Aelina returned to her usual composure as the blush faded. A puddle of unknown liquid on the floor put her in a bad mood, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. She created a battery and sifted through tens of thousands of design blueprints in her mind—all her own designs, just waiting for power. Pulling up an electrified sword blueprint, a silvery-gray glow rose, and a sword materialized on the workbench. She disposed of the annoying liquid, then held the longsword with both hands, kicked open the rickety door, and stepped out.
Fro, the Golden Ape, ran through the forest clad in armor, sweat dripping from his cheeks onto fallen leaves. Aelina called out loudly: "Fro, come see your new weapon!"
"New weapon?" He stopped, eyes lighting up, and jogged to her. A silver longsword rested on Aelina's hands, clad in light purple gloves. She had changed her attire to a noble purple theme: a long dress, boots, and unrestrained silver hair flowing in the wind. Fro felt excited, like a warrior receiving a queen's gift.
Fro took the sword. It was almost identical to his original—balanced and lightweight—but the silver blade bore different runes. "Is this an enchantment?" He pointed to the text on the blade: "Test Sword No.1."
"Look closer at what's different," Aelina said, her voice alluring. "See the button on the hilt? Press it hard."
Fro examined it. A button sat near his thumb's resting spot. He pressed hard. Autumn wind swayed branches. Aelina's silver hair brushed her slender waist. Utter silence fell, as if even crows held their breath, awaiting a miracle.
But no miracle came. No light. No sound. Only the rustle of her hair against her dress.
"Did I operate it wrong?" Aelina's lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Remove your iron gauntlets and cotton gloves. Try again with bare hands."
Fro had heard magic items needed bizarre operations. Obediently, he stripped his gloves. His bare hand gripped the icy, unwrapped hilt. His sixth sense warned him. He looked up to see her faint, encouraging smile.
"Rub upward hard." Fro obeyed. Instantly, his arm muscles jumped uncontrollably. His mind went blank. The Golden Ape instinctively tried to drop the sword, but his hand gripped tight. He leaped into the air.
The sword finally loosened. Aelina covered her mouth, bent over giggling. She looked up at the furious Golden Ape, hair standing on end. Suppressing laughter, she coughed.
"Aelina! What's this?!" Fro demanded.
"Well—" she said honestly, "I got shocked during an experiment. Feeling no one shared my pain, I got unbalanced. Sorry, Fro." Not a shred of sincerity. She lifted her head. Her beautiful smile vanished, replaced by icy coldness, as if nothing happened.
"Fine. How do I use this magic weapon?"
"This isn't magic. It's primitive tech," Aelina explained. "A high-energy battery sits in the hilt with a switch. Slide it up to electrify the blade. Battery charge is limited—don't leave it on."
From his experience, the Golden Ape believed in its power, but... "It'll shock me," Fro said, still shaken.
"No issue. You wear gloves."
"I'm in full iron armor. Touching the blade means defeat without fighting!"
"First, your cotton underlayer doesn't conduct. Second, your armor forms a perfect Faraday cage—it blocks electricity." Word by word, it made sense; together, it gave him a headache.
"Next prank, warn me first." (Though he wished she'd laugh more often.) Fro donned his gloves, gripped the sword, and switched it off.
"Use it. I'll test improvements." Aelina raised the Molecular Reconstructor and began. After half an hour, she modified Fro's old sword, moving the switch below the guard for easier access. He swung it nearby, muttering: "On, off, on." Proving the Golden Ape's low smarts, he kept forgetting the state. So Aelina embedded a tungsten-filament light in the guard's center. She also widened his helmet's visor slit, fitting transparent glass—using all her stored glass at once.
Compared to the Golden Ape Elf's "high-tech gear," Aelina had only one item: a lightning grenade. It was just a high-energy battery that shocked touchers. Its lethality relied on enemies' compulsion to pick things up. No semiconductors here—unlike Earth's silicon-rich sand. With semiconductors, she could build thyristors, precise current control, components, logic gates, even a computer.
After testing and gear changes, the setting sun slanted toward the horizon. Fro slept uneasily. In the cold wind, Aelina sat on the thickest branch of a withered tree. The branch, as thick as her waist, bent under her weight. She kept watch nightly; Fro had grown used to it. Settling in, she half-closed her eyes. The sun, like a ripe persimmon, sank slowly. Blood-red light hit wet crow wings taking flight from a distant hollow. High up, autumn wind carried decay's stench. To Aelina, the sunset resembled a rotten persimmon.
Aelina entered standby mode. Her personal system brimmed with errors from "base layer" conflicts—this world's laws differed from her origin. Advanced human tech kept her alive. System failures disabled many body functions, yet oddly, intimate functions survived. Gloomily, she checked her desire value: a pale red progress bar. Days with a male creature sped it up. She planned fantasy relief soon; long-term, she needed Elf society fast—she wasn't casual. Then she slept.
After midnight, ink-black night dyed the world. An ill-intentioned, strong man in a strange wooden mask rose slowly from icy, frosted bushes. He peeped at the silver-haired maiden sleeping on the branch, hearing the Elf's even, deep breaths. He retreated slowly, vanishing behind a hillock. A soft whistle echoed distantly. Crows flapped wings far off. Rustle, rustle, rustle—that was a dog moving through grass...
