"Hypocrisy? You’re right."
Michael nodded with a straight face, not even attempting to argue. This wasn’t his usual nature. He was known for being stubborn; their conversations back in the day had never been this "harmonious." The Michael of the past was either refuting sothing or on his way to refute it. Mobius was the sa.
Perhaps people hoped their interactions would begin and end in a harmonious atmosphere, but Mobius, at this very mont, wished it weren’t so. She would rather they bicker back and forth like they did fifty thousand years ago.
It wasn’t because she had so strange psychological inclination, but simply because this "harmony" wasn’t true harmony. It was like how silence has two anings—one is the tranquility of everyone holding their tongues, and the other is the dead silence after everyone has died, punctuated only by the jarring buzz of a fly.
The harmony between them was clearly closer to the latter. It wasn’t that Michael truly agreed with what Mobius said; he just didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.
"Michael..."
Mobius grabbed his hand. To her surprise, she felt a hand as cold and hard as ice.
She looked down. The skin on the back of his hand was rapidly paling. In just two or three seconds, it had turned a deathly white.
"You..."
The muscles in her throat contracted violently. Her mouth ford a small ’o’, but no sound ca out for a long ti.
It was Michael, however, whose Adam’s apple bobbed the mont she touched his hand. More and more mories began to flash through his mind.
A mont later, he spoke again. "Hypocrisy, evil, it doesn’t really matter. Humans always imagine they’re choosing between good and evil, but we both know that’s not the case. The choices reality gives us are often between a lesser evil and a greater evil, or perhaps a lesser good and a greater good. And what’s more ironic is that different choices can lead to the sa outco, so worrying about it is aningless."
"Is that so? But you used to be the one who agonized over those things the most." Mobius grinned, seeming to have found so of that old feeling again.
"You said it yourself, that was in the past. Back then, we were ultimately not mature enough... no, not we, just . I’ve been thinking, if my past self wasn’t so fixated on good and evil, but just wanted a good outco, would our ending have been different?"
Would it?
Mobius took a deep breath, not knowing how to answer. In the end, she could only give an ambiguous reply.
"Perhaps, but it’s a pity, isn’t it? The true ending was always set in stone. Besides, it’s all in the past. What’s the point of regret?"
"I’m not talking about that ending. I’m talking about... Mobius, you should know. If I hadn’t ’betrayed’ you, we really did have a chance to end the Honkai in the Previous Era. The reason I did what I did was because of that ending, because of humanity’s ending. I couldn’t accept it."
Though he spoke with resentnt, Michael’s tone remained as calm as ever. But if she could have her way, Mobius wished he would be angrier, even if it was just like the old days... that wouldn’t be so bad.
"You an..."
"Forget it. You’re right, it’s all in the past. What’s the point of regret? Let’s talk about the here and now, about the future. Mobius, what did you co to find for?"
Mobius had been about to offer a few words of comfort, but his bluntness angered her instead. "Hah! What did I co for? Can’t I just co see you for no reason?"
"You know that’s not what I an." Mobius had already formulated Michael’s response in her head. If he were the Michael she knew, that’s what he would have said.
Unfortunately, she was wrong.
Michael didn’t speak. He just glanced at her with his weary eyes, a look that seed to say, "Of course you can, but I know you won’t. At least not this ti."
Mobius lowered her head slightly, then cupped Michael’s pale hand in both of hers. "Since you’re back," she said, "it’s good. Co back to World Serpent with ."
"..."
"You’re not coming back?" Seeing Michael’s silence, Mobius pressed against him quietly and asked gently.
"For now..." Michael took a deep breath, though the action was aningless for him. "...I won’t."
He delivered the consecutive phrases as two separate statents. To an outsider, it might have seed strange, but Mobius’s gaze softened instantly.
She linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. Michael didn’t resist, which made the curve of her smile even wider. "Michael, you hesitated just now."
"Yes, I hesitated."
"See? You’re so difficult. You clearly want to co with , but you force yourself to refuse. You clearly care about those two girls upstairs, but you use all sorts of utilitarian actions to distance your heart from them. When it cos to being difficult, you really haven’t grown at all."
"Utilitarian? That’s not wrong. My motives for approaching them were never pure to begin with. The thods I used were even... If i knew I was the one who personally forged the evidence against Raiden Ryoma and gave it to Cocolia, she’d probably want to kill . But I’ve grown a little, haven’t I? At least the old wouldn’t have had the heart to do these things."
