Prologue

2045...

The Year of the Great Decline.

And is also the year of punishment for all of his sins.

In truth, no one expected that this would happen. The only person who knows that there is a chance that his creations might wreak havoc was him—the Genius child prodigy who invented it.

Was it a miscalculation of his plans? Was it a mistake? Was it a blunder? He doesn't know. He couldn't even fathom how grave the situation is.

All of the departments, factions, and even foreign countries are affected by this plethora of modern nightmares. There was no excuse for his actions. All of the responsibilities one hundred percent lie on him alone. He should be held accountable for all of the devastation that they have suffered.

This is the reason why a certain someone said that his gift is a double-edged sword.

"The World's Genius Technocrat shall the rule the world..."

It has two meanings:

Rule it by peace... Or rule it by bringing their demise.

Maybe he shouldn't have pursued this path. Maybe he should've listened to his parents who were greatly affected by this in the past. Perhaps he can still save them.

But what can he do? He doesn't even know how to use Astral Magic. He doesn't have any affinity to the otherworldly elements that plague the roots of the world. He couldn't even take advantage of it during his testing.

But... even if that's the case... He won't give up.

He is a genius. And there should be an obvious counter to all of this madness.

He would do anything to prevent it from happening again.

Even if that means "sacrificing" himself.

***

The sky was red. Pillars of smoke rose on an array through the decimated buildings across the street. Vehicles were lined up in a jagged position, and most of them are crushed.

The bridge on the opposite side of the district is cut in half. Heavy debris accompanied by a few foundations fell into the polluted water, creating ripples that sent small boats to the side.

A deafening siren can be heard across the land. A ringing bell with a dark tone painted the world in black. The hoarse voice of the people asking for salvation echoed as if the ambiance was infused with it. It was cold and heavy despite all of the flames that surged throughout the battle.

Even so, no matter how grave their situation is, they still find the motivation to fight.

That's because it was their duty.

"Julia! On your right!"

"Roger!"

A mechanical bot similar to the size of a truck pounced toward them.

Julia adjusted her position by propelling herself to the side. Despite the heavy armaments that she was carrying with her AEGIS, she was still able to have a decent space for mobility.

With Xing's warning, she raised her large golden neon sword and swiftly slashed the bot's arm. Jolts of electricity exploded as she delivered a slice. It was an easy cut through the metal that was supposed to be indestructible according to a certain someone.

She then parried the bot attempted stomped with her other arm and slashed its head off in an instant.

"I know that they are easy to beat but for this many AIs to suddenly boot up is still annoying me." She let out a sigh as she surveyed the area for any other problems.

Meanwhile, the man who warned her earlier, Xing, defended the opposite side of the district.

He landed on the road for a couple of seconds before ascending again for the next batch of his attack.

His mechanized suit was designed for mid-ranged combat so he couldn't really risk flying that far away from where the enemies are grouping or even try challenging them to a close-combat fight.

Activating his visor's scanner, he analyzed the vicinity and counted at least ten medium-sized robots ganging up on a couple of civilians.

"Tsk, I need to hurry!"

He propelled himself forward, not wasting any time. Using Astral Magic, he imbued mana to his AEGIS suit and charged multiple rain swords at the same time.

It was his specialty as a Hydro Astral Magic user.

"Take this!" Upon reaching the target point, he fired off the rain swords. Each sword pierced through the AI bots like a bullet passing through a metal. He then discharged a small barrier around the area to protect the civilians from the shockwave of his attack.

"Xing!"

"On it!"

With Julia's call, both of them attacked all of the remaining bots that scattered across the street. They've been fighting nonstop for quite a while now and it doesn't seem like they'll get some rest.

Ten minutes passed, and they were able to secure the safety of the evacuees and started traversing the sky once again with their suits.

They couldn't let their guard down. Each area they patrolled was examined carefully in order to check if there are still bots wandering.

"There's none on this side, what about you?" Xing asked.

"None here as well. Let's meet Lynn and Yumi at the rendezvous point for now." Julia ordered.

"Roger!"

***

On the other side of the city, two girls are fighting the same bots as well.

"Gah! Why did Big Brother unleash such annoying creatures in this place?!" Lynn, the silver-haired girl, charged up her AEGIS cannon with Light Astral Magic.

"More like why did he even produce a lot of these scraps?" Beside her was another girl named Yumi who is currently shooting the bots with an MP5 Red Lotus Series gun.

Hundreds of bullets rained down from the sky as she cycle around the field. She wouldn't let the mechanical enemies pass down the line that they have drawn in order to keep the civilians safe.

And even though they are quite in a pinch, they still manage to gossip about his works.

"I think remember seeing one of these in our basement... I recall him saying that these are for experiments..." Lynn shared some information.

"Experiments for what?" Yumi narrowed her eyes, still focusing on shooting.

"Umm... Something about a new AI system or something? I forgot but it was something along those lines... He was quite secretive about the things he'd done when he was a kid and all I do is just training." Lynn explained.

