"Swampman" is a thought experiment proposed in 1987 by the American philosopher Donald Davidson.
Imagine a person is struck by lightning in a swamp and instantly reduced to dust.
Yet at the same moment, the lightning creates another identical person in the swamp. This new individual retains all the original person's memories and possesses the same personality.
This raises a question: is the new Swampman the same person as the original?
And this was exactly what Tesla was worried about. The Vill-V who had returned from the Sea of Quanta—was she really still the original Vill-V?
The only basis for judgment was probably memory.
"How could that be? Look at me—do I look like a Swampman? Besides, the beacon of the Second Divine Key is still on me."
That was true. Unless other worlds also had the Cosmic Juggernaut, then before a second Vill-V appeared, this one could be regarded as the real Vill-V. There was no doubt about it.
"Alright, then explain it in an email. Vill-V, get some proper rest. Your belongings are in the cabinet over there. I won't disturb you any longer—I'm heading out."
...
After leaving the room, Tesla suddenly changed her tone. "Chicken-Nest Head, see? I told you so..."
Einstein nodded, then said, "It seems that the 'Vill-V' within MOTH indeed has serious issues."
"It hasn't even been that long, and those people in MOTH are already pulling something like this in broad daylight—replacing someone right under everyone's noses. Unfortunately, because of this incident, Dr. Newton has been suspended, and Dr. Mei isn't having an easy time either," Tesla said angrily.
Yes—aside from the Vill-V in Einstein's laboratory, there was now another Vill-V within MOTH's headquarters on the Mu Continent, one who held the position of Minister of the Energy Department.
During the month that Vill-V had been missing, this suddenly appearing Minister of the Energy Department had replaced her, gained the support of the higher-ups, and was acting with impunity within MOTH's Scientific Energy Department.
It didn't take much thought to guess where this Vill-V had come from. In order to seize power, the higher-ups would stop at nothing.
And Tesla, as Vill-V's mentor and one of the people from the Previous Era who knew her best, had long since noticed the abnormalities of the "Vill-V" inside MOTH.
This was also why Dr. Einstein and the others chose to keep Vill-V in their laboratory—to avoid alerting the enemy and letting the Minister of the Energy Department within MOTH discover that the real Vill-V had not died in the battle against the Herrscher of Reason.
Tesla pulled out the half-smoked cigar from her pocket. Because of the earlier commotion caused by Vill-V, she had only taken a few puffs before putting it out to check on her.
This cigar had been one of Tesla's treasured possessions. Now, to celebrate Vill-V's safe return, she had taken it out to enjoy.
After all, Tesla didn't have many students—only Vill-V. Seeing her alive and well was reason enough to celebrate.
She placed the cigar between her lips and took out a lighter, about to light it.
Before the cigar could ignite, Einstein's hand flashed in front of her, snatching it away.
Still connected by a thin strand of saliva, the cigar was tossed by Einstein into the corridor's cleaning robot.
"Garbage detected. Disposing of garbage."
Watching the cleaning robot sweep as it moved away, Tesla shouted in frustration, "Hey, hey—my cigar! Damn it, Chicken-Nest Head, what was that for?! How did my cigar end up gone? Those things are hard to get nowadays!"
The expressionless female doctor pulled out the laboratory regulations she carried with her, meeting Tesla's furious gaze calmly.
"Laboratory Daily Regulation, Article 37: Smoking and drinking are prohibited within the laboratory."
"What are you, the discipline committee? You quote rules everywhere! It's just the two of us in the lab right now!"
"Ein would prefer not to inhale Dr. Tesla's secondhand smoke. And compared to a fine, Ein believes this method will leave a deeper impression and help Dr. Tesla quit smoking sooner."
"Fuck!"
...
Vill-V, of course, knew nothing of all this.
After the two vastly different doctors left, Vill-V finally had the chance to try communicating with the other self.
"Um, hello... are you Vill-V? One of the Flame-Chasers from the Previous Era?"
Through the conversation between the body's controller and Tesla, Vill-V had already determined her true identity—the fifth of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, Vill-V of Helix.
"Haha, Previous Era... let me correct you—this is still the Current Era. We haven't become Flame-Chasers yet. Id, so you're playing the amnesia trope now too?"
"My dear, you're not from around here, are you?"
Conductor had intended to lighten the mood with a joke. However, seeing Id's serious expression, she wasn't particularly surprised.
"No wonder. I was wondering why you hadn't said anything and even cut off our connection."
The current Id had already reverted to that version of herself from the Three-Body world.
And why call it "that version"? Because Vill-V didn't like her personality back then.
Even though the conversation seemed smooth, that was merely a facade for negotiation.
Her former self was nothing like the current Id—so cute and likable.
"I am... Id Vill-V?" Vill-V's eyes revealed a trace of confusion.
She knew that in the Honkai setting, Vill-V possessed multiple personalities, and Id was the most original one.
Did I transmigrate again? And into Vill-V this time?
Conductor nodded. "That's right—genuine and authentic. The fifth of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers of the Previous Era, Vill-V of Helix..."
Then, in a playful tone, she added, "If you're not used to that title, I could also call you a transmigrator~"
Opportunities to tease an amnesiac Id didn't come often.
Conductor's words startled Vill-V.
Did she discover that I replaced the original Id? Well, it makes sense. After all, Vill-V's personalities are intimately familiar with each other. Detecting something off would be natural.
"Then why can't I be a newly emerged personality, Conductor?"
The former Id was no fool. She quickly devised a new identity for herself, intending to muddle through for now.
If she were a new personality of Vill-V, then everything could be explained—even imagining herself as a transmigrator from Earth and the Three-Body world would be reasonable.
Of course, before extracting more information about her current situation from Conductor, it was better to go along with her.
But not completely—what if this was also a test?
"Oh? That's how you see it? Your cognitive domain does belong to Id... though that alone can't serve as proof. After all, in the original Honkai storyline, Id didn't stay properly within her own domain either."
She knows the Honkai storyline! That can't be explained as imagination! She can read my memories!
Faced with the possibility that her thoughts could be read, the former Vill-V naturally had countermeasures.
To prevent the Trisolarans from stealing her mental secrets, she had undergone systematic psychological encryption. She was confident that even a parasite in her gut wouldn't be able to decipher her true thoughts.
Of course, Conductor had no intention of peeking into Id's mind.
"Relax, Id. Even if you've lost your memory, I have contingency plans. For now, just get a good, comfortable sleep."
Conductor could sense that Id's mental state was unstable. On top of that, she had already used Herrscher-level power while in such a condition—clearly not suitable for proceeding with the next step of the plan.
"Ah? Oh..."
No. I need to stay conscious. Who knows if this really is Conductor? What if she takes control of the body while I rest—or worse, quietly eliminates me like she did with Lecturer?
Before she enacts her contingency plan, I must gather more information. I can't afford to stay passive.
"..."