What followed, was not entirely clear to Alexa, one second she was in the park speaking with [Fan Girl], and the next she was looking at the ceiling in a nice bed, the ceiling was white, and the walls seemed made of some kind of fabric.

Or, well, the immediate walls, Alexa could see normal walls farther into the distance, normal ones; she also could see a cable stuck to her arm. Was she under maintenance? That seemed weird, they usually turned her off.

"Main Core? Are we under maintenance?" Alexa asked without thinking.

"[Negative, there are no scheduled Maintenances at the moment.]" The answer was fast.

Like always, but that instead only made Alexa cry once again, because it made her remember, "....You…are not Main Core…." Alexa said between sobs.

She didn't like this, she didn't like this…

"And I have already told you, I can't use my powers on her!" Alexa didn't have even enough energy to wonder what the people were talking about outside.

"This is an emergency god dammit!" Another voice sounded, "Look at her! Just look at her! She is obviously being affected! Besides, you should have noticed it! What that thing is!"

That thing?

"I know what it is, Vulcanus ripped them out of us too!" The first voice said back angrily, "We all know what they are, and what they mean!"

"Are we even sure they are the same?" A third voice chimed in, Alexa was getting annoyed, she had things to deal with! And explanations to ask! And Ale and Alexandra were still eeping!

"Yes, the design is the same as the micrometer…but the contents are what differs," A mechanical voice spoke, making all the other shut off, "Most worrying, this turn of events, not unexpected, but worrying nonetheless."

"What does it mean?" A worried voice asked, "I…I knew of these because they used them to help me settle down….But you all speak as if they mean something else."

"...Their original use and what we think they used them…Is not the same one used with you." The first woman's voice spoke, Alexa finally paid it enough attention to match it, it was [Eleanore]. "Their original use was to control some functions of the human body and to make sure people received stimuli to get them to behave in certain ways…"

"They are used to train humans as animals, or used to. The Saintsworths repurposed them as therapy aid to control eccentric behavior and help in the treatment of diseases that atrophy the muscles and nerves." [Elder] said, "They are quite good at dealing with arthritis…I have one, too, custom-made by myself and without connection to the WiFi Network…I assume Vulcanus has a few running around with his more fleshy bodies…"

"Indeed, they are good at what they do." [Vulcanus] answered, "Problem is…I did not expect Alexa to be able to identify and either reproduce them…or dismantle them."

"But you expected her to have one?" [Eleanore] asked pointedly, "And you told no one of it?"

"There was no reason to," [Vulcanus] answered, "Your reaction, and everyone else's reaction to this data was not helpful, to Alexa or the other Minions…"

"You don't know that!" [Eleanore] burst out, "If I had known…If I had known…."

"You would have still wanted to bind Alexa down," [Vulcanus] said, "It was a pleasant surprise that you ended up like this."

"Like this?!?! I can't use my power like I want!" [Eleanore] said back, "I…I can't trust myself using it….I had to double down and make extra Vows to make sure I wouldn't abuse it anymore! Do you know how it feels having Damocle's Sword hanging at my neck 24/7?!?!? How could this be a pleasant outcome?!?!?"

"The outcome of your survival was set up at 2% if Alexa ended up having one of these." [Vulcanus] said, Alexa was very interested in that…She was totally not using that conversation to distract herself, "There was a 70% of you dying, 20% had it you experiencing brain damage and another 8% of you ending with a broken core besides everything else."

"...What are you talking about?" [Eleanore] asked in a more calm tone, "You aren't lying….but how could….how could….Billy would have killed me?"

"I would never, even like that. Eleanore still deserves to live." [Elder] said, "....You don't mean…"

"Yes," [Vulcanus] said and with one swift movement, one of the fabric walls was pulled away, Alexa finally noticed what they were, curtains. Not walls.

"Alexa, what were the probabilities of you killing Eleanore in your first encounter." [Vulcanus] said as Alexa could finally see the people outside.

There were other beds, but all of them were empty. [Fan Girl] stood at the back with tears in her eyes, [Golem] stood by the side silently, [Elder], [Eleanore], and finally, [Vulcanus] stood at the front.

And [Vulcanus] had asked something to Alexa right?

"0%," Alexa answered, "Alexa would not….she still thought that [Humans] were dangerous and would not engage in combat unless they did it first…"

"If you had to engage, probability of survival, probability of defeat…" [Vulcanus] said in rapid succession, and after stopping for a second "Account for all the data you have as of this moment."

All the data she had till now?

"Hmmm…." Alexa said sitting on the bed and placing one hand on her chin, if she took into account all she knew about baseline [Humans], what she knew of [Eleanore] from how she moved, behaved around high danger areas and her speed reaction and resilience when she fought against [Elder].... "Alexa would survive the encounter, and [Eleanore] would be dead."

"Probability of discovery?" [Vulcanus] asked next.

"Probably….Only if someone asked Alexa?" Alexa said, she honestly was confident in being able to eliminate some [Baseline Humans] and leaving no evidence, but if someone asked her…it was only polite to answer!

"Possibility of someone asking you about murder? Go by the metrics of what you have seen so far." [Vulcanus] continued on with his prompts.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"0% I guess?" Alexa said with a shrug, that shrug hurt, and turning to see why she turned to one of her shoulders, the Speaker had moved…or had been poked at, Alexa found evidence of a small incision on her arm and she closed it with a reflex thought. "No one ever asks Alexa if she has eaten."

"Now, this one will be the last like this." [Vulcanus] said, bringing out the metal marble that Alexa had shown to Glory, Alan, and lately [Fan Girl], "What is this, and how do you know how it looks."

"....That is a copy of what Main Core looked like," Alexa said sniffing, as she felt the tears well upon her eyes again, "And Alexa knows how it looks because she has one in her head right now…"

".....In her f#cking head…" [Eleanore] said the words slowly as she fell to the floor, "...I almost….almost…."

"That is why I am happy with the outcome, should you have attempted to do what you wanted…" [Vulcanus] said taking a step forward and placing the metal marble in front of Alexa, Alexa touched it and felt the material fuse back into her body, "You would have taken hostile actions against Alexa, and what would have you done Alexa?"

"Alexa would have defended herself; at the time, she did not know the limits of a [Baseline Human], so she would have used full force." Alexa said placing the hand that she had used to reabsorb the metal marble to her chest, hugging it with her other hand, it felt right. "And [Eleanore] would have turned to a splat."

"Correct," [Vulcanus] said, "Are you aware of the functions of that metal object in your head?"

Alexa nodded.

"Are you capable of expelling it?" [Vulcanus] then asked again.

"Wait a goddamned second!" [Elder] suddenly shouted, "You are aware of what these things do! We needed to get a Teleporter and Healer at the same time when we pulled them from Eleanore and Gabriel!"

"Wait, slow down. The ones they used with me were removed before they allowed me to leave!" [Fan Girl] jumped into the conversation, "Why is it that you make it sound that dangerous for Alexa? She has been fine! Maybe this is an episode? I get them too sometimes!"

"There is a difference between medical grade, commercial grade, military-grade and…" [Vulcanus] said pointing to Alexa, "Saintsworths Grade. Which I assume is the one in Alexa, if what her family has on the databases is to be believed…"

[Vulcanus] stopped speaking for a second; Alexa noticed how his eyes behind the black screen seemed to turn off for a second, shifting from blue to red. Not that it was noticeable unless you could see as many spectrums of light as Alexa was able though.

"...Then her Ai Core is probably rigged up for self-destruction if removed in the wrong way," [Vulcanus] continued speaking as if he hadn't stopped for even a second. What was the deal with that?

"Damnation…Our local teleporter just left for New York….Not that he would risk it…with you two, we could see the stupid thing, they implanted it in the torso…but the head…." [Elder] mumbled, "How did they even manage to get it there without danger to the host?"

