On April 15, at 8:30 a.m. Avalon time, Deus Ex Machina and Squire Rei met with Chief Administrator Tomax Bartman.
"I see, so you intend to repair the Safi units..."
"Yes. Not only that, but we also plan to expand their knowledge base so they can perform tasks similar to what Elsa-dono covered in her lecture the other day."
"Splendid!"
Tomax Bartman had already received "the official explanation"—that Jin and Maquina were distant relatives, and furthermore, distant descendants of the Second Generation Magi Craft Meister, Jin Nidou.
"To think that Jin-dono and Elsa-dono would go so far out of their way for us... Honestly, I am deeply grateful. And of course, I cannot thank you enough either, Maquina-dono."
"In that case, let us begin the work immediately."
"Very well. Then... I will have Manon guide you. Manon, if you would."
"Yes, Lord Tomax."
With that, Deus Ex Machina followed Manon toward the storage facility where the malfunctioning Safi units were kept.
Squire Rei carried the materials needed for the repairs and updates.
Even so, the bundle amounted to little more than a small piece of hand luggage. The plan was that if they ran short of anything once the work was underway, extra materials would simply be sent over via transporter.
"We have arrived."
The Safi units were stored in a repository located beneath the World Security Guard headquarters.
"Hmm, this looks bad..."
Seeing them in person, Maquina grimaced. Rather than mere operational malfunctions, about half of the units had suffered outright physical damage.
The heads of two units were completely crushed.
"Do you know how they were damaged?"
Since both Manon and Maquina were crafted by Jin, they stood on equal footing.
Accordingly, whenever no third parties were present, they spoke to each other casually.
"I am told that roughly fifty years ago, a massive mine collapse occurred in the Celuroa Kingdom, and the Safi units dispatched to assist with the rescue efforts were caught in a secondary cave-in."
"I see."
Naturally, Laojun—the brain of Hourai Island—and Mentor, the administrative magi-brain controlling Maquina, already knew the story. The question was merely meant to verify whether the facts had been preserved accurately within Avalon.
Had they tried to deceive them or cover it up, one course of action under the worst-case scenario would have been to reclaim the Safi units entirely.
However, Avalon had made no attempt to conceal the truth.
"That's a passing grade for now, then," Maquina muttered, setting to work on the nearest Safi.
"Safi 17, is it? The skeletal frame is warped, and the magi-circuits are severed....'Forming.' 'Fusion.'...All right."
Maquina briskly pushed forward with the repairs.
"Rei, hold this part in place."
"Yes. Like this?"
"That's good. 'Bonding.'"
At the same time, Maquina made a show of replacing the control cores... while actually using "Trans Info" to update their data.
"'Trans Info.'"
Depending on the extent of the damage, each unit took roughly five minutes to restore.
A few were missing portions of their exterior chassis, but that posed no real issue for the repairs.
To an ordinary craftsman, however, such repairs would have been impossible. It made complete sense why Laojun had considered it hardly serious damage by his master's standards, Maquina—or rather, the Mentor piloting him—reflected.
It was just past 11:00 a.m. by the time they finished the nineteenth unit. In under two hours, nineteen units had been repaired and their control cores updated.
"Now then, what should we do about the remaining eighty-one?"
The operational Safi units were scattered throughout Avalon, assigned to duties in places like the dining hall or handling general maintenance and cleaning.
Because of that, abruptly pulling them all away from their posts at once would cause disruptions.
Just then, Manon spoke up.
"In that case, why not rotate them in sequence with the ones that have already been updated?"
Manon suggested swapping out the active units one by one, starting from the lowest numbers, using the updated Safi as replacements.
"I can handle that level of coordination using my built-in manacam."
"All right, let's go with that."
Thus, they arranged to summon the remaining eighty-one units in batches to perform their maintenance and updates.
Since each one also took around five minutes, the entire process could theoretically have wrapped up in under seven hours. However, since working without a single break would appear far too unnatural for a "human," they spaced the work out with reasonable pauses, meaning they could not finish everything that day.
As it turned out, the number of unserviced Safi units left over was precisely nineteen.
"Thank you for your hard work, Maquina-dono."
At 7:00 p.m., after Maquina had finished his "meal," Tomax Bartman came by to offer his appreciation.
"We managed to finish about two-thirds of them. Getting through all of them today was a bit beyond us."
Hearing Maquina say that, Tomax Bartman hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, no, not at all! I never imagined you could make so much progress in such a short time. That is already extraordinarily fast!"
Maquina smiled and replied:
"We will resume tomorrow morning around eight."
With that, he retired to the guest quarters.
Left behind, Tomax Bartman demonstrated his thoughtful nature by checking in with his secretary, Manon:
"Maquina-dono isn't overworking himself, is he?"
Meanwhile, on Hourai Island, Jin was reviewing Maquina's findings alongside Laojun.
"The way they were damaged... It was only two of them, but the state they were in is concerning."
Their heads had been crushed flat.
"Indeed, My Lord. Regarding the major accident fifty years ago, it may well have been artificially caused."
"How so?"
"It was officially recorded as a mine collapse, but secondary and tertiary cave-ins followed. The two Safi units appear to have been caught in the secondary collapse."
"I heard that much."
"Furthermore, evidence suggests that the subsequent collapses were intended to destroy evidence."
Given that fifty years had passed and none of the individuals involved were still alive, the truth remained shrouded in darkness, Laojun explained apologetically.
"So that's what happened. Well, as long as we know the reason, that's enough."
So long as the Safi units hadn't been mistreated through neglect, Jin was satisfied.
"Everything else seems fine, then. The storage conditions for the damaged units weren't bad either."
They hadn't simply been cast aside to gather dust.
"Regarding that, My Lord, it appears members of the Go-lab have been visiting the repository regularly to clean them."
"Oh?"
"Of course, they did not merely clean them; they seem to have been studying their internal structure as well."
The Safi were Adriana-style golems. It was only natural that the researchers at the Go-lab would want to examine their craftsmanship for reference.
"...In that case, why don't we carry out tomorrow's maintenance with the Go-lab present to observe?"
"That will reduce work efficiency. Would that be acceptable?"
Tasks that took five minutes would likely stretch to around fifteen, Laojun pointed out.
"It's not as though it's an urgent emergency, so that should be fine."
"Understood. I shall instruct Mentor to conduct the maintenance on the remaining nineteen units in the presence of the Go-lab."
"Thanks. I'll leave it to you."
Back in Avalon, once Tomax Bartman received Maquina's proposal and contacted the Go-lab, the response was immediate.
"Oh! What wonderful news! Everyone, listen up! Tomorrow, we'll take turns observing the repairs!"
The lab members were reported to be thoroughly thrilled by the opportunity.