Editing City Series:Volume8b Chapter15 (section)

===Aoe’s Continued Sight Mode: In DT Castle===

'''<Aoe’s Over Reload>

The first thing Myst drew while facing Aoe was a single cloth.

The light green cloth was quite large. She tapped the program control panel at her hip to give the cloth a hitbox. The drawn cloth began gracefully interacting with the air around it and it flew above Yuo.

Aoe stood next to Yuo, so he caught the flying cloth in his right hand and draped it around her.

He then moved Yuo to a sitting position, leaning her against one of the Questron’s leaves. He had her crouch with her back in a corner so she wouldn’t fall over.

Her weakly opened mouth tried to form words but only released a breath.

<Wait. Please wait.>

She realized he was about to move away from her. The quick reaction meant she was in Sight Mode.

<My Mouse seems to be displaying something in a window.>

'''<Change attack authorization setting? Y/N>

That was Aoe’s criminal management setting which had been customized nearly beyond recognition. He wasn’t even sure where his name was written on the thing, but the attack authorization setting was displayed at the very top.

He needed that, but for Yuo, it would mean telling him to defeat someone she knew well.

Without her sight, she could not read the contents of the Mouse’s window, so he explained it for her.

“That is a settings window for removing my attack restrictions. If you raise your hand and press Y, I will be able to punch that Myst woman.”

That put a look of surprise on her face.

But after a bit, she raised her hand, unsteadily due to her lack of touch.

<Myst is my enemy now, isn’t she? Because I didn’t give up like dad wanted.>

She spoke in her window and prepared to make her choice with trembling fingers.

<Ah.>

Tears spilled from her eyes. Her hand started to lower from the window.

But something stopped her: a voice.

Myst’s tearful cry rang sharply across the room.

“Master Yuo! How could you choose him!? He killed Excel. Excel, who looked after you and taught you your program activation technique!”

Aoe spun around.

“How dare you! You would confuse her further after all this!?”

But he was somewhat shaken when his gaze reached Myst.

In the center of the ceremony room, Myst’s face had clearly paled while she held her virtual pen with the emblem floating near its tip. Her face was twisted in anger at the words she herself had spoken.

She looked him in the eye before shutting her eyes, biting her lip, and shaking her head.

Aoe realized what this meant.

<She wants to test Yuo even if it means saying things she doesn’t mean.>

Myst soon raised her head and spoke with a tone that differed from her facial expression.

Her tone was accusatory, but her face belied that tone.

“And now he intends to kill me! Me, the artist who dried your tears in the amusement park 4000 years ago! How can you let him do something so unconscionable, Master Yuo!?”

Myst swung her virtual pen.

Several windows opened in the wavering air above her and to her sides. But not just 10 or 20. There were hundreds if not thousands of windows.

Countless winds blew out to prove the presence of those windows.

“You can hear this, can’t you, Master Yuo? This is everything we shared since our meeting 4000 years ago.”

Images appeared on the windows.

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

They all depicted Yuo smiling.

Myst’s expression broke down in front of thousands of smiles.

Her eyebrows drooped and her cheeks tensed, but her voice remained firm.

“You once abandoned us in your resignation, but now that you are abandoning that resignation, you still won’t join us!? You’re going to throw us out again so you can be with that man instead!? How is that fair!?”

That one made Yuo’s lowered hand flinch back. She began to pull the fingers back toward her right shoulder.

<Myst.>

But with some silent words, she kept her hand where it was.

<nowiki><I</nowiki> remember everything in those windows so well.>

A tear spilled down her cheek as her window added a “but”. But just the one.

<Let us through. And this time you can draw me with something other than a comforted smile!!>

Aoe saw the voice of her soul.

At the same time, he heard the powerful cry of a wild animal from nearby.

That was Monkey. The large Shiba Inu stood up despite the blood soaking parts across his body. He moved between Aoe and Yuo with a ferret on his head.

The dog barked loud again and Yuo responded with a faint smile.

She raised her hand and reached for the window.

The ferret cried quietly and waved his front paw. The window moved to meet her extended hand.

Aoe smiled bitterly when he saw the result of her choice: her finger had pressed the Y button.



'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Aoe turned back toward Myst.

She stood in front of the many past smiles. She hung her head a bit with tears in her eyes.

Her face remained pale, but her expression was no longer twisted.

She looked like she had gotten over something.

Aoe spoke to her through his window.

<You played the villain so Yuo wouldn’t feel bad about her decision, didn’t you?>

Myst opened her mouth a crack and mouthed a response so only Aoe could see.

“You fool. Only ignorant commoners and extreme hypocrites assume all actions have pure intentions.”

She twisted her lips into a small smile, raised her eyebrows, and held her head high with tears still in her eyes.

