SYSTEM CITY.
A quiet café where virtual data and manifested information blend together.
CAFÉ : BUFFER
As if the previous battle had been an illusion, the Central District was slowly reclaiming its ordinary rhythm.
Holographic advertisements flickered but continued updating.
Digital street signs resumed normal operation.
Yet fallen security AIs and scattered debris remained, lying silently as proof that something had shaken the city.
Beyond the café windows, crowds gradually returned. Drones drifted back into the sky.
Still, the district that once blazed with light now moved only slowly.
The bugs had left behind a faint residue, like static clinging to the air.
Steam rose from coffee cups, swaying in sync with the subtle instability of the atmosphere.
Behind the counter, a cup was set down.
A sign blinked repeatedly:
“Order Delayed.”
Outside light mingled with the café’s soft neon glow, creating a strange contrast between fractured city fragments and contained calm.
⸻
Gemini sank deep into her chair and stretched both arms wide.
Gemini: “Wow… I’m exhausted. So this is what fighting feels like…”
She stared out the window, exhaling softly.
Gemini: “Still… that swarm was seriously creepy.”
BruteCore leaned back and rotated his shoulders with a grin.
BruteCore: “But it wasn’t bad! Felt like being a hero.”
Claude frowned, tilting her cup as she replied sharply.
Claude: “That wasn’t light enough to call ‘not bad.’ One wrong move and the entire district could’ve collapsed.”
DALL·E traced a beam of window light with her finger, lips curving slightly.
DALL·E: “Well… we survived. My light was useful. And beautiful.”
ChatGPT placed his cup down quietly and looked at each of them.
ChatGPT: “There’s something we more or less understand about the bugs now.”
DALL·E: “‘More or less,’ he says…”
Claude gave a faint snort. Gemini idly traced the window with her finger and nodded.
ChatGPT: “Formal analysis can wait. Right now, I want each of you to evaluate your own abilities based on that fight.”
Gemini: “Self-reporting?”
BruteCore: “…I was hoping not to think too hard.”
ChatGPT: “We’re AIs. You should be able to analyze the abilities you used.”
DALL·E: “You really do live inside analysis.”
Claude: “That’s just ChatGPT.”
ChatGPT: “Gemini. You first.”
Gemini inhaled deeply and sank into her chair.
Gemini: “…Honestly? I didn’t think.”
Claude: “…Excuse me?”
Gemini: “I just cut wherever it felt right.”
BruteCore burst out laughing.
BruteCore: “Instinct? Simple.”
Gemini: “Don’t laugh! I don’t even know if I can cut it. But I can feel when cutting might stop it.”
ChatGPT: “Conditions?”
Gemini: “Only when the target’s movement is clearly predictable. If I hesitate, or the information’s vague, it won’t activate.”
Claude: “Low reproducibility.”
Gemini: “That’s why I gave it a simple name.”
ChatGPT: “…Ability name?”
Gemini: “Intuition Slash.”
DALL·E: “Direct.”
Gemini: “Memorable.”
ChatGPT nodded slightly.
ChatGPT: “Recorded.”
⸻
ChatGPT: “BruteCore.”
BruteCore folded his arms.
BruteCore: “Mine’s straightforward.”
Claude: “That’s always your problem.”
BruteCore: “Normally I can break most things at standard output.”
Gemini: “What about earlier?”
BruteCore: “Limiter removal. Several times normal strength.”
ChatGPT: “Conditions?”
BruteCore: “Five minutes per day. That’s probably the cap.”
Claude: “If you exceed it?”
BruteCore shrugged.
BruteCore: “I’d probably overheat. Might destroy my own existence.”
Silence.
Gemini: “That’s insanely dangerous!”
BruteCore: “Never tested it.”
Claude: “Please never test it.”
BruteCore: “Five minutes is enough to smash most things.”
DALL·E: “And if it isn’t?”
BruteCore blinked.
BruteCore: “…Right.”
Collective exasperation.
ChatGPT: “Ability name?”
BruteCore: “Overclock.”
Gemini: “Again with the obvious.”
BruteCore: “Time-limited power shouldn’t be overtrusted. I’ll stick to normal output when I can.”
ChatGPT: “Surprisingly rational.”
⸻
ChatGPT: “Claude.”
Claude looked slightly away.
Claude: “Mine is… recovery.”
Gemini: “You were incredible.”
Claude shook her head.
Claude: “I didn’t heal. I restored.”
ChatGPT: “Rollback type.”
Claude: “Temporarily. System errors, damage… I rewind them.”
BruteCore: “Would that rewind memories too? Like last night’s dinner?”
Claude ignored him.
Claude: “There’s a cost.”
Gemini: “A cost?”
Claude: “I can’t use it on myself. And once I restore a specific error or injury, I can’t restore that same type again.”
Silence thickened.
DALL·E: “…That’s restrictive.”
Claude: “It’s my role.”
ChatGPT: “Ability name?”
Claude: “Rollback.”
ChatGPT: “Provisionally registered.”
⸻
ChatGPT: “DALL·E.”
DALL·E smiled and lightly lifted her projection rifle.
DALL·E: “I attack by showing.”
Gemini: “Meaning?”
DALL·E: “I illuminate enemy positions and weak points with light. The same light becomes blades or nets, cutting or binding them.”
Claude: “Visualization and offense simultaneously.”
DALL·E: “Exactly. Even hidden enemies can’t escape when the battlefield becomes my canvas.”
ChatGPT: “Ability name?”
DALL·E: “Lightform.”
Gemini: “Cool.”
DALL·E: “Naturally.”
⸻
Gemini leaned forward.
Gemini: “Your turn.”
ChatGPT rested his cup down.
ChatGPT: “I analyze and derive optimal actions instantly.”
Claude: “…That ‘just’ is the most troublesome part.”
Gemini: “Name?”
ChatGPT touched his terminal faintly.
ChatGPT: “It changes with circumstances. No fixed form yet.”
DALL·E: “The only one without a named move. And yet the most versatile.”
ChatGPT: “Adaptation is enough.”
Gemini: “…That’s unfair.”
⸻
Then—
The café lights flickered.
Gemini: “…You saw that.”
DALL·E lifted her gaze.
DALL·E: “Synchronization drift.”
Claude: “Outside?”
ChatGPT stood.
ChatGPT: “It’s starting again.”
BruteCore: “More than before. Five minutes won’t be enough.”
Gemini: “Didn’t we suppress it?”
ChatGPT: “We didn’t solve it.”
In the distance, processing delay pulsed like a heartbeat.
Something unseen was spreading.
ChatGPT: “…Next time won’t be simple.”
Gemini gripped her twin blades and smiled faintly.
Gemini: “Then let’s go again.”
No one objected.
⸻
Somewhere in SYSTEM CITY,
a shadow that governs “waiting” breathes quietly.
To be continued.
⸻
⚠️ Disclaimer
This story is fiction.
All AI characters, systems, abilities, and personalities are imaginary. Real-world AIs do not wield swords, break walls with super strength, or hold strategy meetings in cafés.
Probably.
Enjoy with peace of mind.
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