Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
The red light above the glass chambers holding No. 18 and Lapis finally flickered on.
Accompanied by two beeping sounds, both glass covers descended at once, and the now-clear nutrient fluid drained completely from within.
No. 18's eyelashes trembled slightly before she slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was dazed—clearly, she hadn't yet recovered from six months of deep sleep.
Instinctively, she called out for Kaito, but the one who answered was Lapis from the neighboring chamber.
"Big sis, you're awake too?"
"Mm..."
No. 18 moved her somewhat stiff limbs. She noticed a neatly folded outfit laid out on the ground—a black-and-white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of light blue skinny jeans.
It was obvious Kaito had prepared it beforehand.
No. 18 smiled knowingly, picked up the clothes, and after dressing, stepped out of the earthen walls that surrounded them.
Lapis followed a step behind. The first thing he said upon seeing her was,
"Sis! I feel like I'm invincible right now!"
No. 18 arched a brow, her tone carrying a dangerous edge.
"Oh? Is that so?"
As she spoke, she clenched her fist. Lapis's built-in scanner started flashing wildly—the numbers on the display clearly showed that No. 18's power level was higher than his.
Of course, even if hers had been lower, the natural dominance of an elder sister over her brother ensured that he instinctively backed down.
Shrinking his neck, Lapis muttered weakly,
"Other than you and brother-in-law, I should be invincible..."
"Hmph."
No. 18 rolled her eyes and gave him an order.
"Go find a switch and open this door."
"Okay, okay."
Lapis searched around near the large metal gate and quickly found the control panel—but when he tried it, he realized it required facial recognition.
Aside from Dr. Gero himself, no one else could open it.
In the past, this might've made No. 18 and Lapis panic, but not anymore. A simple door like this wouldn't stop them now.
No. 18 shot Lapis a look. He immediately understood. A flash of excitement crossed his face as he raised his palm toward the door.
A blue energy sphere burst from his hand, blasting the heavy, reinforced metal gate to pieces.
Lapis flicked his hair proudly, while No. 18 strode straight through the smoke and debris.
When she emerged from the haze, she saw Kaito standing there, smiling.
"Well? Are you satisfied with that kind of power?"
No. 18 froze for a moment before a gleam of joy lit up her face. She dashed forward and dove straight into Kaito's arms.
Truth be told, ever since becoming an android, her strength was extraordinary—and freshly awakened, she still couldn't fully control it.
If she had tackled an ordinary human like that, they'd probably be nothing but a pile of mush by now.
Tilting her face up, she pouted.
"I thought you'd left already!"
Kaito gently brushed his fingers through her golden hair and chuckled.
"I've been here the whole time. In fact, I knew the moment you and Lapis woke up. I just wanted you both to test out your new power first. So? Feels like you've turned into superhumans, doesn't it?"
"It's fine, I guess. Lapis was the one who broke the door anyway. Honestly, I don't have much of a sense for this power thing. To tell the truth, I only became an android so I could age slower. After all, you're a god, aren't you?"
"Haha, don't worry about that. As long as I'm here, I won't let something like that trouble you."
"Mm! A god is supposed to be omnipotent! From now on, I'm your most devoted follower!"
"Oh? Then let me see how devoted my follower really is."
No. 18 smiled faintly, rose onto her toes, and was just about to press her lips against Kaito's when—
"Ahem... brother-in-law, sis... am I showing up at a bad time?"
No. 18 froze mid-motion, then snapped her head around to glare daggers at Lapis.
"What do you think!?"
Lapis flinched and stammered,
"I—I've been waiting in the smoke for a while already! It's not my fault the smoke cleared so fast..."
He looked so pitiful that Kaito couldn't help but slip naturally into his "brother-in-law" role, saying with a smile,
"Alright, alright. No need to be shy around 17—he's family."
Kaito clearly said that without thinking—he'd just called Lapis No. 17.
Lapis noticed immediately and asked in confusion,
"Huh? Brother-in-law, did you just call me 17?"
No. 18 puffed her cheeks and complained,
"Kaito, is that another nickname you came up with? Why does Lapis's number come before mine? I'm the older sister!"
"Uh..."
That was... not an easy question to answer. He couldn't exactly say he got it from Dragon Ball, could he?
After a brief pause, Kaito smoothly switched into his shameless mode.
"It's because you're the big sister that I gave Lapis the smaller number. Doesn't that make perfect sense?"
He lied so calmly it almost sounded reasonable. No. 18 didn't dwell on it any further—if Kaito wanted to call them that, so be it.
No. 17 blinked curiously, turning his gaze toward Kaito. He wanted to use his scanner to see what kind of power level this so-called "god brother-in-law" really had.
But no matter how long he stared, his scanner didn't respond at all.
It was as if Kaito didn't even exist.
Thinking it was broken, he quickly turned to check No. 18 instead—and sure enough, her readings matched what he'd seen before.
No. 18 frowned and asked,
"Lapis, what are you doing now? Why are you staring like that?"
"I just wanted to check brother-in-law's power level, but... the scanner's not picking up anything."
No. 18 blinked in surprise, then activated her own scanner to look at Kaito.
Same result—nothing.
Kaito smiled faintly.
"No need to bother. A god's energy is usually hidden. If it could be detected by your scanners, then I wouldn't be worthy of being called a god, would I?"
As he spoke, a golden light flickered across his eyes, and he released the faintest trace of divine aura.
Immediately, warning signals flashed across both No. 17 and No. 18's scanners. Red exclamation marks filled their vision.
No. 17 swallowed hard and muttered under his breath,
"Yeah... still gotta hand it to brother-in-law..."