"What do you mean that this is Alexa?" The voices….the voices spoke while Alexa was eeping!

"But….she looks….wait, is her body shrinking?" The voices didn't let Alexa eep! And she was busy helping Alexandra!

Or well, trying, at least while she was here… Not that she had been able to stay long, at some point while she was helping Alexandra (By pulling her into a bed and getting comfy with her to eep in peace), Ale had arrived into their bed.

Alexa had needed to then put Ale in pajamas too! And she was just getting ready to eep! Why had Ale come here if she had wanted to go out before!

Also, she promised to explain! But instead she had arrived asleep! Alexa also wanted to eep!

No wait….If Ale was here…And Alexandra was here….who was out?

"But….how?" The voices! Were they speaking outside? Was it because Ale had come here? Ale had asked Alexa to not peek, but if Ale was here…could she peek? "And that hand…that isn't organic, is it?"

"No, that's metal." The voiceeeees, no wait, wasn't that just Glory and Alan?

So…Glory was not angry with Alexa anymore? Had Ale helped Alexa fix Glory?

Good! Then Alexa could go out and play!

"....But Alexandra is still sleeping…And now Ale too…." But Alexa was busy here, she couldn't just leave them here like that right? No wait! They wouldn't be alone! "Main Core!"

Alexa had Main Core again!

"[Please state your commands.]"

….even if he was still sulking, Alexa would need to speak with Glory about how to deal with sulking Main Cores, if she wasn't angry with Alexa more so.

"Protect Ale and Alexandra," Alexa said, and because Main Core was sulking and being dumb, she added, "By that, Alexa means that you need to ensure that their Consciousness Stream is stable, that nothing threatens their stability, and that they are comfortable."

"[....Awknowleged, starting monitoring of Consciousness Stream as a whole, and the individual streams within.]"

See? That wasn't hard!

"Okay, so Alexa will go!" Alexa said, turning to Ale and Alexandra, who were now sleeping in the same bed; Alexandra hugged Ale against her chest while the younger girl seemed to mumble something about not being able to breathe.

Silly Ale, they didn't need to breathe within their mindscape! Or the outside world, for that matter, but that was beside the point! "Alexa will be back!" And with that, Alexa focused on returning to the outside world.

First thing first, before settling into the body, she made sure to shift it to her preferred configuration; that is to say, she turned it back into her perfect form (Alexa Body Mk 3, Mango Boogalo ver). Or how the less educated would say, she returned to her normal body.

The shift was quick and efficient. She did notice that she was once again wearing clothes, or the clothes that Ale liked to wear, so she shifted those into her preferred form. The short pants…shifted into cuter short pants, the shirt into a blouse, and the oversized jacket into a cute hoodie.

"Alexa has returned!" Alexa said standing straight in one go and raising her hand…First she returned the Arm-mament and then she raised her hand, Alexandra had scolded her before for running with the Arm-mament out.

Why was it that Alexa could run with scissors but not with the Arm-mament? That was dumb.

"....And now there she is…" Glory said rubbing her eyes, had she been crying? Why? "Hello Alexa, can…can we talk?"

"We are talking already though?" Alexa said confused, weren't they talking.

"She means that we need to ask some things first." Alan said clarifying the previous statement, not that Alexa understood the meaning either.

"Okay….? But didn't Ale explain and solve the issues?" Alexa said turning to Glory, the girl…well, while she had puffy eyes and was dressed…actually where was Alexa?

Alexa turned around and noticed that they had moved from the shower room into what looked like a lounge, there were two bottles of a black liquid standing in a table and Alexa was sitting in a couch. While Alan and Glory sat on another couch farther away.

"Ale…you say?" Alan said turning to Glory who shook her head quite fast, "I assume you mean her?"

Alan pulled out his phone and showed a photo of Ale with her eyes closed; the girl was sleeping on the same couch that Alexa was now; was that photo taken after Ale fixed the issue?

