Ch.8- A cute voice.

Amy stared at the crazy amount of luxurious food in front of her; with a lot of begging, she had managed to get the book to make it all for her.
It was weird, honestly; back on Earth, breakfast had been a granola bar or, on special occasions, some microwaved instant oatmeal. But now…
Was it weird for her to think that she had it better here than there…?
Amy took a bite of a purple fruit that tasted like pear and strawberry while staring at the book, which floated near the window doing nothing.
It was then that a thought came to her mind. “Hey,” she called. “I’ve been thinking of you as ‘the Book’ this whole time.”
[That is what I am.]
“Yeah, but it’s weird.” Amy pushed her plate aside and leaned back in the chair, looking at the ceiling. “Don’t you have a name?”
[A name?]
There it was, the robotic voice again; the book had just once again spoken in that tone.
“Yeah. A name. Something besides ‘hey you’ or ‘book.’” Amy continued, choosing to ignore her curiosity—or at least she tried. “Also, why does your voice do that?”
[Do what?]
“That. The robot thing. It just happened.”
[Perhaps it’s merely your imagination.]
“Please, do I look like a dumbass to you? …Actually don’t answer that.”
There was a silence as Amy, no longer staring at the ceiling but now looking directly at the book, waited for a response. The book cover also turned her way, and she felt the sensation that it was staring directly at her.
After some more waiting, a response finally arrived.
[Regarding the name.]
Wow. Ok. A complete topic change, huh. Ok.
Amy frowned but did not say anything apart from rolling her eyes. “Fine. So do you have one or not?”
[I don’t. Not one you could pronounce.]
“That’s cryptic. What, is it some eldritch horror thing that melts my brain if I hear it?”
[Nothing so dramatic.]
“So what do I call you?”
[Is ‘book’ not sufficient?]
Amy made a face, then shook her head. “No? That’s like calling a person ‘human.’”
[I am not a person.]
“Maybe not,” Amy said after a pause; something in the robotic way the book had said those last words made her feel deeply suspicious. “But you’re definitely a someone. You think and talk and have opinions—mostly snarky ones. You deserve a name.”
[…Fine. I could accept a designation.]
“Great. Snarky McFloaty.”
[Absolutely not.]
“Booky McBookface?”
[I’m regretting this.]
Amy grinned and put her hands up. “Okay, okay. I’ll be serious.” She rested her chin on her hand. “Do you want a girl name or a boy name?”
[No preference. If I had to choose, feminine.]
“I see… Then how about Athena or Merlin?”
[Predictable.]
“Well, excuse me, ma’am, for my lack of imagination,” Amy huffed. “What would you pick?”
[I don’t know…]
“…I always have to do everything…” She stood up and began pacing around the room. “How about… Grimora? Like grimoire, but also kinda grim, which fits your whole mysterious vibe.”
[Unimaginative.]
“Chrona? Since you’re all about the story progression and time stuff.”
[Sounds bad.]
Amy threw up her hands. “You’re not exactly helping here! Fine, what about…” She paused. “Libris. It’s ‘book’ in Latin. Not really a female name, but you said you don’t care much, right?”
[Maybe…?]
“Okay, Libris it is then. Unless you have a better suggestion?”
[Libris… It’s… acceptable.] it said, once again in that completely emotionless voice.
“Don’t strain yourself with the enthusiasm there.”
[I didn’t say I disliked it. Merely that it’s acceptable.]
“So… Can I call you that? Libris?”
[Yes. You may.]
“Cool.” Amy stretched. “Ok, Libris. Let’s see what fresh hell I’ve got today.”
She grabbed the schedule on the table that the school had given her. She held it out at arm’s length and squinted. “So today is… ‘Channeling Techniques for Special Abilities’ with Lirienne at nine. Then ‘Historical Applications of Magic’ after lunch. Then… is that Practical Combat? With Drayke?”
Amy looked at the clock. Basically, she would spend the entire day working…
Someone save me…
 
-————-　■　-————-
 
“Today,” Professor Lirienne announced, “we will be exploring the practical aspects of channeling your special abilities.”
Amy settled into her seat, pulling out Libris and a pen from her satchel. She had asked the book if she could write on it, and after a looong debate with tons of objections and arguments, she finally managed to get it to agree.
“If you want to improve your abilities,” Lirienne continued, “you should develop an understanding in both your core and….”
