A brand-new LCD television was broadcasting the news: "Recently, yet another high-ranking official has been exposed in a scandal. A former deputy secretary of the United Nations has been accused of money laundering, bribery, and other charges. We now go live to the scene:"
"I didn't secretly sell military weapons. This is a frame-up by [Mad Hatter]! That's an anti-human evil organization!"
Bzzz... crack!
Suddenly, the television transformed into a smiling face. At the same time, fireworks ignited from all directions, and countless little figures climbed up from beneath the table, beating gongs and drums.
"Congratulations on breaking through the Spiral Maze, Dr. Tesla!"
"Cough, cough, cough—"
A woman wearing a white lab coat, her orange-red hair tied into a single ponytail, choked violently on the smoke. The cigarette between her lips fell to the floor.
The cigarette butt was viciously crushed under the heel of the female researcher's high heel.
The sound was so loud that even the laboratory instruments trembled. Across from her, a fluffy-haired girl conducting a material titration experiment jerked her hand in shock. "Vi... Vill-V! You... you genius! What have you done now?! How many times have I told you not to install all these weird contraptions in the lab?!"
The girl lounging on the sofa stretched lazily, her posture graceful like that of a feline.
She wore a bikini-style crop top paired with fitted hot pants that hugged her body closely. The snug cut followed the natural lines of her body, with a generous chest and wide hips forming a striking silhouette. Her thighs were full and smooth, pressed together as she reclined, one leg bent and the other extended across the sofa. A tablet rested against her thigh, held loosely in one hand as her finger hovered above the screen.
Her features were delicate and soft, with a calm expression that did not match the bold outline of her figure. Her hair was dyed in a gradient, brownish-yellow on the left and deep green on the right. The slightly wavy style framed her refined face and added a gentle finish to her appearance.
"Ah, Teacher Tesla, you're back. How was this surprise? That old TV that should've gone onto the recycling conveyor belt has been given a second life, hasn't it?"
"Your damn 'surprise'! I'm not praising you! How many times has this been already?!"
"An automatic singing alarm, a rhythm-based flamethrower speaker, a food-freezing microwave... The lab's funding has all been burned up by your genius little junk!"
Tesla grabbed Vill-V by the temples with both fists, grinding her teeth. "And the most ridiculous thing is that you even turned the lab entrance into a maze. What kind of 'little genius' does that?! That's destruction of public property! If the school finds out, our funding will get cut! Restore the lab immediately. Copy the 'Harvard Laboratory Safety Guidelines' fifty times before going back to the dorm. Hmph!"
With that, Tesla kicked the door open and stormed out, leaving Vill-V amid the mess.
"Damn it, I must've been cursed by Vill-V in my previous life to end up with such a bizarre student."
This time, Tesla had returned to teach classes, so she had no spare time to keep bickering with Vill-V.
...
Vill-V used a telescoping magic hand to push open the window. At the same time, a smart exhaust fan automatically activated, violently sucking the smoke and dust out of the room. Without the fireworks, the dancing little figures also seemed to have had their fill of fun and settled down.
Still, a faint trace of Tesla's cigarette smell lingered in the lab air.
"Teacher Tesla, I think you should quit smoking sooner rather than later! You're such a beauty, but walking around smelling like smoke all day means you'll never get married."
Hearing no response from outside the door, Vill-V became even more unrestrained. "Hey, hey, Dr. Lobster Head, are you there? Two-tone fluffy hair calling Red Lobster Head. Your funding is about to be squeezed dry!"
After confirming that her mentor had truly been driven away to teach by her antics, Vill-V's previously sparkling eyes dimmed in an instant. Her body slumped, and a gloomy aura spread from her.
"Sigh— Do I really have to work again... I should hurry up and finish 'that' so I can rest. My poor back... Honestly, knowing I had work today, and last night [Magician] still pushed our body that hard."
Vill-V could freely switch personalities, but this was not a mental illness like dissociative identity disorder. Strictly speaking, it was more like role-playing.
