MGSFV?! Chapter 390. Fifteen Versions—Fifteen! / Ancestral Love
Let's set aside the ever-growing collection of hell jokes from players.
After all, co on—
There's no way the Hyperion would be using... questionable materials.
That was clearly just a joke.
Nowadays, the Hyperion has proper supply channels. No need for any... dubious sources.
Back to the story.
Despite Theresa and Einstein still being unable to pinpoint the exact issue with the Hyperion,
they ultimately decided to play it safe and return to base.
But just then—
An unexpected event occurred.
As Theresa rose from the captain's chair to relay her command to Ai-chan,
a sudden wave of dizziness hit her.
A crushing fatigue struck without warning—
—and she quickly lost consciousness.
[???] *n
Players were confused.
And the screen quickly faded—
Obviously, it was ti for a little cliffhanger.
Players: ...
Players: Whatever. At this point, we're kind of used to it.
However—
What appeared next instantly reignited their excitent.
Because two completely unexpected people showed up.
Vil-V and Mobius?!
[Wha-wha-WHAT???]
[Mobius and Vil-V in the interlude??]
[Sudden hype.jpg]
[The science duo! It's been so long!]
[Are they playing Othello? Is this set in the Elysium?]
Elysium?
Not quite.
This was fifty thousand years ago,
Back when Vil-V and Mobius were still alive.
"...Tch."
"I'm done. There's no way to win against you."
Mobius placed her ga piece down, visibly annoyed.
"Hmm, is that so?"
Vil-V saw it differently.
"I think... if you really wanted to win, you'd have a thousand ways to do it, Mobius."
"For example—
You could implant a chip in your brain just for winning at Othello."
A very... Vil-V response.
Or rather, instead of suggesting it,
she was probably just stating what she herself would've done to win.
Indeed—
The Magician: Winning gas is simply more fun.
Stargazer: rging machine and biology—is this the future of human evolution? Worth exploring.
Conductor: Let's do it.
Expert: No problem. I'll personally ensure the safety standards.
Palate: Wait—who in their right mind would put sothing like that in their brain? Be normal.
After a short ntal roleplay,
she decided on a new "surprise project."
Everyone knew by now:
Vil-V was absolutely the kind of person who would actually do that.
Mobius thought the sa.
She snorted:
"Hmph, that's just the kind of thing you would do, Vil-V."
Vil-V didn't deny it.
"Fair enough."
"But on the other hand...
You really do hate losing, Mobius.
Even though your Stigmata Project has already been scrapped and redone so many tis."
"That's not my project,"
Mobius retorted sharply.
"The only reason it stalled is because i kept redefining what it ant to 'defeat Honkai.' That's all."
"She loves defining things, don't you think?
Like that one report with the five parallel truths—
I seriously doubt anyone in the audience understood what she was talking about."
Her speech could be sumd up as:
It looked like a public lecture,
but really it was i v2v Mobius in a private chat in front of everyone...
They were just not on the sa channel.
"What matters is—you understood it."
The voice wasn't Vil-V.
It ca from a third person.
Elysia, who had been watching intently, blinked in surprise.
Wait—
Is this where the girlfriend shows up~?
In-ga, Mobius hadn't noticed the newcor yet.
She was still busy mocking the way everyone at the "full project report eting" had reacted—
Like they were hearing gibberish.
Using phrases like
"like trying to understand calculus with elentary math" and the like...
Even Elysia was tempted to jot those taphors down.
"Why insist on defining Honkai?
Why not treat it as a primal concept, and define humanity instead?"
Mobius finished venting—
And finally sensed sothing was off.
She froze.
"...Huh? Vil-V, that wasn't you just now?"
"Pfft~~"
The scheming illusionist shrugged silently, gesturing behind Mobius.
Mobius frowned and turned around.
The cara shifted—
Zooming in slowly.
Until i's image was centered on the screen.
[i?]
["i" speaks.]
[Okay but seriously, i's model is gorgeous.]
[I wouldn't mind if Dr. i joined the Hyperion.]
[She's a non-combatant though.]
[Just make her summon Kevin like Griseo's knight—control both i and Kevin, double the fandom power.]
Players were already spinning off into wild headcanons.
"Right? Right?"
Elysia agreed wholeheartedly.
She nodded over and over.
"Kevin, i is so pretty~"
"?"
i—guest-starring in the stream—looked visibly conflicted.
Elysia's comnt sounded... strange.
Was it just her imagination?
She couldn't figure it out,
so she said nothing.
anwhile, Elysia moved the story along.
She was really curious what would happen next.
After all—
i, Mobius, and Vil-V had never appeared together in a scene before.
——
i stepped up to Mobius.
"I'm not asking Elvin and the others to understand things like mathematical functions.
Even soone like Su needs ti to grasp unfamiliar fields."
[So Su's really that strong? i speaks highly of him.]
[Mobius once said if Su abandoned morality, he could surpass her.]
[Don't underestimate the Awakened.]
Vil-V waved:
"Hi, good evening, Dr. i."
"Good evening, Conductor."
i sniffed the air.
"This sll...
