Feeling she couldn't be of much help, Natsume Sonoko stood quietly to the side, watching Kiyama Harumi operate the cultivation tank with a face full of intense concentration.
Liquids of various colors were sequentially fed into the tank, only to be drained out moments later by the circulation system.
After several cycles, the temperature control ability that had just been induced finally stabilized.
But the very moment the synthetic human's temperature control ability began to take shape, an extremely pronounced case of RSPK Syndrome—Poltergeist—occurred. A poltergeist-like bizarre phenomenon manifested right there.
The synthetic human already possessed fully formed body components, its brain even developed. However, because a massive computational capacity existed within the synthetic human's body without a conscious mind to restrain it, it immediately fell into ability rampancy.
The ground began to tremble in a small area, nearby equipment vibrating slightly.
The chaotic development phenomenon—'Poltergeist'—which usually required many ability users to trigger, was achieved effortlessly by this single synthetic human individual.
This situation instantly exceeded Natsume Sonoko's expectations.
'What's going on?'
A ringing filled Natsume Sonoko's head. She could perceive clearly that a massive AIM field was immediately affecting her. Being so extremely close, Sonoko felt its effects intensely.
Her own body seemed somewhat affected too, movements becoming slightly sluggish. This substantial AIM field from the synthetic human was causing Sonoko significant trouble.
The temperature control ability induced in the synthetic human before her was not just from the same ability system as Sonoko's—it was completely identical.
Unsurprisingly, Sonoko was swept up in this frenzy, pulled into a more severe episode of chaotic development.
This AIM field could no longer be considered just an ability unconsciously emitted by a user; it was a veritable tidal wave.
However, this situation seemed to be within Kiyama-sensei's considerations.
Amidst the intense shaking, Kiyama Harumi immediately activated the long-prepared Level Upper device, implanting the version tailored for Natsume Sonoko into the synthetic human.
The tremors grew more pronounced, quickly exceeding the building's confines and spreading outwards at supersonic speeds—one block, two blocks, then the entire District 7.
But as the Level Upper finished playing, this tidal wave-like AIM field contracted in the blink of an eye.
The earthquake that was about to spread across all of District 7 vanished instantly; many people didn't even notice the tremor.
At that moment, Natsume Sonoko suddenly felt something. Her whole body staggered, leaning against the wall for support, then slumped to the floor in a 'seiza'–like sitting position, legs splayed out to the sides.
The girl with the bun hairstyle wanted to speak, but seemed to have momentarily forgotten how. Her thoughts became intensely focused.
Sonoko's eyes turned completely red. Faint blue veins spread from the corners of her eyes all the way to her temples.
Her pupils were stained a vivid crimson, like translucent red snowflakes.
Meanwhile, inside the cultivation tank, a 160-centimeter-tall girl submerged in fluid slowly opened her eyes, her expression tinged with confusion and bewilderment.
"Kiyama-sensei, I... glug glug glug."
The girl in the tank flailed her arms wildly in the liquid, a sense of inexplicable panic about her. She tried to speak but immediately got a mouthful of the surrounding fluid, nearly causing her to drown.
Fortunately, someone acted quickly, hastily grabbing the oxygen tube floating in the liquid and fitting it over the girl's mouth, allowing her to finally catch her breath.
Actually, when Natsume Sonoko found herself inside the cultivation tank, she pretty much understood what had happened. But this strange sensation still filled her with panic. She was just about to use her ability to break the tank when she saw Kiyama-sensei standing right in front of it.
The fluid in the tank drained away. Losing the buoyancy the liquid provided, the 160cm girl fell to the floor with a thud.
At first, it didn't seem so bad. But as the liquid receded, or perhaps as the taste buds on this body started working, the 160cm girl began to cough, even blowing a snot bubble from the force of it.
Her mouth was filled with the bitter taste of medicine and the pungent flavor of industrial materials, immediately triggering a dry heaving cough.
She vowed she had never tasted anything so bitter in her life—a new core memory of disgust formed instantly.
'Unbearable. I need to buy a dozen shaved ices to neutralize this, stat.'
Her whole mood sunk into this bitterness, unable to extricate herself. Suddenly, her whole body shivered; she felt a bit cold.
But why would she feel cold? At this moment, Natsume Sonoko was completely bewildered.
Soon, the 160cm girl's face began to flush. It was only then she realized she wasn't wearing anything.
Thinking about it, of course the synthetic human wasn't clothed, and she hadn't immediately re-applied the thermal insulation layer to herself.
"Natsume-san, are you okay?"
Kiyama Harumi's face moved closer, staring directly at the girl's face.
"Kiyama-sensei, how did I end up inside the synthetic human's body?"
The 160cm girl's head was still full of questions. While she knew what had happened, she didn't understand why it happened.
"You didn't 'go' into the synthetic human's body. To be precise, you are controlling the synthetic human," Kiyama Harumi explained.
Hearing this, the 160cm girl curiously examined her new body. She touched her stomach—something very hard seemed to be inside. 'So this is that stone,' she thought.
It was a bit creepy, having a large stone inside one's body.
The girl held onto the edge of the cultivation tank and slowly stood up, her steps slightly unsteady. But her muscles and bones were fully developed; she just needed to readjust to using this body.
Once standing straight, a smile finally appeared on the 160cm girl's face. 'So this is the world Misaka Senpai and the others see? Being 160cm tall feels pretty good.'
Her gaze fell on her original body beside her, slumped on the floor with red eyes as if her soul had left it.
'I thought it wasn't easy to awaken the Sharingan after turning twelve,' the 160cm girl's thoughts wandered.
Kiyama Harumi helped the 160cm girl's body sit down to the side and found a white lab coat for the girl to wear.
