Does Omega Dream of Electric Friends? · Chapter 9
The Final Frontier

Cube Palace
...That's all. Did you understand?
Omega
No, Omega doesn't get it...!
But it's okay. Omega's gonna trust you because we're friends!
Cube Palace
...Confirmed.
Omega
Elisa, Elisa...
Elisa
Y-yes? Miss Omega?
Omega
When Cube says "now!"...
Throw Omega up in the air.
Elisa
P-pardon? U-up in the air?
Omega
Yeah... One, two...
Three...!
Cube Palace
Now.
Muriel & Elisa
Aaah, L-Lord Gaaaph!!

Omega
GYAAAHHH—BZZZT!!
Trish
Heyyy?! Is this even safe?!
Elisa
KYAAAAHHHH! Miss Omega?!
Muriel
Th-the spirit got struck by lightning! Lord Gaph is angry!
Run! He's forsaken us!
Elisa
S-S-Saintess Muriel! Look again!
Muriel
I-I can't look at corpses! It's scary! ...Huh?

Omega
Heh...
Elisa
Her body... is crackling with energy...
Cube Palace
Omega Control, calculating charge rate. 32%... 67%... 88%...
Omega
Hehe, hehehe...!
Cube Palace
98%... 138%... 166%...
Omega
Omega can see smells...! Can touch sounds...!

Omega
Tons of new stuff opened up in the database! Lots Omega's never seen before!!
What should Omega pull out? What should Omega make?!
Trish
She really got charged up...? From getting struck by lightning...?
Muriel
Lord Gaaaaph! I knew you wouldn't let me down!
A-actually, just one more! While you're at it, just one more!
If you could send another lightning bolt at the spirit, it would be perfec—

Muriel
Eh.
Trish
...The rain's stopping.
Elisa
Maybe... even Lord Gaph was a little put off by all that...
Muriel
W-wait! Is this somehow my fault?!
Khan
She really got charged up from getting struck by lightning...?
...
Damn it, so what?!
Nothing's changed!
Omega
Take this...! Square attack!
Khan
That again?! I'll just deflect those squares—
Omega
Five hundred of them!!
Khan
What.
Trying to crush me with weight... how stupid...!
This exoskeleton can carry boulders and still keep running...!
Omega
Oh, Khan's getting back up. He's holding out.
Khan
Don't underestimate the source of my confidence!!
Omega
Then five hundred more!
Khan
Ghk.
Omega
Okay, next... next...
Ooh... this one! The name is super cool!
[Mass Driver]? What is this?
Cube Palace
Cross-referencing data...
The Mass Driver is equipment that uses electromagnetic acceleration to launch metal objects into outer space.
Additional note. The enhanced exoskeleton is metal.
Omega
...Ah! Omega's got it!
Mass Driveeer... projected!!
Muriel
S-She just made rails appear...
Trish
Whoa, this thing... it's gotta reach all the way to the Astro Sanctum!
Khan
Kraaawr!
Cube Palace
Analysis. Hostile entity Khan is rebooting.
Requesting that all currently functional combatants intercept hostile entity [Khan].
Time limit... until the Mass Driver finishes charging.
Omega
Okay! Omega's gonna fix Khan so he becomes good too!

Trish
There, he's on his knees!
Elisa
M-Miss Omega! Now!
Khan
You... what are you trying to...
Omega
Hey, Khan?
You know? Friends don't only say nice things to each other.
Sometimes friends are annoying. Sometimes they make you angry.
So... you can be Omega's friend too!
Omega's gonna fire the strongest blast!
Once you're all fixed up nice and clean, you'll be Omega's friend, okay?
Khan
W-wait!
Omega
Repair...
Mass Driver!!!
Muriel
...He got blasted away.
Elisa
He's become one with the stars...
He didn't... explode, though.
Muriel
What?! You were hoping he'd explode?
Elisa
W-well, I just thought it would look more beautiful that way...
Trish
Ahh! My Blue Fang! There's another crack in it!
I only just paid for the repairs...!
And I can't pull him back, so no bounty either...
Omega
I-is that so...?
Should Omega bring him back? Omega's database has airplanes!
There are rockets too! Right now Omega can make any—
...H-huh?
Aw... Omega... isn't crackling anymore.
...Back to normal.
Cube Palace
Lightning is powerful but an unstable energy source.
Furthermore, the previous projection used 95% of the energy secured.
Omega
But what about Trish's bounty?
Trish
...Haha, well, it's fine!
Whining about money's not very cool anyway.
Plenty of bad guys left to catch out there. Like those two con artists over there.
You two con artists turned out pretty helpful this time around.
Muriel
S-shut up! We rescued the spirit!
Elisa
That's right! Saintess Muriel went through so much stress fighting them!
Muriel
If we'd just quietly grabbed the relic and the spirit and fled...! Climbing dozens of ranks would've been no problem...!
Omega
Yup, thank you for helping Omega, everyone!
You're Omega's friends too!
Muriel
Friends with the Star Piercer's spirit?!
I g-guess... not a bad result, all things considered?
Omega
Time to head back, Cube!

Omega
But Cube. There's something Omega's wondering about.
Cube, you can call Omega, right? You can go "ping", right?
Why didn't you "ping" when Khan took you away?
Cube Palace
Answer. A matter of Omega Control's safety.
Omega Control is emotional and inexperienced.
Assessed as dangerous: Omega Control receiving this unit's distress signal and rushing in alone.
Additionally, Omega Control's fuel efficiency is low. Combat endurance is weak.
Conclusion: Factored in the risk of a crisis like the one just experienced.
Misjudgment: This unit underestimated Omega Control's capabilities. Correcting calculation vector.
Omega
Hehe.
Cube Palace
...
Question. Requesting the meaning of that laugh.
Omega
It means Omega's glad! That's all.
Cube Palace was worried about Omega too. Right?
And Cube! Admit it!
Without Omega's friends, it would've been bad! Just like Cube worried!
But what about it? See? Lots of friends helped, didn't they?
So aren't friends really helpful for [the objective]?
Cube Palace
...No comment.
Omega
Oh, and Cube! One more thing!
Friends don't have to be helpful to be friends!
Friends... you know how they are. Sometimes they're annoying. Sometimes they make you angry.
But if Omega were alone, Omega wouldn't have felt any of that. Not anger, not annoyance, not fun, none of it.
That's what's so good about friends!
So Cube, you know what? You can keep being annoying to Omega!
Cube Palace
...
...Tactical and functional evaluation of Omega's friend theory is deferred.
However, adding feedback for future growth.
To begin with, this unit was captured because Omega Control went outside, set this unit down, and left—
Omega
Aaah!
C-Cube! Big trouble!
It's almost evening... it's nighttime!
Omega has to sneak back in! Or else Mister won't bring back anything tasty!
Wh-what do we do? Which way?!
Cube Palace
...
Calculating route.
Warning. Do not stray from the path this time.
Story and illustrations © Studio B-Side. An unofficial reading archive — for questions or requests, see the About page.
