In an enclosed laboratory, numerous blonde bodies were floating in tubes of culture fluid. It gave off an eerie glow in this enclosed, darkened space.
The many humanoid objects in those tubes ranged from as small as a young child to as big as an adult man, but they all had the same pattern: emerald eyes and blonde hair.
Tubes of slickly large tubes were placed side by side in this hall, and the scent of santizor filled the entire place, giving a creeping cleaness.
Footsteps sounded as someone walked through the hall of the many cloned bodies.
A white-haired lady wearing a black and yellow cross dress made her way to one of the large tubes filled with green culture fluid. It was Amber, the assistant of the Schicksal Overseer.
Her uncovered blue eyes stared at the floating body of a blonde-haired man within the tube. When she saw the reflection of her face on the glass surface, she scowled, and her face twisted into that of an apathy smile.
It was normal procedure for her to start up the Backup System of her Master, but every time she witnessed it...A surge of unpleasant memories would bubble up within her mind about the method of her creation. Nevertheless, she will follow every order of her Master.
'How Beautiful...You should show your face more often, especially your eyes.'
She couldn't help but let out a gentle smile, hearing his previous praise. Even if it was a meaningless dream, someone like her could still hope that her Master would someday see her as a person and not as a tool.
A small voice in her head softly whispered in the back of her mind.
'A machine must behave as a machine.'
Amber knew the voice was right. She was just an artificial life form—a machine—and as such, she should behave like one.
She was but a bird with broken wings. That was the reason why she was envious of her fellow sister, Theresa Apocalypse...She followed her own path away to the Far East Branch of Schicksal and founded the St. Freya Academy.
"I hope to fly one day with my broken wings."
She whispered to herself, but after a silence, she shook away these contrived thoughts and began to get back to work.
With a table in hand, she began pressing a set of buttons, and the liquid-filled tube started draining through numerous tubes, surging into an unknown drain.
The body floating atop started to drift down onto the bottom of the tube, and soon the glass enclosing him slid to the side, allowing the open air to flow into it.
Amber stepped closer to the unconscious body of her master and put her index finger on his soft neck.
"Pulse is confirmed, and vital signs are a definite, but still no signs of Master Otto awakening."
She vividly remembered the instructions her Master had given her before he set off on his mission in India if he had died.
'Say these set of words onto one of my Avatars...Preferably an adult one. I don't want a young tuna fish tugging onto my braided hair again.'
Having worked with her Master for several years, Ambers had a firm understanding of his quirks and dramatics. This one was one of those spectacles that she would have to obey and act.
She was used to playing along and...It was entertaining, to say the least, but the stanza he gave her was quite...How would she say it? It was as if he was a middle-year student having a phase of delusions of grandeur.
Whatever it was...She had to obey and read from her tablet in a very, proud voice like screaming out an attack in one of those magical girl shows she watched.
With no one around, she didn't have to experience any embarrassment or a social death. Her hand latched onto the front of her Master's "corpse," and with the tablet in her hand, she started to shout.
"I summon in my name! The Clown Overlooking the Mortal World; The Calamity Who Invokes Miracles; The Angel of Regression and Necessary Evil; The Fool Serving the Profound Mysteries."
She took a breather after shouting out these words and set her gaze on the still-unconscious body.
'Was I not loud enough? Must I say such embarrassing words again? What are these words, anyway? I can see the Clown motif, but Angel and Calamity...How would that relate to him? What's even stranger is the Fool line. I'll just chalk it up to another ploy for Kallen Fantasy'
Her finger subconsciously poked her Master's soft cheek, she momentarily backed away in horror from her action but seeing Otto wasn't still awake, she kept on poking his face.
'Very soft and squishy. ' That was the only thought she had when her digit prodded his face.
After Amber's twentieth poke, when her finger was on his cheek, the body's emerald eyes soon opened, and he stared at her blankly.
"Amber...What are you doing?" He asked with a hoarse voice as his eyes stared at her with suspicion.
Her face still had a stone-hardened expression. She soon replied, "I was checking your pulse. You seem to be in a stable condition after the Backup System."
Hearing this, Otto sat out from his spot in the tube and responded.
"Thank you for taking care of me for a little bit...May I have some clothes? I feel quite cold being naked in this frigid place."
Amber summoned all of her willpower not to look down and calmly said, "I prepared your usual outfit and another alternate one if you were in the mood."
She quickly handed him two packs of clothing: the classic noble clothing from the 15th Century he wore and the suit Otto wore when he tried to murder Welt Joyce and his friends.
He chose the suit as it was better for the cold. Clothing is clothing.
"May you turn around, Amber...I know you've seen me naked a couple of times; it's still quite embarrassing for a fetching lady yourself to stare at me."
"By your will, Master Otto."
Amber bowed her head and turned her face away. A light red flush took over her face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
As Otto put on his clothing one by one, he thought,
'Didn't Otto make Soulium bodies with pants on them in that scene of the Second Eruption Manga Chapter 6 Page 20...Thank you, Seer Potion, for making me remember that one obscure scene, and I despise you, Mihoyo, for retconning my pants.'
The Lin within him thought he would feel embarrassed for practically dressing up in front of someone, but no. He felt dull, as if it were just a daily routine of a Schicksal Overseer. Otto's obsession with Kallen was so strong that it was still affecting him a little.
