Elysia, known as the Fire Moth's resident Troublemaker, the World's Number One Persistence Expert, the Author of the "How to Get Along" series, a supreme Narcissistic Fat Cat, and the woman whose voice naturally carried a musical lilt.
If incidents like someone walking on the roof, aliens visiting Earth, or time travelers arriving happened at headquarters, one could immediately go to Elysia. Even if she wasn't responsible, she would definitely be eager to be involved.
The above is not prejudice but Lin established reality, and the established reality of everyone at headquarters. Everyone would simply tell any newcomer who was eager to approach the pretty big sister to run away quickly.
This wasn't to say that Elysia had questionable character; no one could deny Elysia kindness. It was just that she was too... neurotic about certain things.
In particular, getting involved in the affairs of people around her and engaging in harmless but potential harassment perfectly aligned with her hobbies.
"Hmm? You won't talk when you see me?" Elysia poked Lin bandaged face. He cautiously took a step back. He had enough headaches already and didn't need this woman to fan the flames.
"Oh my? Is it because I haven't 'confessed'? Hmm..." Elysia tapped her crystal-clear lips, her pink eyes rolling playfully. "Could it be that Lin is accepting everyone's 'confession' because you want to grant their wishes? That's truly kind, but given Lin style, you shouldn't be doing this."
Lin always pursued realism and wouldn't participate in such matters. The reason Elysia previous betting pool fell apart was partly because he never showed his appearance, and partly because Elysia was intentionally hiding it.
His act of directly interfering with the betting pool was too abnormal. Elysia, who knew Lin quite well, grew curious about his current behavior after hearing all the different rumors and rushed over.
"Hmm? Still not talking?"
"..."
Lin kept his mouth firmly shut, as if zipped up. He faced Elysia questions with complete silence.
Unable to get an answer from Lin, Elysia turned her attention to Prometheus. Prometheus silently activated the projection system in her eyes, displaying the image onto the nearby wall.
A segment of Lin earth-shattering conversation with Hua and Immer appeared before Elysia.
Even Elysia, who was accustomed to big storms, covered her wide-open mouth in shock when she saw this.
"Lin, even if you have these thoughts, you shouldn't say them in front of others, and it's not nice to make a move on subordinates..." Elysia immediately started giving kind advice to Lin, whose face was completely black. He had also just seen what he had said and was even more determined to keep his mouth shut around Elysia.
"Think about it. Technology is so advanced now; you can totally use simulation systems to solve this. Why do you have to vent your desires everywhere?" Elysia shook her head in disapproval. "Besides, there's still Prometh... no, never mind, that's not good."
"..."
Elysia was quite satisfied with Lin bowed-head, accepting-advice look, but his gaze reminded her of when they first met and he treated her like a plague.
"By the way, little Prometheus, can you leave Lin and me alone for a bit?"
Elysia asked Prometheus with a giggle. After Prometheus nodded silently and left, she looked at Lin with amusement.
"Alright, is it time to tell the truth now, Lin?"
"..."
"I know you want to dispel the overly oppressive and heavy atmosphere right now. However, for us, necessary seriousness is also a form of adjustment. Even you, Lin, were maintaining a straight face while saying those bizarre things, weren't you?"
Hearing this, Lin suddenly realized the reason for Prometheus's abnormal behavior today.
During the Sixth Eruption, he had smiled at Prometheus. Although he couldn't recall how he smiled then, it fulfilled their previous "smile" agreement. However, Prometheus couldn't smile herself.
She only showed emotional fluctuations in matters related to Lin, so a smile would likely be related to him too.
So... her idea was to watch him make a fool of himself?
Lin had long noticed that Prometheus's logical circuitry was different from ordinary humans and even ordinary AIs. She seemed to inherit the pros and cons of both combined.
Her thinking wasn't wrong. Things related to Lin could trigger emotional fluctuations in her, and watching someone make a fool of themselves is easily a source of "joy." Therefore, combining the two, she should have smiled.
But in reality, she still couldn't smile.
In today's incidents, she only experienced some "joy" in her emotion processing system when Lin spoke to her.
In other words, she had known there was a problem with Lin all along, but what she did was... ignore it.
After figuring this out, Lin didn't know what to say, only shaking his head helplessly.
"What's wrong? Did you think of something upsetting?"
"Elysia, I don't know if you can understand, but I have a problem right now, and I don't know how to solve it." Lin paused. He said calmly to Elysia, whose expression gradually became surprised and then shy, "I don't know how you see me, but I... am definitely not the way I sound when I talk to you."
"..."
"..."
"This... is too sudden, Lin, ahem... This is probably what they call a... 'confession'?"
"I actually expected this day would come, since I'm such a cute girl, but I never thought it would be from you..."
"However..."
Elysia straightened her face. She spoke with a seriousness Lin had never heard before: "I'm truly sorry, Lin. I like you very much, very, very much. I like you just as much as I like everyone else, so I must be honest with you. We are good friends. We are now, and we always will be."
"Perhaps there will be such a day... but not now. We shouldn't be talking about these things at this time, should we?"
"..."
Seeing Lin calm expression, devoid of any disappointment, Elysia took a deep breath. She smiled gently: "But, I'll remember that sentence. Since it's a wish from Lin, I can fulfill half of it now."
"Mwah."
A soft touch on his cheek flashed by and disappeared before Lin could react.
Elysia walked away, skipping, her hands behind her back. However, her attempt at a carefree retreat was betrayed by her crimson ears.
Lin stood rooted to the spot, like a tree anchored there.
"Lin, what in the..." Kevin, who had been looking for him, rushed up from behind him.
"Kevin, can you understand what I'm saying?" He turned around and asked abruptly.
"What? Of course, I can understand."
"..."
It was back to normal.
Lin glanced in the direction Elysia had left, closed his eyes, and thought.