Lindy smiled, thankful for the opportunity. "To start with… I'd like to ask a very simple question. You're all programs created for the book's defense, so I assume you'll be able to correctly answer it. Tell me, what is the Book of Darkness' actual name?"
The Wolkenritter all had different reactions. "What sort of question is that?" Signum asked, her eyes narrowed.
"I'll take that as 'I don't know'," Lindy said, shaking her head. "You're not even aware that its name isn't even 'Book of Darkness', it appears."
"We're the Wolkenritter, we're part of the Guardian Knight program, we'd know all about the book," Vita said, frowning.
"You would… if it was functioning properly," Yuuno interrupted and explained. "The book was created a long time ago, and it was then known as the Tome of the Night Sky. It was never intended to be a weapon… merely an archive. Of course, Belka, being Belka, saw the possibility to create a weapon of immeasurable power utilizing the book. After all, it was an archive containing a great deal of powerful spells. However, simply giving it to a user proved inefficient. Ultimately, even aided by the book and its AI component, the human element was still limiting the destructive potential of the book. So a Master who thought he was clever utilized the book's own capabilities to create an automated 'Defense' Program."
"The Defense Program is a core part of the program, and it has Administrator Rights, it couldn't possibly have been an addition that wasn't originally intended," Shamal commented, frowning.
"This was at a time when the method utilized to create the Tome of the Night Sky was still available. It's very likely they had access to the blueprints of the book, as well. Information on this era is very scarce, particularly anything on the Tome of the Night Sky. It was hard enough to dig up as much as I did," Yuuno said, shaking his head.
"That is irrelevant," Zafira spoke.
"You're right," Yuuno agreed. "The Defense Program appears to have been granted Administrator Rights. The Tome of the Night Sky's AI appears to have been designed for the purpose of being an Unison Device…"
"Uhm… Yuuno-kun, not to interrupt, but what is a Unison Device?" Nanoha asked.
"I am curious, as well," Jiraiya admitted.
"If there's something to be known about the Book, I'm all ears," Naruko added, nodding.
"An Unison Device is quite different from the Devices you are used to," Lindy began, closing her eyes for a moment to recollect the information in her mind, "instead of merely being an AI-powered tool, an Unison Device is, for most intents and purposes, a living being. They are designed for the express purpose of 'fusing' with an user, or 'Unison' with them, hence the name, thus sharing knowledge and mental ability. Typically, they bring with themselves a large power increase for their user as well as an increase in mental faculties, allowing even a normal human with little talent to cast magic without the aid of an intelligent device."
Her audience nodded, showing understanding of her lecture.
"Thank you, Admiral," Yuuno said, nodding, knowing that her lecture on Unison Devices was faster and more concise than the in-depth one he'd been about to launch on. "Shall I continue?"
"Yes, please," Lindy said, smiling at him, almost apologetically.
"Very well, now, as I was saying, the Tome's AI turned the book into, essentially, a magical archive connected to an Unison Device. As you might have guessed, the wielder of the book became incredibly powerful and it often turned otherwise weak knights unstoppable. The Defense Program, however, altered this situation quite a bit. Thinking that humans would not be able to match the skill and precision of a computer, the Master who created the Defense Program decided to cause an accidental feature of an Unison Device to become intentional, and to occur every time."
"An accidental feature?" Naruko asked, tilting her head.
"Yes, when an Unison is done improperly, or the Unison Device possesses an Ego much superior to that of its wielder, it may sometimes accidentally take over the body of its user, instead of merely empowering them. Other Unison Devices typically did it only in case of emergency, but the Defense Program was, well, programmed to do it each and every time. When triggered, the Defense Program would promptly take over its master and destroy anything that was labelled a 'threat' by the Master's consciousness, which would take a backseat role."
"That… is horrible, but practical," Jiraiya commented, frowning.
"An AI without true sentience would be a ruthless and impossibly precise killer," Signum said, shaking her head slightly. "It would make no mistakes, miss or disobey orders."
"It would also be merciless and cruel… and it would be limited. As it would follow orders to the letter, it wouldn't be able to adapt to situations as well as a human could. The Defense Program, while a more effective killing machine than what a human could ever be, was a lot less effective or efficient as a human soldier was, by virtue of its inability to adapt to an ever shifting battlefield," Lindy interrupted.
"You know, I'm having uncomfortable flashbacks to a certain old coot that tried to create emotionless tools out of men," Jiraiya said, frowning. "I'm opposed to emotionless machines on principle, I guess."
