When Ringo finally calmed down, he dissolved into a mist and emerged from the Pod, appearing in front of the women. His skin slowly returned to normal and Ringo smiled happily.
Emma looked at him as if she herself were a child and he a piece of candy covered in sugar.
Eva looked ready to jump on him, but held back with Melissa by her side.
Lena smiled gently, happy that he was alright.
Hila seemed indifferent, but she didn't move, her cold eyes fixed on him.
Melissa looked serious as always, she narrowed her eyes and broke the silence. -So, when were you going to tell me you'd become a fairy tale character?
-He's more like a villain from a fairy tale.- Hila mocked from the side.
-Oh, his shape isn't bad after all.- Lena joked. -You know, purple suits you.
-Thank you?- Ringo asked ironically, without losing his smile, before turning to Melissa. -Honestly, I forget that often, it's become normal for me now.
Melissa was quiet for a moment before speaking. -Do you still have any of my genes in you?
Ringo paused for a moment, so that was what it was about, it must be strange for a father to know that his son no longer has any blood connection with him.
-Technically yes, I'm still part human so my human side has half of your DNA, so... yes.- Ringo nodded.
He sensed that Melissa's emotions lessened when he said that, causing him to secretly sigh with relief.
-Yes, but technically, with all these advancements, you would hardly be considered a mother to him, perhaps a distant ancestor.- Emma commented beside her, making some notes on her clipboard without even looking up.
That's why she didn't notice Melissa's hard look.
Ringo sighed wearily, he really didn't know how to deal with Emma.
Eva seemed to be holding back laughter, Lena looked at Melissa worriedly and Hila was still staring at Ringo, not paying attention to the conversation.
-How strong are you now?- Hila asked.
-Hmm... it's hard to say without really being able to compare, but I could probably handle ten of me before.- Ringo said thoughtfully, feeling the growing energy in his body, in addition to the genetic enhancements caused by the serums.
Of course, if he were actually facing ten of them, considering his personality, it was likely that all ten Ringos would run away as soon as they realized they were going to lose, at that point, he wouldn't be able to chase them all at once.
For a moment, when he thought about it, Ringo wanted to curse himself.
In any case, he should already have hundreds, if not thousands, of talents, many of them in molding, he couldn't even tell how strong he was now.
Hila's lips pursed slightly as she turned and left. Ringo knew her well enough to know she would train, this woman hated losing, especially to Ringo.
It had nothing to do with liking to be on top, which she did enjoy, but rather that she didn't want to be protected by him, she was too proud for that. The woman would rather be beaten to death than ask for help.
Ringo worried about that sometimes, he just hoped he could get there in time when she really needed him.
Melissa also snorted at Emma, feeling that if it weren't for the fact that the woman was purely a scientist, she would drag her away to "train" Instead, she dragged Eva, whose eyes were filled with sadness. She was very excited now and wanted to "play" with Ringo. Unfortunately, Melissa didn't care about that at all, she just needed someone to vent to.
With only Lena and Emma left, Ringo asked Lena. -And your father?
-He still seems a little upset, but he's adjusting well.- Lena let out a forced little laugh, still feeling a bit guilty for her father.
The man wasn't happy with the situation, but he didn't reject Lena either. He spent most of his time at the mechanic's shop working on projects and Lena accompanied him, bringing their relationship closer.
Ringo gave an awkward smile and said, -Well, sorry.
The pair stared at each other for a while, until Lena's cheeks turned red enough for her to make an excuse and quickly run away.
Ringo's eyes finally turned to Emma, who was fiddling with her equipment, searching for anything that could be salvaged.
Deep in his mind, he felt that familiar pang, his eyes softened for a moment before he regained control. With a soft sigh, he transformed into mist and drifted away.
Emma paused for a moment, looked at the spot where Ringo was, her facade crumbled, the mad scientist look was replaced by a heavy and exasperating one.
She sighed, putting the clipboard aside and sat down in the swivel chair next. She massaged her sinuses as if trying to shake off the tiredness.
Shaking her head, she looked away and went back to work, this time without her previous enthusiasm.
Ringo, on the other hand, was testing his vision of the future.
The vision of the future depends on two factors, choices and ramifications.
For example, if he is playing billiards, he can choose which direction to send the cue ball, if he is experienced enough, he can even predict the outcome from the direction he sends the ball, but after the ball moves, it depends on ramifications.
If several balls are pocketed, one or none are pocketed, it is no longer controllable and external factors can affect the ball, such as a draft or a random beer cap that fell in the ball's path.
Of course, the future is much more complicated than billiards.
As soon as Ringo used his vision of the future while thinking about going to train, he saw himself later that day, with Eva dragging him to the room and... well, anyway, he continued to see while thinking about possible actions, he used his ability continuously.
Overall, different actions led to all sorts of factors.
Within the base, the number of variables was small, so the probabilities of events were more clearly definable.
He imagined himself going to space in the clone's place and saw several possibilities intertwined, since he was envisioning a distant future, the chances of things happening were... for lack of a better word, abstract.
The more time passed, the more the paths branched out.
He saw himself arriving safely, he saw himself being attacked by pirates, he saw himself meeting random people... it was truly a cacophony of possibilities.
He always wondered how Aesop didn't know that Ames would become a Grade S Beyonder.
Now he knows, the possibilities continue to grow the further you see, to the point where it hardly makes a difference whether you see or not.
The chance of someone becoming a Grade S is so small that it's easier to see millions of deaths of that person than to actually witness that event, perhaps if the person is a Grade S seed, it's easier to see the possibilities of their advancement.
There wasn't a straightforward catalog either, it was like slowly changing his choices while seeing the results based on them, so he couldn't see "Me becoming a Grade S Beyonder." but he could see "Me trying to become a Grade S Beyonder."
Unfortunately, Ringo didn't have the energy to go that far, so he didn't get to see the event.
He also didn't want to see so far as to end up seeing a Grade S mage, he was certain that if he tried to predict the future of a mage at that level, he would be discovered, which is why he always stopped in time when he felt a warning from his precognition.
Sighing, he decided to try something different.
He left the base using teleportation to get directly to Stardragon, but by that point, he had already become a wanted criminal, his face resembled a typical Caucasian, his most distinctive feature being a missing piece of his left ear.
He appeared on a crowded street with his face uncovered and when he sensed some eyes on him, he quickly left.
The next moment, he used his vision of the future and saw himself surrounded by Division 13 a few hours later.
Amused, he started moving again, he stopped at a bar, ordered a drink and used his ability again, over the confused eyes of the waiter, he wrote a note and asked him to deliver it to a short girl with a ponytail.
The next moment, he left the bar and headed in another direction.
Whenever he stopped somewhere, he would leave a note or a message.
At the end of the day, he was in the form of Hidden Nightmare, following the Stardragon agents.
Just as Aesop did with Han Xiao, he saw various possibilities arising from their decisions, foresaw the most likely path they would take and left another clue there.
Each clue pointed to a different location, which narrowed down the pool of possible choices and made it a 10% chance in 99%.
At the end of the day, every step he had orchestrated was followed with precision.
Ringo watched the agents of Division 13 rage all day, chuckled slightly, amused, and returned to base.
He was beginning to understand Aesop a little better now, that was certainly a lot of fun.