Herta let out a cold laugh and hooked a finger under Sylvia's chin, forcing her to lift her head and look her in the eye.
Seriously, this girl. Even now, she was still staring at Herta's chest on purpose, with her head lowered. How shallow. Did she think Herta's chest was so much smaller than Ruan Mei's because she hadn't finished growing? Herta just didn't want those oversized things getting in the way of her work.
Meanwhile, Sylvia broke into a cold sweat the moment she heard Herta's laugh and accusation.
"Uh... Well, you see, it's not like..."
Sylvia stammered, unsure how to explain herself. She knew she was in the wrong. Sure, she'd only been hoping to snag an extra gacha pull whenever she could, but that didn't change what she'd done. She'd taken the puppet Herta had given her out of kindness, hugged and cuddled it, and even played pretend wedding with it.
Now that Herta herself had pinned her to a chair and was making her pay for it, Sylvia couldn't help feeling she'd brought this on herself.
"You were pretty bold when you were fooling around with my puppet. What's wrong? Lost your nerve already?"
Herta looked down at Sylvia, who sat there like a meek little lamb waiting to be slaughtered. For some reason, this girl seemed to have a knack for making people want to bully her.
Sylvia didn't notice the subtle change in Herta's gaze. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with an excuse.
"Uh... I was just so captivated by Madam Herta's beauty that I made a mistake anyone could've made..."
"You don't seriously think a few compliments will get you off the hook, do you?"
Herta gave another cold laugh, though her tone had softened a little. Sylvia breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Of course not! I just wanted to explain what was going through my head. After all, Madam Herta's beauty is unrivaled in the whole universe! And you're even prettier in person than your puppets!"
"Mm-hmm~"
Herta gave a small nod, pleased with the praise. She couldn't care less when people praised her intellect. As an Emanator of Erudition, her wisdom already stood at the very limits of human knowledge. But when it came to beauty, she'd never had the chance to be chosen as an Emanator by the Aeon of Beauty.
Besides, the puppets she sent out into the world couldn't come close to capturing her true beauty. That was why she enjoyed being praised for her looks.
Still, that was one thing, and forgiving Sylvia was another. Herta wasn't the sort of woman who could be fooled so easily.
She pinched Sylvia's cheeks and gave her a teasing smile.
"Sylvia, if you behave yourself and cooperate with my projects from now on, I'll forgive you for what you did to my puppet. No bargaining, and you don't get to refuse."
'So that's what she was after...'
"Projects? What kind of projects?"
Sylvia eyed Herta with suspicion. Why was this woman so set on dragging her into another project? Had she come up with some new idea and decided Sylvia would make the perfect guinea pig again?
"I'll tell you when the time comes."
Herta had no intention of letting Sylvia go just yet. She remained above her, pinching and squishing Sylvia's cheeks between her hands.
But while she was busy toying with Sylvia's face, Herta curled a finger behind her back. The communication device on a nearby lab bench switched on and placed a call to Ruan Mei.
Sylvia, whose eyes were squeezed shut as she mumbled helpless protests through her squished cheeks, didn't notice the small movement.
"Speaking of which, Ruan Mei said her experiment might succeed if you agreed to have a child with her. I thought you'd jump at the chance."
Herta had changed the subject without warning, but she was curious about this herself. After seeing what Sylvia had done with her puppet, she'd never expected the girl to turn down Ruan Mei's invitation.
Ruan Mei had been so direct about it, too. She'd practically offered herself to Sylvia without any reservations. Yet Sylvia had refused her several times, each rejection firm and righteous.
It had come as quite a surprise to Herta. She'd assumed Sylvia was just a pervert with a weakness for pretty women.
"Are you calling me a pervert in your head?"
Sylvia stared at Herta with suspicion. She had a strange feeling this woman was insulting her in her thoughts.
"Oh? Pretty good guess."
Sylvia was speechless. After several seconds of silence, she finally tried to explain.
"I really do like Ruan Mei's face, and her whole air of elegance is second to none. But if we're talking about having a child, I'd at least want things to turn out like they did with Little Herta."
Herta had acknowledged her relationship with Little Herta, after all. There wasn't much familial affection between them, but at least she didn't treat Little Herta as a test subject. The space station was also a lively place, and Asta was there to help look after her.
Ruan Mei was a different story.
