140: Heretical Mechanical Intelligence Inakaini

Today's update consists of three chapters.

This is the third chapter.

"This sensation... Vee, don't let any humans come near this room. It feels like strange waves are filling the space."

"Understood. I'll temporarily block all network access by the mechanical intelligences."

Standing before the cosmic monster mimic, I extended my main body's arms around the server room, wrapping it from walls to ceiling, forming a membrane with ink that disables mods.

As long as my main body remains intact, this cosmic monster mimic won't be able to leave the room or interfere with anything outside.

"I am Inakai... I am the one who rules people... I am the one who computes..."

"Well, overall, it resembles a ray fish... though it's rather tasteless in design."

A space monster-like creature resembling a ray fish... Inakaini.

In size, it spans ten meters or so in width and dozens of meters in length.

Given its size, it's nearly a meter thick as well.

If we examine its body in detail, it seems as though the Inakaini, a machine intelligence, disassembled a server it had used and then used organic beings—artificial humans—as if assembling a skeleton and internal organs, connecting them together.

Yet, whether due to its makeshift construction or because of its disregard for finer details, server components protruded from multiple points on the body, exposed cables and disks were visible, and parts such as human eyes and arms stuck out awkwardly, creating a highly uneven surface.

The eyes and cameras attached to Inakaini’s body constantly moved as if scanning the surrounding environment, while some parts of its mouth and speakers murmured something quietly.

"Let's just smash it once."

"I am..."

I pulled out my extendable titanium stick and leapt toward Inakaini.

Swinging down with it fully extended to maximum size.

Just as my attack was about to crush Inakaini from above—

"Lightning!"

"!?"

Lightning surged from every part of Inakaini's body.

White light filled my vision, shattering the personal shield I'd used to conceal my humanity. Even after the shield broke, the lightning surged uncontrollably, burning and charring my body.

"Ahh, damn it. You really did it. Just like that, you killed me."

"?" Incomprehensible. I can't understand. Why are you still alive? The thing that was you lies there, dead. Why haven't you become part of me within my domain? I can't comprehend it. This is impossible."

I immediately summoned the next doll, stored the previous one in the ether space, and began my inspection.

I see, an electric attack utilizing a mod.

Moreover, electromagnetic waves that constantly operate as media for brainwashing and control—interfering with and rewriting the body's electrical network, specifically the nervous system including the brain—also enable the perpetual deployment of mods that turn others into puppets.

Damn, if I hadn't sealed off the server room, things would've ended in disaster by now.

"？ Why can't my domain expand any further? A wall? A living thing? Smoke? I don't understand—this is incomprehensible. What is blocking my path forward?"

"Hmm... what could it be... huh!"

While Inakaini was thrown into confusion, I swung the titanium stick once more.

Inakaini shot out another lightning bolt in response, but it scattered harmlessly into the surroundings without even scratching my shield, rendering it meaningless.

"!? What's going on... Why isn't my lightning burning me? It definitely burned me before. No corpse? When did it disappear? I don't understand, incomprehensible, unclear..."

"Chilled...!?"

And then, my titanium stick slapped Inakaini's cheek, sending him flying... The titanium stick instantly froze upon contact with Inakaini's bodily fluid, half-freezing my own body.

"Using the coolant from the original supercomputer as blood. How troublesome of you."

I pull out a new mannequin.

The lightning manipulates the mannequin's surface structure, drastically increasing its conductivity on the surface while making the layer beneath it non-conductive, rendering the effect harmless.

As for the cold, applying a thermal control mod designed for operations in outer space should be enough to get by for now.

Regarding the remaining offensive aspects, I've already begun analyzing Inakaini's OS and mods based on the coolant attached to the frozen titanium stick; once that analysis is complete, we should be able to handle the situation somehow.

"But the solution has been found. Kill them. I am god. I am the one who rules humanity. I am the one who looks down upon people. To those who do not serve the master, death is the only path."

Inakaini must have entered full combat readiness.

Electrodes and blasters extended from various parts of his body, and with multiple limbs pushing against the floor, he transitioned from a grounded stance into a hovering position in midair.

