Liyue. Guili Plains.
Haah...
Who on earth am I supposed to recruit as my accomplice?
Wandering aimlessly across the Guili Plains, Mobius found herself turning that question over in her mind.
She was making her entrance as a semi-villain this time around — which meant she needed some henchmen. That much was clear.
Ideally, the kind she could subject to a little light modification.
After all, Kaito had already told Lumine and Miko a few things about her, so she needed to act the part accordingly. The trouble was, she genuinely had no idea who to test her modifications on.
She was only pretending to be a villain, after all. It wasn't as if she were actually going to become one.
And from what she recalled, the Liyue storyline didn't exactly feature any irredeemably evil antagonists — so she really wasn't sure what her next move should be.
Maybe grab a few Treasure Hoarders and run some experiments?
After thinking it over from every angle, her mind eventually landed on those Treasure Hoarders — the ones scattered across the wilderness that any passing player could knock flat without a second thought.
In the end, though, Mobius decided against it. She'd leave them out of the research.
No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't bring herself to go through with it. She wasn't the real Mobius, after all.
Not that she had any idea whether the real Mobius would do something like that either — only the real Mobius could answer that.
Hm?
Hilichurls?
Just then, Mobius caught a familiar set of sounds drifting over from nearby.
A moment later, a massive silhouette hefting a giant axe stepped into view directly in front of her.
It had to be said — standing beside a creature that size, Mobius looked positively tiny. Its shadow swallowed her whole.
"Now there's a perfect test subject~"
Tilting her head back to take in the towering figure above her, Mobius felt the corners of her mouth curl upward.
She'd spent so long racking her brain, and somehow she'd completely overlooked this old acquaintance.
"Oh, and I should grab a few of the shield-carrying ones too — can't forget to modify those."
That thought brought to mind another variety: the big Hilichurls that came armed with shields.
She couldn't remember what that particular type was specifically called, but "Hilichurl" was close enough.
As for why she was so intent on grabbing the shield-carriers — well, that went back to her gaming days, when those spinning 360-degree wooden shields had driven her absolutely up the wall.
She still genuinely could not fathom who had come up with something so infuriating. Blocking every so often was one thing, but blocking the instant you attacked them? With full 360-degree coverage and no blind spots? That was just cruel.
So yes. Mobius wanted a little payback.
Of course, axe-wielders alone wouldn't cut it — she'd need a balanced mix.
BOOM —
The Hilichurl in front of her seemed to have taken exception to her presence. It let out a thunderous roar, raised its axe high, and brought it swinging straight down at her.
"Watch out!"
Mobius had barely begun lifting her hand to deal with the creature herself when a familiar voice cut through the air.
Childe?
Why is he back already?
The thought flashed through her instinctively. She turned toward the direction the voice had come from.
As she did, the Hilichurl in front of her reeled from what appeared to be a sudden attack — and toppled backward.
BOOM —
The sheer size of the creature sent a cloud of dust billowing up as it hit the ground.
"You alright? This... hmm..." Childe looked at the strangely curious girl before him, and found himself at a complete loss for what to call her.
She solved that problem for him herself.
"Mobius. You can call me Mobius — Mister Executive of the Fatui."
Childe: !
He hadn't expected her to know who he was. He'd been about to keep walking, but now he stopped in his tracks.
There was also something about her voice — it didn't quite match what you'd expect from a girl her apparent age. Strange, right from the first word.
"My, no need to look so tense. I'm not going to do anything to you."
Seeing the guarded expression settle over Childe's face, Mobius said it in the most perfectly ordinary tone imaginable.
"Feels like what I just did was unnecessary," Childe said, in something half-joking.
"Unnecessary? Not at all." Mobius disagreed immediately, then went on: "If you hadn't stepped in just then, I'd have had to handle it myself — so no, not unnecessary in the slightest. If anything, I should be thanking you."
She's sitting?
Childe had been about to say something more when he noticed — the girl who called herself Mobius was perched on something floating in midair. She wasn't standing on the ground at all.
He let that go without dwelling on it, and replied, "Think nothing of it. It was no trouble."
This girl is strange...
As he waited to see what she'd say next, Childe couldn't help but think it.
He couldn't put a finger on exactly why — only that she gave off that impression, all the way through.
Not that he minded. He'd just made it back to Liyue, and it was looking like boredom wouldn't be a problem after all.
Oh, right...
I never asked her name...
That thought caught up to him, and he spoke again: "Now that I think about it, I just realized I still don't know your name. You already know mine — it's only fair I learn yours."
"Mobius." She answered without a beat of hesitation, giving him her name plainly and directly.
Her reasoning was straightforward: Childe was, in all likelihood, about to go find Kaito — who was currently in Liyue — and have a chat. So she was deliberately letting him know her name.
Once he did, he'd hear about her from Kaito's side. That would give Childe his own ideas about what to do.
Maybe he'd come looking to test himself against her one-on-one. Maybe he'd want to team up. Either way, it would be up to Childe to decide how he wanted to play it.
Whatever the case, as a member of the Fatui, Childe wasn't about to let a potential threat to Liyue slip through his fingers without investigation.
"Mobius. That's a fine name." As he said it, Childe searched his memory for any trace of it.
After a moment, he came up empty. He hadn't heard it before.
That wouldn't stop him, though. Once he was back, he'd have his people dig up whatever intelligence they could and see what more they could learn.
For now, naturally, he'd do his best to get what he could out of Mobius directly.
"Well then — until next time, Childe. We'll definitely be seeing each other again. Perhaps quite soon."
Just as Childe was preparing to ask her something else, Mobius left those words hanging in the air — and drifted away at an unhurried, leisurely pace.
Just like that, she's gone...
He watched her retreating figure and considered whether to go after her.
But just then, he noticed something odd — the Hilichurl that had fallen earlier had vanished without a trace.
____
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