Honkai: Fire Moth Herrschers-Chapter 232: Interlude - SWARA, Vishnu, and the Cat

"Vamos lá meu rapaz..."

"Tule mu poiss..."

"Komm schon mein Junge..."

Ding————

The metallic ringing overwhelmed all other noise. Something thin in her mind stretched taut under the high-frequency vibration, turning brittle, nearing its breaking point.

Nerves around her eyes began to spasm. Her eyeballs trembled and twisted within their sockets, straining in opposite directions, yet firmly held back by their bony confines.

"Hnng..."

A pained grunt suddenly mixed into the metallic ringing.

Who made that sound?

Was it me?

No, wait... Who... am I?

The moment this question formed, all the pain, along with the piercing sound, vanished.

She felt her body start to tumble, to fall, but she couldn't be sure, enveloped as she was by the unchanging darkness.

Suddenly, the sensation of falling stopped abruptly. Her body sank into an all-encompassing embrace. Her limbs felt cold and heavy. She couldn't breathe. The only sound left was a faint gurgle, gurgle...

Her eyelids seemed to flutter. A sliver of light pierced the endless darkness. Though it quickly closed again, it was a remarkable first step.

For only by seeing light could one accurately perceive darkness.

And guided by that beam, more sensations seeped in.

Thump-thump— Thump-thump— Thump-thump—

"Heartbeat restored! Heartbeat restored!"

"Quick, lower the oxygen concentration in the nutrient fluid!"

"Hua... Hua?"

"Hua?"

When she finally isolated that word amidst the clamor, clarity dawned in her mind.

Drip—

A drop of water fell, sending ripples outwards. Each ripple was a memory, allowing Hua to recall the answer to "Who am I?"

These ripples wouldn't fade with time's passage, for the mind's lake of memory wasn't flat, but a sphere. The ripples, meant to grow fainter, would instead reconverge on the opposite side, only to spread out once more.

And for Hua, since long ago, these ripples hadn't even faded.

Compared to Kevin's body temperature, Sakura's ears, or the black markings on Mobius, she felt her own side effect... wasn't even a side effect, was it?

In less than 0.1 seconds, she reviewed her entire life up to that point. Not because her life was short, but because she remembered every single detail vividly.

And then she finally remembered what she was doing— "SWARA... experiment..."

"Urgh..."

An inexplicable weakness suffused her body. She could only muster the strength to focus on her eyes, trying to follow the earlier light and crack them open again.

She saw a blurry ceiling. The high concentration of the nutrient fluid not only distorted the light but also made her newly opened eyes sting, forcing them shut again.

Suddenly, the pressure on her body eased. She opened her eyes again. Someone had forcefully broken the cultivation pod's shell. As the overly concentrated fluid drained away, Hua's consciousness finally began to clear.

But paradoxically, her brain, which had functioned freely within the fluid, now felt overwhelmingly heavy. Before she could clearly see who had rushed to her side, she fainted once more.

It doesn't matter, she thought faintly. Besides him, who else could it be?

"Hua! Hua!"

Michael gripped her shoulders, shaking her gently, but the girl in his arms remained unresponsive.

"Alright, alright! Always causing trouble in the lab. Hua's heartbeat and brainwaves are back to normal levels. No need for you to panic." Mobius calmly tapped the microphone, then turned her head away with a cold snort.

"Doctor, rationally speaking, these two indicators don't mean Hua is completely out of danger. After all, looking at the other test subjects, some ended up in vegetative states, others developed schizophrenia after waking... and some were driven to suicide by strange auditory hallucinations..." Klein couldn't help but shiver, recalling the tragic fates of those test samples.

Mobius pressed her lips together. Seeing Michael rush Hua out of the lab in a panic, she said nothing.

Compared to many of Mobius's other experiments, the SWARA experiment was among the least cruel. But it had its unique aspects.

The purpose of SWARA was to use methods similar to Aponia's Discipline, employing specific sound frequencies to stimulate brainwave activity, which in turn would promote physical development—specifically, towards stronger Honkai Energy adaptability.

The essence of Discipline wasn't commanding reality, but fully unleashing the body's potential. For example, a severely wounded warrior, given a death sentence by Spassy, began to recover after Aponia imposed the Discipline to "Live," eventually healing completely.

It seemed miraculous, but it relied on the possibility that the warrior could survive. Moreover, the Discipline couldn't heal him instantly.

In other words, you can't make bricks without straw.

Applied to the SWARA experiment, this meant all test subjects were children still in their growth phases. Those like Kevin or Michael, who were past their developmental peak, could handle SWARA, but it would have almost no effect.

Among the samples, boys, developing later, could be slightly older. For girls, Hua was already the oldest.

