The idea of creating an Aeon was something 'Ruan Mei' didn't dare entertain too seriously.
But in dreams, it's fine to dream a little bigger.
Herta packaged up all the data and materials on Nexus and sent them to the unreachable original Ruan Mei.
Whether the original Ruan Mei would actually see them was anyone's guess. After that, Herta pulled 'Ruan Mei' along, diving headfirst into the study of Imaginary energy.
'Ruan Mei', for her part, pondered a bit, trying to sort out the circumstances of an Aeon's birth:
"In some records of questionable accuracy, Aeons are born from some extreme emotion, or a sudden moment of profound understanding… like Propagation, Destruction, The Hunt…"
"But there are also those who ascended to godhood without any trace of emotion, like Erudition."
"So what are you trying to say?"
Herta shot back while simultaneously trying to figure out how to artificially alter the properties of Imaginary energy.
'Ruan Mei' hesitated, wrestling with whether she should try to create a life born with such extreme emotions.
"Pathways and Aeons are like mystery boxes. No one knows if there are still Pathways waiting to be opened. If I create a born saint, could an extreme emotion achieve it?"
"Whether it can or not, I don't know, but I do know that such a being would definitely be a handful."
Herta complained without a hint of mercy.
'Ruan Mei' nodded, because she thought of Zagi.
An Ultraman, a blank slate, burdened with a forced responsibility… if he were to stray from the path, he'd just become another lunatic.
"Yes, we must be careful."
'Ruan Mei' sighed softly. Then, a small cluster of light, a living being of light that had gained self-awareness, came into existence in the palm of her hand.
Although it had been pre-loaded with all sorts of traits befitting an Ultraman's nature, 'Ruan Mei' didn't forcibly preset its alignment.
Instead, borrowing a technique from Lady Herta, she constructed a Memory Bubble to serve as a sort of preschool education.
She placed this tiny consciousness inside it.
The contents of the Memory Bubble covered most scenarios where human nature reveals itself, both the good and the bad.
She didn't know what choices this consciousness would make.
"What will you do if it fails?"
Herta glanced over curiously at the experiment.
Creating life wasn't something Herta did often.
But it seemed like it was practically second nature to Ruan Mei.
"As long as it isn't extremely terrible, I won't destroy it. It can stay in Herta Space Station as a little sprite. Your place only has all sorts of Hertas, it's too monotonous."
"Hey, you're really making yourself at home, aren't you?"
'Ruan Mei' had set a bottom line for the lives born from her hands. As long as they weren't worse than this line, she would let them live.
Fortunately, the capabilities inherited from Ruan Mei were far too reliable.
After being exposed to all that messy content, not only did it not become corrupted, it clearly leaned towards the direction of the Galaxy Rangers.
While it didn't achieve some kind of extreme goodness, it basically settled somewhere between The Hunt and Preservation.
It embraced the concept of 'upholding justice, and paying back in kind.'
"For the first one, this is a pretty good result."
'Ruan Mei' smiled.
And so, the first independent, self-aware Ultraman born from her hands entered the world.
A silver-white form, accented with a few red streaks, no color timer on its chest.
Its build was very similar to Celenova's, but its aura was distinctly softer.
From the moment of its birth, within the Memory Bubble, it already knew most common sense and had a developed sense of morality.
So, right after being born, after greeting 'Ruan Mei' and Herta, it was taken by a Herta puppet to rest and study.
Herta said she had arranged suitable basic education materials for it, but the "basics" in Herta's vocabulary probably weren't all that basic.
Who knew if it would be able to keep up.
A qualified Ultraman had been born from 'Ruan Mei's' hands.
Then came the second, the third…
But she didn't create too many. After the sixth Ultraman received its early education and took form, 'Ruan Mei' stopped.
The data collected from these few Ultramen gave her some inspiration for the design of the Seed of Light.
But if measured against the original goal of creating a Pathway, they still fell quite short.
The nature of the Ultramen leaned towards the sacred, but without 'Ruan Mei's' deliberate guidance, their emotions rarely became extreme.
They were more likely to lean towards a specific existing Pathway, rather than embodying all of them.
As for extreme sacredness… frankly, even Ruan Mei couldn't imagine what that would look like.
Noa certainly possessed divinity, but if you asked Ruan Mei to summarize a detailed personality profile, she couldn't do it.
As for Herta, she had also hit a temporary wall.
How exactly did Imaginary Energy transform into the power of a specific Pathway?
This transformation process was like a complete black box.
It was incredibly difficult to figure out.
So, she called Ruan Mei over, who was also lost in thought. She wanted Ruan Mei to create a specific Pathstrider, so she could observe the process.
She hoped to use this method to uncover the truth.
And what kind of Pathstrider? A History Fictionologist, of course.
As part of the backup plan, choosing it was only natural. And right at that moment, a message came through to the lab, which shouldn't have been disturbed by anyone.
Herta, hearing the notification sound, was startled for a moment, then abruptly stood up.
"Oho~ The original is here."
She grinned at 'Ruan Mei', rather gleefully.
Then she opened the communication channel and started rapidly typing a reply.
'Ruan Mei' didn't try to peek at what Herta and the original Ruan Mei were discussing.
Instead, she glanced at her own panel:
--+--
[Role-Playing System]
[Name: Bai Ming (Ruan Mei)]
[Lifespan: 100 Years (Paused) + 27 Days (Role-Playing)]
[Transformable Roles: Big Herta (Charge: 84.6%), Acheron (Charge: 51.8%), Celenova (Charge: 10.3%), Ruan Mei (Active)]
[Available Draws: 0 (52.2%)]
--+--
The numbers had suddenly shot up by a huge chunk.
Well, that said it all.
The original Ruan Mei must have seen the Ultraman she created, or maybe Herta had told her something.
That must have caused such a big emotional shift.
"Lucky you. Ruan Mei just finished her experiments today and saw the invitation."
Herta leaned back against the lab table, tilting her head as she looked at 'Ruan Mei'.
"You'd better work hard now."
"...What do you mean, I'd better work hard? What exactly did you tell her?"
'Ruan Mei' stared directly into Herta's eyes.
A feeling of dread washed over her.
"What else? Just the truth, of course."
Herta looked completely unbothered, even amused.
She spread her hands, putting on an "it's not my fault" expression.
"Besides, shouldn't you be looking forward to this? You were the one who actively came and pestered me back then. What's wrong, getting cold feet now?"
"...That's a separate issue."
'Ruan Mei' pursed her lips.
It was true, she was looking forward to meeting the original Ruan Mei.
But that was a separate issue!
This feeling of being sold out by Herta and then being expected to help count the money…
That was completely different!
"Mhm~"
Herta's lips curved into a smirk, and she deliberately hummed right in front of 'Ruan Mei'.
She was clearly doing it on purpose.
This woman!
She was definitely getting back at her, using her as bait to hook Ruan Mei.
She wouldn't be surprised if Herta had embellished the story and added a bunch of extra details.
--+--