"Y-You will?" Dr MEI gasped as she could not believe it was that easy to persuade Marcus.
The girl didn't realise yet, but Marcus has quite a bit of respect for the nerd version of Raiden Mei. It comes from the fact that her legacy survived for 50 thousand years.
That means something!
"I will, in fact, make it like that." Marcus got an idea as he looked at Elysia before him and Mei next to the pinkette.
"Mei, you will have clearance to work with the foundational tech of Technocracy, and in the meantime, Elysia will be my exclusive maid.
We shall see how you can surpass what she does." His eyes gleamed with mirth at this idea. He wants to see this challenge play out.
Mei's eyes widened as she looked at Elysia, the pinkette, and the blue-haired girl at the same time. She can't believe she is hearing that, too!
In other words… they both will compete at what they do best!?
'This is like in those stories about harems back in the ancient times!' Elysia realised midway that this was just like that!
"Well, what do you think?" He took a step back and looked at the pair of girls dressed like maids.
"..."
"...I gladly agree to this." Dr MEI's eyes gleamed with a hungry desire.
She wants to see technocracy's achievements! After seeing their military prowess, she wants to see their mastery of time, space, life, and gravity control!
And... evolution! She saw what Sirin could do with that device on her chest. It was for a short while, but she saw it. Achieving such power in mere seconds is miracle science.
As the girl was thinking, Elysia looked at her; there was a bit of nervousness.
"...In that case, I agree. What will happen if one of us fails?" The pinkette maid asked, barely hiding her nervousness.
"Hmm~" Marcus tapped his chin with a finger.
"I haven't figured out yet, but since you girls are 'cute'." He used Elysia's words against her. " I could demote you to permanent bed warmers~."
The pinkette immediately recalled those images of her not leaving the bed for days!
"I-In that case, I will try my best." The pink-haired girl smiled as she began to pump herself up. She can't lose here!
"Good." He nodded at her and then looked at Mei.
"Belfast, show Mei the spare workshop, and I give clearance to foundational stuff. Are we clear, Aurora?"
[Of course, sir, giving clearance to MEI]
Marcus smiled at the nerd Mei. "Entertain me. Show me your capabilities~."
The girl sharply nodded. Since he granted her such a chance, she would excel and become irreplaceable!
"I will. I will show you why they made me the leader of MOTH."
"Good~ then follow Bell." He looked at his ship-girl maid.
"Take her to her new workshop."
"As you wish."
As Belfast and MEI left, Marcus looked at Sakura, still kneeling.
"For your sister, I won't return her to the world conquered by Sirin. That Earth is a mess. I need to fix that first." He returned to his seat and explained that.
The pinkette Assassin understood what he meant.
"It doesn't matter, Master! She can be anywhere as long as she is free to do what she wants."
"Hmm, how about joining management." He looked around.
"She can be under Erina or Hisako and work in a growing section of hospitality."
"...This…" Sakura looked around for a second. It doesn't sound that bad! Won't she be close to her that way?
"...I don't mind."
"Good." Marcus nodded before contacting Erins via Aurora.
"Aurora, tell my Erina that she has a small mission."
[Relaying the message.]
"Since the collection is in Sirin's Assimilator, she will need to travel there." He clarified to them.
"Will you bring other people over?" Elysia chipped in as she wondered if other members of MOTH would be transferred.
"Not now. I can review what I got once I am there to fix Sirin's mess." He shook his head before expanding on it.
"And would you want that? For extra people to lower the chances of you winning." He asked with an eye roll. Sometimes, this girl is far too nice.
"...Fair point."
He smiled at how quickly the girl changed her tone before looking back at Sakura.
"Erina will bring your sister here."
"Many thanks, Master!" The pink-haired assassin smiled as she quickly got on her feet.
"There's no need to thank me; since you are my maid, it's only natural that I help you with such a thing." He shrugged at her thanks.
"...Maid? I thought…"
"Same category, only different specialisation," he joked as he walked over to her. She reminded him of Atalanta, who had similar long hair and a similar build, but only that the girl wielded a katana and not a bow.
