Inori's fears weren't unfounded.
She was created as an "interface" to connect with Mana Ouma's soul.
Mana's consciousness or rather, her virus-possessed consciousness would occasionally awaken within Inori and take control.
Souta remembered clearly that in Episode 6 of the anime, "Eve" had appeared and overridden Inori's will, granting Shu a Void capable of artillery strikes.
Shu used that Void to completely obliterate a falling satellite over Tokyo, its crimson light piercing the clouds in a spectacular burst.
It was probably the most powerful Void Souta had seen.
Reminded him of that whole "Fire Dragon's Roar" nonsense from Fairy Tail... or, well, "breath of the Dragon King," whatever.
Souta suspected that the relationship between Inori's body and Mana's soul was something like a terminal and a server, just with the access flow reversed.
In other words, the server (Mana) could access the terminal (Inori) at will.
Of course, for full data transfer, a formal ritual was required, the virus's "Original Genome."
Otherwise, it could only ping in occasionally—short bursts of connection before getting kicked out.
Which explained why Souta hadn't seen any other souls in Inori's body—connections were usually severed.
"Feels kind of like the Kara no Kyoukai (Fate) situation. Inori's the body's persona, and Mana/virus are the dual attributes… Wait, are they all just fragments of one soul?"
Souta's mind began to wander.
Not something he was in a rush to solve.
In fact, if he did nothing, Shuichiro Keido would eventually get the Original Genome and attempt to summon Mana's soul back anyway.
Souta could just swoop in and grab her then. Easy.
Maximum lazy mode: activated.
…
Soon, Gai cleared out the largest room in the base, fixed it up a bit, and summoned Souta over.
He'd originally planned to use an actual lab—Roppongi had several—but Souta said there was no need, so he dropped the idea.
Still… with no lab equipment, how the heck was Souta going to make a vaccine?
Gai was seriously worried.
He's not just going to… conjure it out of thin air, right?
But seeing Souta's confident expression, he could only trust him.
The truth? Souta had a pretty wild idea in mind.
With his "Material" divine law, creating a vaccine shouldn't be too difficult.
Just as he was about to call Inori over to begin the experiment, Altair suddenly tagged him in the group chat.
Souta pulled out his system phone and opened the chat, realizing he'd missed quite a few messages.
Right—he'd muted the group last time. Unless someone @'d him, his phone wouldn't buzz.
Altair: "@Souta. The newcomer is super friendly. I'm thinking of accepting her invitation and paying her a visit. Can you portal me over?"
Souta: "??"
Souta: "The black cat (Ruri) invited you over?"
No way it was Inori, she wasn't the type to randomly invite people. It had to be Black Cat.
Wait... is she mistaking everyone in the group for her fan club buddies?!
Souta could already imagine her face cycling from shock to confusion to panic… dropping her phone and flailing in full meltdown mode.
Would be hilarious.
Rin Tohsaka: "It's not Black Cat. It's Miku."
Altair: "Yes, it's Miku."
Nezuko: "Miku-onee-san invited us!"
Miku?! Souta suddenly remembered he'd added Yuzuru Miku to the group.
Souta: "Wait, you guys are already calling her by name? That fast?"
He remembered Miku had set her nickname to "Divine Diva."
He checked the member list. Yep, she'd changed it.
Nezuko: "Miku-onee-san is super nice! Her voice is so pretty! She invited us over to play!"
Rin: "I don't really care about idols, but hey, if a pop star invites you, it's rude to decline."
Altair: "She's rare—so warm and welcoming. I feel like I have to accept."
Shiroyasha, the Benevolent: "Count me in too! I've got time right now!"
Shiroyasha, the Benevolent: "Two divas in one group? Hehe, I have to see this!"
Souta: "..."
What the hell happened while I was gone?!
Miku's already charming everyone?!
And judging by how eager Altair and the rest were, they were about to be completely lured in.
Her charisma was off the charts!
Souta hadn't forgotten, Miku was a hardcore yuri-lover.
If the others went, they might get taken advantage of and then there'd be drama.
Especially Shiroyasha. That seasoned "onee-sama" was the strongest among them, she might end up flipping the script and teasing Miku instead.
This had to be stopped!
But before intervening, Souta had a more pressing question.
Souta: "@Nezuko. By the way, has Urokodaki Sakonji sent back word yet? Is the Demon Slayer Corps willing to cooperate?"
Nezuko: "Sorry, God-sama. Urokodaki-sensei hasn't returned yet. I wrote to him though. After the meeting, we agreed to rendezvous at Asakusa Temple in Tokyo."
Souta: "Asakusa Temple?"
Nezuko: "Yes. That's where Muzan appears in the story. I also told Urokodaki-sensei this. We're planning to lie in wait for him there."
Souta: "..." RIP Muzan. Your end is nigh.
Time to eat a "White Stallion" blast, courtesy of me.
Nezuko: "Once Urokodaki-sensei reports back, I'll update you immediately!"
Souta: "Good."
Illya: "Big Brother! I wanna go visit Miku-onee-san too!"
Illya suddenly chimed in, dragging the topic back.
Souta felt a little conflicted.
Illya was eighteen, but she still called Miku "onee-san"? Her loli act was reaching terrifying levels, probably even convincing herself.
She wasn't secretly hypnotizing herself every day with "I'm a loli, I'm a loli…" was she?
Miku: "Welcome, welcome~ Illya-chan must be adorable~"
Souta: "I'm busy right now. No time to open portals. Maybe next time, definitely next time."
Rin: "It's fine, I can portal myself."
Illya: "Illya can too!"
Altair: "Hmph! Why can they teleport but not me? I thought we were tight, Souta! This system is biased!"
Shiroyasha: "I've helped this kid plenty too! Why can't I teleport?! Discrimination! Favoritism!"
Souta updated the group announcement with the rule:
"Those with sufficient friendship level = eligible for travel invitations."
Everyone in the group had read it before.
No one was new to the system's weird mechanics.