You two had instant noodles for dinner again?"
Mobius shot back:
"Hmph. What, no one in your house likes instant noodles?"
[HAHAHAHA, "your house," so sweet. So sweet.]
[Kevin does love instant noodles.]
[Mobius really knows how to land a punchline.]
[Kevin: Will this joke ever end.]
[Wait—Mobius and Kevin were that close?]
[If you didn't read the manga or Legacy, Kevin and i are canonically a couple.]
(Note: In this world, not all manga content is presented as manga.)
i's reply was sharp yet subtle:
"He does, but he promised he wouldn't eat it when there are better options."
Slam dunk.
Mobius scowled:
"...Tch. Quit showing off."
Those few lines—
The more players chewed on them, the more they smiled.
Even Elysia gave high praise.
"i's so elegant. I love her~"
"...Elysia, is there anyone you don't love?"
"Hmm..."
Elysia thought seriously, then replied with pride:
"Nope!"
i: "..."
She knew she shouldn't have asked.
——
Back to the story.
"You're here for the fifteenth version of the plan, right?
I just uploaded it—go check it yourself."
Mobius eyed i's weird aura and tried to shoo her off.
But i didn't move.
A tense silence fell.
"Forget it. Arguing is a waste of ti."
Mobius' voice turned sour.
"Since you're both here—
Let's talk.
About this damn Stigmata Project, now on its fifteenth iteration."
"Seriously, i.
You owe us an explanation.
What are you really trying to achieve with this plan?"
"...So that's it," i murmured.
"You believe I have an unusual obsession with this plan."
Mobius practically shouted:
"Damn right I do!
You've made revise it fifteen tis!
Fifteen!!"
Her anger was understandable.
Anyone forced to redo a proposal fifteen tis would be livid.
If the client then said,
"I actually prefer the first version,"
it would be instant war.
[The wrath of a contractor.]
[Flashbacks to bad mories.]
["The Herrscher of Domination: Rainbow Black.jpg"]
[Mobius has more patience than I expected. If it were my colleague, the client would be t with complete radio silence.]
[What's 'radio silence'?]
[*****. Just like that.]
Still—
i didn't seem fazed by Mobius' complaints.
"It's the most viable solution.
It deserves serious consideration.
The more entry points we leave for the future, the better."
[So... which version is Kevin implenting right now?]
[Maybe all 15 versions are viable depending on the situation? Kevin doesn't have to commit to just one.]
[That ans Kevin has to morize all 15, right?]
[Now I'm imagining i forcing Kevin to morize them word for word...]
[Poor ancestor. Fifteen full plans—each probably hundreds of thousands of words... (Saving the world is no easy task.jpg)]
Mobius wasn't convinced.
"Is that really true?
That beloved Fla-Chaser Project of yours doesn't even have a single page of docuntation."
i remained calm:
"You know its nature.
It requires a different kind of execution."
One page vs. 15 full iterations?
It was barely more than a "New Folder." Just barely.
[No wonder the Fla-Chaser Plan failed so quickly with such minimal prep.]
[If the one i ntioned was the one Hua carried out—
Sorry, but its execution wasn't special at all.
Even I can think of five better ways to do it.]
The stream's chat shifted from spam to actual analysis.
Elysia read along while pushing the story forward.
She didn't seem lost at all.
In-ga—
Mobius still didn't buy i's reasoning.
"Maybe so.
But the contrast is so stark—
How could anyone not suspect you treat all the other plans as re decoration for the Stigmata Plan?"
Vil-V interjected, "Hmm, there's one thing I've never understood."
"Even if things are as you say...
Wasn't the Stigmata Plan originally proposed by you, Mobius?"
Mobius:
"I never expected anyone to treat it as the only hope."
[Mobius: I never thought soone would make rewrite it 15 tis.]
[That's what she really ant.]
Even so—
Despite the jokes,
The mood in-ga was deadly serious.
Because—
i, in her calst voice and gentlest tone,
said sothing that made everyone uneasy.
"Dr. Mobius...
Humanity is rely the foundation upon which civilization is born."
"Surely you wouldn't deny—
At its core, humankind is nothing more than a slightly intelligent survival machine,
fundantally no different from plants, animals, or microbes."
...
[Wow. Turns out i is the most morally gray of the three.]
[These three together probably can't form a single moral compass.]
[To say "humanity is just a tool for civilization" so calmly... i's kind of terrifying.]
[Is this... chanical materialism?]
[chanical materialism? Who here actually understands that??]
[This chat has so real intellectuals.jpg]
[Feeling out of place with the big brains.jpg]
The debate didn't last long,
but Vil-V helpfully stepped in to "translate" the two geniuses.
If you didn't understand them—
Just say:
Thank you, Vil-V.
Thanks to her help—
Players understood at least this:
i believed that as long as civilization survived, humanity itself didn't matter.
Mobius believed the opposite:
Humanity must co first.
Players: ...
i's worldview was even colder than they'd imagined.
As they wrestled with those emotions,
the scene faded again.
——
The next cutscene began—
Now featuring Theresa and... Hiko?!
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