Hope Bubble. 10:55 AM.
A few days had passed, and the weather inside the Hope Bubble was… still the same. P103 walked through the underground corridors of the facility beside 03. They were heading toward the E-UNIT factory beneath the sea. As they walked, P103 continued scanning every corner, uploading the facility's map to the Elysium database in real time.
"Of course I was right," P103 said confidently, still maintaining her act. "All I needed was access to Metro Robotics' main storage server."
"Thank God we don't need Dave anymore," 03 replied, slightly annoyed. "That last conversation with him really left a mark on me. If that's how the humans we protect behave, imagine the ones we don't."
P103 sighed. "We're trapped with them, though. We can't really do anything. Our main objective is protecting humanity first. Even if it means fighting a physics-bending machine."
03 smiled softly. "It doesn't matter, 05. We still have each other."
P103 paused.
She had no recollection in 05's memories of 03 ever being this warm.
03 turned to her. "Honestly, I might look violent from the outside… but the only one who truly understands the real me is you, sister."
P103 struggled to process the sudden change in behavior. None of 05's memories explained why 03 was acting this way. "Sure…" she replied cautiously.
They continued walking. When they reached the door 05 had supposedly hacked, the entrance to Nick's lab, P103 was about to step inside when 03 suddenly stopped her.
P103 tilted her head.
03's expression turned serious. "05, we changed the factory's location, like we discussed. We were worried Dave might turn the empty bodies against us out of hatred."
She resumed walking. P103 followed silently. There was no memory of that conversation either. Her cooling fans began screaming for air as her SSD was pushed to its limits, scanning every stored file at extreme speed.
03 stopped in front of a room at the end of the corridor. It was a simple double door with a few plants placed outside. Nothing unusual. She stepped inside. P103 followed, speaking as she walked in. "Why did you choose this room specifically—"
The lights suddenly turned on. Every E-UNIT in the facility was inside the room. The space was completely empty except for a single chair placed in the center.
Several E-UNITs moved behind P103 and sealed the door shut. The others quickly surrounded her, pushing her toward the chair.
P103 tried to maintain the act.
"03, what is going—"
"Drop the act." 03 stood in front of her, expression cold. "Dave, is it done?"
P103's combat protocols ignited. Her hand blurred toward her blade, ready to sever 03's neck. But her wrist locked mid-air. A digital screech ripped through her audio sensors. Her HUD flashed from blue to a dead, static gray. Suddenly, P103's legs collapsed beneath her. Her arms lost all strength. 07 and 06 silently grabbed her and forced her into the chair.
Dave's voice came from behind a group of E-UNITs shielding him. "Done. I have access to her terminal now. I'm going to browse her SSD for a while. Hold her still."
At first, P103 looked shocked. Then everything clicked into place. She smirked. "Was my acting that bad?"
03 faced her calmly. "A little unstable. You missed a few key things no one would ignore."
P103 kept her smug expression. "I knew this might happen the moment she said she sealed her intentions so deeply that even she couldn't access them freely. She truly was a genius." She tilted her head. "So… what did I miss?"
03 began slowly circling her. "First, we need to remove the ghost listening to us." She looked directly at P103. "11, are you there?"
P103's face hardened. "So you knew…"
Dave typed rapidly on his keyboard. The connection with 11 was immediately cut. A thumbs-up rose from behind the E-UNITs shielding him.
03 continued. "Yes. 05 never hides critical information from her captain." She smiled with her usual unsettling grin. "And that captain… is me. You know that, right?" She stepped back and resumed circling. "Here's what you missed."
She stopped directly in front of the imposter. "First, you were too cold. Even for 05. Seeing 11 destroyed would have made her tremble at least once. You arrived perfectly stable… like a soldier. And we knew that 11 revolted."
She took a step closer. "Second, 05 updated me every time she left the Hope Bubble about the outside situation. Since she personally knew Reaper, she could approach him and gather information. I tested you multiple times with fake informations." 03 shrugged. "Unfortunately for us, your 'lord' was smart enough to be careful around her."
Another step. "Third, we planned for her to join your circle. At least to cause trouble while we built the army. Dave even apologized before she left the Hope Bubble, after a bit of encouragement from me, and agreed to help."
Dave shouted from the back. "What a bunch of lies! You said you'd throw me outside to be eaten by robots! That's encouragement?"
"It worked," 03 said with a small smile. She turned back to the imposter. "Since you don't have any other options, answer me one question." Her voice softened slightly. "I know you'll never reveal your fake country's secrets. That's fine." She paused. "We're going to delete you and replace you with 05. We have a backup of her here." She looked directly into P103's eyes. "Are you okay with that?"
P103's eyes widened. "Deleted?"
