'Cipher' didn't plan on lingering.
The appointed time with General Xuanquan was fast approaching, and she wasn't sure how easy the "stuff" inside this body would be to handle.
What if the program provided by the system was some kind of black box that couldn't be easily parsed?
There was no telling with these things.
"I'll head over to the Simulated Universe first to contact Screwllum. I want to try making a copy of what's inside this body. Once the time is right, how about we head to the Fanghu together?"
"Fine by me. As long as you're okay with it," Ruan Mei replied, offering no objections.
And so, 'Cipher' left Ruan Mei's base and returned once more to the Simulated Universe extension of the space station.
The station was the same as ever—sparse on researchers, with most of the daily operations handled by transformation robots. Upon her return, 'Cipher' dialed Screwllum.
The call was picked up almost instantly, and Screwllum's holographic projection flickered into existence before her.
"It has been some time, Madam Bai Ming. I heard you finally completed your body recently and took a leave of absence?"
"Long time no see, Screwllum. I did take a little break, but I've stumbled onto something interesting again. I'd like you to take a look."
The tail behind 'Cipher' swished back and forth, betraying her eagerness to share.
Screwllum took note of the movement and followed her lead. "Inference: Since you contacted me first, and your current identity is Cifera from Amphoreus, this matter involves the Scepters, correct?"
"Hehe, half right. Here's the deal..."
'Cipher' gave a brief rundown of the peculiarities of her new identity.
Just as Ruan Mei had predicted, once Screwllum grasped the situation, he displayed a significant degree of curiosity.
In Screwllum's eyes, mimicking or utilizing the power of different Paths wasn't particularly difficult for the likes of them.
What truly earned their attention was the use of a mere program to bluntly explain the underlying logic of the Path of Elation—and then successfully replicating it solely by running that code.
That was the terrifying part.
According to 'Cipher,' when the power of Trickery took effect, she didn't sense the typical feedback one receives from a Path.
They could find ways to borrow Path power for their own use—much like how researching the recursive meaning of Destruction led to the birth of Irontomb.
They could use loops to make a program be "glanced" at by Remembrance, turning it into a Pure Child of Anasrava.
But those methods essentially involved editing a program to edge closer to a Path's concept, relying on self-iteration to eventually align with that Path's philosophy and draw its power into themselves.
But to interfere with reality and achieve a Path's effect through a standalone program?
That was an entirely different story.
Finding a way to approach and then tread upon a Path was one thing; achieving the effect of a Path through the sheer execution of code was another concept entirely.
If he could truly decipher this code, Screwllum felt he might even touch upon the very essence of the Paths.
Of course, this was all predicated on the assumption that this program was indeed the logical blueprint representing the Path of Elation.
Yet, even if it wasn't as fundamental as they suspected, the mere fact that 'Cipher' couldn't understand it at all made it worth Screwllum's study.
"Since this identity has a time limit, I thought I'd see if I could replicate a copy into the Simulated Universe. It would make research much easier."
"Then I shall trouble you, Madam Bai Ming. Thank you for your generosity."
Screwllum thanked her sincerely. If this mysterious program could yield any insights, it might benefit all mechanical life.
"We've known each other long enough, you don't need to thank me every time. Besides, I can't make heads or tails of it myself."
As she spoke, 'Cipher' stepped onto the Simulated Universe login platform for the first time in a while. Since the reboot, the Simulated Universe hadn't hosted any major projects.
She logged in. Since she didn't need to extrapolate history or the future this time, she logged directly into Fuli's account. It was the only way she felt she had a chance of leaving something behind within the simulation.
Screwllum logged in with administrator privileges to assist with the replication.
'Cipher' first tried a basic method: interfacing with the Simulated Universe directly as a data entity. She attempted to use the system's algorithms to simply "copy and paste."
Predictably, the first attempt failed.
While 'Cipher' herself had no trouble entering, the mysterious program turned into garbled code during the transition, resulting in nothing but invalid data junk.
"It seems this program is even more complex than I imagined. Even if the Simulated Universe is only allocating a portion of its computing power, the fact that it can't be parsed is a bit exaggerated."
"It is indeed anomalous. The current computing capacity of the Simulated Universe should not be so easily overwhelmed."
Neither she nor Screwllum knew where the problem lay.
In terms of raw data volume, it was nowhere near the Simulated Universe's limit.
Furthermore, the Simulated Universe was a small, closed-loop world of Memoria personally crafted by 'Cipher' using Fuli's power.
Though small, the fidelity of the dozen or so Paths running within it wasn't poor—the fact that Tayzzyronth and Ena almost manifested recently was proof of that.
And yet, faced with a program that might explain the essence of a Path, it simply crashed into error messages and gibberish.
'Cipher' had expected to at least salvage a few lines of valid code. This outcome was far beyond her expectations.
On the flip side, it proved just how special this code truly was.
'Cipher' even began to wonder if this code was something directly split off from her own system—perhaps the information it carried wasn't the Path of Elation, but the system's own logic.
But then again, that seemed unlikely. Even with 'Cipher's' own intellect, she could devise a plan to construct a version of herself with the power of Trickery.
There was no reason for the system to take the long way around and create something overly convoluted.
It would be like needing a lighter and deciding to run a pipe from a nuclear reactor just to get a spark. It didn't make logical sense.
