The collapse started when Kiana came to the door

"Uh... it should have been successfully connected, right? If the communication access method of this locomotive is the same as the method you entered into my database."

"Well, as expected, the design of the Qianjie Yicheng operating system is too complicated and has many inconveniences. Even an artificial intelligence like you can't figure out how to activate it all at once."

"Ah... Ms. Weiwei, I think the other party has not responded yet. Maybe it's not because the communication is not connected, but because your communication method is a little too unexpected."

Hey, this voice...

Everyone in the conference room couldn't help but show a look of astonishment. Everyone turned their eyes to Einstein, and even Einstein himself was slightly stunned.

Although in most cases people cannot rely solely on their hearing to correctly identify their own voices, as a scientific researcher, Einstein has certainly heard his own voice through broadcasting equipment more than once.

Therefore, she could be sure that the voice of the person who was talking to that exaggerated voice on the radio... must be her own voice.

"Hmm? Is that so?" said the pompous voice.

"Would you like me to give it a try? After all, I am the commander of the Far East Branch. If the other party is really a member of the Hyperion, he should be able to recognize my voice, right?"

This time, a rather childish and pleasant clear voice was heard.

Then, everyone turned their eyes to Theresa, whose face was blank and her expression was subtle.

"Hello everyone on the Hyperion. I am Theresa Apokalis, the commander-in-chief of the Far East Branch." The childish voice said, "If you recognize my voice, please let your current captain talk to me."

After the initial confusion and shock, Theresa took a long, deep breath and calmed herself down. She pretended that she hadn't heard what the other party said and responded in the calmest tone possible: "I received your call. I am the current acting captain of the Hyperion, Theresa Apokalis. May I ask what you may do for me?"

"Hey, the current acting captain over there is actually me from that world?" The childish voice sounded a little surprised.

Contrary to Theresa's expectations, the owner of the voice that sounded like her didn't seem to be offended by her words. Instead, he apologized directly: "I'm very sorry for accessing your communication channel without permission, but please forgive me for being so presumptuous. Could you tell me the current time and month on your side?"

My head was dizzy. Actually, I had finished writing, but the basic logic and sentence ideas of what I wrote seemed to be inconsistent... After a day's work, I really didn't have the energy to revise it.

I'm going to sleep today, and will update after I finish the new chapter tomorrow during the day.

zsbdzsbdzsbdzsbdzsbdzsbdzsbdzsbd

Chapter 4 Captain Danger (k)

Why ask this question?

Although she felt strange in her heart, Theresa did not choose to ask immediately. Instead, she silently turned her slightly inquiring gaze to Dr. Einstein, who was the most mature and stable among all the people present and the most suitable to deal with this situation.

One of the basic principles of negotiation - if you want to gain an advantage at the negotiating table, you must be careful to keep your secrets and never reveal your truth and strength too early.

The less information either party knows, the more favorable the situation will be for the other party.

Before forming an alliance with Anti-Entropy and betraying Mandate of Heaven, as the commander-in-chief of the Far East Branch, Theresa, who had the support of Mandate of Heaven, did not need to resort to negotiations to resolve most of the troubles she encountered.

Even in the rare cases where she had to negotiate with the leaders of other organizations, she would always be the one with the intelligence advantage.

Therefore, strictly speaking, Theresa cannot be considered an excellent negotiator.

But the situation now is different from the past. After being imprisoned in the Hyperion's conference room by the four invaders, they lost contact with the outside world and also lost most of their means of obtaining intelligence.

Theresa didn't know who the people who suddenly entered the communication channel were, nor did she understand their purpose. She could only infer from their words that [the people behind the broadcast might be herself from a parallel world], which might not be the correct conclusion.

Considering that the other party was the one who contacted me first, in the worst case scenario, even what they said before might have been just to mislead me into drawing the wrong conclusion.

Einstein certainly understood Theresa's concerns. As someone who had come into direct conflict with Destiny several times at the negotiation table, she was no stranger to such asymmetric intelligence. So, after pondering for a moment, she directly threw the question back: "Hello, Ms. Theresa, commander of the Far East Branch, I am Einstein, the anti-entropy executor and technical advisor of the Hyperion. Please allow me to make an irresponsible guess based on your question. Could it be that you have used the ability of the Thousand Worlds to cross the boundaries between worlds and successfully contacted the [our parallel world] of this Hyperion?"

