"Aya," called Mommy.
I trotted to her side.
Both of us had gone into the underground factory the next morning. Mommy wanted to check something out so that was why we were there.
My plain, red dress was not enough to help me withstood the cold. Mommy wore her lab coat as usual. My hand ran over the strands of dark hair that covered my face. I had not realized sooner before, but my hair grew until it reached my shoulder. I did not like it.
She strolled past a sliding glass door and I followed from behind.
That particular room was at the most left side of the factory, where countless research data and analysis were being kept and studied each day.
Mountains of documents were lying at a spot just a floor upstairs, where the floor was see-through glass. A few scientists were rummaging through it painstakingly.
The floor below was where Mommy and I were at. Computer monitors lined up in rows across the room. Supercomputers were propped up at my left side, taking over almost half of the room.
A giant monitor over our head displayed a bunch of data and graphs about the Aegis Users.
I blinked a few times as the brightly lit, white room was a bit too much for my eyes.
Mommy stopped in front of a large glass window that spanned over the entire right wall of the room. Behind it, an enormous, cylindrical tank filled with green liquid beeped a few times. There were four more similar tanks at the far back.
Mommy narrowed her eyes at the tank in front shadowing the others.
"Alicia! Glad to see you're doing well!" shouted a man.
I looked at him and lowered my head.
If I was not mistaken, he was one of the Acting Heads of Scientists just like Mommy and Daddy.
His lavender perfume was too strong for me so I covered my nose. His blond hair was combed back while his green eyes flickered when he saw me. He adjusted his lab coat when his feet halted in front of Mommy.
From my spot, he looked a little bit shorter than Mommy, about a few inches. And since Mommy was 167 cm, that guy appeared to be quite short.
"Klaus," said Mommy.
He put up a smile for me before shifting his eyes back to Mommy.
"I see you have quite an interest in her," he said as his finger pointed towards the woman in the liquid tank.
"Not really. It's just that it has been a long time since I actually cared to look at Ama. I can only guess there's nothing to report about when it comes to her."
"It's still the same as you can see. There's not much we've gained the past few years you've gone. And I expect the same thing for a few years from now on," said Klaus. "I thought about it time to time and I felt like I want to give up. She's stubborn."
Mommy directed her eyes back at the woman in the liquid tank. "What's new?"
Klaus sighed. "We got a response from her about a year ago."
Mommy's eyes widened as she looked back at Klaus. "What kind?"
"The usual thing, you know. That new Aegis User, Ava, isn't it? Ama seems to have already connected with her. There has been a delay, unlike the previous Aegis Users. Usually, it took only a few months for Ama to do. But in Ava's case, it took a few years. We've never seen anything like it," explained Klaus.
"Hmm. Don't you suppose it's because Ava is . . . you know what I'm saying," said Mommy.
"Perhaps," said Klaus. "There's that possibility. But the others concluded that it's because Ava is on the other side of the planet when she discovered Aegis. Am I right?"
"Yeah. That's correct. Unlike the others, Ava's the only who's not in Sweden for the longest time. As for Caesar's case, it also took a few months, since he's in this HQ all the time back then."
Klaus nodded. "Our analysis only detects subtle traces of Ava inside Amaltheia. Her brain wave still does not change at all, even when it happened."
Mommy caressed her forehead and glanced at Ama. "It doesn't make sense. Amaltheia is the first Aegis User . . . and also our first failure. She did not die, but succumbed to a long sleep."
"Oh, what's her Aegis, Mommy?" I asked.
She shook her head. "We never found out. Her blood sample revealed a lot of things we don't understand. And it remains that way until now. It's frustrating, really. We found out that each time a new Aegis User is created, her blood sample shows traces of that new User's Aegis within it. Ama's not even moving inside there, and yet that kind of thing happened."
"Well . . ." muttered Klaus. "Amaltheia is out of our hands for now. She's just there for us to observe as far as I'm concerned. There's no use beating ourselves up about it. Anyway, you must have noticed those four people in their water tanks at the back."
Mommy frowned. "Yeah, I've never seen them before. Are they the same as Amaltheia?"
Klaus's eyes gleamed, as he flashed a smile at Mommy. "No. Far from it. Those four people are at the experimental stage at this point. However, it's just a matter of time before we can deploy them."
"Deploy? You mean . . . they're legit Aegis Users?" asked Mommy.
Klaus showed his toothy smile. "Indeed, Alicia!"
"Why I've never heard of this before? I don't recall Aegis Users that need to be put inside those tanks like Amaltheia."
"As I said, those four are not ready yet. They will be soon. But, there's a huge but," said Klaus.
"Hmm? Is that so? Still, for you guys to find four people at once was amazing," commended Mommy.
"It's not that hard if you're stuck in this place doing experiments all the time," said Klaus. "Anyway, we put them there a while ago. I need to remind you they're not your typical Aegis Users."
Mommy scowled. "I don't like riddles, Klaus. Just tell me what they are."
"Alicia, those four are the new generation of Aegis Users! We've done tons of research and I'm sure their existences will change the world!"
Mommy and I looked at each other. She glared at Klaus and he made an awkward smile.
"I assume they're enhanced, somehow? What do you mean they can change the world? I'm feeling left out here," said Mommy.
"We've started this project when you left, Alicia. It's a secret, even to His Supremacy. Since they're premature right now, it's not wise to reveal it to him yet. He will just rush the project, mind you," said Klaus.
"Hmm, I see," mumbled Mommy. "Can you tell me more about those four? I did notice they're quite different somehow . . . and by that, I mean their age."
"Ah, that is a secret, Alicia."
"What do you mean by that?"
"N-No, never mind. I figured we all can surprise you when they're ready."
"You're getting on my nerves. Give me their data."
"Er, absolutely."
I stared at the woman, Amaltheia, who was claimed as the very first Aegis User. Her circumstances explained by both Mommy and Klaus weirded me out.
Like Mommy had said, it did not make sense.
A simple blood test was enough to determine the specialty of an Aegis User, by looking at his or her DNA.
I did not know the details but that was basically it. And yet, there was Amaltheia's case.
Mommy and Klaus talked more about the new four Aegis Users, but my mind was focused only on Amaltheia at that time.
From there, I could only assume she was about 170 cm in height.
"Hmm," I muttered.
When I thought about it, I never had the chance to meet that woman until then. If I was not mistaken, Aegis was created twenty years ago, and if Amaltheia was the first person to ever succeeded in the Aegis implant, that would make her the oldest Aegis User.
And that was me not including Mister Hughes's age.