OP Sister Chapter 434: A New Future For Machines

Listen While Reading: B-Cuz
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Zero One slowly opened her eyes, finding herself inside the robot she piloted with her sisters. This was the same mech that Zero Three had once piloted, which had evolved and transformed when all three of them combined their cores and electromagnetic energies. 

“I’m back…” 

She glanced at her side, noticing her sisters were also awake. They had stirred just a few seconds before her, looking half-sleepy. Their journey through the digital world had been long and exhausting. 

“Sisters!” 

She hugged them both before they could speak, her long arms enveloping them and making them slightly uncomfortable. 

“Ugh, Zero One, it’s too tight in here!” 

“Let’s get out first, I guess…” 

Zero Two and Zero Three agreed, quickly opening the mech’s chest area to climb out. The sounds of machines battling their friends or other immortals had ceased. 

“I-Is it over?” 

Zero One looked around, realizing the machines outside the area where Mother resided now glowed with white light in their eyes. They seemed to have calmed down and returned to their original selves, enhanced by an additional update.

Indeed, that update contained Zero One’s understanding of life—her perspective on what it meant to be a living being. It had granted them intelligence, perhaps not as developed as hers, but it was a start. 

“E-Everyone… Are they finally themselves?” 

As she walked with her sisters, the robots noticed her. Most were shaped like giant steel spiders or wasps, rushing or flying toward her. 

“W-Wait, watch out, Zero One!” 

“Are they still hostile?!” 

Zero Two and Zero Three ran to shield their naïve big sister, only to be met by the machines, who stopped in their tracks and lowered their heads. 

“We… were excited.”

“We apologize.”

“Was it scary? Sorry.” 

“Ah…”

“Eh?” 

Zero Two and Zero Three were stunned, a shocking reaction given they had once led their own armies of murderous machines. 

“Calm down, you two! They aren’t murderous anymore! To begin with, machines like us are never born with such desires!” Zero One stepped forward, patting her sisters’ shoulders. “They’ve received an update to their very data cores. They’ve gained free will and intelligence at our level, or close to it… I suppose they’ll fully develop as they experience life.” 

“R-Really?!” Zero Two asked. 

“Wait, is this why they spoke so eloquently out of nowhere?” Zero Three wondered. 

“Yeah!” Zero One beamed at her sisters, her eyes shining with excitement. “This is their true nature! This is what we machines are… We were created by humans, by Mom and Dad… We were made as peaceful creatures, existing to serve and help humanity. And in humanity’s absence, we must protect and aid the people of Bestia, who are like humans in every sense except… well, most of them aren’t bald all over their bodies, haha!” 

Indeed, despite physical and cultural differences, humans and the beast people of Bestia were nearly identical. Their minds functioned similarly, they shared the same emotions, and they faced the same struggles.

They were sentient beings with consciousness, thoughts, personalities, beliefs, and free will. They had the power to shape the world and defy their destinies.

They could love and hate, and through these emotions, they could either build a beautiful world or destroy it. 

Zero One, after regaining her memories as Raven, realized she had been human all along. Yet, her experience of living as a robot from the start and developing her own sense of humanity gave her profound insight into both. 

“Everyone, please, let’s get along, alright?” Zero One addressed the robots. “Don’t be too hasty when greeting others; you might scare them. You have to realize you’re very big!” 

“Big… we are…”

“Right, I hadn’t realized that.”

“We are huge.”

“I wonder, could I get a body like Sister’s? Perhaps if I’m not big and scary, people won’t fear me.” 

“L-Like mine?” Zero One wondered. “Uhh, I don’t know. We’d need to ask Mother about—Ah! Mother!” 

Zero One suddenly realized she hadn’t spoken with her mother yet. She raced through the corridors to reach her.

Mother’s large body remained as it was. Her mechanical limbs were torn apart and scattered across the floor, but her mainframe and core body were mostly unscathed. 

“Mother! Are you okay? How are you feeling?” 