"Yes," Alexa nodded, "Ale wanted to speak so she came out, and while Alexa was helping Alexandra she answered Glory's questions….right?"

Alexa at least thought that had happened, Ale probably thought that she could explain better, granted Alexa had gotten over her head there, she wasn't that good at explaining things, that was more of an Alexandra or Ale problem. So Alexa nodded at her own understanding of the situation.

"You don't know what this Ale spoke with Glory?" Alan asked, Glory still seemed to be…scared? Confused? Sad? Alexa wasn't sure what to make, she wasn't used to see the girl showing this many expresions around. That was new.

"No?" Alexa said shaking her head, "Ale asked for privacy, we only share the memories we want, that is our deal. And since Ale asked for Alexa to not peek, she didn't! Cute girls don't peek, that's more of a rude girl kind of thing."

Alexa was sure of that, why? Because Alexa said so.

"Okay….Well, she did…solve some of our doubts about you…But even so, we want to confirm it with you." Alan said and turned to Glory, "See? Alexa probably will answer, but first…"

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"First I apologize…" Glory said in a low voice, "Alexa… I'm sorry for saying that I didn't want to be your friend, that was bad."

…Alexa let out a sigh of relief, it was good that Ale had helped Alexa.

"It's okay, it was probably Alexa's fault, she isn't used to having this many friends!" Alexa said nodding, she wasn't sure how it had been her fault, but it was probably her fault. She needed to get around to get that [Brain] of another [Human - Child Stage] to update her own [Blueprint]. She couldn't risk losing friends like this!

"No, it wasn't." Glory suddenly said, "You have been a good friend, better than good. If you had asked for either me or Alan to give you all our riches and privileges, we wouldn't have any other option but to do so."

What?

"Alexa, you don't seem to understand how much of a boon you gave us." Alan said nodding, "Having a Core…a Core at our age is big, the more a Core User grows, the more their Core grows. The A-List Heroes and Villains all got their Core almost 30 years ago with the first Core Users."

They were that old? That was almost ancient! It was…It was like….6 times the age that Alexa had! Six lifetimes of Alexa!

"So us having our Core this early means that when we are at our prime we will have a Core as old as theirs…while they will be probably at their twilight years, when having a powerful Core will be detrimental to them." Alan continued on, twilight years? Did he mean the [Elder] stage?

But [Elder] didn't seem that….bad? No, wait, what about [Vulcanus] then? Wouldn't he as a [Machine] continue to grow in power then? Scary…the older [Humans] were scary.

"Even so, I need to ask this." Alan said shaking his head, "How much control do you have over this girl…and whoever else is within."

Alan's eye had turned sharp, and Alexa could notice his muscles tensing all over his body. Wasn't that a combat-ready stance?

Main Core?

"[Subject: Alan Harmonia has mobilized his mana and suffused all over his body, he seems to be ready to move at a moments notice.]"

…That wasn't what Alexa asked!

Anyway! She needed to answer, didn't she?

"I….am not sure?" Alexa said, tilting her head, "What do you mean? Alexa can ask Ale and Alexandra to do stuff, and they help her…? It isn't like she orders them around like with Main Core. They help Alexa, and Alexa lets them do their own thing?"

How does one explain their relationship? They were practically Alexa! Well, they had been born from Alexa in other [Stages] after all.

"....How old are you then Alexa? How old is this girl? How old is…whatever else is with you?" Alan asked, his body still looking tense. Wasn't that tiring?

"Alexa is five years old, Ale is twelve, and Alexandra is nineteen?" Alexa said confused, "Why?"

"What we mean to ask…is, what is your real age?" Glory said from the side, "Who is the real you?"

"Alexa is Alexa," Alexa said still confused, "Ale and Alexandra are Alexa too. But why does that matter? Alexa isn't sure how to answer that, but if you ask how long Alexa has been around….Then it's less than a month? Before that…"

"You were in the human experimentation facility?" Glory finished for Alexa.

