A Three-Way Meeting
It had been some time since Gloria started learning martial arts.
Of course, she was still only twelve.
But a lot of her awkwardness had already faded.
Once she hit her teens and her body started to lengthen out, I bet her movements would become downright elegant.
Gloria was even picking up things like Muay Thai and kickboxing in no time at all.
She seemed interested in stand-up fighting, at least.
But she had no intention of learning ground techniques like jiu-jitsu or wrestling.
When I asked why, her answer was something else.
"Why would I roll around on the ground?"
It was as if, in a wuxia novel, rolling on the ground to avoid an opponent’s attack was the lowest form of humiliation imaginable.
Gloria, with all her pride and self-esteem, despised ground fighting.
"At least learn how to deal with it, just in case."
"...Fine."
After learning all those different fighting styles, Gloria seemed to be slowly finding some actual enjoyment in moving her body.
She always looked so bored, so seeing her train with real focus was genuinely moving.
But I still had one concern.
"You’re not planning to use any of the stuff you learned when you all meet, are you?"
"How many times are you going to ask that? I don’t care what livestock do."
"I-I see. That’s a relief, then."
Liberty, whom she’d fought before, had apparently passed Gloria’s test.
And Victory, too.
Anyway, as long as Gloria had given her word not to fight unless the others started something first, it was time to check on the other kids.
Next I went to Liberty’s cell, where she greeted me enthusiastically as always, still filthy as ever.
But now that was coming to an end.
Swish…
"Woof?! Woof, woof!!!"
"Liberty, you’re happy just from seeing this now?"
"Huff huff huff!!!"
I’d spent a long time thinking about what kind of gift I should give Liberty.
But when I considered Gloria and Victory, there was no real reason to make the kids dependent on material things.
So I pulled a brush from my pocket and combed through Liberty’s shaggy hair.
"Grrrrr… purrrrrr…."
Her hair was almost half-curly, so it didn’t brush out easily.
Still, when I let her rest her head on my lap and brushed her hair, she liked it so much she started practically purring.
Even when a junior staff member in protective gear came in to clean the room, she didn’t pay them any mind.
"T-thank you so much again, Maxwell-sama!!"
"You worked hard."
I had no idea why the staff member was thanking me.
Was it time to talk about the three-way meeting?
I casually tested Liberty on the plan.
"Grrrr… growl…."
"So you’d be okay seeing those two again?"
"Huff huff… woof!!"
Thankfully, Liberty let out a bark that seemed to mean she didn’t care one way or the other.
Then came the last one: Victory.
She was the first to bring up the idea of all of us living together.
And among the kids, she was also the easiest one to talk to.
I told the girl, who welcomed me brightly, that the time had finally come.
But was the fact that she’d have to meet Gloria again causing her multiple personalities to lose control?
Even with me standing right there, Victory’s eyes started spinning in circles, and she suddenly began acting strange.
"W-well, even better. If everything goes right, this time too—"
"No! I really hate that girl!"
"Yeah, revenge!! Let’s take revenge!!"
"I just want to kill her…."
"But she’s too strong. Victory can’t beat her."
"It’s Maxwell-sama’s request, at least."
"That’s right. If we’re going to live together, there’s no helping it."
Victory’s personalities were colliding with one another.
It was the first time I’d ever seen her like this, so I was startled.
But it was the same thing as saying she really, really didn’t want to see Gloria.
So I waited calmly, and eventually Victory’s head suddenly drooped forward and her body went rigid.
Then, as if that bizarre moment had never happened, she slowly lifted her head.
She smiled brightly at me and spoke.
"Victory will meet them both!"
"Yeah, thank you. Really."
"Heeheehee! I’m looking forward to it!"
The white rabbit looked as though she were forcing herself to sound happy.
Still, I guess the real preparations were finally done.
I’d already asked the logistics staff to arrange the place where the three of them would meet.
I was honestly pretty nervous.
But in the end, every Himalaya has to be climbed.
Still, just in case something went wrong, I pulled out the business card I’d been given earlier.
******************
Sometime after I got the kids’ promises.
The meeting room had been expanded from before.
It had even been remodeled into three separate rooms.
And I’d already had all three children placed inside.
While I gave them a little time to adjust to the unfamiliar space, Security Director Yoon Carter, standing beside me, studied the lab interior with clear interest.
"To be honest, I thought this would take more than a year… but you’ve already gotten this far?"
"I’m just grateful the kids listen to me so well."