Fire Moth itself naturally didn't have enough suitable candidates; most were volunteers recruited globally.

And now, only Hua remained... not yet declared a failure.

As Klein said, the other samples had either killed themselves or ended up insane or vegetative. Mei and Michael didn't know how to handle the survivors. They couldn't be sent back, so a sanatorium was built in the underground city to house them all.

For these children, perhaps the silver lining in their misfortune was... their director and vice-director were Elysia and Aponia, respectively.

These thoughts swirled in Mobius's mind for a long time. She suddenly slapped her own head hard, startling Klein beside her.

"Doctor, are you alright?"

Mobius bit her lip, silent. Tch! Honestly, was I influenced by that damn Michael? Why am I becoming so... Hmph!

"Of course, I'm fine. Regardless, Hua is now the last hope for Project SWARA... And this is the final experiment. If she can open her eyes again, she'll just need to occasionally recite those sound sequences mentally."

"Doctor, you have that much confidence in Hua? What if Hua fails too? How will you explain that to Captain Michael? And will the experiment continue, destroying even more children?!"

Nuwa, who had been working silently as usual, recording data from numerous experiments, couldn't help but question Mobius upon hearing her words.

She had initially controlled her emotions, as Fuxi quietly held her hand.

But when Mobius remained indifferent to her questions, the long-suppressed "dissent" and "dissatisfaction" erupted instantly.

She slammed her tablet onto the lab bench, startling even Fuxi who was closest to her.

"Nuwa, Doctor Mobius also..." Klein tried to argue on Mobius's behalf but was cut off rudely:

"Enough!" Mobius's dark, vertical pupils glanced at the shattered tablet on the floor. She spoke coolly:

"Go to the logistics department and pay for it yourself. Hmph... Before that, clean this place up."

Nuwa, still furious, opened her mouth to speak, but Fuxi immediately stepped in front of her, silencing the words before they could escape.

"Doctor Mobius, I apologize. On a personal level, my sister and I cannot agree with some of your philosophies and actions. But as warriors of Fire Moth, please rest assured, we will execute orders without compromise."

Fuxi spoke sincerely, offering both sides a way to de-escalate the awkward confrontation.

Perhaps normally, considering the difficulty of finding labor for her lab, Mobius would have tolerated it. After all, these two sisters... as Fuxi herself said, were indeed flawless when it came to executing orders.

So, rationally speaking, Mobius should have accepted the olive branch and ended the farce—based on Fuxi's experience, she definitely would.

But today's Mobius didn't seem like the normal Mobius, more like a Mobius who'd taken the wrong medicine.

She sneered for several minutes before finally speaking: "Fine! Fine... Klein, what was that saying from Hua's homeland again?"

"Wh-which saying?" Klein wrung her hands, studying Mobius closely. Mobius's eyelids were lowered, her teeth gnawing not at her black-keratin-coated fingernails, but at the flesh of her fingertips—she knew the Doctor was truly angry this time.

Though the anger seemed misplaced—from her knowledge of the Doctor, while irritable, she wasn't someone who angered so easily.

But out of instinctual obedience, relying on her tacit understanding with Mobius, she quickly found the phrase in her mind: "Dao bu tong bu xiang wei mou." (Those whose paths diverge cannot conspire together.)

"Right. Those whose paths diverge cannot conspire together. You can't understand me, and I don't care for your understanding, nor will I force you to stay. Go wherever you want. Go find Elvin, or Mei, or Michael. In short, starting now, both of you are fired from Mobius Labs!"

"Doctor!" Fuxi started to say more. Honestly, aside from ideological differences, Mobius had treated them well—plenty of leave, generous allowances, no刁难 (making things difficult). Being suddenly told to leave, the sisters felt a pang of reluctance.

But Klein was frantically signaling her, indicating further words were pointless—Mobius had made up her mind, irrevocably.

So, Fuxi could only pull Nuwa, who looked guilty knowing she'd messed up, bow to Mobius and Klein, and turn to leave.

"Wait a moment." Mobius suddenly called them back.

Just as Fuxi turned, thinking there might be a chance, she saw Mobius pointedly looking at the shattered tablet on the floor, occasionally clearing her throat.

"Doctor, is there anything else you wanted to say?" Fuxi asked hesitantly.

Klein blinked at her, pointing towards the tablet's remains.

Fuxi thought she understood and quickly bent down, reaching to clean up the debris.

But Mobius and Klein both cleared their throats simultaneously, confusing her completely.

Suddenly, inspiration struck. She immediately patted her chest and promised, "Doctor, rest assured, Nuwa and I will go to logistics and pay for this with our allowances. It won't be deducted from the lab's budget!"

