"Professor, isn't the reagent concentration a bit too high lately…?"
"Silence, you must understand—our goal isn't simply to keep Ifrit stable. Our aim is to cure Oripathy."
"But—"
"No buts, Silence. I understand your concern for Ifrit, but at present, we have no better method to reduce her pain."
"This approach is far too risky—"
"Science itself is a path from nothing to something! I'll be waiting for the day you come around, but for now—so that Ifrit's treatment has the best chance of success—you are forbidden from making contact with her."
"…Understood, Director Parvis."
---
Silence returned to the shared office and began carefully reviewing Ifrit's medical reports.
"Dr. Silence, it is currently off-hours. Joyce has requested to accompany you."
A Liberi woman with white hair, amber eyes, and a white lab coat approached Silence's desk.
"Just let me finish reading this report… Oh, by the way, Joyce—why have you been avoiding Dr. Mobius?"
Silence asked, puzzled.
Ever since Mobius had arrived, Joyce had gone out of her way to avoid her—never appearing in the same place at the same time. Even when visiting Ifrit, Joyce would only go after Mobius had left.
"…This matter is classified. Joyce refuses to answer."
"Joyce once worked in a lab under Dr. Mobius."
"The specifics of that place are also classified and cannot be disclosed."
"All Joyce can tell you is this—be careful around Dr. Mobius. She is the most dangerous person in all of Rhine Lab."
After hearing Joyce's warning, Silence silently let go of certain thoughts she'd been entertaining.
But seeing the hesitation in Silence's expression, Joyce suspected she hadn't taken the warning to heart.
After all, Mobius's playful and eccentric demeanor easily led people to see her as nothing more than a quirky scientist.
But Joyce could never forget what she had witnessed in that lab.
At the time, Joyce was new to Rhine Lab, but already a promising young researcher. She had not yet undergone the experiment that would later infect her with Oripathy.
One day, she received an invitation from Dr. Mobius to join a project on cloning technology.
Mobius personally brought her into the lab—where Joyce was greeted by an entire crowd of "Mobius" clones.
They each wore different expressions, and it seemed… as though they possessed independent consciousness.
This is madness.
What frightened Joyce the most was realizing she could no longer tell which one—if any—was the real Dr. Mobius.
Every single one of them looked, sounded, and moved exactly like her.
The one standing beside me… is she truly Mobius, or just a clone?
At that time, Joyce didn't yet know that Mobius was an immortal. She merely thought she was dealing with a dangerously unhinged scientist.
Or perhaps… an entire group of unhinged scientists.
So—she ran.
Mobius never blamed her.
On the contrary, she apologized for frightening Joyce and once again invited her to join the research on cloning technology.
But Joyce refused.
She had no desire to see another "Joyce" walking around in the world.
---
"Oh~ Silence~ I heard you were removed from the team working on Ifrit's treatment plan by the Director~ That wasn't my doing, you know~ What a pity~"
A figure clad in green suddenly appeared beside Silence and Joyce.
"System error detected, shutting down… ZZZ."
Joyce collapsed into sudden sleep.
Startled, Silence quickly caught her and settled her into a chair to rest.
"So this is the fearless researcher who dared to inject Originium into their own brain?"
Mobius tilted her head curiously.
There was a faint memory of this researcher in her mind.
She had once invited this promising young talent to participate in the development of cloning technology.
Back then, the technology was still primitive—clones could only survive for ten minutes in a natural environment. For convenience, Mobius would personally control the clones, guiding them out of the incubation pods and dressing them in clothes.
Since that outdated batch of clones was due for disposal, her plan was to lead them to the incinerator and then sever their connection.
But as luck would have it, Joyce arrived that day to visit what was supposed to become her future workplace.
'Well then, let's have these clones serve one last purpose.'
At Rhine Lab, transferring a staff member between laboratories required the consent of both the employee and the lab.
Mobius believed Joyce had great potential—a stock worth investing in—so she decided to make a strong impression on her.
The plan was simple: pretend the project was already 99% complete, and that all she had to do was contribute the last 1%. Then, history would record her name alongside "Dr. Mobius" as co-creators of a revolutionary technology.
If she stayed vague, she would inevitably fill in the blanks herself, drawing the exact conclusion she wanted.
Mobius would've been proud of such a ploy.
But just as she was preparing to put on a grand performance, she bolted.
'Why would someone daring enough to risk their life in an Originium brain-implant experiment be terrified of cloning technology?'
To Mobius, it was pure cowardice. She stopped thinking about her.
That was, until she later heard she had volunteered for an experiment that used herself as the test subject—an extremely dangerous one at that.
To her, it made no sense at all. If someone had no fear of death, what else could possibly scare them?
---
"Dr. Mobius, may I ask what brings you here?"
Silence tucked a blanket over Joyce before turning to face the person Joyce had once called the most dangerous individual in Rhine Lab.
"I came to tell you—Ifrit's surgery is scheduled for next week."
Mobius' face still bore that unreadable smile.
"By the way, Saria probably won't be visiting anytime soon. Well, she is the head of Defense after all, so it's only natural she doesn't have much time to spend with little Ifrit~"
"Dr. Mobius, could you please persuade the Director? I still think this treatment plan is too risky…"
"Silence, Parvis is actually right. Until the first case succeeds, every plan is a dangerous plan."
"But—"
"Ifrit is already a severe infected case, Silence."
Mobius' smile didn't waver as she spoke softly:
"Her time is already running out."
"…Mobius, you really are a bastard!"
"Haha~ Many people have said that. You won't be the first… and you certainly won't be the last."