However, this fabricated role-playing had reached a level indistinguishable from reality. Each persona operated independently and performed its own duties. Calling them real personalities would not be wrong.
For example, the [Expert] persona resembled the top-tier researcher imagined by the public, proficient in all kinds of scientific knowledge. Not only could she create advanced tools, but in any academic field that humanity possessed, she could reach the pinnacle.
Another example was the [Conductor] persona. With broad interdisciplinary knowledge, she could arrange all plans in an orderly manner like a performer on stage, handling every situation with ease. Everyday social interactions were usually handled by her as well.
Expert Vill-V skillfully operated the machinery before her. Her movements were practiced and elegant, as if it were her natural instinct.
"I hope Teacher Tesla won't get so angry after seeing this month's deficit that she goes to complain to the dean. Directly reallocating ninety-five percent of the funding... [Conductor], you really went too far this time..."
The Expert silently offered a prayer for Dr. Tesla.
As one of the top laboratories in North America's premier universities, the Mechanical Intelligence Research Laboratory at Harvard naturally received generous annual funding.
When it had originally been only Mentor Tesla alone, she used most of the funding to indulge in a luxurious lifestyle. Not only had she splurged on sports cars and yachts, but she also spent extravagantly at high-end restaurants.
Even so, there had always been a large surplus in the lab's quarterly budget—until Vill-V arrived. After that, funds immediately became tight, causing Mentor Tesla endless complaints. Unfortunately, Vill-V possessed evidence of Tesla misappropriating lab funds for eating, drinking, and entertainment, which she used as leverage.
As a result, Mentor Tesla could only watch in pain as Vill-V used "her money" to seriously conduct laboratory research. Although most of the output consisted of genius-level little junk, it was still legitimate research, leaving her with little room to complain.
Of course, the relationship between Vill-V and Mentor Tesla was actually quite good. After all, Tesla's regularly scheduled academic papers were now basically freeloading off Vill-V's work.
As for why such a massive engineering laboratory had only Mentor Tesla alone—
First, because of Tesla's personal "bad habits," few students were willing to follow her.
Second, Tesla had extremely high standards. Even ordinary geniuses would not be accepted, no matter how much they begged.
Only someone like Vill-V, hailed as a genius beyond the era, could truly move Mentor Tesla (and be freeloaded from).
"A genius beyond the era... Teacher Tesla really believed the Conductor's lies." The Expert smiled self-deprecatingly. She—or rather, Vill-V herself—did not actually recognize such excessive praise.
The [Id] persona had once said: "If it were the original Vill-V of this world, maybe she really would deserve it. Unfortunately, I'm just a transmigrator, an ordinary person, a genuine impostor."
Yes, Vill-V was actually a transmigrator. A captain who had played Honkai, just an ordinary person with a slight understanding of the Honkai world.
Moreover, Vill-V had not transmigrated voluntarily. She had been struck into two-dimensional existence by a dimensional reduction attack.
Fourteen years ago, she first transmigrated into the world of "Three-Body," and later encountered a dimensional reduction strike from a higher civilization.
Perhaps because transmigrators were somehow different, she had not fallen into a normal two-dimensional universe. Instead, she had been reborn as Vill-V in the world of Honkai. Although both Three-Body and Honkai Impact 3rd shared the character "three," that didn't mean she was supposed to transmigrate into Honkai, right?
Well... technically, she had entered the two-dimensional world. No mistake there.
At the time, she had been somewhat excited. Beyond the relief of surviving a dimensional reduction strike, there was also the thrill of becoming a beautiful girl. After living as a grown man for two lifetimes, she had grown tired of it. Besides, two-dimensional girls were generally far better-looking than those in the three-dimensional world. There was also the fantasy of becoming a Flame-Chaser, becoming a savior of the era.
There was no mysterious system granted by some unknown existence, no Herrscher Core that would inexplicably betray her, and no scenario where a Flame-Chaser pretended to be indifferent while secretly maxing out their affection and throwing themselves at her from the start.
