Awakening of the blade

That unidentified voice was of no help to me at all.

My mind was in a daze from being dragged down from transcendence to everyday reality in an instant.

What I had been doing, or even what I needed to do, was blurry like a dream and hard to recall.

What awakened me from my feeble state of mind and body was a Cold blade.

Burn - .

Blood splattered from my cheek. I felt a burning pain from the laceration.

If it had been just a little deeper, my head would have been chopped off.

The reason I avoided being split in half like a watermelon was thanks to the suit’s combat Athletic Ability Assist system, which moved even faster than my Reflexes, and the Microchip in My Head that activated on its own.

Unlike before, the switch didn’t turn on. It merely vibrated in place.

Even so, the surrounding air bent and created an airflow. An invisible attractive Force acted on its own, twisting the trajectory of the katana swung by the Ninja.

Even though I hadn’t done anything.

[test subject, please take care of your body. If not for the assistance of this Assistant, you would not have avoided the cessation of your bodily functions. The Test Subject’s physical body is an important asset of the lab, and intentional Sabotage is absolutely unacceptable.]

My head was noisy. It was hard to maintain Concentration with my skull ringing.

I never imagined the update would be like this.

However, it was useful.

The fact that I had no Headache even after using the Implant said it all.

Just as it was said, it was clear there had been an intervention by the new tenant in my head.

“Are you asking if there’s anything you can help with?”

[Of course. This training Artificial Intelligence System Assistant for Superhuman Experiment Resources (…) was created with the Superior Technology of the Militia Superhuman Development Research Institute, and can provide any kind of help To Train the Test Subject’s Extrasensory Perception and Environmental control Ability…]

“Ah, fuck!”

It was an Interesting Self-PR, but the Ninja didn’t wait for me to hear it all.

I was slashed three times in that short span. Chunks of my hair and fingernails flew off. Next time, chunks of flesh would be carved away.

“Shut up, and just block that Ninja for now!”

But the response was not Encouraging.

[This Assistant does not operate in that manner.]

“Then how does it operate!”

[This Assistant is merely an Assistant. The subject of the training is you, Test Subject. It is not right to pass your duties onto others. Please state your specific requirements.]

It meant I had to do it myself in the end.

It was funny, but only after hearing those words did I get a sense of how to Utilize this guy called the System Assistant.

“…Turn on the switch.”

[Understood.]

Fortunately, the System Assistant Esther didn’t ask for specifics.

Since it was connected to my brain, it might have immediately realized what I wanted, or perhaps it grasped the seriousness of the situation and just moved swiftly for now.

Click.

The blade that had been bending flexibly toward my eyeball stopped.

The kunai flying in from my Blind Spot, and the Transparent Cutting Wire tied to its handle, also swam through time.

Only then did I realize the truth: I had been right on the verge of death.

If I had been even one second later, I would have departed from the World immediately.

But I survived.

Just as I always had, I would stubbornly survive this time too.

‘It’s definitely stable.’

Twisting my body to escape the trajectory of the katana and wire, I checked my condition while taking a brief breather, and found my head Cold and clear.

I could think normally and Calmly without the heat that felt like my brain was cooking.

Instead, there was no sense of elation like before, nor the unnatural amplification of my Physical Ability caused by hormone secretion.

I suppose you could say the effects had decreased to a certain extent in exchange for the side effects practically disappearing.

Was it a feeling of the AI Assistant sharing the burden of the Microchip?

I’d have to see more to know the Details, but as it was now, it felt like I could maintain the switched-on state for several minutes.

Of course, there was a limit. A very big limit at that.

Just because I could stay longer in the World of Supersenses didn’t mean I felt like I could beat the Ninja.

Setting aside the fact that I had no way to Pierce the steel-like outer shell of the cyborg Prosthesis, its senses and Reflexes couldn’t be ignored either.

Seeing the Mechanical Prosthetic Eye twitch and follow my movements sent a chill down my spine, even in this slowed-down gap, in this very moment.

As expected, there was no Answer in a Head-on Confrontation. I had to figure out a way to shake off the Ninja and escape.

Or even if I fought, not fighting directly… Ah.

A Brilliant Idea came to mind.

[If you are thinking of making this Assistant fight a hostile Test Subject, I would not recommend it. As this Assistant is under strict regulation by the Militia Special-Strong AI Regulations 1.141.e, it cannot inflict any Direct harm upon intelligent lifeforms that can be called 'people', excluding specific types of Test Subjects.]

As if reading my thoughts, the Assistant chattered away.

Of course it would be like that.

As long as the threat of the FAIV Virus and Autonomous Artificial Intelligence, which were practically public enemies of humanity, remained alive and well, the laws and regulations handling Artificial Intelligence were bound to be strict.