"Mmm..." Mobius humd, her hand unconsciously climbing up to his chest. Her movents held no hint of seduction; she was just tracing over and over the place where his heart, cold and still, should have been.
"Michael, do you think growth is always a good thing?"
"Of course not. Growth doesn’t necessarily an ’getting better.’ It’s just adapting to reality. That adaptation might be for the better, or for the worse. But good or bad, we have no choice. We’re all at the rcy of forces beyond our control. Why, you... don’t you like the I am now?"
"If I said I don’t, would you change back to how you were?" Mobius’s hand dropped, not in surrender, but to wrap tightly—no, to clamp—around Michael’s waist, as if afraid he would suddenly disappear.
"No. Just as I once understood but could not accept your dream, your actions, you wouldn’t have changed for either."
"Is that so?" Mobius rested her head on Michael’s chest, her voice growing deeper. "But... it seems there are so things from the past you don’t rember yourself. Do you rember back in R’lyeh? You said you didn’t like experinting on innocent people, so from that day until Anti-Entropy and Fire Moth rged, I never dragged an innocent person into my experints."
Was she trying to take credit? Or was she trying to defend herself? In truth, she didn’t know why she was saying these things. Or perhaps she was just trying to convey an attitude—I’m not... I really can change, if you want to.
But that was all in the past. Looking back now, there were countless belated explanations for past actions. Especially when the ti gap stretched to fifty thousand years, all mories from that era had blurred. The true motive for that decision was impossible to recall.
But Michael, it seed, was not moved.
"What about Seele? When you conducted the Stigma experints on her, did you think Seele wasn’t innocent?"
Mobius’s body went rigid. She pushed against Michael’s shoulders with both hands, putting so distance between them.
The na Seele... ever since the Seventh Honkai Eruption, it had been an absolute taboo between Michael and, especially, Michael and Mobius.
Regarding that incident, Mobius herself couldn’t say if she was right or wrong. To be precise, all three people responsible for the incident had made their decisions with the thought of "keeping Seele alive," yet they had sohow caused an even worse outco.
But regardless of right or wrong, Mobius was definitely guilty. Hearing Michael bring it up again so suddenly, she couldn’t help but tense up.
Until she saw a playful smile on Michael’s lips.
"What, scared?"
Mobius stared at that smile, a sense of sorrow welling up in her heart. So, he’s grown enough to talk about this with a smile, even to use it to tease .
It was truly ironic. Back then, she had always wished Michael would grow up, beco more mature. But looking at the Michael of today, it wasn’t that she "disliked" him, but... she felt an overwhelming, profound heartache.
She rested her head on his chest again, her right index finger tracing circles on his back.
"Michael, do you rember what my dream was back then?"
"I rember. You wanted to personally evolve humanity into gods, no matter the thod."
Mobius pursed her lips and asked again, "Then do you know what my dream is now?" Before Michael could answer, she quickly added, "No using the power of Sentience!"
Michael didn’t speak. He just closed his eyes and took a shallow breath through his nose.
After a long while, he sighed. "I can’t guess."
Can’t guess? Or does he not even have the inclination to guess?
The sadness in Mobius’s heart deepened, but she feared a dead-end conversation even more. She quickly changed the subject. "So, what are your plans for what cos next? Back in Kolosten, you only told you would take Kevin away and have reorganize Fire Moth under the na of World Serpent after persuading Su. You didn’t say anything more."
"What about Project Stigma?"
"It’s been simulated up to the seven hundred and eighty-first version. If nothing goes wrong, this will be the final plan. If you want to see it, I can bring you the detailed proposal tomorrow."
"That won’t be necessary. Even if you bring it, I probably won’t look at it."
"..."
He said "probably," but knowing Michael as she did, Mobius knew he wouldn’t look at it at all.
It was strange. To this day, she still didn’t know Michael’s complete plan. But no matter what, Project Stigma should have been a crucial part of it. Yet he acted as if it didn’t exist, never once asking about the details.
It was as if, to him, the process of Project Stigma didn’t matter at all. He only needed the result of it being executed.
Of course, if Mobius were bold enough, she could even hypothesize that Michael never intended for Project Stigma to be completed.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered this possibility, nor that she was unaware of what it implied—it ant Michael had chosen the most naive "Project Ember" plan. It ant Michael still believed that the goodness in humanity’s heart could defeat the Honkai.
The old Michael would have believed that without hesitation.
But would the Michael of today still believe in such a childish fantasy? Especially when he had just said, "It was because of humanity’s ending that I couldn’t accept it."
