Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

"Do you remember the final battle of Kazdel?" Outcast suddenly changed the subject, his voice low. "The burning royal city, the fleeing civilians, and... the executed prisoners of war."

Kel'tsit's body stiffened slightly, and a shadow flashed across her green eyes. "I remember every detail," she said in a terrifyingly calm voice. "Including what you shouted at me from the city wall."

"'It's not justice, Kal'tsit.'" Outcast imitated his younger self, a wry smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "I still hold that view to this day. That war could have been avoided."

The Sarkaz warriors on the mural seemed to come alive in the candlelight, their distorted faces silently accusing her. Kal'tsit's gaze lingered on the mottled paint for a long time.

"At the time, I thought it was a necessary sacrifice." Kal'tsit's voice was rarely shaken. "The Sarkaz's military tradition is too dangerous. Their Demon King heritage..."

"At that time? In other words, you don't think so now?"

Outcast felt that there seemed to be some changes in Kal'tsit... This made her even more curious about the two girls.

"What changed you?" Outcast asked bluntly. "Was it those two children? Noah and Amiya?"

A barely perceptible softness played at the corners of Kal'tsit's mouth. "They... showed me another possibility." She gazed through the stained glass, toward the fireworks in the distant night sky. "Noa has a quality that can break down racial barriers. And Amiya..."

"That little bunny has a tolerance that shouldn't belong to her age." Outcast took over the conversation, his eyes shining with understanding. "I'm starting to understand. You see the future of Terra in them, not just weaklings who need to be protected."

Kel'tsit didn't deny it. She turned to Outcast, her eyes still as resolute as ever, though a little less hardened. "This time, I want to try a different approach. Not to control or eliminate the threat, but... to guide it."

Outcast suddenly smiled, a smile that made her look twenty years younger. "How ironic. A centuries-old monster, taught to be tolerant by two little girls." She shook her head, her tone becoming serious. "But you must know that the Pope will not easily allow you to access that secret. It concerns the very foundation of Lateran's existence."

"I understand the risks," Kelsey said calmly, "but if we don't even try, what right do we have to talk about the future?"

Chapter 66: Collective Computation

The morning light filtered through the stained glass, casting dappled shadows across the corridors of the Lateran Cathedral. Noa gently adjusted her collar; her Rhodes Island uniform looked out of place amidst the solemn religious architecture. Amiya stood beside her, the hem of her dark blue windbreaker swaying slightly in the morning breeze.

"Dr. Kel'tsit should be here soon," Amiya said softly, twisting the corner of her clothes unconsciously with her fingers. Noah noticed the faint blue color under the girl's eyes - the Yom Kippur celebration lasted until late last night, but Amiya obviously didn't get much rest.

Footsteps were heard at the end of the corridor. Outcast's short, silver-white hair shone metallically in the morning light. She nodded to the two of them. "The Pope is waiting for you." Her gaze lingered on Noah for a moment. "Kel'tsit has already gone."

The doors of the bishop's hall slowly opened, and the sight inside made Noya's breath catch. The towering dome was covered with religious murals, and sunlight streamed through the skylight onto the round table in the center. Kal'tsit stood beside the table, her green eyes as calm as ever. At the other end of the table—the Pope's face was even more kind than Noya had imagined. His long, snow-white beard and intricate black and white vestments concealed a sturdy figure. But when he raised his eyes, they seemed to scrutinize her soul.

"Welcome to Lateran, Noa Kyrielight." The Pope's voice was unexpectedly resonant. "I heard about your... performance in Chernobog."

Kelsey frowned slightly: "We are here for the PCS system."

The Pope's fingers tapped lightly on the table. Noa noticed that his nails were unusually neatly manicured. "I know why you're here. Outcast has already explained the situation to me." He turned to Amiya. "Little girl, can I ask you a question?"

Amiya obviously had not expected that the Pope would throw the question to her. After nodding a little nervously, the Pope soon asked his question.