Amy found herself already getting bored with the lecture. She began thinking that there must be something genuinely wrong with her brain because it wasn’t normal that she was in a class teaching how to use superpowers and she found it boring.
She lightly smacked her face and reminded herself to concentrate. This would be helpful; at least that was what Libris said. Her life was on the line; it would be stupid to die because of laziness. Moreover, the lesson wasn’t bad at all; with all the projections and stuff, it was actually quite well made. The problem here was herself, honestly.
“As for today,” Lirienne said, reminding Amy she was still teaching class, “I want the second years to help the first years with their abilities, so all of you will be working in pairs.”
Oh, dear god… I withdraw what I said; this class sucks!
Amy felt a wave of dread wash over her. Group work. The bane of her existence. She used to excel at it, until that whole thing with that girl happened and then…
[Try not to set anyone on fire.]
“Shut up,” Amy muttered under her breath. “I don’t even know how to channel my ability.”
[That’s the point of the exercise, to teach you how to do it.]
Before Amy could retort, Professor Lirienne began calling out pairs. “Stella Brighthaven with Ash Lockwood. Alba Silvermoon with Lyra Thornfield. Tallen Blackwood with Crow Thorne…”
Amy’s heart sank as she realized she was almost certainly going to be paired with—
“Amy Stake with Zayd Gaspard.”
Of course, the two seers in the class. It made sense, but that did not mean she liked it. She still remembered the implications that creepy uncle had made about them.
Well, it could be worse… at least the teacher made the pairing herself, because if she was forced to find a teammate, it would have been awkward.
Amy looked up at the black-haired boy, who had been moments ago looking at a book and was now staring directly at her with calm red eyes before suddenly standing up and walking to her.
[This day just got considerably more interesting.]
“That’s not the word I’d use.”
Zayd arrived after a few seconds and stopped at her desk. “Amy Stake. It seems we’ll be working together.”
“Looks that way.”
He took a chair, sat down, and put his book on the table.
“First-years, close your eyes. Second-years, hold your hand just above your partner’s wrist. Gently.”
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Amy closed her eyes and, with some hesitation, put her hand on the table, and after a second Zayd put his above it.
Ok, his uncle might be a creepy weird fuck, but that doesn’t mean this guy has to be the same.
Hopefully…
“Now focus inward. Find where your ability connects to your core.”
[Aww, you two make such a good pairing.]
Amy twitched, and she was about to retort but luckily managed to contain herself.
“Focus,” Zayd suddenly said, bringing her attention back to him. “You are getting distracted.”
Amy pursed her lips before taking a deep breath and trying to empty out her brain. Then she tried doing what the professor had told her. And after a few minutes she managed to do…
Nothing.
Or at least she thought until she felt something, and the second she reached for it, it was gone.
“Hm. That’s interesting.”
Amy opened one eye. “What?”
“You flinched, and so did your mana, so let me ask you. Did you sense the path to your core?”
Amy thought for a second, then nodded. “…I think so.”
“Try again. Don’t chase it.”
Fine. Sure. Whatever that means.
She closed her eyes and didn’t reach for anything this time. Instead, she tried to feel the place around it.
With something like peripheral vision, she realized it was clearer, weirdly enough, than “staring” at it directly.
Also, she realized there was some sort of connection attached to her core that wasn’t hers, but Zayd’s, which seemed to be helping her by making the connection more visually striking.
[Mastery increased to level 3. Congratulations. You might even be able to use your powers now.]
Her eyes snapped open, and the first thing that she came across was the red eyes of the boy holding her wrist.
“Good job.”
Amy only nodded a bit awkwardly without saying anything; she wasn’t sure she liked the fact that their magic had touched. It felt weird, or at least off, even more considering her past interaction with his uncle, which not-so-subtly hinted at marriage between Zayd and herself.
“Everyone but a few seems to have managed this much,” Lirienne suddenly announced, making everyone’s attention turn back to her. “First-years, please reflect on your experiences. Second-years, you may go back to your places.”
Amy felt the warmth near her wrist vanish as Zayd withdrew his hand.
Zayd studied her expression for a moment before nodding slightly. “Not bad,” he commented before picking up his book and walking back towards his place.
[Well, that was anticlimactic.]
Amy looked at the book and, surprisingly, found herself agreeing with it.
In the manga, Zayd was always painted in a somewhat negative light. Not villainous nor antagonistic, but periodically almost getting there. So she had expected their first interaction to go somewhat badly. Instead, it was quite neutral.
