Chapter 142: Actors in Position
Inside the special confinement room of the Hyperion, the metal walls reflected a cold white light. Sin irritably kicked the wall with her boots, emitting dull "thud, thud" sounds.
Although she was originally locked in a resting room near the medical bay, this fellow was simply too rowdy. So, a few Valkyries used the ventilation ducts to drop in some tear gas.
After thoroughly smoking her out and causing Sin to faint, they went in wearing gas masks and used tranquilizer darts to abduct her to this place. This was not a place Sin could easily destroy.
But truthfully, ever since this area was built, it hadn't served its intended purpose even once. This could be considered its very first time being put to use.
"Cocolia Mama will definitely come to save me..." she cursed in a low voice, her purplish-red eyes filled with hostility.
Just then, the door to the confinement room slid open.
Sin immediately looked over vigilantly. The first to enter was Himeko, her arms crossed with a strictly business expression. Looking at this Valkyrie who had sneak-attacked and subdued her, Sin bared her teeth.
Just as she was about to hurl a few insults to vent the fire in her heart, Sin's gaze froze. She saw two figures walking in behind Himeko.
Bronya, and... Seele.
When Sin's eyes locked onto Seele, she recalled initially hearing Cocolia Mama's orders and somewhat disbelieving them. If there really was anything good to get out of that place, Cocolia wouldn't have poured so much effort into it.
She had only come because it was a mission entrusted by Mama.
"Sin," Bronya spoke first, her voice calm, devoid of much emotion.
Seele shrank back slightly behind Bronya. Her feelings towards Sin were complicated. There was a trace of familiarity as fellow orphanage companions, but... Sister Bronya's legs had ended up like this precisely because of Sin's actions.
"Hah!" Sin let out a sound of unknown meaning, then looked the two of them up and down, her gaze lingering especially on Bronya. "And here I was wondering who it was. Turns out it's our great 'traitor' Bronya."
Then, she shifted her gaze to Seele. "And... Seele. What? Did Schicksal's Valkyrie excellencies send you here to be persuaders, or to laugh at my expense?"
"Sin, we aren't here to mock you." Bronya took a step forward, her gray eyes looking straight at Sin. "Bronya knows why you came, Sin.
"As you can see, Seele has indeed returned."
"Was it done by that person named Irene?" Sin looked at Bronya. "She actually helped you look for her, and even managed to find her."
"This was Sister Irene's promise." Bronya looked at Sin. "And, Sin, you are very safe right now."
"You call being on an enemy's battleship safe? Bronya, is your brain broken along with your legs? Or has eating and drinking well at Schicksal made you forget where your real home is?"
"Bronya hasn't forgotten the orphanage, nor has she forgotten Cocolia Mama." Bronya's voice remained steady as she tried to reason. "But..."
"Shut up!" Sin suddenly raised her voice, interrupting Bronya. "No matter how much you say, can it change what you've done?"
Seeing Sin's words becoming increasingly extreme, Seele couldn't help but speak up softly. "Sin, Sister Bronya, she..."
"And you too, Seele!" Sin immediately turned her spearhead toward her. "What's going on with you? Bronya found you and brought you back, so you decided to be a traitor along with her?!"
"Seele hasn't forgotten..." Seele lowered her head, her voice growing even smaller. "Cocolia Mama... is she doing well?"
"Mama is doing great!" At the mention of Cocolia, Sin's expression softened slightly, but then turned cold again as she glared back at Bronya. "At least Seele knows to care about Mama. What about you?!"
"Have you really forgotten where you belong after staying here for so long?"
"St. Freya treats Bronya very well, and treats Seele very well too." Bronya still wanted to urge Sin to remain calm. "Bronya hasn't forgotten our life at the orphanage.
"But..."
Before Bronya could finish her sentence, Sin's anger ignited once again. And this time, it seemed Sin truly had no intention of listening to reason.
No matter what Bronya said, Sin's temper seemed to only grow larger. If she had anything within reach, she probably would have started throwing things directly.