"At birth, or probably close to birth, if it is inserted while the host is young the brain has enough time to grow correctly and fix any issues…the human brain and a baby are quite durable." [Vulcanus] said turning to Alexa, "That is one of the wonders of the Human body after all."

That sounded incredibly pointed, not that Alexa would say anything about it since it was true. The part of being resilient and durable.

"....Human experimentation on top of…Well, it was human experimentation from the beginning, I guess." [Fan Girl] said as she stumbled to the side, using [Golem] as a way to remain standing.

"What does this change, really?" [Golem] said," From the beginning, Alexa spoke as if she was raised in a combat-heavy environment, which isn't that rare for those in this profession. How will this change things?"

"Not much has changed, only the optics have changed." [Vulcanus] said.

"It changes everything!" [Fan Girl] said glaring at [Vulcanus], "It isn't the same! I have also heard the stories of super villain kids fighting against unmanned weapons and such, but they weren't experimented on!"

"Not all of them," [Elder] said from the side, also getting a glare from [Fan Girl], "I'm with you, kiddo, but there are differences, some lines in the sand…From the time Vulcanus rose to this spot those lines have been redrawn, people don't kidnap orphans, they don't experiment in humans…you know the rules."

"....We protect the orphans….we are better, we need to be better…" [Eleanore] said from her spot on the ground, "....we are better….right?"

"Debatable." [Vulcanus] 's words seemed to crash down on [Eleanore] as she lowered her face. "The only real change is up to Alexa Saintsworths. What is your story? An experimented human? A victim of kidnapping who got rescued? What is the backstory you have?"

That…was a very weird way to ask.

What was Alexa's backstory?

Alexa…was not sure, she had several, the stories that Alexanders prepared for her, the ones that they had given her…

The ones she found within the server accessible thanks to her bracelet…The ones that Ale prepared, the ones that Alexandra prepared…The ones that Main Core…

"Alexa…" Alexa said turning to stare at her shoulder, bringing the small speaker outside of her flesh and pulling it out with her other hand "Alexa was made as a Bioweapon."

But right now? Alexa didn't want to think too much about those, "She and Main Core fought day and night against all kinds of enemies…Main Core accompanied Alexa and helped her survive, he was there always for Alexa…"

She pulled the small speaker in front of her in the white blanket she had, then with her other arm she went to her head and let her hand sink inside her head, she could feel her [Brain], but merely moved it around her hand.

[Fan Girl] blanched even more, [Billy] grimaced at the sight, [Eleanore] covered her mouth, [Golem] remained stoic as always, but then again, he didn't have fleshy bits that would react the same as everyone else. As for [Vulcanus]? He also didn't react.

It didn't matter, Alexa pulled out the Ai Core out of her head, the last remaining of her identity as the Test Subject P4. The last reminder of her past as a Bioweapon.

"And when Alexa managed to escape…when she triggered her [Core], the first thing she did was subvert the directives that Main Core had, so that it wouldn't snitch on Alexa." Alexa said with a small smile, she remembered how panicked Main Core had been while Alexa's new nanite horde purged the older Nanites.

"So that was how you managed it, you overwrote their program?" [Vulcanus] asked, nodding, "It is similar to what I did then."

"No," Alexa said shaking her head, "That wouldn't have worked for Alexa, she didn't have enough time to overwrite all their programming, instead she cut out the contact and then removed the parts that wouldn't listen to Alexa."

Easier than subverting it all, she only kept the parts that would listen to her easier.

"That's…actually kind of smart, if you don't have a Core power that allows you interface and slave programs like Vulcanus, then that was your only option." [Elder] said nodding, "Smart, not as smooth, but it worked well enough for you as the evidence shows. "

It did.