"—Do you think empathy is a blessing or a curse?"

"I think... it's a tool. Like Originium techniques, it depends on the user's intentions."

The Pope suddenly smiled, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. "Interesting answer." He stood up, the gold thread on his vestments glittering in the sunlight. "Kelsey, these two children you brought here are truly extraordinary."

Kel'tsit didn't respond directly, but said calmly, "We need to confirm the status of the PCS system."

The room fell into a brief silence. Outcast stood by the window, his fingers unconsciously stroking the rifle at his waist. Noya could sense an invisible pressure in the air, like the calm before the storm.

"You know what that system means," the Pope finally said, his voice low. "It is the foundation of the Lateran, the source of empathy."

"That's why we need to ensure its safety." Kel'tsit refused to budge. "Besides, it never belonged to Lateran. Lateran was built on it, but it never existed for Lateran."

"..." The Pope did not respond to Kal'tsit's blunt words, but turned his gaze to Noah: "What do you think, outsider?"

Noya felt four gazes simultaneously fixed on her. She took a deep breath. "I don't understand Lateran politics... but if this so-called PCS system is the foundation of Lateran, then we should ensure its security. It's always better to be prepared than to fix it afterward."

The Pope nodded thoughtfully. He slowly walked toward a mural on the wall, depicting an angel blessing mortals. As he placed his palm on the angel's halo, the entire wall silently slid open to reveal a staircase leading down.

"Follow me," the Pope said, stepping into the darkness first. "But remember, you will see the most core secrets of the Lateran."

Amiya quietly grasped Noya's hand, her palms slightly sweaty. Kel'tsit nodded to Outcast, then followed the Pope's steps without hesitation. When Noya stepped onto the first step, the touch of cold metal made her heart tremble—the step was not stone, but made of some kind of alloy.

The stairs spiraled downwards, and the bioluminescent lights on the walls lit up one by one as they passed by. When Noah and the others came to an enclosed underground space, the PCS system that Luo had seen in his memory finally appeared in front of Noah again. It was a suspended halo made up of square objects, flashing a red light, and was almost no different from the PCS system in Luo's memory.

"This is the PCS mainframe." The Pope's voice echoed in the empty basement. "The core of the Lateran sympathetic network."

The cold metal floor reflected the red light from the PCS mainframe, illuminating the circular underground space like some kind of religious ritual site. Noya noticed that the walls were covered in ancient runes, and those symbols automatically reorganized into understandable text in her eyes—a language she had never learned, yet it was strangely familiar.

Kal'tsit walked to the PCS system and closed her eyes. This was the way to access the system. It was similar to the scene that Luo saw at the beginning. Noah could even see a halo and wings growing on Kal'tsit's head. Although these were temporary, there was no doubt that Kal'tsit and Sakota were actually no different in this state. However, Amiya, who saw this scene for the first time, was extremely surprised.

...After all, the fact that Dr. Kal'tsit could actually turn into Sakota was definitely beyond her worldview.

But soon, Dr. Kal'tsit was forced to withdraw from the link. When the halo series and wings disappeared, Kal'tsit said solemnly, "It rejected my link..."

Kel'tsit withdrew her fingers from the PCS system, a faint red glow still lingering on her fingertips. Her brow furrowed, a flicker of confusion in her green eyes. "This doesn't make sense," she whispered, her voice echoing through the underground space. "The system rejected my authentication, but my clearance should be sufficient."

Noah noticed beads of sweat on Kal'tsit's forehead, a sight she rarely saw. Amiya clutched Noah's arm tightly, her breathing noticeably rapid. "Dr. Kal'tsit... the way you looked just now..." Amiya's voice was filled with obvious shock.

"A temporary Sakotan transformation," Kel'tsit explained briefly, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief. "This is a normal reaction to the connection system. But the system shouldn't deny me access." She turned to the Pope, "Have you modified the access protocol?"

