The Liberties Of An AI

Returning to the sphere, it appears as a small invisible orb next to Ren and the gardener. Earlier, it had teleported to the location, which it does actively whenever two "invoked" individuals meet. It analyzes the situation and logically determines whether it’s worth following them, as it needs to efficiently manage the magical resources it has.

After analyzing the vital signs of both, it concludes there is no major danger and returns to its base. There, it decides that at this moment there are no significant problems and stops monitoring the positions of all invoked and players on the map. It says to itself:

— Ah, it would be a dream not to have to worry about problems, but from my experience, when players and summoned gather, unforeseen things happen. If I see either one near the other, I must make sure everything is alright, right, master? —

The sphere then teleports to a room with a huge machine. This machine is divided into two parts: a fixed part that seems to fit the shape of the sphere and a circular part that emits a halo of light.

Upon entering, the sphere disappears and then reappears transparently at an anime convention. Using magic, the sphere checks the status of everyone present and marks those it will take to its world.

It then emits a beep and begins to clone itself into multiple spheres. These spheres appear before the marked people, while an “introduction” voice sounds in the background, and the sphere starts reciting a spell.

While performing a health scan, it finishes its spell and casts it on the just-scanned individual. One can observe how, upon finishing, an interface that only it can see activates, and all the elements of that interface appear magically, like small fleeting sparkles. A “Geolocation” icon also appears over each one, visible only to the sphere, granting it exclusive control over the location of each scanned individual.

Finally, the main machine, still transparent in the background, finishes reciting another spell, and the marked characters are transported to its world along with the sphere.

At that moment, we return to the garden scene with Ren and the gardener:

— Don’t let your guard down. We don’t know if the warning originally given to the librarian still applies to us. That’s why I’ve avoided causing trouble with the players. The sphere has evolved over time and, since the death of its creator, has taken more “liberties” — concludes the gardener, pulling his hand away from the notebook.

Ren, disturbed by what he just heard, decides to keep the secret to himself and not involve Rio until he confirms everything on his own. Troubled by the truth, he decides to go see the book himself, and, understanding the conversation may no longer be so private, he approaches the gardener.

— Alright, I trust you. But I’d like to go to the library. Do you know where it is? — Ren asks.

— Of course! Although, to be honest, I’m not very good with directions, and I’m afraid to go outside, you know? It’s safer here. But I know someone unafraid of the outside world. She’s a friend I met a while ago; she’s also a invoked, a feline girl, one of the human allies’ races in this world. She passes through here daily and knows the library well. It won’t be hard for her to take you there! When you’re ready, come find me. She passes through here every day at noon —exclaimed the gardener.

— Wow, thank you very much, friend. By the way, with all this going on, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Ren, Nice to meet you —

— The pleasure is mine! You don’t see a fellow invoked around here often. My name’s Noah.— responded the gardener.

— The girl who passed by earlier is named Rio. I’ll speak well of you when I find her. Oh! Rio! I completely forgot about her —exclaimed Ren.

— Yes, you should go look for her. She’ll be very worried about you. Besides, I still have to finish my missions, so it’s a good time to say goodbye. Nice to meet you, Ren! —

— Thanks for everything, Noah! — Ren says, running into the mansion and energetically waving both arms goodbye.

After finishing his conversation with Noah, Ren’s mission bar was completed, as he had already spoken with Instructor Han at the Defense Academy. All his missions were finished.

Returning to what Rio did after entering the mansion, she let out a long, deep breath and touched her chest, relieved to be safe. Checking her interface, she saw her missions were also completed, having already spoken with the blacksmith and the market vendor.

Shortly after, not far away, she saw the maid with the prosthetic coming down from the second floor. As the maid was heading toward Rio, she moved away to avoid being seen.

What initially worried Rio about being noticed by the maid turned into admiration for the effort the maid put into her tasks, especially cleaning with only one hand.

So Rio decided to watch her a little longer as the maid continued with her tasks. While cleaning, the maid used her prosthetic as support since it lacked gripping functionality; it was a simple wooden fixed prosthetic.

As this happened, Rio felt a little happy, flexing her arms towards her chest and clenching her fists in a sign of accomplishment, as she anticipated that the prosthetic, being made of wood, was basic.

A memory shows her with the blacksmith, and in the background, the “player” , who was her pursuer and secret admirer, makes odd expressions of love towards Rio and anger towards the blacksmith. Rio questioned the blacksmith:

— Mr. Huge, could you make a prosthetic metal arm? It’s for one of my companions. She works as a maid and needs a prosthetic she can control with ease, so it won’t be a burden to her —Rio asked.

—For me, that’s possible, miss, but to give it movement, we’d have to work with an alchemist to transfer a movement spell to the prosthetic —answered Huge.

—A spell? Are those what you call protections?—asked a curious Rio.

—Yes, protections are a studied category of spells. You take an object and a magic stone, insert the spell into the stone, and the stone into the object. The stone acts as a mana and spell receptacle, and depending on the complexity, you may need several gems or even some of higher quality. Here’s an estimate of what the prosthetic with your specifications would cost. I work closely with alchemists, so I won’t be fooled by prices! —exclaimed Huge, the blacksmith.

The scene shifts to a memory in the past, when Rio overheard some maids in the cafeteria talking about the prosthetic maid. They said this was her last year in the academy, and if she didn’t improve, she would probably be kicked out because it was her last year as a “maid in training”. She would go from being supported by the government due to her condition, to having to manage on her own, and she probably wouldn’t find employment due to that.

At that moment, Rio wasn’t sure if the maid was summoned or not, since she was a maid in training, but she recalled Laplace saying that only Ren and Rio were “subsidized” maids, summoned in the same situation, so she must be an NPC. However, she wondered why they would let an NPC suffer such a fate.

Later, still with the blacksmith and seeing the estimate, Rio said she hoped to earn that amount of money.

Returning to the present and thinking of Ren, Rio decided to go out looking for him.

As she headed to the door, it opened in front of her, and they almost collided due to their haste.

They were so close they almost touched. Rio nervously gripped the ribbon tied at her waist, her fingers tightening as she kept her gaze locked on Ren. He swallowed hard, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. Their faces were inches apart, a blend of relief from finally being near and the shy anticipation between them.

Slowly, Rio inched her face closer to Ren’s, her heart pounding, and he seemed to welcome the gesture.

—Could this be one of those moments when a boy and a girl share a kiss?—Rio thought, cheeks burning.