Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

956. The Voice of The Site Core

Various weapons in the form of cannons with designs that did not belong to this world emerged from hatches along the walls. Belt fed dual miniguns, darts filled with a green acid, a device that carried a red-tipped arrow with a glow reminiscent of Scarlet Logic’s Unstable Capturers – All several hundreds of these were pointed at her.

Is my mimic asleep? Hey, you’re supposed to be keeping an eye out on these traps!

< Your Mimic does not seem to be able to access these devices >

My authorization is being overruled? By what?

The answer was obvious.

< It appears to be the Site itself >

Indeed.

The Site itself was speaking to Frost through an unseen intercom.

At least that was what they were led to believe. Frost was cautious to jump to conclusions. She had visited a Site before, and it had never spoken to her. While the situation was different, it was best to remain wary.

They were not alone in this Site, after all.

Isn’t the Site controlled by an autonomous intelligence? I thought the rumblings were just the Site shifting. Not that it was actually alive.

< I am also confused. Lailah’s train of thought has been interrupted with this discovery >

< It should be an Aberration of Elysia contacting you. Not the Site itself >

Then, did it manage to gain sapience?

“Hey… You can hear me, right?” Frost called out. “Can you understand what I’m saying?”

“Lethal force authorized.”

“None shall approach the Garden of Paradise.”

A mass of red lasers was suddenly pointed at Frost’s chest, creating a crimson spotlight.

“Fucking hell. As if fighting the Corrupted alone wasn’t enough! And where the hell is it!?”

Frost foresaw the barrage of incoming attacks; none of which had the capacity to injure her. Rather than running away, she stood her ground, dug her heels into the earth with a mighty crack, and summoned an array of bloody firearms to take them down.

At the same time, she brandished dual plasma blades along her wrists, ready to disable as many turrets as needed.

“Eliminate.”

A carpet of projectiles came flying her way as a guttural groan reverberated from within the depths of the Site. Immediately, she cleaved the air, sending twin purple arcs in the direction of the projectiles.

A third were annihilated in a single blow. Following it was another arc swung by her other arm, and shadowing it was her own barrage of fifty blood-crystalized bullets. They punctured through meters of seemingly impenetrable steel, bleeding it of Liquid Nex which flooded the stage through its wounds.

When the first volley of bullets ended, the weapons exploded into thousands of shards, only to be replaced by a new firing line.

“HORUS!” Frost called out at the top of her lungs.

Her voice was not loud enough to compete with the caocophany of projectiles.

So, she utilized her other voice.

“Horus. Can a Site become sentient? Did this happen at G-Z7 at all!?”

“NEVER EXPERIENCED IT!” Horus shouted back.

Frost’s precise hearing managed to pick her voice out from the chaos.

“I see. Then this has become problematic.”

NAV! Does Lailah know anything! Dark Memoria!? Michaela!? Anna!?

Frost also took this opportunity to test her reflexes. Since [Plasma Cutter] only needed to be used once to activate, it did not have an immense mana requirement. This meant it could have a permanent up time with zero drawbacks.

She used them to cut through bullets, harpoons, canon balls the size of an adult man, and scatter shot capable of mincing an army of high-leveled Workers at once. The sheer amount of security here was immense, to the point where it almost felt unnatural.

Sparks of purple and gold exploded from each cut, as the metal was reduced to molten slag.

Finally, after several seconds of deafening combat, Nav responded.

< Lailah believes that the voice contains a primitive version of ourselves that allows the Site to function in the absence of the Nexus >

< Yes. I mean Lailah and I >

< That would explain the familiarity of the voice >

“So it’s just an artificial intelligence… lacking a soul, huh?”

< Lailah agrees wholeheartedly >

“SO WHY THE FUCK IS IT AFTER ME!? SHOULDN’T IT AT LEAST RECOGNIZE ME AS THE CAPTURED STA–!”

Frost did not manage to finish her shout. The voice interjected. Since Frost’s foresight only functioned on a visible level, she could not anticipate sound-based events.

“You are… the One.”

“The Actor of this stage.”

The same spotlight that shone over Frost at the beginning targeted her once again. She expected the onslaught of bullets to end, but to her dismay, it only intensified.

“Would you mind serving as an audience member as we repeat this stage play?”

“The hell are you talking about!?”

“Why participate? Do you wish to relive the same tragedy that plagues us both?”

The Site did not seem to understand Frost at all.

It ignored her entirely, speaking as though it couldn’t hear her.

“Relive? You mean… Tch. The Site is aware of the Corrupted here?”

“It shall repeat. As it always has.”

Props began springing upright. Cartoonish bushes littered the sea of Liquid Nex which surrounded the elevated stage. Joining them were various stars which dangled from the ceiling with thin threads.

“Here it comes. Fuck. A Corrupted and the Site itself. I can just ignore the Site anyway. It’s wasting its time trying get rid of me.”

But this was where an issue arose.

If Frost was the Captured Star, and if Lailah was created to look after her – and if this locked intelligence was a primitive version of Lailah…

Then why does it want to kill me? Unless, it doesn’t recognize me at all. It did call me an intruder. For once, I kind of wish they’d call me Sinder or the Captured Star.

A great flower emerged in the center of the stage. It was reminiscent of the mechanical oak tree that tethered Lailah in Lull-A-Goodbye.

Except that this flower was withering, rotting and oozing with a black artificial sludge. A vertical mouth containing rows of teeth snapped at the air.

Hidden within were thousands of tiny, golden eyes.

“They look just like mine. What the fuck…?” Frost murmured, sending various ethereal hands to swipe the incoming projectiles. “Is the Captured Star going to be represented here too?”

It was as she suspected.

But it came in a form she did not expect.

What appeared was a pale specter that wore a plush, bumble bee suit. Various more joined her, floating around and interacting with various false flowers.

The original pranced on the stage as the props of rainbows, clouds and the sun appeared. The stars retracted, and a bright blue wall cycled around the room to replace the ceiling, simulating day.

“Repeat ad infinatum.”

“The process of existing without experiencing.”

“Replay the scene. Six hundred and eighty-one thousand, two hundred and seventy ninth rendition.”

The voice of the Site faded away.

Replacing it were the murmurs of the Corrupted.

< “When I sang to you those tales, your imagination ran wild.” >

< “The smile on your face as you ran through those meadows in your dreams brought me joy.” >

< “But what is joy? What are thoughts? Why is it that you can tell me the scent of those flowers… when my meadow lacks the same vibrancy as yours?” >

< “Please, O’ bee, pollinate me.” >

< “I must experience the scent of our illusionary flowers.” >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< MONSOON >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET INSPIRES >