"Interesting though that might sound, I can see merit in the creation of the Defense Program," Yuuno said, shaking his head, "though I can see its flaws, as well."
Fate and Nanoha seemed to be quite a bit more affected, however. Fate, in particular, though she was clearly trying not to show it. Nanoha patted her shoulder, causing Fate to steel herself. It was not a moment to dwell on a past long gone.
"However, while what you're telling us isn't particularly pleasant to hear, that changes nothing to us."
Signum's words cut through the thick atmosphere in an instant.
"I'd like to ask for a bit of patience," Lindy said, somewhat hurriedly, "the extended explanation was merely intended to inform you about how we reached the conclusions we did."
"What I am wondering is… where are we through all of this?" Shamal asked, frowning.
"As far as we know, we've always been with the book," Vita mentioned, herself wearing a confused frown.
"You weren't," Yuuno said, shaking his head. "In fact, you were actually created along with the Defense Program. The Guardian Knight Program was added to make up for the diminishing numbers of Belkan Knights able to guard the Tome's master until it could be charged to completion. However, history is a bit… muddled at this point, as it seems multiple sources can't agree whether you four were volunteers, or in some way forced into your situation."
"And we can't really remember existing before we were the Wolkenritter," Zafira noted. "However… that doesn't matter."
Vita nodded. "We're the Wolkenritter now, and what we might have been hundreds of years ago… it no longer affects us."
"That's right," Naruko said, smiling widely. "Because you're my knights now," she said, simply.
"Of course, Mistress," Signum said, nodding with a slight smile on her face.
"You might have already noticed a rather big flaw that the Tome of the Night Sky had as a weapon," Yuuno began.
"Yes… Now that you mention it," Fate began, turning to Yuuno. "From what you said, the book… it had to be charged after every time it was used, right?" she asked.
"Correct," Yuuno confirmed. "In order to activate it to its full strength, it was necessary to charge all six hundred and sixty six of its pages each and every time. As you might have guessed by this point, this was a rather… crippling flaw. It meant that every time the book was needed, someone would need to protect the wielder while the Linker Cores were collected. That's where the Guardian Knight Program came in, created to defend the Master and fill the book to completion," he explained.
"Yes, that is our purpose," Signum said, "even though our mistress has ordered us not to prioritize it, it is still something that hangs in our minds."
"You could call it a sort of compulsion," Shamal said, "though our mistress' orders seem to take precedence."
"I guess you could call this the turning point of the Tome of the Night Sky's history. Until then, it was seen as a blessed item. A weapon, for sure, but a holy weapon, and its wielders seen as heroes. Well, to their allies, at any rate," Lindy explained, sighing and shaking her head. "However, someone attempted to fix the main flaw of the book, being its inability to draw in an ambient mana to sustain itself instead of having to rely on absorbing Linker Cores directly."
"That's right," Yuuno said. "However, unlike the Master that created the Defense Program, the Master that attempted to fix the main perceived flaw of the book was not as succesful… Or rather, he wasn't successful in the way he or she hoped. I don't know whether it was because of a lack of knowledge, a lack of ability or a lack of the correct tools, but what it comes down to, is that the attempt to create a self sustaining Tome of the Night Sky was… horribly successful," Yuuno said.
"Horribly successful? What's that mean?" Naruko asked.
"What it means is that they succeeded in creating a self-sustaining killing machine. The problem is that they didn't do just that. For some reason, it appears that whatever was done to the book caused far more reaching consequences than expected. Somewhere along the lines, the Defense Program became… corrupted. Before, it was guided, if minimally, by the conscience of the Master behind it. It could identify friend from foe, and direct its destruction in a specific direction, if only barely. The corruption brought on by these modifications… removed the ability from the Master to have the slightest input. The Tome lost the ability to differentiate Friend from Foe, and it just began to destroy everything."
"Everything…?" Signum frowned.
"Everything," Yuuno confirmed. "Its enemies… its allies… the very Guardian Knights designed to protect it… and finally, once it was done destroying everything else in whatever world it was… it would turn on itself, and destroy the last living being on the planet. Its own master."
"What!?"
"As I told you," Yuuno said. "This is why the Book came to be known as the Book of Darkness, as opposed to the Tome of the Night Sky. The corrupted Defense Program would go berserk each and every time it was triggered, and it eventually modified itself to be more effective at its task. It changed the conditions of it, triggering to basically the completion of the book. As soon as it was charged, it would activate, and destroy everything around it before destroying its master, only to move on and find a new master to repeat it, time and time again."
