"Ato."
A doctor with curly blue hair stood at the corridor entrance. She twirled a pen between her index and middle fingers, shooting a look at Ato, who had just stepped out of a room.
Ato froze for a split second, then gave a subtle nod of understanding. Einstein led the way, and he followed her into a room.
Einstein spoke softly: "I'll make this quick. I've been investigating the Stargate incident from a year ago, and I finally have results: there are traitors within Fire Moth. They were likely behind the attack."
"Trai...tors?"
Under Einstein's gaze, a look of incomprehensible confusion appeared on Ato's face.
...
On the third day since leaving, Lin leaned against his motorcycle making notes. His senses had recovered to a certain point and then stopped. His color vision could barely distinguish some vibrant colors; overall, it was better than nothing.
The meteor in Svatok 51 twenty years ago did exist. Many remembered that a few years after the crash, a group of unidentified people came to the city to investigate eight-year-old children, but most of it was just hearsay.
Progress was slow, mirroring the feeling of searching for data back at the 10th Branch.
As Lin prepared to write the next word, his hand stopped. Someone was approaching him from behind.
His eyes were covered, and a quirky voice rang out: "Guess~ who~ I~ am~?"
Lin closed his notebook, tucked it and the pen into his jacket pocket, and asked calmly: "Elysia?"
"Uh-huh? Guess again?"
"Mobius?"
"Isn't she at headquarters?"
"Pardo, stop playing around."
The girl seemed a bit dissatisfied. "You have one last chance. There's a reward if you get it right."
"I was joking before, Aponia."
"I'm angry now."
"Then I hope you go back right now."
Lin pushed the delicate hands away from his face. Turning around, he saw the classic "air intake" hairstyle and the tight vest she wore even in sub-zero temperatures.
There was no sign that Vil-V was actually angry. Her cheerful, optimistic look was no different from usual.
"How did you find me?" Lin hadn't told a soul his whereabouts. Even Sakura only knew he was out. Yet Vil-V had found him with such precision.
"Ara, how did I find you? For the Great Detective Vil-V, finding Mr. Lin through his search history in the archives is nothing, right? It doesn't even count as simple deduction."
"I deleted all the search logs."
"I didn't know that~"
It seemed Vil-V had been observing him in the dark all along.
"Sigh..." Lin was somewhat helpless. The people around him, especially the girls, were each sharper than the last. He could hide things from the Fire Moth high command and Strategic Department, but he couldn't hide them from Vil-V.
Fine.
He took off his coat and draped it over Vil-V thin shoulders.
...
"So, the event you want to investigate is the Svatok 51 incident?"
Vil-V sat on the bed in the room they had checked into, testing the softness. She had listened to Lin explanation of his purpose on the way.
But after listening, Vil-V wore a playful smile. "Lin, do you really just want to know what fell from the moon? Or do you care more about her identity?"
"..."
From the corner of her eye, Vil-V noticed Lin silence. She changed the subject. "The internal situation of Fire Moth is quite murky. To be honest, it's more chaotic now than before the Great Purge. Back then, it was just factions; now, the upper levels have become completely in cahoots. I don't even know where I threatened them to warrant being suspended."
"That bunch truly loves humanity, it's just the 'humanity' as they define it."
After she finished, she picked up the air conditioner remote and started adjusting the heater while Lin sat in a chair, deep in thought.
Humanity as they define it...
Lin thought of the Chairman, the protagonist of the Great Purge, who had fought tooth and nail against the MANTIS project.
His thoughts were a bit scattered. He stopped his stray reflections in time. People tend to become extreme when they can't think of a result; it was better to stop.
"Forget it. You finally came out for a trip; why think about unhappy things?" Vil-V hopped off the bed and walked up to Lin, her smile beautiful. "You actually guessed it was me right away just now, didn't you? I said there would be a reward for a correct guess."
Lin shook his head. "No need."
"That won't do..."
"Vil-V, I actually wanted to ask you... why are you suddenly being so... good to me?" Lin looked at her face, as fair and beautiful as an angel's feather. "You said before..."
"Did I say something before? I don't remember." Vil-V interrupted him. She chuckled, though the emotion in her eyes was complex. "Maybe I did. At that time, I thought I was different from others. I figured we'd be close friends, or like siblings. Don't let this look fool you; I consider myself very iron-hearted in this regard."
Then why did it change later?
"A year ago, in front of that sword, I thought I was going to die. I thought a genius was about to fall. But then you stood in front of me. The blade grazed my neck, but what spilled out was your blood."
"In that moment, I suddenly realized that some things can't be avoided just because you understand the logic. Isn't Mei also a sharp, cold genius? But the feelings between her and Kevin can't be fake."
"The second you collapsed, I thought: you're a good man, and I'm a good woman. Good men and good women should be together. And then... I was very afraid."
"I was afraid that just as I figured it out, you would die right in front of me."
Vil-V fingers trembled slightly. She had a smile on her face, yet she looked like she was living in fear.
Different personas had different personalities, undoubtedly. But at that time, it was the collapse and fear of this persona that awakened the long-dormant original persona. They were the same person; their emotions were identical.
What if that sword had pierced the main artery instead of the windpipe?
Even now, just thinking of the crimson floor back then made Vil-V feel like she was drowning in fear.
Tap.
Her trembling fingers were held in a palm. Warmth flowed from the fingertips into her body. A pair of steady black eyes appeared before her.
"I was also afraid at that time."
Vil-V looked up blankly at this man who never showed weakness, hearing the word "afraid" come from his mouth.
"I thought about what would happen if I hadn't blocked it. I've always been late, missing things, and losing things. That time, I almost... every time I think of it, I feel fear." His voice was steady and powerful. "But fortunately, that time, I made it."
His life was always on a journey of almost making it, witnessing loss with his own eyes every time, powerless every time.
Lin perennially unchanging expression softened slightly. He said softly to Vil-V, "Actually, I should be the one saying thank you for letting me save you."
"Lin..."
The girl stared at him blankly. Her hands had unknowingly stopped trembling, and her cold body had warmed up.
Then, she suddenly grabbed his hand and pinned him to the floor.
"Let's have a baby. Right now."