Even though her disposition is similar, instead of hunting animals, she does hunt people.
"I see…"
She nodded at him before looking around. What should she do now?
"Come over~ let's see what I got." He motioned for her to come over to his side.
Seeing what was happening made Kiana quiet the whole time and start to pout from annoyance!
"Marcus!" The girl got his attention as she showed him a pout.
"What is it?" He asked her as he got Sakura on his lap.
"I thought it was my time to sit on your lap!" She complained to him.
"It was, but now Sakura has priority as my gorgeous pet." He wrapped his hands around the pinkette's waist.
"...B-But… doesn't fiancee get priority?" She stuttered as she could not believe what she was hearing.
"Well, you are supposed to be, but then you run away."
"And came back several hours later!" The girl defended herself.
"And then run away again." He chuckled while hugging his new pet. He started to miss having a hug girl like that. Funny enough, Sakura blushed each time he hugged her tighter. The girl can't believe this is her job from now on. How did Atalanta mess this up?
"...S-Still…"
Marcus moved his left hand away from Sakura and then 'pop' on Kiana's nose with his finger.
"That is why I am giving you time to relax and think."
'T-This guy! He can mess with me like this because of how many choices he has!'
The girl realised how bad her situation was. With two 'defeats', her odds are grim! She had her chance in the hotel, but now he has Elysia, who is willing to do anything, the Sakura who sold her soul to be a pet, knowing that he can do anything to her.
Same with Kallen, who casually did the same…
It was…bad! Not to mention the previous girls before invading her planet.
With an annoyed puff, she stabbed her food with her fork.
Now, she needs to think of something else.
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
Belfast took MEI to the workshop floor. It was quite similar to the flats, except it didn't have any furniture, so it looked more like a hospital than a living place.
"The one next to yours is the Master's place. He spends quite a bit of time here when he is not occupied by females," the ship girl commented to her.
MEI looked at the door and then at her.
"I see…"
"Now come inside." The silver-haired maid took a step forward, and the automatic doors opened, revealing a white room without any indication that there was a light source anywhere.
The floor, the walls, and the ceiling were all white. The material is unknown to her, but it reminds her of an operating room or something close to it, or more like those cushioned rooms used in mental hospitals.
"...Umm… do I need to bring something here? Because this place has nothing," Mei asked the maid with a confused expression.
"Fufufu, you've never been in a proper inventor's workshop before, haven't you?" Belfast giggled at the clueless look.
"...You mean…"
The girl's eyes widened as she wondered how does this work! Her excitement began to rise.
"Underneath, on the sides and above, there are automated assembly lines." Belfast walked deeper into the room as holograms surrounded her.
The girl flicked her hand, and the windows changed. She selected a table, and in a few seconds, a white futuristic table rose from the ground.
"...The table was created in these assembly lines…correct?" The scientist version of Mei pushed her glasses up as she understood how this works.
"Precisely…" Belfast turned around and looked at her.
With a finger, she motioned at her, and Mei's personal console popped in front of the scientist.
"You can customise your console any way you want. Now you have a workshop assigned to you."
The blue-haired girl could see a new tab appear next to the room section. It seems she now has two facilities she can interact with.
Before she can touch it, Belfast already selected for her.
"In the workshop tab, you can modify things, add or remove, and even access specific data according to your clearance level."
Mei's eyebrows perked when she heard that.
"...Can I interact with the console the same way you can?" The girl asked the maid.
Seeing that she could access the console with a mere thought was… intriguing!
"You need to be an esper first," Belfast replied with a friendly smile.
"...esper… you people can use mind?"
Instead of replying with words, the maid replied directly in her mind.
"Yes."
"...interesting…"
It appears Marcus created tech that improved him, and then he improved tech, and tech improved him; it was exactly what Mobius tried to achieve.
"Precisely, as you were thinking." Belfast nodded as she walked over. Dr MEI realised that the maid had read her thought process.
"...Can Marcus read minds too?" Mei asked as she was a bit worried.
