Divine Herta, sounding a bit gleeful at the other's misfortune, probed for every little detail, including just what exactly 'Little Herta' had built and what she'd been up to in Herta City.
"So, you just ran straight out of Herta City?"
"Yeah, why?"
Divine Herta looked at 'Little Herta', who was nodding, and stroked her chin.
If what this one said was true, then that other her was probably eighty percent already deep into studying that so-called 'Halo System' by now.
Since she hadn't chased her here, it proved her 'beg-for-mercy' tactics had actually worked.
Still, the fact that the other her got wrapped around someone's finger just because of a 'Big Sister' Card...
In Divine Herta's eyes, that was simply unbelievable.
Since when was Herta so easy to deal with?
The only explanation was that she really, really liked this person, which was why she was so accommodating.
Divine Herta kind of wanted to have a nice, long chat with the other her, just to satisfy her own curiosity.
Too bad she really didn't like leaving the house, and lately, she wasn't in the mood to go out either.
"My advice? Rest here for a bit, then head back."
Divine Herta's words made 'Little Herta' pause.
In this whole world, there wasn't exactly a fixed 'home' for her to go back to.
"Go back where?"
"To Herta City, of course. It's been a while now, the other me has probably cooled off."
And eighty percent has already tossed that earlier embarrassment aside to focus on researching that so-called Halo System, right?
If it were her, she definitely wouldn't let that kind of emotion keep bothering her.
Especially with something interesting right in front of her.
She figured the other her was the same.
As long as what 'Little Herta' said was true.
"But hold on a sec, let's talk about this 'Hive Mind Herta' thing of yours. Have you tested its performance?"
A character built from the impressions stored in the puppets.
Divine Herta was curious how far it could go.
But 'Little Herta' shook her head:
"I didn't have time yet. Herta got back too fast, no chance to run tests. But at least it should be able to simulate about fifty percent of her. Maybe even eighty percent at best, hard to say. Mainly because there really are a ton of puppets."
"At least? That's pretty impressive. But honestly, more than the performance, I'm actually more curious about what Herta looks like in the eyes of those puppets."
In Divine Herta's memories, naturally, there was that time she'd entertained herself with the puppets, that 'Completion Project' of hers.
But compared to 'Little Herta's' idea, hers, which was more for fun, obviously wasn't quite up to par.
Because she was just using the puppets' own capabilities to simulate and extrapolate Herta.
Not like 'Little Herta', who created a system to materialize the image of Herta from the puppets' impressions and cluster them together.
So the conclusions she got, whether joking or narcissistic, didn't really have much substance.
But this time was different.
Divine Herta looked forward to the results.
"If Herta's really interested, bring me a copy of the results sometime."
"You're interested too? Then wanna come along with me?"
'Little Herta' extended a sincere invitation.
She thought having one more Herta around might be pretty interesting.
Mainly because Divine Herta didn't seem angry at all after hearing her plan.
This one had a strangely subtle sense of self.
She confirmed she was already a completely different individual from Herta.
Yet she didn't mind continuing to bear Herta's name and memories.
She'd even refer to Madam Herta as 'the other me'.
But when it came to certain things about Madam Herta, her reactions were completely different.
Like how Madam Herta would get all flustered and red-faced the second she saw her messing around, stepping on all her 'landmines' with pranks.
But Divine Herta would calmly give a verdict like, "Ah, something like this would definitely make me angry."
So, while calling herself Herta, she also had this vibe of 'this has nothing to do with me'.
In 'Little Herta's' eyes, there was a contradiction: she neither acknowledged being Herta, yet accepted being Herta.
And even stranger, only outsiders felt this contradiction.
Divine Herta herself seemed perfectly at ease with it.
"I won't go. Just tell me the results later. If you really wanna think of me, how about giving me a Halo System to study?"
"Why go through all that trouble? I'll just send you the data. It's just a little thing anyway."
'Little Herta' waved her hand and sent the project files over.
"This is no 'little thing', you know."
Just like Screwllum and Ruan Mei.
Divine Herta also felt that if this system were developed further, it might yield some pretty impressive results.
She briefly checked the files 'Little Herta' had sent.
Satisfied, she pinched 'Little Herta's' cheeks again:
"Alright, hurry back. While the other me is still engrossed, it's your perfect chance to play cute and slip by."
--+--
Meanwhile.
Just as Divine Herta predicted.
Madam Herta was indeed analyzing the essence of this 'Genius Herta' and trying to randomly pick puppets to log into the account and test its level.
Then Madam Herta was pleasantly surprised to find this simulated genius could actually reach about seventy percent of her own level!
That exceeded her expectations.
Herta originally thought hitting fifty or sixty percent would be about it, but it actually reached a shocking seventy percent!
At this level, it could actually barely keep up with a genius's pace.
More than qualified to be an assistant, for example.
And with further development, it might not be impossible to reach a genius's level.
But!
Aside from this pleasant surprise.
The rest was basically just mental horror for Madam Herta.
To test the capability, Herta had to have puppets log into this Herta account.
But remember, the puppets' personalities were wildly different, so when different puppets logged in, they'd also display completely different versions of Herta.
For example...
"Ah... uh... I... I-I-I... am... H-H-Herta... guh-oh..."
"...What is this? A socially anxious personality?? Who, me?"
Madam Herta stared at the figure in front of her, gripping her hat brim, head lowered, eyes darting everywhere, body shrunk, stuttering so badly you couldn't even hear clearly—a super social phobe.
For a moment, she didn't know who was completing whom.
"When did I ever input this kind of personality module into the puppets?? How did Bai Ming even add a personality like this..."
She'd wanted to try seeing what this weird personality could do.
But before Madam Herta could even speak, this personality fainted on the spot, doing absolutely nothing.
"...Next!"
Madam Herta sighed, holding her forehead.
"Uh uh... my turn? Hehehe, Madam Herta... hehe... and Miss Bai Ming's Little Herta... guhuhuhu..."
"Don't you dare say weird things with my face! Disqualified!"
Herta forcibly stuffed this Herta back.
Then the next one was even harder to handle.
Because the next one was a Mecha Herta.
"Mechanical Emperor plus Madam Herta! The perfect combo!! I am the Mechanical Emperor! Hehehehe—"
"You get back too!"
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL