Light at the institute were top-tier—terrifyingly strong, actually.
As an ordinary human navigating a world of superhumans, only Asta knew the hardships she had faced. If she had to manage scholars from several more major factions now, she'd truly lose it.
Seeing Asta like this, 'Calypso' smiled and patted her shoulder, not pushing the issue. It seed the young lady was still a bit green; she hadn't yet grown into the reliable Station Master from the original tiline.
"Alright then. Just don't be nervous. If you have any problems, co find directly. I have plenty of free ti."
"Oh... okay." Asta scratched her head.
Instead of going to Divine Herta or Screwllum, she was supposed to go straight to this Aeon? Was that really the right order of operations?
Though, to be fair, this Aeon didn't act much like one.
Years ago, she had even personally co to whisk Asta away, which scared her family so much they hadn't dared to breathe a word about her since, giving her years of peace.
Also, she had a habit of wearing a mismatched charm bracelet. One of the charms was a tiny hamr that looked remarkably like the hamr of the Amber Lord she had seen in books as a child.
"So, any other questions? If not, let's get to work."
"Actually, I have a personal question." Asta raised a small hand and pointed curiously at the bracelet on 'Calypso's' wrist. "That little hamr on your string looks exactly like the Amber Lord's hamr I saw when I was little. Did you make it?"
As a daughter of the Corporation, Asta still held the Amber Lord in high regard.
It was the first ti she had seen a piece of "rchandise" that captured the original's essence so perfectly. She kind of wanted one.
"You're the first person to ask. Everyone else just stares and keeps their mouth shut."
'Calypso' had actually been prepared to show off big ti, but neither Herta nor Screwllum had ever brought it up. It had been driving her crazy.
Asta really was a sweetheart—why hadn't she snatched her away from Divine Herta back then?
Thinking this, 'Calypso' smiled and held out her wrist.
"It doesn't just 'look' like it. That is the hamr you're thinking of. THEY tossed it to a while back. Hanging next to it is the Hunt's arrow and the key from Nous. If you can actually pick them up, I'll give them to you."
"???"
-- --
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL
User Comments
0 comments from readers