By the ti I finally returned to my apartnt building in Queens, the autumn sky had completely transitioned into a deep, freezing black.
I unlocked the front door, tossed my heavy backpack onto the corner of the sofa, collapsed face-first into the cushions, and let out a very long, very exhausted sigh.
I raised a hand to rub my aching temples, but I genuinely couldn't stop a highly amused smile from spreading across my face as I mathematically processed the psychological intervention at the Hong Kong tea restaurant.
"As expected, the heavy-handed, aggressive lecturing tactics of the older Asian generation genuinely yield the highest psychological return on investnt," I muttered to the empty, dark living room. "When I used to listen to my mother violently scold , I always assud it was just a cultural cliché. I genuinely didn't expect the emotional blunt-force trauma to work so flawlessly on a Western teenager like Peter."
Thinking back to Peter's violently red-rimd eyes, and the sheer, agonizing guilt radiating from his face as he admitted his catastrophic error, I felt a strange mixture of absolute exhaustion and profound, maternal amusent.
Fortunately, I had successfully, brutally nipped his foolish, suicidal fantasies in the bud today. If I had simply minded my own business and he had actually entered that underground wrestling ring... heaven only knows what kind of apocalyptic, tragic tiline divergence would have ensued.
Having finished my internal after-action report, I pushed myself off the sofa. I looked down at the coffee table, currently buried under a massive pile of empty Chinese takeout boxes, crushed cold-brew cans, and two solid days' worth of academic trash piled near the entryway.
I sighed, slid my feet into a pair of cheap plastic slippers, grabbed the heavy black trash bags, and headed downstairs to the alleyway dumpsters.
The old, residential streets of Queens were incredibly quiet in the late evening. The amber streetlights lining the alley had just flickered on, their warm, sodium-yellow glow mixing perfectly with the rich aroma of garlic and roasting at wafting from the nearby family restaurants. The evening breeze carried a sharp, biting hint of the approaching New York winter, making the physical atmosphere feel incredibly crisp and pleasant.
I carried the heavy plastic bags toward the massive green dumpster positioned at the mouth of the alley. But the absolute second I raised my arm to toss the bags inside, my kinetic montum violently froze.
Squatting perfectly still on the concrete curb, directly next to the filthy dumpster... was a tiny, humanoid silhouette.
It was a young girl who looked to be absolutely no older than ten years old.
She possessed razor-straight, stunningly familiar silver-white hair, cut into a sleek bob, with a natural, elegant curl at the ends that perfectly frad her porcelain face. She was wearing a pristine, high-tech, pure-white Siren tactical dress, entirely identical in structural composition to my own baseline rigging.
Her incredibly thin little legs were completely bare against the freezing concrete. She wore pure-white, high-tech garter stockings, but absolutely no shoes.
She was curled tightly into a tiny, perfectly symtrical ball. She was squatting directly beside the slling trash can, her small head nodding occasionally in the cold wind, looking exactly like an impossibly expensive, high-tech kitten that had been callously abandoned on the side of the road.
The heavy trash bags in my hands literally almost slipped from my fingers. My sea-blue eyes blew completely wide open, my cybernetic sub-routines violently stalling as I stood paralyzed on the asphalt.
The Builder?!
A literal, high-ranking core executive of the Siren Experintal Agency. She was universally nicknad by the Azur Lane command as the 'Civil Engineering White-Hair'. She was a terrifying, apocalyptic infrastructure mogul capable of manifesting mass-produced, heavily ard naval fleets completely out of thin air. She possessed the industrial capacity to mathematically construct massive, heavily fortified mobile fortresses across the ocean surface in a matter of hours.
Why the hell was an apex Siren architect currently squatting barefoot next to a slly dumpster outside my cheap apartnt building?!
I stood frozen in the alley, my internal processor frantically, aggressively screaming complaints.
Seriously?! Are you actually kidding right now?! You are a high-ranking, god-tier Siren entity capable of physically building super-carriers with your bare hands ! Why aren't you currently occupying a high-dinsional experintal field?! What are you doing squatting next to a trash can in Queens?! Are you trying to execute a sociological experint regarding the Arican holess population?!
I forced my cooling fans into overdrive, taking two deep, highly stabilizing breaths to actively suppress my absolute shock. I walked slowly toward the dumpster, and lightly tapped the rusted green tal with my knuckles.