She'd approached Sylvia about having a child for the sole purpose of creating an experimental subject. There was no way Sylvia would agree to something like that.
Sylvia had been giving a serious explanation, but Herta's expression darkened.
She pinched Sylvia's cheeks with a fierce look and pulled hard, making the girl wince before demanding an answer.
"Hey, you little brat! Are you seriously going to look me in the face and tell me you think Ruan Mei's prettier? You've got some nerve! Go on, look me in the eye and say that again!"
"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts! Ease up! Is that really the important part?!"
Sylvia begged for mercy, at a loss for words. She couldn't believe this woman.
Was Herta really this vain?
'Your whole character's falling apart, girl!'
"Of course it's important! Answer me! Who do you think is prettier, me or Ruan Mei?!"
Herta sounded dead serious, though she did loosen her grip a little.
"Come on, you're both geniuses of Erudition! Why are you competing over looks of all things? Does it really matter that much?"
"Of course it does. When it comes to knowledge, Ruan Mei and I work in very different fields, so there's no fair way to compare us. And as for achievements, she's always kept a low profile and barely publishes her research results. We can't compare those either."
Herta lifted her other leg off the floor and shifted until she was straddling Sylvia's lap, trapping the girl firmly beneath her.
"That's why I think comparing our beauty is the perfect solution."
Herta laid out her reasoning with such confidence that Sylvia could only nod along, feeling speechless.
It wasn't that Herta's argument lacked logic. Sylvia just had no idea what to make of it.
"...Where's this sudden competitive streak even coming from?"
"Quit stalling and answer me! Which one of us do you choose?!"
Herta rolled her eyes at Sylvia.
'Sudden? And whose fault do you think this is? You're the one who started it, and now you're playing dumb?'
Sylvia looked at the intimate position Herta had taken. She knew the woman almost certainly had no ulterior motives, but she still found herself drawn to the faint, sweet scent coming from her.
Besides, Ruan Mei didn't seem like the vain type. It'd probably be best to humor Madam Herta for now.
"Of course you're the prettier one. I like Madam Herta more."
"Mm-hmm~ At least you've got good taste. If that Droidhead hadn't noticed me first back then, the universe would've gained itself an Emanator of Beauty."
Herta raised her chin in triumph. Looking as pleased as if she'd just won a great battle, she finally climbed off Sylvia.
But before Sylvia could get out of the chair, Herta tilted her head toward the nearby lab bench.
"There you go, Ruan Mei. You heard her, didn't you? Guess you're just not charming enough. Otherwise, you'd have won this girl over ages ago."
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Sylvia froze, then spun toward the lab bench.
Ruan Mei's voice came from the communication device.
"...Hmm. Perhaps you're right. Sorry, Sylvia. I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. But Herta, your suggestion might be worth trying."
With that, Ruan Mei ended the call.
Her tone had been as calm as ever, though Sylvia could hear a faint trace of exasperation at Herta's antics beneath it.
"Aw, she hung up already? How boring."
Herta pouted.
Sylvia, however, had no time to think about Ruan Mei's tone. She stared at Herta with wide eyes, unable to believe what had just happened.
"Herta! You set me up?!"
"Hmph. Just a little revenge for my puppet."
Herta smiled and reached for Sylvia's hand, pulling her up from the chair.
She wasn't trying to brag, but she was a woman who knew how to hold a grudge. Did this girl seriously think she'd let something like that slide so easily?
Of course, part of it was simply that Herta wanted to see something entertaining.
When she'd come to Separius to visit Ruan Mei earlier that day, the two of them had brought up Sylvia while discussing Little Herta.
Ruan Mei was a woman whose emotions almost never showed on her face, yet she'd taken such a strong interest in Sylvia. Naturally, that had caught Herta's attention.
What would happen if Ruan Mei actually became pregnant with Sylvia's child?
The thought had intrigued Herta enough that she'd asked Ruan Mei about it.
Ruan Mei hadn't been bothered by the question. In fact, she didn't even think it was something that required much consideration.
A child who inherited her traits would possess at least a basic level of intelligence, even if they never became a genius. Add the power of Permanence flowing through Sylvia, and survival wouldn't be an issue.
From a biological point of view, such a child would be perfectly capable of living well without any special care from their parents.
Herta hadn't been surprised by her answer.
Geniuses were a bunch of people with personality problems, after all. Compared to some of the others, Ruan Mei and Herta herself were already among the more reasonable ones.
