Chapter 25: Concerns

Aleph looked around the repurposed hangar. It has been officially "his" since a month ago. The stalking attempt made by Vill-V made him realize the importance of having his own base. 

With the authority of Einstein as the institute director, it was given to him easily.

"I didn't think it through before…"

Beside the nuclear-powered suit, there lay a huge blue greatsword. It emitted cold air around it. 

[Nitro Crystal: A greatsword created within a certain organization. Its basis was a synthetic nitrogen crystal mixed with several minerals. Its attacks inflict cold traces.]

It was the reward that Aleph got when he "broke" the record.

"It's unfamiliar… but some of its parts feel familiar."

These contradictory thoughts made him conflicted when he first analyzed it. The blade has a flair of the second and third institute combined. Only, there wasn't any kind of technology present to explain how the nitrogen synthesis was made.

Aleph shook his head. He focused on the nuclear-powered suit. Its black body filled with silver lines emphasized its sharpness. Several grooves were present all over its body.

"An entire month… Fire MOTH's technology should've been on-par with my past life." 

The complete set of materials were gathered a month ago. Most of its parts were created inside the third institute under no strict records whatsoever. Only the nuclear reactor was made inside this hangar.

Click-!

Swoosh-!

One by one, the nuclear suit on the stand began to be disassembled by several mechanical arms. When only the foot portion remained on the stand, Aleph climbed on the pedestal and wore them.

Slowly, the mechanical arms started piecing the suit together in his body. Sometimes, they get stuck, though they were easily fixed by the remote in his hand.

Click-!

With the final click on his helmet, it was finished.

"Three minutes… I really need to learn how to make it faster."

A Graphical User Interface started appearing in his sight. A familiar blue-font text was typed out on the 'screen'.

[Interface booting successful.]

[Detection]

[Arsenal]

[Status]

[Configuration]

One by one, the sections inside the GUI popped up.

Aleph tried grasping his fist. Small metallic noises resounded as he did so. He tested whether the suit affected his movements.

"It's quite stiff. I expected it to be better. Nevertheless, it's good enough for a fight."

Aleph gestured his right arm towards the metal slab. It was badly battered with all the previous strength tests he did.

His eyes moved to the [Arsenal] section. The helmet itself contained an eye-tracking feature to control the suit itself.

[Guns]

[Artillery]

[Missiles]

[Energy Compression Beam]

Several options appeared in his sight. Aleph did not hesitate to choose the [Guns]. After a while, he selected his chosen weapon.

The suit's fingers had their ends displaced. It revealed the hidden gun barrels in his hands.

Then…

Bang-!

Bang-!

Bang-!

Bang-!

Bang-!

Five noticeable bullet marks appeared on the poor metal slab. Smoke rose up from his fingers. His feet were also pushed slightly from their original position.

"The delay is too dangerous. I need to come up with an assistant of sorts. There's also the recoil and its force distributing framework that needs more work.

Just then, electric sparks exploded from his right arm.

Beep-!

Beep-!

Beep-!

A red warning sign appeared on the GUI. Aleph promptly selected the [Status] section. A three dimensional model of the suit was presented. His entire right arm was filled with the color of red.

[Debugging…]

[Debugging complete.]

[Source of Error: RS-01 Weapon Module.]

For now, it seems like his idea of bringing the nuclear suit to fight would be shelved for a while.

*****

Fifth research institute.

Their main research direction is the possible integration of honkai genes to humans. It resulted in their studies to lean more towards honkai biology.

Compared to the modern aura from the third institute, the fifth institute is more akin to a biological lab. Its temperature is slightly lower compared to normal. No stored specimens were seen by Aleph on his way to Mobius' lab.

It has been a month since he started visiting this place. He knew that most of the specimens were stored in controlled areas. On the surface, it looks like a normal research institute with colder temperatures.

"Sir Aleph. Doctor wanted to tell you to get ready for another experiment."

"A live one? Alright."

The green-haired girl in front of him was Mobius' sole assistant, Klein. She was only 150cm tall, 15 centimeters shorter than Aleph. When they met for the first time, he seriously doubted whether Mobius' shady deeds were true. Klein's height was easily mistaken as a child's.

Later on, he found out that Klein was her bonafide assistant—someone with a doctorate in the field of biology.

"Ah, yes. I left the treats in the lounge. You can share it with others if you want."

"Thank you, Sir Aleph."

The green-haired girl opened the door for him. It revealed a dim room filled with notes and other lab apparatuses. 

In one of the desks, Aleph saw Mobius having her lunch. The latter promptly looked back at him after finishing her cup of ramen in one go.

"You're just in time."

"It's the same thing again."

Aleph pointed out her lunch. He had seen Mobius' horrendous eating habits during his first day. The budget cut affected the canteen of their fifth institute, hence they could only eat outside or bring food from outside.

For some reason, Mobius viewed eating outside as a waste of time. The same went for ordering any kind of outside food. She would rather save up for her research funds instead of eating well.

Aleph felt it was inappropriate to point it out before. Now that they had been working for a month, he decided to step up.

"What of it?"

"Here."

He placed the plastic bag filled with several lunch boxes.

"These should be enough for a day. Miss Klein, I'll give you one of my credit cards. It has a fixed credit limit, but it should be enough to order for an entire month."

As he let out a series of words, the two women inside the room fell silent.

*****

A/N: Welp, here's the debt chapter from yesterday. I couldn't write yesterday, so now it is.