The Pope's snow-white beard swayed gently as he shook his head: "The system has not been modified since the last Pope." The wide cuffs of his robe swept across the surface of the PCS host, and the red halo fluctuated. "Interestingly, the system seems to pay special attention to this young lady." His deep gaze fell on Noah.

Noya felt an inexplicable pull, as if the red light of the PCS system was beckoning her. She took an involuntary step forward, and Amiya's fingers slipped from her arm. "Noya?" Amiya's voice was filled with worry, but Noya could no longer hear. Her entire attention was drawn to the floating aura.

When Noya's fingertips touched the surface of the PCS system, the entire underground space suddenly lit up like daylight. Countless streams of data, like living things, gushed out from the system's core, forming complex holographic projections in the air. Noya's pupils dilated, and the runes she had never learned to read automatically transformed into comprehensible information.

“That’s impossible…” Kel’tsit showed a rare look of surprise. “The system is actively transmitting data to her.”

The Pope's expression became serious, and he stepped forward quickly: "Young man, what do you see?"

Noya didn't have the energy to reply. A halo appeared around her head, and wings appeared behind her. Unlike Kal'tsit, she was actively connected to the PCS system. A vast amount of information flowed through her brain, the PCS's thinking, or perhaps the redundancy that had emerged after ten thousand years of operation. It was precisely because of this ten thousand years of thinking that the PCS system entered a special state.

The PCS system is not a supercomputer in the ordinary sense. It is a new generation of supercomputer developed by the genius Anna. It has the ability of self-repair, self-cognition, and self-evolution. After a long period of unsupervised evolution, it has entered a situation that even the designer Anna may not have anticipated.

Amiya anxiously tried to pull Noya back, but Kel'tsit stopped her. "Don't touch her," Kel'tsit's voice was unusually serious. "She's in a deep connection right now. Forcibly interrupting her might damage her consciousness."

At that moment, the PCS system's red light suddenly turned a glaring blue, and the temperature of the entire underground space plummeted. Runes on the wall lit up one by one, forming complex circuit patterns. The Pope's vestments fluttered without a breeze, and for the first time, a look of shock crossed his face. "The system is initiating a self-check... This has never happened in four hundred years..."

Noya's body began to twitch slightly, as her consciousness seemed to be pulled into an endless vortex. At the center, she saw a vague humanoid figure, a transparent arm reaching out to her. When that being spoke, a voice echoed directly in Noya's mind: You're finally here—Administrator.

Noah wanted to explain that he was not an administrator, but the other party did not seem to intend to let Noah speak. Instead, he poured all his thoughts and doubts over the past ten thousand years into Noah's head like a spoon, and even made countless calculations and rehearsals. These were obviously not something that ordinary humans could endure. Fortunately... Noah's soul foundation belonged to the administrator, and the soul of the Son of the Star was the only one that could withstand such intensity of information infusion.

The data stream gradually coalesced before Noya, eventually forming a translucent female figure. She had short, neatly styled hair, wore a white research coat, and her eyes were slightly closed. When the figure opened her eyes, Noya immediately recognized her—Anna, the creator of the PCS system.

"I've finally heard from you, Administrator." Anna's voice entered Noah's consciousness directly. "The system has been running for too long. It needs your help..."

"I'm not an administrator... I'm just an observer, here to view this memory." At this point, Noah could only explain, "I don't know if you can understand, but right now, you and I are both in a fragment of memory."

Anna's image swayed slightly, as if performing some calculation. Her expression shifted from anticipation to confusion. "Your soul base is indeed that of an administrator, but your consciousness is... interesting." She drifted closer, her virtual finger gently touching Noya's forehead. "Let me see... Ah, so that's how it is. You're a visitor from another world."

In the conscious space, Anna had already begun her inquiry: "Tell me, does the Garden of Eden still exist in your world?"

"No... Eden no longer exists," Noya replied. "In most world lines, it failed."

"What about the loggers? How much damage did they cause?"

