The Blue. Herta's Space Station.
The station was restless.
Debris shot through the shattered windows, scattering across the floor as the facility trembled under the shockwaves. Alarms screamed across the network, the harsh beeping nearly drowning out the thought in her head.
Sparks flickered and danced from overcharged circuits, and whole sections of the station were consumed by flames ravaged by the Antimatter Legion.
Given its prestige where numerous intellectuals gather, its technological prowess should have been more than sufficient enough to fend for itself. However, as its defense systems were suddenly compromised and with the presence of a Doomsday Beast exacerbating the chaos, the situation quickly devolved into a full-blown crisis.
With a loud roar that shook the foundation—March 7th lost her balance, crashing to the floor as the beast's claws came down at her.
Her eyes tightly shut, bracing for the inevitable impact—
...But nothing happened.
Opening her eyes, a figure stood in front of her keeping the beast's claws at bay. She froze, unable to understand what just happened.
The woman adjusted her glasses, the light from the surrounding chaos reflecting off the lenses.
"It's rude to stare, you know~?" she chided lightly.
"Oh, uh, thanks..."
March 7th chuckled awkwardly as she belatedly said her thanks, unsure where the woman suddenly came from. The pink brainlet, oblivious as ever, didn't recognize her.
Himeko, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction.
From a distance, her expression was one of abject awe.
Naturally, anyone who had any sense of the world would have known her—her face was plastered everywhere, especially on broadcast sponsored by the IPC. No one with even a basic education could fail to recognize her, let alone someone who is involved in the academia.
"Anyway, I appreciate the help, but all personnel should head to the nearest station to evacuate. It's not safe out here."
March 7th could no longer afford to pay attention and looked at the Doomsday Beast with a grim look.
However, after nocking an arrow made out of six-phased ice, something seemed to register in her mind and she swiftly snapped her head back.
"You are...?"
Who was she?
Genius Society Member #10:
The genius who discovered a way to recall and overlay multiple versions of an object—its past, present and future states—using the memory etched onto its information body.
The genius who derived that imaginary energy travels through four-dimensional space not as a linear stream, but as a phase displacement that shifts across temporal and spatial axes simultaneously.
The genius who formalized the use of imaginary energy, grounded in her theory that consciousness is not merely a result of synapses, but rather an intrinsic, energy-driven field that interacts with the universe.
The genius who proposed the concept of a quantum time lock, a mechanism that stabilizes a specific moment in spacetime by keeping quantum states within that region in superposition until released.
In the same year, she developed a way to bypass the quantum time lock by harnessing the energy generated from the divergence in her action between her parallel selves—each moving at a slightly different rate through adjacent timelines—resulting in quantum fluctuation enough to destabilize the constants in an event without disrupting the moment.
She later applied the same principle to resurrection—using the surplus energy to trace the person's information body at the instant of a dispersion.
Finally, the genius who materialized her own essence—that is the soul—granting her true immortality.
And the closest amongst all geniuses to the gods.
"———Oh, me? My name is Leonardo Da Vinci, at your service~!"
The realization finally dawned on the little brainlet.
If there was even a chance her face alone could go unrecognized, her name surely would leave no room for doubt. Nowadays, it was synonymous with most commercial devices available in the market, thanks to her propensity to innovate at random.
For the average person, not having heard of her would be nothing short of unimaginable.
As others would put it—albeit crudely—Steve Jobless may have founded Appless and made many contributions to the tech industry later in his life, but it is also true you could not separate the name Jobless with the brand Appless, as if casting a shadow that eclipses his brilliance.
It surely doesn't help that most people seem content to label him as that Appless Guy.
"No way...! No way, no way!" the brainlet gasped, jumping to her feet in an instant. "M-March 7th! I mean, my name's March 7th...! I'm such a huge fan! I've been saving my allowance just to buy the latest LAPLACE Giga Ultimate Pro Max Ultra!"
Her breath hitched as she leaned her body forward.
Da Vinci chuckled awkwardly, faced with the young girl's excitement, raising both of her hands to the stop herself from being swayed by her outward momentum.
"... I'm flattered to hear you say that Miss March," Da Vinci said with a forced smile, scratching one cheek.
Although she appeared to be trying to stay humble, she genuinely thought nothing of it. That was simply one of the many inventions she had cropped up during her downtime, inspired by the Garden of Recollection. Usually, her real interest lay elsewhere.
One could easily tell by the lack of thought put into the product's name. If the young girl insisted, she wouldn't mind even giving away a copy for free.
However...
—Roar!
"Ooh, someone's feisty over here."
The introductions had to be cut short.
Both of them turned to the face the Doomsday Beast, which was charging an energy cannon from its mouth.
March 7th immediately prepared to let the arrow loose on her bow once more, but Da Vinci calmly put a hand in front of her and walked forward with a small smile tugging at her lips.
Winking, the globe on her staff then spun and glowed, dotting the platform with a brilliant white light.
Da Vinci then began to chant:
"Three wise men of the East—the Great God of the Norse—the Fruit of Wisdom."
As the surrounding energy coalesced into a singular vortex, her figure began to levitate, drawn up by the gathering force.
"My intellect, my omnipotence, surpasses all forms of wisdom!"
March 7th blinked.
In the midst of the swirling energy, she could make up a semi-transparent layer of film coating the platform, enveloping every member of the crew unbeknownst to them.
At that moment, an obvious question could not help but sprung up from the young girl's heart:
Did Da Vinci do that?
"Uomo Universale—!"
Thus spoke the Universal Man.