Chapter 46: If We Have Children

"Hey, chicken-head, do you really believe the nonsense Cocolia was spouting?"

On the way to the top of the snow mountain base, Tesla took advantage of the lack of onlookers, grabbed Einstein's arm, and asked sneakily.

Einstein snapped out of her thoughts, her deep blue eyes shifting towards Tesla, and replied calmly:

"She didn't say she couldn't do it, but she said she didn't have the time to do it."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"It means that she didn't treat us as fools who could be appeased with sweet words. Instead, she tried to prove with facts and logic that she couldn't have been the leader of the experiment."

"...Speak plainly!"

Tesla hated witty remarks. If it's yes, it's yes, and if it's no, it's no. What's the point of rambling on? It's just a waste of time!

The main problem is that she often gets confused and ends up being tricked!

So, isn't it better for everyone to be straightforward in what they say and do?

Einstein sighed helplessly under Tesla's angry glare and said:

"Cocolia didn't brush us off but presented facts and reasoned logically. Her reasoning makes sense and is hard to disprove. Next, we'll meet the person involved. The information obtained from the child should be more valuable than our remote investigation."

"Tsk! Anyway, I don't believe that vixen! Although Protocol Three is impressive, and this disaster was handled beautifully... I'll keep an eye on her. If she dares to desecrate Joyce, I'll make her pay!"

Tesla ruffled her hair as they reached the top floor exit and entered the passcode without another word.

"Swoosh!"

The wind and snow from the mountaintop rushed in, the biting cold instantly frosting the previously warm and comfortable passage.

Tesla and Einstein quickly donned the warm down jackets prepared by Cocolia, slightly resisting the cold.

"Achoo! What the heck! Why is that child staying in such a place? Is Cocolia abusing the child?"

Tesla sniffed, her nose and cheeks reddening from the cold. She quickly stuffed her delicate and smooth red ponytails into her clothes, wrapped herself in a hood, and completely hid herself in the coat she had just mocked for being tacky.

Einstein rolled her eyes imperceptibly, made some adjustments to keep warm, and then began to walk out onto the vast snow terrace formed by the base's roof.

They trudged forward through the heavy snow that blocked their vision.

Finally, just as Cocolia had told them in advance, they saw the little girl at the edge of the roof's snow terrace.

She sat in a snow-free circular area, wearing a thin, white, cute long dress, quietly gazing at the sleeping snow mountain, like a holy, pure, impeccable, and lovely flower.

"Ninti..."

Einstein couldn't help but call out the name Cocolia had told them.

The girl then turned her head to look at them, her clean and flawless purple eyes appearing particularly empty.

Einstein and Tesla saw her true face, a delicate face, dreamy golden hair, and purple eyes, with shiny and smooth skin as if made of jade, as delicate and lovely as fiction.

Then the wind and snow suddenly stopped.

Einstein and Tesla were stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked around, where the snow continued flying in the distance.

It wasn't that the wind and snow had stopped; an invisible force spread to where they were standing, like a round shield, diverting the strong wind and drifting snow. Even their clothes and the snow under their feet were unaffected.

Though the temperature remained very low, they felt much warmer in this environment.

'What a skilled technique; this isn't an uncontrollable experimental subject at all, even more skilled than the newborn Herrscher. It's just like...'

Like Joyce back then. Einstein's heartbeat paused uncontrollably. After a long time, she calmed down and smiled faintly at Ningdi.

"Hello, we are..."

"Lisel, Frederica."

Ninti's small lips moved, and she read out their names in a soft and ethereal voice, using their first names instead of surnames.

Einstein and Tesla were both stunned.

Tesla asked subconsciously:

"Do you know us?"

Ninti looked at them with empty eyes, slowly tilted her head, and then pointed to her heart woodenly.

"Here, it tells me your names, tells me I know you. It feels comfortable to see you here... but these are not my memories. I don't know you. So, who am I?"

Ninti lowered her head with a dull expression, slightly frowning her slender eyebrows. There was no emotion in her words, yet it evoked sadness and pity.

Einstein slowly clutched her chest, her legs softened in disbelief, and she stepped back.

Tesla quickly stepped forward, placed her hands on Ninti's weak shoulders, and asked in a hurried and shocked tone:

"Are you saying you have Joyce's memories!?"

"That's my source. I'm familiar with him, but I'm not him."

"Genes... and memories... No, it's impossible. He's a Herrscher, but it seems that..."

Tesla's pupils trembled as she grasped Ninti's shoulders tightly. Amidst her thoughts of horror and disbelief, an unstoppable hope grew rapidly like a tree.

Ninti stared at Tesla in a daze, without any reaction.

Until Einstein stepped forward, pried Tesla's hands off, and then sat with Ninti on the eaves above the snow-capped mountains.

"You are sitting here alone. What are you looking at?"

"I'm not looking at anything. It's just very quiet here, just like when I hadn't yet emerged from the incubator. It's comfortable."

"Are you confused?"

"Yeah. I've been wondering what I am, but my mother can't answer me. I know you are very smart, so do you know?"

Ninti looked up at Einstein, her mechanical and empty purple eyes like clean, transparent, and fragile glass.

Einstein smiled softly, unable to resist touching the top of Ninti's head. Finding no resistance, she smiled even more deeply and said:

"This is one of the most complicated and simplest problems in the world. Many people can't figure it out until the day they die. However, Joyce figured it out, so you can too."

"Really?"

"Of course, I won't lie to you."

Einstein smiled very gently.

Ninti gazed at her smile, then raised her hands and held Einstein's soft, tender little hands.

"I like you."

Ninti said, the light and childish words coupled with her dull expression, making her sincerity particularly poignant.

Einstein's smile brightened, but a tear slipped from the corner of her eye unconsciously.

'Joyce, is this what you wanted to say to me? If you were still alive, maybe we would have had a child...'

Einstein knew that Ninti wasn't exactly like Joyce. Ninti's origin was a darker and unacceptable human experiment, but Einstein couldn't help but fantasize about it.

Tesla also sat carelessly on the other side of Ninti, put one hand on Ninti's shoulder, and said crisply:

"Don't listen to the chicken-coop-head's nonsense. Thinking about such ghost questions is useless. The most important thing is to be happy, understand?"

"Happy?"

"Yes! Be happy, be joyful, and face every day cheerfully, so there will be no regrets!"

"Then... how can I be happy?"

"You have to find that out yourself. However, sitting here all day, thinking about this kind of problem, and not seeing anyone, you can't find a way to make yourself happy! Come on, come back to the warm room with me, and I'll teach you how to play games!"

Tesla said with a smile, but her red eyes betrayed the memories and longing stirred within her.

Seeing Ninti just looking at her ignorantly without any reaction, Tesla simply pulled her along and walked back without further words.

Einstein sat there for a while, gazed at the snow-capped mountains, smiled and shook her head, then stood up and followed Tesla and Ninti.