Uncontrollable circumstances became synonymous with growth at some point.
From the first fetal movement in the mother's womb, a person's life began its lack of control. The cry that symbolized the birth of life also became synonymous with the beginning of suffering.
The shadow cast by the passage of time seems only to show struggle and pain within it.
When they begin to actively face the future, they are not doing so to reach a future of free choice.
It is simply that they cannot return to a past dictated by uncontrollable circumstances.
...
"Congratulations to us. The dream has come true."
after finished the surgery that lasted ten and a half hours, washed her hands, gave some instructions to the care staff, and walked out of the operating room, encountering Mobius, who had come out slightly earlier and was waiting.
She didn't look like she was deliberately waiting. Her expression was somewhat surprised to see Mei come out, but Mei could still tell Mobius was waiting for her, perhaps not expecting her to emerge so quickly.
"This is not a dream, at least not for you and me." Mei shook her head, seemingly missing the sarcasm in Mobius's words. "We are merely executing the necessary means for humanity to survive."
"Including the sacrifice of your friend and your boyfriend?"
"This was their choice, and we respect their choice."
We...
Yes, we.
Mobius didn't even know why she stopped Mei.
"When Kevin wakes up, he will head to the frontline. From now on, he is humanity's final defense, and humanity's savior. What we need to do next is to perfect the Project Soldier Surgery and expand the defense line."
Mei had a pile of things to do. She couldn't linger by Kevin's side.
Even though he would likely feel helpless about his own condition when he woke up.
Time pushed them forward, and they no longer had the time... or the means to embrace each other.
...
"Lin, from now on, please continue to walk forward. No matter what setbacks you face, please hold onto hope."
"Elly was right, miracles exist, and they appear for important people. After all... look..."
"I am the miracle roused by you and 'him.'"
Lin consciousness floated up from the vast ocean. He still remembered the near-annihilating agony before he sank into darkness, the foreign object integrating into his flesh, the destruction and reconstruction of everything original, using such a brutal method to ensure the human part won the gamble over the Honkai Beast part, achieving rebirth.
In the confusion of not being able to feel his own body, he heard a voice, which only appeared briefly before vanishing.
Continuing to drift and sink in the black sea, waiting... for the moment of awakening.
"...You can sleep a little longer. Thanks to you, your good friend who completed the surgery has rushed to the frontline. As a failure, you should avoid adding trouble to yourself."
Mobius's face appeared above Lin open eyes.
Her expressionless, beautiful face was familiar, yet very strange.
Lin sensed his "abnormality."
"That's why I said... you should stop bothering yourself. It's a miracle you even survived," Mobius turned her head away. "Close your eyes and go back to sleep."
Lin looked at the soft lines of her profile: "Did my surgery... fail?"
"If it hadn't failed, you would already be on the transport plane heading to Australia."
Lin at this moment recalled the scene he saw the last time he was in a coma.
The words of the snake-eyed Mobius... the side effects of the Project Soldier Surgery.
"Did anything happen to Kevin after the surgery...?"
"The Honkai Beast Kevin fused with, Parvati, granted him the ability to control ice and snow, comparable to the Fifth Herrscher. However, the cost is that the temperature around his body drops to minus thirty degrees Celsius."
Mobius described the exaggerated content lightly.
Minus thirty degrees Celsius—a temperature that would cause frostbite upon close proximity. This meant Kevin could no longer get too close to other people.
And that included Mei.
"...Although I expected it, you still asked about Kevin first."
Mobius wearily stripped off her lab coat, leaving only a cool short shirt and skirt. She then took off her shoes and climbed into the bed, pushing Lin coldly: "Move over a bit."
Lin obediently shifted his body. Before he could lie flat on his side, Mobius burrowed under the covers, filling the remaining empty space on the bed with her body.
Lin was completely enveloped by her. He tried to move slightly toward the edge, but Mobius burrowed closer to him. He retreated, and she followed, moving until he could retreat no further. Only then did she rest her head next to him, closing her eyes contentedly.
Her breathing was steady and even. It seemed she hadn't had much sleep in the past few days, so she quickly fell asleep.
Just as she told Lin: Go back to sleep.
They didn't seem to need any more words. Lin gazed at her face, and after a moment, he also closed his eyes.
What he didn't know was that under the covers, Mobius was fiercely pinching his arm, as if trying to twist a piece of flesh off.
But Lin was completely unresponsive, unaware that Mobius had done this.
After he fell asleep, Mobius opened her eyes again. The faint blue in her pupils reflected Lin sleeping face.
This was the first time she had seen Lin true face, yet it didn't give her any sense of surprise.
It was as if she had always known he looked exactly like this.
Lin surgery failed. His current body was neither a Fusion Soldier nor an ordinary human.
He didn't gain the terrifying physical attributes of a Fusion Soldier, nor did he possess a miraculous ability similar to a Herrscher like Kevin. All he gained was "damage."
Lin lost three senses: touch, smell, and taste.
The damage left by Vastsak's DNA in his body, like Kevin's low temperature, was an unrecoverable imprint. Even replacing the corresponding organs or nerves couldn't restore them.
This meant Lin, as a person, was no longer complete.
He couldn't taste anything, couldn't smell any fragrance, and couldn't perceive the touch of others.
Moreover, even his vision, which wasn't completely lost, was partially missing.
Now, the world in Lin eyes had become a colorless, empty black and white. He could no longer see the color of hair in photographs.
If Kevin lost the qualification to embrace others, Lin lost the meaning of embracing others.
The light in Mobius's eyes extinguished.
Just like the light in Lin eyes that she saw when he woke up.
She slowly, like a porcupine terrified of hurting anyone, reached out her hand toward Lin face...