And that was exactly why Herta had turned on the communication device after Sylvia arrived.
It made things much more interesting.
Besides, Ruan Mei's attitude toward the Cake Cats living on the space station had changed a lot since the failure of her experiment to create an artificial genius.
At the very least, she now made a point of visiting those little creatures whenever she came to the space station.
To Herta, that was almost unbelievable.
The fact that Ruan Mei, of all people, would go that far was astonishing.
So Herta was curious. If Sylvia and Ruan Mei kept butting heads over this issue, what would happen in the end?
Would Sylvia's warmth finally melt Ruan Mei's icy heart, or would Ruan Mei manage to win Sylvia over?
Sure, taking such an interest in the matter was a little nosy. But neither of the people involved was ordinary.
Herta couldn't wait to see how things turned out.
For now, though, she'd put that aside.
"We can talk about that later. Come on, let's get down to business."
"...You said we were getting down to business ages ago."
Sylvia couldn't help pointing that out.
Herta didn't care. She placed the bullet Sylvia had given her into a machine, then began talking about the Simulated Universe.
"This really is business. Once we've finished building the Scepter system inside the Simulated Universe, I can use the calculation results to send a signal to that Droidhead."
As Sylvia listened, something about those words struck her as strange.
What did Herta mean by sending a signal to the Droidhead?
Was she planning to use the space station and the Simulated Universe to force a meeting with Nous?
"...Don't tell me you're planning to ask Nous a question?"
"Of course I am. Why else would I go to all this trouble?"
Herta folded her arms as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. She'd met Nous several times before, and those meetings hadn't all happened because Nous had chosen to look her way.
Sylvia raised an eyebrow.
"But Nous calculates the entire universe, right? In theory, THEY should already know you want to meet THEM. THEY should even know exactly when THEY'LL meet you. Would sending THEM a signal really accomplish anything?"
Nous might not be able to calculate everything all the way to the end of the universe, but at the very least, the universe as it existed in the present had to be contained within THEIR computational model.
That meant Nous should already know everything Herta intended to do. To put it simply, if THEY didn't want to meet her, sending a hundred signals wouldn't change anything.
There were plenty of different ways to earn an audience with Nous, but could Herta really make THEM appear just by using a powerful computer to send a signal?
Herta dismissed Sylvia's doubts with an eye roll.
"What nonsense are you talking about? If that Droidhead really had the moment of the Finality pinned down, why would THEY choose Polka Kakamond to maintain the Knowable Domain while allowing both Emperor Rubert II and me to exist? Why let us push beyond the Circle of Knowledge?"
Sylvia looked at her in confusion.
"...What are you getting at?"
Herta gave a small snort.
Ever since her brief confrontation with Polka Kakamond, she'd spent a great deal of time thinking about one question.
Was the universe chaotic, or was it deterministic?
The Solitary Waves Theory had produced a constant, one around which the universe's chaos and determinism fluctuated.
But the Solitary Waves Theory was merely a single thought produced by that Droidhead.
So did the constant it produced actually mean anything to Nous?
Herta hadn't struggled with that question for long. She'd soon realized something important.
If humanity's struggles meant nothing to the universe's predetermined course, why would Nous choose so many geniuses? Why would THEY allow Emperor Rubert II to construct such a vast network of celestial neurons in an attempt to break through the Circle of Knowledge?
Unless...
Even Nous couldn't arrive at a definitive answer on THEIR own.
THEY'D chosen those geniuses because THEY wanted an answer.
Through the clashes between these geniuses, the mortals whose minds came closest to THEIR own, Nous could introduce new variables into THEIR calculations.
One genius after another, each with the potential to break through the Circle of Knowledge, had fallen before Polka Kakamond's Knowable Domain.
Then Polka had crossed paths with the one and only Madam Herta.
Once Herta understood that, an overwhelming confidence welled up inside her.
Nous's long search for an answer would come to an end with her.
"Geniuses are the thought synapses through which [Erudition] reaches into reality. They're the physical expression of that Droidhead's thoughts. In other words, THEY want to find an answer through the clash between Polka Kakamond and me."
At that point, Herta turned toward Sylvia and looked her straight in the eye.
"That Droidhead isn't omniscient or omnipotent. THEY can't predict the outcome of a clash between geniuses, either. That's all I need to confirm."
--+--