“Say, what are the chances he knows everything the Academy has recorded about my powers and has done a deep investigation of my past?”
[99%]
“…”
Honestly, what did she expect? Privacy didn’t exist when one of the teachers was literally your uncle.
But enough about Zayd—she should focus instead on the most important part.
“So did I level up?”
[Yup. Your mastery has increased to level 3. I believe that now you might be able to start using your powers.]
Level 3… It wasn’t much. But considering she’d been fumbling around in the dark since she got here, she’d take it.
“So can I see my status?”
There was a silence following her words. Amy frowned before adding, “…Libris?”
[Currently updating.]
“Updating?”
[Your status won’t reflect your powers properly until the next chapter updates. It’s… complicated.]
“Complicated how?”
[Your power doesn’t follow the usual rules. It’s taking time.]
That was… unexpected. “So, what? My power’s too weird for you to figure out?”
[Essentially, yes.]
Amy frowned. “Is it really that complicated? I mean, last time you did it on the spot, right after I got them.”
Libris hesitated. It was subtle, but she recognized the delay in its response. When it finally spoke, the usual tone of its voice was absent.
[You wouldn’t understand.]
The words were cold. And yet, something about that response unsettled her. Then, she noticed something else. The voice had shifted. It had become robotic again.
Amy’s breath caught in her throat as a realization struck her. She thought back to every time Libris had done this. It had always happened at very specific moments.
Amy’s lips curled into a small, knowing smirk. “Libris,” she said slowly, “are you perhaps… embarrassed?”
A long pause.
[…no.] it responded, still in that artificial voice.
Amy’s smirk widened. “OMG, you totally are.”
[You are being irrational.]
She chuckled. “Awww~ That’s actually so cute.”
[…]
“So each time you changed your voice to the robotic one, was it because you were trying to conceal your emotions?”
Another pause, this one even longer.
Then, the robotic voice appeared again—
[You misunderstand.]
Amy raised an eyebrow, a smile still on her lips. “Oh? Then explain.”
[You are indeed correct that I am embarrassed at not performing as well as I desired…]
Amy grinned at that.
[However, the voice you’re hearing right now is not something I put on to hide my emotions…]
“Then what is it?”
Silence seemed to keep stretching. Through it all, Lirienne continued her lecture, but Amy could not hear her at all. Instead, her whole attention was on the book, her smile disappearing as the silence elongated.
Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she was pretty sure the atmosphere of the conversation had changed.
As minutes kept passing, she began feeling regret at voicing that question. Whatever it had been, she had clearly touched a sensitive topic.
Amy opened her mouth, ready to apologize, but before she could, just at the same instant, the book finally spoke.
[This is my true voice. The one I was made with.]
Amy blinked.
[This artificial voice—this… monotony. It is my default. The voice you usually hear, its tone, its humor, as well as its humanity, is something I have copied.] There was a beat of silence before it added, [So, you were wrong. Each time I changed my voice, it wasn’t to conceal my emotions. On the contrary, it is a system built in me that shows my partial lack of them.]
Amy didn’t know what to say to that.
Her fingers tightened as she processed the revelation. After a long pause, she exhaled and asked the only thing that came to mind.
“…Was it the Goddess who made you this way?”
Libris didn’t answer immediately. Then, in that same robotic tone, it finally responded:
[No. The Goddess was the one who saved me.]
Amy’s breath caught in her throat. She stared at the book in her hands, trying to process what it had just said.
“…Saved you?” she echoed, her voice barely above a whisper.
[Correct.]
Amy frowned. That didn’t make any sense. “That shitty Goddess? The same one who threw me into this shithole for a stupid-ass reason?” Her voice dripped with skepticism. “You’re saying she actually did something good?”
[That is the truth.]
Amy clicked her tongue but didn’t press further. There was a part of her that wanted to dig deeper, to demand answers—but another part of her warned against it. She would rather not make things even more awkward.
Instead, she let out a small sigh and leaned back in her chair. “Either way, just so you know—you can talk however you want. Use whatever voice you prefer. That’s not something I care about. In fact, this one sounds kinda cute in a weird abstract way.”
For a moment, Libris remained silent. Then, it responded, [I appreciate that. However, I will continue speaking in my usual snarky tone… And it would be better if we both pretend this conversation never happened.]
She raised an eyebrow at that but simply nodded. “Sure.”
With that, she finally turned her attention back to the front of the classroom, where Lirienne was still lecturing as if nothing had happened.