At some point, her thoughts were a bit antagonistic, but she stopped thinking that way. One does have bad thoughts when one's world and one's people are conquered…
"...Effortlessly." The maid replied with a bright smile.
"..."
"...Umm…"
"But you can relax. As you can see, he is a magnanimous individual. He knows that you don't like him, but he still keeps you girls around.
Because he knows that you will… eventually surrender to him."
Mei needed a couple of moments to compose when she heard that.
It was a bit concerning as she learned something new. She didn't expect mind-reading abilities…
"So…domination?"
"In a way."
Belfast slowly nodded before opening more tabs. She showed her the database.
"You will start with basic magic theory, then climb towards the bread and butter of M.T.M magic circle."
"...Magic? Are you… serious?" Mei asked in disbelief, but she saw magic circles in the console windows.
"...What? You didn't know? Master is what is called the father of technomancy or if you are feeling more scientish… Magiteck.
He pushed his artefact-creation abilities to the point that it was difficult to distinguish whether it was magic or technology… It was simply too arcane."
"...I can see that happening." Dr MEI frowned as it wasn't on her bucket list to learn magic… that stuff was folklore to her, but here she was… aboard a spaceship based upon magic…or more like technomancy… magic-based technology.
"Still, how am I supposed to wield any of this if I don't have magic or the abilities of an esper?" The nerd scientist asked Belfast.
"You will get gene-altering baths," Maid replied before asking Aurora.
"Can she get gene baths, Aurora?" The ship girl needed to double-check.
[Yes, she got clearance because, for proper access to our technology, she needs higher perception; otherwise, her mind will breakdown once she is in the Base Outside Time Flow]
"Now that you mentioned," the silver-haired maid nodded at the explanation. She remembered the data about Hisako, a normal girl without any superpowers, spaced out after gazing at time. Thankfully, she stopped midway.
"Breakdown?"
"Yes, you will look at time as a physical object. If you can perceive it, then you will transcend to a higher form of lifeform."
What she heard made her remember Sirin, who was able to appear and disappear like it was nothing!
Proclaiming herself to be a higher-dimensional being.
"...so…"
"For regular, mortal humans who are supposed to be alive for a short amount of time, gazing at time itself will eventually lead to losing sanity as they try to comprehend it.
It's like looking at the ocean and trying to see the other side of it. You can't.
That is what will lead to mental breakdown…"
MEI stiffly nodded at the explanation, as what she was hearing was interesting and terrifying at the same time.
"But?"
"But, that can be overcome with greater mind capacity and ego. That is why you need to improve your body so that it can catch up to your intelligence."
The blue-haired scientist girl immediately calmed down as she realised that she would be able to overcome this hurdle.
"I am ready. When can we start?"
"Let's go."
Belfast motioned for her to follow as they needed to visit the medical wing.
As the pair left the workshop and went back to the lift, the silver-haired maid began to explain about medicine.
"Medical research has been streamlined after mastering biology, life and evolution. As you witnessed before, we have over 320 million years of data when it comes to life and lifeforms.
Such mastery over life allowed us to condense everything into a single form of healing."
Dr MEI giddily listened to the shipgirl's explanation. To think that she would be in a faction that studied dinosaurs to such an extent and then used all that to improve medicine and healing!
Truly mindblowing!
They arrived at a floor with a red cross symbol on the walls a few minutes later.
"This is Master's personal floor dedicated to medicine and healing. It's where he can perform gene alteration or do other things related to biology and life creation.
However, this is only a small portion as the army has barracks aboard the core piece of Assimilator that can generate over 500 thousand knights in an hour."
"...That's a lot…" Dr MEI needed a couple of moments to process the number.
"...standard loadout for an Assimilator is a standing army of 2 million ready to be deployed. But that's just the personnel; we have mechanised forces, too."
Belfast explained to the girl as they walked towards the doors with glass containers drawn.
The doors opened, and they stepped inside. It was a hall full of glass containers.
"These… are like cloning vats?"
"Among other things. As I said, it is compressed into a single thing.
