Early morning, at one of Science's private labs.
The lab's owner sighed, savoring the bitter taste of coffee as it went down to the rest of his body while walking back to where he was conducting his experiments. If any advantage made it worth living confined in this human vessel instead of freely existing, it would be the capacity to enjoy this mug of coffee in his hand.
Granted, that's only because Nature manages its cultivation. Science remembered when Nature, Farming, Agriculture, and all the valid options weren't available, occupied with matters from the real world or, in the case of the ones who were overbots, in the middle of their scheduled maintenance.
The man professionally donning sharp glasses and a clean lab coat was glad he had stockpiled enough beans for this kind of emergency after Technology had taken charge of it the first time something like this happened and ruined his coffee because from what he heard from those who drank Magic's coffee when she temporarily took over it tasted...weird. It was one of those mysteries Science sensed he didn't need or want an answer to. Science had already learned the hard way that some questions were better left as such, he didn't need to be reminded.
Science pushed those away as the automatic doors for his lab slid open upon detecting his approach.
Ahh~, home sweet home. Science joked as he stepped inside his lab. Even if he spent more time here at his lab than at his actual home by this point, Science still wanted to believe he had improved and wasn't overworking himself anymore. Or at least, he would like to think about his progress compared to the likes of Death while not falling into complete laziness like Life—a healthy (From his perspective) work-life balance.
The embodiment of scientific knowledge frowned while putting his mug on his desk and sitting down.
Speaking of who... Science turned to the many holographic screens around him upon contact with his chair. All the screens showed a first-person recording of Life's perspective as he watched Yoshino using the over-gloves or Nozomi using her magic.
Each holographic screen was necessary if he wanted to take advantage of all the data Life gave him as long as he kept silent about everything. Which was something Science couldn't help but feel annoyed by considering that, between them, Life was the one who didn't know when to keep its mouth shut. In retrospect, I should've probably done something to ensure he won't accidentally spill the beans...
Science shook his head, figuring instead of stressing about something he had no control over, he should focus on the data that was supposed to make this whole deal worth it. Let's see, hmm... Science hummed as he grabbed a particular screen that replayed a compilation of all the times Nozomi had used her powers since his deal with Life. The one where the magical girl blew up a sun intrigued the man in the lab coat the most.
Science observed intently as Nozomi's light bullet was shot from her finger up until it hit its target more or less in the center, noting how its speed increased to a point where it reached the sun in less than a minute instead of approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds that it would take with its starting speed of 300 km/s. It ended up piercing right through the star with barely any resistance, appearing on the opposite it entered before the sun exploded in a blinding light.
If Science hadn't the context behind this specific sun from Life's footage of Mukarramma's cards as they blew up in smoke every time they were destroyed, which gave Science enough evidence for him to conclude any attacks directed into those cards needed to go through the card for its destruction to happen, he would've been at his wits ends trying to figure out how a single shot from such insignificant size would've been enough to destroy an entire sun.
But even after the scientist reached such a conclusion, his frown deepened. However...that still doesn't explain how it can even pierce through, let alone reach the sun in the first place.
Science tapped his fingers on the table as his mind tried to come up with every possible explanation before properly organizing them one by one from the most to least likely. "Such a question without any concrete explanation for it," The man in the lab coat got up from his seat, the screens surrounding him immediately disappearing. "Deserves my full attention!" He declared with a smirk, excited at the prospect of discovering something no one had before.
The tests that soon followed proved worthwhile in Science's eyes. He soon found out that Nozomi's light magic seemed to have an infinite range and was capable of erasing any material with a non-reflective surface. Even stopping time couldn't slow down its progress, almost like some kind of magical anti-matter/anti-concept beam. The only aspect of the magical girl's powers he hadn't understood was the slow-down side-effect that it carried due to its innate speed, making it unnoticeable.
Such tests were only possible in the first place thanks to Science's perfect copy of Nozomi's amulet, which, after a few seconds of adjustment, allowed Science to wield the magical girl's power while changing his entire appearance to resemble Nozomi's in terms of the white color scheme in his hair, eyes, and clothes that weren't already white like his brown pants and black glasses.
But, those didn't compare to when Science did tests with a reflective surface, something he was looking forward to the most.
Science was already aware of how the projectile could reflect on more than one surface and that the projectile grew noticeably bigger each time it got reflected, but that only raised one, crucial, question for the one who embodied his name. What's the limit?
He paused his train of thought, taking a step back. It was a simple, yet dangerous question where something bigger would usually come from it whenever he asked. Most of the time, it only brought things Science would later regret.
The last thing Science wanted was a repeat of when people in the real world were made aware of nuclear energy. Although things became manageable, if not brighter now, they couldn't have been more hectic in the past. Then again, I don't see how pushing this power to its limits will affect the real world in any meaningful way, and it isn't like anyone else but me, Life, Nozomi, and her closest associates know about her powers...
Science crossed his arms. Although, this IS magic, NOT science. Even if it seems to follow some logic and rules, I wouldn't be surprised if things went out of control the moment I tried to push for its limits, especially since there seems to be barely any of it with its infinite range and seemingly unbound erasure power.
