The body of a Grade One Sorcerer far surpassed the known limits of humans. It meant that Aleph would be able to function normally without sleep for several days. Though, mental fatigue was another thing.
Everything he had seen in the span of twelve hours wore him out. It was far more brutal than the scenes in honkai eruptions. It was humans who created such cruel scenes.
Once again, it reminded Aleph of how limited his power was. He could face off an army, but he could not force the majority of humanity to change.
Click-!
When Aleph opened the door to his office, he saw a visitor.
"How long did you wait for me?"
"From the moment you made the call."
Before Aleph descended into the hangar, he made a call with Einstein to inform her of his arrival. It was already morning. He could call her without interrupting her sleep.
"How was it?"
"Terrible." He replied honestly. "It was worse than I imagined. All of them are involved in live human experimentation. I could see why our institutes wanted to have more freedom."
Hearing this, Einstein let out a sigh.
"It's inevitable. When interests are at stake, nobody knows whether one could stand for humanity. We are not the type to be a united front, after all."
Helplessness was heard from her voice. Time proved that humanity can't fully unite as one, at least in their current circumstances.
Aleph decided to change their topic.
"Vill-V sent the bulk of the data here. Are there any problems?" He asked.
"Everything's alright. The private server we bought is enough for it."
Before Aleph 'pocketed' some of the institute's funds for his nuclear suit, Einstein had already been doing it years ago. All of the funds are used to buy 'private' things—that is, things and studies that are hidden from the eyes of the higher ups.
The bulk of them went to further the third institute's main research secretly. The rest went to servers used to store important data.
All of the research data from the three Fire MOTH councilors Aleph raided last night were stored inside them.
"There are too many of them. It has to be sorted…"
For a while, the two conversed about work-related matters.
*****
A few days later, the time came for Aleph's five-day visit to the fifth institute. Another security convoy came with him. He was prepared this time as he brought the nuclear-powered suit in a large black cabin.
He placed it in a cart and headed towards Mobius' office.
"Sir Aleph."
"Oh. Hello, Klein."
He almost failed to notice the short girl in front of him.
"Can I put it in the work room?"
"It's alright."
Aleph headed towards their usual work room with a large cabin in tow. They passed by several gates locked with passwords. Klein unlocked them before closing them in.
After a while, they arrived at their usual spot.
"Hm? You brought something."
"I'd let you see it later."
Mobius placed the report she was reading on top of the table.
She crossed her arms and said:
"I've read everything related to biological research. They are behind my progress, but their reports pointed out a lot of mistakes. But for everything they paid for, it was a waste."
If others heard about it, they would think Mobius was being 'objective' when it comes to research results. Looking down on bloody reports gained at the cost of human lives can be seen as cruel.
'She's angry…' Aleph thought. 'This weird complex of hers…'
Aleph understood her slightly after their months of cooperation. She looked down on these inefficient research reports due to how they "wasted" human lives just to have the same progress as hers.
Although she was unpredictable—a bit crazy, even—she never used another person for her experiments unless they consented to it. Even so, she does not allow such a thing to happen frequently. Experimenting on herself was deemed enough.
That was her bottom line.
As to whether it could be broken?
Only time could tell.
"We can't control them. It's better to use it. That way, those people wouldn't have died meaninglessly…"
"You have a point."
Aleph placed the cabin on the corner of the room. It was also then did Mobius notice the bag tied to his fingers.
He felt her looks and explained:
"I saved you time from ordering them. They're also… well… some of the food I tried my hands on."
"You know how to cook?"
Mobius' question was rebutted by her own assistant.
"Not everyone is like you, doctor."
"..."
Seeing this, Aleph decided to jump in.
"Klein has a point. Don't you think so?"
"...Fine. I will take it as a challenge. We'll see who cooks better after that."
Both Aleph and Klein were surprised by her words. They didn't expect that the workaholic Mobius would put aside some time for recreational purposes.
Seeing their surprised looks, she humphed before pointing out:
"We recently reached a bottleneck. An hour or two will not affect our progress."
"I see, I see. That's fine by me. For now…"
Aleph walked towards the kitchen within this complex. He stopped and briefly looked at them.
"Can you judge my cooking?"
*****
"Tsk, tsk. Such a cool entrance… I want to learn from it!"
Recalling the 'moves' shown by Aleph, excitement flowed in Vill-V's body. Each of his landings gave her an idea on which direction to work forward.
"There's also that phantom thief! That kind of elegance… um! It's just right!"
Contrary to her calm expert self, the current Vill-V was more lively.
She continued sketching fervently. It didn't take long before it was completed. It was the prototype of her outfit as the so-called phantom thief.
"It's done! A phantom thief… Aleph's ideas are truly amazing! How come I didn't think of it before?!"
At this moment, Aleph remained unaware of the potential trouble he caused.