As Ex-Machina In No Game No Life: Zero

I stood before the gates of Rindouji All-Girls Academy. It was a weekday, and the faint sound of teachers' voices drifted from the open windows. It looked like any other school.

But it was also the home of my next target.

Miku Izayoi. The Spirit codenamed "Diva."

Finding her was easy. As a famous idol, her schedule was practically public knowledge. I didn't even need to use my new powers.

Speaking of finding people, Kurumi had moved out of her old house. A futile attempt to escape my notice. With my surveillance capabilities, I could find her no matter where she ran. 

Even if she fled to a cave in the mountains, Rasielwould pinpoint her exact coordinates. But that was a problem for another day.

Miku Izayoi... because of a past trauma, she harbored a deep, pathological hatred of men. To her, they were worse than insects. 

In the original story, Shido had been forced to cross-dress just to get close to her. 

Her personality, especially early on, was... unpleasant. She used her powers to manipulate her fans, turning them into little more than puppets for her own amusement. 

Even after Shido "saved" her, I never really warmed to her character.

But her Angel, Gabriel, was undeniably useful. It could play music with various effects: buffs for allies, direct attacks on enemies, and most importantly, the ability to control the minds of anyone who heard it.

I stood outside the school gate, my human disguise firmly in place. I had already located Miku's exact position within the school, but I couldn't just walk in and start a fight. Not here, surrounded by hundreds of innocent students.

A security guard noticed me loitering. He probably figured I was a fan, another star-struck girl hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous idol who attended his school. He'd seen it a hundred times.

But rules were rules. No outsiders allowed.

He walked over, a stern but not unkind look on his face, ready to send me on my way.

"Excuse me, miss," the guard said, his voice polite but firm. "This is a private school. Unauthorized personnel are not permitted on the grounds. Please leave."

I glanced at him. He'd been watching me for a while. I was surprised it took him this long to approach. It didn't matter. I had no intention of starting a fight on school property. 

Not with so many civilians around. And Miku, at this stage in her story, was just cruel enough to use her own fans as human shields.

My plan was simpler. I would wait for her on her way home.

….

The final bell rang. School was out.

Miku Izayoi waved goodbye to her adoring fans, her perfect idol smile plastered on her face. 

As she walked home, a strange feeling of unease settled over her. 

Her intuition, something she had learned to trust implicitly, was screaming that something bad was about to happen.

She scanned the faces in the crowd, her senses on high alert. What was it? What was making her feel so anxious?

She turned a corner onto a quieter street. Leaning against a wall was a small figure in a dark, oversized hoodie. 

Even with the face hidden, Miku could tell from the slight frame and the few strands of blue-violet hair peeking out from the hood that it was a girl.

Well, at least it's not a man, she thought with a small sigh of relief. She tried to ignore the figure and walk past, but the feeling of dread was growing stronger with every step. The unknown is always the most frightening.

She got her answer as she passed.

"Query..." a flat, emotionless voice came from under the hood. "You are Miku Izayoi, correct?"

The alarm bells in Miku's mind went from a warning siren to a full-blown air raid. A wave of pure, primal danger washed over her.

"Wh-what?!"

She was an idol, not a fighter. Her combat instincts were non-existent. In that moment of shock, her entire body was one giant opening.

I moved.

Before she could even process the question, I was in front of her. My hand shot out, grabbing her by the throat. I didn't slam her against the wall as intended. Instead, a golden portal opened behind her, and I shoved her through it, diving in right after.

….

Miku landed hard on a dusty concrete floor. The world spun. She was no longer on her familiar route home. She was in a derelict, half-finished building, surrounded by rubble and shadows.

And the person who attacked her was now straddling her, one hand still locked around her throat.

Pain and fear surged through her. There was no time to think, no time to analyze. She had to fight back. Her powers were sonic; she needed to sing, to speak. But the hand on her throat was like a steel clamp. She couldn't draw a breath, let alone make a sound.

"L-let... g-go..." she choked out.

Hmm. She can still speak? My processors instantly calculated the necessary adjustment.

My other hand moved. I pried her mouth open she was already gasping for air and pressed my fingers firmly down on her tongue.

"Mmmph!"

Now she was truly silent.

Tears of frustration and terror streamed from her eyes. Dust and grime covered her beautiful face and perfect hair. 

She looked helpless, like a damsel in a silent film, tied to the railroad tracks. Her astral dress, a magnificent gown of light, had materialized around her, but it was useless. 

Her Angel, the colossal pipe organ Gabriel, appeared behind her, but without her voice, it was just a silent, ornate piece of furniture.

She was a fish on the chopping block, just as I had planned. My calculations had been flawless. There would be no need for Plan B.

Miku's Angel was a support tool, not a weapon. Faced with a surprise attack that exploited her every weakness, her swift defeat was inevitable.

Driven by a primal will to survive, she thrashed wildly, clawing at me. It was like scratching a steel wall. Her fingernails bent and cracked, yet I remained completely unmarked. 

Her frantic struggles, combined with the chaotic energy of her Angel's appearance, managed to knock the hood from my head.

Her eyes widened. She was looking at the face of a perfect, beautiful doll, completely devoid of emotion. 

My golden eyes glowed with an eerie, analytical light. The sight of the mechanical seams tracing my jawline finally made her understand.

This thing pinning her down wasn't human.

The revelation was the final straw. Her mind, already teetering on the edge, began to crumble.

I paid her no mind. My grip on her throat was precisely calibrated just enough pressure to prevent her from making a sound, but not enough to cause any lasting harm. 

Killing her was never the objective. In fact, her summoning Gabriel in a panic was exactly what I had wanted.

Ignoring her struggles, I focused my full attention on the magnificent pipe organ and began the analysis.

And so we remained, locked in that strange, violent embrace. Her movements grew weaker and weaker until they ceased altogether. In the silence of the abandoned construction site, no one would ever know what transpired.

….

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