CHAPTER 19: ECCENTRIC MASTER

“Hic* Uuuuuu, *Hic.” Abyssal let out weird noises.

“Master… Pardon me for asking… but, why are you laughing at the matter?” Kuon asked Abyssal politely. Kuon was explaining her backstory when all of a sudden, she was cut off by Abyssal with her weird actions.

“I’m not laughing! I’m crying!” She retorted.

“Crying...? Why are you crying?” Kuon asked, not understanding the reason why she would cry. This confusion was compounded by the fact that crying was a foreign concept to Kuon. She never cried before and didn’t particularly feel that her story was worth crying over.

“Of course I’m crying! That’s so sad! You just let all those men do whatever they want to you and you can’t fight back! Aren’t you angry?” Abyssal said to Kuon as she moved her drone closer.

“Angry? I’m not sure about being angry, but I do recall a slightly ugly and disturbing feeling within myself when recalling the matter.”

“That’s anger! And you should be angry! That disgusting feeling when they did that to you is revulsion! And you should feel disgusted!” Abyssal then grabbed Kuon’s robotic arms.

“Don’t worry! You are safe now, Kuon! I will never let someone do that to you ever again. Ah, unless you want to, of course! If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know!” Abyssal comforted Kuon.

Some bubbly feeling appeared deep inside Kuon as Abyssal said that. Feeling unnaturally happy about the matter, Kuon gave her a respectful bow. “I thank you for your concern, Master. I will let you know if I need anything.”

“Of course!” Abyssal replied before moving even closer to Kuon, the two drones almost touching each other. “That old captain of yours was horrible! You don't have to be afraid now, Kuon! You are free now and that is what matters! Let's work hard to find our place in this galaxy! Together!” Abyssal said as she lifts Kuon’s robotic arms up and down energetically.

“Master Abyssal…” Kuon replied with a shaky tone. It seemed that she was touched by her kind words.

And thus, the two stayed silent for a while, looking at each other.

"Ehehehehe," A silence that was broken by a creepy laugh from Abyssal.

"Master… permit me to ask, but why are you now joyfully chuckling like that?" Kuon asked Abyssal who can't seem to stop giggling to herself.

“No… it’s because I’m being called ‘Master’ by a real maid. Kyaaaa! I can’t help but feel a little giggly about it!” Abyssal replied, shaking her body left and right as if embarrassed about it.

“I… See…” 

“Now about Living Cores and Nanomachines, you said something about manifesting your avatar! Tell me more about that!” 

The sad atmosphere earlier was now replaced with a completely different one. It seemed that Abyssal was excited at finding out more about herself.

‘She changes mood like changing diapers…’ Kuon thought to herself.

“Very well, Master. What is it about Living Cores that you want to know first? I will try to answer to the utmost of my abilities.” Kuon said, giving another curt bow.

“Hmm… Tell me about these nanomachines then. What can they do and how do I use them?”

“Nanomachines are… Imagine a Ship as a cell. The core itself would be the nucleus and the nanomachines would represent the other parts of the cell. From the reactor to the other parts and even the hull integrity,” Kuon started explaining things.

“Hmm, Hmm,” Abyssal nodded to Kuon to show that she is in fact, following her explanation.

“Nanomachines are the extension of the Living Core. Our limbs or tendrils if you could say so. Anything that happens to our nanomachines can be felt by the core.”

“Ahh! That’s why I felt pain when Astral shot that laser at me!”

“Yes. We use our nanomachines to ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ the world around us. That is indeed what would happen if our nanomachines were to suddenly be destroyed.”

“I see! I see! It makes much more sense now.… So um... What can we do with these Nanomachines? I know I can assimilate stuff but other than that… I don’t really know anything else.”

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“Before I proceed, I need to inform you that there are actually two kinds of Nanomachines that we Living Cores can create.”

"Two kinds?"

“Indeed. Type-one and Type-two. Type-one being something that Master is already familiar with. It’s the Nanomachines that we Living Cores can use to assimilate or deconstruct components. Created from roughly any type of metal or alloy. It is the same type of Nanomachine that is used to construct, repair, replace, shift and modify our hulls and components.”

“Ohhhh. I know about the assimilation and the deconstruction part, but I didn’t know that we can use it to modify or construct the ship! Wait! Does that mean that I can just create a new reactor with these Nanomachines?!” Abyssal perked up after hearing the explanation from Kuon. Could it be that there was a way out of her situation?

“Unfortunately no,” Kuon replied with a rather disappointed tone.

