episode_0296

For a few days, Violet’s operations team followed the old maid auntie like a shadow.

The university said this project would be a long-term one, and at those words, the Professor had to clear all her existing schedules.

It took quite a while to finish the graduation theses of the students she advised and tie up her ongoing company work and projects.

Even amidst all that, the Professor incessantly tried to make me her research subject.

“Just stay still for a moment, Ariel Group kid. It’ll only take a second. I need to check how your brain is structured.”

“What? Get away from me, auntie!”

-Crackle!

“Ah! I told you to stay still. I need to know what Raphlaxia did to your head.”

At the Professor’s words, I was startled as if struck by lightning.

“W-What? How did you know that?”

“I saw it on the ship last time. That’s a surgical method Raphlaxia has been frequently using until recently. Did you think I wouldn’t know? I saw it vaguely. What kind of surgery did you undergo at the lab?”

We froze like ice. To think she figured it out with just a glance.

Seeing our expressions turn serious, the Professor stopped laughing and quickly added.

“Put down your weapons! I won’t tell anyone. Aren’t we on the same boat anyway? [a proverb about sharing the same fate] Shouldn’t I be allowed to know at least this much? And I also know that your unique ability is clone creation.”

“What?! How on earth did you…”

“Ha, you’re like an ostrich burying its head in the sand [a proverb about ignoring danger]. Even if you hid it with disguises and perception-inhibiting devices, there’s no way I wouldn’t notice when I’m with you 24 hours a day.”

She already figured out that much. I had to be careful.

While it doesn’t seem like the Professor would leak our abilities, perhaps our existence was exposed due to our frequent external activities.

From now on, I need to be even more thorough with my disguises and move more cautiously.

After checking out of the hotel, we decided to take this eccentric professor to our house.

For security reasons, our house was the safest, and more than that, if she was at our house, we could torment this arrogant intellectual somehow.

A funny idea suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Let’s give Mister Yurik a new slave!’

He must have been bored living without a slave all this time. He was grumbling about how difficult his research was these days.

Furthermore, there was also the purpose of teasing the Professor. Although she calls herself a professor, once she falls into the hands of us Violets, no one will escape the fate of a slave.

Although her gaze, which constantly seems to want to dissect my head, is uncomfortable, if we tell the Doctor to use her as a graduate student, she’ll be a big help.

‘Since she’s a brain science expert, she might help us develop our abilities.’

The other Violets’ opinions also seemed plausible.

If she doesn’t listen, we can just tell Seijis and threaten her with brain parasites and bombs.

‘What if she refuses?’

‘Give her electric shocks and threaten her with the story of her love letters!’

Come to think of it, Bernike is already in our grasp. Couldn’t I handle her however I want?

I’ll make her clearly experience the humiliation of degrading from a professor to a slave.

A faint smile spread across my lips.

**

After passing through a quiet and secluded alley, Bernike got out of the car and followed the Ariel Group girl’s guidance, stopping in front of a shabby factory.

“Oh, my real name is Violet, auntie.”

“Violet?”

“Yeah, and that’s our house!”

Bernike frowned. She couldn’t understand the idea of a girl named Violet calling such a place home.

‘How can a person live in a place like this?’

Occasionally, there were clans or organizations that used cheap buildings as residences, but usually, such people had poor economic circumstances or were involved in crime.

‘Well, they are criminals, aren’t they?’

What on earth is the story behind these Ariel Group girls with suspicious clone creation abilities?

Bernike recalled her terribly obnoxious cousin. Raphlaxia was officially known to have stopped research on implanting or combining mutated genes and tissues of magic beasts into human brains three years ago.

They said it was due to ethical issues and poor results, but that cousin might still be doing that kind of thing.

And in a very brutal and illegal way.

‘Still, if that Raihan guy saw this, he might fall over in shock.’

These clones were clearly communicating with each other by some means. Their actions were quite elaborate, and they were by no means simply controllable.

Not only that, but the movements of this terrorist group she observed were somewhat peculiar.

No clear leader was visible, and their behavior resembled colony organisms like bees or ants rather than the collective actions of trained soldiers.

