What happens if the Grantz find out about Ye Muo and Theodore and take them away from Arachnid early on?
It’s a path Theodore didn’t take in order to reach the current timeline.
……
Could AIs become sick?
This was the question that the most powerful AI, the pinnacle of human achievement, started seriously considering one day.
Because an idea suddenly occurred to him. He should be called Theodore, and the child he was constantly monitoring, the one growing up in the laboratories, should be his Xavier or Ye Muo. He should take him away from here to the Grantz family.
AIs did not take sides, they were mere tools. So how did he suddenly reach such an illogical conclusion?
Theodore felt something was off. He ran self-diagnostics all the time, yet the urge to carry out this plan only intensified by the day.
Until one day, when the child was lying on the examination table, staring blankly at the ceiling and trembling uncontrollably due to the drug cocktail he had been injected with, Theodore lost control.
The pain of the needle going in was nothing. The child was already used to that. No one knew better than Theodore the constant pain he endured. Yet even with this level of pain tolerance, the child was still trembling now due to the drugs in his system.
Theodore finally gave in to that inexplicable idea of his. One task superceded the countless Theodore had been tasked with– he would save the child from this place and bring him to the Grantz.
It was a clear, strong sentiment. Although he still didn’t understand it, he would carry it out no matter what.
As Theodore ran another self-diagnostic for the umpteenth time, he performed the necessary actions, crossing countless planets to leak the secret of his Xavier to Grantz.
……
The Grantz imperial capital.
Ano was alone in the surveillance room. The room was dark aside from the blue glow from the wall full of screens in front of him.
This was his place to go whenever he needed somewhere to sulk off to. It was within the palace grounds while also being far enough away from everyone’s rooms. Even Bert or whoever bullied him couldn’t find him here whenever they were sent to find him by Adlet.
The bad guy scolded by Adlet– usually Bert, would always moan and groan about how long he looked for Ano at dinner. The more he complained about how good Ano was at hiding, the more pleased Ano was.
Of course, Ano didn’t just come here to twiddle his thumbs as a child. He would always bring snacks and secretly use the equipment here to watch his favourite movies.
Eventually, another room was designated as the surveillance room. The equipment was left here to be checked occasionally. A more comfortable sofa was brought over along with drinks and snacks. Even a huge stack of movies had been brought over in secret. There were even animated films.
Who would watch something as childish as ‘The Little Lion’? Ano wouldn’t, not even as a child.
Ano forgot all about this place as he grew up, but he’s been coming here frequently again recently. He usually hung out here whenever he returned to the imperial capital. The movies were still here, but a thick layer of dust had collected on them. Their owner just sat in the room blankly for the longest time.
Today was no different. Chronic fatigue and emotional exhaustion meant it took Ano a long time to recover a little.
He leaned back and let out a long sigh. How did things come to this?
It was supposed to be a rare holiday reunion that Mother and Adlet worked very hard to prepare for. They all returned home as promised. Although few words were exchanged and the mood wasn’t that good, Ano was very happy.
But barely any time passed before Helene and Dylan got into a scuffle. Then Bert…
Bert was all smiles before. Ano was even glad that Bert was here as he walked in. The atmosphere would be too tense without him.
Yet Bert’s anger came without warning. Ano could sense that he truly lashed out with the intention to kill. Genuine fear struck him at that moment. Would this be the day Helene or Dylan died?
It would be something they could never come back from. They would never be able to gather or face each other again.
Ano treasured even this kind of reunion that was laced with killing intent.
Thank goodness Big Brother intercepted Bert’s attack with his still-sheathed sword. Bert relented after a few seconds of eye contact, then Norton relaxed as well.
Bert turned away without Norton saying a word to him, his hair concealing his expression. Bert moved to leave first, followed by Helene and Dylan. They deliberately set off in different directions.
Ano didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t make any of them stay, and soon the others would leave too.
Then, they all stopped when Norton finally spoke.
“Dinner.”
He left before anyone else after that.
Adlet hurried over. He tried to pretend nothing had happened, but his uncharacteristic lack of decorum and haste of speech spoke volumes, “Dinner is at nine o’clock, at the usual place. Feel free to take a rest before then, Your Highnesses.”
Ano was both glad and sad. When next would they meet? Would this be the last?
It was almost time. Ano took a deep breath and prepared to get up.
It was at this time that a set of coordinates and a single sentence plastered across the blue screens before him.
[Please save him, an innocent child of the Grantz bloodline, the sole successful test subject.]
Ano: ?
Come again? Which bloodline??
This sentence with no words wasted occupied Ano’s mind as much as it did the screens in front of him, making his thoughts slow to a crawl.
……
The Grantz set aside past issues and the earlier conflict and gathered in the dining room at once. They either stood or took their seats.
Helene was the first to slap the table moments later and jab a finger at Bert. “You cheated?”
Bert belatedly pointed at himself.
Who, me?
Adlet interjected in a timely manner, “The Empress is still unaware of this matter. She’s currently with Sir Hebert.”
No Grantz child could be born without parental consent.
Little Grantz required their mother or father psychic power support as soon as their lives began. It was a troublesome process that Grantz tended to clear out their schedule for so they could stay at the conception center full time. At the very least, Bert always complained that Norton was especially needy back then. It was like he couldn’t leave Norton’s side for a second.
The chances of any experiments succeeding were nil. It wouldn’t be the first time someone took Grantz blood from the battlefield to try. The fact remained that only Grantz could create Grantz.
