Jin’s Doppel and Reiko walked through the interior of what appeared to be an abandoned enemy laboratory.
“It feels a bit like Avalon,” Jin remarked.
Considering Golbart Marukitasu had reportedly studied at Avalon for three years, Jin assumed the resemblance was a direct result of that influence.
“No traps?”
“None, Father. I have scanned the interior of the walls, the space above the ceilings, and beneath the floors. There are no hazards.”
“Good.”
Given its design was modeled after Avalon, the structure featured concentric corridors intersected by radial ones. Important facilities like the command room and the magi-brain room were typically located at the center.
However, since the primary objective for Jin’s Doppel and Reiko was to locate the missing Quinta units, they headed toward the basement room Reiko had identified. Due to the facility's layout, the stairs and elevators were clustered near the center.
“This way. The elevator is offline, so we will descend via the stairs.”
“Right.”
The power systems were largely dead; only emergency lights powered by Ether Light (AL) flickered dimly. Since AL continues to glow until the free ether is depleted or the device itself fails, it was commonly used for emergency lighting and nightlights. The AL units here emitted a faint glow, roughly equivalent to a five-watt nightlight bulb.
“The second basement floor, wasn't it?”
“Yes.”
They had arrived at the first basement; one more floor down would bring them to their destination.
“Over here.”
Reiko, having already scouted the area with her Peeper, led Jin’s Doppel forward without a hint of hesitation.
“It should be this room.”
She stopped in front of a room not far from the staircase.
“It’s locked.”
The door was a sliding type, but when Reiko applied her strength, it crumpled and slid open with ease.
“This place is...”
“A laboratory or workshop, it seems.”
The room was vast, roughly the size of four high school classrooms combined.
“Light Ball.”
Searching in the dark was inefficient, so Jin’s Doppel conjured a Light.
Workbenches and shelves were scattered across the room in total disarray. Some shelves had toppled over, spilling their contents across the floor and reinforcing the messy atmosphere. Jin’s Doppel and Reiko pushed toward the workbench at the far end of the room.
“...!”
Lying upon it were two Quinta units: a Spica-type missing its arms and legs, and a Mira-type with its chest cavity torn open.
“Are these Melda and Lily?” Jin asked.
“Yes,” Reiko confirmed. “There is no doubt. They are Spica 5, Melda, and Mira 2, Lily.”
“I see. Damn... the poor things. To treat them like this...”
Wrestling with his anger, Jin’s Doppel inspected the condition of the two units.
“The control cores are missing... wait a second.”
Jin paused to think. He had detected their mana signatures with the new magi-radar, which shouldn't have been possible without the control cores being present. Yet, there were no barriers active on this island.
“If that’s the case, then the answer is... that!”
He spotted a container designed to shield mana. Only one object in the room fit the bill.
“Reiko, open that. Be careful.”
“Yes, Father.”
Reiko carefully pried open the container—a jar-shaped vessel roughly the size of a large pickling barrel. Fortunately, there were no traps—no explosions or toxic gases. The contents were revealed.
“Ah, as I thought. The control cores were inside.”
Every magi-device, including the control cores and magi-reactors, had been stashed within the jar.
I should be able to restore them to their original state, Jin thought with a sigh of relief as he piloted the Doppel.
Then, almost jokingly, he added through the Doppel’s mouth, “Let’s make sure there aren't any hidden traps.”
He cast Analyze on one of the control cores.
“Analyze... What the hell is this?!”
“What’s wrong, Father?”
“It’s a trap of sorts. There's a strange magi-formula mixed in. I'm not fixing them here. We’ll take them back to Hourai Island and run a full analysis first.”
“Understood.”
Jin’s Doppel and Reiko gathered the two broken units and their scattered components. Once everything was secured, they left the laboratory behind.
“Now then, what’s next?”
After loading the units into Pegasus 2, which was waiting on the surface, Jin considered his options. Should he head straight back to Hourai Island, or investigate the facility more thoroughly?
“Laojun, dispatch some Smiths and Lands.”
“Understood.”
Ultimately, Jin decided to have Laojun send an investigation team. He felt that the final cleanup of the facility and the eventual confrontation with the Magic Federation weren't tasks he personally needed to handle at this stage.
“I’ll at least get things ready for them, though.”
Through the transporter, five Smiths and five Lands were deployed before him. Simultaneously, Pelican 3 arrived in the skies above to provide support. Satisfied that they could handle the situation, Jin ordered Hope to take off, and Pegasus 2 soared away from Uchuto Island.
Upon returning to Hourai Island, Jin left the analysis of the control cores to Laojun while he personally set about repairing the two Quinta units.
“This is horrific...”
The damage showed signs of crude, forceful dismantling—a clear indicator of the enemy's amateurish magi-craft.
“I’ll have to replace the magical skin entirely. Reiko, I need materials.”
“Yes, Father.”
Assisting Jin in the workshop seemed to bring Reiko back to their early days together; she looked exceptionally happy.
Thanks to her assistance, the work progressed rapidly. Jin realigned distorted skeletons, replaced degraded artificial muscles, and fabricated new components for those that were shattered. Naturally, he also installed magi-certifiers.
The two units regained their original forms before his very eyes. All that remained were the control cores.
“Laojun, status report.”
“My Lord. The analysis has just concluded. Our caution was justified.”
“What did you find?”
“A virus had been embedded.”
‘Virus’ was a concept Jin had introduced—not a biological pathogen, but a malicious piece of software. Jin knew he could probably create one himself if he had the inclination—perhaps a subsystem that would trigger self-deletion after a few days, or a control routine that appeared normal but caused errors during critical operations. He simply saw no point in making them.
“Someone actually developed something like that...?”
“Yes, My Lord. Most likely Golbart Marukitasu.”
“That man again...”
Though the magi had lived nearly 150 years ago, Jin felt a chilling sense of madness from a legacy that continued to cause harm even now.
Merely removing the virus felt insufficient, so Jin decided to prepare brand-new control cores and Write In only the necessary information. Since the units were his original creations, reproducing the cores was a simple task. By transferring their accumulated experiences into the new cores, he could restore them perfectly.
Once the new control cores were completed and installed, Jin gave the command.
“Alright. Wake up.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Yes, Chief.”
The two units sat up.
“Lily, Melda, how do you feel? Any gaps in your memory?”
“No. Everything is exactly as it was,” Lily replied.
“Yes. Everything, including my memories, is fully restored,” Melda added.
“Good. I’m glad.”
While finishing the control cores, Jin had included the data of their rescue by himself and Reiko. It appeared the two units had integrated this information without any contradictions.
“I’m counting on you both from here on out.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“Yes, Chief.”
Standing before the two restored automata, Jin felt a profound sense of satisfaction.