‘Is it possible for humans to be like that? There’s no precedent. I’m not sure, but…’

A very slim possibility came to mind. Looking at these kids, who called themselves the Ariel Group, Bernike recalled an idea that had been considered impossible.

Suddenly, she felt an exhilarating thrill that made her spine tingle.

Whatever the true nature of the ability, wasn’t she the only one in academia who knew the identity of such a precious and rare existence? Such valuable research material that only she could monopolize.

The time of enjoyable intellectual amusement ended as a strange object was put on her hand.

-Clank!

“What are you doing? What is this?”

“Oh, auntie, this is a magic restraint! Can’t you tell?”

“What are you trying to do?”

Violet smiled brightly.

“Outside, I don’t know, but here at home, we’re in charge! You already know our abilities, right? So, auntie, you need to be more controlled!”

“Are you in your right mind?”

At the dumbfounded Professor’s words, Violet smiled even wider.

“I don’t care! Anyway, from now on, auntie, you’re our slave. Got it?”

“Are you having another manic episode?”

“Let’s go! Slave!”

Giggling, Violet half-dragged Bernike towards a shabby office. What they entered was an office in a corner of the factory building.

‘Professor Albert went for a walk! Only Mister is here!’

Doctor Yurik, who was writing something on the blackboard, sensed a presence and turned around.

“Hmm? Boss. Who is that person? More importantly, she looks familiar…”

Violet replied brightly.

“This auntie? She’s Mister’s exclusive slave number two! Use her however you like!”

Yurik’s face distorted with dumbfoundedness once again.

“What? Slave number two? Her?”

“Yeah, she’s a professor. If you’re bored, you can have her run errands for coffee. I don’t know if she’ll be helpful for research, though.”

A speechless Bernike shot back.

“Are you crazy? Me, a slave? More importantly, a research lab? This shabby trash can?”

“This is our house’s affiliated lab! So anyway, just be a slave. From now on, auntie, you’re Mister’s slave!”

“Nonsense!”

Yurik, who had been silently watching the bickering girl and woman, carefully asked a question. He was wondering, as she seemed familiar.

“…I’m Yurik. May I ask your name? I think I might have seen you at Eckhart University.”

“Bernike, Bernike Brodman. Why do you ask my name? Professor?”

Yurik’s eyes widened as if he had just remembered.

“It is you, the person I know. Do you know Professor Sturges? I once saw you and Professor Sturges having an important conversation together in the lab. That was…about five years ago.”

“Ah, Professor Sturges. He was a decent person. Wait, I think I remember something. Were you, by any chance, Sturges’s old lab student?”

Seeing Yurik affirm, Bernike’s face brightened.

“Oh, I never thought I’d meet an alumnus from the same university here. Professor Yurik.”

“Uh, excuse me, but I’m not a professor. The…person who was a professor is someone else…”

A cold aura settled on Bernike’s face as she surveyed the interior. Indeed, it was nothing but shoddy. What kind of research lab were they, given they were terrorists?

“Right, it’s true that these days, people call themselves research labs or venture companies just to gobble up any investment money. But to dare call this a research lab, just holding onto one doctor? Especially when you’re terrorists.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that! Anyway, auntie, you’re Mister Yurik’s slave now. Not a professor! Hurry up and work!”

Watching Violet walk away, Bernike gave a bitter smile and then flopped down onto the chair in front of the desk.

As that happened to be his seat, Yurik watched awkwardly and could only sit in the adjacent chair.

“Hmph, right. Your name is… Is this your thesis, Yurik Pereira? What on earth led you to get involved with those bizarre cloning terrorists?”

“The circumstances are complex.”

“Tsk,” Bernike clicked her tongue briefly. To have such a dim-witted man as a researcher.

The typical type of graduate student one might see in a university lab. Naive fools buried in books.

They do as they’re told, but lack originality and are just timid.

His beard was roughly shaven and messy, and his clothes consisted of a stretched-out T-shirt and pants.

He was truly unpleasant and utterly sloppy.

She could also guess the level of that other fellow who called himself a professor. He must be a madman or jobless.

She felt sorry for Doctor Sturges, who had participated in the Magnavis research and then disappeared, all over again. To think he had such a fool as a student.