"AI? Is he trying to create a sentient one? Ugh, never mind! We'll talk about that later. Is your cannon done?"

"Sure is!" With Yumi's signal, they exchanged position and Lynn aimed her cannon at the grouped bots.

"Fire!"

The world turned white in a split second. A frontloaded beam sprouted from the muzzle as she kept on control.

A deafening blast erupted, flashing through the road as the bots get vaporized by the light. This was a specialty by Lynn as a rare Light Astral Magic user. The cannon that was installed through her AEGIS is actually an external upgrade modified by her brother.

Most of her firepower comes from within her Astral Magic so he made sure that she can utilize her strength in accordance with her source of power.

"My turn!" As the white light dissipated, Yumi propelled to the side and activated her weaponry selection.

Multiple options bombarded her screen as she browse through. After seeing her preferred weapon, she closed the window and summoned the gun that she need—A machine gun.

"D-Double Machine Gun?! Yumi, that's gonna be overkill..." Lynn spoke in a worried manner.

"Sorry, I'm gonna vent out with this for a while..." And so she really vent out with the gun as she aimed through the remaining bots.

Yumi fired the two machine guns while Lynn holds her position on the back. A loud piercing sound can be heard as Yumi went all out with her attack. The enhanced magic bullets she fired penetrated through the mechanized bots, destroying most of their parts and shutting down their cores.

It really is an overkill act from her side but Lynn couldn't really blame her. After all, all of this is happening because of her crush's inventions.

"GRAH! I SWEAR I'M SCOLDING YOU AFTER THIS, AIDEN!" She screamed and a feral expression can be seen on her face. Even Lynn felt goosebumps as she heard her declaration.

"I-I think Big Brother would have a hard time if he dated you..." She let out a sigh before eventually joining the fray.

Lynn adjusted her position and matched Yumi's rhythm. She selected the dual mini-cannon from her armaments and started firing bits of Light Astral Energy at the grouped enemies.

If Julia and Xing handled the opposite side of the district with carefulness, Yumi and Lynn handled this one with destructiveness. There's nothing to worry about though. They're currently situated on the far-east branch and the evacuees are already out of their field so they were free to use whatever they want to destroy the AIs.

"Hah... Hah..." Yumi heaved a deep sigh as she panted. Her machine gun ran out of bullets so she returned it back to the selection.

"Are you alright?" Lynn asked while patrolling the area.

"Yeah, I'm... fine..."

"Did you imagine Big Brother's face on those annoying bots?" Lynn giggled.

"I did yeah! I'm so frustrated. Why does he think we can't do anything to help him?! Can't he trust us just this once? I'm so tired of him being able to reassure me when I'm feeling down but can't do anything in return. Your Big Brother is a jerk!" She complained about how girls complain over petty issues when things don't go their way.

For a moment, Lynn thought that she was a bit sensitive. But she wasn't. Her anger wasn't misplaced by any means. She was just worried about the things that are happening right now that caused major disturbances in the city.

Yumi felt guilty that this is all that she can do despite it being helpful for the sake of their survival.

She thought that even if they were able to save the city from these raging AIs, there was little hope in saving the man who was behind all of it.

She assumed that the boy have already decided to take responsibility for all of this mess, which is why he turned their help down. And here they are, trying to help him by associating with the Counter Intelligence faction.

"Yumi..." Lynn embraced Yumi from behind as she sympathized with her feelings. "I'm sure it'll be alright. That's my brother after all. He can solve any problem as long as he is focused..."

She doesn't know if the words that she is trying to convey would reach Yumi but she tried her best regardless. Lynn is still a child, two years younger than Yumi and the rest of the units who came here to suppress the AIs. She still doesn't understand the concept of sins and the feelings behind them.

It was rather hard for her to rationalize everything when she lacks information about the real issue.

But even so, she trusts her beloved Brother.

Not because he is her Brother but because of his skill set and the things that he had done in the past to help all of them.

He was never selfish when it comes to helping. He took all of them and provided the most support he could give. He worked hard for them and they feel grateful for all of that.

He was a kind boy... A technocrat at heart.

This madness shouldn't be enough to justify that he is a villain—that was the mindset that they are conjuring right now.

"Yumi! Lynn!" After a few seconds, Julia and Xing finally arrived at their rendezvous point. "What's the situation?"

"Mhm! All AIs are suppressed. The civilians were rescued without any problems." Lynn saluted as she reported the result.

"Good work... All that's left is.." Julia pointed her gaze to a build that is not that far from here. All of them followed her gesture and frowned as they saw the enormous machine hovering over the former Sphereshine tower.

It was a massive disc-shaped aircraft that can be related to UFOs. The only difference is that there are no Aliens inside. Instead, it was being controlled by a human...

"Eqil... So he's still alive after all this time..." Julia narrowed her eyes. A feral gleam displayed her anger toward the man who is trying to extinguish humanity once again.

