Evolution of a Girl

Unlike the sacrificial rites that opened on July 15th, today's festival was much more significant, and even attracted many tourists who came to visit.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Kamishiro."

Motoko is here today too.

She came to receive the artificial body of the God's Generation Puppet.

After replacing the new prosthetic body, Motoko Kusanagi discovered that the power of this prosthetic body was even more terrifying than she had imagined.

This has already surpassed the level of "military supplies" in the general sense.

This is undoubtedly one of the best prosthetics available today.

"It's just a poorly made thing."

But Kamishiro Yoshikui did not carry it on his body.

This artificial body was created by Shendai Yikui based on his prediction of what Tianyin would look like when she grew up. His facial features, hair color and other individual characteristics were adjusted to create an inferior imitation.

Of course, although it is an imitation, its actual performance is still very amazing, far exceeding all current prostheses.

"But the maintenance of this kind of prosthesis might be quite troublesome."

In Kusanagi Motoko's opinion, such an advanced prosthesis would probably be difficult to maintain.

"Considering you'll be out on field duty, I've made some special adjustments to the structure. For a universal prosthesis, simply overriding it with a driver program will allow it to maintain 60% of its output. If you adjust the prosthesis according to the parameters I provided, it should be able to maintain 80% of its performance. If you adjust it more carefully, you can maintain over 90% of its performance. However, to maintain perfect condition, you'll need to customize it yourself based on my information."

Yikui had already made full preparations.

"But you don't want to make your information public, right? Is it really okay to just give it to me like this?" Although Kusanagi Motoko looks quite mature, she is just a girl after all.

"Nothing. To you, this technology should be a black box," Yikui said. "And with your skills, designing some camouflage programs shouldn't be a problem."

After all, he is the world's top hacker.

Even Yikui was amazed by this technology.

"If you have nothing else, please feel free to do as you please. I'm going to prepare for the ceremony." After Yikui saw that Kusanagi Motoko was no longer in trouble, he prepared to leave and prepare for the puppet festival in the evening.

"Um," Kusanagi Motoko stood up, "about Madam Shion and Ruri..."

"...Please don't say that again. I only have one daughter now."

"..."

Kusanagi Motoko shut her mouth wisely.

Motoko Kusanagi did some research before coming and she found out that the other party did adopt a child.

Yet all this was very strange.

Because of previous connections, Kusanagi Motoko and Kamishiro Gikuei also knew each other.

but……

"Can we just let it go for now?"

That's all it can do now.

"Let's go to the festival first, just as a way to remember the past."

Motoko was the first user of full-body prosthesis, but her prostheses have been recycled because she did not own the technology - it was official property.

Coming here... let's reminisce a little.

Just think of it as practice before going abroad.

When she got dressed and went outside, she found that the shrine was full of people.

It can’t be said that there are many, although there are quite a few tourists, but it is a remote rural area after all.

"Chang Ying..."

Kusanagi Motoko turned and looked at the huge cherry tree.

It always feels subtle...

While I was thinking, there was a commotion around me.

Then, the music started.

The Kagura bell rang gently.

In just a moment, the surrounding sounds disappeared completely.

Following the sound, Kusanagi Motoko saw a young girl.

It is a sound without a puppet.

But it's slightly different.

As if to match the Puppet Festival, the appearance of the Otonashi puppet is made into a ball-jointed style.

It's a doll.

Every move is like a puppet.

Based on Kusanagi Motoko's experience, such movements are definitely not something a human could perform. Even for someone with a full-body cyborg like Motoko, it would be difficult to imitate the movements of such an older robot.

But... why does there feel a sense of disobedience?

It's not a sense of inconsistency in the data.

Rather, it stems from an instinctive sense of disharmony.

It is the experience gained from living as a full-body cyborg over the years.

Then, the accompaniment started.

It's a drum.

The big drum was struck.

The sound of the drum is full of rhythm and can easily attract people's attention.

Looking for the sound, you can see the person beating the drum.

"...Mr. Jindai."

The person beating the drum is Kamishiro Gikui.

Then--

"I am dancing, Rei is a girl."

If I dance, the beauty will be intoxicated;

The sound came from the Sound Doll.

Like a multiple chorus, but coming from one body.

Su Zi felt inexplicably relieved.

"...As expected, it's a puppet."

If it were a real person, even with the right equipment, it would be difficult to control themselves to sing like a chorus of an orchestra. If someone really succeeded, that person must be a schizophrenic patient with multiple personalities.

The dance music is slow.

The puppet girl stepped forward and walked into the center of the stage.

The surrounding sounds completely disappeared, leaving only this flourishing stage.

"My dance is my dance, my moon is shining my moon."

If I dance, the moon will shine brightly and the sound will resonate;

The ballad slowly spread to all directions along with the sound of drums.

The solemn voice made everything around it pale in comparison.

All that was left was the girl in front of him.

Using a voice different from that of a girl, with a mechanical voice and multiple choruses.

"Marriage に神色りて."

Marriage is a blessing from the gods;

The music has a sacred atmosphere and flavor.

It seems as if the gods are blessing the world, and as if the people are asking God for help.

This wonderful music touched Su Zi's heart.

This marriage seems to be a combination of a puppet and a human.

A strong sense of fate made Motoko deeply trapped.

Everything seems like a dream, yet everything is so real.

"The night is bright and the birds are singing."

The night turns to dawn and the nue birds cry.

Accompanied by the ballad, the strange sense of fate made Kusanagi Motoko seem to be healed by the sound.

in fact……

Motoko often suspects that she is not human.

——Could it be that my memory is false and I am actually just an artificial AI?

If I am a human being, why do I have a mechanical body?

Such emotions always accompany her.

However, in the ballad, all the anxiety and restlessness seemed to have been blown away by the wind.

She closed her eyes and emptied her mind.

The second round of music started. At this moment, she had no feelings or thoughts, but just listened quietly.

"I am dancing

丽し女锔いにけり

My dance

Teruyuki Hibiki

get married

God comes down

夜は明け

The birds chirp. "

If I dance,

The beauty is drunk;

If I dance,

The moon is bright and the sound is loud;

Marriage is a chance encounter,

The gods sent down;

See the dawn at night,

The nue bird is crying.

The sound gradually faded away.

But the drumbeat continued.

The lingering sound of that voice still permeates the hearts of the audience.

at last.

Even the sound of the drums gradually faded away.