Tale of Discovery

Chapter 140: hIE ; Saturnus

Tiamat and I are both surprised by the appearance of the girl. That's most likely because we weren't able to sense her presence this whole time.

The girl's eyes are shut as she ever so slowly floats out of the water.

What's worth mentioning is the fact that the girl is using some ability within the water, despite Tiamat and I not being capable of doing so.

All of a sudden, she opens her eyes, revealing a pair of lifeless light brown eyes.

The next moment, the girl slowly turns her head while floating in the air and looks our way.

"Tiamat, I think we better get out of the water," I say in a low voice.

I attempt to make use of Flight, but as I expected, it doesn't work.

So, Tiamat and I swim to the ledge of the pool while keeping a close eye on the motionless girl.

Soon, we step out of the pool while the girl has yet to move.

That doesn't go on for much longer, as, suddenly, she seems to lose her ability to float in the air and falls back into the water along with the weird thing beside her.

Due to the nature and color of this strange water, I am unable to see through it.

I prepare for a sudden ambush, however, that fortunately doesn't occur as the girl gets out of the pool 'normally' while carrying the strange armament.

She then begins to look around the area for a few seconds before turning her head to face me before slowly walking toward us.

Sensing no malicious intent, I'm not sure of what to do.

I wasn't capable of sensing her 'presence' in the pool, heck, I'm not able to do so even now.

Thus, I can't be sure if I can sense hostility or not, as there is the likelihood of her simply being undetectable.

This is starting to make me wonder, what is she?

{Entity identified as hIE Class: Lacia Type-003}

What's that?

{Insufficient information on the target.}

So, only her existence is listed within your database?

{Affirmative.}

Great. An existence that's listed in my system. No way in hell they're going to be anywhere near ordinary beings.

Now, my main priority is figuring out if she is an ally or a foe.

Judging from the way she's walking over and holding the armament, it doesn't seem like she wishes to fight.

So, I stand with my back straight as she gradually gets closer.

After a few seconds, the girl is right in front of me, with a little less than half-a-meter of space separating us.

She directly looks into my eyes for a few seconds before getting on her knees and saying in a monotonous voice which reminds me of AI,

"Transferring ownership to Creator."

As soon as her words fade off, the tip armament beside her begins to change shape as a holographic yellow circle appears.

"Please accept."

You've got to be kidding me. Did she just call me 'creator'? Have I created her in the past?

Logically speaking, that should be the case. I mean, it's either that or this girl knows the past me who probably had such a title or alias.

I'm willing to bet that it's the former.

Anyway, there is no reason to refuse a strange girl that just popped out of nowhere and decided to serve me.

I reckon that accepting her offer has to do with the yellow circle?

Deciding that it's worth the shot, I press the holographic circle using the tip of my finger, which results in it getting smaller.

A little confused, I press it again, only for it to completely disappear this time.

"Ownership of Lacia Class, Type-003; Saturnus has been transferred over to Victor Origo."

Hearing the girl's words, I get a little confused. Origo? What's that?

Now that I think about it, do I even have a family to have a family name?

From the looks of it, the only one that can be considered remotely close to being my 'real family' would be Infi.

Of course, that doesn't mean I've forgotten about my sisters and the others, but there is still this feeling inside me. I want to know.

Well, I should leave such thoughts aside for now and see if I can obtain any information from this girl.

"What's your name?"

"Saturnus," she replies monotonously.

Great, I don't need to refer to her as whatever that long term was.

"What are you doing here?"

"ERROR: Can't answer due to lack of intel."

This girl why does she seem to be 'inhuman'?

"What are you?"

"hIE, Lacia Class, Type-003."

"What's an hIE?" I ask her, getting a little impatient.

"hIE are androids developed by Creator and the Branch to integrate into society."

Androids? As in robots? No wonder her personality seems to be so 'lacking'.

"What is the Branch?"

"An organization led by the Creator to maintain the prosperity of hIE and further develop them to integrate into society more effectively."

I have an organization in some other world? What the heck was I doing? Why did I create the hIE? Also, where even is this place she's speaking of? Don't tell me that it's what the Arena used to be or something...

"Where is that society that you speak of?"

"Platform: Higgins."

What the heck? How does this girl know about the existence of Platforms?

"Hey," I suddenly hear a yell behind me, "Who is this girl? Do you know her?"

"I'm not sure," I respond before turning my attention back to Saturnus.

"Are all hIE as lifeless as you are?"

"No," she responds, "Emotions are currently disabled. Permission to reactivate?"

"Granted," I say.

The next moment, the look on her face mellows out as she suddenly lets out a sigh and moves her body around.

"Finally!" she yells with excitement apparent in her voice.

Dumbfounded by the sight in front of me, I speechlessly stare at her as she moves her arms and legs around.

"Creator," she says after a few seconds while pouting, "Why did you leave us?"

"Huh?" I say, breaking out of my stupor.

"As soon as the battle reached its climax, you suddenly disappeared, and at the same time, one of the main reactors exploded."

"Thankfully, I was able to make contact with Creator's Core just in time, so I made it out safely."

Hold on, she made contact with my Core? Is that the reason why she's here? And what's up with that battle that she is speaking of?

I thought that androids were made to be integrated into society? Speaking of which, I highly doubt that this thing beside her was made with good intentions.

Shaking my head, I place my hand on my forehead and say exasperatedly,

"I have no idea what you're talking about, as I've lost my memories."

The next moment, an expression of extreme shock appears on Saturnus's face as she exclaims,

"No way! Creator, you can't have forgotten me, right?"

Seeing the expectation in her eyes, I look away before saying,

"I've forgotten everything."

"How cruel!" she directly yells.

She then looks down at the ground as an aura of death exudes from her.

"It's all because of them!" she abruptly exclaims with a raged expression on her face, "If not for them, I would be serving Creator without any issue!"