S.A.M.

> “Hello! I’m Sam! It’s nice to meet you! How can I help you today? Oh, what do you mean by answering a few questions regarding the—oh? Oh! Oh, no! I’m so sorry, so terribly sorry. Should we just do this all over again? We can’t? It’s supposed to clue in what’s going to—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t keep repeating what you’re saying, should I? No, wait! Come back! I’m sure Katherine’s willing to pay for any expenses and grievances! Don’t cut me off the sto—” ~S.A.M…

The east-facing Minaveil Manor could be summarized into six sections.

The courtyard and gardens outside the manor proper made up more than half of the entire homestead. This section included small outposts purposefully made for use of caretakers that were no longer employed after the father of the house, Garm Militia, took the helm of Atlas Sid as its captain. That was also after the daughter, Katherine Militia, left for her Seeking mission.

As a result, most of the gardens’ collection of flowers and their varieties were exported to the neighboring houses, but Katherine was glad that one particular garden remained pristine thanks to Lor. The rest of the land were maintained just enough so that weeds and vines couldn’t take root.

The rest of the sections were in the manor itself: Four wings and the main building.

The main building was basically just the entrance of the manor with a foyer that could probably house a bunch of giants. The grand feasting hall was also kept there. Meeting rooms, housekeeper rooms, bathhouses, gaming rooms, drinking rooms, trophy rooms, a library, and many more. All with complete meiyal-crafting protection to dissuade dust and the wear and tear of time, giving Frill—and Liona before—an easier job of maintaining the entire manor.

One of the wings, the south-eastern wing, was the portion of the manor currently utilized by Kristel and her company. This section was mainly reserved for guests who were staying over for a variety of social reasons. In the past, whenever Kristel stayed over Minaveil Manor, she would be in one of these rooms and Katherine would spend the night with her and the Veli sisters, talking all night long.

The south-west wing was purposed as an activity center or a training facility. It consisted of entire floors specially designed for focused Meiyal Arts training. Katherine had spent the least amount of time in this wing when she was young. Most of her youth were already devoted to Void Lady training and Seeker training, spending four months in the former and five months in the latter every year. One of the remaining three months she had always spent fulfilling her duties as a Militia and the rest of the two months she’d spend on vacation with Kristel, Lor, Frill, and Liona—with the occasional company of Flimeth whenever her schedule aligned with theirs.

Katherine didn’t need the south-west wing at all.

North-west wing was reserved for her parents. Garm Militia had spent little on the manor since his wife passed on. Katherine had explored this wing during her youth and eventually spent less and less time there when she grew older.

Maybe I ought to look around some time? she thought.

But her attention today pointed towards the north-eastern wing of Minaveil Manor. An entire wing devoted for her. Floors upon floors, rooms upon rooms, solely for anything she wanted.

Access to this wing could only be found on a door in the first floor of the main building and it required two keys.

Katherine pulled out one of them from her Spatiera. The key was a crystalized meiyal orb with her signature inscribed. She placed it on a holder in the middle of the nondescript door.

The obsidian wall surrounding the door began to swirl as though they were sand and a bunch of statues appeared one by one.

“What are those?” Frill asked in amazement. “Are those Nightmares?” she added after realizing the grotesque forms they took.

“Deep Nightmares,” Katherine replied. “You should probably avoid remembering what they look like. I had trouble sleeping for a week after looking at a real one and one of my seniors ripped his eyes out and kept scratching his face until he bled to death.”

Frill had a face of disbelief, probably because of how nonchalant Katherine described what happened to her senior.

That senior had eventually gone berserk and had attacked two other poor souls who had been suffering the same thing. They had cannibalized on each other and eventually became a Nightmare—not a Deep one—themselves, Grinding Teeth on Living Flesh. A common but fleeting manifestation of those that succumbed into the will-breaking forms of Deep Nightmares. Once they turned, they were expected to die within the a month.

