'Robin' had always possessed a rather shallow grasp of Elation.
The blame lay mostly with the Masked Fools.
To a man, they were either busy stirring up trouble or currently en route to do so.
Even the one who had defected to Destruction was bored enough to spend ages micromanaging a battlefield, all just to ensure the enemy's front lines formed a coherent sentence.
Besides, the power she carried hadn't exactly been earned through her own efforts.
Aha had simply shoved it into her hands.
Consequently, whenever 'Robin' actually thought about the Path of Elation and tried to use it for something productive, she found herself completely at a loss.
Fortunately, Sparkle was more than happy to help.
"Oh, bestie! You finally remembered me! I've been bored to tears lately at Pier Point..."
Over the comms, Sparkle was sprawled across a sofa, her cheeks puffed out as if she were about to spontaneously combust from sheer monotony.
'Robin' raised an eyebrow.
"Lost interest in Oswaldo?"
"Fifty-fifty. Mostly, since that guy got back from Amphoreus, he's stopped being such a workaholic. I can't even find an opening to mess with him."
Sparkle threw her hands up in frustration.
It was hard to tell if Oswaldo was intentionally snubbing Sparkle or if he was just brewing some massive scheme, but since his setback at Amphoreus, he had become uncharacteristically quiet at Pier Point.
This left Sparkle with zero opportunities to cause chaos.
"The IPC executives are so dull... I've been thinking about just blowing the whole place up and calling it a day."
Sparkle didn't seem the least bit concerned that the Strategic Investment Department might be listening in. She prattled on loudly over the channel.
"So, it's lucky you came to find me, sister. Ask me anything you want about Elation~"
Sparkle gave 'Robin' a playful, flippant wink.
While Sparkle wasn't particularly thrilled by 'Robin's' idea of spreading Harmony, she was very interested in the result she wanted to achieve.
Plus, the content 'Robin' envisioned broadcasting possessed a certain abstract beauty—one that Sparkle was genuinely looking forward to seeing.
Thanks to Sparkle's guidance, 'Robin' finally began to deepen her understanding of Elation.
On the surface, Elation always seemed to manifest as a joke, but Elation itself was not synonymous with the joke.
There was a vast gulf between the two.
While most Masked Fools spent their time chasing various forms of amusement like a bunch of trolls, the core of Elation was actually about seeking meaning and defying Nihility.
Of course, at its extreme, this manifested as completely illogical behavior and meaningless actions.
Yet, those meaningless actions themselves possessed the power to trigger unpredictable change and chaos, thereby imbuing a predetermined process with greater significance.
It sounded a bit circular—it could be simplified as using laughter and chaos to wage war against nihilism.
'Robin' had heard this sort of analysis in her past life, but knowing something and truly understanding it were two different things.
With the help of the Masked Fool herself, and the Fool's Mask 'Robin' wore, she finally grasped the concept on a fundamental level.
It was this sliver of insight that allowed 'Robin' to finally understand why Aha had gone through the trouble of resurrecting Order and Propagation within the Simulated Universe.
Still, business was business.
Even if her understanding of Elation had leveled up, it didn't mean 'Robin' was suddenly going to start looking for cheap thrills.
When Sparkle heard 'Robin' say as much, she looked absolutely dumbfounded.
"...Hold on, bestie. Do you even see the kind of work you're doing right now?"
"I have my reasons for these choices. I'm not doing this just for a laugh. It's not the same as the pure trolling that comes with Elation," 'Robin' countered, her logic sound.
In Sparkle's eyes, however, the explanation was moot.
No matter how she phrased it, at the end of the day, she was still out there having a blast. And she was clearly enjoying herself.
The more she tried to explain it away, the guiltier she looked.
Well...
Ignoring Sparkle's misconceptions, 'Robin' did find some genuine inspiration after trying to tap into the power of Elation.
First, there was the theory.
For Aha, the stagnation brought about by stability and order was loathsome; thus, THEY emphasized the value of change and chaos.
Aha had dragged Ena's Dream from the Simulated Universe into reality, allowing a simulated Propagation to birth an Eighth Lord Ravager that shouldn't have existed, and a simulated Order to force a change in the supposedly immutable Harmony.
It was hard to judge whether these events were good or bad, but they undoubtedly stirred up a state of chaos.
Setting aside the fact that a Legion bolstered by new power would naturally cause havoc, the shift in Harmony was destined to bring the friction between the Family and the Galaxy Rangers to the surface.
What 'Robin' intended to do now was to use the power of Elation to further accelerate that change within Harmony.
She wanted to stir the pot of a Harmony that had clearly gone wrong—whether that wrongness was an internal flaw or some 'Cancer of Harmony' introduced by outside forces.
Only by provoking change could the underlying problems be forced into the light.
This line of thinking perfectly aligned with the philosophy of Elation.
If Aha could drag a fake dream into reality, then 'Robin' using Elation to broadcast Harmony's power through recorded songs and devices was, at least logically, feasible.
Even if she couldn't pull it off alone, Aha would likely lend a hand just to see it happen.
Once the concept took shape, the rest was just a matter of execution. 'Robin's' super-brain could handle the heavy lifting.
As for Sparkle... she was promptly conscripted.
Even though 'Robin' had gained some insight into Elation, she couldn't match a veteran Fool's expertise. She needed Sparkle's cooperation for the finer details.
Fortunately, Sparkle was bored enough to blow something up anyway, so she happily rushed to Amphoreus to watch this bizarre plan come together.
She even decided to use her IPC executive clearance to give these upcoming "abstract" songs a deluxe promotion package.
"So, which account are you using? The old Director Sparkle one? Or a new one?" Sparkle asked during a break. Since she was going to have the IPC push the content, she needed a specific handle.
"Or, hey, why don't you borrow Herta's virtual idol account? I bet the traffic would explode!"
"...Oh, it would explode, alright. And then Herta would tie me to a rocket and explode me right along with it."
'Robin' flatly refused Sparkle's blatant attempt to stir up drama. But Sparkle didn't give up, leaning in with a seductive whisper.
"Aw, come on, bestie~ Don't tell me you don't want to see that cold, haughty Herta singing 'Hachimi Mambo' in a video?"
"..."
To be fair, 'Robin' did feel a momentary pang of temptation.
That Virtual Idol Herta project was mostly run by AI Herta and some puppets.
The persona was based on the real Herta but tweaked to be slightly more cheerful. If that account started posting these kinds of abstract performances...
The sheer "gap moe" would be legendary in all the wrong ways.
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T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL