Chapter 72: Remembrance (Part 2)

“The dragon is fading away!” Alan yelled as he continued his race towards it. “Good! You did it, Ashley! But, where’s Amelia?”

++”Up here…”++ the redhead replied through Party Chat, prompting Alan to look at the top of the monster’s gradually vanishing body.

“Whoah! T-That’s a huge fall! But you’ll be able to land safely, right? Hurry up, before it completely fades–”

++”Sorry, Alan, but would you mind catching me?” she said in a tiny voice.++

“WAIT, WHAT?!”

Alan did not receive any further reply as Draquinox turned into nothingness. Only a distant silhouette remained, free-falling.

**NO, NO, NO! What do I do?! The Fire Boost Belphy gave me ran out! I won’t be able to catch her!**

++”Throw the Slime, Alan, it will do the rest!”++ an inner voice cried out.

**Slime?**

Alan then noticed the extra weight on his back, where Sloochie was attached, painfully squeaking.

“When did you–?! FORGET IT!” He grabbed the little critter and threw it forward with all of his might. “Save her, Sloochie!”

The Slime spat a basic fire burst to impulse itself even further and began inflating its body until becoming a 15-feet wide spherical goo. Amelia fell on it, and the Slime’s body acted as a life-saving gelatinous pool. When Alan finally reached it, he submerged in it to take the girl in his arms.

“T-That was awesome, Sloochie! You’re full of surprises!”

The slime squeaked at him in reply. “Kuh-kyuuu!”

Clara Domínguez caught up to them soon after, panting and profusely sweating. “I-Is s-she a-alright?!”

“Are you?”

“Y-YES! Thanks for asking…” she replied, glancing at Amelia. “Great, she only fainted. It’s understandable, she worked so hard to protect us all. I’ll make a local yearly festivity in her honor.”

“Yeah,” Alan said, staring at Amelia’s sleepy face, covered by droplets of lime.

He then glanced at his surroundings and checked his Party Chat in search of any new update.

“Clara, take care of her, please.”

“Are you going after the enemy? But if I take care of her, who’s going to continue recording your–!” She shut her mouth. It only took a glance at his determined eyes for her to nod. “Understood. Go.”

“Thanks. I owe you a lot.”

“I bet!”

Alan said nothing more and ran toward the nearest forest after verifying Ashley’s location in his Guild Tab.

***

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*

“I should have known better…” Serenity whispered while crawling in the grass, as blood spurted out of her sliced thighs. Watching her cut legs in front of her made her snicker. “From the very moment I noticed you were immune to the process, I should have retreated. Was my humanity at fault here? Am I making the same mistakes as Scarlett? M-Maybe… human symbiosis it’s detrimental for Us the machines, after all.”

“That statement may be correct,” Ashley replied with a blank expression on her face. She then grabbed Serenity’s right arm aloft and cut it cleanly.

After letting out an agonizing cry, Serenity began laughing out loud uncontrollably. “Who would have thought you’d end up chasing me all the way here? But don’t you think you’ve come a little too late? And what’s with that partner of yours?! Is that weakling the savior you’ve chosen, Mother?”

Isabella stood still before proceeding to cut Serenity’s last remaining limb. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Oh, you know, it may be just my new human side influencing meee…” Serenity intoned, smirking. “But why are you acting so cold, Mother? You’re being completely inhuman. Don’t tell me you shut off your host’s mind?”

**It was necessary. A human mind would have only gotten in the way.**

Ashley’s silence seemed to give Serenity the answer. “You did!” Serenity cried, laughing. “You have a tracking Passive Skill and the perfect Unique Talent to counter me, huh?! Isn’t that a little weird, or are you going to tell me it’s all a coincidence? It wouldn’t surprise me if you prepared all this in advance in case we appeared! That’s just classic Mo–!”

Ashley shut Serenity’s mouth with a hand and pushed her to the ground. “If I’m as cold as you say, why do I find your voice annoying? And do not call me ‘that’. Neither I nor my Original can be considered your–”

“That you’ve been repurposed and updated does not change a thing! You still are, despite technicalities, ‘Our Mother’!”

“I have not come to discuss such banalities with you,” Isabella II said absently as she checked Serenity’s complete list of spells.

**There is something quite useful here.**

After tapping the screen, a dark aura automatically surrounded her body, making Serenity frown.

“Wait, what are you–?”

“Slumbermare…” Isabella II cast, receiving an extensive flow of data, all of it in binary code.

**These are not human memories. This is something that only another machine could interpret…**

**After failing to take control of the ship and Isabella’s mainframe, The Singular escaped to the cryo chambers and caused a power shortage for 10 seconds as we theorized. That way we would not know in which cryopod it hid. What is this? A copy command? You could not possibly multiply all your data in such a brief period of–**

“STOP IT!” Serenity yelled creating an echo, kicking Isabella II out of her mind.

Isabella II blinked and found herself lying on the ground as Serenity could be heard panting desperately.

**I was so close to getting the info we need. Although Pisces allowed me to successfully cast the spell, my current level was not enough to maintain it.**

**This nightmare scenario is worse than we anticipated, Original…**

++”Ashley! Are you okay?!”++ Alan called through Party Chat.

++”Yes. I have secured the enemy.”++

++”Hang in there. An Administrator gave me something to restrain her!”++

++”Understood. I will wait for you.”++

Serenity, who stood silent for a moment, suddenly grinned.

The sound of something approaching jolted Ashely. She equipped her bow and cautiously looked at her surroundings, using her Passive tracking skill.

**There was something nearby, but it quickly vanished as if it knew I would not be taken by surprise. It must be using a hiding skill.**

The top of the trees in front of her shook violently, alerting her. The last thing Ashley saw was an enormous silhouette falling over her.

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