It can be all done in one, from healing a ruptured heart to creating a perfect clone." Belfast said with a smile.
"Even I was created in one."
Dr MEI stiffly nodded before asking her question.
"Then what should I do?"
"Undress and step into one. Aurora will prepare the basic package required for you to achieve Esper levels."
[For Esper, she will require two baths.] Aurora said to the pair.
[The first bath will fix whatever issue you have, like eyesight or immunity. Even things like infertility will be fixed. You will be the peak human before advancing further towards greater heights.
However, for comprehending time, even one bath is enough.]
"Can I have two?" Mei asked, hoping to get one. She wants esper powers, which sound amazing and would help her in her studies and the current challenge. She wants to beat Elysia and prove to herself that she belongs in Technocracy!
[You have to ask Supreme Commander for these things, as one is enough for you to survive outside Time Flow.]
"Wouldn't it be better to have two? We are still monitoring Mistress Erina and her assistant. It's obvious that Erina overcame the hurdle and became a powerful time user, but her assistant is a different tale.
While she can resist the maddening effects, we don't know if they're permanent or temporary." Belfast smoothly explained its current situation to the AI.
[I know. I am the one who is monitoring them. However, they don't want to enter another bath or have forgotten by this point.]
The AI said without much care, as it is busy studying Enterprise's combat evolution at the moment.
[Arato Hisako is clinging to her normalcy, halting her ability to wield time. This is counterproductive, and that is why I am monitoring her closer than Mistress Erina. For now, until the Supreme Commander says otherwise, she will be left alone.]
Dr MEI never imagined the chef girl she saw with Sirin to be another being who is at principles of being a higher dimension lifeform.
'Everyone in this place is a monster…'
"Then what do I need to do to gain another bath?" The nerd version of Raiden Mei asked the AI.
"I would prefer to be safe and not be stuck in between."
[You won't; it's a mental hurdle. The first bath fixes your body and makes you healthy, which in turn allows your mind to focus on what is important.
That alone is enough to grasp the foundations.]
Still, the girl wants the full package and to achieve Esper's abilities.
But then she realised she needed to see the source if she wanted something.
Marcus will give her a second gene alteration bath after she proves herself, and she might even try to seduce him. Nothing is off the table for the nerd.
The girl is confident, as she and he have core things in common.
They love science and technology, and in her opinion, that is what will make her reach that peak position in Technocracy.
"I see… in that case, we can start." MEI began to undress as she itched for this to start.
[I do need to remind you that there will be a period of increased sensitivity after the session is over. You will need to watch out for a few days as your nerves will be hypersensitive.]
"I understand."
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
Erina and her secretary caught up with Marcus and his new group of females.
'He operates quickly…' Hisako was not surprised that the Inventor already had a new group of females around him.
Though…
'Is she Sirin's copy of some sort?'
Erina wondered as she heard from Hisako that they were nearly identical… Truthfully, they were! Only the eye colour and the way she held herself were different; the rest looked the same.
Now she was curious if they were twins or something.
"Marcus, did you say something about picking someone up?' The cherry blonde dressed in white chef's clothes walked over to his side.
She looked like he had summoned her from the kitchen.
"Erina." He smiled, seeing her. Kiana and the rest of the girls looked at one of his fiances. This was the chef's fiance, the girl who conquered the conqueror via the stomach. Something like that impressed the four girls.
"Indeed, I want you to pick up Sakura's little sister from Sirin's conquered world. There is a considerable garrison there, so there is nothing to fear. On top of that, the world is unique culturally, so you have a chance to learn something new."
"...I see your point…"
"It will only last a couple of hours tops, and I want her little girl to join your branch of Technocracy."
Her ears perked up when she heard that! She has a branch of her own!?
The girl used her HUD to summon the Technocracy's hierarchy. Sure enough, there was a branch on the side with social research under her name!
"I understand. We will pick her up." The girl smiled as she looked at her secretary.
"Right, Hisako?"
"Yes, of course." The girl replied with a smile, as she wondered how easily Erina caved in once she heard that she had a branch under her name!