“Oh?” Was it Einstein’s straightforward question that surprised the person on the other end? A voice identical to Einstein’s came from the speaker, “I didn’t expect that [me] from that world would actually be on Hyperion. It seems that things are going more smoothly than we thought.”

"Ms. Theresa, since there is another Dr. Einstein on the other side's Hyperion, let me explain it to them next." Einstein on the radio said, "As Einsteins, we can understand each other's thinking patterns. We should be able to understand the information explained by each other as efficiently as possible."

"Okay." Einstein breathed a sigh of relief. "Please explain the current situation in as much detail as possible in concise words."

"No problem. Then, before the negotiation begins, in order to dispel your legitimate concerns and to demonstrate our sincerity and purpose, please allow me to give a brief introduction of our situation."

"I'm listening," Einstein said calmly.

"We are now at St. Freya College on January 2014, 1. With the help of three heroes from the previous civilization era, we have loaded the Hyperion's onboard artificial intelligence Ai-Hyperion into the Thousand Worlds One's operating system, and successfully used its ability to observe parallel worlds. We used a person who came to your world as an anchor point to connect to the Hyperion on your side."

Einstein on the other end of the radio spoke very quickly:

"After Ai Yi successfully connected to your Hyperion, through your Hyperion's still functioning life signal monitoring system, we inferred from the two things that your crew members were all gathered in the conference room and most of the other equipment on the Hyperion had lost control that you were currently in a state of being invaded and controlled by foreign enemies."

"...Since you knew we were being controlled, why did you contact us?" Einstein asked, "If you expect to get help from the Hyperion, shouldn't the best way be to directly contact the person who controls the Hyperion?"

"We did think so, but the fact is - we can't do it." Einstein said on the other end of the radio, "Even through the Thousand Worlds One Vehicle, what we can access and interfere with is only the part that is still under the control of your Ai Yi. Now, your Ai Yi has lost most of the control of the Hyperion, so the only one we can contact is you who are trapped in the conference room."

"But even if you contact us, if your purpose is to seek our assistance, then in the event of the fall of the Hyperion, we will not be able to provide any effective support," said Einstein.

"Don't worry about that." From what Einstein said on the radio, the people in the conference room suddenly heard a strange and speechless emotion. "Although I feel a little sorry, to be honest, if our guess is correct--"

"——Now, the people who have taken control of your Hyperion should be the ones we are looking for."

"Huh?" Theresa was stunned.

"So that's how it is..." Einstein sighed and rubbed his head with a headache. "So, just as I guessed at the beginning, even though that boy made a series of moves to try to irritate us and even took away the Hyperion, if we look at it purely from a [standpoint], his attitude towards us does not contain any malice, but rather a considerable degree of goodwill... right?"

"Hmm." Amid Theresa's bewildered expression, Einstein on the other end of the radio made a tone of approval, "His name is Li Shubai, and his identity... is a time traveler who travels between different timelines. He owns the Hyperion, which can travel freely in the quantum sea. His crew... that is, Kiana, Bronya, Raiden Mei, Theresa, Yulandel, Rita... and other people who originally belonged to different world lines and timelines, call him the Captain."

Rita's expression changed slightly. She turned her head and looked at Yulandel, who was also trapped in the same conference room and was surprised to hear her name on the radio. She showed an understanding expression.

"…So, although they are not the same individual, the two Herrschers who appeared before us, and the mature woman who looks like the grown-up Bronya, are indeed Kiana, Raiden Mei, and Bronya herself from other worlds and at different points in time." Einstein said by analogy.

"But if that's the case, then why did he do such an extreme thing!" Theresa widened her eyes, feeling an indescribable sense of absurdity rising in her chest.

"If you want to know why he chose to use the most direct and brutal means to seize control of the Hyperion..." Einstein on the other end of the radio was silent for a moment, "It's probably because he focused too much on efficiency and ignored your feelings."

