A green-haired "girl" leaned against the cold wall of the laboratory, her thoughts drifting back to a few days ago.
Elysia had personally handed the three Herrscher cores to Mobius after the 3rd Herrscher's defeat. The first thing Mobius had done was rush back to her lab, miraculously spared from major damage.
As expected, the mont she closed the lab door, Mikael materialized beside her, the 1st Herrscher core vanishing from her hand.
"Hey! Mobius! Miss ?"
Ah... that familiar greeting...
"Mikael! You should stay away from Elysia!"
Mobius walked towards the back of the lab without turning around.
"Huh? Why?"
"Haven't you noticed?" She glanced back at the confused Mikael. "How does Elysia usually greet you?"
"Hey! Miss..."
Mikael's words caught in his throat, but he quickly recovered, saying defensively, "What's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with that!"
"You're being influenced by her!"
"Heh! You wouldn't understand." Mikael chuckled, a smug look on his face. "It's called... uh, what was it... anyway, it's when two people beco so close they start to... resemble each other..."
He spread his hands, sighing dramatically. "Isn't it romantic, Mobius?"
"..."
What had she said then? Mobius frowned, trying to rember.
But she couldn't. For so reason, they'd started arguing.
Perhaps she'd been annoyed by his smugness, or perhaps she'd been irritated from the mont he'd used Elysia's tone...
Anyway, the argunt had erupted suddenly, for no apparent reason.
What had they even argued about?
Mobius couldn't recall, or perhaps her mory had conveniently blocked it out, leaving only the final exchange:
"Mobius, are you coming with or not?!"
"No!"
"I'm asking you one last ti. Are you coming with ?!"
"This is a matter of principle! I'm not going!"
"Fine! I'll go!"
Mikael, seemingly exasperated, had turned to leave.
Mobius rembered sitting on the lab table, watching him go, silently counting down.
"Three... two... one..."
As expected, Mikael had turned back, asking softly, "Are you really not coming with ?"
"No!"
She'd been firm.
She felt like she should have said more, but she hadn't.
And Mikael's response had been equally decisive:
"Then... will you at least help with this one thing?"
"..."
Rembering those words made Mobius's blood boil. She punched the steel wall.
Having integrated Śeṣa's factor, her hand didn't hurt, but... she still felt a strange sense of discomfort.
She rubbed her hand.
Although the joint research project was, in a way, a restriction on her authority, the na "Mobius" carried weight. As long as she didn't do anything too outrageous... well, the researchers assigned to this project seed... intimidated by her?
Seeing Mobius, the undisputed leader of the research team, leaning against the wall in silence, SPACY, his one arm tucked into his lab coat, glanced at his hesitant colleagues and asked softly, "Dr. Mobius, it's already late afternoon. Shouldn't we resu our research?"
"Oh?" Mobius slowly raised her head. For reasons unknown to the others, she was much shorter than everyone else, but she still looked up at SPACY, her gaze almost condescending. "Oh? Is the power back on?"
"Uh... no."
"Then let the maintenance crews continue their repairs. We'll resu work when they're finished."
"But... Doctor..." SPACY had a bad feeling. "The maintenance crews have already checked. There's nothing wrong with the external wiring. If there's a problem, it's probably inside the lab."
"Oh? They're welco to co in, but what if so lunatic sabotages the cores? Who will be responsible? And the cores contain Honkai energy, a dangerous radiation hazard for ordinary people. We can't risk their health... right, Dr. SPACY?"
These excuses were flimsy. SPACY shrugged, his unease growing—Mobius was definitely hiding sothing.
No one would intentionally damage the cores, and as an expert on Honkai sickness, he knew the radiation levels weren't nearly as dangerous as Mobius claid, equivalent to a CT scan at most.
But he decided to play along.
He had connections to the Liechtenstein family. He was even Lucien's uncle, but they weren't alike, and he had no interest in joining Lucien's "faction."
He just wanted to rid the world of the Honkai and Honkai sickness. As for the rest... ideals, power struggles... they could all go to hell...
His wife and daughter... everything he'd held dear had been taken by the Honkai.
So, to the surprise of his colleagues, he pulled a flask from his lab coat, unscrewing the cap. The harsh scent of diluted alcohol, mingling with the antiseptic sll in the lab, filled the air.
He took a sip, then suggested, "Well, Doctor, since we're all just standing around, why don't we... take the rest of the day off? Paid leave, of course."
Mobius paused, then readily agreed.
Soon, Mobius was alone again. SPACY had even dragged away those who were reluctant to leave, offering them drinks.
Mobius leaned against the wall, waiting for half a minute before cursing the empty lab:
"Pointless theatrics!"
She suddenly opened the door to the inner chamber—it was called a chamber because it had two doors, separated by a short corridor.
She didn't know why she was doing this. Her mind hadn't even caught up before the security system at the second door verified her identity.
"He's gone, he's gone, he's gone..."
Mobius muttered to herself as the door opened.
"Welco, Dr. Mobius."
The AI's voice echoed as the final door slid open.
Then, she saw a girl hanging upside down, reaching for the sky-blue core...
Her pupils constricted: what a... coincidence...
A blue light filled the chamber.
When it faded, Pardo found herself being held up by her collar...
And the person holding her... she recognized that scent... Big Brother Mikael...
But Mikael was staring at Mobius, who had just entered the chamber, his expression a mixture of surprise and... sothing else.
"You..."
Then he smiled.
"Hey! Mobius! You're so eager... did you miss ?"
"Miss you...?" Mobius's chest heaved. If she could have, she would have punched him.
"I'm leaving."
She turned to leave.
But Mikael simply watched her, as did Pardo, her eyes fixed on Mobius's raised foot, which hadn't moved.
Ten seconds passed, then thirty, then a full minute...
Mikael, his lips twitching, glancing at Mobius's flushed ears and neck, finally chuckled.
"Welco back, Mobius."
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