Not even Quinella, who is second in command of the whole military, has this much power!
"Sakura, you should go with them. You can guide them if they want something on the planet's surface."
The pinkette straightened up and nodded at them.
"As you wish, Master." The Assassin girl took a step forward.
"You can take the flagship—" Marcus summoned his interface. He quickly noticed a pile of notifications. He realised that he had put the system on 'do not disturb' a while back, and now he had critical notifications.
Enterprise used 'Techno Merge Evolution', and they are being watched by some sort of entity.
Apparently, they can't pierce the Assimilator's hull to watch him, but the systems notice them.
'Aeons are watching me already, cute.'
"...I won't be using my ship, so you can use it to pick up the girl."
"That is fine with me." Erina looked at Hisako and Sakura.
"Let's go. I guess a short break away from the kitchen is a good thing."
With a nod, Hisako and stiff-looking Sakura followed after her.
As they left, the other girls looked at her back. Kiana wondered how this normal-looking girl with an impressive burst got into that position.
"Anyway, you girls can get separate rooms if you want; I have things to do." With a burst of green light, he was gone.
"...Huh?"
The trio remaining ladies looked around. Was he gone?
At that moment, Kallen heard the lift doors closing.
'He went to the room?'
"Did any of you see where he went!?" Kiana looked baffled. He just left!?
"It would seem something came up, and he just disappeared." Elysia pondered with crossed arms.
"Well, as his exclusive maid, I have a console to see where he is." The pinkette puffed her chest as she summoned her console.
"...It says he will call me when he needs me…"
The pink menace puffed her cheeks as she didn't expect that.
"I see." Kiana nodded as she looked at her. She then walked to the reception area.
"A room next to Marcus."
"I will go to his current room," Kallen said before walking to the lift.
"Alright, I am certain he went to the workshop to do something."
The white-haired Valkyrie was certain that he was one of those tinkering types who could spend days making things of all shapes and sizes in a workshop.
Kallen stiffly nodded, not commenting on it as that would be lying. Instead, she just walked to the lifts.
Sadly, Kiana or Elysia didn't pay attention as they were getting rooms for their stay. The pair's secondary goal apart from Marcus is hot springs!
~~~
Kallen looked at the 501 doors and used the card on the doors.
The lock clicked, and she walked in, closing the doors behind her.
"I thought someone would follow, " Marcus commented as he checked the room in more detail. He was double-checking whether the mini fridge was basic or built with an assembly line inside.
"The lift doors." Kallen honestly replied.
"I am pretty sure with the angle, you won't see it." He looked at her.
"I didn't, but the sound was there."
"Hmm… fair enough, I wasn't trying hard anyway." He shrugged before using the nanites to make a bottle of cold tea.
Since he doesn't have assembly lines in the room, he can use plan B and the built-in suit's assembly lines.
"But why leave like that?" She asked curiously.
"Study, " he replied as he took the glass provided, opened the bottle, and poured some cold peach tea into the glass.
"Playing with girls is a nice hobby, but I do have things to do, " he clarified to her, making her realise that he was treating their struggles like a game.
Which makes sense since he can make girls anytime he wants.
Still, she has a bitter taste in her mouth. She wants to bypass that gap as she realises that he doesn't treat Bronya that way!
How does she know? Well, that's because he was in the hotel room where the girl was sleeping!
After taking the tea, he walked to the bedroom where the ash-silver-haired girl was sleeping.
Marcus ended up lying on his side of the bed after putting the cold glass next to him.
Mentally, he summoned his interface and began to read all the missed reports.
A couple of minutes into it, he noticed the pair of blue eyes kept looking at him.
He motioned to walk over as it started to look like he was neglecting a cat or something.
The inventor gave them the freedom to do whatever they wanted, yet they didn't want to leave him be.
The Maiden of Schicksal slowly walked over, and Marcus moved to the side. She ended up lying down next to him.
"You do know that you can do whatever you want?" He spoke directly into her mind.