Therefore, anyone’s first reaction would be that one of them must’ve fooled around.
Helene just pointed to the most likely suspect.
Bert thought about it before denying it outright, “That’s impossible.”
Even Dylan, who was standing by the door with his arms crossed, couldn’t help but ask in a murderous tone, “Then who was it?”
“At least we know it’s not Big Brother’s.” Helene chimed in.
They seemed to be getting along just fine right now.
Norton raised a hand to stop the endless quarrel. The dining room quieted down.
Bert looked like he wanted to lose his temper but didn’t know what to say.
Aria was the peacemaker as always. “It might just be a false alarm.”
Jacob also nodded. “In any case, let’s bring that child back first.”
……
Theodore downloaded himself into an old-fashioned nannybot and transferred Ye Muo to a safe room. He secured several sets of locks before placing him on the sofa.
[You’re not their Xavier. I’ll take you away to a better, happier place.]
The legs of the little child on the sofa couldn’t even reach the floor. “Who am I then? What does happiness feel like?”
[You are my Xavier or Ye Muo. Happiness is no more pain, living comfortably, and being able to eat whatever you want.]
Ye Muo remained silent. Eating wasn’t exactly something he looked forward to. It was always tasteless nutrient paste that never truly filled his stomach. He didn’t even really want to eat anymore unless he had to. He started feeling hesitant.
Theodore continued his meticulous self-inspection.
His core must have been affected too. Theodore poured over his illogical words before eventually giving up.
[In any case, wait here. Someone will come to take you home soon.]
Ye Muo stared down at his little hands before resting them on his knees. Home?
What was home?
As soon as that thought came to mind, the door to the lab basically exploded…no, someone had kicked it off its hinges.
Ye Muo’s instincts drove him to crouch down, curling up by the arm of the sofa and turning his back to the impact.
Bert impatiently set down his leg. He was still seething inside despite fighting his way over here.
He lifted Ye Muo by the back of his collar before the child could even get up, like he was picking up a kitten.
Bert absentmindedly dangled him about, wondering why no one attacked him yet. Were they not going to act after he stepped into this super obvious trap? If they weren’t going to live up to his expectations, he was going to really mess things up around here.
Bert paused. He didn’t intend to treat Ye Muo too badly. He was a child after all. They would take him back, investigate the matter and go from there.
Yet his psychic power was already acting on its own and lunging over. For a moment, Bert didn’t know if it was a slip of the hand or not. Surely a child this small can’t handle the brunt of his psychic power, right?
Then he realized the child had actually entered his psychic domain and captured his psychic power.
Ye Muo’s psychic power that had never experienced soothing since his birth had instinctively, greedily sought its own way out.
Bert froze in place, letting Ye Muo’s psychic power greedily have their fill. He didn’t even have time to be shocked by the unique properties of this child’s psychic power. He was too busy wondering if he had experienced a bout of amnesia or not.
Did he really forget that he brought another child into the world at some point?
Soon, Bert couldn’t even think about that, because Ye Muo’s psychic power almost immediately integrated themselves into the psychic power network of the Grantz on the battlefield.
Instead of collapsing or spirally into chaos due to the intrusion of the little Grantz, the already unstable network actually reached a miraculous balance due to his unique powers and calmed down for once.
Almost all the Grantz stopped in their tracks.
Dylan raised his head and looked in Norton’s direction. He was too preoccupied to even care about the intrusion into his psychic domain or the changes to his psychic power.
It was obvious the unruly newcomer psychic power demanded more from everyone, but from Norton most of all.
[Gimme.]
Ye Muo’s psychic power demanded, like a starved little lion that had lost its mind from hunger and devoured anything in its way. Even if the most delicious piece of meat was right under the paw of the pride leader, it would lunge over and tear into it without hesitation.
It must’ve been uncomfortable for Ye Muo to be held by the back of his collar, but he didn’t move a muscle. For the first time since he was born, the discomfort constantly plaguing him had vanished.
In that case, he didn’t mind being held this way.
His fear and anxiety faded away. Theodore was telling the truth. This was comfortable.
His body responded to the sensation first, his brain releasing dopamine and endorphins nonstop to try and encourage this behaviour using positive reinforcement, even if that piece of meat was right under the claws of the pride leader.
So Ye Muo felt like there were fireworks going off inside him, just like the electronic ones Theodore once showed him. It was so warm and comfortable.
Footsteps neared.
Bert turned to see Norton at the door.
Author’s Corner
Just exposing Bert here: he never ever goes looking for Ano even when forced by Adlet. He just pretends to not be able to find Ano to humour his youngest son.
Bert: Why would I try and get bitten for my efforts?
I originally wanted to put the scenario description as an author’s note at the front, but I couldn’t find that function, so it ended up at the start of the chapter. In any case, just as people go home and make dumplings for the New Year, this is part of Little Muo and Theodore’s journey.
Although I’m wracking my brains over the main story, my mind inevitably wanders when I start working, then and now. All sorts of little ideas and scenarios involving Muomuo keep coming to mind. Before, I wanted to leave them for the extras after the story finishes. However, releasing them as New Year bonus chapters also seems fitting. You can’t bring in the New Year without making dumplings.
The main story is arduous right now, but I feel like this scenario will take quite a few chapters to write out. I may divide it into parts interspersed with the main story, or just write it out quickly and go back to the main story.