Truly a dedicated man...If Kallen Kaslana was a Goddess, he would be the holiest man and make the largest church, spreading the great word of Kallen and the beauty of the world.
Well, there really was no point in building romantic relationships in the Honkai Universe; after all, John Honkai Impact always ends up dead, but the John Impact within him will always live. Though it wouldn't stop him from building lasting relationships...Fools need friends to spread his wonderful Miracles.
He shook his head out of these elated thoughts and patted down his clothing. An elegant black suit with a formal yet stylish design, a black blazer with a classic cut, a white dress shirt underneath complemented by a dark vest, A neatly tied black colored tie, black gloves, and black dress pants matching the blazer.
'Ah, Otto, why do you have such good taste in clothing when you're committing war crimes?'
His face turned toward his assistant, and he asked, "Did anything happen when I left for India? Were there any mishaps, hidden enemies, or errors?"
Amber turned her head back, her tablet in hand, and with her flushed face gone, she got back to work mode.
"When you died on March 5th, 2013 at 18:24, The Immortal Blade Squad, along with their Captain, searched the entire area if there was anymore survivors and cultist. Fortunately, there wasn't anymore, and the mission was deemed a success. They have returned to HQ with that child you found."
"Ah, yes, Luna...How is she? Is she getting adjusted to the place? It must have been a day since I awakened, right?"
Amber turned slienced for a moment before answering,
"After noticing how you didn't follow Bianka and Rita back onto the ship...She went completely silent and unresponsive to any form of human interaction while quietly whispering to herself, 'My precious Liege.' She has since trapped herself in the room we gave her for a day now..."
"That is quite a sticky situation. What excuse did they give to her for my disappearance? She's a smart child, it's possible that she would have figured it out."
"Rita was the one talked to her and said I quite 'Otto couldn't make it back he had to deal with the gas leak explosions.' End quote."
"Was that really the best she could come up with? I'll go visit Luna immediately. What about the other two?"
"Rita is her usual self and is stellar as always...As for Bianka." Amber flashed an image on her tablet toward her Master.
A broken training room was shown. The floors cracked into spider webs, the ceiling littered with cracks, and the weights dented from overuse.
"Oh..." Otto reacted plainly and concluded. "I should give her some space...To let her mind cool down and her thoughts sort themselves out."
"That is something I would agree on as well, Master. It seems she's pushing herself so that that incident won't happen again."
Hearing the words incident, images of pure darkness filled his mind for a moment, sweat started to drip from his forehead, and phantom pain started to emerge from his limbs.
A golden cube with distorted lines flashed in his sight from his Cogitation, and his sudden paleness stopped altogether. It brought a sense of comfort that he didn't lose his precious foolishness and imagination.
"Yes, I hope another incident won't happen again."
Amber noticed her master's sudden change and asked swiftly, "Did the Backup System procedure fail? I will accept my punishment if this is because of my actions."
"Nope, I am just reliving a hellish moment...Amber, if there comes a point where you're faced with a Black Hole, do not jump into it. Having your body undergo spaghettification is quite the pain...Thank you for reviving me so I wouldn't have to keep on staying in there."
She read the report and knew of her Master's situation; she wouldn't judge him, as he must have had his reasons for entering a literal singularity of space-time. Only a madman would enter this Singularity, and that madman is her creator.
"Your praise is unneeded, Master...I am just doing my role as your creation."
"Well, if you have the time...Why don't we have some tea together?"
"Yes." She immediately answered and still kept her facade.
"Wow, I didn't think you were that into tea. I'll be sure to remind you when you're not busy. Oh before I go to visit, Luna, can you do me a favor? Be sure to prepare a pure metal dagger, candles, extracts, essential oils, herbal powders, or animal materials in my office for tomorrow."
Finished with his words, he waved her goodbye and said, "Ciao." Before leaving.
Watching his fading figure from the lab, Amber gently pulled out a calendar for a reminder and placed the following text: 'Tea Time with Overseer.'
She was a machine, an undeniable fact, but a machine that will one day fly with its own ideals.
...
*Knock Knock Knock*
The sound of Otto's knuckles rapping on the door was the most prevalent in the slick white hallway.
"Luna, are you there?... Sorry for not coming back with you; those gas leaks were wild!"
Luna's given room was currently located in one of the many living spaces on the Schicksal HQ Floating Island, and since she was an honor guest...She was given one closest to Otto's office.
After a moment the sound of a lock churning was present and allowed the blonde man to turn the door knob.
The room was an above-average living space. It had a queen-sized bed next to a vivid window, walls of blueish gray, a complete desk with a computer, a functional bathroom, and an overall size comparable to that of a high-end living studio.
As he entered, the smell of paint and paper was the thing he immediately noticed. What he saw was a young girl with crimson eyes wearing a white red dress on the floor painting on a canvas with a small brush.
Various stacks of books surrounded the bed, and numerous crude but purposeful art pieces covered the desk.
Her crimson eyes surged upwards onto his figure, and her apathetic expression suddenly turned into a smile of delight.
"My Liege!"
She cannonballed herself towards his chest faster than a normal eye can see. Otto chose not to dodge and tanked the impact, feeling the force of the vampire hitting his chest. He laughed at her action and gently held her in his arms.
It seemed he had another Theresa to take care of, and he hoped that she wouldn't grow up with blood-stained hands.