"There's no need to be nervous. Don't worry, everything'll be fine~"
Outside the operating room, Elysia tried to soothe Pardofelis, who looked a little tense. Yet the moment she spoke, Pardofelis started shaking even harder.
Elysia fell silent. Well, it seemed Pardofelis wasn't worried about Big Orange's surgery at all. The way Elysia had acted earlier had scared her.
She rubbed her chin and gave that some thought. How could a lovely girl like her leave someone with such a scary impression?
Still, she wasn't worried that this would shape Pardofelis's view of her for good.
After all, she'd managed to make even someone as stiff as Durandal fall for her. Surely winning over one little Pardofelis couldn't be harder than that?
--+--
On the other side of the wall, Mobius had taken out the tailored stigma gene serum and was ready to inject Big Orange. Though Durandal hadn't brought the cat in ahead of time, she'd sent over some fur and blood samples during the past two weeks.
They'd long since finished the initial work of matching the stigma genes to it, so all that remained was the surgery and a few final adjustments.
"This orange cat already has a longer lifespan than most cats. Based on its genes, its vital functions are anywhere from fifty percent to over a hundred percent stronger than normal. Its mind might even be on par with a ten-year-old human's. Taken as a whole, it's a rare variant born under the influence of Honkai energy."
Before starting the surgery, Mobius gave Durandal a brief report. Durandal nodded in understanding.
"So it's like you? Aware of the world while still in the womb, waiting to be born."
With that casual remark, Durandal brought up a piece of Mobius's past that she hadn't even shared with Klein. Mobius offered no comment. She noticed Klein's curious glance, but stayed focused on her work and made no move to explain.
"Perhaps. In any case, I've chosen a stigma that'll further enhance its life force and intellect. If the surgery succeeds, it won't just be able to live beyond its current lifespan. It might even gain the ability to speak with humans. At the very least, it'll be as smart as an average person."
A note of excitement crept into Mobius's voice. Durandal's arrival had changed the course of her life in countless ways, but she still sought the beauty of evolution.
What she was about to do to this orange cat was, without question, help it evolve. It'd go from a somewhat unusual cat to one with an implanted stigma, a powerful life force, and perhaps even the gift of human speech.
The thought of breaking through the limits of a species thrilled her to her very core.
Only the pleasant moments she shared with Klein could top this feeling. As for Durandal letting slip one harmless little secret of hers, what did that matter?
Who in Schicksal didn't have something strange about them, especially the people in Research? Compared with Mei and Vill-V, Mobius thought she was quite normal.
Durandal didn't mind her fervor, either. To be honest, even if Mobius still chose to create Gray Serpent in the future, she wouldn't stop her.
As long as Mobius didn't treat people as lab rats on a whim, she'd let her be.
Humanity would take that step toward artificial life sooner or later. Better to have the tech in her own hands, where she could keep an eye on it, than let Fire Moth claim it first. Of course, if Fire Moth did develop something, there wasn't much Durandal could do to stop them.
Their wealth of talent and resources wasn't something she could shake just by poaching a few people. With several leading researchers on her side, plus the knowledge held within the Void Archives she'd just obtained, she'd be content to keep Schicksal at least half a step ahead.
"Understood. You can begin."
Durandal hadn't just listened to Mobius's briefing. She'd also read the written report handed to her. She lacked the skills and knowledge to do research herself, but she could still read a report.
This was a process she'd put in place, or, to put it another way, a restraint she'd placed on Research.
Whether it was Mobius's lab, Helixcraft, or whatever new lab Mei set up in the future, Durandal wouldn't tell them which subjects to study.
There was just one condition: any project that used sensitive technology or touched on sensitive fields had to come to her in a report first. Only once she'd signed off on it could the work go on.
That rule wasn't just a limit on Mobius and the others. It also served to protect them. Even if some people within Schicksal took issue with Research's experiments, they couldn't dump all the blame on Mobius the way Fire Moth did.
With that process in place, any future dispute over Research's work wouldn't have to turn into an attack on the researchers. Durandal, their leader, was the one who'd approved it. Anyone with concerns or complaints could follow the proper steps, write a report, and send it to her.
She knew she wasn't an expert. A project she'd approved could still go wrong down the line. But if it did, she wouldn't dodge her share of the blame.
She'd step up, take responsibility where she should, and call a halt to the project if needed. If someone had to play the villain, she'd do it.
In a way, that bore quite a likeness to a certain Schicksal Overseer's methods. The difference was that he kept both power and responsibility in his own hands. Durandal gave others room to act, while taking the full weight of the outcome on herself.
After all, she was the traveler from another world who'd built this version of Schicksal, and she'd recruited every member.
If something went wrong in the future, she'd bear some of the blame no matter who'd caused it.
It was a bit like holding a star to account for what their fans did, except this made more sense and was fairer. A star couldn't always control their fans' words and actions.
Durandal, on the other hand, could guide the broad course of every member of Schicksal.
Once Durandal gave the go-ahead, Mobius reined in the excitement that had been so plain on her face.
She'd always held to one rule: to perform surgery well, she had to be calm. That was how she showed respect for the procedure, the operating table, and the patient.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL