The liquid in the pod drained, then, followed by somehow hitting the other side of the door and coughing. Name got off the door and let the pale lady out. The pale lady hit the floor in a coughing fit. Name was silent through all of this, watching the pale lady get a handle on her bearings. Her eyes half crimson as she marched forward. Commandingly, “So, would you tell me what is the deal with you?” The paled coughed a bit before replying. “I am Arche-”
“So just another unit like me and that ice mage, huh?”
“*cough* *cough* Yes, I am another unit like you, ordered to guard you and keep you safe.”
“Why?”
“Of course, you should know, I have no further instructions other than following your orders.”
“...On who’s exactly?”
“The administrator’s. They order me, along with other units, to protect you specifically, Synthesis Unit 00.”
“...so who is this administrator exactly?” Name asked, calming down, her interest drawn in by the pale lady.
“I...I don’t know, only that I must obey their orders over my superiors.”
“That...that was a disappointing answer.”
“I am sorry that I am unable to give a satisfactory explanation to your questions.”
“So, what were your superior’s orders?”
“To kill and destroy Synthesis Unit 00 at all costs and rebuild the empire in the aftermath. It took many tries but they were never able to completely destroy you. I took great pains to resurrect you as soon as possible.”
“... then what is this place?”
“A production facility. Of what, you can probably understand from your recent exploration of this place.”
Name groaned as she put her face to her hand. “THIS ISN’T HELPING!” Name exclaimed “All this did was make me more confused than before.
“At least we got some answers.”
“But we still haven’t gotten to the root cause of this, Fame! All this did was give me more questions, more headaches knowing that there are probably even more of us out there somewhere trying to exterminate us!” Name the curled up and drew circles on the ground. “(And I thought it was gonna be an adventure by myself in this mysterious world without anybody trying to kill me…)” Name continued to mutter to herself.
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“May I please interject, there is a high chance that most of the current units are nonfunctional. Even if they are in functioning restoration pods, it should take a while before they are capable of being active again.”
“So we are probably not gonna get killed now, but later? That doesn’t sound very… reassuring…”
The pale lady rummaged through her clothes and took out a black orb with a constantly shifting pattern.
Name stared at the object. “What is this thing?”
“Something that the Administrator fabricated.” the pale lady replied with no further explanation and dropped it into Name’s hand. As soon as it touched Name’s hand, the sphere broke apart, its pieces floating in midair as black tendrils grew from them, reaching for each other. Then all of them flew towards Name’s heart, entering without leaving a mark.
Name felt a sharp pain like her head was getting pierced., forcing her to close her eyes, and then, it was gone. Like it was never there. Name felt something has changed but couldn’t quite grasp what. “Okay, what did that do?” Name asked but nobody answered. Name looked around and saw that the pale lady, like the ice mage, disappeared. Probably doing what else that Administrator ordered her to do. “At least I got some time.”
Name made it back to the village just as the sunset. She jumped on top of the well roof. Another day wasted, but she was frustrated. What did she do? She didn’t even remember it. Was it Fame? Name wasn’t sure if Fame existed before now. And the Administrator, why did the ice mage refer to her as such? Why did the pale lady call her by the name on the pod’s door? Staring at the stars as more and more questions popped up. Name organized her thoughts as she pondered on the recent events.
Morning came and the villagers welcome once more. The Guard captain was cold as usual. She spent the day helping with various tasks. In the afternoon she wrote about her thoughts last night before closing it and, as usual, storing it away. She looked down the well and noticed her hair was still black. “Huh, I wonder why it isn’t turning back.”
“Because you are holding on to that form and haven’t released it yet.”
“Gah!!!” Name almost fell into the well but caught herself. “You need to stop doing that!”
“And you probably should have learned to expect me to wake around this time.” Fame flatly replied. “I don’t care just staaaaaapppppp.”
Fame paid her no mind as she suggested to Name that she probably should be practicing to get a better hold on her powers. Name too paid Fame no mind and went to mess with the children until night came and went back on top of the well roof.
As the sun rose again, she was once again, greeted by the villagers, and again she helped them with various tasks until the afternoon, where she wrote in her journal again, played with the kids until sunset, then repeat. Again and again and again. Slowly the village was rebuilt until the last building was restored. Soon, the crops have become ripe and harvested just in time as the winter snow came. Not that name felt cold as the village’s lanterns warmed the area around them. Though it was still very very wet. Thus, Name stayed indoors most of the time when it snows.
The villagers, still planting their crops despite the season for they do not need to worry about it as their magic lantern’s warmth and light would just keep the plants growing. It was snowing again as Name laid in her itchy bed. “Name, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you responding?” Fame exclaimed. Name’s hair, though some of its original colors have returned, was still mostly black. Name turned onto her sides, ignoring Fame, as she continues to blankly stare at the small hut’s wall, wondering when all of this can end.