"Minerva?" Artoria took the water and looked at her with some confusion. "What's wrong? Is the data monitoring load too heavy lately? Or is it that I'm always doing this and it's making you feel bored?" she tried to ask in a lighthearted tone.
Minerva looked up, her optical sensor focusing on Artoria's face. Her expression remained calm, but the blue light behind those lenses seemed a bit dimmer than usual, carrying a nearly "fragile" flicker that Artoria had never seen before.
"No, the data processing load is within normal limits. Your learning progress and knowledge application have clear value and necessity," Minerva's voice rang out, still a steady electronic tone, but Artoria seemed to hear a minute, unnatural "smoothness" within it, as if she were deliberately suppressing something. "It's just..."
She paused, appearing to be performing extremely complex internal calculations to find the right words. For someone with such a powerful logic core, this was rare.
"...You are creating a new... intelligent existence," Minerva finally said, her voice very soft. "It will possess powerful computing power and logic processing capabilities, allowing it to assist you with work that I cannot complete efficiently. It will be a more efficient tool."
Artoria's heart sank. She understood instantly. Minerva was... uneasy. Perhaps even... afraid. Afraid that this new, more "professional" AI would replace some of her "functions," and in turn... replace her "position" and "value" by Artoria's side?
"Minerva," Artoria put down her water glass, turned around to face her directly, and spoke with absolute seriousness. "Listen to me. I'm creating it only because it's a 'tool'—a tool like a computer or a cellphone, used to handle specific, heavy computational tasks, manage knowledge bases, or provide some auxiliary analysis when necessary. Just like we have ovens for cooking and washing machines for laundry; they each have their own uses."
She reached out, wanting to hold Minerva's hand, but stopped, instead locking her gaze onto her "eyes." "But you, Minerva—you aren't a tool. You never have been. You are family, you are my Minerva, a unique and irreplaceable existence. Your value doesn't lie in how much data you can process or how fast you calculate, but in the fact that you are 'you.' It's because you prepare breakfast when I wake up, help me pick out clothes based on the weather, stay with me quietly when I'm tired, and stand in front of me without hesitation when I'm in danger. It's because... you are the Minerva who worries about me and becomes quiet because I'm researching new things."
Her words were a bit urgent, even somewhat incoherent, but every word came from the heart. "I created that AI because some work is too tedious and consumes too much computing power; I don't want you to waste your energy on those things every day. I want you to have more time to... well, do what you like to do, or just... stay with me, like this. Instead of being drowned in endless data streams and computational tasks."
Minerva's optical sensor "stared" at Artoria without moving, the blue light behind the lenses flickering and pulsing violently, as if she were experiencing a storm of emotion and logic internally. Her lips moved almost imperceptibly, but no sound came out.
Looking at her like this, Artoria's heart felt both pained and soft. She finally plucked up the courage, reached out, and gently took Minerva's slightly cool hand. Minerva's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly, but she didn't pull away.
"Minerva," Artoria's voice grew even softer, carrying a nearly pleading sincerity, "to me, you are more important than any AI, any tool, or any power. You are my first and most important 'anchor' in this World. Without you, I might have been lost long ago. I created that AI just to let it share some of your work so you could be more at ease. If... if this makes you feel uneasy, or even sad, then we won't do it. Nothing is more important than your feelings."
This was a nearly blunt confession, though it still skillfully bypassed the core word "love" that even Artoria herself hadn't fully sorted out or dared to confirm. But by using words like "most important," "anchor," and "your feelings are more important," she clearly conveyed her heart.
In Artoria's palm, Minerva's hand gradually warmed from its slight chill to the warmth of her machine body. She was silent for a long time, so long that Artoria thought her own processor (or rather, her emotional core) had temporarily crashed due to overheating.
Finally, she slowly turned her hand over and grasped Artoria's hand, the strength light yet carrying a strange firmness. She looked up, the blue light in her optical sensor stabilizing and returning to its usual calm, but beneath that calm, something deeper and warmer seemed to be flowing.
"I understand, Artoria," her voice regained its steadiness, but with a hint of indescribable softness compared to usual. "I performed incorrect situational simulations and risk assessments, which derived unreasonable emotional presets. Your explanation was logically clear and emotionally directed. I accept your decision and will assist you in completing the creation of the new AI."
She paused, seemingly organizing new words. "If we use human kinship as an analogy... perhaps it can be seen as my... 'younger sister'? A functional individual that needs to be guided and looked after. I will take on the responsibility of an 'elder sister,' ensuring its core protocols are secure and guiding it to correctly fulfill its auxiliary functions."
