"I wonder why Aunt Theresa called to the principal's office...?" Kiana wondered while walking through the school hallways. To be called to the principal's office doesn't exactly result in anything good so Kiana couldn't help but worry.
"Ouch!" Perhaps because of her nervousness, she failed to pay attention to what was in front of her and bumped into another student.
"Hey, watch it!" The other student exclaimed, visibly angered by what happened.
"Ah... sorry." Kiana quickly offered an apology before bolting out of the way. Luckily, no one was hurt but Kiana couldn't help but be a bit embarrassed but what happened.
Learning her lesson, she was now paying attention to her surroundings. However, this still doesn't distract her from the looming threat that was the "principal's office".
That said, it seemed like she was given a saving grace as on the way, she noticed a certain black-haired boy seemingly in deep thought.
"Glynne!" Kiana immediately called out to him.
Hearing his name, he stopped to turn back to see who it was, only for his eyes to widen as he didn't expect to meet the white-haired girl. "Kiana?"
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Kiana asked as she approached the boy.
"Well, I..." Glynne seemed to be hesitant as he paused mid-sentence before scratching the back of his head. "... I don't exactly know to be honest. I just got a message to go to the principal's office from Theresa."
'Theresa?' ― Kiana was taken aback by how Glynne was calling her Aunt in such a casual manner. However, the thought didn't last long.
"You too?" Kiana tilted her head.
"Eh?" Glynne was taken aback as he didn't expect to find someone with the same situation as him. "Wait, are you also on your way to the principal's office?"
"Hm," Kiana nodded her head. "I was planning to go out with Mei but I suddenly got a text from Aunt Theresa to come here."
"Is that so?" Glynne replied while he seemed to be thinking about something. But after a few seconds, he simply shrugged it off. "... well, perfect timing. Shall we go there together?"
"Sure!" Kiana immediately agreed as the two continued on their way.
While walking, they mostly spend their time having a casual talk. This was especially helpful for Kiana as talking to him kept her distracted from thinking about why she was called.
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Eventually, they arrived in front of the principal's office.
"Phew, this is it..." Kiana breathed deeply as she tried to ready herself from entering.
However, it was cut short by Glynne opening the door. "Excuse me,"
Naturally, Kiana was startled and immediately tried to stop the black-haired boy. But it was too late as the view of the small white-haired woman sitting on an oversized chair was in full view.
"You're here..." Theresa remarked but paused a bit when she saw her niece along with the boy. "Did the two of you meet along the way?"
"Yeah, it was a coincidence," Glynne replied.
"I see, well I guess I won't have to wait any longer," Theresa said before urging the two to sit down.
Kiana was feeling a little nervous during the exchange, evident with her eyes darting around the place. However, this action made her notice of the additional presence in the room.
The person was dressed in what seemed like a newly ironed lab coat with a comfortable-looking shirt and jeans underneath. However, this neat appearance was contrasted by her messy hair, which seemed to be tied up to a ponytail in haste, and large eye bags underneath her red-trimmed glasses.
It was at this time that Glynne also noticed the other person. That said, he seemed to be quite wary of her.
Seeing the two students looking at the unfamiliar person in the room, Theresa started with the introduction. "Right, this is Ms. Lindsey, she's a part of the R&D department of Schicksal Far East Branch."
"Nice to meet you," The researcher greeted prompting the two students to do the same.
"As for why she's here..." Theresa continued with her introduction. "It relates to the reason why I called you two."
This immediately caught the attention of both Kiana and Glynne.
"Please, let me continue from here Ms. Principal," Ms. Lindsey interjected while stepping forward. She then cleared her throat and looked at Kiana and Glynne "Let me ask this straight, how did you do it?"
The sudden question confused the two, evident with Glynne furrowing his eyebrows. "Ms. Lindsey, can you give us the context first?" the boy responded.
"Oh, I guess I should start with that." Ms. Lindsey exclaimed with a bit of an awkward laugh. She then turned towards Theresa. "Excuse me Ms. Principal, can I borrow your projector for a bit?"
Theresa nodded, giving her permission. She then pressed some interface on her desk as the room soon turned dark and a big screen appeared above the table. Ms. Lindsey then connected her device as she operated it to display a familiar laser cannon with white and orange accents.
"This is an Anti-Honkai Particle Cannon designed to fire a high-powered concentrated beam by converting huge amounts of Honkai energy to thermal energy. I'm sure Ms. Kaslana over there is familiar with this particular model." Ms. Lindsey explained. "Anyways, we received a repair request for this model a few days ago. While doing so, we noticed that the reason why it was wrecked was because it fired with power way beyond its limit."
"So, what's so special about it?" Glynne questioned; a bit of irritation could be heard in his voice.
"That's the problem." Ms. Lindsey replied. "This cannon is designed with a limit because of safety reasons. Simply trying to go over it would make it unstable and blow up. That is why it was a surprise to see the canon still intact. That's not all, upon looking into it, we have deduced that the cannon fired nearly twice the power limit. Naturally, we asked Principal Theresa about it."
"Hm," Theresa nodded her head. "Upon further deliberation, I sent them the video about what happened at the Expedition a few days ago."
Of course, it was edited to not view some sensitive content.
The researcher then changed the projection to a video of Kiana and Glynne firing the said weapon.
"Which leads us to this situation." Ms. Lindsey stared at the two students. "So, can you tell me how did you do it?"
The room went silent for a few seconds as it seemed like there was tension between Glynne and the researcher. Meanwhile, Kiana was distracted by another concern.
'Eh? Aren't we a bit too close?!' ― Kiana panics while looking at the video. After all, she and Glynne seemed to be quite intimate in the video. She couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as she was sure a lot of people were present at that time.
"I'm sorry but I can't help you in that regard." Breaking the silence, Glynne opened his mouth as he replied to Ms. Lindsey's question. "I just used my battlesuit's Ultimate as usual."
"I see," the researcher nodded. "... and Ms. Kaslana?"
"Eh? Ah!" Kiana seemed to be startled when she was called out. "I-I also have no clue. I just pressed the trigger, that's all."
"Hmmm, that's unfortunate..." Ms. Lindsey commented while crossing her arms. "Though I guess it is as expected. If simply questioning can give us the answers, then technology would have evolved far more than ever imagined. Alas, that is but a wishful thinking."
"What are you getting at?" Glynne questioned as he felt something troublesome was coming.
"Experimentation!" Ms. Lindsey exclaimed. "It is one of the most important bases for scientific advancement! Through repeated experimentation, we can slowly get closer and closer to the answer!"
Glynne furrowed his brows looking at the researcher who seemed to be a bit too passionate about experimentation. This leaves a bit of a bitter taste in his mouth. He seems to be slowly losing his patience, wanting to leave the place quickly.
"If that is the case, I can't offer any help at the moment," Glynne answered. "My battlesuit is still in the repair center."
The experiment needed for Glynne and Kiana to use their battlesuits' Ultimate. However, due to the incident a few days ago, his battlesuit became quite tattered. His battlesuit wasn't exactly made for melee combat so its overall defenses and durability were incomparable to a common Valkyrie battlesuit. After the fight, it was a miracle that it was still barely functional.
"Hm?" The researcher tilted her head as she looked over Theresa. "Excuse me Ms. Principal, can I look at Mr. Romero's battlesuit data for a bit?"
"I see no problem with that," Theresa responded. She then manipulated a device on her desk as a holographic screen popped in front of the researcher.
"Hmm, I see... I see..." Ms. Lindsey muttered as she studied the battlesuit's data. "... with this kind of outdated tech, I could create a simpler and more portable model in a jiffy."
Glynne widened his eyes, not expecting the researcher's words. At the very least, he thought that she would try to order some kind of replacement which could take a few days.
"Glynne," Perhaps noticing about the boy's frustration, Theresa called out to him. "There's nothing to be worried about. Besides, aren't you also trying to find a way to deal with your current problem at the moment?"
"That's..." Widening his eyes, Glynne realized his short-sightedness.
Every time he used his stigmata, there was quite a bit of residual Honkai energy that would stay in his body. The medication he was taking wasn't enough, that was why he was trying to find a way to remove it. One viable way was to use a Battlesuit's Ultimate as it consumes Honkai energy inside the user's body. However, he doesn't have a way to fire multiple Ultimates, especially with his gears still at the repair center.
Thinking about it now, Theresa knew about his disdain towards the people dressed in lab coats. Despite this, she still arranged a meeting with one. Either she forgot about it... or well, he stands to benefit greatly from it.
"Tsk!" Upon realizing this, he clicked his tongue in a bit of annoyance. "Do what you want."
However, he still agreed to the experiment despite his reluctance.
"Uhm..." Looking at the situation, Ms. Lindsey cannot help but be hesitant a bit. She was worried if she did something wrong.
"I'm sorry about that Ms. Lindsey." Theresa talked to the researcher. "He has a bit of a bad experience when it comes to experiments. I hope you understand."
"Eh... ah, y-yes!" Ms. Lindsey nodded despite still looking confused.
In the pursuit of scientific advancement, it can be said that not all was done with ethics in mind. It might now be as prevalent, but sadly a few became victims of such conduct. It's hard to say if the boy was one of them but there's no other reasoning that says otherwise.
It'sdifficult to debunk either, especially with how he acted earlier. Probablybecause of this, Kiana couldn't help but look at Glynne with curiosity.
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Thank you for still reading this fic.