We Go Together
Well, anyway, through one means or another we had this honest, deeply meaningful conversation, and things proceeded this way and that.
And somewhere along the line — I have no idea why, since half my field of vision was blocked by Ilena's titanic chest pillar — the perpetually growling Ilena and Cervello seemed to find some smooth point of compromise with their eyes, just outside my line of sight.
Squish squish squish squish...
"So very soft. May I hug you as well?"
"That is our Doctor, madam."
"Oh, come now. This is hardly an official occasion, and there's no one watching — let's touch him together."
"...Only for a moment."
"NOOOOHHH!!!"
The two of them kept shoving their enormous faith-pillows and coolness-pillows into my face until I could barely breathe, grabbing and stretching my mushy, springy cheeks without mercy, prodding and kneading my limbs and body — subjecting their victim to a truly spectacular amount of stress, mind you...
But perhaps thanks to my sacrifice(?), we ended up having not a diplomatic probe, but a genuinely honest, deeply substantive exchange. Before we knew it, our relationship had grown far more fruitful and constructive than either of us had originally expected — a bond clearly maturing with time invested.
And, well, it's worth reiterating here: as 'Dr. Midori' and the other veterans had warned, the Saint Selection Rite itself was admittedly dangerous — even Cervello acknowledged that she herself was at risk...
"So when is this Selection Rite, exactly~?"
"Hmm. At the very earliest, from the current date? At least two to three years out, I would say."
"Two to three years, then."
"That is what I'm telling you. On a personal note, I expect it won't even begin until five years have passed. Unless, of course, our current Saint or the Holy Son suddenly ascends into an Outer God and twists apart, or dies in a war against some other faction, you understand."
"Fair point. Once it begins, the entire Babel Cult's sphere of influence trembles... so even from the Cult's standpoint, there is a great deal to prepare. Pulling it off in a short window would be difficult."
"Ooooh, I seeee."
That was that.
As it turned out, all the frantic alarm aside, the Saint Selection Rite would begin at the earliest two to three years from now. According to Cervello herself — the woman actually involved — barring something extraordinary, it would likely be five years before things kicked off.
So from our perspective, the reaction was essentially 'oh, so there's no need to freak out right this second, is there?' — and our collaboration with the Babel Cult's Milano branch proceeded at a brisk clip.
Of course, if things went this way, there was the slight problem that in five years at the longest, we'd inevitably be reeling and suffering under the fallout of the Babel Cult's Saint Selection Rite...
"Future suffering is for future me to bear, not current me!"
"That statement is the very embodiment of short-sighted thinking incarnate, Doctor."
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you? That's quite violent phrasing."
It wasn't so much a 'we can do it!' attitude as a situation absolutely stuffed to the brim with the thought that we had no idea whether we were even well-off enough to answer for a future measured in years.
In my heart of hearts, I trusted that we would keep steadily growing until then, and that Ilena and the others would somehow manage things — and with that faith, we committed to a full-fledged collaborative relationship.
And so, the day after that chaotic meeting ended — the day after Branch Director Cervello, in a final act, attempted to suffocate me with four colossal chest pillars — she departed.
"Doctor, I have a report."
"Mm-hmm."
"Over ninety percent of the various experimental equipment formerly on Milano-V has completed relocation. The Black Scourge production facilities are sixty-five percent relocated."
"That's faster than I expected? How did you manage it so quickly?"
"For the experimental equipment, we simply tore the Milano-V branch building apart wholesale and hauled it over, then set it on the rooftop of the government administrative building."
"...Why does that sound like a penthouse? And those were in a basement originally! What do you mean, you left them on the roof?!"
"There is no need for concern, Doctor. Those facilities have since been installed in the underground levels of the central administration building through separate construction work."
"Ah. Then that's a relief."
All of the equipment from our old branch facilities on Milano-V had, it seemed, been delivered — over ninety percent of it — to the Milano branch headquarters that now served as our 'central government administration building.'
To be precise, everything except the 'emergency generator' line of equipment that didn't need to be moved right away had arrived. And so, the moment I heard the delivery was complete, I decided it was time to make up for lost time with the various biological experiments and body modifications I hadn't properly indulged in recently.
Granted, in my original reality I'd never wanted anything of the sort, never once gone looking for tastes in that category, so a small part of me did wonder how on earth I'd ended up like this...
"Honestly, no point sweating the small stuff, is there."
Think about it rationally — being suddenly possessed by a game and forced to run a galaxy-conquering simulator in the first place.
Or abruptly turning into a TS girl and getting nade-nade'd with an utterly 'raaahr' attitude by everyone around you — from the ground up, the whole situation was bizarre.
Which meant there was no more useless an activity than standing around now, complaining about it.
At that point I shook my head, resolved not to bother with thoughts like these going forward, and decided to proceed with the biological experiments as originally planned.
Naturally — and this goes without saying — conducting biological experiments did require living, breathing test subjects...
"Doctor, shall I then prepare the political prisoners and other death-row inmates currently on standby?"
"Please, I'm begging you, don't."
"Then how do you intend to conduct the experiment...?"
"No, I'm just going to run modification experiments on Woolongi! I'll scale things down, not up!"
"Ah, understood. But is one Ouroboros chimera sufficient?"
"Of course! That thing perfectly possesses the three essentials of a biological test subject: durability, regeneration, and responsiveness!"
After all, we had none other than Woolongi the Human Wheel — the G.O.A.T. of test subjects.
For indulging my little pleasure of running modification experiments, there was no need to pointlessly drag in fresh test subjects and fiddle with them.
However, there was one thing I hadn't thought of here — something I'd normally done without a second thought, and so forgotten — and that was...
Just yesterday, I'd spent the entire day getting pawed and smothered by Branch Director Scala Cervello and Ilena. And just moments ago, I'd let my mind wander into useless tangents, leaving my heart in a subtle turmoil when I started working.
When the modification experiment began, our Woolongi had unquestionably been a grotesque human centipede — five pairs of arms and five pairs of legs, wheeling about in Ouroboros mode whenever mobility was required.
But roughly five hours after I entered a state of perfect detachment from all worldly things, let my mental leash go slack, and cheerfully carried on with the work...
"Phew, done! Oh, right. Gotta take it out."
I unlocked the special chamber — built for a rigorously sterile environment — where I'd sealed Woolongi while gleefully performing the modifications, and let it see the bright light of the surface world.
KU-BOOM!
"Mama."
"...Doctor?"
"...Yeah, we're screwed."
The Woolongi that had sported five pairs of arms and five pairs of legs — a structure that could shift into Ouroboros Human Wheel mode and roll around securing mobility whenever needed — was gone without a trace.
In its place stood a hulking, enormous black giant, as if the bodies of five humans had been fused into one, calling out 'Mama' to me through a vocal cord it had never been given.
Both I — and even Ilena standing beside me — were, for a single instant, utterly unable to hide our bewilderment.