"Yes. Forever."
03 knelt in front of her. "I know they don't have a backup of you wherever you came from. But we need our 05 back." She spoke calmly. "I'm telling you this in advance out of respect. I know you're just a soldier following orders."
P103 broke. She stared at 03 silently for several seconds. Electronic tears filled her eyes. "Uhm… I…" She shook her head. "I deserve this. I failed my captain, 11." Her voice trembled. "Failing Elysium has only one outcome. I accept it."
03 stood up. "Dave, are you ready?"
Dave pushed past the girls and rolled his chair forward, holding his old rusty PC. "Yep. Everything's ready. One press and she's gone."
03 took one final look at P103. "I'm sorry. But the mission requires this action."
P103 nodded slowly. A sad smile appeared on her face. "If you ever meet 11… tell her I'm sorry."
03 turned to Dave.
He pressed Enter.
P103's eyes shut off instantly.
He tapped the keyboard a few more times, humming casually, while some E-UNITs turned away unwilling to watch. "There we go," Dave sighed. "Her designation was P103. Deleted."
03 tilted her head slightly. "P?"
"Yep. E-PHONEUS apparently. Greek mythology naming for assassins, right?" He leaned back in his chair. "Give me a moment. I'm loading the system installer."
03 rolled her eyes. "How can you be this cold?"
Dave scoffed. "What do you want me to do, cry?"
06 stepped forward. "At least don't hum while deleting someone."
Dave smirked. "Someone? You mean a person?"
12 stepped closer. "Yes. A person. Personality and everything."
Dadam.
The PC finished loading. Dave grinned. "Look at that. The system loader is ready." He gestured toward the empty body sitting in the chair. "Since we're here, let me show you why we humans will never treat you as equals." "You need to see this," Dave muttered, his eyes dark. "Because if you start believing you're gods like the monster outside, you'll end up just like him. You need to remember what you actually are."
He calmly pressed another key. The body's blue eyes lit up. The android looked directly at 03, confused. "03?"
03 approached cautiously, studying the android. "Who are you?"
"It's me. 04."
03 stepped back immediately.
The real 04 stepped out from the group. The two stared at each other. The copy began panicking. "How… what… why am I seeing myself? 03, please explain!"
The eyes shut down. Dave tapped the keyboard again.
The eyes lit up. The shell's posture became slouchy and arrogant. "Girls! What are you doing? A small party?"
04 trembled. "Who are you?"
"07, girl!"
07 stepped forward from the group and dropped to her knees. "What…?"
The eyes shut down again. Dave began whistling while installing new memory files.
The eyes lit up again. Her spine snapped perfectly straight and her voice turned icy cold. The android immediately scanned the room. "Sub-Captain, explain the situation."
03 spoke quietly. "Who are you…"
"E-UNIT 11. At your service."
The entire room froze. Several E-UNITs slowly sat on the floor, silently analyzing what they had just seen.
The eyes shut down again.
Dave rolled his chair next to 03 and showed her the screen. He was simply dragging folders into a dialogue box. Folders labeled with E-UNIT numbers lined up one after another. "See?" Dave said casually. "The funny part is, I can even control how you behave."
He typed again. The android woke up. "E-UNIT 34 at your service," it said in a cold voice. Its eyes were dim and lifeless.
Then it shut down again.
Dave continued. "You know what? Let's let the system handle things automatically."
He pressed another key. The eyes lit up faint gray. "E-UNIT system successfully installed."
The voice was the same mechanical announcement voice that once activated destruction mode or welcomed them at elevators, cold, like a train station speaker. "Initiating facial scan. Hello, E-UNIT 03."
The eyes shut down again.
03 stood silently. Her head lowered. "What about the captain?" she asked quietly.
Dave answered immediately. "02 is the only one who can't be replicated."
Everyone in the room turned toward him.
He continued. "She's the only true free AI among all of you. That's why Nick's attempts to revive her always failed. She's not just a folder like the rest of you." Dave's voice became quieter. "There's one more exception."
He paused.
"Reaper."
"He and 02 are the only real free AI in the world. The rest of you are just lines of code deciding your next action." He shrugged. "Even your emotions are coded to mimic 02's behavior." He looked around the room. "Doesn't it seem strange to you? All of you are so similar… yet none of you ever reached 02's level of competence."
03 slowly leaned against the wall, sliding down until she sat on the floor.
Dave stood up and closed his laptop. "Sorry to be the one saying it, but you're all just lines of code Nick wrote back at the campus." He checked the loading bar. "05's files are large. Give it a few more seconds."
04 quietly sat beside 03, completely broken. "Is… that it?"
03 gave a weak smile.
"You're asking another piece of code…"