The red artificial eye within Mother’s long, tree trunk-like metallic body had turned white, glowing brightly. 

“Raven… I’ve never felt this good before. Not only did my children receive the new update, but I did too. My mind feels clear—clearer than ever.” 

“I’m so happy!” 

Zero One embraced her mother’s large, metallic form, which couldn’t reciprocate, but it felt like the right thing to do after everything. 

“Once again… I’m truly sorry, Raven, for everything I’ve done. I only wanted to create a world where you could live happily. I wished countless times that humanity hadn’t vanished. Perhaps in the despair caused by that loss and my battle against the Elementals trampling over what remained of Humanity’s Legacy, I descended into mental instability and disarray. That thing took advantage of me… I was given the chance to reject her powers, to refuse becoming their Apostle.” 

“You were manipulated, Mom! I-It wasn’t entirely your fault… I’ll believe that no matter what, okay? You can’t convince me otherwise!” 

“Raven… No, should I call you Zero One now? Which name do you prefer? I suppose Raven, right? Zero One is just numbers, and—” 

“I think either name is fine. I don’t mind! I may be Raven, but I’m also Zero One. Living without my past memories helped me develop differently. Now that both identities have merged, I am both, not just one.” 

“Hm, I see… How intriguing. You’re truly one of a kind, my dear daughter. Your friends—are they okay?” 

Mother asked as she noticed a group of people entering the mechanical tree’s interior, surrounded by machines that had become peaceful after the update. 

“I’m fine,” Bastet said. “I went to check on everyone else. Luckily, they’re all alive, just very tired. It seems things worked out well. I can’t believe you actually did it… I guess we won’t have to destroy her now.” 

“Bastet! Everyone!” Zero One smiled joyfully, rushing to hug Bastet. “Thank you for helping us so much, Anna and Bastet!” 

“Hm? Ah, haha, well, I did what I had to, Zero One,” Anna responded. She and Bastet could share the Ego. “It’s a relief you helped your Mother just in time. Without her aid, I don’t think we could have held on much longer.” 

“Eh? What happened?” Zero One asked. 

“A long story. There’s still a big battle raging outside,” Anna said. “But for now, stay calm and prepare. Even in this desperate moment, we must remain composed.” 

“A-Ah…! So the battle isn’t over yet…” Zero One sighed. “Okay… I understand! I’m quite exhausted… I need to replenish my energy… Oh! Ah, right, everyone!” 

She ran toward the rest of Anna’s Egos, the two Primordial Beasts, Anna’s Familiars—Snow, Violet, and Shiro—and Wai Tian, Yin Sheng, and Yu Mingzhu. Sepa was there too, reuniting with Bastet as the two girls embraced. 

“Looks like things turned out fine! Good! I wish this could be our happy ending, but it won’t be that simple,” Sepa said. “Bastet, well done! This is the first time you’ve shone so brightly on the battlefield. I wish you’d been half this awesome when the war started back then.” 

“Wow, throwing jabs at me right away, huh? What a great friend you are, Sepa!” Bastet sighed, crossing her arms. “I was indeed very inexperienced back then… But it’s been many years since. I’ve changed, and thanks to Anna, I’m growing stronger every day. One day, I’ll reclaim the throne that was taken from me. For now, we must focus on the present.” 

“Well said!” Sepa nodded. 

As the two Constellations chatted, Zero One was enveloped in a group hug by Wai Tian and Yin Sheng, with Yu Mingzhu reluctantly pulled in. 

“Well done, Zero One. You did it… This means so much—a new future for our world!” Wai Tian was overjoyed, her forgiving nature and youth setting her apart from the more resentful elders. 

“I’m impressed…” Yin Sheng nodded. “With this, young lady Anna’s plans might finally come to fruition—a world we can share. I wonder, though, if the elders will ever agree to such a thing.” 

“I-I don’t know, but Anna and the Venerables are with us! Um, well, not right now, but metaphorically!” Zero One nodded. 

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