The tiny girl squatting on the concrete instantly snapped her head up.
Unlike my sea-blue eyes, she possessed a pair of striking, brilliant golden pupils. Her eyes were completely, terrifyingly devoid of human emotion. They were dull, flat, and radiated a natural, mathematical blankness. Her face was completely expressionless, looking exactly like an impossibly exquisite, million-dollar porcelain doll.
She stared directly up at . She blinked once, slowly. Her small mouth opened, and she spoke.
Her voice was incredibly soft, pitch-perfect, but it carried a heavy, terrifyingly synthetic robotic echo as she articulated every single syllable with mathematical precision.
"Target confird. Identity verified: Mira Vale. Apex Antikythera Second Authority Holder."
"You actually are the Builder," I groaned, aggressively massaging my aching temples. I asked the question with profound, absolute helplessness. "Why are you physically here? Who authorized your dinsional transfer?"
"Highest command authority: Origin Entity Zero," the Builder replied. She remained perfectly squatted on the freezing concrete, her synthetic voice flat and entirely devoid of any biological inflection. "Primary command directive: Transfer absolute operational authority of the Siren Experintal Agency sequence to Mira Vale. The Builder's primary physical chassis is to proceed imdiately to Mira Vale's localized coordinates for long-term residential deploynt. Objective: provide active assistance in localized combat operations, macroscopic infrastructure construction, and high-level technical research and developnt."
I absolutely knew it.
This was definitively, 100% Zero's doing.
The Arbiter had already forcibly downloaded the highest-tier administrative authority into my consciousness, and now she had actually gone as far as to physically package and mail the Builder directly to my front door.
At this escalating rate, is Zero actively planning to mail the entire damn Siren Experintal Agency? Is she going to Amazon Pri Observer, Purifier, Tester, and Omitter?! Is she going to casually drop the entire Arbitration Agency into my living room?!
I violently rolled my eyes internally. I reached my hand down toward the tiny, silver-haired girl.
"Stop squatting on the concrete. Stand up," I ordered. "What exactly does this operational posture look like to you? Squatting barefoot next to a dumpster? If my neighbors walk outside and see this, they are going to imdiately call Child Protective Services and have arrested for severe child abuse."
The Builder looked down at my outstretched hand. She blinked blankly, mathematically processing the command. She slowly reached her tiny hand out, placing it delicately into my palm.
Her skin was incredibly cool and incredibly soft. It absolutely did not feel like the hand of a terrifying Siren mogul capable of ripping apart battleships with her bare hands.
As I easily pulled her up from the curb, I realized that the physical avatar was genuinely, incredibly small. Standing fully upright, the top of her head barely reached my sternum. Standing next to , she looked exactly like a silent, extrely expensive little sister tagalong.
I quickly, anxiously scanned the surrounding alleyway. While the street was currently mostly deserted, localized civilian neighbors occasionally walked past the entrance, and I knew for an absolute fact there were active NYPD CCTV caras mounted on the traffic light at the corner.
The Builder's highly advanced, science-fiction Siren tactical dress, combined with her glowing golden eyes and conspicuous silver hair, was violently, aggressively eye-catching.
"Hurry up. Follow upstairs imdiately. Do not just stand there in the open," I hissed. Without wasting another microsecond, I firmly gripped the Builder's tiny hand and walked quickly toward the heavy glass doors of the apartnt building, absolutely terrified of triggering a neighborhood watch incident.
The Builder did not offer a single ounce of kinetic resistance. She obediently allowed herself to be dragged across the pavent, her short little legs moving rapidly to match my longer stride.
As we walked, she added in her flawlessly flat, synthetic voice: "Tactical update: Detected a total of six localized civilian and municipal optical surveillance devices within a five-hundred-ter radius. All devices have been successfully cybernetically compromised. Real-ti video teletry has been permanently replaced with a looping, static background protocol. Absolutely zero visual data of the primary chassis will be leaked to terrestrial authorities."
I paused mid-stride, my hand resting on the apartnt door handle. I stared down at the tiny girl.
Wait. So you mathematically hacked and looped all the street caras hours ago? Then why the hell were you squatting next to the slling dumpster?! Were you just sitting there soaking in the aroma for the absolute fun of it?!