His doing that amazed her. She was about to speak, but he quickly clarified.
"Just think what you want to say, and I will hear it."
She stiffly nodded at him.
'I would do it. But I want some things to get out of the way. I simply can't leave things halfway. I do believe Kiana is like that, too.'
"So you are stubborn, but you need to realise that I can get annoyed."
His reply made her turn stiff.
'I-I apologise…'
Kallen realised she could be annoying sometimes, and the girl recalled those moments from her life.
"Thankfully, you are my pet, so that tolerance level is slightly higher than normal." He used his hand to wrap around her and pull her closer. She lay closer to his chest.
"Just don't complain that we are going to laze around for a while, " he said in a teasing tone, making her grimace internally. This would be a challenge for the active girl.
Still, she hoped she wouldn't be bored, as she wanted to see what he would do.
Sadly, it was a mistake as she didn't understand a thing.
Walls of texts are fine, as she grasped the idea that he was reading about the invasion of the ice planet. She understood that they were winning and that the enemy was living concepts, whatever that meant.
But apart from this… she has no idea about some of these words…
It was technical mumbo jumbo, kinetic energy, mana, conversation, nanites, something about merger…
Then she saw witchcraft that would put Marcus on a fire stake and burn him alive if not for the fact that he was super powerful and controlled a super faction.
Yes, she saw magic circles, something she never imagined seeing in an empire that spans time and space.
Eventually, she got bored and stopped watching. Instead, she started to snooze and fall asleep. She tried to resist, but she was feeling far too cosy and secure in his hands.
Marcus quickly noticed that the Maiden in his hands was out. She was sleeping peacefully.
The Inventor smiled for a bit before focusing on what he was seeing.
'Enterprise ship's evolution is one crazy thing. All of the Starscream turned into parts and gave their M.T.M and K.T.M reactors become something akin to a loop, a literal physical proof to humanity's 'offering an inch taking a mile' concept.'
There was a strained smile on his lips as he thought about the power of her ship-turned-mech.
He could only imagine her second or third forms if this one could do this much.
'Projection to that is that the abilities would either magnify further or related ones would manifest.
My guess is pure absorption to complete nullification to damage.'
Marcus pondered for a bit more before storing the report away and focusing on other stuff he had.
The command centre reported that our sensors were picking up what they call 'gazes' via fundamental wave readers.
There is a reason why he is focusing on the purest of forms of readers like that.
It's simply that he can't predict forms of energy in every reality he visits, but they all have one thing in common that bounds them.
And that is movement through the fabric of reality, or in other words, waves.
Regardless of what it was… magic or some form of clairvoyance, all of that stuff moves in some way or form and leaves traces that his officers can pick up
There is something out there that is watching his Assimilator.
'Aeon or Aeons…'
It's almost like the one that watches over the city, the Preservation one…
'What was its name…'
For a second, he tried to recall it before having a flashback.
'Qlipoth'
An amber-coloured half-golem who is supposed to be a crafter-like diety being.
'But there is more than one who is gazing at us.'
The Inventor checked several distinctive 'gazes'. There is no doubt that one is Erudition.
Aeon is responsible for Genius Society.
'It would be interesting to interact with them.' Marcus realised that his technocracy was similar to this society's, even though the eccentricities were similar.
But there could be other Aeons, too. Some of them could force him to act.
As their behaviour patterns are detrimental to his Technocracy.
After a while, he decided to snooze a bit, as there was no point in speculating.
…
…
…
"Mhnnn~~" Bronya groaned for a second as she opened her eyes. For a second, she gazed at the unfamiliar walls.
Confusion grew in her eyes before she had a realising look.
A deep blush appeared on her cheeks as the girl recalled what she did.
The girl realised that Marcus carried her away from the hot springs and brought her to the hotel room.
As the Heiress looked around, she turned around and saw Marcus not far from her napping on the bed. He was fully dressed, and a white-haired girl was sleeping on his chest.
The ash-silver-haired girl was relieved to see that there was only a single girl next to him!
It was a surprise!
~~~
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