The brilliant man sighed in reluctant resignation. I suppose...I could wait until he gives me more data to work with. Yes, waiting for more concrete information would be for the best in the long run.
When Science returned to his seat, with the holographic screens surrounding him again, he couldn't help but notice something weird with one screen in particular, the one showing Yoshino's link between her brain and the pink gloves Life had, in the scientist's opinion, foolishly given her access to.
"What the..." Science trailed off as Yoshino's brain patterns showed to be going crazy.
Curiosity piqued, Science proceeded to make some adjustments to sneakily control a few molecules of Yoshino's gloves so he could produce a small number of perfect copies of oxygen before instantly changing them into a fly, away from Yoshino's view.
Such a sneak usage of over-metal would probably be criticized by Life for lacking any theatrics, but Science couldn't care less for such frivolities, preferring to go with the efficient approach of just instantly copying something with them instead of risking getting found out by Yoshino in an attempt to be dramatic.
As the scientist observed the brunette from the fly's eyes, it turned out his careful approach might have been unnecessary as Yoshino had closed her eyes throughout the entire thing, clearly concentrating on making the over-metal in her gloves obey her command. Nothing seemed different about her. Is she circulating magic inside her body? Science threw the first guess that came to his mind. It was a safe one as it reminded the brilliant man of how Magic looked when she first started circulating magic through specific parts of her body before doing it by instinct.
"Hmm...activate magic scanners." Science commanded the holographic screen. Immediately, the screen confirmed Science's suspicions as it showed a small black mass Science assumed to be Yoshino's magic circulating through her brain and only the brain.
Science patiently watched Yoshino fail again and again to make a perfect copy of the ball Life had let her borrow. Although Yoshino still couldn't make a perfect copy of one of the easiest objects, the fact she didn't make anywhere near as much of a mess as before while only having less than a day of experience with them was more than enough to make Science's eyes grow wide, impressed and concerned by what Yoshino managed to accomplish in such a short time.
Dangerous. Was Science's immediate thought before opening up another holographic screen to call for Life. While Science waited for Life to pick up, he rearranged the screen that was calling Life to be by the side of the screen watching Yoshino concentrate.
"Sup?" Life answered, completely unaware of the mess he just made.
"Hey, it's me, just calling you here to say that I FUCKING CALLED IT!" Science shouted.
The embodiment of living tilted his head in confusion. "Call what? What are you—," Science rearranged his crime partner's screen so it would face the one showing Yoshino. Science watched as Life's eyes grew wide. "Oh."
"Yeah." Science agreed dryly before rearranging Life's screen to face the scientist again.
"...how far did she go?" Life asked, avoiding eye contact with Science as the latter scowled at him.
Science sighed. "At this moment? She hasn't made a perfect copy of the ball you gave it to her, but she HAS stopped making a mess of things."
"...shit." Life cursed under his breath.
The frustrated scientist's eyebrow twitched. "Understatement of the century, it's been LESS than 12 hours since you activated those gloves! What are you going to do now?" He asked although it sounded more like a demand.
Science watched as the idiot who gave a WMD to a child bit his lip as he tried to come up with a good answer. "It..should still be fine...thanks to Life's Coincidences, things should still work out for my benefit in the end."
Yeah, YOUR benefit and no one else's you lazy, selfish, jackass prick! Science was tempted to make his thoughts vocal to Life for a moment before taking a sip of his coffee, the potential destruction his anger could cause to his lab was a good enough motivation not to snap.
Instead, he changed the subject to something he hoped wouldn't make him want to strangle his past self with Time's help. "Ok, sure, fine, WHATEVER, anyway, I also did some tests on Nozomi's powers."
"Oh~, would you mind sharing what you found out?" The embodiment of living asked, interest piqued.
Science proceeded to explain to Life his findings, the explanation took around five hours to finish as Science went into excruciating detail. By the end of it, Science felt considerably calmer, finding the act of explaining things to be relaxing. The exposition dump only lasted as long as it did because Science had yet to push Nozomi's magic to its limits.
"And...that should be all for now. There are, admittedly, a few tests left to do, but as it stands, it should be everything I've found out until—." Science frowned as he finally noticed Life had fallen asleep on the hotel's armchair where he had spent most of his time listening to Science. "Hey, HEY!"
"Uwa?! What-, oh, sorry, I spaced out here for a moment..." Life lied without a hint of shame in his voice.
"Did you got anything I've said?" Life asked, gritting his teeth in frustration.
"Yeah, yeah, Nozomi's magic is powerful and...I guess it can travel a long distance?"
Science sighed in resignation. "That's...good enough, I guess?" It wasn't, but Science would rather not lose brain cells over this.
"So...is there anything else or can I go now?" Life asked.
"I suppose for right now..." Science nodded after giving some thought. "It should do. I'll call you later if something unexpected happens, again." Science emphasized it to Life before ending the call.
Now alone, Science turned to his empty mug of coffee, having finished its contents long ago. As he got up from his seat, he considered refilling his mug...but after his, rather exhausting, conversation with Life, the tired scientist felt tea would be more appropriate.