"!" Surprising Alexa, "You know of the [Test Chamber]?!?!?!?"

Had Ale told Glory about that? Why? Wouldn't that compromise their identity! They would know that Alexa wasn't…No, wait, Glory already knew! Her power had probably flashed the truth!

"It's okay," Glory suddenly said, "I will not tell anyone what I saw…"

"....What did you see in Alexa?" Alexa decided to ask, preparing to flush her system with [Nanites] and set up for combat, Ale was the one that liked to be out fighting, but a quick check confirmed that both Ale and Alexandra were sleeping…Why would she go to sleep if it was this dangerous!

"....My power….I don't think it allows me to distinguish who is truly what." Glory said closing her eyes and focusing, Alexa knew Glory was focusing because she was frowning really hard, "For example, for me it reads [Human], [Soul], [Stable], [Modify], [Analyze] and for Alan it reads [Human], [Whole], [Stable], [Enhanced], [Body], but for you it goes [Eldritch], [Cute], [Aberration], [Adorable], [Happy], [Mango]."

"What is [Eldritch]?" Alexa asked, tilting her head.

"It refers to the uncanny, that which is hard to explain, in fiction usually refers to entities whose mere presence can break the minds of those that stare too hard at them." Alan answered, "Which you aren't, so perhaps Glory's Core Power is able to either notice the potential of a Core Power or the bases upon which they work."

"But it read [Human] for both of you," Alexa said pointing out that part, at the same time she was relieved that it didn't include the [Nanite] part if Alexa was to be honest, "Alexa can see why you would think that Core Power doesn't let you see it outright…perhaps Alexa should examine-"

"No," Alan was the one to say it, while Glory's hand had darted straight to her tummy, "That hurts too much; I was able to withstand it because my Core was just formed, and my Core Power lets me. But it has passed too much time for Glory."

"....Also this has to do it with why I think it doesn't read Human with you," Glory said taking a deep breath, "Alexa…do you really think that you are Human?"

…..

"Do I need an Adult?" Alexa said in a low voice.

"No, don't…we mean it…Alexa…Ale told me….You were part of a Human experimentation before you escaped?" Glory said with concern painted on her face, how much had Ale said? Why had she even said that?!!??! That was an important secret! They couldn't risk the [Humans] from knowing what they were!

"No," Alexa said shaking her head, "No matter what Ale had told you, she would never say that Alexa was part of a Human experimentation site."

From the beginning, that premise was wrong.

"There were no [Humans] being experimented there, besides it wasn't that much of an experimentation and more of a [Test Site]." Alexa said shaking her head, she knew it, she of course knew it, what she was…no matter what other people said, no matter what [Core], [Main Core], [Alexanders], or even [Ale] or [Alexandra] said. "It was a site to experiment with [Biological Weapons]."

"....and you were part of those experiments." Glory said, not asked or questioned, but said.

So Alexa nodded, "....Alexa managed to escape after….after triggering her [Core], it gave Alexa enough of a leeway to manage to escape the….[Rules]." That was the truth, without help from [Core], she wouldn't have been able to escape the rules that bound Main Core.

"Makes sense, so this look?" Alan said, pointing at Alexa's face, rude. Pointing at a cute face like Alexa's face.

"Alexa made it using a [Blueprint] she found, she needed to discard some parts of her old body to escape, couldn't fit into the [Tunnels] that she used." Alexa said, she really missed her glorious [CRAB] form.

"....what escape tunnel? Why did they have those?" Glory said, confused. Had Ale not explained anything besides the more base form of their past?

"Those," Alexa said, pointing at one of the vents from where the air came.

"Alexa…Those aren't big enough for a person to crawl in them like in the movie-" Alan started saying only to stop and narrow his eyes, he turned his gaze towards one of his arms and focused, his arm started shrinking as his torso gained size, "....You….what did you do?"