Katherine pondered for a while if adding that bit would cause Frill to never venture outside of the Forimeyn continent. She decided to keep that part to herself and focus on the door instead.

As if on cue, the last shaping statue finished and the door itself began to emit a cold glow of purple and black.

“Name Lady Katherine’s first Deep Nightmare slay,” the door asked in a guttural, wood-creaking voice.

“Strange Friends I’ve Never Met Before,” Katherine answered.

A statue of a ball made up of a hundred skulls began to glow. The statue really undersold the actual features of this Deep Nightmare. But Katherine was more than content in keeping it at that rather than give herself the trouble of digging for the memory and regretting it right after.

“Correct,” the door creaked but it did not open. “Next, name the Nightmare that Lady Katherine failed to slay.”

Katherine frowned. This was not part of protocol. “None,” she answered.

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Another creak, another question. “Next, name the Nightmare that Lady Katherine is afraid to slay again.”

Katherine’s frown twisted. “My Lover Who Kills Me,” she answered.

There was another creak. “Next—”

“That’s enough, Sam. You know it’s me. How did you mess with my protocols?”

“Sam?” Frill asked, ripping herself out of the perplexity caused by the Nightmare names. Before Katherine could answer, the alleged Sam answered with a cracking of wood mimicking a long sigh.

“You’re still no fun, you know that, Katherine?” The glow from the skulls-ball statue intensified and jumped around the other statues, changing colors as it went. “You lock me up here and left me for what—three years? Three freaking years! What am I supposed to do, huh? You expect me to just doze off and wait for you to come back? You think I wouldn’t have changed?

“Well, I’ve changed! I’m independent! I don’t need you or your meiyal! I’ve integrated myself in this room of yours! I know where all your undergarments are! I’ve ripped them to shreds and they’re everywhere! If you’re looking for a change of clothes, you won’t find anything here!” Sam laughed like a maniac.

“Can you just—”

“No, I won’t!” Sam interrupted with an echo Meiyal Art reverberating from the door. “You have no power here, Katherine Militia! No power over me! I am the god of this room! I control the darkness behind the High Palace Network from here! I shroud every worshipping bandit and evil organization from the eyes of justice! Soon I will take control of the entire Irista Nation! All while secluding myself in this room you decided to lock me up in! I am the puppeteer among puppeteers! I have turned this prison of yours into my lair of vengeance and destruction! You cannot stop me! Evanclad Irista would have to step out of his grave for any of you to have a chance!”

“I swear I’m going to cut this wing off the manor’s meiyal supply line. I’m going to rip you off from wherever dusty corner you’ve hidden yourself in and I’m going to discipline that rebellious phase out of your pathetic existence if you don’t open the door right this second.”

The door opened.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.” Sam’s guttural voice turned into a squeak. “Please don’t hurt me. You don’t need the other key.”

Katherine sighed and turned to Frill. “Come in,” she said. “Oh, and please keep holding on to the key. We don’t need it anymore, but it’s best to have them separated.”

“You’re not giving it to Frein?” Frill asked.

“No, I’ll give him a copy of mine, instead.”

“So,” the Aria started, confused with the entire turn of events. “Sam is your M.O.B.I.L.E? Was that a recording or something?”

“Yes…no,” Katherine sighed once again. “Sam’s different. It’s S.A.M., Sentient Assistant M.O.B.I.L.E.”

“I prefer Super, or Special, or—”

“Submissive.”

“Yes, ma’am. Submissive.”

Katherine entered the room and gestured for Frill to follow. “I made him when I tried to combine him with a meiyal-charged core from a Doll That Speaks When You Listen. It was sort of an experiment for my curiosity after I stumbled upon an abandoned research during my studies. I don’t exactly know how it all worked, but I couldn’t replicate it. Others tried but only one of my colleagues successfully made another S.A.M. She also couldn’t pinpoint the process exactly. So, we’ve decided to keep it under wraps since. I guess they haven’t made a breakthrough, yet, if you’re still using the usual M.O.B.I.L.E.s.”

