"I'm back."
The laboratory door opened, and Mayer, with two huge dark circles under her eyes, called out weakly before collapsing on the floor with a "thud."
"Hey, are you okay?" Saria quickly stood up and went to Mayer's side, helping her up and placing her on a chair.
"What did you do?" Saria asked with a frown. "I remember you went to the Science and Technology Department? How did you end up like this?"
"Ptilopsis, give her some treatment."
"Understood." Ptilopsis nodded in agreement. A green glow appeared in her hand once more, floating in front of Mayer and merging into her body.
The heavy sense of fatigue was instantly swept away. Mayer jumped up from the chair in surprise and looked at Ptilopsis, saying excitedly, "Is this magic?!"
"Is it magic?" A faint smile appeared on Saria's serious face. "What? Are you interested in magic now too?"
Mayer didn't answer, staring blankly at Saria, who was wearing a faint smile.
Ptilopsis, who was nearby, also shifted her gaze from the screen and stared blankly at Saria.
Mayer and Ptilopsis had worked with Saria many times back at Rhine Lab. Every time, Saria had a rigorous and serious expression; the word'smile' seemed as if it didn't exist for Saria.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Noticing the atmosphere was a bit off, Saria couldn't help but frown and asked Mayer and Ptilopsis, who were staring at her: "Is there something on my face?"
"Saria, you actually know how to smile," Mayer said subconsciously, then quickly added after realizing, "I didn't mean it like that!"
"Forget it." Saria shook her head and showed a faint smile again. "It's fine. I'm just a bit serious; why did you think I couldn't smile?"
"Well..."
Before Mayer could finish her sentence, the lab door opened again, and a small figure ran in.
"Sister Mayer, you forgot something." Little Fujino ran to Mayer's side and waved the documents in her hand. "Sister Mayer, you forgot to take this."
"Thank you, Little Fujino." Mayer smiled and reached out to pat Little Fujino's hair, but Little Fujino dodged it.
Little Fujino covered her head with both hands and looked apologetically at Mayer, whose hand was stuck in mid-air.
"I'm sorry, Sister Mayer. My sister said I shouldn't let anyone but her touch my head."
"I see..." Mayer gave a dry laugh and awkwardly pulled her hand back.
Saria and Ptilopsis, who were nearby, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Ptilopsis waved at Little Fujino and said softly, "Little Fujino, come here. Let big sister give you a hug."
Little Fujino nodded obediently, went to Ptilopsis, and with a light jump, threw herself into Ptilopsis's embrace.
In just a few short days, Little Fujino had gotten along very well with this Sister Ptilopsis who had only arrived recently. Besides her own sister, Little Fujino liked being in Sister Ptilopsis's arms the most; it felt cool and very comfortable.
"It seems Ptilopsis, you're very popular with Little Fujino." Saria naturally knew Little Fujino. Back when she, Ifrit, and Silence came to Umbrella, Little Fujino would often come to play with Ifrit, sometimes even bringing Saria along. Saria also liked this cute and gentle child very much.
"That's so nice," Mayer muttered; she also wanted to hug Little Fujino.
"Alright, there'll be a chance in the future. Just go and talk to Little Fujino; she won't refuse," Saria smiled, then looked at the documents in Mayer's hand and asked, "Did you end up like that because of those documents?"
"Ah, you mean this? That's right." Mentioning the documents, Mayer's eyes sparkled. "I finally succeeded! Relying on Pandora's computing power, I've finally upgraded my Meebo!"
"Oh," Saria responded flatly. The Meebo Mayer mentioned was a machine she had created. Saria had seen it before; when Mayer first developed it, she had even used Saria for an experiment, only for it to be smashed by one of Saria's punches.
"Hey! Why is your reaction so flat? I'm telling you, Meebo is very strong now!"
"Oh? I wonder how many of my punches it can take now?"
"Cough, cough, well..."
Mayer was speechless. She had indeed upgraded it. Relying on the powerful computing capabilities of Umbrella's AI, Pandora, she had raised Meebo's power to a whole new level.
Equipped with a reactor, Meebo's self-destruction power had been greatly increased. One Meebo's self-destruction could roughly blow the original Rhine Lab to smithereens.
The power had increased, but Mayer hadn't touched Meebo's defense yet. Mayer's original next step was to improve its defense. With Umbrella's technology and material support, Mayer believed her Meebo would definitely be able to match Umbrella's research achievements like Unit-01, the Iron Armor, and other series in the future.
Just then, the lab door suddenly opened, and Fujino and A2 walked in.
"Sister!" Seeing Fujino, Little Fujino happily waved at her.
"So you're here." Fujino smiled upon seeing Little Fujino in Ptilopsis's arms. She walked over to Ptilopsis and patted Little Fujino's small head. "Don't disturb Sister Ptilopsis's work."
"Mhm." Little Fujino nodded obediently. "I won't disturb Sister Ptilopsis. Right, Sister Ptilopsis?"
"Yes, Little Fujino is very good." A faint smile appeared on Ptilopsis's expressionless face as she looked at Little Fujino in her arms, her orange eyes full of affection for the girl.
Noticing that Ptilopsis's eyes were filled with love for Little Fujino, Fujino was also relieved.
"By the way," Saria suddenly said, "Fujino, you can check for magic talent, right?"
"Of course," Fujino nodded. "What's wrong? Saria, do you want to learn some magic too?"
"If that's the case, I can just help you activate it directly. You're very suited for earth-attribute magic, but I'd recommend you learn to activate your Seventh Sense instead; that's more suitable for you than magic."
Saria's Originium Arts is Calcification, which allows her to control the calcium elements in all nearby objects. This fits perfectly with the Earth Control Technique technique among the eight elements of the Seventh Sense. Moreover, Saria's own attribute is naturally inclined toward earth; developing Earth Control Technique is undoubtedly the best choice.
Directly creating an earth-attribute elemental stone, Fujino tossed it to Saria.
Catching the elemental stone Fujino threw, Saria immediately felt a reaction with the stone in her hand. The elemental stone emitted a faint glow, appearing somewhat impatient to merge with Saria.
"The compatibility is unexpectedly good." Fujino nodded and added, "Put it away for now; merge with it later, and I'll help you then. Now that the people from Rhodes Island are here, come with me."
"People from Rhodes Island? Is it Silence?!" Saria asked hurriedly.
"No," Fujino shook her head and smiled. "But this time, maybe we can bring Ifrit over."
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