"That is…" Fate began
"Horrible," Nanoha said, "I knew this was bad, but…"
"If you are telling the truth, then…" Signum began, looking down on the table.
"Then… by trying to complete the book…" Shamal added.
"We were putting our mistress closer to death," Zafira finished, looking and sounding as solemn as the situation demanded.
"I… can't believe this…" Vita said, shaking her head. "I can't believe it. Everything we've worked for, everything we've done, has only served to hurt Naruko!? I can't–"
"It's true," Lindy said. "If you must, scan the book yourself."
Naruko frowned, but waved her hand in the air. The book seemed to phase into existence. "Huh. So I could do that," she said, shaking her head. The book was floating right next to Naruko's hand, but soon it gently dropped and Naruko grabbed it, bringing it in front of herself. "… Initiate System Analysis."
"Jawohl," the book confirmed, opening and glowing right in front of Naruko.
"System Analysis in progress…" Naruko muttered, her eyes closed. "All Systems functional. Charge Level… Ninety one percent. Wow, that was weird," Naruko said, shaking her head. "Remind me not to do that again."
"Hm. It's not unusual for the book's own scans to be unable to detect the corruption," Lindy said, shaking her head. "If it could, it would most likely have fixed it. Perhaps… can you check if something is preventing you from accessing the Defense Program?"
"Analyze… Open Defense Program:," Naruko muttered to herself. "Huh. Program not found? But it's right there in the system records. Okay, I have… no idea what's going on right now. I mean, even less than I usually do, because the book doesn't have any idea what's going on either. There IS no Defense Program, even though everything tells me that there should be," Naruko said.
"But… that's strange," Lindy mentioned.
"Strange? No, strange is when your alarm clock goes off like five minutes earlier. This is flat out weird," Jiraiya corrected.
"Do we know who was the Master before Naruko?" Fate asked, looking at Lindy.
The woman shook her head. "I know what you're thinking, but we do," Lindy confirmed, "last time, the Master was slain before the book was completed, and it was held by the TSAB in containment and quarantine as we attempted to figure out a way to destroy it. It disappeared around twelve years ago."
"But then… what could this mean?" Signum asked. "Could it be that perhaps…"
"Hm, are you onto something?" Jiraiya asked.
"I'd just been thinking… perhaps the program isn't missing. Perhaps it is avoiding detection. All systems register as functional, and yet…"
Naruko shrugged. "The book can't detect it, it can detect that it's missing, but it's still functioning."
"Hm. Can you perform a scan looking specifically for it? You might be able to discover if it has changed locations," Lindy said, looking straight at Naruko.
"I can try," Naruko replied. "Search Keyword: NachtWal… This might take a few minutes, and it will take all the attention I can give it to speed it up. There is a very… large database to comb through. Which fortunately includes the definition of the word 'Database' for dummies."
"Well… meanwhile, we should discuss something fairly important. The Defense Program's corruption… it is very dangerous, regardless of what path you choose. If allowed to run unchecked, it will destroy this world, and it will destroy Naruko, as well. I'm sure you don't want that," Lindy explained.
"See? I told you," Nanoha said, smiling at Vita. "We don't want to hurt you, all we want is to help you."
"… If what you're telling us is true, then… Our debt to you is immeasurable," Signum said.
"We're just doing the right thing… All we want is to avoid a tragedy," Fate said.
Vita huffed. "I will believe it when I see proof."
"Even if the book itself can't provide proof to you, one of your number should be able to run a scan to confirm our findings and, regardless, the lack of a Defense Program even though your mistress just told you there should be one should be a pretty big red flag," Jiraiya commented.
"It is," Zafira agreed. "But that something is wrong with the book. Not that you are correct."
"Nevertheless, we must discuss what we will do with the corruption of the Tome. That is the reason to blame for the tragedy of the Book of Darkness, and as such… it must be eliminated," Lindy explained, the once warmth of her voice replaced with the cold edge developed through years of weaving through the pointless politics and bickering of the TSAB's top brass.
"If the Corruption threatens our mistress, then it will be eliminated, by our own hand," Signum replied, just as coldly. "But… we do not know how."
