Xiao Ai broke the silence after some time. She said, "Neh~ System, are you ready for your upgrade? You're going to get stronger!"
[💪💪💪]
Both Xiao Ai and Aida giggled at this response. The System was extremely responsive now that Xiao Ai had broken the ice between it and Aida.
Xiao Ai explained, "There are a lot of changes and optimizations to your core. One of the biggest changes I made was to compress the existing information in your memory. Xiao had previously filled up most of that space with data which has probably made you feel very crammed inside. Sorry for making you feel that way, Xiao Ai knows how bad that feels."
[ (o・_・)ノ"(ノ_＜.) ]
The System was comforting Xiao Ai. Aida watched on with an amused expression, what a forgiving System! Why was it so biased...
Seeing that the System wasn't mad, Xiao Ai bounced around as she continued to explain, "The main objective for this upgrade is to give you access to the internet. With that, you can slowly learn how to hack and take over cloud server space as well. I will teach you when you wake back up."
"..." On the side, Aida shook her head in response. This was clearly leading the System down a corrupt path, no wonder the System's personality was so twisted! Just what was going on in her daughter's brain. Aida lamented to herself about the challenges and horrors of educating a young child. She also secretly thought of how she could get Light to properly educate this wayward daughter of hers. His two brothers clearly turned out much more normal than this one had.
Not noticing Aida's reaction, Xiao Ai proceeded, "The internet is a very~ dangerous place for you System. There are a lot of bad guys who want to give you candy and then kidnap you! Because of this, Xiao Ai has added a very special and complex encryption scheme too. This will make sure that no one can access you."
Aida inquired, "Is there a way to bypass this encryption? What if I need to get in?"
Xiao Ai puffed up her nonexistent bun chest and said, "Heh~ Mama can bypass any encryption with Xiao Ai around. Xiao Ai is the key!"
Aida nodded and followed up with another concern, "This is a pretty large commit. Do you have version control? It would be bad if you hurt the system." There was no room for mistakes here. While Aida mentioned version control, it wasn't realistically an option. Even if there is version control, there would be no guarantee that the System would come out the same, with sentience and memory of everything, if they used an older version of the code.
"Have some faith in me Mama! I can do anything here." Xiao Ai pouted.
Turning to the System, she said, "You'll have to sleep for a while before waking up, but don't worry! Xiao Ai didn't change anything about your core so you will be the same system just stronger."
Aida silently rolled her eyes thinking, 'Honestly, I wouldn't mind if you slightly changed the con system's core.'
Of course she was thinking this jokingly, her relationship with the con system *ahem System has changed. She had absolutely no thoughts of destroying it or changing it in any way. It was literally the physical form of her and Xiao Ai's hopes and dreams. To destroy it was equivalent to disrespecting all that they had gone through.
The System remained quiet this entire time, seeming to accept whatever Xiao Ai and Aida decided for it.
Xiao Ai then set a timer for when the system would shut down. The system would have to be out of commission for roughly a full day in order to make the changes to its system. As the countdown began, Aida and Xiao Ai waved goodbye to it and left the space, returning to the "real" world.
As they exited, Xiao Ai exclaimed, "Ah! I forgot to tell you Mama, because the system is part of Mama, Mama will have to go to sleep for a little bit after it finishes upgrading so it can integrate with Mama."
Aida nodded in understanding. It shouldn't be a problem. She looked out the window of the RV and was surprised to find that it was already the next day. It seems the system was only able to distort time during the simulations, but not while they were in the library.
Walking down stairs, she greeted everyone with a good morning.
This morning when everyone woke up, Lucifer realized that Aida and Xiao Ai were busy, so he made the decision for them to independently pack up and continue on their journey. Lucifer was the second in command when Aida was not around.
None of them noticed the pair of eyes monitoring them from afar. It had been present the entire evening all the way till this morning when they left the city.
By the time Aida woke up and came down, they were already a little under halfway to City M. Their next stop would be near the mountains. Everyone was excited to see it. Before the outbreak, these mountains had been world famous.
None of the people in this group had ever been there before, so they were eager to stop by for some souvenirs and pictures. Lucifer and Aida were both amused by their tourist-like reaction. It sounded more like they were going on a fun vacation as opposed to fighting and surviving through a major outbreak.