"Good day, Dr. Mobius."
Mei spoke with polite respect, her long purple hair swaying gently as she gave a slight bow.
"None of that, have a seat."
Mobius pointed leisurely to a nearby chair. Mei sat down, placing her hands properly on her knees.
Vya settled in beside her.
The little girl watched the two older sisters obediently, unsure of what they were about to do.
"I've read your thesis. It shows significant potential for further research. For someone your age, it's quite impressive work already."
"Thank you for the praise, Doctor."
"Mind if I ask a few questions?"
"Of course not."
Vya, sitting to the side, looked down at the notebook in her hands, not paying close attention to the conversation between the two sisters. Her small hand gripped a pencil, doodling on the page, sketching three simple stick figures—one with long pink hair, one with long green hair...
She caught bits and pieces... they seemed to be doing some question-and-answer thing.
(I didn't want to copy the text verbatim here, so I've summarized it.) (T/N: This is author)
"The first question..." Mobius suddenly leaned forward. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
"..."
"The second... have you read my papers?"
"I've read them all..."
"...Would you be willing to stand against humanity... for the sake of humanity?"
"...I would."
Mei fell silent for a moment before answering with firm resolve.
Vya didn't hear it all clearly, but that seemed to be the gist.
After Mobius asked a few more questions...
"Come here, Vya, give me your notebook."
"Okay~"
Vya obediently handed over the notebook.
Mobius tore a page from it and, with a pen, wrote down a string of numbers.
"This is my contact information. You can reach out if you have any questions."
"Thank you..."
Mei took the paper, giving a slight nod.
"Ask questions? Vya wants to ask too! Can I?"
Vya raised her small hand.
"Hmm, of course you can. What did you want to ask?"
Mei turned to look at the little girl beside her. Mobius watched with interest as well, curious what question Vya would come up with.
"Let Vya think..."
Vya rested her chin in her hand, thinking hard.
Soon, she remembered the thing she'd wondered about ever since she first gained awareness.
"Vya thought of it!" she announced happily.
"What is it?"
"It's... what exactly is a human?"
The so-called... what makes a human?
Hearing this, the smiles faded from both their faces, especially Mobius's. She wondered... Did Vya just ask this randomly? Probably.
After all, the depth of this question was far beyond a child's understanding.
"Well..."
Mei was a bit stumped. She hadn't expected such a question from a child. She glanced at Mobius. There were many ways to answer, but this was for a little girl.
"It's fine, just say something. She's waiting."
Mei turned back to meet Vya's expectant gaze, pure and untainted.
But Mei quickly came up with a suitable answer. She bent down to look Vya in the eye.
"Humans... humans are marvelous creatures."
"We are humans. Humans have their own minds. Our minds make us think constantly, to understand the world, to understand others, and to understand ourselves."
"Most importantly, to understand why we live... that's roughly it."
Listening to Mei's answer, Mobius curled the corner of her mouth into a smile.
Vya listened intently. Understand others... understand myself... How does one do that?
"I see... Thank you, sister. Vya will remember."
"You're welcome."
"Not a bad answer. She's still young, doesn't know much."
"Doctor... it reminds me of when I was very small, I used to ask my father all sorts of questions too. Children always have that thirst for knowledge."
"Hmm, you're right."
Even Mobius had wondered similar things in her childhood... Her thoughts drifted to the distant past—her childhood, her father... the clinic... the last birthday she spent at home.
Unexpectedly, Mobius's phone rang right then.
"Oh... Doctor, I should be going."
Mei took her cue to leave. Anyone with a bit of tact would know not to overstay their welcome now.
"Alright, remember to call if you need anything."
"Yes. Goodbye, Doctor."
"Bye-bye, sister!"
Vya said with a smile.
"Goodbye, little Vya."
Watching Mei's retreating figure, Mobius answered the phone impatiently.
"What is it?"
"Mobius... we've warned you not to leave MOTH's premises without authorization..."
A stern male voice came from the other end.
Vya didn't listen closely; she wasn't interested.
Shortly after, they seemed to switch topics.
"What's it to you if I have a kid with me? Fine, fine, I'll tell you a secret. This kid is actually a Herrscher, the really dangerous kind. Scared now? Huh?"
Mobius spoke in the most casual tone, a dangerous smirk playing on her lips.
"...Let's discuss other matters first. The person you're looking for—I've found her."
Suddenly, there was silence on the other end of the line.
The so-called... absolute rationality. That girl named Mei might truly possess it. Mobius never doubted her own judgment. Never had.
...
After the meeting concluded, with nothing else to do, the two decided to go out for a stroll.
Might as well take a walk before heading back. It was still early.
Although Mobius wasn't usually one for outings, she couldn't resist Vya's enthusiasm.
On the beach, for some reason, there weren't many people. Was it because the weather was cold?
"Vya, why did you want to come here?"
Mobius asked. There were plenty of interesting places nearby, but Vya had specifically wanted to come here.
"Vya is a little hungry..."
Was this child a bottomless pit?
Mobius remembered clearly—before they set out, Vya had already eaten two Chariot-class Honkai beasts and a bunch of Assault-class ones. How much time had passed since then? And she was hungry again?
Watching Vya consume things hundreds of times larger than herself was quite a sight.
A sense of contrast? Probably.
But what Mobius didn't know was that this was far from Vya's limit.
"We'll talk about it when we get back."
"No, sister, there are fish in there..."
Vya pointed to the boundless sea. Mobius immediately realized Vya wanted to eat the "fish" in the ocean.
Although only a few years had passed since the first Herrscher's emergence, Honkai disasters had occurred much earlier. So, the number of Honkai beasts in the ocean was far from small.
"Will it fill you up?"
"Probably..."
"Go ahead."
Mobius said unhurriedly, then added, "Remember to come back soon."
"Yay~ Goodbye, Sister Mobius~"
Fortunately, there weren't many people around now. Otherwise, someone might have thought an accident had happened.
With a nearly perfect dive, Vya leaped straight into the sea. The ocean swallowed her mercilessly, leaving only a few ripples behind.
Mobius found a reef and slowly climbed onto it...
Standing atop the rock, Mobius gazed at the calm sea surface.
Down below... a storm was probably already raging.
…
I have completed the author to TL pipeline, 2 chapters per day. Advanced chapters available on patreon.
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Give power stones please I survive solely off of number go up.