The good part was that it proved this world was a cruel, realistic original world, not some cheap power fantasy universe that trampled on the will of the Flame-Chasers and allowed her to rampage freely.
The bad part was that poverty had ground down Vill-V's edges. Born in the slums, she quickly realized just how realistic this world was. You could not grow stronger just by shouting slogans, nor would touching something extraordinary automatically make you powerful.
Moreover, Vill-V knew full well how terrifying Honkai was. Even with humanity's technology from the Shelter Era of the Three-Body world, she still could not see any hope of defeating Honkai. Compared to the Trisolarans, Honkai was far more frightening. Honkai... what a healthy, bright, and uplifting world it was.
As for the human knowledge from the Three-Body world, it was meaningless to her. It wasn't cultivation techniques or magic. If only she had been given some Honkai energy technology. Or at least some motivational spiritual energy.
To the [Expert] persona, the hard science knowledge of the Three-Body world was merely a matter of spending some time unlocking a technological tree. Could human technology from the Three-Body world really compare to Honkai energy technology?
So she would leave everything to the other Flame-Chasers. Without the super invincible, ridiculously adorable Honkai protagonist "Kiana," humanity of this era would never defeat Finality.
She was just an ordinary person living in the apocalypse. All she wanted now was to slack off and survive, then run away as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, the [Expert] persona grew irritated. "You may be slacking off, [Id], but what about me?! I'm the one handling all the research and development of Three-Body and Honkai technologies... Ah, damn it, I melted the chip..."
Very quickly, the [Expert] refocused on her work. The soldering iron danced in her hands, scattering sparks as several slender metal wires were skillfully woven together into a miniature circuit.
As her movements grew more fluid, the surrounding machines clicked and hummed in rhythm.
"Mm... connect the wiring on this board... and that completes it. The Quantum Information Processing and Interactive Human-Machine Perception Collaborative Intelligent Analysis System."
Click. The cover plate was embedded into the chassis. The Expert let out a long breath and collapsed into her chair, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her arm.
In her previous life, the fundamental physics of the Three-Body world had been locked by sophons. In this life, however, the fundamental physics theory of the Honkai world had already entered the quantum domain.
Data flickered across the screen before her like stars. A moment later, a line of text appeared: "Startup complete. Welcome to Vill-V Mark VIII. Please set username and password XXXX."
Vill-V suddenly leapt up from her seat, raising both hands high in heartfelt celebration. "Aha! It's finished! This is truly a masterpiece! As expected of Doraemon-level [Expert]!"
The cheerful tone and exaggerated gesture clearly did not belong to the [Expert], but to the persona that had now seized control of Vill-V's body—the [Magician] Vill-V.
This persona was the greatest magician in the world, capable of creating unbelievable miracles through performances filled with passion.
"However, 'Quantum Information Processing and Interactive Human-Machine Perception Collaborative Intelligent Analysis System' is still such a crude name. To celebrate, let me properly 'dress you up' and give you a more high-tech aura."
Faced with the Magician's blazing eyes and massive wrench, even the quantum computer seemed to tremble. Lacking autonomous control, it could only submit to her modifications.
Clack clack, bang clatter.
She waved her hands, and the colorful sparks spiraled into a vortex, enveloping the poor Vill-V Mark VIII.
By the time the [Conductor] persona emerged, the quantum computer Vill-V Mark VIII had already been remodeled into the shape of a card robot—the round little card robot from the Elysian Realm of the Honkai game.
Only this one differed in that its face was a giant display screen, currently showing a chibi version of Vill-V's face.
"Isn't slacking off only natural for [Id]? That's just her personality. That's precisely why she needs us."
The Conductor muttered to herself, explaining to the Expert within her mind.
At the same time, she noticed a stack of cards in her hand. The Magician had claimed they were physical keys to prevent hacking.
The Conductor spotted an exquisitely made card printed with a chibi version of Mei and tried swiping it.
The card robot played a deliberately solemn recording in the Magician's voice: "Farewell, Mei. And thank you for taking my card."
The Conductor: "..."