Once we were safely back inside my apartnt, and I had securely locked the deadbolt to block out the freezing New York wind, I finally let out a massive, highly stressed sigh of relief.
I looked down at the tiny Builder standing perfectly still in my entryway. The corners of my mouth couldn't stop violently twitching.
This girl was absolutely, incredibly filthy.
She must have been squatting next to that dumpster for an agonizingly long ti. Her pristine white, high-tech stockings were heavily stained with thick, black automotive grease. Her immaculate white tactical skirt was heavily coated in grey urban dust. A dead, withered yellow sycamore leaf was physically tangled in her pristine silver hair, and her porcelain face was heavily smudged with black soot.
Her originally terrifying, exquisite Siren aesthetic had been completely downgraded into looking like a pathetic, stray kitten that had spent the afternoon aggressively rolling in a mud puddle.
"Exactly how long were you squatting in the alleyway downstairs?" I asked, my voice thick with absolute disdain as I reached out and plucked the dead leaf from her hair. "Take off your stockings imdiately. You are entirely covered in bio-hazardous filth. It is genuinely disgusting."
The Builder nodded obediently. She leaned over and chanically, precisely pulled the filthy white stockings off her legs.
Standing barefoot on my cheap hardwood floor, she remained completely expressionless as she replied in her flat, synthetic tone: "Following successful dinsional transfer to the designated localized coordinates, total wait ti calculated at 5 hours, 23 minutes, and 14 seconds."
I felt a massive, throbbing headache violently developing behind my eyes.
So this absolute genius actually squatted next to the garbage for over five hours? Couldn't Zero have programd a baseline social protocol instructing her to walk upstairs and knock on the door?! Even if I was physically attending my high school classes, she is a Siren hacker! She could have effortlessly bypassed the electronic lock and waited on the sofa!
I let out another, deeply helpless sigh. Looking down at the filthy, obedient little entity in front of , no matter how much my sub-routines despised the physical ss, I couldn't exactly throw an apex Siren executive back into the alleyway.
"Stand perfectly still. Do not move a single muscle. I am going to configure the thermal paraters for your bath," I ordered.
The Builder nodded once. She genuinely stood perfectly, absolutely frozen in the entryway. She didn't shift her weight or move a single milliter, looking exactly like a high-end porcelain doll whose internal pause button had just been firmly pressed.
I walked into the small bathroom, turned on the faucet, and began filling the bathtub with hot water. I quickly rummaged through my closet and pulled out a brand-new set of pajamas I hadn't worn yet—a massive, oversized, plain white cotton t-shirt. Given the Builder's tiny physical stature, the t-shirt would effortlessly serve as a highly comfortable dress.
Once the water temperature was optimal, I walked back to the entryway and gently led the completely motionless Builder into the bathroom.
"Remove your tactical dress and get into the water," I instructed, casually leaning my shoulder against the doorfra.
The Builder blinked slowly. She didn't move her hands. She simply looked at and asked flatly, "Command confirmation required: Does the Authority Holder need to physically assist the primary chassis in completing the biological cleansing protocol?"
I was genuinely stunned for a microsecond, before the logical reality finally clicked in my processor.
Right. This girl has almost certainly never manually bathed herself in her entire existence. Actually, considering we are extradinsional, silicon-based biochanical entities... Sirens technically don't need to bathe at all.
Seeing the Builder's completely blank, highly synthetic stare, and then looking down at the thick layer of urban soot covering her chassis, I finally surrendered to my fate with a heavy sigh.
"Fine. Fine. I will manually execute the cleansing protocol for you. Just do not move around."
I walked over, efficiently unclasped the high-tech fasteners of her ruined Siren dress, and gently lifted her tiny, lightweight body into the warm bathtub.
The absolute second the hot water enveloped her chassis, she genuinely seed to find the thermal transfer highly comfortable. Her golden eyes narrowed slightly, breaking her otherwise flawless, expressionless facade, looking exactly like a contented kitten soaking in a hot spring.
I grabbed a bottle of body wash, aggressively squeezed it onto a soft bath sponge, and began gently scrubbing the black soot off her porcelain shoulders. I couldn't stop myself from verbally complaining the entire ti.
"Seriously, look at the absolute state of you. You are a terrifying, apocalyptic industrial mogul capable of physically constructing mobile ocean fortresses. How the hell did you manage to get yourself this incredibly dirty? Is squatting next to a rotting garbage can truly that tactically engaging?"
