As soon as I returned to Schale, I noticed that the office lights were on.
Puzzled by the strong sense of déjà vu, I then heard a familiar, silly laugh from inside:
"Nihahaha~ I, Koyuki Kurosaki, am definitely the strongest!"
I twitched at the corner of my mouth and pushed the door open, only to see Koyuki sitting at my workstation, operating my computer.
This proves one thing: no matter how complex a password is, it stands no chance against an unreasonable superpower.
The pink-haired girl lifted her head cautiously, and upon seeing it was me, visibly relaxed: "Welcome back, sensei! I'm so tired of waiting~!"
"Koyuki, what are you doing here? And why are you using my computer?"
"Because waiting was so boring, I thought I'd play some games first!" She pointed at the screen and called out to me, who had stepped aside: "Look, sensei! This big-legged marmot is so weak~"
She was playing Mythos: Chronicles of Legends 2.
"So…" I gave her a skeptical look up and down. "You didn't come here today because you messed up again and needed protection, did you?"
"W-what?! How dare you slander me out of thin air!? This time I didn't escape from the Reflection Room! I'm just… on an ordinary journey in pursuit of freedom!"
I stepped closer, pressing the point: "Oh? Is that so? Then why did you come all the way to Schale?"
"I-I just…" Koyuki stammered for a moment, then her eyes lit up. "I just felt it was time to repay sensei for all the care you've shown me! And also… right, I came to make up for the duty shift I missed while I was under confinement!"
I see! So during this time, she was either in confinement or doing things that would get her confined, and her longing for me, someone she admired but hadn't had a chance to meet had grown uncontrollable! That makes sense!
…Not really.
I suspected Koyuki mostly came to Schale to dodge trouble.
Even though last time she caused a similar incident, I had reported her directly to Yuuka, she still didn't seem to have learned her lesson.
But from another perspective, maybe her offense this time wasn't severe or perhaps her feelings for me truly continued to grow…
Either way, it was best to pretend I believed her, to keep her calm.
"Wuwu… sensei, you know? That work is just so meaningless."
Koyuki's face fell as she complained: "Doing the same work over and over in the same place… it's so boring I feel like I'll go crazy."
I reminded her: "But if you came to do your duty shift, you'll still face some boring office tasks."
"Sensei, you really don't understand at all!" Koyuki retorted. "No matter what sensei asks me to do, it will always be more interesting than doing the same menial tasks at the seminar over and over! Eh… it's not like… sensei wants me to crack passwords again, right…?"
Her expression darkened slightly at the thought, suggesting she still had some psychological baggage about password-cracking tasks.
After considering carefully, I assigned Koyuki some form submissions to work on. To my surprise, she tackled them enthusiastically.
While she worked, I contacted Yuuka to update her on Koyuki's situation.
Yuuka: What? She went to Schale?
Yuuka: At a time like this…
Me: Did she get into trouble again?
Yuuka: Ah, this time, not really…
Yuuka: She's just being neglectful.
I felt a strange sense of something like: I misunderstood Koyuki, but not entirely.
Yuuka: Sigh… anyway, we're dealing with some trouble over here, so we can't pay attention to her for now.
Yuuka: Could you take care of her today? Once we have the time, we'll pick her up immediately.
Me: Sure, that's no problem.
Me: By the way, what's happening on your end? Anything I can help with?
Yuuka: About that… sorry, even sensei…
Me: I understand.
Yuuka: Thank you. Don't worry, we'll handle it soon.
Yuuka: That's all for now.
After finishing the conversation with the seminar's accountant, I glanced at Koyuki, diligently working beside me, and came to a rough conclusion.
The main reason this child came to Schale late at night was probably exactly as she said: she wanted a temporary escape from the seminar's unbearably boring work and had nowhere else suitable to go.
However, there were likely other hidden factors tied to the troubles the Millennium is currently facing, things Yuuka couldn't reveal.
So I reached out to another Millennium official, someone more flexible and adaptable...
Ex-Veritas, the elf Himari.
Himari: Ah, so Koyuki came to Schale to escape during the chaos?
Himari: BIG SISTER almost lost her temper when Koyuki went missing, though right now she doesn't need her anyway.
In other words, Koyuki didn't just sneak around for nothing, she might have even angered Rio?
But that's fine. With this, Yuuka will likely soften and protect her.
Me: So what exactly is happening in the Millennium?
Me: From your tone, it seems Rio left this problem for you to handle?
Himari: Naturally. It concerns the entire academy.
Himari: Normally, this would be confidential from sensei, but based on the reports you submitted before, I figure you would find out sooner or later.
Reading this, I raised an eyebrow.
Himari didn't continue to tease me.
Himari: Actually, just now, the Millennium Residential Region's communications AI unit, "Habu," was illegally hacked by an unknown AI.
Himari: "Habu" is a high-performance computing system inheriting the Millennium's technological lineage, one of their most sophisticated creations…
Himari: Yet, against that AI's intrusion, it didn't even last 0.00000031 seconds.
Artificial intelligence… and the report I submitted.
These two keywords combined triggered a concept long dormant in my mind.
Me: You mean…
Himari: Exactly. Rio and I suspect that the AI that hacked "Habu" is the "Decagrammaton."
Developed long ago by another Gematria faction, it's the "Absolute Self-Regulating Analysis System."
I've dealt with its robotic army and prophets before, they almost universally bore a deep grudge against me.
Himari: After "Habu" was hacked, the intruder left a single message in the Millennium communications network and then disappeared.
---
Note:
The Eighth Prophet - Hod - Located within the city of Eridu, which is a part of Millennium Science School. It was originally an ultra-high performance computational engine named "Hub," which served as a communications AI unit. The unit would get haywired and hacked by Decagrammaton, turning it into a mobile base.