She deepened her tone, with a hint of instruction: "Just 'oh' isn't enough, it needs to be reflected in action."
"For example, right now, shouldn't you go to the pantry and get some water or coffee for all the seniors, especially Doctor Lynette and Senior Jared? This is the first step to integrating into the team, after all." She even pointed her chin towards the pantry, hinting for Serie to act immediately.
It seemed Melinda only saw Serie as a new student filtered in through regular channels.
"Ah... I'm not thirsty right now." Serie didn't even lift her head, and even started to read and reply erratically.
Melinda almost choked, her face turning red.
This newcomer was too clueless! She was about to straighten her face and lecture a few more words, trying to use her seniority to pressure the other person—
Tap, tap, tap...
The clear and rhythmic sound of high heels tapping on the ground approached from a distance, carrying an invisible sense of oppression.
The door to the outer lab opened, and Doctor Lynette walked in.
She seemed to have just emerged from a low-temperature analysis room, a trace of lingering chill still clinging to her.
Her golden hair was impeccably styled, and her pure white research coat outlined a slender and tall silhouette.
Her steps were steady, naturally exuding a coldness that kept people at a distance.
Lynette's gaze habitually swept across the room, landing precisely on Serie.
Just as Melinda thought the Doctor would, as usual, walk towards the core area, Lynette's steps turned towards Serie.
What made Melinda's eyes almost pop out was—
Doctor Lynette walked up to Serie and very naturally reached out and took Serie's small hand!
Lynette's hand was slightly cool, just right for Serie to warm it up.
"What are you looking at?" Lynette's voice was more than a degree softer than usual.
Serie seemed accustomed to Lynette holding her hand, and pointed with her other hand to a paragraph in the document: "Here, regarding the behavioral threshold of the C-1155 Hoarding Mouse and the B-1156 Giant Hoarding Mouse, I don't quite understand it."
"How can we safely extract things from their stomachs without triggering their stress response..."
Lynette leaned slightly, her gaze falling on the document, and patiently began to explain in a low voice.
The two were very close, their posture intimate and focused, completely ignoring Melinda, who stood frozen beside them.
Melinda held her coffee cup, petrified in place, her mind blank.
Do… Doctor Lynette… actively holding… hands? And speaking so gently?
Doctor! When I was a student, you never did that!
"Talking on paper is ultimately limited," Lynette's voice pulled Serie's thoughts back to reality, "Coincidentally, Area A-13 houses a C-1155 that is currently undergoing periodic observation. Would you like to see it with your own eyes?"
Serie immediately nodded.
As for why she suddenly became so eager to learn, there was also a reason.
Serie's progress on the [Main Quest: Know Yourself and Your Enemy] had stalled again after she joined the Control Bureau as a D-level agent.
D-level authority strictly limited her activities to the teaching and living areas.
Those core and larger experimental and containment areas were forbidden zones for her as a student without the guidance of a higher-authority person.
Serie couldn't possibly bother Lynette every day, asking an A-level Doctor to take her on tours everywhere, could she?
It might even arouse suspicion.
Once she upgraded to C-level, her scope of activity would greatly increase, and she would receive the rewards for [Main Quest: Know Yourself and Your Enemy], whether it was new student points, the 'Machine Affinity' ability, or the former Director's legacy, all of which would be within reach.
So, how to quickly upgrade during the student phase?
In fact, the Control Bureau's student system and ranking system were calculated separately.
Although most students remained D-level throughout their academic careers, this was not without exception—
It was said that there was one super student who jumped to B-level in their second year.
There were two main paths for advancement:
The first was to go beyond the classroom, step out of the classroom, and participate in actual Control Bureau missions.
Depending on their professional direction, this might involve joining a task force, performing fieldwork to contain high-risk entities, conducting experimental operations, or undertaking specialized research.
The second was simpler and less dangerous, which was to get high scores in "simulated exams."
What were simulated exams?
The Control Bureau would release a large number of anomalous entities, whose behavioral patterns had been thoroughly studied and were relatively fixed, into a specially constructed giant maze building.
The candidates' task was to collect as many designated high-value items or specific entity samples as possible in a perilous environment to earn exam points.
The level of exam points directly determined the evaluation and the generosity of the rewards given by the Control Bureau, all of which were key to upgrading.
However, even for anomalous entities that had been "thoroughly studied," their inherent danger never disappeared.
All the Control Bureau could do was control the risk of encountering them within an acceptable range through massive amounts of data.
In every simulated exam, many students died for various bizarre reasons.
It was this cruel screening mechanism that deterred many students, making them content to remain D-level.
These mediocre students, after graduation, mostly engaged in lower-risk clerical work.
The C-1155 Hoarding Mouse and the B-1156 Giant Hoarding Mouse were precisely common anomalous entities in the simulated exam building.
This was precisely the key knowledge Serie was eager to learn.
She had the ability of an anomalous branch as her trump card, but she wanted to earn enough points for promotion in the simulated exam while trying her best not to use that hidden power, to avoid attracting deeper attention from the Control Bureau.
After all, Serie's current advantage was not only her own witch abilities but also Lynette's favor towards her.
This person was a hot commodity in the Control Bureau; with her hand-holding guidance, was Serie still afraid of not being able to advance?
Hmph, what's C-level? What's B-level? Maybe someday... she could become the Director?
Doctor Lynette, I... I really want to improve!
Hehe, at that time, she would make Lynette her personal secretary.
If there's work, the secretary does it; if there's no work...
Ahem...
Goluthos's experience of Black Queen becoming Black King made Serie taste the sweetness of power for the first time.
That was indeed an intoxicating taste.
Although she now needed to carefully hide her identity as an anomalous entity, if... if she could, with Lynette's support and her own abilities, rise steadily within the Control Bureau, eventually holding great power and securing a high position...
Then what would she have to fear?
I! Serie! Controlling both the dark and the light!
Just a small Black Queen made her so comfortable; what if it was the entire Control Bureau, rich enough to rival a nation...?
Serie thought, almost drooling.
Lynette took Serie's small hand, preparing to go to the C-1155 Hoarding Mouse's experimental area. She turned her head, her tone returning to its usual flatness: "Melinda."
"Here... here!" Melinda shivered violently.
"Go get Modie a glass of warm water," Lynette ordered, her tone matter-of-fact.
Boom—!
These words were like a thunderbolt from the heavens, striking precisely on top of the petrified Melinda's head!
Huh? Me?
Get... get Serie... water?!
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