"Agh, why aren't the research funds enough again? Hmm? What's this? A transfer record... Tesla Ze... Ah!"
The Dr. Tesla on the screen suddenly found the ground beneath her disappear as she fell into the trap Little Te had prepared. Instantly, a storm of thunder and fire erupted, and all that remained of the scene were Dr. Tesla's pained howls.
"Uhh... the Lob-Lobster Deathservant is being... ehehe, and now, let's cut to a commercial break!"
Seeing Dr. Tesla fall into her own trap, Little Te hastily cut the feed. She scrambled in a panic to disable the trap, but it was already too late.
Just then, the school building began to shake rhythmically, as if some behemoth was walking outside.
"What is that?!"
Ah Da stared, dumbfounded, at a giant mechanical leg outside the window.
Meanwhile, a certain academy principal, who had been checking the latest listings for Schicksal properties with the intent of buying a villa for herself and her "child," could only watch in bewilderment as the roof of her school building was ripped off by a massive mecha.
"It's over, it's over! I gotta get out of here!"
Little Te also sensed that things had taken a turn for the worse. She was about to make a run for it, but the giant mecha had already locked onto her.
[The Genius Dr. Tesla's Science Classroom]
With her hands wrapped in bandages, Dr. Tesla appeared inside the mecha. Wearing a menacingly cheerful smile, she piloted the machine and snatched up the panicked Little Tesla.
"In life, we are often troubled by naughty children. For this, I have invented this Naughty Child Catcher!"
"It captures naughty children with a single button. Ve~~ry practical!"
Finally, the screen went dark amidst Little Tesla's blood-curdling screams.
---o---
"....."
"....."
In the Q&A Space, Dr. Tesla and Little Tesla stared at each other. The air suddenly fell silent.
"Uhh... Dr. Tesla, you should understand me. This is all for the sake of scientific invention! A little accident now and then is perfectly normal..."
Little Tesla spoke as she slowly shuffled her feet, trying to put some distance between herself and Tesla.
"Little Te, I've suddenly realized that even for the sake of scientific invention, some things simply cannot be tolerated."
Tesla forced a smile and grabbed Little Te's head.
This really is a naughty child, daring to pull a prank on me. Even if it was my parallel-world self, what if this little rascal decides to pull one on me someday?
As expected, the Naughty Child Catcher is a necessity. I'll build one myself when I get back.
Theresa looked at Tesla with disdain. What a complete hypocrite!
When she was the one getting pranked, Tesla had spoken with such righteous conviction about it being for science. But now that the tables were turned, she was the one punishing the "naughty child"?
Hmph. As expected, her own Little Ancestor was the cutest. She could do housework, take care of people, and was so adorable.
Long live the Little Ancestor!
Just as Tesla was thinking about how to discipline Little Tesla, the voice of the Q&A Space sounded once again.
[Question 22: Which of the following Theresas is the smartest?]
[A: Stargazer]
[B: Theresa Apocalypse]
[C: Luna Kindred]
[D: Magical Girl TeRiRi]
"Wh-What kind of stupid question is this? Is the Q&A Space messing with me?"
Seeing the question posed this round, Theresa was completely dumbfounded.
What did it mean, "which of the following Theresas is the smartest?"
She was the only Theresa here!
Furthermore, for some reason, Theresa could feel a deep-seated malice directed at her from this question.
"S-So many Great-Aunts..." Kiana was also stunned. Did she really have this many great-aunts?
"Principal, calm down. This question should be about your parallel-world counterparts," Bronya said.
"That's right. There are countless parallel worlds, so it's perfectly normal for there to be several of your counterparts among them," Einstein added.
"But, what kind of weird question is this...?" Theresa was speechless. "Is there something wrong with my intelligence? Posing a question like this is a direct insult to me, the Principal!"
"Theresa, don't think of it that way. What if you turn out to be the smartest one among the choices?" Himeko said with a wicked grin.
"Even if that's the case, it still feels very strange..."
This question was just too awkward.
It would be fine if she was the correct answer, but what if she wasn't?
Wouldn't that be the same as publicly shaming her?
This Q&A Space was definitely targeting her!
She was still bitter about the Magical Girl incident, and now this comes along. Wasn't this just trying to mess with her head?
"Let's analyze the question," Einstein began. "Among these four options, the only ones we know are the second and fourth Theresas. As for Stargazer in the first option, I recall that name appearing in the previous question about stargazing. The third option, Luna Kindred, is one we are all seeing for the first time."
"Everyone here is familiar with the intelligence levels of Ms. Theresa and Magical Girl TeRiRi. However, we know nothing about Stargazer and Luna Kindred."
"But being unknown also represents infinite possibilities."
"If we consider the intelligence of Ms. Theresa and Magical Girl TeRiRi to be the standard for an ordinary person, the gap between them shouldn't be large. They are likely very close."
"Therefore, if I were to answer this question, I would choose either Stargazer or Luna Kindred."
"Ms. Theresa, I have no personal opinion of you. This is merely a rational analysis of the question."
"....." The corner of Theresa's mouth twitched.
Fine, you've already said it all, what else can I say? So my intelligence is just at the level of an ordinary person. I'm so sorry for that.
"Great-Aunt, don't be too sad. Dr. Einstein isn't saying you're a dummy, just that you're an ordinary person."
Kiana patted Theresa's shoulder, seemingly trying to comfort her, but her words only made Theresa even angrier.
"You... you stupid niece!"
Theresa was so mad she jumped up and brought her fist down hard on Kiana's head. The blow was so painful that tears shot out of Kiana's eyes as she clutched her head and shrank into Raiden Mei's arms, earning a series of soft, comforting words from her.
"Theresa, do you have any thoughts on this question?"
Looking at the exasperated Theresa, Himeko teased with a smile.