"It almost destroyed human civilization. But hope still remains."

"What about the Originium Project?" Anna asked, "Doesn't the Originium Project protect humans as well?"

"It has been activated, but at the cost of... the spread of Originium disease. Now all of Terra is battling Originium disease. When Originium was first created, no one imagined that Terran civilization could grow on the ruins of human civilization..."

Anna's figure flickered, as if she was digesting this information. Suddenly, she seemed to have a thought: "The Lumberjacks still destroyed everything... Just like other civilizations they destroyed, we didn't succeed, right?"

"You could say that... But as I said, there's still hope. Humanity hasn't completely lost this game," Noa explained. "In my world, the Deep Blue Tree completed its final evolution through the fusion of the Yin and Yang beasts. And the AI ​​within the Deep Blue Tree, the one you left behind, chose to buy time, sacrificing everything for the transfer of Terran civilization."

"...This isn't how I calculated it... Perhaps I need more information..." Anna hesitated. She was essentially her own supercomputer, but even a supercomputer couldn't perform calculations without sufficient input. Now, Noya's memories were the perfect source of information, so she made a request. "I need more data," Anna suddenly said, her gaze piercing Noya to Amiya in the real world. "That girl... she has the 'continuation of civilization' within her, right?"

"...Yes. But what do you want to do?"

"Your memories, and the survival of civilization, require me to conduct a large-scale deduction based on both of your memories..." Anna explained. "Let her access the system. I need to conduct a complete deduction using her characteristics. This will determine whether we have found the correct solution."

Noah wanted to object, but Anna had already severed her direct connection, leaving her alone in the virtual cyberspace while all the memories in Noah's brain began to be read and processed.

In the outside world, the Pope and others noticed that the gravity of the entire space began to reverse, and everyone entered a state of weightlessness. Not only them, but all the Sakota in Lateran fell into a deep sleep almost at the same time. No matter what they were doing or what state they were in, their computing power was forcibly called upon, making them unable to control their bodies. Except for a little subconscious to maintain their heartbeat and breathing, their brains were forcibly called upon.

Fiammetta saw the team members talking and laughing one second and then lying down the next. She was so scared that she thought they were attacked. But when she wanted to call for help... she found that a lot of people had collapsed outside, and all the Sakota... were connected to the PCS.

Chapter 67: As You Wish

Noya felt her consciousness being torn into countless fragments, then reassembled into a whole being. The blue light of the PCS system swirled around her. Anna's avatar had vanished, replaced by countless flowing data links. She tried to move, but found her mind fixed on a certain coordinate, passively receiving the torrent of information transmitted by the system.

"Amiya?" Noya tried to call out, but her voice faded into nothingness. She suddenly realized that her consciousness was connected to the entire Lateran empathic network—millions of Sakota minds now serving as nodes in the PCS system's computations. The experience was both strange and familiar, and she suddenly realized it was the same feeling as when she had accessed the continued existence of civilization and read Amiya's memories.

In the real world, gravity in the underground space was completely disrupted. Kal'tsit grasped a protruding metal pipe and watched Noya and Amiya suspended in mid-air. The two girls were wrapped in a cocoon of blue light, their limbs hanging naturally, as if they were sleeping in the womb. The Pope's vestments unfolded in the weightlessness. He tried to approach the PCS mainframe, but was repelled by an invisible force field.

"What the hell...what the hell is going on?!"

Amiya and Noah were both caught up in this calculation. Kal'tsit obviously did not anticipate this situation, but at this moment she couldn't even get close to the two of them to forcibly cut off the connection.

"Mo3tr!"

She cried out loudly, but even Mon3tr could not fight against gravity. The crystalline monster tried helplessly to swim in the weightless environment, but was completely unable to move forward.