Himeko rubbed her temples, feeling a wave of speechlessness. Irene was right; this meeting indeed ended with a sparked fuse, and the one ignited was a powder keg.
She seriously began to consider whether she should just have Theresa contact Einstein right now and send this troublemaker away early.
Himeko's villa.
The living room was so quiet that only the faint hum of the computer host and the occasional clatter of keyboard strokes could be heard.
Kiana was completely bored, controlling the character on the screen to complete one quest after another, but her face had the word "bored" written all over it.
"Sigh..." She let out a long sigh and took off her headphones, hanging them around her neck. Normally, she definitely wouldn't be this bored.
But right now, Mei had gone grocery shopping, Wendy said she wanted to see more of St. Freya and went out in a wheelchair, and Auntie went along with her.
Sister Irene wasn't feeling well and went back to sleep. She couldn't possibly go disturb her. In this entire, massive villa, she was the only one left. How could she not be bored?
"Bronya and Seele went to see that annoying shorty..." Kiana muttered. "Sister Irene and Aunt Himeko wouldn't even let me go, afraid I'd cause trouble... I'm not that unreasonable."
Despite saying so, she obediently stayed home. After all, Sister Irene had said it, and she herself admitted that seeing Sin's arrogant demeanor would likely provoke her into snapping back a few times. The situation would probably be even harder to clean up then.
"Forget it, I'll just play games." Kiana shook her head, refocusing her attention on the screen. "I'll just clear this dungeon..."
However, just as she was about to settle in, she suddenly yawned, and an inexplicable wave of dizziness washed over her mind.
"Yawn~~" Kiana yawned. What was going on? Did she not rest well either? Impossible, she slept perfectly fine last night, going to bed just after 12.
Forget it, playing games wasn't very interesting right now anyway. She might as well go back to bed and sleep for a bit. Thinking this, she paused the game, then leapt onto her bed with a flying dive, expertly rolling to wrap the blanket around herself.
She closed her eyes. But the moment she closed them, a trace of dark golden light flashed across her originally azure pupils.
Irene passed through the tree hole connecting to Kiana's consciousness, skillfully arriving within Kiana's consciousness space. However, Kiana wasn't dreaming at the moment, so the entire consciousness space appeared extremely monotonous.
But she wasn't here to find Kiana this time anyway, so it didn't matter. She turned around directly and walked into a seemingly dark area of the space. Pushing aside the dense fog, a door appeared before her.
Irene raised her hand, hesitating for a moment. Mainly, she recalled the "tragic state" she had witnessed the last time she opened the door. Operating on the principle of leaving the child with some dignity, Irene knocked on the door.
Subsequently, Irene heard the sound of something seemingly falling to the floor from inside, followed by a series of highly suspicious commotions.
Only then did Sirin's voice ring out from within the room: "Come in."
Irene then pushed the door open and entered. It was still the same room, functioning as an ultimate otaku girl's den. The cabinet in the corner was piled high with all sorts of game discs.
On the other side was a massive pile of snacks. But compared to the "disaster zone" from last time where there was no place to step, this time was at least... well, slightly tidier.
Overall, it had upgraded from a "nuclear explosion site" to the level of a "severe otaku girl's everyday room."
"Looks like you actually listened to a bit of advice." Irene wore a gratified expression as she walked into the room and looked at Sirin. "Although I'm guessing you probably tidied up while I was knocking on the door, right?"
"I did not." Sirin immediately turned her head away, looking exactly like someone who had been called out. "But what are you here for again? Did you find another chance to take me out to play?"
"Once you've tasted it, you can't put it down, right?" Irene looked at Sirin and smiled. "However, I'm not here today to take you out to play.
"I'm not feeling well today."
"I know. The things Kiana sees, I can see too." Sirin looked at Irene, a flash of concern in her eyes. "So what exactly did you do last night?"