Glory looked at Alan with a confused look as Alan returned the biomass to his arm and flexed his fingers.

"Alexa hasn't seen those movies," Alexa said shrugging, "All she did was made sure her new [Body] would fit in the [Ice Tunnel] and escaped using them, when she was out she just made sure her new body was indeed up to standards compared to the nearby [Humans], Alexa was lucky that there was many [Human- Child Stage] around."

That had been quite lucky of her, indeed.

"So…this isn't the body you were born with," Alan said nodding, "That would do it I guess…if your understanding of form isn't set up, you never acclimated to an identity before I assume?"

"Not really?" Alexa said shaking her head, "Alexa's form before was what was needed; if Alexa needed more strength, she would pile up muscle; if she wanted to be fast, she would shave that. Whatever was needed was used."

That was the important part, if she needed something she would design for it and move with that in hand…or claw.

"That may be why you are read as Eldritch; you didn't have a sense of self…perhaps you don't have it either now." Glory said, nodding, "That would do it…and also explain why….that girl was so focused on her identity as a Weapon."

Weapon?

"Ale said that she was a weapon?" Alexa asked confused, "Ale isn't a Weapon, our version of a Weapon said that she couldn't come out."

P4 had said as much anyway, Alexa was sure she could summon that one at least one time more, but she really wouldn't do it if it wasn't needed.

"...that isn't the more aggressive one?" Glory asked blanching, "Then…."

"Alexa fears more Alexandra if anything, she is scary…" Alexa would never defy Alexandra, she was the one with control over the snacks, "Scary…"

"....We are moving away from the main point here," Alan said clapping his hands, "And we are also running out of time, Alexa can you ask CRADDLE how much time left we have? Also confirm that no evidence was left."

"CRADDLE person? How much left?" Alexa said, not bothering to say all that Alan had said.

"You have seven minutes till the speech starts; it is possible to delay it for at least three minutes without harsh repercussions to the school and another extra ten minutes if you don't mind some problems crop up at a later date." The CRADDLE person said.

Alexa nodded at that, the CRADDLE person was nice, then Alexa noticed Alan still looking at the CRADDLE person, had Alexa forgor something again?

"Ah right! Evidence!" Alexa said, remembering, "Was there anything left? Can you get rid of it for Alexa? Pretty please?"

"No evidence of your activities has been logged, the little evidence that was recorded was removed from the servers and delivered to the Saintsworths Mainframe. Do you wish to inquire for a read of it?" The CRADDLE person said, so Alexa turned to Alan.

"Do we?" And asked as much.

"No, that's fine. If it made it there only a Saintsworths can see it, and honestly, it would be a moot point for us at that point. If any of them pays attention to us at that point, we are screwd." Alan said shaking his head.

"That would be all, thank you CRADDLE person!" Alexa said, waving at the CRADDLE person.

"We live to serve Lady Alexa," And with that, the voice of the CRADDLE person turned off, that was a nice CRADDLE person, she didn't sulk like Main Core.

Oh right! That!

"Right that!" Alexa said suddenly, remembering, "Glory, Alan, how does Alexa deal with Main Core? He is sulking and is being dumb!"

"Who?" Glory was the one to answer, confused," I thought that the other presence that I felt was Alexandra?"

"No? There is also [Core] who you already saw and said read as [Administrator] and then Main Core, he should be….huh?" Alexa said raising her finger to point to where she had left his Consciousness Stream strand, "This is Ale…This is Alexandra…"

Alexa said pointing roughly at the spot that she could feel them, Ale was currently roaming around her chest while Alexandra was snuggling in her belly…or well, her metaphysical belly. Not her actual belly, her belly was for mangos.

"....where is Main Core?" The problem was that while Alexa knew where the physical form of Main Core was (The actual AI Core), she couldn't sense him at all… "Main Core? Where are you?"

That….that was worrying.

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