Ar’s Friend
Electrosphere Wraith.
A bizarre existence that wandered the Electrosphere without any fixed destination.
There had been many debates about what they were.
One theory claimed they were newly emerged souls within the Electrosphere, another that they were nothing more than fragments of digitized memories.
All of these debates attempting to define such wraiths were possible only because the birth of wraiths had been clearly identified.
‘If your body dies while connected to the Electrosphere, you become a wraith. And there are several other methods as well.’
When the Electrosphere was first discovered, Electrosphere Wraiths had been dismissed as nothing more than urban legends.
Even after their existence was proven, for quite a long time they were treated merely as residue drifting through the Electrosphere, and no one paid them any real attention.
Then, a tremendous discovery overturned everything.
The emergence of the ‘Andromancer.’
The Andromancer proved that by using Electrosphere Wraiths, it was possible to control machines in a way completely different from hacking.
At the same time, the significance of wraiths skyrocketed.
‘It was called messenger possession, wasn’t it.’
The act of an Andromancer attaching a wraith to a mechanical device and controlling it at will.
The terror of messenger possession lay in its ‘versatility’ and ‘coerciveness.’
As long as it was connected to the Electrosphere, it could control any device, from air conditioners to androids—its versatility.
And as long as there was no ‘ego,’ it could ignore firewalls, ICE, and the like entirely—its coerciveness.
The beings who wielded such terrifying power were Andromancers.
And now.
I had just realized that Ar possessed that kind of power.
“How is it, Ar?”
Diesel asked Ar, who was floating lightly above the white floor.
In front of her stood an Electrosphere Wraith like a mass of pitch-black fog, frozen in place.
〈I definitely feel like I’ve gained a new sense. Perhaps the ability to commune with wraiths.〉
“Then can you make it move?”
〈Yes. I’ll try moving it over there.〉
At Sis’s words, Ar gently swayed her tail and looked at the wraith.
The wraith began to squirm and move.
“Wow……. How did you do that?”
〈I asked the wraith. I asked it to move.〉
“Hmm……. I see…….”
Sis fell into thought for a moment before speaking.
“What matters is whether you can give the wraith a command. You know that a request and a command are completely different concepts, right? Messenger possession is always done through commands.”
She clapped her hands once, and an android appeared in midair.
[How may I assist you?]
A neat-looking man asked with a pleasant smile.
“This is David No. 3. It’s an older model, but it has a complex logic algorithm. Because of that, it’s extremely difficult for a wraith to take hold. Want to try messenger possession on this one?”
〈Yes.〉
Once again, Ar wagged her tail and looked at the wraith, and the black smoke slowly crept toward the android.
But it only circled around the android, unable to enter.
“Hmm……. So it’s not a complete Andromancer ability.”
〈Just a moment, please.〉
Ar pulled the wraith back.
Then she hopped up lightly, opened her mouth wide, and swallowed the wraith.
“……?”
Caught off guard by the sudden action, Diesel spoke with slight confusion.
“Ar, how can you just eat it without permission? I heard wraiths are hard to come by these days as it is.”
“It’s fine. Just one.”
〈I’m sorry, Master, but I didn’t eat the wraith.〉
At Ar’s words, Diesel looked at her with suspicion.
“Then what was that?”
〈Just a moment, please.〉
Ar lightly closed her eyes as if concentrating, then her body shuddered.
Then she hopped again, jumping high in place.
Behind Ar’s movement, a grayish afterimage lingered hazily.
That afterimage gathered into one spot, then transformed into a distinct shape.
“Oh my……!”
“What is that now?”
Rather than the pitch-black color of a typical wraith, this one had a gray hue similar to Ar’s.
Its form had also changed—from an unpleasant, elongated humanoid shape into that of a small rodent, like a flying squirrel.
“So, so cute…….”
“That’s a wraith?”
“Wraiths don’t only come in human shapes. They’re just transformed versions of avatars from the Electrosphere, so they come in all kinds of forms.”