"In fact, this is not the first time that Shu Bai has done something similar." Theresa sighed in anger and amusement. "The mission report that the Hyperion just generated shows the content of his last action. It clearly states that before arriving in your world, when he traveled through time last time, in order to borrow the power of the void to speed up his journey, he even fished out Kiana from that world and kidnapped her with Judas... I guess I was as anxious as you when Kiana was kidnapped in that world, right?"

"..." After hearing the words on the radio, Theresa unconsciously recalled her anxiety and anger after seeing Kiana tied to the chair by the boy, and suddenly developed an extremely strong sense of empathy.

She silently covered her face, and a weak sigh came from the gaps between her fingers: "So, what happened to Kiana in that world?"

"What else can we do?" Although she didn't see the other person's screen, from the helpless tone of the other person, Theresa inexplicably imagined the posture of her hands spread out in her mind. "In fact, except for being tied up and forcibly taken away by Judas at the beginning, Kiana in that world followed Shubai's actions of her own will. As for the reason, it was because she later learned about Shubai's actions. The ultimate goal was to snatch back what Mei would have lost from the hands of the Herrscher of Corrosion."

"I won't go into the details of this part. Anyway, after everything was over, Kiana at that time was sent back safely by him, and she even received a considerable amount of benefits."

"As for the Kiana who was kidnapped by him... you should have met her once."

"...Is it her?" Theresa's eyes widened as the face of the Herrscher of Fire and Fire flashed before her eyes. "After being kidnapped, she actually chose to follow that boy?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. Shubai always shows that he can't leave Kiana alone," Theresa said on the other end of the radio. "Before leaving that world, Shubai lent her a considerable amount of his power and also engraved the power of the Shanyat stigmata into her body. So Kiana in that world quickly understood Shubai's true nature."

"Not long ago, Dr. Einstein told you that the time we are currently in is January 2014, 1, right?" Theresa suddenly changed the subject on the radio, "Do you still remember this time?"

"This is... the day after Ms. Cocolia and I invaded St. Freya's College, right?" Einstein thought for a moment and replied, "That is, the night before, Anti-Entropy reached an agreement with you to form an alliance with each other."

"Yes, although with Shu Bai's intervention, Kiana on our side has already reached a certain degree of reconciliation with the Herrscher consciousness in her body, but also because of his means of future observation, we have learned some information about you in advance, so the progress of reaching an alliance agreement is relatively smooth." Theresa said on the other side of the radio.

“…I can already imagine how much of a headache [I] would have when facing Ms. Theresa in that world.” Einstein made a bitter face.

"Indeed." Einstein said in a helpless tone on the other end of the radio, "In short, we have explained the situation here to you in as much detail as possible. You should also understand that neither we nor the captain who temporarily controls you have any hostility towards you."

"...I understand." Einstein nodded. "After all, if he really wanted to hurt us, with the power he possesses, he wouldn't have to go to such great lengths to confine us in this conference room."

"Since he has no ill intentions towards us... shall we go find him now?" Theresa hesitated for a moment and cast her gaze towards the open door of the conference room. "Speaking of which, although we understand that he has no ill intentions towards us, what exactly is his purpose?"

"...Actually, we are not sure either." Dr. Einstein said on the other end of the radio, "In fact, the captain's time travel this time was just an accident for us."

"After the last time travel, he was supposed to return to our world with Yulandel, Herrscher of Knowledge, and Alysia, but on the way back, he was taken away by a third party who suddenly intervened in the time jump."

"Ah?" Theresa had a big question mark over her head. "You mean you don't know why he suddenly appeared in our world?"

"From the known information, we can only guess that the [third party] who intervened in the time jump should be the artificial intelligence life form, Ai Hyperion Λ [Lambda], who can also travel freely on various timelines. But other than that, whether it is the reason why Ms. Λ suddenly kidnapped the captain, or why after kidnapping the captain, she immediately carried out a second attack on the captain...that is, time travel to your side, we don't know the answers to these questions at all." Theresa said on the other end of the radio.

Chapter 4: Group Catch an Adulterer (k)

"Aiyi Hyperion Λ?"

The people in the conference room were in a state of confusion. Theresa and Einstein looked at each other. Hearing this name... it seemed that the person over there was talking about a being similar to Hyperion's shipboard AI Ai-chan? But as far as Theresa knew, although Ai-chan was indeed an artificial intelligence life form, it should not have possessed such a powerful ability as [the ability to freely navigate in different timelines].

and many more.