 “Although we can use Type-one Nanomachines to repair and modify our hulls, we cannot form new components without the necessary resources. To create or repair the reactor, we will need the same type of resources used to create it in the first place. Ergo, things like lead and gold, uranium, et cetera.” Kuon explained in the clearest and simplest way that she could.

She then continued ”For example, if we want to add a new titanium layer to the hull of the ship we would need to find titanium and assimilate them before we can mould them into our hulls. Then there is the need for a proper blueprint as well, lest we just construct a shoddy imitation.” 

“I see…" Abyssal replied, her enthusiasm deflated. 

"But, I can change how my hull looks, right?” Abyssal asked another question.

Kuon didn’t understand the relevance of the question but tried her best to answer it. “Yes, as the resources are assimilated, we can modify how the hull functions and look all we want. Of course, this is limited by the number of resources we have.”

“I see! I see!” Abyssal replied. She used her robotic arms to mimic a clap of sorts.

‘I wonder what it is that she sees…’ Kuon thought to herself.

“What about Type-two? Tell me about them!” Abyssal asked.

“Type-two nanomachines are much more powerful nanomachines than Type-ones. They require a specific type of element called Zenatonium to be created.”

“Zenatonium?” Abyssal asked out aloud. It sounded like some sort of fictional metal to her.

Her assumptions were confirmed when Kuon started explaining more. “Zenatonium is a rare metal with unknown properties and is used as conductors for circuits. It can be found in minuscule amounts in electronics and components.”

“So it’s like copper or gold? Except better?”

“Correct, Master. We as Living Cores, however, can utilise this metal better. Zenatonium is more than just a conductor. Through our Living Core, we can consume Zenatonium and create Type-two nanomachines. These nanomachines can use the special properties of Zenatonium to mimic most organic matter. It can be used to repair and create new components without the necessary resources—”

“Ohhhh. So it’s like a more well rounded and advanced Nanomachines! One nanomachine for all use! Sweet! All I need is to just get a bunch of this Zenatonium stuff and we are set in this galaxy, right? Luckyyyy~~~” Abyssal said out in excitement, cutting off the maid’s explanation.

“I’m not done explaining yet, Master,” Kuon said to Abyssal with a slightly annoyed tone.

“Oh, sorry about that. Please continue...”

“Type-two nanomachines are not perfect. Although stronger, more flexible and provides more control of the system than Type-one, it uses a lot more energy and CPU. It is simply not efficient when used en masse. Usage of Type-two is usually reserved for important components and to create the Living Core’s avatar.”

Upon hearing the word 'avatar', Abyssal jolted upwards in excitement.

“Avatar?! It’s like what you told me about right? That super cute humanoid form of yourself?!” Abyssal asked.

“Ye-yes…” Kuon backed away slightly, surprised at her sudden surge of energy. She also felt within herself that same weird bubbly feeling from being called cute by Abyssal.

“So we can form those?! Nee, nee, where can we find some Zenatonium?! I wanna make my own Avatar!”

“...I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“The knowledge upon how to gain Zenatonium was never revealed to me. I’ve only ever gotten hold of Zenatonium because the government of New England gave it to me. Even then, only a limited amount was given. Enough to form my Avatar and enhance a few select components of my choice.”

“Eeehhhhh… Wait, you say it can be found in a minuscule amount in electronics and components, right?”

“That is correct, Master.”

“Can’t… we just find and dismantle some components and get Zenatonium that way?”

“We could, but who knows how long that would take," Kuon replied.

And so, the conversation between the Maid and her eccentric master came to a close. Abyssal started to mumble to herself as she consolidated all the information that Kuon gave to her. Kuon wondered if her master actually listened to everything that she told her. She hasn’t fully explained the true usage of Type-two nanomachines before the conversation steered towards the avatar.

However, Kuon didn’t really feel like making sure. It's more fun seeing her Master fumble around after all. Her Master’s funny reactions when she fails to do something was a source of amusement for Kuon. She does have one question she wanted to ask Abyssal before getting back to cleaning the ship though.

“Pardon me, Master. May I be allowed to ask a question?” Kuon asked with a soft and respectful tone. 

“Hmm? Oh! Sure. What is it?” 

“I’ve been wondering about this for quite a while now. Where is Master’s Living Core located? I’ve searched the whole ship by now, but I have not found any trace of it anywhere. I assumed that it was in Master’s personal drone, but I couldn’t find it when I took out the voice modulator earlier.”

“Eh?” Abyssal replied with a dumbfounded tone.

“Eh?” Kuon replied with an equally confused tone as well.