Nina walked up to the door, wondering who decided to visit at this time.
"Amy?" She called out. "Is that you?"
No response. Just three more knocks.
Nina grabbed the doorknob, about to pull it open when the System dinged.
[host! Do not open that door!]
But it was too late. Nina had already pulled the door open. A dark shadow moved, and she felt a whoosh of air right in her face.
"What the–" her words were cut off as a sharp sting exploded on her face. She stumbled back, stunned, her hand lifted to her face.
Her hand came off stained with blood.
Nina screamed, her voice ringing out through the air.
[host! Use your spores! Defend yourself!]
The shadow moved again. Nina could barely make out her attacker before they struck at her again, sword aimed for her neck.
Nina's spores flared bright purple.
That did nothing to stop the attacker. If anything they rushed forward with greater speed, the sword raised at her.
Oh no! Oh no no! I'm about to die again?! Fuck shit! I hate this place! I want to go home!
Nina screamed, grabbing everything she could get and tossing it at the faceless shadow. Her heart beat against her chest.
"What the fuck do you want?!" She backed away, her back hitting the wall. Before she could dive away, the attacker was on her. The sword pressed into her neck, drawing a small amount of blood.
I'm gonna die!
From the darkness of the hood, the only feature Nina could make out was a pair of bright red eyes. Those eyes were narrowed in glee.
"Hello, Princess." A disjointed, genderless voice spoke. "We meet again…"
Again?! The fuck is again?
"You were so lucky the last time. Not again."
"Who are you?"
"Give it back, Princess. Now."
Oh shit! What the fuck is he even talking about?! Give what back?!
"Over my dead body." Nina hissed, spitting in his face.
"Your wish is my command."
Nina squeezed her eyes shut as the sword raised over her head.
Before it could strike, a loud squelching sound filled the air.
Huh…
She popped one eye open. Only to see a bloody hand in the center of the assassin's chest.
"Oh my god!" Nina screamed, sliding down the wall.
A head of blue hair popped out from behind the assassin. "Hey cutie~ you alright?"
"Mako!"
The assassin gurgled up blood. But a deep laugh came from that faceless hood. "Another time, Princess." The voice said before the entire body vanished.
"He vanished!" Nina shrieked, covering her mouth with her hand. "He just fucking whoosh! He's gone! Where did he go?!"
"Hey~" Mako moved closer to her and grabbed her shoulders. His eyes scanned her face, frowning at her injuries. "Did he hurt you?"
Nina looked at his bloody hand staining her nightdress.
Nightdress.
"You should leave!" Nina's face turned red as she covered her chest with her arms. "I'm fine! And um…thank you for helping! Bye now!"
Mako watched her closely, his head tilted to the side. Then he grinned. "Okay!" And he was gone.
Nina collapsed further into the ground. "I almost died again, System."
[you did. This is quite alarming.]
For once, the system sounded deep in thought.
"Do you know who that was?"
[I'm not allowed to say.]
Nina sighed.
"Hold on, what exactly happened to the real Princess Orchid? She's dead right?"
[Yes.]
Nina didn't like the sound of that. "Was she assasinated?"
[you would have known if you read the book. In the meantime, check out your stats and your rewards.]
Ha. My fault expecting sympathy from an AI. It's because of them this world is fucked up.
***
The next morning, word had spread that the Princess was attacked in her chambers at midnight.
An investigation was immediately launched. Nina wasn't surprised when Lev was investigated first. He was cleared, but the palace was still in disarray up till the late hours of noon.
That meant that Nina was currently locked up in her room. She was allowed visitors, but the guards outside her door didn't let them stay long.
"This is boring," she groaned, slamming her head on her desk. "System, cheer me up. I'm not used to boredom."
[what am I? Entertainment?]
"We used AI for entertainment back in my world." Nina said with a cackle.
She instantly got the feeling then that the System narrowed its eyes at her.
Truly, Nina wasn't used to being still.
All her life she had been working and always on the move, with very little time for herself. Even her days off were often spent preparing for more work.
So sitting still in a beautiful room with no internet or phones was very boring for her.
She thought about last night and the assassin.
She guessed that it wasn't uncommon to have assassins in this world. But one that survived a hand through their chest and vanished into thin air? That was strange. None of the night guards had seen anyone come in or leave.
"Could it be magic?"
[this is not that kind to story, hostie.]
"Right. I forgot that I'm in a book now." A sci-fi book.
Nina sighed again, wondering what sort of technology could be used to make someone disappear like that. Even modern technology that she was used to didn't do that. At most it was smoke screens.
"It doesn't make sense."
[Princess Orchid was an enigmatic figure. She had friends and she had enemies.]
"One of them tried to kill her?"
[…]
[if you're bored, you can get some dirt and plant your strawberries.]
"Aha!" Nina exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
Last night, she had been half asleep when the System explained the rest of her rewards. In the Surprise Package, she got a pack of premium strawberry seeds.
Excited, Nina grabbed an empty vase lying around, marched to the door, put on her best Villainess impression, and demanded to be let go.
***
In the royal barracks, General Lev was in his office going over the maps in preparation for a new expedition into the ruins.
AI beasts had been spotted getting closer and closer to the empire, not breaching the walls yet but getting dangerously close to.
Lev was known for nipping threats before they bloomed. Yet even as he scanned the maps, he felt unsettled.
Something wasn't right.
In the past days, the frequency of these reports had doubled.
The citizens weren't made aware yet, and there was no need to. The barrier that the Princess created did an excellent job keeping the Beasts out. There hadn't been a break in or a single sighting of an AI Beast inside the Eastern empire in a decade.
As much as Lev hated her, he knew without her knowledge and contributions to their safety, most of the Eastern empire would have been wiped out.
Thinking about her made Lev remember the previous night. He didn't imagine she would be attacked mere hours after she'd soothed him.
He touched his chest, his brows furrowed tightly.
Someone tried to kill her.
Someone always wants to kill her. It's her karma.
But Lev's instincts didn't approve that.
The attack on the Princess wasn't normal. It was nothing like the previous attacks she'd survived.
"General!" A soldier knocked, more like pounded on his door. "General! Sir! It's urgent!"
"Come in."
The door burst open and the soldier rushed in, looking terrified and pale. "You need to look at this sir!"
He showed Lev a large black device. It was a detector that Princess Orchid designed, one that was tuned to the different types of AI beasts and their specific frequencies. No one but the Princess knew how it worked.
All that mattered was that it did.
Displayed on the matte screen was a set of lines and curves which only a trained eye could read.
Lev's instincts flared. All his senses screamed danger.
"Which ruins is this from?" He questioned the soldier.
"That's the thing, General. This reading isn't from a ruin. It's from the palace."
Lev felt his heart grow cold. "The palace?"
"Last night, at exactly midnight. The guards stationed at the western wing got this reading. It wasn't noticed till now, General."
Lev stared at the screen, hoping he was wrong and the reading would go blank, proving it was only a fluke.
That didn't happen.
The western wing. That was where Princess Orchid had her chambers. Lev recalled the reports of her failed assassination.
It was last night.
"General," the soldier said, his voice shaking. "This is an Empath. We haven't seen Empaths in five hundred years. W-what do we do, sir? We…we don't have the equipment to fight one."