What ending of humanity? Mobius knew very well.
In fact, it wasn’t just Michael. Among those who survived the Twelfth Honkai Eruption, how many could still pat their chest and guarantee their belief that the goodness in humanity’s heart could defeat the Honkai?
Especially for Michael, he must have hated "humanity" to say such things, to make decisions that his forr self would never have approved of.
"Michael, you... huff... what about those two girls? What are your plans for them?"
"To be precise, it’s three. No, four."
"?" Mobius nuzzled against Michael’s chest, puzzled. "Where did four co from? K-423, Raiden i... hmm, I heard Gray Serpent’s report, and Seele, right? Who’s the fourth? Natasha? Doesn’t seem like it..."
"It’s the girl nad Bronya."
"!" Mobius’s finger stopped drawing circles. She closed her eyes and carefully recalled, finding the girl’s file in her mind.
"Bronya, born in Siberia... wait, her surna is... Zaychik. Alright, so that’s how it is."
Mobius understood quickly. She had noticed this girl initially because her appearance was sowhat similar to Michael’s. But after a period of tracking and investigation, she found that the child didn’t exhibit any superhuman Honkai Energy adaptability. Besides, the First Herrscher had already been born, so it was unlikely she would have the chance to beco one.
She knew about the "counterpart" theory. The only difference between the two eras was the random developnts after that point fifty thousand years ago. So, it wasn’t unimaginable for similar-looking people to appear in two different eras. Like Dr. I and the i upstairs, Hiko and the A-rank Valkyrie Hiko from Schicksal, Kevin and K-423, and Michael and this Bronya.
But it was only "similarity." The fates of counterparts didn’t have to be the sa; they could even be complete opposites. For example, the forr I’s constitution wasn’t suitable for becoming a MANTIS, but the girl nad Raiden i was both a Stigmata Awakener and had pre-booked the power of the Third Herrscher.
So, conversely, if Michael was the First Herrscher, it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible that this girl nad Bronya would not beco a Herrscher.
Based on this line of thinking, Mobius had given up tracking Bronya not long after.
But now that Michael brought her up again, the reason was self-evident. As for how he planned to make Bronya the First Herrscher, Mobius didn’t intend to ask, nor did she need to.
"Alright, since you have it all planned out, I have nothing more to say."
But if the conversation ended so abruptly, Mobius felt she couldn’t bear it. So she lifted her head from Michael’s chest and asked softly, "Michael, are you sure you won’t co with ?"
"It’s not ti yet." Michael shook his head slowly but firmly. "Mobius, don’t you think... you’re being unusually wa... chatty today? Your tone is just like Elysia’s."
He had wanted to say "warm," but the word just didn’t seem to fit Mobius.
"Indeed. But what if I’m doing it on purpose?" Mobius smiled helplessly. "Forget it. Since you’re not willing to co with , I won’t force you. I can’t force you anyway. But I’ll stay by your side for a while."
Michael patted her shoulder. Everything was understood without words.
And the smile could no longer be suppressed.
Their conversation was actually chaotic and illogical, more like they were saying whatever ca to mind. But this was exactly the feeling Michael missed. No pressure of the world ending, just sitting on a soft sofa, bathed in bright light. If a small child were sitting between them, it would be even better.
Unfortunately, there would probably never be such an opportunity again, with anyone...
"By the way, what’s with your heart?"
"Hm? It was damaged during my fight with Kevin back then. Since it was pierced by a lance transford from an Imaginary Branch, it was hard to heal, so I just got rid of it."
Michael said it so casually, but Mobius just bit her lower lip, pressing her palms against the front and back of where his heart should be, feeling the coldness.
He doesn’t even have a heart. His blood doesn’t flow anymore. How could his body have any warmth?
The warmth i felt earlier was just an illusion created by the power of Fla.
Being cold didn’t really matter, but Mobius wanted more. She brought her lips close to Michael’s ear and blew gently. "But you can still reconstruct your heart, right? After all, even Kevin managed it with his powerful self-healing ability. There’s no reason you can’t."
"You’re right, but... mgh!"
Before Michael could finish, he clamped his jaw shut. Four equally cold lips had suddenly crashed together. Then, Michael’s face began to flush an unusual red, his body rapidly warming up, so much so that faint white steam rose, spiraling up around the beam of light from the chandelier.
Only at this mont would anyone rember—oh, right, this is still a living room!
"Hey! Wait! Not here..."
"Ahahaha, you an it’s okay sowhere else?"
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