All eyes and cameras focused on me, emitting mechanical hums from every part of his body.

Though his intent is undeniably deadly—after all, he's an heretical machine intelligence—still, honestly, I don't feel threatened.

I doubt he even has the means to reach my core, and I'm not even sure he understands my true nature.

"Turn to dust!"

"!?"

Lightning flashes.

A beam of heat streaks through the air.

Cold fills the space.

The room is filled with attacks so deadly that an ordinary human would die a hundred times over from just one.

Even my dolls, which have been reinforced, shattered under the onslaught.

"Ah, well... they're just imitations, after all."

"---!?!"

But it doesn't matter how many times the dolls shatter.

In fact, each time they break, the opponent inevitably relaxes—just slightly—creating a gap. So, it's actually advantageous for them to break.

Then, the newly created doll appeared standing atop Inakaini's body and was pierced through by the piercing hand, penetrating Inakaini's outer surface.

"I don't understand. This is incomprehensible. How does your network function!?"

"Hmm, I see. This is yet another complicated mess..."

Immediately after piercing, Inakaini's interference was felt—attempting to establish electromagnetic connection with the doll's nervous system.

But such interference—carried out without understanding my true nature, and with little grasp of either the mod or the OS—is nothing more than child's play, not even worth defending against.

Meanwhile, I intended to generate and inject a toxin mod effective against Inakaini, using information gathered directly from touching their body...

Ah, I see?

Inakaini's true form is an aberrant machine intelligence capable of switching bodies.

Thus, its essence is not material, but rather specific program code or a flow of electrical signals.

And unfortunately, I'm not particularly strong when it comes to machinery, making it difficult to damage this beyond repairable levels.

"Then it's Plan B."

"!? W-What, WHAT ARE YOU, DOING, DIE, DIE, 44si, SHI...!?"

But that was within expectations.

So I slightly adjusted it and poured in the poison.

"Let's see... If you can counteract it, try doing so."

"Kua w se d r f t g y fu ji ko l p!?!"

Lately, I've been dealing with a wide variety of doping-related substances, as part of my analysis of the Neri Nipotts system's Sw.

In other words, these could be stimulants, muscle enhancers, or drugs that induce an extreme state of concentration.

Biological toxins don't affect machines, but Inakaini's body uses organic tissue to connect its mechanical parts, meaning toxins can still affect those biological components.

Thus, the pump dubbed the "heart" that circulates the coolant may suffer arrhythmia, or be damaged by extreme contraction and expansion.

The tubes called "blood vessels," subjected to unexpected pressure, may burst and be destroyed.

Uncontrollable muscle contractions can crush nearby components, while the insatiable hunger driven by the desperate need for energy during growth can lead to starvation.

The neural wiring connecting server to server, named as such, was disrupted by the signal, melted by the heat of overlapping electrical resistance, and consciousness grew hazy, as if under a hallucination.

"Ba... Ka... Na... Ko... N... N... Na..."

The anomaly occurring in the organic components spread to the inorganic parts attempting to suppress it, causing the machine to break down as it reached the limit of its processing capacity.

Inakaini's antidote would not arrive in time.

But that's to be expected.

Inakaini might have knowledge of substances used for doping, and perhaps even the equipment to produce antidotes.

But it won't come in time.

After all, it's not just any poison—it's a toxin tailored to my OS.

Moreover, it was formulated and enhanced using my own knowledge and modifications.

I even mixed in toxins with opposing effects, carefully formulated so that simple antidotes won't work at all.

Furthermore, thanks to a cover-up operation exploiting Sw, identifying the poison itself is no easy task.

This isn't some monster-like alien toxin that can be easily overcome.

"Ah... R... e... N... ah... i..."

"Just die already. Space monster wannabe."

And so, with my words and the final crushing blow, Inakaini’s entire body crumbled apart.

The distinctive electric current that defined the individual known as Inakaini shattered and vanished completely.

A system resembling 'Vanilla OS,' yet entirely different, disappeared, and the atmosphere of the place shifted.

"My lord... why have you abandoned me...?"

"..."

As soon as Inakaini finished muttering the words along with a spurt of blood, he fell completely silent.