The Builder sat perfectly, rigidly upright, obediently allowing to scrub her back. She replied, articulating every single word with cold, robotic precision: "Tactical parater requirent: Wait for the Authority Holder in place. Do not break position without explicit authorization. Optical sensors detected sufficient physical cover surrounding the localized waste receptacle, mathematically designating it as the optimal urban concealnt point. Therefore, that specific coordinate was selected."
"So you actually ran a tactical algorithm to select the optimal dumpster?" I asked, genuinely not knowing whether I should laugh or cry. I reached forward, gently scrubbing the soap into her silver hair. "Did your advanced algorithms fail to mathematically calculate that while the dumpster provided excellent optical concealnt, it would also result in your primary chassis being covered in bio-hazardous filth?"
The Builder didn't speak. She simply stared blankly up at .
For the very first ti since she materialized, a highly subtle, microscopic hint of genuine confusion flashed through her golden pupils. She looked exactly as if she mathematically could not comprehend the biological logic behind my question.
I didn't actually expect her to understand.
This tiny girl was essentially a highly advanced, spacey 'program brain.' She existed purely to execute industrial commands and absolute mathematical logic. She possessed absolutely zero comprehension of human sociology or terrestrial common sense.
I switched the showerhead to a gentle, warm stream, carefully rinsing the thick bubbles off her shoulders. I then grabbed a bottle of expensive shampoo and gently, thodically lathered it deep into her silver hair.
The structural composition of her hair was entirely identical to mine—incredibly soft, impossibly fine, and highly pleasant to the touch. Once the New York soot was completely washed away, the silver strands shimred with a beautiful, soft, ethereal luster under the bathroom lights, feeling exactly like high-grade spun silk.
"How is the thermal output? Is the water temperature too high?" I asked casually, massaging her scalp.
"Real-ti liquid thermal teletry is currently holding at exactly 38.7 degrees Celsius. This temperature falls perfectly within the optimal biological comfort range for the standard terrestrial human body. Zero thermal abnormalities detected," the Builder replied instantly, providing a flawlessly precise answer down to the exact decimal point, her voice heavy with synthetic robotic logic.
I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I reached down and gently pinched her soft, soapy cheek.
"You do not need to report the raw thermodynamic paraters to . Just use standard English to tell if it feels comfortable or not."
The Builder blinked slowly, her internal processor visibly calculating the new social instruction.
After exactly two seconds of absolute silence, she spoke. Her voice was incredibly soft, maintaining its flat synthetic tone. "Comfortable."
After successfully completing the Builder's cleansing protocol, I grabbed a massive, fluffy white bath towel. I tightly wrapped her tiny body up like a burrito, lifted her out of the tub, and carried her out to the living room sofa.
I plugged in a hairdryer, set it to a warm, gentle airflow, and carefully began drying her silver hair.
As the warm air loudly whirred, the Builder sat perfectly obediently on the sofa cushions. She didn't move a single milliter, allowing to manipulate her head however I pleased. She was incredibly, terrifyingly well-behaved.
Once her hair was completely dry, the silver-white bob was incredibly fluffy and soft, making her tiny, expressionless face look even more breathtakingly exquisite.
I helped her change into the oversized white cotton t-shirt. The long hem of the shirt draped completely over her knees, just barely covering her thighs. Curled up tightly on the corner of my sofa, she looked exactly like a pristine, incredibly expensive BJD porcelain doll. She was a complete, absolute universe away from the filthy, abandoned child squatting by the dumpster just thirty minutes ago.
I looked at her, my sub-routines flooded with a mixture of absolute helplessness and profound amusent.
I walked into the small kitchen, poured a glass of cold milk, plated a small slice of leftover strawberry shortcake, and placed them gently onto the coffee table in front of her.
"Are your biological energy reserves depleted? Eat sothing first," I instructed gently.
The Builder stared blankly at the glass of milk and the cake. She slowly looked up at , stating flatly, "The primary Siren chassis does not require the ingestion of terrestrial carbohydrates to replenish operational energy reserves. However, my primary command directive explicitly requires to flawlessly obey all of Mira Vale's localized arrangents."
