"Daddy!"
Spaciel, who was conversing with Mei as they walked, frowned, turned to the small figure running toward them, and murmured an apology to Mei ("Excuse me"). He then knelt down and hugged Sijin, who lunged into his arms.
"Sijin, what are you doing here?" Spaciel asked gently, stroking Sijin's head affectionately.
"I've been looking for Daddy all day!" Sijin protested with a pout. "You promised to celebrate Mommy's birthday!"
"Sijin, don't disturb your father." A white-haired woman walked gracefully from behind. She lightly chided Sijin, her sapphire-blue eyes fixed on Mei and Kevin. With composed dignity, she smiled at the two: "Hello, I am Karen, Spaciel's wife. This must be Dr. Mei, and this is..."
"He's Kevin," Mei introduced casually.
Karen glanced at the distance between the two and smiled subtly.
Karen looked around again, confused: "By the way, where is the young man wearing the helmet?"
"Lin?" Kevin checked his communicator, which showed Lin's pre-recorded message. "He told me he received a mission and left for the area near Changkong City. Were you looking for him?"
"Sijin said she really likes the Big Brother in the helmet, so I came out to see too."
When Spaciel heard their conversation, the corner of his mouth twitched imperceptibly. He stood up and said to Karen, "Karen, take Sijin to the office to wait for me. I still need to attend to Dr. Mei..."
Mei quickly interjected: "There's no need, Dr. Spaciel. Family is just as important as work. You can just take us to the Fifth Science Department and let me look around myself."
"Well... alright. Where is Brolan?"
"I let him go back. He has a family too. You can't always make him do all the work," Karen rolled her eyes at Spaciel, clearly criticizing his usual behavior of overworking his subordinates.
"Haha, you're right. Then, Dr. Mei, this way."
In the office, Spaciel gently stroked Sijin's head, sighing as he looked at her innocent face.
"Is there a problem with that young man named Lin?"
As Spaciel's wife, Karen was quite adept at reading emotions. She had noticed Spaciel's expression was strained when she mentioned Lin.
"There's nothing wrong with his resume. In fact, it's quite impressive." Spaciel's room had a machine for warming milk. He took a bottle out and gave it to Sijin, then walked to the window, gazing at the distant high wall. "I only recently heard that headquarters has a young man who went from Private to Captain and squad leader in six months. His mission count and difficulty exceed most veterans. The end of the Third Honkai Eruption was largely thanks to him, but..."
The word "but" was followed by Spaciel's own interpretation. Karen leaned in to listen.
Spaciel murmured, "But this person is extremely cold and rational to the extreme in his conduct. Such a person is good for the Moth of the Flame, but not necessarily for humanity, because he often pursues absolute procedural justice. So-called emotions are insignificant to his ideology. Such a person is too dangerous to interact with."
Upon meeting Lin today, Spaciel immediately sensed a "Moth of the Flame" style about him—a procedural, ruthless style that would eliminate anything that didn't conform to a set definition of justice.
"I don't think so."
Spaciel paused, looking at the gently smiling Karen.
"That young man might not be as cold as others describe. I think he must have many things and emotions buried deep inside, and he only acts that way to keep others from seeing them."
"You've never met him. How could you know this?"
"Because..." Karen's eyes were filled with maternal love as she looked at Sijin, saying softly, "Anyone Sijin likes surely wouldn't be a cold-hearted child. Besides, isn't he wearing a helmet?"
Karen said, "A helmet, like a mask, is a tool to hide one's face and keep people from seeing their true emotions."
"..."
"Look, Spaciel, what is the difference between Sijin and that child? Aren't they both equally great lives?"
Karen smiled beautifully, just as she had the day they met, which eased Spaciel's tightly knit brow.
Spaciel took a deep breath and smiled helplessly: "You're right... we are all the same humans."
They all struggled for humanity. Between them, there wasn't much difference.
He brushed aside the gloom and put on his warm, familial smile: "We spent all that time talking, and I haven't even celebrated your birthday yet. Come on, Karen, let's go to that family restaurant today..."
"BOOM————————"
Without any warning, scorching flames erupted from the wall behind Karen.
In Spaciel's paralyzed sight, the horrifying heat instantly engulfed the smiling Karen and Sijin, who was drinking milk, then turned everything before him into a blazing orange-red.
Like a twinkling star, ruthlessly swallowed by the scorching sun.
"Little Seele, are you still thinking about that boy?"
Seele, slumped in a chair with her head down, looked up listlessly when she heard her father's voice.
The man was also helpless seeing his daughter looking so disheartened. Sure enough, once they reach this age, they start overthinking things. Even though she had matured, she was still just an ordinary girl when it came to emotions.
"Daddy, Squad Member Lin must hate me..."
What Lin had said to her once had served as a warning, but she hadn't taken it seriously enough, leading to the current situation.
He would rather be seen as a freak in everyone's eyes than let personal feelings interfere with his judgment. Compared to him, she was simply too immature.
"How could he? I think he's a very nice boy. Why would he hate you for no reason?" The man sat next to Seele, smoothing out his lab coat, asking in confusion.
Seele was bewildered by her father's description: "A nice boy?"
"Yes. Isn't he your spiritual mentor?"
"Ah, well..." Seele blushed, becoming flustered. "But don't you think Squad Member Lin's personality is a little strange?"
"Hmm... he certainly seems like a child who doesn't talk much, but we've lived for so long. What kind of person haven't we met?" The man shrugged indifferently. "Your mother and I both feel that someone who could make you improve so much wouldn't be a bad person. It's just that our actions just now were a bit too enthusiastic."
He stared at Seele, whose face was red up to her ears: "After all, you're our daughter. We have to see which brat is trying to take our cabbage away, right?"
"N- No, I don't have that kind of relationship with Squad Member Lin!" Seele explained incoherently.
"Of course not. If you were already dating and he treated you like that, I'd have something to say."
"N- No! Humph, I don't want to talk to you anymore!"
"Hahaha..."
"I just wanted to help Squad Member Lin share some of his burden..." Seele sighed softly, her thoughts drifting. "Carrying the will of the dead... If only there was no sacrifice, no death..."
The man stopped his boisterous laughter and put on the steady demeanor of a wise man: "Seele, a world without sacrifice and death is impossible. Humanity's progress relies on the efforts of those who came before."
"All we can do is accept it."
"But... even if it's just a fantasy, a world without death, where no one leaves, then Squad Member Lin wouldn't have to carry so much..."
"Seele..."
"BOOM————————"
All words vanished in the flames.