It wouldn’t be much different just because it was an experimental AI from a Secret Research Institute. If anything, they would manage it even more thoroughly because it was secret and dangerous.

It didn’t matter, because I wasn’t going to inflict Direct harm. At least, I wouldn’t.

“You know how to hack, right?”

Of course it would know how.

There was no way an Artificial Intelligence wouldn’t know how to do hacking. Wasn’t this also in the Realm of Common Sense?

What was the reason the entire city’s network communication grid had been closed off and changed into a shielded Intranet-style private network?

It was all because of the Autonomous Artificial Intelligences that had Taken over the old generation’s net. From what I heard, an Artificial Intelligence in cyberspace was something that couldn’t be stopped even if dozens of peak hackers joined forces.

An Artificial Intelligence that couldn’t do hacking was like a Pikachu that hadn’t learned Thunderbolt, or Dragon President without a suit… something like that. This meant it made no sense.

[It is possible. However, please keep in mind that due to Poor computational processing facilities, Infiltration is impossible if an ICE (Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics) firewall above a certain level is installed.]

Considering that the computational processing facility used by this Artificial Intelligence called the Assistant was the Microchip in My Head and my biological brain that served as its foundation, it was a highly advanced backhanded insult for a newly installed AI.

In the end, didn’t it mean it could fail because my brain was bad?

I was slightly offended, but Fine.

Compared to an Artificial Intelligence, it was true that the majority of humanity was meatheaded chimpanzees.

I continued my thoughts without showing it.

“So, what do you think the ICE level of the Data Bank here is like?”

[As I have told you, this Assistant was created with the extremely Superior Technology of the Militia Superhuman Development Research Institute.]

The Assistant Artificial Intelligence spoke in a strangely proud voice.

[Therefore, despite the Poor environment, I can confidently guarantee a successful Infiltration with a 93.9449427% probability. It goes without saying that there is no concern about being subjected to Tracking later or falling into a Malware Trap. This is even calculated as conservatively as possible.]

I’ll correct myself.

It wasn’t just useful.

It was incredibly useful.

Due to the restriction that it couldn’t Inflict Harm on people, it wouldn’t be able to access the cyborg Ninja’s prosthesis Program, but what if the target wasn’t a person, but this bank facility?

[Unfortunately, a similar type of restriction is placed on economic units created by people, such as corporations, production facilities, and financial institutions. This Assistant is incapable of any kind of action that could be detrimental to the Profit Generation and capital maintenance of a Financial-Data corporation like Chiba Bank, and this includes indirect influences as well.]

It was a stricter condition than I thought.

If this didn’t work, I was screwed…

Let’s at least give it a try for now.

‘By any chance, is there a defective part in the Data Bank’s security system? Could a specific area be paralyzed due to Outside Sabotage?’

Because of that, it seemed like it couldn’t detect the cyborg Ninja running wild and openly trying to kill someone at all.

[Yes, if you are asking about an area that is failing to fully exhibit its original design efficiency, rather than a defect caused by inefficient design itself. It exists. The crime prevention devices, such as the Closed-Circuit Camera and Vibration-Sensing Pressure Sensor in Account Room No. 5 where the Test Subject is currently located, are Infected and malfunctioning.]

I knew it.

With this, it was half a success.

It was time to put in the final puzzle piece.

“Then how about fixing that.”

Without touching anything else, literally just fix the Malfunction so that it operates properly.

It said all kinds of actions that could harm the bank were impossible, but would resolving the Data Bank’s security Program error on their behalf really be included in that?

Fixing a problem that the employees here should fix on their behalf would be a benefit, not something that seemed like it would cause harm, even indirectly.

The Assistant fell silent for a moment.

And after what felt like about 30 seconds.

[Because even a Minor change in initial conditions has a massive impact on the prediction model, calculations on a mid-to-long-term basis exceeding one month are impossible. Therefore, only the calculation results within the possible limits can be told to you.]

[Yes, it is possible. According to this Assistant’s computations, the conclusion is that the proposal in question has no intention of hindering the capital accumulation of the limited liability company, Chiba Data Account Bank, and the possibility of causing unintended damage is also significantly low.]

[And in such a case, this Assistant in Charge has a duty to do its utmost for the life extension of the Test Subject.]

It worked.

I had found the right Answer.

[Not bad, Test Subject.]

What a cheeky Artificial Intelligence. Had it been testing me?

Along with the voice in my head that seemed to smile faintly, I noticed the switch was deactivated.

Click.

The Extrasensory Perception that had been activated to its limit was released, and the Metal Cube Room was dyed entirely in bright red.

Beep - Intruder detected. Commencing interception.

The space of the Three-dimensional Cube itself became a weapon and began to constrict the cyborg Ninja.

The Chiba Data Bank’s security system had begun to operate.