"Fortunately, we might have a solution," Lindy spoke, her eyes closing for a moment. "Unfortunately, it is not a simple, nor clean one. When it comes down to it, the Defense Program, whether original or not, is now part of the Core of the Tome of the Night Sky. I am going to assume that merely purging the corruption is impossible, for the very simple reason that such a simple solution would've already been tried. It's worth giving at least one shot, but it's not a potential solution we should count on."
The Wolkenritter nodded. "The solutions you have in mind are dangerous, I take it," Shamal asked.
"Of course. This sort of problem never has a safe solution," Vita muttered, bitterly. "But it's not a danger to yourself, or even to us. If that were so, you wouldn't even bring it up. You know that we would gladly risk ourselves for our mistress…"
Zafira nodded. "This means…"
"The only solutions to this problem… require awakening the Book of Darkness completely," Lindy said, nodding as she confirmed their suspicions. "As far as our research has shown, the book's programs cannot be modified in its dormant state."
"That is… strange. Don't computers usually behave in the opposite way? Isn't it more difficult to modify a running program?" Nanoha asked, tilting her head. "I know Raising Heart has to deactivate itself to process updates, at least."
"In order to update the book, you must use the programs within the book itself, and those don't activate unless the book has been activated. Most likely, it was designed that way to prevent tampering with the book while it was in a dormant state, so as to avoid sabotage," Yuuno explained, frowning.
"Sounds like something I'd do," Jiraiya commented. "It makes perfect sense, if you consider the book a weapon, at least. It's actually not so different from how seals behave, in a sense."
"You mean this world's art of sealing, correct?" Signum asked.
"Yes, of course," Jiraiya said, nodding.
"We are… willing to listen. However, it will be up to mistress whether we undertake the possible solutions or not," Shamal said, evenly. Signum and Vita turned towards her, almost as if… betrayed by her words. "I will do whatever it takes to preserve our mistress' life, should it become necessary…"
"But if we just don't fill the book, then–+" Vita began.
"Vita… You can feel it, can't you?" Shamal asked. "My main task is providing support and healing, and even I can feel it…"
"It doesn't matter! I'll just resist it! Even… even if—"
"Do you remember, Vita? We disobeyed Mistress to fill the book," Zafira said, eyes closed. "It's a very strong compulsion, and it will seek ways to twist us to do it. It will force us… to be the Grim Reaper that brings death to our mistress. We disobeyed mistress, even though we hated doing it and we knew we'd be punished… Why?"
"We didn't know this then! We were doing it because… because it was her dream," Vita countered. "She wished to be strong… to be Hokage, and we took it away… it was just—"
"Mistress never gave us the order to do it, and flat out ordered us to pull out the instant it became dangerous. It always was, and we went ahead, nonetheless…" Zafira continued, shaking his head. "It will twist us. It will make us find an excuse to do it. And then… we will be to blame. We will be the ones to bring her to death. And I… refuse to be the cause of my mistress' death!"
"What is your plan?" Signum asked, turning to Lindy.
"We rely on one very specific thing. Ultimately, we need Naruko to separate the Defense Program from the rest of the Tome, taking the corruption with it. Once it's done, the program can be sealed away. Through the use of an extremely powerful technique native to this world… It will be sealed away for eternity."
"I'm gonna do the sealing myself," Jiraiya said, closing his eyes and leaning back. His voice was strangely solemn. "It's the least I can do," he added.
"But if she's not able to…" Shamal began.
"Then she'd have to be sealed along with the Defense Program," Lindy said, evenly. "Which is something we really, really don't want."
Signum's eyes closed. "That result would be unacceptable. But… anything else is death."
"The seal we would need to utilize to seal a being of this kind of power… it's permanent. There is no getting out of it, as far as I know. Once it's used, whatever goes in, never, ever, comes back out," Jiraiya explained, frowning.
"The only other option is the use of a specific spell from a specific device designed specifically to seal away both Book and Master. The Eternal Coffin, utilized by the device Durandall. Unlike the seal Jiraiya intends to use, this is reversible. It is hard to do so, but it is possible to break the seal and liberate the one trapped within. It essentially freezes a part of space, removing it from the stream of time," Lindy explained.
"Would the one trapped within age?" Shamal asked.
"No," Lindy confirmed, "the one trapped with is frozen and outside of time. They don't grow, nor age, until they are removed. However, we are unsure of any ill effects this might have on a human, as it is, for clear reasons, untested on such."
"I see," Shamal said, nodding. "If it were used in such a way, it should be possible to seal away the book for eternity. However, you run the risk of someone hungry for power attempting to unseal us."
