"We have cars," AI orchid said as she appeared beside Anna. "They’re different from the ones in your world, I’d explain how they operate but you won’t get it. We also have air crafts and ships. Not every trace of technology was destroyed in the war."

"Wow. I had no idea."

"I know. And that just cost you a Plot Reveal."

"What?! You should have told me first! I was saving those for—"

"Princess. Who are you talking to?"

Anna whirled around, coming face to face with Leon. She took a step back. "I’m coming with you." She said.

Leon raised a brow. "No."

"I wasn’t asking for your permission, General. That was an order."

He laughed. "An order? Princess, I only say this for your own protection. Out there in the ruins, people die. I lose men each time we leave the safety of these walls. You? With no combat training? You’ll be food for the Whisperers."

Anna had no idea what the Whisperers were, and she frankly didn’t want to know. "I can handle myself just fine, General. Don’t make me repeat myself."

"Good. Very good. That’s how I would do it. Although I’d have him chained and whipped for a bit before we leave. When did he get so mouthy? Ew." AI Orchid rambled off.

Anna again, ignored her.

Leon looked at her from top to bottom. His heated gaze made her feel like he was stripped her naked and reading her soul.

"You’re not even dressed properly."

"I can still kick your ass in a dress." She shot back.

He let out a long sigh. "Very well. Follow me, I’m keeping a close watch on you before you try to hurt my men."

"I would hurt them now just because he said that shit." AI Orchid said.

Leon led her to the front car. Anna counted twelve cars in total, each holding six soldiers. As she passed the third car, she spotted Tristan. The golden haired soldier brightened up the moment he saw her, waving excitedly like a kid at the sight of their favorite pet. Anna’s skin crawled and she managed a tight smile.

The soldiers greeted her politely, but she could tell they were agitated and worried. She caught two of them whispering about how it was a hazard, and something about "as if our chances of dying weren’t high enough."

At the front of the expedition, Leon’s car was at the lead. He had just two soldiers with him, not counting the driver, one of them Anna recognized as the young one who’d tried to kill her.

The moment he saw her, his back shot up straight and he gripped his sword tighter. "Your highness." The other solider followed suit.

Anna nodded stiffly. His eyes flashed with animosity, and he didn’t stop staring at her even when she got into the car and sat beside Leon.

"Eyes forward, Seth." Leon commanded.

The young soldier bristled, gave a quick salute, before forcing his eyes away from Anna.

"How chivalrous." Anna chuckled under her breath.

Leon clicked his tongue. "If that pleases you, Princess."

The expedition started. The cars were strangely silent, even though they looked like armored tanks on the outside. Anna also noticed their weapons. Swords, bows and arrows, knives, really primitive weapons given how advanced this world was in certain aspects.

"AI beasts cannot be killed with just any weapons. Part of the reason mankind almost lost the war five thousand years ago was their choice of weaponry. Their weapons had circuits. The beasts hunt down and eat anything that has a circuit. They also like to eat things that have a heartbeat. So now all weapons must be manual. Ruins are places form the old world that have buried old technology, that means there’s a lot circuits there. Ruins attract AI beasts, and so we steer clear of them. Right now, there are more ruins than settlements. Takes years to turn a ruin to a settlement." AI Orchid said.

At the corner of her eye, Anna spotted her seated beside her, posture immaculate, like a proper princess.

"And yes, that cost you a plot reveal."

"You’re a bitch." Anna hissed.

Leon turned to her. "I didn’t even do anything."

"I know."

AI Orchid grinned. "Don’t worry. Do your tasks, and you’ll get many more plot reveals."

Leon took out a black rectangular object and handed it to Anna. "We need the detectors working, Princess."

Anna’s gaze traveled between it and his face. "Well what am I supposed to do?"

"Fix it. You created it, surely you still remember how it works." Leon replied calmly.

Anna’s heart picked up. She knew this day would come. She didn’t expect it to be so soon!

I shouldn’t have come for this!

Her mind raced as she struggled to come up with an answer or at least an excuse.

"I don’t have my tools with me." She said.

Leon bent down and took out a giant black box. "Don’t worry about that."

Anna gasped in horror. "You raided my lab?!"

Leon frowned. He looked at her closely, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Raided your lab? I don’t know where it is. You gave this to us, along with the detectors."

Anna’s face flamed bright red. Beside her, AI Orchid laughed with satisfaction.

"And now here we are. You need to fix the detectors,"

"I don’t know how." Anna hissed.

"You don’t?" Leon said.

"Stop fucking talking to me!" Anna snapped. The soldiers exchanged looks, then glanced at Leon. He motioned for them to look away and they immediately obeyed.

"Okay. Watching you fumble is giving me massive second hand embarrassment. Activating one Original Memory. Let’s hope it contains information about the detectors." AI Orchid said coldly.

Before Anna could reply, she felt like she’d been sucked into a black hole. Everything went black and soundless.

"Original Memory activated." The mechanical voice dinged in her head.

The memory began playing.

It showed a younger Princess Orchid, about fifteen or so. She was in her lab, holding up a collar. The stone in the middle was a glowing white.

