Mobius stared at the pair of long, slender, pink ears floating in the nutrient solution, lost in thought.
Whoosh... The hydraulic door slid open, followed by the measured, almost too deliberate footsteps of someone trying to suppress their excitement. They stopped behind Mobius.
"Are those... the ears of the... yaksha... we defeated in R'lyeh (Ruruye)?"
"Tch! Elysia, must you speak in that tone?"
"My! Mobius, what's wrong? So grumpy?"
Mobius took two deep breaths, suppressing the urge to snap. Mikael's request echoed in her mind, silencing her retort.
"Did you come to my lab just to state the obvious?"
Elysia twirled a strand of hair, her true purpose clear. She wanted to know what Mikael had said and done here, but, as usual, both he and Mobius had chosen to keep her in the dark.
Though she was used to it, it still irked her. Mikael, is there something... you can't tell Elysia?
"Fine, perfectly fine. Didn't you just see him?"
"I did... He even said he'd take me and Seele to that orphanage tomorrow."
Perfectly fine, huh... He seems like his usual self, but that's even more worrisome.
"Mobius, I heard your MANTIS soldier project stalled because you lacked human test subjects?"
"What? Want to volunteer for my operating table?"
"Are you serious?!" Mobius whirled around, staring at Elysia, who wore a deceptively innocent smile.
"Ha! You're all insane!" Mobius clenched her fists, storming to the lab's closet. She yanked out a pink maid outfit and flung it at Elysia.
"Oh my, Mobius, don't be so angry!"
Ignoring her protests, Mobius shoved Elysia out of the lab, slamming the door shut.
"One after another! Can't you be rational?!"
Though, at that moment, she was the least rational one.
"My experiment did run into a problem... But I don't need... this kind of... Hmph!"
"Elysia... such a... irritating woman..." Mobius muttered, facing the cold, sterile wall.
"Yasha isn't suitable for Elysia. She wouldn't like such an... uncute Honkai beast... So, if she really wants to undergo the procedure, I'll get her one she likes."
His words echoed in her mind.
Mobius finally understood why she was so agitated.
Mei envied Mobius, envied her for having such a dedicated assistant.
"Doctor, Test Subject Number One, male, survived for 32 minutes after the injection of Yasha genes. Test Subject Number Two, female, survived for 251 minutes. Should we maintain this variable and expand the sample size, or control for a new variable in the next experiment?"
Klein asked, still scribbling notes with an old-fashioned fountain pen, without looking up.
"Expand the sample size! It doesn't matter. We have plenty of volunteers. We must ensure the validity of every conclusion!"
Lucien rubbed his hands excitedly, his green eyes gleaming.
Mei's gaze, in contrast, was much dimmer. She looked at Klein, who stared back blankly, seemingly unwilling to carry out Lucien's orders.
Mei closed her eyes, then opened them, giving a quick nod.
Klein's pupils constricted, a flicker of resistance, but a quarter of a second later, she nodded obediently.
"Squad Leader Kevin, please bring Test Subjects Three through Twenty into the lab."
Mei glanced at Lucien's back, ramrod straight. Silence fell over the lab after Klein spoke, amplifying Lucien's manic muttering:
"Yes, yes, that's right! Ah... Combining God's creations... to create a being with ultimate power..."
Mei wasn't interested in politics, nor did she care about the feud between Lucien and Vashak, but she was aware of their ideological differences.
Vashak was a known purist, believing in humanity's own strength, while Lucien advocated combining human power with the Honkai... She wondered how these two had ever become allies. Is this... the ugliness of politics?
It doesn't matter. I, Mei, am just a scientist. Nothing more.
Nine pairs of male and female volunteers, faces filled with anticipation and excitement, entered the incubation pods, then were anesthetized...
Mei retreated into the shadows. She wasn't needed here... for now.
"Kevin..." Mei and Kevin stood side-by-side, leaning against the wall.
"You said... what we're doing is right... right?"
Kevin's chest rose and fell, silent. He knew he couldn't articulate his thoughts. He also knew Mei didn't need someone to talk to, but someone to listen.
"If the Second Eruption was still manageable with humanity's own strength, then the Third and Fourth have shown us... how much we would have to sacrifice without Mikael and the others...
"The MANTIS soldier project isn't the only option. There's the hundred-meter humanoid weapon project, the human-machine integration project... But... Hoo...
"The MANTIS soldier project... it was never officially sanctioned. If Mikael hadn't reminded me about Klein and Mobius, it would have been buried completely. I chose this project not only because Mikael supports it, but also because... according to Klein... Mobius has already completed the experiment."
"Completed? What do you mean?" Kevin finally spoke.
"Exactly what it sounds like. Remember how we almost didn't recognize Dr. Mobius when we saw her again? Those were the side effects of fusing with the Śeṣa factor... and that's not all! Klein is hiding something from me. I followed that line of thought and secretly examined Mikael's discarded body... I found a large amount of the Śeṣa factor in his genes."
"Then I discreetly questioned Captain Himeko, Aldemir, and others who participated in the Shanghai City battle. I've roughly deduced that both Mikael and Mobius's procedures were completed within a single day and night—the day before we encountered the Herrscher in Nagazora City. And I haven't found any data on human trials in Mobius's files. In other words, Mobius completed two MANTIS soldier procedures within a single day, with a 100% success rate."
"But our success rate is still zero, right?" Kevin gently wrapped an arm around Mei's shoulders, letting her rest her head against him.
"...You... I... nothing..."
"Hey, Mei, are these volunteers all Fire Moth soldiers?"
"They should be... right? What's wrong?"
"I don't recognize a single face."
The hydraulic door slid open again. Mobius, without turning, asked, "She's here?"
"Mmm." The newcomer replied with a single syllable, as concise as her actions.
But then, a hint of reminiscence colored her voice: "Are those... the ears of the yaksha we encountered in R'lyeh (Ruruye)?"
"Heh, you two, why do you always say the same things?"
"Just tell me, Mobius. What do you need me for?"
"...Mikael has a favor to ask."
"...I understand." After a brief hesitation, she unbuckled the ice katana at her waist, shedding her clothes until the icy nutrient solution enveloped her, the specialized anesthetic seeping through her pores, reaching her bones...
Her last conscious sensation was the prick of a needle in her forearm.
"Hmph... Another one..."