Herta had discussed Seele's situation in detail with Himeko, and had also communicated directly with the girl herself when Seele cooperated with her tests on the nature of Honkai energy.
Seele was an honest, good child. When asked about her origins and hometown, she answered everything—within the limits of White Seele's experiences and knowledge, that is.
Synthesizing the intelligence, Herta learned that the girl came from a star system called the 'Solar System'.
In the vast universe, countless star systems exist, and identical names occasionally occur. Civilizations usually differentiate them once they enter the interstellar age.
Herta scoured the Galaxy Map, examining every system related to the name 'Solar System', yet she couldn't find Seele's home.
She immediately found it peculiar.
This situation implied either the civilization hadn't reached the interstellar era, or the Solar System was a tiny, insignificant corner of the galaxy, perhaps even a star region untouched by Aeons and Paths.
The latter possibility was small, but not zero, and could overlap with the second scenario.
Regardless of the case, after understanding the true nature of the Stigma, Herta's expression couldn't help but turn somewhat dazed.
It felt like playing Civilization 6: encountering a primitive planet still in its barbaric age, finding a small village in a remote corner, and having the natives suddenly share the technology for controlled nuclear fusion with you.
Herta was completely baffled!
That was technology involving the special dimensions of Imaginary Space!
To directly grasp Imaginary Space through human will… its essence could even be seen as bypassing the Aeon (which might not even exist?) acting as the primary authority, mastering a fraction of a narrow Path.
Even if it was just a small part, how could this possibly be technology mastered by native villagers?
What kind of joke was this!?
The person who created this was definitely no ordinary individual!
Even if this person hadn't garnered the attention of Nous, they had to be an extraordinary scholar, a genius!
Therefore, when Caelus mentioned the name of the Stigma's creator, Herta instantly focused her entire attention.
"Want to know?"
Staring at Herta who was fixated on him, Caelus flashed the unique smile of someone squinting their eyes mischievously.
Caelus felt that judging the scientists of the previous civilization solely based on academic achievements was somewhat unfair.
After all, the circumstances of the Solar System and the universe of Star Rail were fundamentally different.
Screwllum, as the ruler of Planet Screwllum, possessed experimental resources that were incomparable, not to mention Planet Screwllum had long been connected to the interstellar network.
The edifices of knowledge across various disciplines had already been built by predecessors. Scholars merely needed to 'learn' and only had to climb further themselves after reaching the end of the existing structure.
But the edge of the Solar System wasn't just bordered by Imaginary Space; internally, it also contained the Cocoon of Finality. It was locked down tight, inside and out. Earthlings could only hunker down in their village and play a single-player game.
To use a vivid, though perhaps not entirely appropriate analogy: the most brilliant children living in major metropolises possess talents stunning enough to catch anyone's eye.
But could you say that a child living in a remote mountain area without even internet access, who discovered the Pythagorean theorem on their own, isn't a genius?
Leaping from the shoulders of giants versus leaping solely on one's own strength naturally results in reaching different heights.
Mobius might be slightly lesser in comparison, but if MEI were thrown into the Star Rail universe and allowed to absorb all the cutting-edge knowledge, Caelus was over ninety percent certain she would gain the attention of Nous.
"Beg me~!"
Faced with those amethyst eyes brimming with curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, it was hard for anyone to resist the temptation to say those words, not even Caelus, who considered himself quite "morally upright."
If it were anyone else facing Caelus's words, they might hesitate. But for a true genius like Herta, worldly concerns like shame were easily discarded.
Mere embarrassment? The great Lady Herta had optimized that away long ago.
"I'm begging you, please tell me~"
Hearing Herta's unexpectedly soft voice, Stelle's eyes widened in disbelief, followed by an expression that screamed, 'Learned something new! Learned something new!'
Next time Herta didn't use that tone to beg her, she wouldn't come!
Hearing the long-awaited plea, Caelus nodded in satisfaction.
"MEI. The primary leader behind the Stigma project, the greatest scientist of a certain planet's human civilization era, discovered the fundamental existence of five Parallel Truths..."
The first half of the sentence didn't matter much. A civilization's top genius, placed in the vast galaxy, could barely be said to hold a place. But the latter half piqued Herta's interest.
"Those five... keep talking, why did you stop?"
Herta looked up, puzzled.
Caelus pointed to his own head:
"You should know that both Stelle and I have amnesia."
Herta paused, then grew indignant. "I begged you, and you only give me this one sentence?"
And it was a sentence that had thoroughly hooked her curiosity!
Turns out this Caelus guy was just teasing her, stopping right at the climax.
"Ahem, that's all I can remember for now. I'll tell you more when I recall it later."
Caelus spread his hands with an expression suggesting she was getting a great deal. He wasn't intentionally stringing Herta along.
Information about Dr. MEI was scarce to begin with, and Honkai Impact 3rd never mentioned the Five Truths. Where was he supposed to know about them?
"Your begging wasn't entirely in vain, though! We promise to cooperate fully with your research. If you told us to lick feet, we wouldn't even put on stockings!"
"That's acceptable!"
Glancing at Herta's truly doll-like, exquisite bare feet, Stelle jumped up and raised her hand.
Herta's mouth twitched for a split second before she remembered that these two individuals in front of her had mental issues.