"Wrong. It’s wrong. Again." The Princess muttered, before smashing the collar against the edge of her table. She picked up an open journal and scribbled in it, the scratchy sounds of the pen on paper aggravating Anna’s ears.

"Results for experiment number 27. The stone failed to turn red after twenty three hours in the reactor. It needs a catalyst."

Princess Orchid dropped the journal and picked up another collar with a white stone. She stared at it long, her eyes narrowed and dark. Then she bit her fingertip and let her blood drip down. Her spores formed a thin line, swirled around the drop of blood and turned it a dark purple. Then the blood dripped onto the stone. The white quickly turned a familiar blood red.

Princess Orchid picked up the journal. "Successful. Time for trial testing.

The memory ended.

Anna blinked and she was back in the car with Leon and the soldiers, the broken detector held tightly in her grip.

"No. That wasn’t it. We’ll try another one." AI Orchid said.

Anna shook her head. "No no! I don’t want another—"

She’d barely finished protesting before the second memory began.

This time it showed Princess Orchid and Ray.

He stood behind her, both of them in her lab. Ray looked different, his hair was longer and his skin was darker, like he’d spent too much time in the sun. He didn’t wear any silver jewelry.

"I can’t do it, your highness." He was saying, his voice small and panicked.

"It’s what you were trained for." Princess Orchid replied without glancing at him. She had test tubes filled with a dark red liquid in front of her which she dropped what looked like solid stones inside. She watched the reactions and wrote down her observations. "I need to know what every single person in this palace thinks at every time of the day."

Ray made a horrified sound. "E-everyone? But your highness, that’s highly invasive! And even if I can do it, it’s going to overwhelm—"

Princess Orchid snapped her fingers.

Deep growls filled the air. From the shadows of the lab, three massive beasts stepped out. Their bodies were a marble mess of black and purple and silver. Fangs the size of fingers filled their lipless mouths. Their red eyes pinned on Ray and their growls amplified.

"Your highness..." Ray took cautious steps back, his eyes warily traveling between the hungry beasts and Princess Orchid.

"If you don’t want to be their dinner, do as I asked." The Princess said.

"I...I can’t..." Ray replied, his head hung.

The Princess let out a disappointed sigh. "I was told your father was the best spy trainer in all of the West. What an embarrassment you are, Noctis. You can’t even do one simple task, the very thing you were created to do!"

"Oh, my darling please, cut him some slack." A new musical voice purred from the door.

Instantly, the beasts whimpered and retreated into the shadows. They hadn’t gone far before all three of them collapsed to the ground, green foam bubbling from their mouths. In seconds, they were all dead, their skin turned a mottled green. Even the white of their red eyes turned green.

"Are you insane?! Do you know what it took to obtain those specimen?! Have you—"

A shadow moved. The man appeared in front of Princess Orchid and pulled her into his arms. Long black hair billowed behind him, dual tone eyes pinned on her, shining with amusement and dark obsession.

"Say the word and your kitty General will get more for you. In the meantime, leave Noctis alone. For me?"

Princess Orchid huffed. "Fine."

The memory ended.

Anna returned to the real world. Her head pounded and nausea rose inside her. She doubled over, inhaling air and coughing violently. The memories, both of them, played on repeat in her head. Yet her mind was too muddled to try and understand them.

"What is wrong with you these days?" Leon questioned above her, his voice full of annoyance. "We’re almost at the ruins. We need the detector."

Anna’s eyes burned, and her chest hurt. "What...what did you do?"

AI Orchid sighed. "Wrong memory. Again. Activating One Original Memory."

"NO!" Anna shrieked, but it was too late.

Another memory started.

This time it showed Princess Orchid and her friend Thalia. The women were in an arena that looked like a stadium. In the middle of it was a large fighting pit. The arena was full with cheering beastmen waving pieces of paper in the air. Princess Orchid and Thalia sat together, their faces covered with beautiful silk masks and golden fans. They whispered together while watching the fight going on in the pit.

Inside the pit were two beastmen. One of them had massive horns like a ram, and the other was smaller and had black cat ears. Both of them were covered in scars and blood, yet they kept fighting.

The sounds were deafening, screams and cheers and deadly blows being exchanged.

"Are you sure Kalen will win?" Princess Orchid asked, shaking her head at the cat beastman. "He’s so tiny, really."

Thalia laughed. "That’s why he’s my best. He looks unassuming and then...bam."

The crowd cheered even louder as the cat beastman tore into his opponent’s throat. Blood sprayed everywhere, drenching his face and chest. He raised a small chunk of flesh into the sky and the crowd went wild.

"I told you he’d win." Thalia said, her voice booming with pride. "That’s one million empire coins, my dear friend. All in a day’s work."

Princess Orchid watched, her eyes glinting with dark interest. "How much will you sell him to me? He’d make a fine specimen."

The memory ended.

"Please..." Anna choked. "Just stop...please..."

"You need to fix the detectors. Quit your whining."

"I can’t do this again..."

"Activating One Original Memory."

The world tilted on its axis and went blank. Truly black as Anna was plunged into yet another ruthless memory.