21: Work in progress.

The Professor was an eccentric and somewhat odd fellow, but he had always been on the side of science, after all, he could research and create things that would have been considered science fiction or mere fantasy a thousand years ago. 

But the fact that his daughter had said so matter-of-factly that he had spoken to the ultimate being in the universe, one that he doubted existed, shocked and somewhat frightened him. 

He didn't think his daughter was lying, he knew that his daughter seemed to despise lying, besides the things she was capable of... sometimes he felt that the things Samus was doing were science fiction. 

From the time the girl understood how to receive signals from other universes and realities to watch television, to her encounter with this Ciri girl, his daughter had been heading down a strange and unexplored path that he didn't quite understand, even though he was the one who had given her the initial impulse in the first place.

When he was in the spaceship, at a safe distance from the dead planet, he never expected to see something that would shake the universe itself. Oh yes, the readings he scanned were insane, the scientists on Earth had gathered the next day to discuss what the hell it was. 

But the Professor didn't speak, didn't say a word about a silver pillar of light that seemed to be connected to the universe itself, giving off an immense amount of energy, so powerful and mysterious that he'd even heard rumors that it had disrupted other civilizations. 

He also knew about Samus's strange friends, something that even made him refrain from unethical actions such as favorably evaluating the ecosystems of planets that were about to be exploited in exchange for a hefty sum of money. 

The Professor's morals were flexible, but he wanted nothing to do with the ancestral mess of two species trying to kill each other in a bizarre game of evolution.

The fanatic of the forbidden series didn't like it but accepted it when they stopped talking about that infamous production and started discussing other topics, although he didn't know what the hell Hentai was, he didn't bother to research it either. Nor did he like the colossal being behind the wall of what we know as reality. 

Knowing that there was a colossal being with tentacles worthy of one of those old 20th-century stories that wanted to mate with all life in his universe... Well, nobody would be happy to have such a creepy stalker, would they? 

However, the questions he was allowed to ask this being helped him in his research on something that had stalled in his plans, something that would perhaps change the course of many things established in the land and its domains, but it was not necessary to think about that now. 

"Explain yourself," the professor articulated with some difficulty, he wasn't acting as he might have done if someone else had told him similar nonsense, he wanted to know what his daughter was referring to. 

"Hmm, well, first of all, God, yes, that God, exists. It's not surprising, that he doesn't care about humanity like people think, there's no grand plan or grand purpose. He doesn't act at all, because I think he's a bit lazy," Samus scoffed a little, and somehow, oddly, an owl, the bane of this almost new millennium, came up to her and pecked at her hand, as if chastising her for something.

"All right, don't scold me," Samus said and shooed the owl away, which made her companions and her father look at her even more strangely, Ciri even thought it was a joke from Samus if she understood correctly, there were gods, but not like the one Samus was talking about. 

"The thing is, I knew him from before, although we didn't talk much, and I'm not even a practitioner of any religion, but that doesn't matter to him. But he told me that our trip to another world had allowed him to meet beings on his level, and..." so Samus began to explain in detail her interaction with God to those present.

Of course, she hadn't told them about her reincarnation or anything like that, not because she didn't want to or couldn't, just because she didn't think it was necessary. Her present life carried much more weight with her than her past life, of which she remembered only a few things. When she had finished explaining, Doctor Zoidberg spoke first.

"Could you invite God over some time?" such a disrespectful question would only come from someone as innocent as the Doctor, who received a sharp slap on the back of the head from Hermes.

"Don't take God in vain" Hermes was from Jamaica, and although he spoke English, the Caribbean cultural influence was present, so he had a certain respect for God, even if it wasn't what others thought.

"But he strikes me as a cool guy, I might even invite him to my dumpster, you know, I've decked him out pretty well," the Doctor spoke, not understanding the implications of his words.

Amy patted her face, somewhat deaf to her colleague's naivety. She was Chinese, you know how that subject is for them, so she didn't say too much, preferring to keep quiet. Although her thoroughness as a budding scientist made her curious, she knew this was not the time for questions or problems.

"I had heard of the Lady of the Lake and other gods on my homeworld, although their existence was always disputed, it seemed that Geralt had had contact with such beings," said Ciri, who felt a genuine interest in the subject of God and adventures in such a vibrant magical world according to Samus' descriptions. 

The professor had been uncharacteristically quiet about all this, if things hadn't changed so much he'd probably be ranting about the absurdity of the idea and how science was superior to everything, but on the one hand, his daughter had worked wonders, he'd been the one who'd started the spark.