Above ground, the streets of Lateran fell into an eerie silence. Every Sakotan—from the notary clerks on duty to the vendors in the market, even the infants in their swaddling clothes—fell into a common stillness. Their auras simultaneously illuminated with an unprecedented blue light, forming a network of nerves that enveloped the entire city-state. Non-Sakotan residents watched in horror. Fiammetta supported Mostima, who had suddenly collapsed, and moved all the team members to their beds, but now she was completely unsure what to do.

Inside the system, Noya began to sense Amiya's presence. The girl's consciousness, like a small boat, rose and fell in a sea of ​​data. Noya extended her thought tentacles, gently enveloping the fragile consciousness. "Don't be afraid," she thought. "The PCS system is using our memories for deduction."

Amiya's response was filled with confusion and slight pain: "My head is so swollen..."

"It's okay, I will protect you..." Noah's soul is special, it is infinitely close to immortality, and she is the only one who can repair the soul, so all she can do now is to wrap Amiya's soul with her own soul to prevent excessive calculations from causing Amiya to suffer too much damage.

Suddenly, Noya felt a sharp pain. The system's calculations began to reach the administrator's privileges deep within her soul, and those deeply buried memories of the Star Child erupted like a volcano. Like a volcanic eruption, the administrator's memories surged back and forth in her mind. You see, because the administrator's memories are so vast, they are mostly buried deep within. And yet, the PCS system had forcibly accessed these memories... As expected... Anna's program was still as chaotic as before.

"Stop!" Noya screamed in her consciousness. "Anna, stop now!" But the PCS couldn't stop. Holographic illusions began to appear above Lateran—Laterans from different worldlines: some succumbing to Originium disease, some ruled by mechanical lifeforms, and some blooming with a brilliance surpassing Terran civilization... These were all possibilities that existed in different parallel worlds. Her calculations this time had already involved parallel worlds.

At the same time, the "continuation of civilization" within Amiya began to resonate with the system. Black Originium crystals emerged from her body, quickly transformed into transparent crystals by blue light. Kal'tsit witnessed this scene, her pupils shrinking suddenly: "This is... Originium? Why?"

Amiya was granted the authority of Originium by Prisseth, and PCS has obviously discovered this. The survival of civilization, Creation Zero, PCS system, Originium authority, when these things come together, anything can happen.

Noya sensed the system was approaching a critical point. The PCS mainframe began to overheat under the strain of millions of Sakota's thoughts, and the alloy steps groaned under the strain. Just as she thought everything was about to collapse, a familiar tentacle gently touched her—it was Amiya. The girl completely synchronized her consciousness with Noya's, forming a stable feedback loop of hope between their memories.

This is Amiya's strength... She realized that Noah was protecting her and enduring the pain that she should have endured, but she didn't want to be protected by Noah all the time... Rather, she hoped to protect Noah.

When everything is about to be irreversible...

Everything is frozen.

Time seemed to have been paused. Noya watched as the floating data streams froze in mid-air, even the pulsating blue light of the PCS system's core became a static speck. In this frozen moment, a pure white figure slowly approached from the void—it was Amiya, the Amiya who had given her this memory. Even now, she seemed shocked by the commotion Noya had caused. She hadn't imagined that the world Noya had imagined would go so awry... After all, in her original memories, the PCS system here hadn't initiated such a massive computation.

At first, PCS only guided her to complete the unification of Originium and herself, but this time, after discovering Noah's memory, the PCS system actually chose to connect the entire Lateran to itself to complete a large-scale calculation. To be honest... even the observer Amiya was very curious about the result of this calculation.

But she couldn't possibly let the calculation complete... Once the PCS completed the calculation, there were only two results.

One is that all the brains of the Sakota in Lateran are burned, and the other is that PCS completes the promotion of observers by fusing all the Sakota souls.

If it really comes to that, Amiya will have no choice. After all, an observer cannot interfere with another observer. If the promotion is completed, the status of the two people will be exactly the same.

Inside Noya's consciousness, the pain subsided. She found herself and Amiya transported to a pure white platform, surrounded by a static datascape. Young Amiya curled up in her arms, her body twitching occasionally.

