When Dr. Newton arrived, Mei was by her side. Mei should now be addressed as Dr. Mei. Her work uniform had been replaced with a blue researcher's lab coat, and her ID badge now bore the title of Doctor.
Clearly, Dr. Mei had passed her doctoral certification and become an official researcher of MOTH.
An eighteen-year-old female doctor was already exceptionally young and outstanding. Moreover, being certified by MOTH spoke volumes about the weight of her credentials.
Dr. Newton's white coat hung neatly with its collar slightly open, immaculate and without a single crease. She carried herself with the imposing dignity of a captain from the Gotei 13.
Only, beneath her white lab coat, she was still wearing a female high school uniform, as if ready to transform into a masked rider at any moment...
Vill-V could not help but want to complain. Why are you still wearing a high school uniform... Even if I once taught you how to transform like a masked rider, we're already past the age where chuunibyou is acceptable, right?
...Oh. It seems I'm not past it yet.
Newton kept both hands tucked into the pockets of her white coat, outwardly appearing calm and composed. In reality, her palms were already slick with sweat. After all, her teacher's personality was unpredictable—sometimes humble and soft, sometimes cold and merciless. Newton had never truly figured her out.
And this time, Newton had acted first and reported later, bringing her teacher Vill-V into MOTH. With anyone else, it would be a definite "there'll be no good outcome for you." But with Teacher Vill-V, for Newton, it was more like—who knew when she might be made to eat an apple again...
Seeing Vill-V scrutinizing her outfit made Newton even more nervous. It felt like being examined by a blind date at a matchmaking event.
To divert Vill-V's gaze, Newton quickly introduced her to Mei. "Dr. Mei, this is Vill-V, the one who signed the documents as 'Lecturer.'"
"So you're Lecturer. I've long admired your name. I have read many of your works—they are truly astonishing. The knowledge and insights you imparted seem to encompass humanity's entire future."
Dr. Mei extended her hand and gently shook Vill-V's small one.
Although the two were about the same age, the late-blooming Vill-V still looked petite.
In a sense, Dr. Mei was also Vill-V's student—and nominally even her grand-disciple, since Dr. Newton was Dr. Mei's mentor.
Much of Expert's theoretical material Dr. Mei studied had been understood through annotations by Lecturer, so calling Lecturer her guiding teacher was perfectly reasonable. In fact, Expert could also be considered one of Dr. Mei's teachers.
Yes. In other words, Vill-V was Dr. Mei's teacher, and also Dr. Mei's teacher, and even Dr. Mei's grandmaster... a forbidden triple identity.
Even so, Vill-V still regarded her with respect.
Not only because Dr. Mei—Mei's counterpart—was incredibly formidable, a thigh Vill-V very much wanted to cling to.
But also because Dr. Mei represented humanity's final conscience. The will of MOTH and the will of Deliverance had both begun with her.
Vill-V sincerely congratulated her. "You flatter me, Dr. Mei. Congratulations on becoming an official researcher of the Newton Laboratory."
Although Dr. Mei was still only a researcher by title, her status already surpassed that of most people within MOTH.
The ranks of MOTH researchers began at assistant researcher, followed by researcher, senior researcher, and chief researcher.
Generally speaking, even if you had already obtained a doctoral title elsewhere, upon entering MOTH you would still need to start as an assistant researcher.
At the very bottom were research assistants—assistant researchers responsible for the most basic laboratory work.
Above them were section chiefs, leaders of research teams. Section chiefs were usually senior researchers, responsible for leading and guiding teams of researchers and assistant researchers in developing new technologies.
Above that were ministers and deputy ministers. They stood at the very top of MOTH's research domain, usually serving as chief researchers within their fields—the helmsmen of entire departments.
Under normal circumstances, advancing from assistant researcher to senior researcher would take at least ten years.
As for whether one could become a section chief, that was no longer determined by seniority, but by talent.
Yes, that's right. In a place where doctors were as common as weeds and geniuses were hardly rarer than stray dogs, talent still mattered. One could imagine the weight carried by the title of section chief.
Those at the section chief level often were Nobel Prize laureates, recorded into the annals of human history—though MOTH would never allow them to leave to accept the award.
As for ministers and deputy ministers, they were even more legendary existences. In the eyes of researchers, they were omnipotent gods.
They could create miracles with human bodies, shatter what was once deemed impossible. Words were insufficient to summarize their greatness.
But titles alone did not fully represent a researcher's status within MOTH.
Take Dr. Mei, for example. Although she currently held only the title of researcher, she was serving as the sole assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Newton, the Minister of the Engineering Department. She could practically be regarded as the future deputy minister of Engineering.
It was nothing short of ascending to the heavens in a single step.
That was precisely why countless researchers squeezed their heads bloody trying to enter a minister's laboratory. However, to avoid exposing her own secrets, Dr. Newton had rejected them all.
As a result, many people within MOTH were green with envy toward Dr. Mei, venting their frustrations on the internal network.
Dr. Mei nodded respectfully. "Thank you for your congratulations, Dr. Vill-V."
Vill-V waved her hand modestly. "Ah, I'm not actually a doctor yet..."
Clearly, both regarded the other as a heavyweight figure, so their words were exceedingly polite and deferential.
Meanwhile, Minister of Engineering Dr. Newton, standing to the side, seemed to say: You're both big shots—stop being modest...
"If you wished, obtaining a doctoral title... wouldn't be difficult for you, would it?"
After exchanging pleasantries, Dr. Mei quickly moved to the main point. "Vill-V, I heard that during the Third Honkai Eruption... you were with Su. Is he alright now?"
Dr. Mei could not be certain whether this Vill-V was that Vill-V. After all, Su had never shown her and Kevin a photograph of Vill-V.
The reason she dared to ask was because of certain bits of information revealed before the Valkyrie Ido's sacrifice, which allowed Dr. Mei to connect the scattered clues.
Thus, Dr. Mei was certain that everything happening to her had been arranged by this 'boss' of the Mad Hatter Party—as Pardo would put it.
Everything had proceeded in an orderly fashion under her plan. Such strategic foresight was truly awe-inspiring. Dr. Mei could only feel like a chess piece being moved at will.
Every step she took seemed to be her own choice. Yet upon careful thought, it also felt like an inevitable choice arranged for her—a thread of fate binding her in place.
If she were to pay some price and attempt to break free from this situation... would that too fall within her expectations?