197: The Operating System Unfolds

"Vee. Depending on the situation, I think I might have to jump over there alone. What do you think?"

"...Yes. Depending on how things develop from here, that option should also be considered."

I'll keep the main body positioned near the Sixth Primordial Colony.

Considering Magatsuki's sharpness, I'd rather not make direct contact with my main body, but depending on how things unfold on-site, it might actually be more effective overall to have me intervene and attempt destruction rather than risk greater damage.

And currently, Magatsuki is doing something within the individual colony...

"Lord Vee, Lord Sata. The peacekeeping force is en route, so please wait a little longer. It's quite sufficient to proceed once we've confirmed the situation on site, even if only temporarily."

"I understand. That's why I've stopped upon approaching the Sixth Primordial Colony."

My main body has arrived near the Sixth Primordial Colony.

From what I could see from the Ether Space, the partially constructed 'Jichikaneto' showed no signs of movement, but several of the surrounding military vessels appeared to be moving, heading toward the personal colony where Magatsuki is likely located.

If the Imperial forces guarding the 'Jichikaneto' are better equipped than other units and are aware of Magatsuki's presence, they could potentially do anything.

That was the moment I thought to myself.

"Ugh..."

"This... this can't be..."

"W-What is this!? Seriously!?"

"…!?!"

From the individual colony where Magatsuki was likely located, a domain of a different OS spread out with incredible force and thickness.

The domain split the sixth primal colony, which looked like a flat board from a distance, and expanded so widely it seemed to swallow part of the massive 'Jichikaneto'.

For about ten seconds, the area continued to expand... gradually vanishing as if being swallowed by 'Vanilla OS'.

"Let me check the situation. From the level I can see from my main body, there's no damage confirmed."

There was no effect on the Ether Space where I was.

The sixth primal colony, 'Jichikaneto', and the spacecraft caught in the event showed no visible changes in appearance.

At first glance, there doesn't seem to be any obvious damage.

"There's no anomaly in the log, but several reports have come in from machine intelligences inside the sixth primal colony—during domain expansion, they experienced a sensation of consciousness fading."

"We're fine here. The 'Hishui Mirror' isn't affected either."

The machine intelligences were affected.

But it's not life-threatening.

In that case, the same should apply to other humans as well.

"Is Vee okay?"

"I'm fine. Probably just because my vision is too sharp. I could sense a pressure suggesting something had happened in the Sixth Prime Colony, even from here."

"Don't push yourself too hard."

"It's fine. Honestly, I was mostly just surprised."

Perhaps Viridiana was affected because the visual-related mod was too strong.

If that's the case, humans with multiple sensory enhancements like Viridiana might also be impacted.

But that effect would likely be temporary, and probably not life-threatening on its own.

"Miss Vee. We've managed to contact the local site, and it seems ordinary people there aren't aware of any abnormalities."

"Then, it seems reasonable to interpret this as a form of interference specifically targeting certain individuals."

After all, most people wouldn't even notice that different OS realms have been activated.

Well, if there aren't any extraordinary phenomena like event ruptures occurring, it's only natural that they wouldn't realize it.

"That's right. Probably because our movements were too fast, Magatsuki somehow detected our method of perception. And what just happened was likely a counterattack against our detection method."

"I see. Maybe they overwhelmed our perception system with an overwhelming amount of information? Or perhaps they escaped using a method we couldn't detect by teleporting within the deployed area?"

They might be targeting both. The destruction aspect won't work well due to the high performance of the 'Hishui Kyō', but even so, if Magatsuki managed to teleport within that area, we wouldn't be able to track their movements.

Let's check inside the personal colony right away. If Magatsuki isn't there, they're most likely hiding in either the Sixth Primeval Colony or within 'Jichikaneto'.

It seemed the Imperial Navy ships heading toward the personal colony had slightly accelerated their movement in response to Virijanila's request.

At the same time, through Memoku, the machine intelligences had begun moving, launching a coordinated search for any suspicious activity within the Sixth Primeval Colony and 'Jichikaneto'.

"...Yes, then. Satu. As soon as the Imperial Fleet's ship docks with the personal colony, please transfer onto the docked ship and assist with the internal search."

"Understood."

Apparently, Vilijaniela had already secured permission.

My clearance to proceed to the site had been granted.

So I began preparing for the transfer.

"Vee. I know you understand without me saying it..."

"Yes, until Satā returns, we won’t leave this room, and we won’t receive any visitors. Now that the situation has shifted, we must maintain maximum vigilance."

"Yeah, that goes without saying. I’m off then."

The ship docked with the individual colony.

I saw the entrance to the sealed individual colony being breached by explosive force.

So I teleported to the location designated by Vilijanira.