Language is the carrier of information. Everything can be transmitted through it. Aeons' presence is no exception.
Propagation spawned "memes" whenever someone tried to communicate with an Aeon.
Their presence is enough to alter the language.
'World.'
Aleph had a hunch this was the next level. The gap between Aeons and Terminus lied on this. Even Han Xiao's peculiarity came from it.
It was a shocking discovery, to say the least.
{Notice. The unique skill [Degenerate] will be consumed. Do you agree?}
Metatron's voice brought Aleph back.
'Yes.'
{Beginning consumption…}
Looking at the prompt, he had an interesting dilemma.
'How many abilities are there? Well… How am I supposed to use them?'
Aleph began to tread the path of an all-arounder Aeon.
Just then, he felt Hua's legs trembling. He was still lying face-first on her lap.
Soon, he looked up and met her gaze. The latter does not know how to react. The thousand-years' worth of memories could not help her.
At best, she is a coach, not a player. She can apply her wisdom to others, but not to herself.
Truly an ironic event.
"Did you…"
"Yeah."
Aleph did not even mind his deadly sleeping posture. Senti was still sleeping atop his back. He did not mind being sandwiched by the two.
With her lap pillow, everything is the best. It was on the thinner side compared to others. Nevertheless, Aleph is someone who learns to appreciate everything.
It did not take long for the two to have a casual conversation in silence. Hua did not need to finish her sentences for Aleph to answer.
It was not his Aeon powers at work.
For good times like this…
'Being a human is the best.'
*****
Ripple.
Footsteps sent waves across the ground. Every time these waves overlapped, the scenery changed. From an open area surrounding a highly-secured research institute, it changed into the underground lab Mobius is familiar with.
Before she knew it, Mobius was reeled in by this dream-like scenario.
"Hm?"
The reflection of her petite body appeared on the ground. She looked back up and saw the reflection come into life. It was a scene of her being assisted during another experiment.
Several more footsteps dotted the ground.
Aside from the petite Mobius, there is also Klein. Their sight was directed towards the dark green gem positioned beyond the glass wall. It emitted a thin purple membrane which isolated all forms of honkai energy activity inside.
"It's possible to use it as a Divine Key."
"It doesn't work as I want it to." Mobius yawned. "Even if it is made into a Divine Key, it won't have as much impact as it originally had."
The Herrscher of Corruption was able to threaten Fire MOTH's global network. Had it not been for Su and Hua neutralizing the saod Herrscher, Kevin would not have killed her easily.
That kind of transmission is what she is looking for.
'Interesting take. It's something I will come up with.'
The real Mobius watched the mirage silently. The scenery changed often akin to a playback being sped up. Mobius saw her failed attempts piling up. She did not feel anything in this regard.
One could not magically finish a research in one go.
Unless…
'If he is here…'
Surprisingly, she did not shy from the fact that she misses him. After all, he is the most willing lab rat-slash-partner she has. This mirage cemented that fact. Except for Klein, nobody else wanted to work with her.
"Hm. Those who understand will understand."
She continued watching the other Mobius' progress. It was rapid, to say the least.
She chose not to explore the Divine Key path further. She went for her specialty instead—biology.
Mobius placed hundreds of organisms under the Twelfth Herrscher's core. It was a 'direct' influence at first to see how they would react, but it went further once she received an unexpected help from nowhere:
Vill-V.
"Did the sun rise from the west?"
"Heh. I did not hate you that much."
"That wasn't the impression you gave off."
"...I admit. I do hate you."
The meeting between the two wasn't that pleasant. Mobius was sent by MOTH to recruit Vill-V, to which the latter was busy arming monkeys with weapons and having them fight a battle royale.
Mobius' arrival forced her to stop it.
That wasn't the end, either. Each of their meetings constituted annoyance and verbal showdowns. There wasn't any particular reason, just that they are incompatible.
"Bringing down your mask, eh?"
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
Vill-V's words caused Mobius to cross her arms. The former's hologram walked around and touched a screen. Moments later, she gained remote access to put her presentation in.
"I know what you are planning. I will help you once."
"..."
Vill-V began explaining her opinions regarding the sub-project beneath Project Soldier, codenamed Cataclysm.
Both Vill-V and Mobius saw humanity's impending defeat. The current humanity is strong, but the honkai is even stronger. It matched their progress and exceeded it, to the point they slowly lost all advantages they had.
Even if they build all the planetary-class weapons they could, the final Herrscher is bound to defeat them.
Thus came Cataclysm.
Mobius will spread a special-type virus throughout the world. It is the type that will force humans to adapt. They succeed, they become stronger. They fail, death is the only way.
Her current roadblock was the way of transmission.
Fortunately, Vill-V backed her up this time.
'...'
The extreme plan elicited zero responses from the real Mobius. Even, she could go as far as to frankly admit that she would have done that also, given the circumstances.
However…
'What will he think?'
She found herself thinking about Aleph's reaction.
Mobius did not care about the others, but if it was him…
Ripple.
The surroundings changed to pitch black darkness. What remained was the path made of blinding light. Someone stood further in Mobius' path.
Unsurprisingly, it was her.
"What will he think?"
Seemingly aware of her thoughts, the other Mobius with a similarly petite body voiced it out.
"How come? Our soft spots appeared out of nowhere."
The other Mobius spoked as cynical as the real Mobius. She wasn't just a fake.
She is real.
"You wouldn't even deny it?"
"Lying is futile. We both know each other well enough."
They became silent for a while. Their eyes gazed at each other.
"The first conjecture turned out to be the right one. How ironic." The other Mobius spoke. "You belong to another world, no?"
The real Mobius nodded.
"I had the last laugh. I am pleased to know this."
Hearing these words, Mobius was startled.
The Project Cataclysm that was supposed to be humanity's gamble…
She had other uses for it.
"That's right. The Herrscher of Corruption could form a hive mind. I am dead. It does not matter. All I need is this one chance."
The other Mobius began walking towards her.
"Tell me. Where is Aleph?"
A sudden voice answered her questions.
"Here."
The two Mobiuses looked towards its source.
There, they saw a familiar-looking ELF.