“Is that so?” replied Aoe, spreading his arms. “Then answer me this: will you let us through like Yuo asked? The Yuo you believed in has already abandoned resignation. Algo may have a reason to keep fighting, but you don’t.”

Myst pushed her chest out and raised her head. She still did not wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Ha! I already discussed this with Excel! The Quartet has only one administrator! Even if it means Master Yuo turn on us, we cannot disobey Master Suedomsa.”

She stabbed her virtual pen into the floor and spoke with a tense look on her face.

'''“The settings you ask us to apply are not a part of the Quartet’s basic concept!”

“Excel has confirmed for us you can be the strongest for Master Yuo. But if you and Master Algo intend to begin a new fight here, we will obey Master Algo who is following in Master Suedomsa’s footsteps!”

“Ha! That’s some loyalty!”

“Loyalty? That is too crass a word to describe this, fool.” She suddenly smiled. “Listen carefully. The purpose of our coming battle is to stop you, but is also to test you. We do not have much time left before we die, so we must test you to see if we can leave Master Yuo in your care.”

“So if you defeat me, it’s for Algo, but if you can’t, it’s for Yuo?”

“Yes. I knew this was coming as soon as I learned Excel had let you pass. Did he learn that Master Yuo was an even greater programmer than him?”

“Mh.”

Myst shut her eyes at Aoe’s grunted affirmation.

“Then if you wish to continue past us, we will each thank Master Yuo in our own way.”

<Thank me?>

That thought window was Yuo’s.

Myst opened her eyes, read the window, and opened her mouth.

“Yes. Back before you gave up, you stayed with us and supported us. As fellow Minus people.

“But,” continued Myst. “We wanted to thank you for the time you spent with us by ensuring you would be fine without us. Unfortunately, we cannot seriously test you to see if you have surpassed us.”

“Is that why you chose to become her enemy like Suedomsa told you to?” Aoe looked Myst in the eye and nodded. “You wanted to use me, a Plus person, to eliminate the anxiety and fear she would feel when you disappeared?”

“Yes. If she has set aside her resignation, then we too must return to who we were so long ago. This is a thanks we can only provide as enemies. I believe this was a final kindness Master Suedomsa did for us.” Myst lowered her head a bit. “He told us to do everything we can to stop you here. He doesn’t normally speak so inefficiently.”

She smiled and slowly raised her virtual pen overhead in both hands.

“Master Yuo, I will now thank you for spending time with someone as insolent as me…and for always viewing my drawings and supporting me!”

Her expression grew tense once more.

'''“The strongest artist strives to perfect herself and continues creating art as an offering to someone.

'''“If you were to compare her to a flower, she would be the ambitious chrysanthemum blossoming toward the sky!”

'''<Pseudo Grandload: Running Pseudo Load Emblem: Premier: Preparing to Activate>

A shattering stone sound came from the pen and the arms holding it.

Dozens of transparent windows opened around her.

[[Image:DT02_225.jpg|thumb]]

Text strings extended from her arms and the emblem at the pen tip.

●Type-XX076: Imperial-class: Premier●

A large diskette program appeared halfway down the pen and began to rotate.

With another shattering stone sound, she shifted the virtual pen to only her right hand.

“Behold!”

'''<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Avi Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

Yuo’s smile vanished from all of the windows behind Myst.

The next thing Aoe saw was light.

One of the windows behind her shined bright and then the data was transferred to all the windows.

The thousands of windows shined a bright white as they worked together.

'''<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Jpg Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

A dual lens floated in front of the thousands of windows.

'''<Myst: Gabriel Word Race Conversion: Switching to Gif Word Race Traits: Limiter Off: Accelerated Drawing>

Each time she drew something, a mobility program window was applied to it and a moving turret appeared below all the lenses. The thousands of lenses moved back and forth and focused in on Aoe and Yuo.

“What in the world!?”

'''<Aoe’s Over Zoom>

Windows opened in the light to indicate program transfers and they were all given the power of the drawn images.

The light of the windows grew in heat as it shined through the lenses.

“Are you trying to burn us to death!?”

Anything created by a program would remain even if the program user disappeared.

Defeating Myst now would not stop this attack.

She wasn’t his target. He had to attack the window behind her that had shined first.

<Hopefully the drawing data is being transferred to the other windows in real time!>

Then destroying the initial window would stop them all. Speed was the issue, so he did not hesitate to run forward.

“'''Let us through. If you have a problem with me, then stop me!”

The light reached its peak then, as if responding to his words.

Myst shouted while transformed into a silhouette by the light shining from behind her.

“Can you stand up to this, Master Yuo’s chosen strongest!?”

'''<Aoe’s Sight Mode has updated>