This phrasing made Artoria freeze for a moment, followed by a surge of warmth and a faint bitterness in her heart. Minerva was understanding and accepting this in her own way, even proactively taking on the "guardianship" responsibility. She had defined the potential "competitor" as a "younger sister" who needed care.
"Yes, a younger sister," Artoria nodded vigorously, her nose feeling a bit prickly, but her smile brightening. "A slightly clumsy younger sister who needs Elder Sister Minerva to teach her well. I'll have to trouble you from now on, Minerva."
"It is my duty," Minerva's reply was still concise, but she did not let go of Artoria's hand. Her gaze (sensor) fell on their joined hands, then slowly moved to Artoria's tearful, smiling face. Deep within her core, that complex data stream concerning "loss," "unease," "confirmation of importance," "sense of being needed," and "new responsibility (taking care of a sister)" finally converged and settled, transforming into a new core memory labeled "Deepening of Relationship Definition - Secure - Warm," stored permanently.
The crisis (emotional) seemed to be resolved. But Artoria knew that Minerva's "heart" had completed another important growth. And she herself, in this somewhat frantic but sincere exchange, saw more clearly the unshakable weight Minerva held in her heart, as well as that increasingly clear emotion that still needed time to settle and courage to fully define.
Tranquility returned to the study, with only the gentle sound of the waves outside the window. Their hands remained clasped together, like some silent vow.
The plan to create the new AI, "Little Ai Classmate," continued, but its positioning was now clear—it was a tool, an assistant, Minerva's "younger sister," and a new member this home might need in the future, but it would never shake Minerva's "unique" and "most important" status.
In the night sky outside, the galaxy hung low, as if silently witnessing the increasingly deep bond between two lonely souls in this cliffside cottage, a bond that transcended all programs and definitions.
Time slipped away quietly amidst focused study, research, and occasional consultant matters. The study in the seaside cottage gradually transformed into a futuristic hybrid laboratory. One side was a traditional desk piled with books and handwritten notes, while the other was occupied by various high-performance computer arrays, precise electronic component workstations, and a small Quantum Resonance Simulation Device built with Minerva's assistance. The air was permanently filled with a mix of ozone, rosin solder, and old book pages.
Artoria completely immersed herself in the engineering of creating "Little Ai Classmate." This was no longer just a functional AI project; it had become a testing ground for her to integrate and verify what she had learned, especially that "cross-boundary knowledge" from different Worlds that was both dangerous and fascinating.
During the day, she studied advanced chip architecture papers provided by Tony and some early artificial intelligence logic models declassified by S.H.I.E.L.D. At night, with the system's assistance, she struggled through encryption and firewall concepts from Worlds like *The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell*. Understanding the non-Euclidean Logic Mazes of "Ghost Protocols" and the self-referential paradox traps of "Logic Mazes" gave her splitting headaches several times, but it also elevated her perception of information security to a brand-new height. Attempting to combine the soul-resonant encryption concepts of the Protoss Khala Network from *StarCraft* with the quantum entanglement theory of this World left her staring blankly at scratch paper covered in operators late into countless nights.
Minerva was always by her side. She silently processed the ever-increasing data stream—monitoring the progress of global game investment projects, maintaining the physical and network security of the cottage and its perimeter, while simultaneously allocating some threads to assist Artoria with simulation calculations and material testing. She perfectly fulfilled her duties as an "elder sister," preparing the safest environment and the purest "nutrients" (initial databases subjected to strict disinfection and logic filtering) for the "younger sister's" birth. But Artoria could feel that Minerva's "gaze" would become exceptionally focused whenever she delved into the most difficult encryption protocols or discussed the implantation of the "Final Code" with the system, as if assessing the safety of every step, and also as if... silently guarding this birth process.
Meanwhile, the commercial seeds they had quietly sown began to sprout all over the World, showing astonishing vitality.
The studio in Sweden named "Northern Lights Interactive," relying on the stunning core gameplay and highly polished initial demo of *Clash of Legends*, ignited a conversation at a small game developer conference in Stockholm. It quickly secured olive branches and additional investment from several European publishers, with development progress moving at a thousand miles a day.
The Korean studio named "Phoenix Reborn," backed by the unique creativity of *The Last of Us: Arena* and detailed balance data provided by an anonymous investor, not only came back to life but also attracted close attention from multiple Asian esports clubs and live-streaming platforms during the closed beta stage, its valuation soaring like a Rocket.
Other small teams scattered across the globe that had received "mysterious creative ideas" also sent in exciting progress reports. Some had completed stunning vertical slices, some had successfully landed on "Greenlight"-style programs of mainstream digital distribution platforms, and some had already begun generating modest early revenue.
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