“Then why is the color like that?”
“Well…… even I don’t know that.”
Information even Little Sister didn’t know.
As she looked at Ar with curiosity, Ar continued speaking.
〈This child is my friend.〉
A wraith being a friend?
Not understanding what she meant, Diesel asked again.
“Friend?”
〈Yes.〉
Ar gently swayed her tail and looked at the android.
The flying-squirrel-shaped wraith scampered over, then suddenly spread its body wide and pounced onto the android.
“Oh…….”
Soon, the android’s body slackened, then slowly lifted its head.
“Is that messenger possession?”
“That’s right. It is, but…….”
With an intrigued expression, Sis began manipulating something in midair.
“It’s incredibly unique. Unlike other Andromancers, the possession method isn’t violent at all. It really feels like she made a friend, literally.”
〈As expected, Sis, you noticed right away.〉
When Ar swayed her tail again, the flying squirrel popped out of the android.
At the same time, the android regained consciousness.
[How may I assist you?]
“Wh…… what……?”
Seeing that, Sis frowned as if she couldn’t believe it.
“W-wait. What is going on here?”
She then approached the android and inspected it from all angles.
[Did I perhaps cause some kind of problem?]
“The android that was under messenger possession is operating again……?”
“Hmmm…….”
Even without Sis’s explanation, I could tell how extraordinary this was.
It was like restoring a roughly crumpled piece of paper back to its original state.
‘The biggest drawback of messenger possession is that once you release it, the device is damaged beyond recovery….’
That was precisely why those with the tremendous ability of an Andromancer still bothered to learn hacking.
No matter how effectively a machine was hacked through messenger possession, if it couldn’t be used afterward, its utility was severely limited.
“Diesel…….”
Sis looked at Diesel with a slightly dazed expression.
“No one can know about this.”
“…….”
“If other hackers find out about Ar’s ability, it’ll be absolute chaos…… no, not just chaos. They’d try to kidnap Ar no matter what it took. So unless it’s an exceptional situation, don’t use that ability at all.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Absolutely, absolutely do not let it be discovered.”
Given how strongly she emphasized it, it seemed best to listen.
I turned to Ar and spoke.
“Ar, you heard that, right? They say you need to be careful with that.”
〈If that is what my master wishes. More importantly, there is something I would like to ask.〉
“What is it?”
Ar hopped in place again and again.
Then several flying-squirrel-shaped wraiths appeared.
‘The wraiths she absorbed in the last battle?’
Eleven in total.
They looked up at Diesel and Sis with sparkling eyes, appearances so cute it was hard to believe they were wraiths.
“……!”
At the sight, Sis fidgeted her fingers as if she wanted to pet them immediately.
〈Please give them names.〉
“Names?”
〈Yes. You can’t just call friends ‘wraiths,’ can you?〉
“Hmm…….”
At that, Diesel spoke without much thought.
“The Flying Squirrel Legion.”
〈The ‘legion’ as in a military legion?〉
“Yeah.”
“Hey! What kind of name is that! For these cute little guys!”
“Why not? They’re flying squirrels, so ‘flying,’ and there are a lot of them, so ‘legion.’ Perfect.”
“No, first of all, these aren’t flying squirrels, they’re sky squirrels, you know?”
“What’s the difference?”
“It’s totally different! Look carefully!”
At Sis’s gesture, holograms of a flying squirrel and a sky squirrel appeared.
“See? This one’s a flying squirrel, this one’s a sky squirrel. They look different, right?”
“Do they?”
“Are your eyes crooked?”
〈Sis-nim, you really know animals well.〉
“Yeah. I’m really interested in extinct animals.”
“Hmmm……. Then should it be the Sky Squirrel Legion?”
“Do you really have to stick ‘squirrel’ on the end?”
“Why not? They are squirrels.”
“Well……. Do whatever you want. You’re the one Ar asked. But if you’re going to name them anyway, wouldn’t a cute name be better?”