"Then when Alexa escaped…Main Core said that Alexa should have discarded him…That in that way Alexa would grow…" Alexa sniffed, she didn't believe that, Alexa still needed Main Core, even if she was learning how to use more of her Core Powers on her own….what was even her Core Powers anyway?

She had her nanites…but Main Core controlled those right? Actually, she had removed him from her body….but the nanites…

[Query: How many Nanites are working and stable?]

[Answer to Query: All nanite swarms are in working order, both mana-enhanced and otherwise.]

The small sub-program she made worked fine…? But… wasn't this set up within Main Core?

Where had Alexa run these programs? How were they even working?

"Is that why you said that Main Core was dead?" [Fan Girl] asked, looking at the new marble that Alexa had removed, it was both more heavy, and more shiny.

This was, after all, the actual Ai Core, it had all the important bits that made Alexa's body work…Alexa could make a dozen of these if she wanted; she had the materials and the [Blueprint] for it, but somehow, she didn't feel comfortable doing so.

"What are you going to do with that? And do you know what that is?" [Vulcanus] asked, "I must tell you that I can't and will not allow that to remain within our installations."

"...This is Alexa's….no," Alexa said shaking her head, "This is the AI Core for Bioweapon P4, and…Alexa wanted to….she wanted to bring him back…"

That seemed to wake up [Eleanore], as she stood in one go and said, "You can't! They are slavers! Monsters! And you want to put on the collar once again?!?!?" She almost took a step forward, and it was almost because [Elder] placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I am aware of what these mean to you, Gabriel and Vulcanus," [Elder] said, the last one with a grimace, "But from what the kiddo said, it sounds like hers also awoke sapience, since she keeps referring to it as a 'he' instead of an 'it', so perhaps that Main Core fella was closer to Vulcanus? Maybe an older data file the Saintsworths kept was reused and somehow snuck into the code?"

Alexa… didn't think so.

"That's a possibility," [Vulcanus] said, nodding, "It could certainly explain why this entity seemed to want the best for Alexa."

What did that have anything to do with that? Alexa didn't think Main Core was like that, Main Core was like that because he was Main Core!

"Even while Alexa wants to bring him back, Main Core said that it wasn't possible," Alexa said before they continued, "Ale and Alexandra tried to bring him back, and Main Core left a letter for Alexa in case they did so, where he explained that it wasn't possible, and Main Core never lied to Alexa."

Which was why she hated this, why did Alexa suffer? Didn't they say that Alexa's wish was to [Be Happy]?

How could she be happy like this? She lost Main Core!

"Then?" [Elder] asked, "What do you want to do with that? If you let us look at it we could probably find out what facility and who experimented on you. We could give them a lesson about stepping out of line."

They could?

Why would they do that?

Why would Alexa go out of her way to do that? She… wasn't confident in being able to defeat the other test subjects, not without recovering her [CRAB] form anyway. And she had seen some of the specifications of the other P-series subjects after that raid, even if those seemed weakened.

"No," Alexa said shaking her head, "For now Alexa will….listen to Main Core, like always….He always helped Alexa and did his best so that Alexa could do her best."

So Alexa sent some of her Nanites, the Mana-enhanced ones, into the orb; she sent them and ordered them to split the structural base of the metallic orb; one by one, they removed the bonds between the molecules, allowing the material to lose coherence.

And since these were made out of Mana, Alexa ordered each Nanite to self-destruct. After the order was fulfilled, each nanite took one molecule, and each one of them would self-destruct with it.

Soon the metal orb started shining as the components turned from solid into motes of energy, motes of golden energy that floated to the ceiling, to Alexa's sensors it looked as if the orb had turned into light that was floating to the ceiling.

".........Ale? Why are you….why is my blouse sticky with your saliva?" Just in time for Alexa to hear Alexandra wake up.

".....O2….sweet release from death….." And Ale waking up afterwards.

"....Alexa needs answers…" Just in time, Alexa needed to ask some very pointed questions, so she would put on her game face.

"....is that…?" And she would not accept anything else but the truth.

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