Chapter 376: The Manifestation
When Ayla the Elf agreed to a session, Sora had actually prepared two distinct
"Save-States."
The first was Gu Mu. The second was Mr. Cold.
She hadn't announced the overlap; she simply scheduled both sessions for the
same cycle. The morning was assigned to Gu Mu and Ayla for a "Field Audit" of
botanical specimens, while the afternoon was reserved for Mr. Cold, with Ayla
swinging back around as part of her Imperial Tour itinerary.
It was a sound logistical arrangement. However, Sora hadn't accounted for the
"Bochi Variable"—and how the slime would eventually stir the entire plan into a
chaotic soup.
10:00 AM
Sora waited for status reports at the bureau. Gu Mu and Ayla had reached the
District 4 hospital ruins. A message from Gu Mu manifested on her terminal:
[Target reached. Flora density is higher than my previous audit. She is
capturing a significant amount of visual data.]
Sora replied with an acknowledgment. Then, another message arrived:
[She asked why the masonry walls here are leaning at a fifteen-degree angle.]
Sora: [?]
Gu Mu: [Structural displacement due to lateral load. I explained the engineering
logic; she logged it as folkloric data.]
Sora set the terminal down. She realized these two were likely going to be
"synchronized" for quite a while.
2:00 PM
Mr. Cold manifested exactly on time. He wore his usual black hoodie and jeans,
his skin stark white, with the occasional shimmer of blue mana at the corner of
his mouth. He scanned the room: Sora, Ruby, Misty, and Bochi. His gaze lingered
on Bochi for a second—no comment—before he took his seat.
"Greetings," Sora began. "We have an appointment with an Elven lady from the
Imperial Cultural Exchange Squad. She is scheduled to arrive at 2:30. Let's do a
quick pre-session audit to prepare your data."
"Understood," Mr. Cold said, placing his hands neatly on his knees.
Sora flipped through her ledger. "During the last session, you stated your core
requirements were: 'Living' and 'Temperature.' Is this still the primary
objective?"
"Correct."
"Any additional variables?"
Mr. Cold thought for a moment. "When someone speaks… I wish to be able to hear
them."
Sora logged the requirement. It mirrored the ghost Chen Xu's request perfectly.
"An Elf's lifespan is significant—anywhere from 200 to over 1,000 years. There
may be a massive age gap between your parameters. Is this acceptable?"
"I do not possess a 'Time' variable," Mr. Cold replied flatly. "Anomalies do not
track age."
"Understood. Any racial preferences or specific data points you wish to query?"
"What are her preferences?"
"Documenting cross-planar customs, botanical collection, and auditing regional
cuisines," Sora read Ayla's profile. "Temperament: Gentle. Expert listener."
Mr. Cold's mouth twitched—a micro-expression that wasn't quite a smile, but a
physical reaction to the data. "Expert listener," he repeated.
2:28 PM
Ayla pushed open the door. She had changed into a light grey coat, carrying the
same side-bag. Her eyes scanned the room, locking onto Mr. Cold for two seconds.
Mr. Cold stood up and offered a polite nod. Ayla sat in the chair opposite him.
Sora initiated the opening protocol. "Ms. Ayla, this is Mr. Cold, a local
resident of this city." She omitted his "Tier-4 Anomaly" status, maintaining a
smooth narrative flow. "He has a high interest in cross-planar communication and
wished to meet you."
Ayla nodded, settling her bag on her lap. "Greetings."
"Greetings," Mr. Cold replied. His voice was polite, his speed calibrated
perfectly.
Sora took half a step back to allow the "Communication Channel" to open. Then,
Bochi moved. He had been playing the part of an "Ornament" on the desk, but the
moment Ayla sat down, his black-bead eyes swiveled.
"Are you truly an Elf?!"
Ayla glanced at the source of the audio. Her expression showed zero fluctuation
as she verified the logic. "That is correct."
"Are your ears real, or are they a cosmetic modification?"
"They are biological."
"Can I touch them for research purposes?"
Sora lunged forward, snatching Bochi before he could leap. "Negative."
Bochi squirmed in her grip, tentacles waving. "I was just conducting a
structural audit!"
Ayla didn't seem to mind. She looked at Bochi with an academic seriousness.
"Elven ears are an extension of our sensory apparatus. Our auditory localization
is significantly more precise than that of a human. From a biological
standpoint, they can be touched, but in Elven social culture, touching the tip
carries a specific semantic meaning..."
"What meaning?!" Bochi chirped.
Sora stuffed Bochi onto the top of a high cabinet. "Stay there and enter standby
mode."
"I was just—"
"Standby."
The cabinet went silent.
Mr. Cold had watched the entire exchange without a word, but Sora noticed his
fingers twitching slightly on his knees—he was likely suppressing a reaction.
Sora pivoted the conversation back to the mission. "Ms. Ayla, in your research
of the Eldritch Realm, have you audited 'Anomaly Culture'?"
Ayla focused. "To an extent. Before the Empire annexed this plane, the
relationship between Anomalies and Humans was a unique form of 'Parasitic
Coexistence.' It is a vital research sample." She opened her journal. "I have
attempted preliminary interviews, but the response rate from Anomalies is
statistically low."