Thinking of this, Theresa suddenly fell silent.

She suddenly realized that although she had been with Ai-chan for nearly twenty years, to be honest, her understanding of this artificial intelligence life form was not deep at all.

Could it be that there is a secret hidden behind Ai-chan that they don't know about?

No - in fact, Theresa had already known and prepared for the fact that Ai-chan had a secret. After all, when she found Ai-chan's predecessor, the Guardian Autonomous Combat Unit A1, in the underground ruins in the Arctic Ocean, the power displayed by that guy even frightened her as an S-class Valkyrie.

After she brought the main body of A1 back to the Far East Branch and connected it to the Hyperion, the new individual born from the combination of the two, Ai Hyperion, lost most of her power and memory for unknown reasons.

As the person who raised Ai-chan from childhood, for Theresa, the Hyperion's onboard AI is no longer just a tool, but a companion who can be trusted and emotional. Therefore, after hearing that the little thing may have an unknown side, Theresa even forgot her extraordinary and mysterious origins at the first moment.

Einstein glanced at Theresa, who had suddenly fallen silent. After hesitating for a moment, he asked in a calm tone:

"Could it be that the relationship between this Ms. Λ you mentioned and Ai-chan is similar to the relationship between us and you, the same person from different worlds?"

"No." Contrary to Theresa and Einstein's expectations, Theresa on the other side of the radio gave a decisive denial answer to this question, "Although the names sound similar, there is still a big difference between Λ and the Ai-chan you know."

"For example... you should know that although Ai-chan does have an independent consciousness and can be considered an objectively existing life form, she cannot exist independently without her own data carrier, right?"

"Indeed..." Hearing [her] own words on the other side of the broadcast, Theresa recalled the first time she met Ai-chan, "When I met the autonomous combat unit A1, she also had to enter a dormant state because the energy of her back body was exhausted. If her data carrier stopped functioning, she, as an artificial intelligence, would of course disappear. Could it be that Ms. Λ has been able to completely detach from the data carrier? Isn't this just like..."

...like real life?

"That's right. Although we don't know the logic of its existence and its operating principle yet, according to the testimony provided by Guanxing, Ms. Λ, who calls herself [Heroine A] and [Miss Administrator], is not so much the onboard AI of the Hyperion as she is the [Fourth Captain] who has complete control over a Hyperion in the capacity of [Supreme Commander], just like Ms. Theresa and Mr. Li Shubai currently hold." Einstein on the other end of the radio said lightly.

"The fourth one... So the first three captains are Ji Zi, me, and that boy?" Theresa touched her chin and said.

"It's just easier to understand if we describe it in terms of position," Theresa said on the other end of the radio. "Although both of us, who are Theresa, and Himeko, have served as captains of the Hyperion, and Ms. Λ does command a Hyperion that is different from ours and Shubai's, if we don't regard the word "captain" as an "identity" used to describe a military position, but instead classify it as a "type" that describes special abilities and properties, then the so-called "captain" should be only Shubai."

"Don't consider [captain] as an identity... but as a [type]?" Einstein pondered for a moment. "That is to say, although Ms. Theresa, Ms. Jizi, Ms. Λ, and Mr. Li Shubai, the four captains, have held the supreme command of a Hyperion at a certain time, only Mr. Li Shubai's way of controlling the Hyperion is not [authority] appointed and given by others, but some [ability] similar to that of a Herrscher who controls power?"

"So, this is why he was able to take the Hyperion from us so easily?" Theresa glanced at Bronya and muttered in a voice that no one could hear, "I originally thought that it was the grown-up Bronya who helped him do this..."

"Compared to the Hyperion you are on now, both the Hyperion controlled by Ms. Λ and the other Hyperion owned by Shu Bai have the three abilities of [freely sailing in the quantum sea], [connecting the crew on board to their world of origin], and [allowing the captain to travel through time with three crew members]." Theresa said on the other end of the radio, "We want to know the time you are currently in, and we also hope to use the second ability of [connecting the crew on board to their world of origin] to send as many Valkyries as possible to support the captain."

"What do you mean?" Theresa frowned. "Are you trying to say that there are actually several members from the same world as us on the Hyperion owned by Captain Shubai?"

