"Hurry up and change!"
"Void Archives, hurry up and change!"
Otto's voice rang out in the quiet room.
But the sphere in his hand would not obey him.
Otto wanted Void Archives to change into the form he wanted, but Void Archives kept resisting.
It wasn't as if he were asking her to turn into some other woman's shape so they could mess around — Otto just wanted Void Archives to turn back into that group-chat form, and Void Archives was fighting it tooth and nail.
Because when she turned into the group-chat form, the feeling it gave Void Archives was like squatting naked in a little dark room with no awareness at all of the outside world.
It felt horribly unsafe, so she kept resisting.
But Otto needed the group-chat form to verify some things, so he could only pester her over and over again. He couldn't use Void Archives with the same practiced ease as his future self.
"Fine, fine!"
A slightly irritated voice sounded in his mind. "I'll change for you, but you have to agree to one condition of mine."
"What condition?" Otto knew that if he wanted Void Archives to return to the group-chat state, he'd have to pay some kind of price. He pulled himself together too, because making a deal with Void Archives was never anything but asking a tiger for its skin.
"I haven't thought of it yet, so I'll save it for later." Void Archives said. "But I guarantee the condition I ask for won't damage your interests, and it definitely won't hurt you."
If Void Archives had raised some specific and difficult request, Otto might actually have felt more at ease. But a request to be fulfilled sometime in the future made him hesitate instead.
After weighing the pros and cons, Otto said, "But when I need you to change, you have to change for me."
Otto put forward his own condition, and Void Archives' voice paused slightly before she gave her answer.
"Fine."
Then the golden sphere in Otto's hand turned into the familiar group-chat interface in front of him.
Otto looked at the two names in the list. [Puberty-Era Overseer] was lit up, but [Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta] was still dim.
He reached out and tapped [Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta], and the name began flashing.
He'd sent a window nudge.
After waiting a little while, Seele's name lit up. Otto felt a little curious about how the panel appeared on her side.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Overseer-brother, you're here!
She looked very happy that Otto had come to talk to her again. Looking at the words "Overseer-brother," Otto showed a pleased, half-dazed smile.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: Little sister Seele, did you miss me?
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Seele missed Overseer-brother very much.
Otto smiled a little, but then he turned his head and glanced at Bronya. Bronya was still unconscious.
In less than a day, he was already chatting with Seele again. He decided to talk about the serious matter first.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: Little sister Seele, is your mother called Cocolia?
Otto didn't ask about Bronya first, because the process by which he'd brought Bronya here hadn't been a pleasant one.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: !
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Overseer-brother, how do you know? Do you know Mama Cocolia?
So Seele really had once been one of the children at Cocolia's orphanage — she'd just gone missing two years ago.
Otto thought for a moment. He didn't tell Seele the full truth, but held something back.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: We've crossed paths once, and I've heard about the orphanage.
The orphanage! Seeing what Overseer-brother had sent, Seele's eyes lit up. She'd never told Overseer-brother anything about the orphanage, but he still knew she was one of its children.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Overseer-brother, is Mama Cocolia doing well?
Seele asked because she wanted to know how everyone at the orphanage had been doing over the past few years.
Had Rozaliya become an idol yet? Was Mama Cocolia still working herself that hard? Was Sister Bronya smiling happily?
There were far, far too many questions she wanted to ask out loud.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: Mm. She's doing pretty well.
Otto was telling a bald-faced lie. He'd never met Cocolia, and the relationship between them definitely couldn't be called harmonious.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: That's good, then. Overseer-brother, can you tell Mama Cocolia not to work so hard?
His finger paused for a moment, but he very quickly typed a reply.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: Alright. I'll tell her in person.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: It's just, little sister Seele — do you have any way to make Bronya believe that I know you? Only then will they believe me when I pass your message along.
If it was meant for Mama Cocolia, why did Sister Bronya need to believe him? Seele was a little puzzled, but she didn't think too deeply about it, because she also had things she wanted to say to Sister Bronya.
Then she only had to tell Overseer-brother something only she and Sister Bronya knew.
Seele thought for a moment, but before typing, she hesitated a little, because it was a secret she shared with Sister Bronya.
Should she tell Overseer-brother or not? Seele thought about it, and in the end decided to tell him anyway.
If she wanted Bronya to believe Overseer-brother, then she had to use this sort of secret that only the two of them knew, and besides, Overseer-brother was a good person.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Seele once made a promise with Sister Bronya. We promised we'd go see the sea together.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: This is something only the two of us know, so Overseer-brother, you absolutely mustn't go telling people everywhere.
See the sea together? This was a secret only Seele and Bronya knew. Otto looked at the words and nodded.
This piece of information was extremely useful. Maybe he could use it to gain Bronya's trust.
Otto had no intention of killing Bronya, but Bronya had tried to kill him, which meant that once she woke up, she would very likely try to kill him again.
But if he showed that he knew Seele, then would Bronya be willing to listen to him?
And Void Archives had shown interest in Bronya, so Otto guessed that perhaps the person similar to Bronya in the Previous Era had also been a Herrscher.
Then it was possible that Bronya in this era might become a Herrscher too.
Otto had seen the photographs of the Second Eruption. The destruction caused by the Second Herrscher, Sirin, had been terrifying enough that even after just seeing the pictures, he still felt lingering fear.
And right now, there was a person lying on his bed who might become a Herrscher. How could he possibly just let her go?
Otto had never faced a Herrscher of this era head-on, yet he still found himself imagining: if Bronya listened to him, then after she became a Herrscher, would she still listen to him?
"Ah."
A small murmur came from beside him. Otto whipped his head to the side. Bronya was still lying face-down on the bed with her eyes closed, but her brows had drawn together, as if she might wake at any moment.
She was waking up!
But he couldn't let her know about Seele right now, and he hadn't had time to ask Seele where she currently was, so he typed quickly.
[Puberty-Era Overseer]: Little sister Seele, I have some things here I need to deal with. I'll talk to you again later.
[Seven Punches Through the Sea of Quanta]: Mm, Overseer-brother. You can go handle your own things. It's enough if you come chat with me like this once in a while.
Seele was a very sensible child, and that made Otto like her a little more.
Still, Otto couldn't shake the feeling that something was a little off.
It was just like a blond homewrecker asking the wronged husband for advice, and the poor bastard, not knowing the truth, ended up telling him exactly where his own wife was weakest.