Only then did Mobius nod satisfactorily, signaling the sisters could scram.

"Doctor? Doctor?"

Long after the two had left, seeing Mobius unresponsive, Klein worriedly waved a hand in front of her face.

"Tch!" Mobius suddenly snorted coldly.

She remained silent for another moment, then spoke with a hint of loneliness:

"Klein, did you know, Michael once told me that the reason I'm so 'cruel' is because I see humanity as a whole. And for the whole to survive, trimming some edges is entirely worthwhile. But he also said, one day, I would find that in my heart, there are certain 'individuals' whose weight, whose meaning, is more important than the whole. Klein, do you agree with him?"

"..."

This wasn't the first time Mobius had mentioned this phrase to her. Klein didn't know how to respond. From a purely rational standpoint, it was incorrect, of course. But no one could achieve true, absolute rationality.

At least for Klein, she agreed wholeheartedly—one can, and should, face the world rationally, but one must always keep a touch of sentimentality in their heart.

And she believed Mobius felt the same way; otherwise, she wouldn't remember it so vividly and mull it over repeatedly.

Receiving no answer from Klein, Mobius didn't seem to mind and continued speaking to herself.

"After all this time, I've only managed to find one and a half people..."

"One and a half? The 'one' must refer to Captain Michael, and the half... is it Doctor Mei?"

"Tch!" Mobius scoffed. "Why would you think Michael is the 'one'? And Mei, although she can understand... Hmph! Anyway, Mei doesn't count."

"..."

"The reason you think Michael is the 'one' is because you think he understands me? Heh, impressive that you see so clearly, but... understanding doesn't equate to agreement. He acknowledges the existence of this phenomenon, but he won't support me. Naturally, he can only count as the half!" Mobius lifted her head, her eyes filled with unmistakable pride.

But what Klein saw was the satisfaction of a malicious revenge.

She felt that what Doctor Mobius wanted most right now was for Captain Michael to be eavesdropping outside the door and overhear her words...

She hesitated, wondering if she should help the Doctor fulfill her wish by relaying this conversation to Michael...

But Mobius's next words stunned her—

"As for that one person... Klein, Blanka is gone, Fuxi and Nuwa are gone. From now on, in this lab, you're the only one left with me."

"..."

---||---

Bang!

The large door slammed shut violently. Then, several heavily armed soldiers pushed a huge, sturdy, rectangular black box further and further away. Dystopia didn't even need to look up; she knew the black box was headed to Mobius's lab.

Bang!

Thud!

Though the box resembled a coffin, its contents clearly weren't... deceased. Instead, the life within thrashed like a fish bought at the market and thrown into a garbage bag, desperately struggling for a chance at survival...

But a fish's fate is sealed the moment the net scoops it out.

And the fate of the life within the black box was sealed the moment it was laid on an operating table long ago.

"52..." Dystopia stated the number coldly from the bench outside the lab.

"8389..." Kosma added beside her.

They weren't speaking in riddles. Both numbers referred to the life inside the box. Dystopia gave today's number in the sequence, while Kosma gave... the total number.

The reason it was just a "number," and not "[failed sample number]"... was simple—because every single sample before this one had failed. Without exception.

Dystopia's only solace was that the surgeries for people she knew, like Aldemir and Evangeline, were scheduled last. Kosma's was tomorrow. Mei had said the experiments would stop once there was a single successful sample. There was still a chance...

And also...

"Kosma, your turn is still over ten hours away. Can't you... reconsider? It's not too late to back out!"

"...Why would I back out?" Kosma asked after a brief silence.

All of Dystopia's arguments caught in her throat.

[Why isn't she saying anything? Was my tone too harsh just now? No good, maybe I should... add something.]

"Dystopia, don't worry about me. Didn't you undergo the Meta-Morph surgery too? Aren't you fine?"

"That's different, Kosma..." Dystopia pressed her forehead, clearly distressed.

"I went through the screening models! And the Honkai Beast I fused with was only Emperor-class!"

"What difference does that make? I asked Michael. Even for you early MANTISes who went through screening, the success rate never exceeded thirty percent for anyone."

"Thirty percent is better than zero! Besides, for our screened batch, wasn't the actual success rate one hundred percent?"

"That was just your luck."

Seeing Kosma's resolve, Dystopia didn't know how else to persuade him.

She could only thrust her left hand into the bag beside her, tightly gripping a small box.

Bang!

"53." Dystopia stated emotionlessly.

She glanced at Kosma in surprise—why hadn't he followed up with the count?

Before the ominous feeling could fully surface, a man in a white lab coat emerged from the lab.

"Test Subject No. 8390, Kosma. Please come in."

Kosma stood up wordlessly and walked into the lab in a few strides.