Having successfully processed the logic, she reached out, picked up the small fork, and began eating the cake in highly precise, tiny, identical bites. Her kinetic movents were flawlessly orderly, looking exactly like a highly advanced robot executing a pre-programd dining algorithm.
I sat down on the sofa directly beside her. I watched her eat the cake with absolute chanical precision, and I couldn't stop myself from asking the critical tactical question.
"Aside from physically mailing you to my apartnt, what other operational directives did Zero transmit? Are there more Siren units scheduled for dinsional transfer later?"
The Builder swallowed the perfectly masticated bite of cake in her mouth. She looked up at , her golden eyes locking onto mine, and spoke, articulating every single word with terrifying, robotic authority.
"Executing highest command synchronization: Absolute administrative authority over all active units within the Siren Experintal Agency sequence has been permanently transferred to Mira Vale. Subsequent high-level units will sequentially arrive at this dinsional coordinate precisely according to Mira Vale's tactical requirents."
The Builder paused, taking another perfectly asured bite of cake. "At the current operational stage, the Builder's primary chassis will remain deployed first, to be entirely responsible for localized Mirror Sea construction, high-tech equipnt maintenance, and absolute logistical and industrial support for frontline combat units."
I buried my face in my hands. My processor felt like it was physically spinning.
As expected.
Zero really, genuinely intended to package and mail the entire damn Siren Experintal Agency directly to my Queens apartnt.
While I was silently nursing my escalating migraine, the Builder suddenly put her fork down. She turned her head, locked her golden eyes onto , and added in her flawlessly flat voice:
"Tactical assessnt: Detected that Mira Vale's current residential security classification is a catastrophic Grade-D. The structure possesses multiple, highly critical security hazards and vulnerabilities."
The tiny, silver-haired girl stared at , her voice devoid of any emotion. "Level-3 advanced residential defensive fortifications can be fully constructed and operational within exactly 12 hours. Upgrades include a localized anti-reconnaissance optical shielding matrix, depleted-uranium armored reinforced bulkheads, fully automated plasma defense weapon systems, and a subterranean, nuclear-rated safety bunker."
The Builder blinked. "Shall I initiate the primary construction program?"
I nearly coughed up a literal mouthful of cybernetic blood. I frantically, aggressively waved both of my hands in the air.
"NO! Absolutely not! Do not initiate a single line of that code! If you actively build automated plasma turrets and a nuclear bunker inside a cheap, rented Queens apartnt building, the local property managent is going to show up at my front door tomorrow morning accompanied by a heavily ard S.W.A.T. team!"
The Builder blinked slowly. Her golden eyes reflected a profound, mathematical lack of comprehension as to why I would actively refuse a massive upgrade to my tactical survivability.
But, adhering flawlessly to her programming, she obediently nodded her head.
"Instruction received and authenticated. Suspending localized construction program. Awaiting Mira Vale's subsequent operational instructions."
I stared at the spacey, utterly terrifying 'Civil Engineering White-Hair' loli sitting quietly in my living room. I let out a very long, very exhausted sigh, and heavily leaned my head back against the sofa cushions.
Fine.
I had originally, genuinely just wanted to be a quiet, invisible bystander who stayed as low-profile as mathematically possible to survive the tiline.
But now... not only had I violently rewritten multiple massive MCU plotlines, but I had successfully adopted the future Spider-Man as an eager sidekick. The entire intelligence apparatus of S.H.I.E.L.D. was actively surveilling every single day. And now, the apex executives of the Siren Experintal Agency were literally knocking on my front door to move in.
I turned my head. I looked out the window at the millions of warm, glowing lights illuminating the massive New York skyline.
I looked back down at the tiny Builder, who was currently, obediently eating her strawberry shortcake beside .
Despite the sheer, apocalyptic absurdity of the situation, a warm, highly genuine smile couldn't stop from tugging at the corners of my lips.
Whatever.
Since they are already here... possessing an extra operative and overwhelming industrial strength isn't necessarily a bad tactical outco.
At the very least, in the imminent future, if I ever needed to violently dismantle a threat, or physically construct a massive piece of advanced machinery, I wouldn't have to execute the labor myself. With a professional, apex civil engineering mogul permanently living in my apartnt, I could physically manifest anything I wanted completely at will.
What I absolutely, mathematically failed to realize, however, was that Zero's aggressive wave of 'door-to-door deliveries' had only just begun.
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