Chapter 6: The Birth of ZeroOne

Traveling through this hellish landscape—toppled buildings, strange metal boxes littering the road, destroyed homes on either side—Rachel saw things she’d only ever heard about from her mother’s stories, passed down by her dad. Following the girl, she finally spoke.

“Little girl, what are those things? They aren’t normal monsters.”

“My name’s Abby,” the girl said. “I don’t know much, but the elder told me they all came from a video game. I’m too young to really understand it, but they’re robots that took the shapes of monsters from that so‑called game.”

Rachel thought, But why do they look like creatures from my world, then?

Then the whispers pulled at Rachel’s mind: It will only take one swing. Quench my thirst. Do it. She won’t even notice. Her hand went to the sword, but she fought the urge, grounding herself in pain—she bit her lip until blood welled—then kept following the girl.

“We have to stop,” Rachel said.

Abby looked back. “Something wrong?”

“I just lost my sight. It won’t be back for about an hour, so I can’t see right now.”

“You’re blind?”

“No, just cursed. It comes and goes. Take me to someplace safe.”

Abby took her hand, and they stumbled to a nearby house, slipped inside, and hid.

They rested as they waited for Rachel’s vision to return—until scratching sounded outside the house.

“Oh no…” Abby whispered. “Something’s outside.”

The whispers pressed harder: Let me take control. You may be blind, but I am not. I can get rid of these creatures—just give me control. I can protect you. Give me the child in return.

Rage flared. “Shut up,” Rachel snapped—out loud.

The wall exploded as one of the metal goblins she’d seen earlier burst through.

Abby screamed. Rachel drew her sword, not knowing where to strike.

Give me control, the voice hissed. Or you will die here.

Rachel tuned out the whispering and listened for metallic movement. Thank the gods for receiving her mother’s elf ears, she thought.

She focused on Abby’s screams and the clanking of metal, then shouted, “Abby, get down!”

Abby dropped to the floor. Rachel swept her blade waist‑high.

A clang, then a crunch—the sword crushed through the metal goblin’s body. A new voice chimed in her head:

Assimilation found. Proceeding to assimilate parts…

Rachel had no idea what that meant. Scratching closed in from all around.

“Back away,” she said to Abby. “Just tell me where to swing.”

A goblin crashed through the ceiling and dropped onto Rachel’s back. Clawed fingers dug into her helmet, trying to tear it off.

Rachel let the greatsword fall, grabbed both of its arms, and pried.

It was stronger than any goblin from her world, but with all her strength she slowly forced its hands apart, flung the creature down, and stomped. Crunching metal and sparking circuits was heard throughout the house.

“To your left!” Abby yelled.

Rachel backhanded into empty air—then pain seared her side as another goblin’s claws tore through her armor and cut deep.

Gritting her teeth, she seized the embedded hand, ripped it free, and slammed the creature into the floor again and again until she was holding only a metal arm.

“Watch out!” Abby cried. “Three more just came in!”

Breathing hard, blood seeping, Rachel muttered, “I guess I have no choice. I’ll need magic.” She began to cast—when a different voice, not the cursed whisper she was used to hearing spoke again, from inside her helmet:

Assimilation complete. Modifying cursed armor… Modification complete. Booting AI companion… Boot complete. Assimilation finished.

One metal goblin leapt onto her back as another clamped onto her leg, claws digging in before it bit down hard.

Abby screamed—the third was going for her.

Rachel hammered her fist into the goblin’s face over and over until its head caved and circuits crackled and crunched under the brutal punches. Then it collapsed, falling to the floor like a metal weight.

She reached for the one clinging to her back but couldn’t reach it.

Then the new voice said, “Shall I eject the upper portion of your cursed armor? That should free you from the target's grasp.”

Rachel blinked. “Yes—do the eject thing.”

With a snap, her upper plate released and clattered to the floor. Now free and armor‑less, the voice guided her:

“By your left foot is your sword. Grab it before the goblin gets out from under the your armor.”

Rachel felt along the floor, found the grip, and snatched the blade.

As Abby’s footsteps could still be heard moving around as she kept dodging the last goblin.

“Turn around,” the voice said. “Three steps forward. Swing down, hard.”

Rachel obeyed. She turned, took three steps forward, and swung down hard just like the voice said. Metal split. Wires tore. Circuits cracked. The goblin fell in two.

“Now, as hard as you can—swing right!”

She did. A clang, then a heavy crash.

“You okay, Abby?” Rachel called.

“I’m fine—just a little bruised.”

“There are no more enemies in the vicinity,” the voice reported. “You’re losing a lot of blood. I recommend medical attention.”

“It’s fine,” Rachel said. She raised her hand; a twisted green spell kindled in her palm.

She pressed it to her chest. Flesh knit as her would closed and healed.

Then dark veins writhed under her skin, pain lancing through her, but she gritted her teeth and endured. At last the agony ended—and her sight had finally returned.

She found Abby trembling near the doorway. “It’s fine now. Let’s move before more show up.”

Abby nodded, doing her best not to look at Rachel.

They stepped outside. After a dozen paces, the ejected breastplate re‑formed onto Rachel—the curse still very much in effect.

The rest of the trip was peaceful, and during this time Rachel started to ask questions.

“So what are you?” she asked the voice in the helmet.

“I am part of your hero ability—your first assimilation. I am a learning AI companion that can help and guide you on your journey. I became part of your armor after fully assimilating to it.”

Rachel took off her helmet and looked down at her armor. She clearly noticed red lines and lights running throughout the plating, the glow resembling the same patterns she had seen on the goblins and dragon when she first arrived.

She placed the helmet back on and spoke again. “So what do I call you?”

“You may give me any name you want,” the AI companion replied. “I am yours, after all.”

Rachel, irritated, said, “I don’t even know what an AI is. Just give yourself a name.”

The AI replied, “Alright… thinking of a name most suitable for me… You may call me ZeroOne. That has now been registered to my system.”

“Alright, ZeroOne, I’m looking forward to your help.”

Then she looked toward Abby, who was staring at Rachel as if she were crazy. Abby spoke awkwardly,

“Umm… we’re almost there. The settlement is just over those buildings,” she said, pointing to the massive crumbled structures up ahead.

They climbed over the rubble, and at the top Rachel saw the world stretch out before her: destroyed buildings everywhere.

In the distance she could spot more of those metal goblins and flying metal creatures scanning the land for prey.

But what caught her eye most was the massive tentacle‑like structure towering on the horizon. Rachel pointed and asked, “What is that?”

Abby replied, “That’s Yggdrasil—from what I was told, it creates and manufactures robots and sends them all over the world. Well, that’s what Grandpa told me anyway. But that’s also close to where the demon lord is.”

Rachel then thought to herself as she gazed at the colossal structure, So that’s where my father is… I hope he’s okay.

Abby spoke again, “Come, let’s hurry before it gets dark. The settlement is right over there,” she said, pointing to a massive fortress about a mile away.

Rachel nodded. “Alright, let’s go.” They climbed down the rubble toward the fortress in the distance.