She'd heard from Asta that they'd even driven the space station's doctor to develop mental problems.
The situation was too bizarre. Asta and Himeko suspected things weren't as simple as they seemed.
Therefore, they had requested Herta, while researching Stelle and Caelus, to give the pair a thoroughly comprehensive physical examination to rule out any objective, physical cause for their condition.
With this thought, Herta turned her delicate face away, placed one hand on her hip, and pointed with the other towards a device brimming with technological flair.
"Lie down inside."
It was a silvery-white metal box, over two meters long, rectangular, wider at one end than the other. Its lid was adorned with the violet irises that Herta loved most.
The lid of the metal box slowly slid open, revealing intricate linear patterns inside. But the more Caelus looked at it, the stranger it felt.
"Why does this thing look so familiar?"
Hearing this, Herta frowned immediately:
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This is a brand-new diagnostic pod I specifically made to study you lot. How could it possibly look familiar?"
Caelus's bewildered expression gradually crumbled. "Isn't this damn thing just a coffin? What's with the coffin aesthetic?"
"What coffin? What are you talking about? Never mind, stop wasting time and get in!"
Ignoring whatever else Caelus wanted to say, Herta simply reached out with her small hand and pushed him from behind into the coffin-like diagnostic pod.
Stelle sighed and shook her head, adopting the posture of an elder worried about unruly juniors.
Very quickly, she reverted to the curious state of a one-year-old. She looked left and tapped right, discovering that the violet iris patterns could actually be edited. Her eyes lit up instantly.
Her small hands moved rapidly across the coffin lid, weaving the violet irises into a beautiful wreath shape on the surface.
Stelle knelt before the coffin, pounding the ground with her right fist, letting out a grief-stricken cry: "Caelus, my dear Caelus! How could you leave us like this?"
Stelle's cry was mournful and desolate, as if mourning a beloved younger brother or cherished husband at his funeral.
"Herta, I consent to the donation!"
Completely ignoring Stelle's antics, Herta focused intently on the projection screen monitoring the diagnostic process.
"Send Caelus's ashes to the Azure Star to be used as fertilizer! I'll join him in fifty... no, five hundred years!"
As expected of my other self!
Caelus revealed a gratified smile, like a father seeing his child finally grow up, and gave Stelle the middle finger.
What goes around comes around. Soon, the roles were reversed.
After completing the scan, Caelus was pulled out. He had to admit, lying in that coffin was surprisingly comfortable; he almost fell asleep.
Stelle was then kicked inside by Herta. The comfort, akin to soaking in a hot spring, quickly sent the one-year-old baby into a peaceful slumber.
Now she looks even more like a dead person~!
Caelus urgently requested the space station staff to bring food, arranging it like offerings before the coffin.
He opened his phone's camera, took the 'coffin' containing the 'dead' Stelle and the offerings as the background, and started happily taking selfies.
Ignoring Caelus's performance art, Herta stared intently at the two screens displaying the comparative analysis of Stelle's and Caelus's physical constitution results.
Surprise and astonishment flickered in her amethyst-like eyes, swiftly morphing into burgeoning excitement.
"This is... how could something like this happen!"
"Interesting! This is truly interesting!"
...
"Mmm."
March 7th paced back and forth in Asta's office, her usually cheerful and energetic face tight with worry. She clasped her hands together as if praying, swaying back and forth.
"I hope Stelle and Caelus are okay... No, wait!"
Suddenly realizing something, March 7th quickly corrected herself:
"I hope something is wrong with them!"
If it really was an objective illness caused by a strange virus, the genius Lady Herta could definitely cure it. But if they were physically healthy, it meant it was a mental problem that even a genius couldn't easily fix!
Hearing such a prayer made Dan Heng fall silent, while Himeko didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
An abrupt notification sound made March 7th stop pacing. Asta, who was processing documents, looked up at Himeko.
"It's here. It's from Herta."
Himeko picked up her phone, and the others gathered around her.
Herta: [Good news... oh wait, for you guys, it should be bad news. These two are perfectly healthy. No traces of consciousness-infecting viruses.]
Herta: [This kind of behavior (Two pictures attached: Caelus taking selfies in front of the 'coffin' and 'offerings'), is purely a mental issue.]
The pictures showed the coffin, encircled by a wreath of violet irises, with Stelle lying inside, eyes closed. The pod's interior lighting had been adjusted like a filter, rendering everything inside black and white.
Caelus was smiling brightly, his white teeth gleaming under the light, eating the 'offerings' placed before the coffin while taking a selfie.
If the genius Herta's conclusion that it was a mental issue felt like two nails, then these two photos were the hammer, driving those nails deep into everyone's hearts.
Everyone fell silent. Himeko covered her face with her hand.
Herta: [There's also something else, something very, very interesting.]
Seeing Herta use "very" twice, Asta's eyes widened, and Himeko raised an eyebrow.
Herta: [These two aren't siblings or twins at all. The two of them are fundamentally 'one person'!]
"Huh?"
March 7th, craning her neck to read the message, was completely stunned.
"Dan Heng, I think my Synesthesia Beacon might be malfunctioning."
"..."
A trace of bewilderment surfaced on Dan Heng's usually indifferent expression. "No, you read that correctly. Lady Herta did indeed say—Stelle and Caelus are one person."
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