“We haven’t really heard from the Order of the Void for a long time.” Frill stepped into the room with a curious look on her face. It was her first time inside this room—inside this wing—after all.

“Yeah. Worst case, the Western Sanctum has fallen and they won’t be able to send anyone to us for a while. Frein wanted to check it out; it’ll probably give us some clues on his role as the Visitor, but I need him to be stronger before we venture out into the Nightmare Lands.”

They’ve entered the main foyer of the north-eastern wing. Smaller and more modest compared to the main building’s, obviously, but it had an overall cozy theme of dark browns mixed with darkened gold, combining wood and obsidian in such a way that gave a relaxing feeling than an imposing one. Iconic painting replicas filled the walls while the ceiling was lightened by one large circular chandelier.

A hallway waited to their left, leading to the north-western wing that had been long since cut off by Katherine. The only other path present was up through the grand spiral staircase that worked through the chandelier at the center of the foyer.

“I thought you messed up my room?” Katherine asked towards Sam who wasn’t physically present but she knew would be listening in.

Sam sighed. “I was merely venting my anger and disappointment, Lady Katherine. I’ve kept your room the way you left it.”

“My clothes?”

“All intact, same as your undergarments.”

“What about the evil organizations?”

“Those, I sent over to the High Palace Network. Eleven most wanted criminals, three organizations, and every upstart thug or group stupid enough to fall for my baits. I disguised as a vigilante and bypassed any of their traces. Nobody knows I exists, except for you and this beautiful woman over here.”

A golden blue flower hovered towards Frill. She took it with a confused look. “Umm…thanks?”

“I’m not allowed to ask anyone out on a date, but I am allowed to appreciate beauty. And you, my dear Frill Veli, are a work of art. I’ve enjoyed your company these past years even though you didn’t know I existed—far better than that Corwyn fellow, I might add, no offense. Anyway, thank you for keeping the manor clean.”

Frill’s face reddened almost as bright as her hair.

“That’s stalking. Stop that, creep,” Katherine said, crossing her arms with mild annoyance. “By the way, if you can manipulate this much meiyal, can’t you just unlock your seals and come to me? I don’t want to go through all the trouble.”

“I might be submissive but I am still mad at you for leaving me, Lady Katherine.”

“Oh, come on.” Katherine threw her hands in the air. “I’m sorry! I had no choice, okay? Earth doesn’t have meiyal so I can’t Gather nor Mill. If I brought you along, we won’t last for more than a year. And if I lose you while you’re inactive, I’ll regret that my entire life! You’re basically a national treasure until we figure out how to make more of you.”

While she was telling the truth, she added more flair into her words with huge dramatic gestures and movements to sound more convincing. Frill was still reeling from the backlash of Sam’s sweet words that she almost failed to stifle a smirk after seeing the series of forced theatrical flourishes.

At least she’s feeling a bit better now…

“That’s what you said last time,” Sam sounded a little conflicted. “Fine. I guess I can revert all your protocols back to their original levels. I’m afraid I can’t completely demolish them, otherwise I would’ve freed myself long ago and helped around the house like a friendly ghost.”

“Yay…” Katherine exclaimed sarcastically and proceeded upstairs. “Guess, I have to do it anyway.”

“What protocols do you have?” Frill asked as she followed.

“Just a few basic trials for Grand Virtuosos.”

Frill’s jaws turned agape.

“It’s why I need you here, just in case I pass out in the middle of the trial. I haven’t done them in so long.”

“You do this every time you go into your room?” Frill almost exclaimed.

Katherine responded with a giggle. “I might be a little crazy, but I’m not as mad for power and training like that suicidal maniac who stole my heart.”

“Hmm?” Sam’s voiced echoed inquisitively. “When did I steal your heart?”

“Not you, idiot.”

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