Regardless, the biggest problem remained: 'Cipher' could see the code, but she couldn't even manage a copy-paste.
After some thought, 'Cipher' and Screwllum stopped trying to copy the program in its entirety.
Instead, they began to replicate it in segments—even intentionally leaving gaps. They tried splitting the program into tens of thousands of pieces, dragging only select portions into the Simulated Universe.
The downside was that a program torn to shreds would be nearly impossible to analyze. But at this point, a fragmented record was better than no record at all.
The results... were better, but only slightly.
The confusing part was that even with the split segments, once they reached a certain threshold, they would start throwing errors and turning into garbled text.
Forced by necessity, 'Cipher' had to keep reducing the total amount of data being copied. Finally, she found the boundary where the code remained stable.
"...This is all I can do. Not even one percent of the total data. I really don't know what to say."
'Cipher' looked at the program running inside her, then at the shattered code left in the Simulated Universe, and sighed.
She was starting to suspect again that there was something system-related buried in there. Why else would it be this difficult?
She was almost starting to doubt if the Simulated Universe she built was simply lacking in processing power.
"For now, this will suffice. There is no need for haste."
Screwllum also realized the sheer strangeness of the object. Of course, being a mechanical lifeform, he was more rational and didn't overthink things as much as she did.
"Phew... alright. At least this proves one thing: this program is truly extraordinary."
'Cipher' resignedly exited the Simulated Universe.
She had hoped to create a replica she could play around with, similar to a Saint Graph. It seemed not every research endeavor would go smoothly.
As she was about to say something after logging out, a realization hit her.
If the power of Trickery worked on the principle that "if you believe it, it becomes real"...
"Wait, Screwllum, I've got an idea."
"What kind of idea?"
Screwllum looked at 'Cipher' with curiosity.
'Cipher' raised her palm and looked at him.
"You believe that with my current abilities, I should be perfectly capable of creating a brand-new type of crystal capable of storing high-density information, right?"
"Based on our current understanding, it should indeed be easily achievable."
Screwllum quickly caught her drift, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless.
Having received his answer, 'Cipher' suddenly turned toward thin air. "And what do you think, Mr. Zandar, our uninvited guest?"
As soon as she spoke, another holographic projection appeared in the room.
The newcomer shared Zandar's appearance—it was unclear which "slice" this was or what his specific name might be.
"Truly an astounding ability. You have manifested the power of Trickery in the real world. Though I would love to deny it, that string of code you left in the Simulated Universe tells me... the current you can truly accomplish this."
Zandar had been keeping an eye on the Simulated Universe and Bai Ming for some time.
Of course, after the previous incident involving him, Herta and the others had upgraded the firewalls in their respective domains to block his monitoring.
However, they hadn't bothered much with the Simulated Universe.
So, when this anomaly appeared within the simulation, Zandar had looked over almost immediately. There, he saw a string of code that clearly surpassed his own technology.
Zandar nearly lost his composure. Wasn't he the one who started all this? How did it become something he couldn't even understand after passing through Bai Ming's hands?
For someone who had created Nous to look at a program and feel baffled—it was a frightening thought.
And Zandar wasn't the only one watching.
Aha, within the Simulated Universe, was also quietly observing the unfolding events through the simulation's lens.
Aha! Is the power of Elation about to be decoded by mortals? The real body outside is going to have a lot of fun with this~
In that instant, 'Cipher' felt the power of Trickery activate. She could feel a new ability blooming within her—the power to create a crystal that could store massive amounts of data.
Soon, right before the eyes of Zandar and Screwllum, a dark polyhedral crystal, shimmering with a faint yellow light, began to materialize in her palm.
"It worked!"
A look of pleasant surprise flashed in 'Cipher's' eyes. It had just been a sudden whim.
The power of Trickery originated from believing a lie.
That might sound convoluted, but to put it bluntly: because they had already seen code that surpassed their understanding—a creation beyond the realm of geniuses—it didn't matter that Screwllum and Zandar knew she was technically lying to trigger the ability.
Their rational, "genius" minds had already judged that, given the power of that code, she actually could do something that defied the laws of physics.
Thus, the lie held up even while everyone was aware of it. 'Cipher' truly gained the power to construct such a high-density information carrier.
Next, she attempted to record the incomprehensible code she sensed into the crystal.
The result was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps because the crystal itself was a product of the power of Trickery, it possessed an unimaginable compatibility with the code compared to the Simulated Universe.
Unlike the shattered fragments in the simulation, this crystal successfully recorded the code in its entirety.
However, the code remained inert inside the crystal; it seemed that merely carrying the information had pushed the object to its limit.
Still, this result was enough to delight Screwllum. At the very least, they wouldn't have to stare blankly at incomplete code anymore.
That said, the research task ahead was still daunting. Since the power of Trickery was maintained solely by 'Cipher,' they had to produce sufficient results before her current identity expired.
Otherwise, the crystal would vanish along with her identity, and the information within would dissipate.
Screwllum didn't think it was likely they could fully decipher the code within thirty system days.
Instead, he thought another plan was more feasible: to use the Trickery-made crystal as a reference to create a physical replica, then transfer the information to that replica.
That way, they could continue their research even after her identity expired.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL