What a joke! Let a strange man touch her foot?
No, even if he wasn't a stranger, it still wouldn't be allowed!
"Alright, suit yourself." Jared shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, and reached out to hand the ankle bracelet to Serie.
Serie deftly fastened it onto herself, then followed Jared out of the containment cell.
Her previous experience left Serie with lingering fears.
If Lynette hadn't been there at the time, she was afraid she would have been directly eaten alive by those enraged employees.
Serie tugged at her hospital gown: "Excuse me, can I change my clothes? This one... is too eye-catching."
"No, sorry, rules are rules." Jared's refusal was blunt and decisive.
"Oh, alright." Serie lowered her eyelids, concealing the disappointment and understanding in her eyes. It was the answer she expected.
If Lynette were here... Serie might have even used 'feigned pity,' blinking her eyes, softening her voice a bit, acting spoiled and cute to gain sympathy, but facing a strange male of the same age... make her act cute and spoiled?
She'd rather be killed directly.
Jared said no more, turning to lead Serie down the corridor.
Serie also took this opportunity to deal with something.
She summoned the 'Rebirth' interface, wanting to create a new Witch.
The ethereal female voice with a non-human quality arrived as promised: "What... do you want?"
Serie pondered for a moment, then replied internally: "I want to escape this cursed place as quickly as possible."
"..."
The female voice fell silent, seemingly analyzing this vast and vague request.
Serie held her breath, waiting for it to throw out specific options as usual...
Just then—
"Your name is Serie, right?" Jared suddenly asked without warning.
Serie almost stumbled, startled by the "greeting."
Her consciousness was instantly pulled back to reality.
She abruptly looked up, meeting Jared's expressionless handsome face.
"Uh... yes." She replied perfunctorily, a little person in her heart already furiously flipping tables—
Big brother! Just walk!
What's with the sudden household registration check?!
She quickly tried to stuff her attention back into the depths of her consciousness.
However, Jared's mouth seemed to be rented, eager to return it, as he calmly began the next round of "interrogation."
"Teacher Lynette mentioned that your name, means 'black butterfly'?"
???
Serie was full of question marks.
What was Jared trying to do?
Why was he suddenly so talkative?
"Ah... something like that." Serie's mouth twitched slightly, too lazy to explain the difference between 'black' and 'ink' to him.
She almost with a hint of indignation, refocused on the 'Rebirth' interface.
But Jared's voice, seamlessly connected, rang out again: "Your name is beautiful, my name, in ancient Hebrew, means 'descendant' or 'ruler'..."
Boom—!
Serie felt the string of rationality in her mind snap completely the moment Jared began his "onomatology lecture"!
No... Big brother! Are you poisoned?!
Who wants to know what your name means?!
Did we meet at a blind date corner?
"Thank you..." Serie's words were practically squeezed through her teeth, the veins on her temples uncontrollably throbbing, but she still had to maintain that harmless smile.
Endure!
You must control yourself... Serie...
You are currently in the core containment area of the Control Bureau, not in a bar in some godforsaken town.
If this punch were thrown... it would feel good, but the next second, it would likely bring more misfortune.
More importantly, Lynette's hard-earned goodwill and trust would likely be ruined in an instant.
Treat him like a fart, and let him go...
Or treat him like a stupid fly that's been buzzing in your ear for five minutes and can't find its way out.
In short, ignore him, pretend he doesn't exist!
Serie closed her eyes, using all her willpower, and took a deep breath as if to expel all the stale air from her lungs, along with Jared's voice.
The cold air, smelling of disinfectant and metal, continuously poured in, slowly extinguishing the irritation in her chest.
Consciousness... sink down...
Back to that crucial 'Rebirth' interface.
"Choose—sink into the extravagant city? Or... lie dormant in the barren and impoverished countryside?"
The first choice arrived as expected.
"The city, then..." She chose almost instinctively.
Serie glanced at her own slender, pale wrists where blue veins were visible. She didn't think she was someone who could live well independently in the countryside.
While cities certainly had many drawbacks, at least information flowed freely, resources were abundant, and there would be more opportunities.
"Choose—theft, or... deception?"
The choice continued.
"Wait... what kind of options are these?" Serie felt a little depressed.
Neither of the two options was normal.
Although Serie considered herself not a great philanthropist, being directly asked to choose between theft and deception was a bit too blunt.
Depressed as she was, she still had to choose a path.
"Theft, I guess?" Serie made her decision with a hint of resignation, as if breaking a broken pot.
Serie, with 'Feigned Pity,' was already good at deceiving people, not to mention that the abilities of the Maiden branch would definitely include similar functions later on.
But stealing things?
Serie and Mad Eater Witch were both somewhat clumsy; Serie couldn't even peel an egg properly.
Wildfire Witch, however, was nimble-limbed, but she was better at robbing things than stealing them.
Clones, after all, had to be differentiated.
Therefore, Serie chose "theft."
Then, it was the last choice.
"Choose—pursue extreme speed that transcends all restraints? Or... master the illusion that ignores all obstacles?"
"Hmm... ignoring everything, or transcending everything..." Serie muttered to herself, her intuition telling her that this option was significant and needed careful consideration.
The illusion that ignores everything... sounded very powerful, could it be that it would give her the ability to pass through walls, like a ghost?
But extreme speed that transcends everything also sounded very powerful.
Faster speed is the lifelong pursuit of all humanity.
Tsk, hard to choose!
Serie was a bit troubled; both options were very appealing, like choosing between the palm and the back of her hand.
Can't I have them all?
She scratched her head, feeling her CPU was a bit overloaded.
Ding!
Just as Serie was agonizing, the elevator door suddenly opened, cutting short her tangled thoughts.
"Living quarters reached, Serie." Jared spoke.
Serie snapped back to attention.
Just now, she was so engrossed in her internal struggle that she had been casually responding with a string of conditioned reflexes like "Mm-hmm, uh-huh" to Jared's background noise about the weather, breakfast availability, or Control Bureau plant care regulations on the way.
Thankfully, she didn't give herself away.
"Ah, okay." She responded, quickly stepped out of the elevator, and re-entered that spacious but unsettling hall.
Her gaze quickly swept around vigilantly.
Hmm... no sudden emergency announcements this time, and no red-faced, agitated employees...
Time to continue exploring!
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