Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"You can't change your appearance again?"

"I can change my appearance, but not my gender," Lu Bela replied.

"How does that work? Don't artificial humans operate by core? Gender shouldn't have anything to do with it, right?"

"That core is filled with data. Thinking of it as DNA. It stores all our information. Once they have selected a gender, the data changes, and their DNA gets modified, just like a sperm cell when it starts ovulating. You can't modify the gender once the zygote has formed.

If I need to give a better example, I would say it's a matter of software and hardware. Our bodies— shells, are hardware, and our data-slash-core-slash-DNA is software. Once we have selected a gender— the software changes and our bodies are only compatible with selected hardware."

"Well… I mean… how does that work, though? You were non-gender, and now you are suddenly a girl?" Rudy asked with a puzzled look on his face. "You don't expect others to suddenly see you as a girl even if you have those weapons."

He pointed his gaze at Lu Bela's breasts.

"Each and every Under Blades is programmed neutrally. They have a neutral voice too. Now, tell me, Rudy Ross, what defines one's gender? Their genitals, am I right?"

"A short answer is a yes. And a long answer would be… leave it. I should be careful of what I say. Turns out my lord's power was active when I said that, and the world's perspective changed according to my opinion. That would be scary."

He placed his hand under his chin and muttered, "But also a great way to cleanse this world."

"There was no need for the long answer. I didn't plan to go deep into this topic either. I just wanted your answer before I explained the process of the creation of the Under Blades to you."

"Go ahead, you have my attention," Rudy nodded.

"Why do you think the Under Blades are made gender-neutral? Logically speaking, wouldn't it be for the best if all of them were males?"

Rudy pondered for a while and asked, "Is this a trick question about gender equality or empowerment?"

"No."

"Is my answer really necessary, then?"

"Hmm~ I suppose it's fine if you don't speak your answer out loud. As long as you are following my explanation."

"Continue."

"In certain situations and missions, it would be better if the Under Blades were females. But they were created gender-neutral for three reasons, which are the reasons provided by the scientists who first made us.

First reason— Human genitals exist for two reasons, to lay waste and to reproduce. Our bodies don't produce waste, and they didn't want us Under Blades to reproduce and multiply, either.

Second reason— So their owners don't use them as sex dolls.

The third reason— They were made as slaves for humans. We are humans' creations.

All the reasons I stated are valid up to this date, but we are no longer humans' creations or their slaves. We have advanced far more than how they had created us."

"The second reason alone is enough for the explanation," Rudy responded calmly.

"In today's era, Under Blades have many tasks, not only in the Underworld but all around the globe. They need to go undercover in several missions. And they need to wear a suit all the time.

If they had female breasts, moving in a narrow space would be a hassle and weigh unnecessarily. If they had male genitals, it would have the same complication. Therefore, genders were useless to us.

However… let's say the Under Blades wanted to live as a human and experience a normal life, so they decided to select the genders of their choice. But, all the Under Blades were close to females by default, not biologically, but according to the program.

I never had an intention of selecting a gender as that was, as I mentioned a couple of times— useless. I still remember the day when Kim told me she wanted to choose her gender. She has been with me since the beginning, so when she decided on gender, I thought she planned to leave me behind.

After all, the only reason the Under Blades chose a gender was to live as a human. So when Kim decided to become a female, I was perplexed. I wanted to stop her from committing such heresy, but I had no right over her.

What made it worse was that she asked me to design her new body. Deep down, I wanted to mess it up in a natural way so she wouldn't leave me behind, but… I couldn't do that to my loyal friend.

So I designed and modeled her body after my one and only owner— my master. She was the daughter of the scientist who created me. He made me to serve as her mother, but I turned out to be defective.

Oh, my, I am straying away from the topic. So as I was saying, I designed Kim's body and performed the transfer. I was just waiting for her to tell me that she was leaving me behind to live a new life, but instead, she asked my permission to be my secretary.

When I asked her why she chose a gender, she said that she felt more alive. I couldn't understand her at that time, and I can't understand that now either."

"So…" Rudy raised his brows a little and curiously asked, "Why did you change your gender then? And why to my preference?"

"Because you asked me to."

"...no. I would never ask you something like that. Did you misunderstand something?"

"You wanted me to create a suitable body for Angelica, but first, I had to test it. And who would be better than me to give you my opinions of a newly advanced body?"

"...oh…"

"I could have asked someone else, but I couldn't force them to change their gender. And their feedback wouldn't have been as accurate and honest as mine. So give me a few weeks in this body, and I will let you know if this body is working properly under all circumstances."

Thanks, @Ayce_o_Spade, for the gift!