Mobius awoke slowly, her hand instinctively rising to rub her temple.
Strange, why did she feel like she'd forgotten something?
Mobius was puzzled.
Her eyes fell upon Elysia before her, and her expression instantly shifted.
Elysia was perched on the edge of the experiment table, her long pink hair shimmering with a pearlescent glow under the lights, her legs swinging gently.
A flawless smile graced the girl's face.
"…?"
"Wow♪~ You're finally awake, Mobius~ I've been waiting here for ages."
The pink-haired girl clapped her hands together, her face showing not a single crack in her cheerful facade. It was hard to imagine she was the very culprit responsible for the current situation.
"What exactly happened?"
Elysia hopped down from the table with a light grace. "My, isn't it obvious? Our brilliant Dr. Mobius simply worked herself too hard and accidentally dozed off~"
Elysia said with a beaming smile.
"Oh."
Mobius's reply was simple.
"Aren't you going to ask me how I feel?"
"If you're standing here now, full of energy and still in the mood for jokes, it means you're fine."
Mobius stated flatly.
She walked over to the main console, her fingers tapping on the keyboard to pull up the surgical logs.
Even knowing Elysia had watched her sleep, her heart remained calm.
The surgical logs showed everything was normal…
"Alright, get going. Stop bothering me here."
Mobius began shooing her away.
But Elysia didn't leave immediately. She stood there quietly.
"Hmm… Mobius, before I go, can I ask you one last question?"
"Ask."
Mobius wasn't hoping for any 'earth-shatteringly' good questions from Elysia.
"Will you undergo the surgery next?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I've come to understand that, whether it's a MANTIS or an ordinary person, in the end, they are still just 'human'…"
Not true "gods."
Mobius added the last part silently in her mind.
"If they're all human, then what's the difference?"
"Wow, so does Mobius want to become a god?"
"…?"
Mobius replayed her memory; she was sure she hadn't spoken those words aloud.
Elysia took a step forward, her voice suddenly softening.
"Don't make that face. You should remember what you told me."
"That time…"
Mobius recalled it vaguely. It was a few years back, around the time when Vya first arrived.
"Because it's something you said, Mobius, I've remembered it well all this time~"
"'With my own hands, ascend to godhood'!"
As she spoke, Elysia struck a rather chuunibyou pose, raising her hand as if she, too, were about to ascend.
She lowered her hand. "What a magnificent idea! Only you would have the confidence and ability to achieve such a thing!"
"And if it is?"
"Then can I ask one more…"
Elysia didn't even get to finish her sentence before being cut off.
"Leave."
Mobius was being quite gentle with Elysia by her standards.
In the past, she would have definitely said "Get out."
"Okay, okay~ Mobius, I'll just say one last little thing then."
Mobius clenched her fist tightly, then relaxed it.
She couldn't beat Elysia. Not before, and not now.
"Whether to remain human or become a god… I don't see much difference. If some wish to become gods, then perhaps there are also gods who wish to become human."
"In a sense, they're both walking the same path, aren't they?"
Then, Elysia gave a playful wink and turned to walk out the door.
…
After Elysia left, Mobius returned to her chair.
She leaned back, closing her eyes.
Groping in the drawer, she pulled out an earring—her mother's, one she had always kept.
Her pale green hair cascaded like a waterfall, spilling over the back of the chair.
Fingering the earring, her mind was unusually tranquil, as if she had seen through some great secret.
…
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