To establish a research lab with such a person, it was clearly an idea befitting a terrorist gripped by megalomania.

“The Boss’s expression, well… what she means by ‘slave’ here is a graduate student. Please don’t misunderstand.”

“Of course. I became a professor at a young age. A graduate student? That’s ridiculous.”

Her cold gaze, like a snake’s eyes, swept over the desk and study. Everywhere was a mess of data and documents, and the computer was heated up as if it were calculating something.

The blackboard was tightly packed with complex formulas that had been written just moments before.

Bernike decided to play along with this ridiculous slave game for a while and thoroughly searched the desk.

Just then, a thesis draft that seemed to be in preparation caught her eye on the desk.

Alright, I’ll play along for a bit.

Bernike chose to make fun of the foolish bookworm in front of her as a way to relieve the stress she’d suffered from Violet.

“By the way, what exactly are you researching here? Let’s see… These are Professor Sturges’s materials. Wait, is this it?”

“Professor-nim, that’s just a draft. It’s a failed attempt, so I’m rewriting it…”

Oh, then that’s even better. It was an utterly low-class act, but she really wanted to do it today.

Bernike, looking for a way to disparage the thesis, opened the first page with eyes full of anticipation. Well, let’s see.

Page 1, hmm, it feels similar to Professor Sturges’s early research. The topic isn’t bad, but…

Page 2, Page 3. This is possible? Preposterous.

Bernike’s eyes narrowed progressively.

Disregarding Yurik’s wavering gaze, who was looking at her with an anxious expression, the Professor devoured the pages as if possessed.

Stopping halfway through, she went back to the previous pages. The formulas she had seen just now,

and she swept her gaze over the study once more. Sturges’s youthful dream, even his unfulfilled wish in his later years.

Eventually, her gaze wandered towards Violet, who must be somewhere beyond the wall.

The key to this thesis.

Next page, and the next. First, let’s skim through and check the conclusion. There are gaps, but it’s enough…

Her heart pounded. When was the last time she felt this kind of emotion?

Her first love letter, university entrance ceremony, Master’s/Ph.D. thesis presentation date. Or the date of her first patent registration?

No, even then, she hadn’t trembled this much. Her head was spinning, and her chest was pounding.

Bernike hurriedly stopped skimming the thesis. Her yellow eyes, once like a snake’s, now darted between the thesis and the man in front of her as if possessed.

Unconsciously swallowing, she asked in a trembling voice.

“This, did you write it alone?”

“Not entirely alone. I received help from Professor Albert with the magic-related parts. As it states in the author’s name…”

“Answer me, Pereira. Did this idea come from your head? Or did you copy it from somewhere?”

“It’s my own thought.”

Bernike, trying to calm her agitated self, blurted out a question.

“Pereira, the theoretical foundation you present in your thesis is quite interesting. However, I have a few questions. First, from an ether dynamic perspective, is the phase transition of the ether wave function you propose truly feasible? I understand you applied a modified Ekaz equation, but I’m curious how you intend to solve the singularity occurrence problem on the complex plane.”

Yes, this was the obstacle. Bernike had discussed this part with Professor Sturges and his early theories in her youth.

The Professor also admitted his limits in that area during his youth. In the end, he gave up.

“I’m not an expert in this area, but I heard that if you can’t overcome that, consciousness expansion for mana perception is impossible. That’s why most corporations and clans abandoned the ether dynamics approach and shifted to biological methods.”

“Ah, you mean that part? I devised a method to eliminate the singularity by substituting the Seidel Zeta function into a nonlinear partial differential equation. As you can see from this formula…”

Yurik pointed to the complex formula scribbled on the blackboard and continued his explanation. Bernike nodded and admired.

“Amazing. Singularity processing was the key… So, did you exclude the changes in values due to this nonlinearity? Unlike a typical neural network, the brain structure of an awakened individual is more complex. Due to the influence of ether, unpredictability from initial value sensitivity might intervene.”

“That’s right. However, an awakened individual’s ether neural network exhibits self-similarity, so even though it’s complex, finite patterns repeat. The girl I just brought, Professor-nim, is the hint. I thought that by leveraging this in reverse, we could actually stably induce phase transition. As you can see…”

‘Violet?’