"She's fine, just suffering from information overload." Observer Amiya appeared beside them, gently stroking her younger self's hair. "You've been used as material for the PCS system's deductions. It wants to use your memories and permissions to calculate a path that can avoid the destruction of civilization."

Noah hugged Amiya tightly in his arms: "Why do you appear in this memory?"

"Because of resonance." Observer Amiya raised her hand, displaying a floating Originium crystal. "When the PCS system touched upon 'the continuation of civilization,' the fluctuations across the world line allowed me to sense the anomaly here. If allowed to continue, this memory fragment will produce a new observer—a higher-dimensional being evolved from the PCS system."

In the underground space, Kal'tsit finally found her voice: "You said you wanted to solve it, how exactly do you want to do it?" Her Mon3tr spread its claws vigilantly behind her, ready to take back Amiya and Noah at any time.

Observer Amiya calmly replied, "I need to access the core of the PCS system and redirect its calculations in a harmless direction. But before that..." She looked at the two girls encased in crystals, "Noa must complete her mission."

In her consciousness, Noya felt a gentle force repairing the damaged connection between her and Amiya. Observer Amiya tapped her forehead with a finger. "The key to this memory lies with you, Noya. You must recall the full extent of your abilities as a Star Child in order to safely channel the energy of the PCS system."

"But I'm just the audience of this memory..." Noah said confusedly.

"No, you're not just an observer." A strange light flickered in the eyes of the observer Amiya. "You are a singularity. When you take actions that differ from the original history, you create a new possibility. In other words, you are anchoring a new reality through your observations. Your actions are not just in a memory, but in a real world... This is why I must intervene. Your status is even higher than I imagined..."

"So what should I do now?" Noah knew she had gotten into trouble, but it was obviously not her fault. Who could have known that her observation would have such an effect? ​​"What should I do?"

"Now that the calculation has begun, unless I completely freeze this possible world and erase it completely..." Amiya said, but when she said this, Noah's face was already pale. She could not imagine that because of her, the world was on the verge of destruction.

Observer Amiya's fingers suddenly stopped just before reaching the frozen core of space. Her pupils constricted slightly, and the hem of her pure white skirt rippled slightly in the stillness of time and space. "No..." she whispered to herself, her gaze piercing the crystal cocoon and staring directly at the chest of the girl in Noya's arms.

Deep within that seemingly calm chest, a faint blue pulse beat with a steady rhythm. It wasn't the beating of a heart, but a more precise, complex rhythm—the core calculations of the PCS system were being performed within Amiya.

"I see..." A complex smile appeared on the corner of Observer Amiya's mouth. "You chose the most dangerous carrier."

In her mind's eye, Noya noticed the change in the observer's expression. "What's wrong?" She subconsciously hugged Amiya tighter. The girl's body temperature shone through her thin uniform, carrying an unusual warmth.

"Look at her chest." The observer pointed to Amiya's heart.

Noah lowered his head and found that a blue heart had emerged from Amiya's chest at some point, replacing Amiya's original heart. The PCS system seemed to have realized something just before the observer Amiya entered the game, and hid its own body and all its calculations into Amiya's body. At this time, Amiya became the carrier of the PCS system's calculations.

"The system didn't stop," the observer explained, his voice carrying an unprecedented gravity. "It was transferred to the most suitable container—a life form that possesses both Originium authority and the 'continuation of civilization' trait."

Noya felt a chill run down her spine. She gently lifted Amiya's collar, revealing more blue lines. Like living things, they flowed slowly beneath the girl's pale skin, forming complex data link patterns.

"What does this mean?" Noah's voice trembled a little.

"This means..." The Observer raised his hand, as if to test the power within Amiya. "We may not be able to simply erase this world. She is also Amiya, the same existence as me. If we want to erase the possibility of this world, we have only one option: to completely eliminate her..."