Before the trembling in Dystopia's pupils could subside, the lab door closed, cutting off Kosma's retreating figure... abruptly severing him from her sight.

"But they said... Didn't they say tomorrow?" she muttered blankly, her words quickly swallowed by the long tunnel.

---||---

"Pardo-nee nee, quick, teach us how to climb the wall!"

"Hah— Why do you little ones want to learn this of all things?"

"Pfft!" Watching the noisy scene below, Elysia covered her mouth, almost spraying out the wine she was drinking from laughter.

Eden was drunk again. She held her wine glass in one hand, humming a tune Elysia had never heard. Her other hand pulled one gorgeous, sparkling trinket after another from her bag, chasing the light indoors and scattering them all over the room.

Aponia was silent as usual, but a careful observer would notice her gaze had been fixed on Pardofelis the entire time today.

This was the so-called sanatorium. The underground city had ample space; this facility covered an area equivalent to a university campus. Yet, apart from the children Aponia had initially brought, and Pardofelis, the rest of the place was eerily quiet.

"Watch carefully, watch carefully! I'm only demonstrating once!" Pardofelis crouched slightly, easily leaped onto the surrounding wall, flipped over, and then easily flipped back.

"My dear Aponia, is it really okay for Felis to do this? Let's hope we don't wake up tomorrow morning to find all the children have climbed the wall and run off." Elysia teased, leaning on the windowsill.

However, today's Aponia was exceptionally quiet. She merely chuckled softly and shook her head.

"Waah waah waah!" The children downstairs grew rowdy again. Pardofelis pulled handfuls of shiny candies from her bag and generously distributed them.

"Two for each person, don't take extra... Hey! How come there aren't enough? Who took extra? Step forward voluntarily!"

But the children weren't afraid of Pardofelis. A few boys in the crowd exchanged glances, made faces at her, and bolted.

"Stop! Give me back my candy!" Pardofelis immediately gave chase, forgetting her bag was still sitting there. The remaining candies were snatched up in an instant.

"Sigh... Felis is still so scatterbrained." Elysia took a sip of wine, her smile radiant.

Aponia blinked, then suddenly spoke, "Go on, Ely."

"Hm?"

"Haven't you noticed? Felis keeps glancing at you out of the corner of her eye. She has something she wants to say to you."

"...Aponia, I thought you'd bring up fate."

"While fate deserves reverence, I naturally prefer not to see those threads."

"..." Elysia put down her wine glass, stretched lazily, and relaxed. "Alright, my dear Aponia, I'll leave my good Eden in your care... Hey, right, can you handle it? There are so many children, after all!"

"Don't worry, Ely. Rin is helping look after the children."

Elysia glanced down out the window. Rin was sitting on a set of parallel bars, smiling as she watched Pardofelis playfully tussle with the children.

---||---

"Woah! Felis! This cat is so fat! Where did you find it?"

Walking back towards the residential area, Elysia shamelessly snatched the chubby cloud cat from Pardofelis's arms and buried her face in its fur for a good long sniff.

"By the way, Felis, have you named this cat?"

"Nah... It's not really my cat either. Cats should be free and easy; they don't need names."

"That's true..." Pardofelis's reaction was surprisingly calm.

She walked with her head down along the clean, neat asphalt road.

But somehow, the scenery before her began to change.

Wind rose, filling the air with yellow sand.

On a cracked concrete road, a small, thin girl buried the old man who had taken her in. Head bowed against the sandstorm, she walked aimlessly down the dusk-shrouded street.

Until, sensing something, she looked up and saw two similarly small figures walking towards her.

One grey, one pink.

"Ely-nee."

"What's wrong, Felis? You're especially quiet today!"

"...Ely-nee!" She stopped walking. Elysia took two more steps, then seemed to understand and turned around, still holding the cat.

"Um..." The words reached her lips, but she hesitated again.

She knew, given Ely-nee's fondness for her, that if she made the request, it would surely be granted.

But why should she seek this hardship?

She could have lived a carefree life, blissfully ignorant.

Even after coming to Fire Moth, no one would force her to fight or go on missions.

Michael would protect her, Ely would protect her, Kalpas would protect her, Hua would protect her... So many people would protect her. Why did she need to...

Wouldn't living out her life happily as a mortal be good enough?

But then she thought of the blood they shed.

She thought of Brother Michael's Artificial Cascade form.

She thought of Brother Kalpas, battered and bloody.

---|---

She thought of Hua, around her own age, bravely undergoing such a terrifying experiment...

"Ely-nee! Hehe... Can you give me a chance?"

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

"..."

"Um, do you think I have the talent to become a MANTIS?"

(End of Volume VI: The Year of Fire Moths)