"Look! This is my new creation. A quantized, living Stigma Battlesuit. You just wear this device on your waist, then push this cartridge to make contact!"
Tesla was showing off her latest product to her best friend.
Although Tesla's biological aesthetic sense was starting to converge with Noldrei's, her taste in non-living things still reflected the engineering-student preferences that Noldrei found rather unimpressive.
With a synthetic, mechanical voice, the device announced: [Homology Start!]
The Stigma Battlesuit materialized around Tesla in a flash of light unique to the Quantum State. Tesla had even fitted this particular suit with a full metal helmet and mask.
Two long, red twin-tails hung down from the back of her head.
'Why the twin-tails?!' Einstein complained internally.
If you're going to wear a helmet, why leave the twin-tails exposed? Is it so the enemy can grab them and punch you in the face? Wouldn't it be better to cover everything up?
"Unfortunately, he's not a fan of this kind of suit. I thought it might pique some special... interest... and maybe get a rise out of him."
Tesla was genuinely disappointed. If she were a man, she would definitely lose control seeing herself like this. How could anyone refuse a beautiful mecha-girl?
'So it was a kinky suit?!' Einstein covered her eyes. She could no longer look at her foolish electrician friend the same way again.
"So, what do you think, Einstein? You think this battlesuit has potential? I bet it'll be a bestseller, and then we can collect even more people's genetic information!"
Tesla could already see a future where people were lining up to buy this thing, obediently handing over their genetic information in the process.
Regardless, the mecha suit Tesla had created was undeniably in line with popular aesthetics.
Einstein had to agree that no one would refuse a Kamen Rider suit with an Iron Man texture, especially with its corresponding quantization tool for quick and easy transformation anywhere.
She nodded in agreement. "Indeed. I think we could make a fortune with this. I bet even the Sovereign would want to buy one for his collection."
Tesla laughed awkwardly. "Actually, this was Welt's idea. At first, I thought a living, skin-like suit would be enough. I didn't see the need for extra external decorations. It's such a waste of resources."
Einstein was now a little uncertain. Could this be Welt slipping his own preferences into the design?
It was just like that time against the Second Herrscher, when he insisted on building a giant robot when a simple, pot-lid-like mobile weapon would have sufficed.
'Don't tell me the Sovereign really intended to slip his own preferences in?'
With the giant robot precedent, Einstein really couldn't be sure.
"Ein, there's more! Let me show you! This is my newest skill."
Tesla immediately retracted the battlesuit and began her showboating once more.
Einstein hadn't yet registered what her friend was planning to do.
She could only watch as Tesla underwent a drastic transformation. Black fur sprouted all over her body, and her spine began to shift with sickening cracks. She dropped to all fours as her hands and feet warped into different shapes.
Vaguely, Einstein could see organs bulging and moving under her skin.
Tesla's transformation process was much smoother this time. At least it wasn't a direct genetic mutation like the first time, which had looked like someone being hit by nuclear radiation—skin twisting and peeling off, her body dissolving into something truly horrific.
The overall effect back then had been ten times more terrifying than what was happening now.
"FUCK!" Einstein watched as Tesla's eyes elongated and even rotated upside down at extreme angles, becoming wider and more flexible, like an animal's.
Einstein rolled behind the sofa, ready to find a chance to escape from this bizarre version of Tesla.
This time, the transformation was a success. Her lower body was animal-like, with four flexible limbs. Her upper body, like a centaur's, retained a pair of dextrous human hands.
Animal eyes are different from human eyes. Human eyes can only move up, down, left, and right. But animal eyes can rotate within their sockets, meaning an animal can tilt its head while keeping its vision perfectly level with the horizon.
This was the case for Tesla. She was gradually getting used to this animalistic visual sense. With her own enhancements, the effect was far superior to that of a normal animal, allowing her to observe her surroundings from multiple directions while performing tasks.
In theory, as long as your cognitive system captures enough information, you can multitask with those systems, similar to typing with two hands on a keyboard.
It was just that the effect of the transformation had rather frightened her good friend, Einstein.
"Einstein, don't worry. I'm not turning into a Herrscher's consciousness to fight humans. This is just to show you what kind of changes I can bring about now that I can control electrons at the microscopic level."
A creature with a goat's head, a semi-human torso, and four extra goat hooves.
This was in no way a form a normal human should take.
"Haven't you considered covering your chest? I've seen centaurs on TV wearing bras," Einstein deadpanned.
Her ability to accept things was quite strong. After confirming Tesla was okay, she began to wonder if her friend had been through some kind of trauma.
Tesla's black goat head looked down at her replicated body. Such things no longer mattered to her. Noldrei had already seen her naked many times during her transformation experiments anyway.
"It's fine. It's just a body. No matter how much I cover up, I can still see the fungus on people's bodies. What's the point of this kind of concealment? Sooner or later, I will liberate all humanity from this pointless charade!"
"Join us, Ein! With your level of research in the quantum field, you're sure to shine in Academy City. The Honkai will be a piece of cake. The entire universe, even parallel worlds, could be our playground!"
Tesla extended a passionate invitation.
Einstein pressed a hand to her forehead. She felt Tesla had become as radical as a warmonger.
What had given her such audacity?
But Einstein considered things just a little bit more than Tesla. At the very least, she couldn't just abandon the people of Anti-Entropy.
She had only had her body accidentally modified, becoming a being with a lifespan far beyond that of a normal person. She hadn't become a non-human life form. It was different from Tesla, whose cognitive and operational systems had been completely changed.
In Einstein's eyes, the Herrscher-fied Tesla was infinitely close to the alien ideology of "the individual is the collective."
"When I create the Will of the Honkai life form!"
Tesla grew more and more excited as she spoke, as if she could already see the moment she would crush the Honkai. Suddenly, a tentacle descended from the sky and whipped her across the body.
To Einstein's astonishment, the black goat Herrscher collapsed in a heap, tongue lolling out, lying on the ground. Her four legs twitched as she let out a strange, bleating "Baaaaa..."
Noldrei emerged, scolding her as he walked.
"Wretched creature, spreading your repro-colonialist (Proliferationism) ideology at home all day. I only put a little of it into practice, and you, you idiot, are actually starting to treat it as gospel? You're asking for a whipping, aren't you! You even tried to drag the top researchers of modern human society down with you. Give you an inch and you'll tear the roof off!"
Einstein felt like she had just heard an incredible new concept.
What on earth was "repro-colonialism"?
As a scientist, Einstein's first instinct was to consider the question.
She glanced at the unlucky Dr. Tesla. She felt Tesla might have been wronged. Tesla had clearly, genuinely believed that Noldrei was doing what he truly wanted. She had even intended to raise His Majesty's great banner high. And a perfectly good physicist had ended up like this.