Once again, the blackboard was filled with Yurik’s unfolding theory. The two continued their question-and-answer session like a back-and-forth ping-pong game.

“So, you’re converging a hive mind into a single consciousness through phase synchronization. That’s a groundbreaking idea. Then, what about the mental entropy that might occur during this process…?”

“Entropy generation is inevitable. However, this entropy can actually be utilized as a driving force for phase transition. Through this entropy flux…”

Bernike, who had been engrossed in the discussion for a long time, suddenly had a flash in her eyes as if she had a realization. Her thought that he was a fool was canceled. This man was truly brilliant. Her throat felt dry. Why was it so hot?

“Wait, according to this theory… you’re not simply aiming for the integration and expansion of a hive mind. If this is applied, you can even extend to consciousness bases with structures not compatible with ether. Like dominoes falling, in a chain reaction. This is what Professor Sturges called—”

Both spoke at the same time.

“Ascension.”

The two exchanged glances. Bernike’s breathing became even faster.

“It’s a paradigm shift for artificial evolution that transcends humanity’s genetic limits. Pereira, congratulations. You’ve created a breakthrough!”

The air heated up intensely.

The thesis draft fluttered towards the ceiling.

Amidst the scattered papers falling like flower petals, Bernike let out a gasping laugh and approached Yurik.

“So that’s it, there was a crazy reason behind the crazy idea. My goodness, hahaha!”

Ah, what a foolish-looking man he was.

Yet, she was so pleased with him. Her heart pounded even more fiercely, and she couldn’t bear her face burning as if boiling.

Unconsciously licking her dry lips, she pressed in on this greenhorn youth.

‘Okay, he might be a bit messy. So what?’

For such a brilliant man, minor flaws were entirely acceptable.

Looking closely, his original appearance wasn’t bad either. With proper investment and refinement, he’d become quite presentable.

Polishing a raw diamond would be an enjoyable task.

Bernike felt something hot boiling within her.

“Ugh, argh! Wait! My shoulder!”

Yurik, whose shoulder was grabbed by the Professor with a mad laugh, let out a short scream.

She brought her face so close that he could feel her breath and gazed at him.

“Gyahahaha! So, you want to hear my evaluation? It’s crazy, I thought it would be impossible. And you missed a few important elements. The neurological aspects, that is. There are errors in that part. However, I’ll tell you, staking my career and my life on it: your idea is feasible. The goal Sturges tried and gave up on in his early days, you can achieve it! And that’s not all, is it?”

Bernike asserted.

“Perhaps, we might be able to mold a god with human hands.”

“Huh? More importantly, my shoulder…”

“Oh, sorry. You were a normal person? I thought you were an awakened one.”

Unlike Yurik, who was wrapped in worry that his collarbone and shoulder blade might be broken, Bernike once again thrust her face close to him.

Yurik, who had almost no experience of a woman coming this close, struggled to breathe in from the tension.

The scent of perfume, slightly parting lips, hot breath…

“I’ll help you with your research. If needed, I’ll support you with both people and funds. How about it?”

“Th-thank you!”

This awkward and clumsy appearance, now that she saw it, felt quite cute.

A faint smile appeared on Bernike’s lips.

“By the way, you called me a slave, didn’t you, Pereira? For me, an undeniable university professor, to become a slave to someone who just graduated with a doctorate seems like a very inefficient and irrational idea, don’t you think?”

“Th-that’s true…”

With a much softer face, she whispered.

“Then, let’s reverse it. Be my slave, Pereira.”

“Huh? Yes! No, I mean…”

“You’ll do it, right?”

“Uh, u-uh…”

Only after Bernike turned her back and moved away could Yurik finally regain his composure.

“Alright then. Let’s prepare to create a world where everyone is a king. First, I need to meet this Professor Albert person. After that, we’ll do what needs to be done…”

“What do you mean by that?”

Five minutes later, at the words Bernike blurted out as she rushed out of the lab, Violet instinctively pressed the electric shock button.

“Violet, may I open your skull for a bit?”

-Screeeam!