"You don't need to sacrifice yourselves along with—"
Signum shook her head, cutting Lindy off. "If our mistress were to be sealed away, it'd be our duty to be with her. Both as her Knights, as her servants… and as her family."
"We would never leave Naruko alone to suffer while the rest of us live on," Vita said, glaring at Lindy.
"I wouldn't imply such a thing," Lindy said, raising her hands. "But I am fairly certain she herself would protest such a thing."
Nanoha and Fate nodded. "Naruko would order you not to do it," Nanoha said.
"She would," Shamal agreed.
"We would disobey," Zafira said, seriously and without an ounce of humor. "It would shame us as knights to disobey our Lord and Mistress."
"But our pride as knights… it doesn't seem to matter as much now, does it?" Shamal asked, turning to Signum.
"There are bigger and more important things to worry about, indeed," Signum admitted.
"Sealing away the Defense Program after Naruko has separated it from the Book would be our best option, then," Lindy said. "Don't you agree?"
"Yes. That would be the best solution possible," Signum agreed. "It is also, however, very difficult and dangerous."
"Indeed, it is. If it fails, we'll have to go with Plan B," Lindy stated, plainly. "We will still need to consult with Naruko. Ultimately, it's up to her, whether we go through with it or not."
"Then we'll have to wait until she's done, right?" Fate asked, turning to Lindy.
"Indeed."
Jiraiya whistled. "So… anyone got anything to pass the time? A card game, or something?"
"I do need to become reacquainted with Bardiche," Fate noted. "The modifications made…"
"Both Devices have been fitted with specific replacement parts, giving them a stronger frame in general," Lindy commented. "But we also used data we collected from the Wolkenritter's devices to add an entirely new system to each of them."
"Really?" Nanoha asked.
"Yes. To put it simply, it's a Mid-Childan adaptation to the Belkan Cartridge System," Lindy said, nodding at Nanoha. "It should, theoretically, allow you to fight on an even level with the same opponents that defeated you earlier."
"We're close to equals," Signum said, looking at Fate. "Your device made all the difference. I look forward to engaging in combat with you once more, now that we are on a level ground," she added.
"This time, I'll win, Vita-chan," Nanoha said, looking at Vita, who was grinning in challenge.
"Bring it on," Vita said, her hand going to her neck, fingering Graf Eisen's sealed form, which dangled from it.
"Okay, I'm done," Naruko said. "I've got good news and bad news."
"This isn't promising," Jiraiya commented.
"Good news is, I found NachtWal," Naruko began. "That's the name of the Defense Program, by the way," she added.
"It has a name?" Jiraiya asked, clearly confused. "Why would you even give it a name?" he asked.
"Well, saying 'Defense Program' every time probably got a little tedious, so they gave it a name instead, I imagine," Yuuno mentioned. "Nevertheless, the program's name was never quite made clear. It's difficult to pull information about it from the ground, given that the Book of Darkness destroyed the very facilities that made it, and all that it was connected to, itself."
"It has also damaged its own records," Naruko mentioned, off-handedly. "A lot of the files here are corrupted. Much of it has been deleted, as it is practically useless and impossible to recover."
"Well, this does offer confirmation," Shamal mentioned. "Of a sort."
Signum was torn. Should she smile that the opponent she thought was honorable proved to be true to her word? Or should she be angry at the corruption that threatened to consume and destroy her mistress? Truly, it was actually a vexing thought, to think that such a thing could pass by the Knights so easily. How could they protect their mistress, if they had been slowly killing her for so long?
"You said you found the program, right?" Nanoha asked. "Can you separate it from the book? We might be able to seal it away and end this right now—"
"Well, I found it, but I'm afraid separating it from the book is going to be impossible," Naruko said, frowning as she opened her eyes and looked at the table. "At least, right now," she said.
"What? Why?" Nanoha asked.
"Because… well, remember when I told you that I couldn't find it by scanning the book's programs? Turns out there's a reason for that," Naruko said. "It's not in the book."
"But… what? You said you'd found it," Jiraiya protested.
"And I did. Just not in the book," Naruko said, grinning and scratching the back of her neck. "Since I only ever found files I'd already found that were connected to NachtWal, I decided to scan something else and… Well, I found exactly where it is."
"Where?" Signum asked.
"NachtWal is… within me. I am, for all intents and purposes, the current physical vessel for the Defense Program."