"In fact, we already have some guesses, but we just can't be completely sure yet." Theresa said on the other end of the radio, "We haven't told you yet, although the Hyperion's capabilities can only support the captain and three crew members to travel through time, but... there are a total of five people we want to find."

"Five people?" Theresa recalled the Herrscher of Fire and Lightning, and the Secondary Silver Wing who followed Li Shubai. After counting the number of people three times in her mind, she said, "But, there should be only three people following that boy, right?"

"So we are just guessing, because we don't know whether Kiana has actually run to the captain's side." Theresa on the other end of the radio said a little angrily, "After we catch her, I will beat her up with the other Theresa. She disappeared without a word. Do you know that we are all very worried about her?"

"Kiana?" Thinking of a certain possibility, Theresa's eyes twitched uncontrollably. She turned her head and glanced at Bronya, who also looked grim, and Raiden Mei, whose eyes suddenly brightened for some reason. She covered her face helplessly, her voice trembling, "Don't tell me that the Kiana in our world... has actually joined that guy's Hyperion a long time ago, right?"

"If you are now in the early 2017, shortly after the Herrscher of the Void awakened..." Theresa said on the other end of the radio, "Yes, in order to ensure that Kiana's body would not collapse due to the Herrscher of the Void's will, he had already semi-forced her to be brought on board the ship."

"..."

Tick, tick.

Along with sobbing, the sound of tears dripping to the ground suddenly rang out in the conference room.

Everyone showed a stunned expression. Theresa and Bronya quickly turned their faces to Raiden Mei, who choked up without any warning.

But just when they wanted to comfort Raiden Mei because they were worried about her mental state, the words they were about to say suddenly stopped.

"That's great... Kiana... She's fine... It's really... That's great..."

There was no sadness, no sorrow, no anger. Mei Raiden, who was crying, just shed tears while showing a smile that was full of happiness and joy from the bottom of her heart.

After saying this, Mei Raiden, who had been nervous for three whole months and had hardly had a full night's sleep, suddenly lost all her strength. She lay down on the long table in the conference room and fell into a deep sleep with contentment.

I don’t know if she saw something that made her happy in her dream, but a hint of intoxicated smile appeared at the corner of Raiden Mei’s mouth as she leaned on her arms.

Looking at Mei Raiden sleeping peacefully, everyone in the conference room fell into silence.

After pondering for a moment, Theresa tiptoed to take off her pure black nun's uniform, then draped the wide robe over Raiden Mei's shoulders and sighed softly.

Although she couldn't help but have an uncomfortable feeling of betrayal when she just learned the truth, but looking at Raiden Mei sleeping soundly, Theresa suddenly felt that since the boy could ensure Kiana's safety, things of this magnitude were not important at all.

After all, Kiana didn't really betray them. Even if... if Kiana could find a superior or organization that could help her control her Herrscher's consciousness, even if Kiana really betrayed the Far East branch, they shouldn't have any complaints.

"Um, I seemed to hear Mei crying just now?" Theresa, who had waited patiently for a moment and noticed that Mei's crying voice was gradually getting quieter, asked tentatively, "Is everything okay over there?"

"It's okay, she's already asleep." Theresa's tone was gentler than ever before. "In the three months since Kiana disappeared, Mei hasn't had a good night's sleep for a long time. Although we are all very worried about her condition, but... you know, Mei has always been a child who loves to show off. Because she has always been paying attention to Kiana's affairs, we have indeed not been able to take good care of her."

"So, I'm really an incompetent leader." Theresa was a little disappointed, but also a little relieved. "Compared to letting me lead them, it might be a good thing for these children that the Hyperion was taken away by the Captain Shubai you mentioned. Think about it carefully. Even if we really find Kiana, it should be difficult for us to protect the child from the Herrscher of the Sky. Maybe Himeko doesn't have to..."

"Oh, by the way, speaking of Jizi--" Suddenly, Theresa at the other end of the broadcasting room seemed to remember something very important, "--She was brought out from the imaginary space of your world by Shubai, and now she has recovered and is staying in our world in good health."

"Huh?" Theresa was stunned. She almost thought there was something wrong with her ears. "What did you say?"