The sudden glow of an eerie blue light in a pitch-black room illuminated Lin, surrounding him from all directions and leaving him nowhere to hide. Everything was exposed under the light.
"CM-000, Lin. Regarding your mission records and your experiences prior to joining Fire-Moth, is there anything you need to report to the organization?"
A distorted voice drifted out from one of the glowing blue doors.
CM-000 was Lin new designation. MANTIS were unified under the CM series, but his was not an official MANTIS number. It was a "personal designation," a sort of label and mark, because he was not truly a MANTIS.
The official MANTIS numbering began with Kevin as CM-001, whereas Lin number would not be recorded in the official registry.
"..."
Lin scanned the room filled with glowing blue doors. They—or rather, those doors—represented the high-ranking officials of Fire-Moth. Since that purge incident that had left them terrified to their cores, they no longer appeared in person easily, conducting meetings in this sacred yet unsettling manner.
"Silence cannot be your shield. Speak what you know, and we shall deliberate and vote."
The gaze coming from the door directly in front of him made Lin raise his head slightly.
Then, under the "expectant" eyes of the assembly, Lin began to speak.
...
"Now they're all being mysterious and refusing to show their faces, just like the gods in myths and legends."
Elysia had been waiting at the entrance for a long time. She shrugged at the silent Lin. "Although it's mostly for show, since that incident, their words and actions have become more and more like a Pope issuing divine decrees to the faithful."
Hearing Elysia description, Lin thought of what Gray Snake had said before leaving.
Is the most fundamental way for humanity to exist through organization, or rather... religion?
This meeting hadn't been as tense as imagined, something Lin had guessed before coming. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been at the conference room, but at the tribunal in the Deep End.
"How is the progress of the 'reporting'?"
"...The majority have already agreed."
"Oh? And the small minority?"
"Regarding Kalpas, they refuse to release him until they have studied him more and possess the means to control him."
Elysia let out a soft "hmm," tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a sharp, elf-like pointed ear.
Although Mobius had made it sound like Elysia hadn't suffered side effects from the Project Soldier surgery, it had influenced her somewhat—for instance, these ears.
But Elysia herself didn't mind; she might even be said to like these elven ears. In her words, they made her cuter. By the same logic, she also really liked Sakura animal ears.
"As for Kalpas... well... let's wait a bit longer then." Elysia seemed to have her own plans. She smiled and changed the subject. "What about the rest? They summoned you here of their own accord; besides the 'interrogation,' they must have had other goals, right?"
"Squad assignments."
"...That's it?"
"Yeah."
"They really must have too much free time on their hands."
Then, they exchanged a look and ended the conversation with a silent understanding.
In truth, the Fire-Moth high command had one other matter to discuss with Lin. Both he and Elysia knew they would bring it up, yet neither the high command nor the two of them could easily define it.
After all, it was an out-of-control MANTIS they had created with their own hands.
...
Seeing her this time was a completely different situation from the last.
Last time, Lin stood outside the cage while she was inside, powerless to resist. This time, Lin stood outside, but she could easily walk out of the cage whenever she wished.
Thus, their conversation was conducted face-to-face and standing.
"...You no longer need to stay in the Deep End. If you wish, Fire-Moth will arrange everything you need." Lin tried his best to avoid her eyes. Once, those eyes had felt clear to him, but now they had a quality that felt like falling into an abyss.
The other task the high command had assigned him was to make contact with Aponia.
Aponia surgery had been a success.
This wasn't outside Fire-Moth's expectations. From the start, they had two plans: either Aponia would die on the operating table with those secrets, or she would become a MANTIS to be used by them. Thus, the success of the surgery was almost irrelevant to them.
But what exceeded their imagination was the power Aponia possessed after becoming a MANTIS.
If one were to categorize MANTIS types, Kevin, Sakura, Mobius, and Elysia were pure combat-types. Aponia... perhaps "Psychic-Perception type MANTIS" would be more accurate.
Mitra was the Honkai Beast she was fused with, a very special one born within the last three months. It didn't possess the terrifying destructive power of typical Honkai Beasts, but it had the unique ability to cast illusions over people within a certain range.
Perhaps seeing that its destructive power wasn't strong, Fire-Moth decided to use it as Aponia fusion gene for better control.
Yet, what Aponia displayed after the surgery were other abilities that Mitra never had.
The soldiers responsible for transporting her back to the Deep End had their minds invaded; they lost consciousness after just two sentences from her.
Lin knew Aponia had a natural ability to easily persuade others. Initially, he thought it was just a convenience brought by her status, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
Even Mobius felt as though her brain had been struck by a heavy blow and was still currently resting.
Fire-Moth no longer possessed the ability to imprison Aponia. Even with Kevin, the organization had to consider whether he would become a "loss."
Thus, the mission was delegated to Lin once more.
"...Lin."
After a long silence, Aponia spoke for the first time. Her blue pupils unknowingly turned a seductive, blood-red color in the darkness as she gazed at him.
"Before seeing you this time, I still believed you had lured me with lies. Your feigned 'goodness' was the starting point of my trust in you, and my naivety led to an irreversible loss."
"...I am deeply sorry."
"No... Lin, you do not need to apologize."
Aponia chuckled and shook her head. This smile almost made Lin feel as if he were back in the sanatorium.
The gentle, kind, and considerate sister—this was Lin perception of Aponia.
Now, that perception didn't seem to have changed despite her gaining such bizarre and powerful abilities.
The blood-red color in her eyes vanished, leaving her blue pupils resting eerily in the darkness.
"You only told two lies, didn't you?"