The security director had told me I could contact him anytime if I needed help.
So I’d done exactly that.
He’d taken a real interest in the children’s meeting, and it seemed the ticket I’d been offered for requests had not been used up.
The reason was simple.
"If I could, I’d love to raise those little monsters into special agents. What a pity. Especially…."
The security director wanted to make Gloria, whose promising green shoots had not merely turned yellow but blackened, into his successor.
I could sort of understand why he’d think that way.
So we stood there together, making idle conversation while watching the children.
Slowly, the time for the meeting drew near.
My palms were already slick with sweat.
Finally, I operated the small remote with my damp hand, and the black curtain blocking the children’s view slowly rose.
Gloria, Liberty, and Victory all looked at one another.
As expected, they were all scowling.
Especially Liberty and Victory, who were glaring hard at Gloria….
"It looks like that little brat has become the public enemy of mutants."
"I really, really hope they don’t fight. Still, the first impression seems all right."
Why are you staring like that?
...Fortunately, none of that happened.
Gloria just yawned as if she were bored.
After that, the well-fed predator paid the wolf and rabbit’s stares no mind at all.
The atmosphere was still chilly, but now it was time to move on to the next stage.
Beep!!
Whirrrrrr….
When I hit the remote again, even the reinforced glass separating them sank down into the floor.
Now there was nothing left between the three of them.
I’d been worried Liberty and Victory might team up and attack Gloria, but…
Liberty lifted a foot and then stopped.
Victory kept flinching.
They were still listening to my request not to fight.
I let out a sigh of relief and glanced to the side, where Director Carter was watching with the expression of a man having the time of his life.
Our eyes met.
Then the director grinned and gave me a shove in the back.
"Go on, Maxwell. Head in."
"Haah… I guess I have to, in the end."
"It’s always better to take the beating first."
He was a security director who could not only transfer damage from himself but could also partially transfer other people’s injuries.
Listening to his encouragement that he’d protect me if they started fighting, I stepped into the meeting room, which was steadily becoming a land of death.
At once, all the children’s attention snapped to me.
Of the three, Liberty and Victory both lit up the moment they saw me.
Liberty, especially, rushed straight toward me as if she were about to leap into my arms like before.
But now there was a very powerful rival in the way.
Ping───!!!
"Maxwellniiiiiiiim!!"
"Yip?!"
Victory, who had the power of acceleration, reached me and clung to me even faster than Liberty.
But was it because her place had been stolen?
Liberty’s face froze in pure shock.
But she immediately seemed to decide she couldn’t lose and clung to me just as quickly.
"Grrrrrrrrr…."
"Eeeeeek…."
Thud! Thud-thud!!
So the black wolf and the white rabbit growled at each other in my arms.
But perhaps they knew that if they truly fought like this, the puny non-powered human in the middle might get hurt.
So instead they just hurled weak, warning kicks at each other and glared with open disgust.
The problem was that I was the one suffering, carrying two ten-year-old girls at once.
For the moment, I hurriedly checked Gloria’s reaction.
"Hah."
Thankfully, Gloria just looked on with an expression that said this was beyond ridiculous.
And the very first thing she said when our eyes met was—
"You’re all just beasts, aren’t you."
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
"Whaaaat! Did you just say that to our faces?!"
Liberty and Victory both hissed at Gloria after hearing her nasty comment.
***************
The children’s three-way meeting was unexpectedly successful.
What was especially interesting was that, once you looked closely, Gloria had basically become a bystander.
The relationship between Victory and Liberty, who were competing over me, looked far worse.
Once again, I was reminded of the old saying that you can never see even one step ahead in life, and I brought the children back to their cells.
Anyway, from now on I planned to keep setting up these three-way meetings so they could get used to one another completely, and then I’d ask the director to arrange a place where they could all live together.
After climbing the Himalayas today, I collapsed in my office.
Everyone else already knew about the three-way meeting I’d held, so nobody bothered to approach me.
I just floated through the rest of the day like a salaried freeloader.
Then, a little later, Amano came over to me and told me something.
"Um… Senior Maxwell? The finance chief says she’d like to meet you right now."
"Huh? Why would she…."
The key executive in charge of Black Cell’s money was calling for me.
But the finance chief held such a high position that even the director couldn’t treat her carelessly, and field researchers like me never had any reason to meet her at all.
She was famous for being something of an island even among the executives.
So why in the world was she looking for me?
Well, I had time on my hands.
I headed straight for the finance chief’s office.