Her long, dark hair floated over her head in that cylindrical liquid tank of hers. Her white dress covered her body, with those eyes of hers closed the entire time.
She appeared to be dead somewhat, but Klaus and Mommy had suggested otherwise.
Amaltheia's skin was strangely white, almost resembling the white walls of the room.
"What is she?" I mumbled.
I felt the need to know more about her, as I found myself amazed at that person.
Which was weird, since I never took interest in anyone else other than Mommy, Daddy, and Ava. Amaltheia, on the other hand, succeeded in doing that.
"H-Help! Someone!"
I turned my head to that man's voice when an Ancile cut him from behind with its Aegis's blade. The scientist dropped to the floor and a few more Anciles appeared from the sliding glass door.
Mommy gaped. "What the--"
Klaus trembled and took cover behind Mommy. "A-Alicia! Do something!"
One of the Anciles lunged at another scientist but plummeted to the ground hard. My blood-red crystals from my right arm had knocked it down.
I extended the reach of my crystals and it formed a misshapen wall around the Anciles, forcing them to group at the entrance.
Mommy bit her nail, narrowing her eyes at them. "A malfunction? This hasn't happened before."
"It'd be a waste to destroy them, A-Alicia," said Klaus. "They're not easy to be manufactured."
I cleared my throat and looked at that man. "I don't think we have any other choice. Right, Mommy?"
She nodded and gestured for me to take them down.
"If you please, Aya."
"Alright, Mommy."
I trotted to the Anciles while my Aegis wall opened up a bit for me to go in.
INITIATING COMBAT SEQUENCE.
Two Anciles jumped and swung their white Aegis blades at me. The spikes elongated in time and pierced those two out of my way. The remaining three darted with a blinding speed.
Taking into account their capabilities, my forehead produced a clump of blood-red crystals. It sprayed a clear liquid at my mouth and I gulped.
That ability was another 'mutation' of my specialty. It increased the durability of anyone who drank it.
The Anciles were right in front of me, thrusting their blades.
Fortunately, the spikes on my Aegis wall had deflected their attacks.
Seeing an opening, my left arm instantly manifested a large, crystal gauntlet and I punched one of them.
Its body blew into pieces from the strike.
The other Ancile stopped for a moment to assess the situation, which was an obvious weakness for them when in combat.
My gauntlet shifted form into a claw and swiped at that last Ancile, shredding it apart.
The metals poured out and fell to the floor.
"I did it . . ."
I took a few deep breaths with my eyes darted at each cranny and nook of the room. The scientists were frozen in place while Mommy smiled at me.
I breathed out and retracted my Aegis crystals back into my body.
"You did well, Aya," said Mommy as she approached me.
"What happened to those Anciles?" said Klaus as he went over to examine the broken parts of them.
"System Breakdown, I suppose," answered Mommy. "Robert's dead, huh?"
Klaus sighed and closed the eyes of the dead scientist. "This is the first case. Anciles have A.I that regulate and operate under a system that we have imposed on it. If I have to deduce the cause, it has to be due to the manufacturing process."
Mommy nodded. "I think so too. Perhaps some parts malfunctioned when they were assembled. These Anciles are new anyway, so that has to be it."
Klaus stood up and looked at Mommy with a serious expression. "I'll check the manufacturing data for the past week."
"You do that. I'll get the others to examine these Anciles."
"Yeah. Thank you, Alicia."
Klaus walked out of the room and Mommy proceeded to examine the broken Anciles.
"What's wrong with it, Mommy?" I asked as my hands carefully picked up a metal shard belonging to one of it.
Mommy swept a portion of the metal pieces to the side and focused on only one body of Ancile. She fiddled with its head, thoroughly checking each and every side of it.
"You guys help too!" she shouted.
The other scientists who were frozen in place before rushed to Mommy's side and nimbly picked up the broken pieces. Most of them had put it into a transparent bag to be examined further. A few of them carried the dead scientist, Robert, out of the room quick.
"Come here, Aya."
I sat next to Mommy as she showed a blue sphere the size of a dice to me.
"What do you think about it?" she asked.
I shook my head. "It's the A.I compressed chip, right Mommy? Other than that, I don't know what's wrong with it."
"Ah, you see. This A.I chip is perfectly fine after you destroyed those Anciles."
"Oh . . . does that mean I did not hit them hard enough?"
"No, that's not it. Usually, after the host, which the Ancile itself, stopped functioning, the chip destroys itself. It will not look as good as this one."
I closed my eyes as I thought about what Mommy meant.
But it did not do me any good.
"I still don't understand," I muttered.
Mommy looked up for a second and back at me. "Someone is controlling these Anciles by utilizing the A.I chips. It cannot destroy itself if those Anciles are manually controlled, which can only be done by using the machinery in the factory."
My eyes widened at that revelation. "So . . . someone back in that factory controlled it? But for what purpose?"
"That, I'm not sure, Aya. But I cannot just point anyone I like in this case. I'm afraid we have to check the surveillance cameras in the manufacturing section."
"Oh, okay," I agreed.
Mommy continued to examine the Anciles while I took a glance back at Amathelia.
I did not know why, but my mind was focused too much on her. Perhaps any Aegis Users that had seen her also reacted like me.
Mommy did the same too when she gazed at Amathelia a few minutes ago.
The first Aegis User somehow attracted the other Aegis Users one way or another.
I had a feeling if Ava went into that room, I was sure she would react the same.