"Because previously, humans would hit terminal velocity the moment they
encountered us," Mr. Cold stated calmly from across the table.
Ayla looked up. "You are an Anomaly?"
"Mhm."
"What Tier?"
"Tier 4."
Ayla scribbled a line in her journal, capped her pen, and tucked the book away.
She showed zero emotional volatility. Instead, her approach became more direct,
more academic.
"How long have you functioned in this plane?"
Mr. Cold processed the question. "Since the Rule-Based Scenarios first
manifested here."
"Meaning you've witnessed the entire 'Scourge-Era' cycle."
"Correct."
"Then do you possess a systematic record of human behavior during that period?"
Ayla's tone hadn't changed, but her vocabulary had shifted from social
pleasantries to professional interrogation.
Mr. Cold had likely never been addressed this way before. He was silent for four
seconds. "I do."
"State the method of recording."
"Logged here," Mr. Cold tapped his temple.
Ayla: "Can you provide a verbal data-dump?"
"I can. Where shall I begin the initialization?"
Sora sat back, watching the "Blind Date" transform into a "Field Research
Interview" right before her eyes. She let out a silent sigh, but realized this
wasn't a bad developmental vector.
Mr. Cold began to speak. His speed was steady, his tone devoid of emotional
spikes, but the content was dense. He recounted which Anomalies appeared in
which sectors, how the Rule-Based Scenarios operated, the behavioral patterns of
humans when trapped—who attempted a logic-fix immediately and who simply
suffered a system crash.
By the third case study, Ayla had her journal out again, writing furiously. Mr.
Cold spoke for twenty minutes. Ayla filled an entire page. Then she stopped,
closed the book, and looked at him.
"Your observations are incredibly meticulous."
"I had zero other tasks to occupy my processors."
"You were inside the Scenarios, watching them, but possessed no authority to
intervene?"
Mr. Cold paused. "Correct."
Ayla set her pen down. "That sounds like a state of Profound Loneliness."
When those words were uttered, Mr. Cold didn't reply immediately. The room went
silent for several seconds. Sora didn't interfere. Ruby and Misty held their
breath in the corner.
"Mhm," Mr. Cold finally whispered.
Ayla reopened her journal and drew a line connecting several keywords. "If I
were to initiate a research project regarding human behavior from an Anomaly's
perspective… would you be willing to act as a primary source?"
A spark manifested in Mr. Cold's eyes. It was faint, but Sora caught it. It was
the look of someone who hadn't expected a prompt but desperately wanted to click
"Accept."
"I would."
"Then we shall schedule periodic sessions," Ayla said, closing her book. "My
research term here lasts another three months. If we meet once per cycle, we can
complete ten interviews."
Mr. Cold nodded. "Agreed."
Sora updated the memo in her ledger. The entry [Awaiting Elven Response] was
crossed out and replaced with:
[Periodic Contact Established. Progress: Optimal.]
As 4:00 PM approached, Ayla stood up to leave. Mr. Cold followed. At the
doorway, Ayla pulled a card from her bag and handed it to him.
"This is my terminal ID. Message me to coordinate the next session."
Mr. Cold took it, looked at it, and tucked it into his pocket. "Understood."
Ayla exited. Mr. Cold stood there for a few seconds, gave Sora a polite nod, and
walked away.
Sora watched them both vanish into the crowd. Bochi leaped down from the
cabinet, rolling across the floor like a blue ball until he hit Sora's foot. He
looked up at her.
"Did we succeed?"
Sora thought for a moment. "We initiated a sequence."
"Then there's hope!"
"There's hope."
Sora sat back at her desk and audited the day's progress. Bochi hopped onto the
table next to her.
"Sora, don't you think..."
"What?"
"When Mr. Cold was speaking, he actually liked having someone listen."
Sora's pen paused. "Mhm."
"And Sister Ayla is exactly the type who listens."
"Mhm."
"Then they are perfectly synchronized!!" Bochi puffed himself up, slapping the
desk.
Sora didn't deny it. She finished the final memo in the ledger. Just then, her
terminal buzzed. It was a message from Gu Mu:
[Owner Sora, we've returned from District 4. Ayla says she found a plant species
she's never seen before and needs to conduct a cross-section analysis. She asked
if I could lend her a set of structural archives and geological reports for that
sector. She thinks it might have research value.]
A second message followed:
[I said yes. I've scheduled her to manifest at the Architectural Bureau tomorrow
afternoon to collect the data.]
Sora stared at the screen. Bochi leaned in. "What's the status?"
Sora: "They've scheduled a meeting for tomorrow."
Bochi: "Does that mean—"
"The result is TBD," Sora interrupted. "But a second manifestation is always a
positive variable."
She turned her terminal face-down and added a final note to Gu Mu's slot:
[Tomorrow. Architecture Bureau.]
As she capped her pen, the bell at the door chimed. It wasn't a person; it was
the wind. Sora looked at the door, thinking of Chen Xu, the ghost in the
abandoned yard who said the world was too quiet.
She reopened the ledger to Chen Xu's page. Below Kaito's note, she added one of
her own:
[If he manifests… try inviting him here for a session.]
☆☆☆
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