"Eqil? Do you know who that Man is, Miss Julia?" Xing asked as he turned to her.

"Yes. Former Sphereshine CEO, the original holder of the Spheral and Astral Magic." She introduced him to them with a vicious tone.

"Can't we really do anything to stop him?" Yumi asked. "Aiden is suffering right now because of this!"

"Calm down, Yumi. The Department should have orders for us after this. Let's head back to the base first and listen to their plans..." Julia answered.

"But... What about Big Brother?" This time, Lynn showed concern.

"..." Julia was trying to find the right words to say but she couldn't. "Let's head back..."

In the end, she couldn't answer. This seems like a bad approach but all of them understood what she meant when she didn't say anything.

***

He was alone in the laboratory located just underneath the Sphereshine tower where the huge aircraft is hovering.

This was his personal space—a personal realm made only for him.

Monitors, lab equipment, hardware, computers, machines, vessels, mecha bots, etc. Everything related to his field of study can be found within the room.

A few days ago, before the bots started running amok, Aiden Agneia disappeared.

As for his reasons... Well, if the group knew, they wouldn't have spent some time looking for him.

He shut himself down to this overly spacious room filled with the things that he liked the most. As someone who is a genius, he tends to focus on the problems and make a lot of viable solutions that would be favorable to anyone.

It was his job as a Technocrat.

Find solutions to the problems using the skills that he had developed since he was a child.

But no matter how many times he runs it... he couldn't find any way to solve it.

"Damn it..."

With wide eyes opened, Aiden Agneia typed the code really fast while debugging the system. His form was very unhealthy. Thick bags underneath his eyes, frail body gestures, signs of fatigue, and lack of sleep were present all over his body.

Clearly, he wasn't doing well within these past few days.

[Master...] An angelic voice can be heard from behind him. It was a sentient AI in a humanoid vessel that he designed for them to move. She was one of the AIs that Aiden developed in order to help him with his journey.

"..." Aiden didn't notice her. He kept on typing, typing, typing until all codes are distributed.

[Master, at this rate, you're going to die...] Another AI voice sprang on his side.

"I will never let that happen until I fix this..." His response was rather... odd. It wasn't a response that a genius like him would say.

[Aiden... Please. Stop this and get some rest! Eat your food!] The Secretary AI admonished him. For a moment, Aiden thought that she kinda resembles her mother with the way she reprimand him.

However, Aiden still continued. There was no way he would stop after getting this far.

"I'm sorry everyone... I know that you're all tired but... I have to do this. I have to take responsibility for all of these problems because I'm the one who made them..." His voice grew weak as he apologized, almost as if he is clinging to life support as he pushed himself.

[He's really lost it doesn't he?]

[He doesn't even know that AIs don't get tired...]

[Should I whack him so that he can rest?]

[Don't, you'll kill him!]

[I think Master needs some love and pampering!]

[Now's not the time, Diana!]

Aiden ignored the bickering behind him. He's glad that they can still joke around despite the situation but...

<Code Successful: Initiating Contract>

The system flared up, announcing the good news. The screen displayed a loading bar that seemed to connect to the Spheral network on the World Server.

"It's done..." Aiden stood up, tears forming in his eyes as he watches the loading bar progresses.

[Master, this is...!]

[Are you uploading your DNA schematic to the neural space?! Master, that's dangerous! What are you planning with this?!]

[If the AIs get your neural information, they'll—!]

Panic arose inside the room. They couldn't comprehend their Master's decision.

[Master!]

"It's alright... I was already planning to do this from the start... To act as a vessel in them to anchor in. I am pretty sure that this information will bait all of them, especially that guy..." Aiden looked through the window and to the red sky above.

What Aiden did was some sort of distributing a file that contains a virus. By projecting his DNA to a condensed file, he can bait all of the AIs that he created because he had a connection with them. His DNA has something that is pretty important. You can even call it secret information.

[Once the AI anchors itself on you, your AEGIS terminal will get hacked... You won't be able to control yourself for a while... And with the virus that you installed...] Diana finally realized what Aiden was trying to do.

[Master! Master!]

"This program would temporarily disable me and my whole consciousness... Once that happens, I want all of you to release the virus and corrupt all of the mechanized bots in the city." Aiden ordered.

[But Master, you'll also be—!]

"I know, I will also get corrupted and my mind might get fried with the condensed information. It's a risky option but it is the only thing that we can do. I can't afford to let others get hurt because of my carelessness..." Aiden was aware from the start, that if he doesn't sacrifice anything, he wouldn't be able to fix the problem.

This piece of the solution that he has developed may be dangerous but at least he is the only one who will get hurt.

[Master...]

"I don't know how long I will be in a trance state but it's our only chance... That's why..."

If they are not careful with the execution, Aiden's mind might get shattered or he might end up in a comatose state.

"I'm counting on you, My Beloved AIs!"

And so with a snap of his finger, Aiden hit the Enter Key and initiated the plan.

[[[ROGER!]]]