"I merely slept with Theresa." Irene shrugged, telling Sirin not to overthink it. "It's just that my brain was a bit lively, so a tiny little accident occurred.
"Oh, wait, let's get down to business." Irene cut to the chase. "I came this time to ask for your help with something. I need you to cooperate and act in a play."
"Act?" Sirin tilted her head. "What play am I acting in? I don't know how to act! Oh, wait, who do you want to show this play to?"
"A play meant for certain people to see. Your birth wasn't an accident; you should be clear on this, right?"
After a moment of silence, Sirin nodded. "I've roughly figured out what's going on. Humans are always so greedy sometimes. I just still don't understand why they insisted on resurrecting me."
"Because she has her own goals." Irene looked at Sirin. "And she won't rest until she achieves them. Moreover, she will utilize many methods.
"I must make her believe her plan has already succeeded before she resorts to some extreme measures that neither of us can accept."
"Why not just beat her up directly?" Sirin cracked her knuckles. "With you and me, beating her up would be more than enough."
"You don't understand." Irene shook her head. "What she needs is for you to appear. Otherwise, she will use all sorts of methods, including absolutely extreme ones.
"I don't wish to see that happen." Irene looked at Sirin. "If that were to occur, many problems might arise, and there might even be sacrifices that I don't wish to see."
"Wait, wait, wait. I'm having a little trouble understanding." Sirin looked at Irene and scratched her head. "So do I need to appear or not?"
"You need to. Since she wants to see you appear, then we'll just let her see it." Irene reached out and patted Sirin's head. "This way, she won't take extreme actions that exceed our expectations.
"But we need to make her believe this was an accident, rather than a meticulously arranged event. So we need to put on an act."
"Mm, just tell me what to do." Perhaps because she had stayed in Kiana's brain for too long, Sirin was also starting to lean toward the Kaslana Family's tendencies.
And the thing the Kaslana Family excelled at the most was, after finding an external brain, completely following the arrangements of that external brain.
"I've already made the arrangements. If nothing unexpected happens, Cocolia—Bronya's adoptive mother—should launch an attack on St. Freya soon.
"And with Little Corruption assisting me, I will take control of any Titans she might deploy, and fake an injury right in front of everyone.
"When that time comes." Irene patted Sirin's shoulder. "That will be the moment for your debut. Don't worry, everything will be under my control.
"You've already seen that Little Corruption, as the Herrscher of Corruption, has this capability." Irene met Sirin's somewhat worried gaze. "And as the Herrscher of Death, I can very easily create the illusion of being heavily injured."
Hearing this, Sirin nodded, half-understanding. "So I need to take control of Kiana's body after you're injured, creating the illusion of my awakening?
"And then I'll be seen by others, making her think her plan is complete?"
"Accurately speaking, it will lead to the next phase of the plan." Irene nodded. "But your understanding is sufficient. I'll be leaving it up to you when the time comes."
"Alright." Sirin nodded. "Ah, I need to find the right feeling. I hope I don't mess up the act."
"I'm counting on you." Irene gave Sirin a thumbs-up. "I'll be going now."
Just as Irene was about to turn and leave, Sirin grabbed her. "Um, Irene, can you play games with me for a bit? I've always wanted to play with someone, but you never come visit me.
"Since you finally came to find me, just play with me for a while."
"Of course I can." Irene nodded. "But I hope it's not something that relies too heavily on reaction speed. I'm lacking a bit of energy right now, so don't bully me."
"Then I can't guarantee anything." Sirin whistled, then loaded up a two-player fighting game. She had wanted to try this for a long time.
It was just that besides her, Kiana was the only one here, and it wasn't good for her to contact Kiana, so she had never managed to play it. But now that Irene was here, she could finally give it a try.
"This might be a little unfair." Irene looked at the fighting game before her. "I definitely can't beat you right now. Are you going to bully a sick person?"
"I'll go easy on you." Sirin shoved a controller into Irene's hands. "Just treat it as your reward for asking for my help."
"Alright, I hope you really do go easy on me."
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