"Kiyama-sensei, this feels so strange. It's like my consciousness transferred," she said, speaking again, but even the timbre of her voice was different now.
"Natsume-san, that's just an illusion, making you think you're inside the synthetic human's body. Your consciousness hasn't actually moved. Or rather, you are still in your own body. Now, try to relax your mind a little," Kiyama Harumi said, shaking her head.
It was only then that Natsume Sonoko realized: as she slightly relaxed her focus, she returned to her original body. Even the red eyes condition was cured simultaneously.
Natsume Sonoko looked down at herself. 'Yep, I'm back.' She then stumbled to her feet, her eyes feeling strangely sore and achy.
'Could overusing this cause blindness?' That was the bun-haired girl's first thought.
"This feeling is amazing."
Natsume Sonoko was still completely immersed in the recent experience, unable to snap out of it. 'Two bodies? That sounds extraordinary.'
"Kiyama-sensei, I can feel a very close connection. It's as if I am her."
Natsume Sonoko slightly raised her hand. After a moment, the 160cm girl across from her slowly raised her hand as well. Both faces wore a dazed expression.
It wasn't actually simultaneous control. Natsume Sonoko had divided the action into two separate commands, controlling her own body and the 160cm girl's body with about a one-second interval.
There were two links between Natsume Sonoko and the 160cm girl: one was her own gene segments, the other was the Level Upper containing her brainwaves.
As long as she focused her attention on the 160cm girl, Natsume Sonoko could control her. And if she concentrated fully, Sonoko would experience the illusion of her consciousness transferring, as if she had completely become the 160cm girl, momentarily forgetting to control her original body.
Even when Kiyama-sensei concentrated fully on controlling the synthetic human, she didn't experience the illusion of replacing it. Perhaps implanting the gene segments caused this difference.
"Most people can only handle one thing at a time, meaning they can only control one body. This isn't related to computational power, and even less to ability. Dividing one's attention is entirely a skill related to thought process, a unique technique of the brain," Kiyama Harumi explained.
Natsume Sonoko nodded. This was easy to understand.
It was like drawing a circle with your left hand while drawing a square with your right—sounds simple, but few can actually do it. Some people get it immediately, while others can't manage it no matter what.
"If you can reach the level of dividing your attention, you can control two bodies simultaneously. However, achieving perfect synchronization is basically impossible. Even the most powerful computers have latency, let alone humans. What Natsume-san needs to do is compress that latency down to the frequency range of a normal human. Then you can use the bio-computer normally."
Kiyama Harumi put her hands on her hips, looking intently at Natsume Sonoko.
"I understand." x2
Both bodies spoke at the same time. A hint of smugness appeared on Natsume Sonoko's face. 'Latency? No big deal.'
Applying a bit more focus, Natsume Sonoko immediately compressed the one-second delay down to one-tenth of a second, all without affecting either body's daily activities.
'Dividing my attention is too easy. When I use my ability, I'm always mixing a bunch of formulas with calculations anyway.'
The biggest problem was actually the strange sensation of controlling two bodies simultaneously—she still wasn't quite used to it.
Sonoko also noticed something: unlike the first time, these subsequent control sessions didn't make her eyes turn red.
According to Kiyama-sensei's speculation, this could also be attributed to her own gene segments.
To some extent, she owned more than half of the synthetic human. This characteristic was granted by the strange stone—it seemed to be able to recognize people.
Under this premise, using the synthetic human was equivalent to controlling her own body. As long as she didn't exceed a certain threshold, the Level Upper's side effect of red eyes would be minimal.
But if she poured her entire consciousness into the synthetic human, then the Level Upper was needed to support the parts exceeding her authority, and her eyes would naturally turn red.
More importantly, she could only fully utilize the bio-computer's computational power when fully focused. Only putting half her mind into it yielded only half the computing power. This bio-computer operated itself in a rigid and strict manner.
"However, with this level of immense computational power, even using just twenty percent of its functionality should exceed the minimum standard for Level 5."
Of course, this referred to Level 5 computational power, which she estimated as roughly ten times that of an ordinary Level 4 ability user.
Natsume Sonoko's head suddenly felt dizzy. Just briefly calculating the bio-computer's computational power left her stunned by the vast ocean of processing capability.
"So powerful. Much more powerful than me," Natsume Sonoko muttered to herself.
But the next second, Sonoko gathered all the formulas she never had the time or energy to delve into deeply, dumping them all into the bio-computer at once.
She set some conditions, sent many formulas she deemed suboptimal back for reprocessing, included all the relevant knowledge she possessed, and used the bio-computer to calculate her current optimal formula.
Of course, this 'optimal formula' was only for her current stage. As Natsume Sonoko's knowledge expanded and her horizons broadened, the formula would still need updates. Stagnation leads to falling behind.
It required no energy, no rest, and was even better than a supercomputer. Natsume Sonoko grew intensely curious about the origin of this meteorite.
'A crashed alien spaceship? Technology from subterraneans? Or maybe a parallel universe?' Anyway, Natsume Sonoko was very, very curious.
Natsume Sonoko continued practicing dividing her attention. Both Sonokos moved about independently, walking around and stopping here and there. This also made Sonoko happy—it was like having twice the time.
One self for studying, one self for reading manga, shopping, and playing games. No conflict between study and entertainment. Just thinking about it seemed full of potential.
'That reminds me, I probably need to get an ID or something for the 160cm girl.'
Right then, the bio-computer fed back some results. In just over ten minutes, it had optimized the optical formulas Natsume Sonoko already possessed.
Not only did it optimize the formula structure, it even resolved the discrepancies present in the refracted light.
Normally, when Natsume Sonoko refracted light around herself, there were often minor issues. For instance, professional cameras could potentially capture the inconsistencies in the light.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.