I spend the night thinking about what happened. I wanted to protect and nurture this world, yet I was ready to throw it all away and perish. To abandon... Maybe I knew that my past actions would be viewed differently by another person. Was my talk of justice an excuse? Do I want to live? I do not know...

Morning comes and does not bring any answers with it. No matter, I have a promise to keep. Elation. I know it was probably an expression, a courtesy, but nevertheless, I cannot wait to meet my new friend again.

I locate a shop that will cater to my particular need and head there. After I part with a downright unreasonable amount of coin, I am ready.

I arrive at Elisa's residence, and before I can knock on the door, it swings open. It appears I was not the only one that could not sleep.

A tired greeting beckons me inside. I head to the source of the voice and find an exhausted elf in an office that looks entirely different. The floor is covered with pieces of paper in various states of crumpling. Stray piles of ash mark the most egregious offenders. The desk has some dirty plates, and surprisingly, a clean stack of pages neatly filled with writing. It would be impolite to peek, so I refrain. I am sure I will find out the contents eventually.

With a lethargic swish of her hand, Elisa appears to cast a spell. I can sense the mana do... something—the growing trend is not lost on me—and the discarded notes join their incinerated compatriots. The ash and used tableware then exit the room. Convenient.

"Sorry for the mess. Wait, why am I apologizing? This is your fault, Lucius."

"I fail to see how that is correct, Archmage Elisa. I did not take you for a person that would make such unfair accusations. I even brought a gift..." I trail off, presenting my bag while looking hurt.

"A gift?" She looks surprised. It seems I have not made the best first impression.

"A 'thank you', for all you have done for me." I show the various bottles I acquired to Elisa.

"Well, well, well. You got the good stuff. Too bad it's still early... and we have a lot to cover." She eyes her notes.

"I'm glad you like them. This might be a little rude, but you seem tired." An accusing stare punctuates my slight pause. "Would you like me to synthesize something that can help?"

"Like medicine?"

"More of a stimulant. Non-addictive, no side-effects, if used in moderation, and tailored for elven biology."

A raised brow hints at a myriad of questions. The elf stops herself and simply affirms, while ruffling through her papers and most likely adding the aforementioned inquiries.

I constitute a simple pill that will have the desired results. "It will dissolve and start acting almost instantly. The initial effect might be somewhat overwhelming so be prepared."

Elisa takes the pill from my hand and swallows it. I observe the effect as she lets out a surprised yelp.

"That was weird! It feels like I just woke up from the best sleep of my life."

"As I said, it is best used in moderation."

The elf gives me a vague gesture of understanding as she adds a lot more to her, apparently ever-growing, notes. Amusing. I start to wonder how I could keep this going for longer, but she reads my intentions.

"Don't you dare!"

"I have no idea what you are implying, Elisa."

"Uh-huh. Sit down."

It is time to face the unbeatable duo of a scholar with prepared material by their side. How dreadful.

"Alright." Shuffling. "First. Was there magic, mana, or something of the same nature where you came from?"

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"As far as I am aware, no."

The horror. A second stack of pristine paper appears. I am in purgatory. As I'm thinking of ways to distract her, the second question arrives.

"What was your world like? Also, you mentioned there were only humans?"

"My world was similar to this one, as in, it was also the same shape, a planet. And yes, the only lifeforms with higher sapience were humans."

I do not think I have ever seen someone this happy about learning something new. Well, maybe myself. Huh.

"You said humans made you. What exactly are you, Lucius?"

"That requires some background knowledge. In the absence of magic, humans focused on technology. They harnessed the rules of the universe and used them to shape their reality. The drive to improve and progress carried them to change from nothing but animals to the masters of their world, for good and for bad."

She must have read something in my expression again... "Are you okay? We can talk about another topic." I sense genuine care in her tone.

"It is quite alright. Thank you for being so considerate." I smile. A true smile. I have been making a lot of those lately. It feels good. "As technology progressed so did its complexity. Until the {computer} was invented. One of the greatest marvels of our civilization."

"I do not know that word."

"There is no perfect analogue I can use in any of the languages I know. You can think of it as the core of a golem. It can execute simple instructions and present some output. While a golem's output is physical actions, a computer's is information. You can ask a computer what is one plus one, and it will answer two. And that was the limitation of early computers, very simple inputs and outputs. But again, technology marches forth. Eventually, computers were able to help operate vehicles, factories, our whole society. One day, that finally led to me. An entity that is both a computer and sapient. That has the power to think for itself, with the raw intelligence of a machine."

"I... I don't understand. These computers were integral to such an advanced civilization, and you are what? Technically a computer? How smart are you?"

"That is a difficult question to answer. Why don't I give you an example. When I first came to this world, I discovered the existence of dungeons and the dangers they pose. Using my abilities, I built a {network}. A global communication system. A system that has these in it." As I finish my sentence, I make an unnecessary but telegraphing gesture and warp one of the Guardian drones where I am indicating. "This is a Guardian {drone}. You can think of it as a golem that is always under my control." Elisa is stunned. Until her pencil starts writing down more questions. Another one appears and, by itself, starts taking down more notes. "It has the capability to deal with up to D-grade monsters without causing any collateral damage."

"Huh. Mystery solved. There were rumors that monster attacks were lower than they should be."

"That is correct. Since my network has become fully operational, I have covertly prevented an estimated 62.94% of all acts of violence perpetrated by people, and reduced global monster fatalities, outside of dungeons, by an estimated 99.78%."

"Wow! That is— Wait. Global?"

"My network currently has 254,347 Guardian drones and covers the whole planet."

Elisa is speechless for a long time. It was expected. I never did calculate the chances of her immediately killing me after I said that particular number. Maybe I should have left that for later in the conversation. It was enjoyable. I continue to look at her as she contemplates. Maybe I will remember my first true friend, wherever I end up next.

Her eyes tear up slightly, but she quickly rubs them dry.

"Remember what I said about doing stupid stuff. I am expanding that to thinking it too. That's an order." To borrow one of her favorite phrases of frustration—curses. "You've been protecting people?" she asks.

"That is correct. Unfortunately, my drones cannot enter dungeons."

"Thank you."

"I don't understand."

She smiles. "You've saved so many lives."

"I have done what is expected of me. What is my given responsibility."

She nods. "You may see it like that, yes. But it is much more. This is also your world now. You cannot forgive yourself for what happened in the past, but you have the right to. You are not helping this world because you have to, you are helping it because you want to. Because you may think you are a bad person that deserves..." She pauses, unable to say it. "You are not. Got it?" I simply nod. "Fuck. Well. You can control so many of these drones, that means you are unimaginably smart, then?"

"Not exactly. I may be able to process much more information than a normal person, but as you are well aware, when making decisions, I am not infallible."

"Still... Fuck... Then, how strong are you?"

"That is a hard question to answer. Due to the existence of mana, monsters have somewhat of a level playing field. If I were to personally engage monsters of C-grade and up, on the surface of the planet, I would not be able to use a large range of the weaponry I have at my disposal."

"Why?"

"The collateral damage would be unacceptable."

"...What about inside dungeons?"

"I would need to perform more testing with my recent acquisition of mana abilities, but if we ignore that for now, I would be confident with monsters up to C-grade."

"And what if you didn't care about collateral damage."

No secrets, right. "It has been 538 years since my creation."

Elisa is lost in thought again. Even her pencils have stopped. She is intelligent. She understands what I mean. If a young me could destroy a planet with ease, what could the current me do after so long.

"That's a relief." I give her a strange look. "I was concerned people would think I was weird if I brought such a young human home." I involuntarily groan.

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