“Alright. Then let’s go with the Cute Squirrel Legion.”
“……?”
“A legion of cute sky squirrels. Cute Squirrel Legion.”
At those words, Sis let out a small sigh.
“Diesel…….”
“What now.”
“I think Flying Squirrel is better after all.”
“Really? Then it’s decided. Flying Squirrel Legion.”
〈Understood.〉
Ar swayed her tail and lined the flying squirrels up in a row.
〈You all heard Master, right? From now on, you are the Flying Squirrel Legion.〉
Had they understood her words?
The flying squirrels looked at each other, then nodded their tiny heads.
〈Now then, we will begin flight training. Fly straight to the location marked in front of you. Begin.〉
At Ar’s tail signal, the flying squirrels all took off at once.
“Ah, Ar. Um……. They’re friends, right?”
〈Of course.〉
“Hm. Looks nice.”
With his arms crossed, Diesel watched Ar’s actions with satisfaction, while Sis beside him wore an uneasy expression.
“Anyway, that’s enough about Ar now.”
While Ar was absorbed in training, Diesel turned to Sis and brought up another topic.
“You said you had something to tell me.”
“That’s right.”
“What is it?”
“Just a moment.”
Instead of answering, Sis called the elevator.
“Wouldn’t it be better to talk somewhere a bit more proper first?”
“Do we really need to?”
“It’s a serious matter, after all.”
“Hmmm……. Alright, fine.”
〈Master, are we moving?〉
“No. Ar, you stay here and train the kids. That’s fine, right?”
“Of course.”
〈Understood.〉
Soon, with a ding, the elevator arrived.
“Where are we going?”
At Diesel’s question, Sis stepped into the elevator and replied.
“Where else?”
The only facility above ground connected to the Underground Great Hall.
A luxurious teahouse reserved exclusively for VIPs.
When the elevator doors opened, an attendant in a refined hanbok bowed politely.
“I will guide you to your seats.”
As we entered the quiet room we were led to, a breathtaking view unfolded beyond the window.
“I told you, this time of day is the prettiest.”
Below us lay Gyeongbokgung Palace, the imperial palace of Joseon.
I had seen the scenery once before, but now, under the bright midday sun, it looked completely different.
‘Seeing it in the daylight, it’s huge.’
I had visited Gyeongbokgung Palace a few times in the past, before the world had changed like this.
Because of that, I knew the interior of the palace to some extent, but its current appearance was completely different from back then.
First of all, its overall scale had grown beyond comparison.
Beyond Gwanghwamun, where only sand used to blow across the forecourt, a splendid garden now lay, and beside it stood a beautiful glass palace.
Not only that, the pond at Gyeonghoeru had expanded enough to float boats on, and Geunjeongjeon had transformed into a structure as imposing as a skyscraper.
‘I heard ordinary people can only enter up to that garden.’
At present, Gyeongbokgung Palace served as the main royal palace, the legal palace of the imperial family.
Unlike the past, when tourists could freely roam the interior, now only a very small portion could be viewed under strict surveillance.
‘But being able to look down on the palace like this…….’
It seemed like a view meant to showcase the status of the VIPs who used this teahouse.
Even so, the deeper inner areas of the palace were still not fully visible from here.
Soon, the attendant brought out white porcelain cups and poured the tea with a gentle trickle.
After setting down the drinks and leaving the room, Sis looked at Diesel with sparkling eyes.
“Alright, then let’s talk now.”
“What are you trying to say, dragging things out so grandly?”
“Because it’s that important.”
She took a sip from the cup where pink flower petals floated and spoke.
“This is about war.”
War.
Had the situation really escalated that far?
As I was thinking that, Sis called his name in a solemn voice.
“Diesel.”
“…….”
“You always liked things straightforward, so I’ll say it without beating around the bush.”
Her unwavering gaze was fixed on Diesel.
“Join our clan.”