His daughter's friend was something of a time and space traveler at the expense of her supposed magic, something he was very critical of until he was shown otherwise. Even now, knowing that the Devil and the Robot God existed, she felt that there was an explanation, that everything had a logic, even if it was supernatural.

But was everything that encompassed the concept of God logical at all? No, the existence of such a great and indescribable God was simply a paradox, and perhaps that was why God was God. 

The Professor seemed to be about to say something, but no, he simply got up and left without saying goodbye, causing the somewhat cheerful atmosphere at Zoidberg's silliness to fade.

"I think the Professor might have a hard time with the existence of a being that overrides everything he has studied and researched with a simple 'I created it'," Amy said with some mockery in her tone, but it was obvious that those words were much more than just mockery, they were an extension of what she was feeling right now, at least deep inside. 

Even though she was a scientist, she wasn't as into science as the professor was, she had a life, so to speak, whereas the professor devoted almost all of his time to science. So even if it affected her, it wasn't as much as it affected the old man, after all, she was only 20 years old and the professor was easily over 150. 

Samus knew she had to talk to her father, but she wouldn't do it now, she had to give the man space to think things over, and then she would buy him a drink in the evening to talk about it calmly. On the other hand, Samus had to continue working on something that had taken her a long time but was making little progress. 

Half an hour later, Samus, Ciri, and Amy were in the blonde's lab, and while the latter was standing in front of a group of machines, Amy was taking notes while Ciri sat in a corner, watching curiously. 

"The parameters of this thing of yours are... I'm always impressed when I see it, but is it incomplete? Isn't it easier to just use nanomachines, or just keep it as the usual standard for this sort of thing? Why make it so... complicated?" Amy didn't understand Samus' ideas, she admitted that she might be smarter than the blonde, but she didn't have that weird spark of coming up with outlandish ideas all the time it ran in the family. 

"Oh, because I don't want it to be completely technological, and even if I use alchemy, my power isn't high enough to create what I want. This thing won't go anywhere near the outrageous level of the T-Path, into which I can input new abilities as I develop. No, this thing has to be the pinnacle from the start, and I just can't get around the obstacles it presents.

Sure, I could use technology or techno-alchemy to make degraded versions, but it wouldn't be the same. I can't follow the standard either, it would be so predictable and boring. Fortunately, the weapon is the easiest thing to make, because it's just an energy converter into certain forms that I can't access unless I'm willing to have a stroke".

Samus held the weapon she was talking about, a strange white elongated object with a nozzle the size of a fist. The object was the length of her arm as if it were part of something much larger and more sophisticated. 

Its structure was still incomplete, so the lines and symbols that had been carefully carved into it were still visible, but the lack of shine suggested that they had not been used. Still, the object's refined and delicate appearance caught the attention of the three girls.

"When you tested that thing in the ocean, you almost caused an uproar in the international community, luckily you have the support of the government, otherwise it would be terrible. The fact that you were commissioned to design a new energy rifle for the military was perhaps the best thing that came out of that situation," Amy said, pointing to a place in the lab where a strange weapon stood. 

It had the appearance of a normal rifle, but the shape was very slim, and very aesthetically pleasing, testing the weapon indicated a fairly high destructive capacity. And even without bullets, the weapon itself could be used as an energy grenade. Samus called the project Lantern, making a joke that only she understood. 

Around the lab were other works in progress, such as a modified floating skateboard, a strange green crystal in a glass box, and a metal hoop that was a portal that replicated the wall of reality, where no mechanical things could pass, only living or organic things. 

There was even a box made of a strange material whose label indicated that it was an experiment to create a micro-universe to harness its energy to power the laboratory and not pay so much light, an idea discarded because it seemed cruel to others, even to Samus. 

But this box served him to test some things related to space and time, which were found in the girl's storage room. There were also many vials of strange liquids, indicating Samus' painstaking efforts to research and improve her potions.

"Well, I'll at least wait to get some ideas or improvements on my alchemy before I start working with the energy fortress. I want it to... Interesting abilities," Samus said as she looked up at her unfinished work.

A hologram projected what she longed to create with her own hands and make far better than it could have been her power suit. Work she could have done by simply imitating exo-suits or using nanomachines, but no, she wanted to create something superior, even to that of the original story. 

What she wanted to create had to be the best, otherwise it wasn't worth it.