Genshin Impact: Watch me turn the tables and kill my servants at the start!

As Fanes folded the last change of clothes and stuffed them into his backpack, Columbia peeked halfway in through the doorway. Her light-colored long hair hung down to her shoulders, the ends still damp from washing. Behind her mesh veil, her face wore a nonchalant smile that said, "I've come to see you."

Columbia pushed open the door and came in, sitting down on the edge of the bed and placing the newly replaced crystal panel on the bedside table: "I want to go on vacation too."

Fanes zipped up his backpack: "Didn't you take sick leave?"

Colombia raised her left hand; her middle and ring fingers were wrapped in neat white bandages, clearly professionally applied. She wiggled the two fingers. "Thank you. So I'll come visit you sometime."

Fanes looked up at her two bandaged fingers: "What part did you operate that could injure only these two fingers?"

Columbia pulled her two fingers back and placed them on her knees: "When I was helping to hand over a component in the lab, the guide groove on the edge of the sample unfortunately slipped off and fell right onto the edge of the worktable, where it got stuck for a moment."

Fanes looked at the two tightly wrapped fingers: "Alright, but I still respect the objective facts."

Before he could finish speaking, footsteps echoed down the corridor, quicker than usual, before stopping at the door. Sandoni pushed open the door and entered, clutching a disassembled part in his hand. His blue eyes lingered on Columbia for a moment before settling on the new control panel on her bedside table.

"Columbia, what do you mean by breaking my parts?"

Columbia turned her head, her two bandaged fingers twitching slightly: "How about I go with you?"

Sandonne stood at the foot of the bed, watching her, the disassembled part twirling slightly between his fingers: "Who asked you to keep me company?"

Columbia got up from the edge of the bed, walked over to Sandone and stopped, waving her two bandaged fingers in front of her: "I didn't say 'accompany' as in 'companionship,' I said 'compensation' as in 'repayment'—anyway, the pronunciation is similar, you'll understand."

Sandoni turned his head away from her: "Next time you hand over a part, could you please check the direction of the slot before letting go? The entire transmission chain of that device was misaligned, and the stress distribution of the outer frame and linear guide rails had to be changed. Now everything needs to be readjusted."

Columbia stood beside her, tilting her head slightly. "Then I'll stay and help you with the debugging? Consider it an apology."

Sandonne put the part in his pocket: "No need. Your staying here will only extend the debugging time by another half day."

Columbia remained standing after hearing this, the ends of her light-colored hair sliding down to her shoulder as she turned her head. She nodded slightly.

"But I swiped your lab access card once before. The system will automatically record your itinerary the next time you go, and Quan Zhidong will know how many times you went to the restroom today."

Sandoni turned to look at her, the light in his blue eyes brightening slightly in the sunlight streaming through the window. A moment of silence fell between them, broken only by the faint standby beep of the still-open screen on the bedside table, quickly drowned out by the distant sounds of the street outside.

Fanes stood next to the wardrobe, zipped up the side pocket of his backpack, wrapped the charging cable that was hanging outside twice around it and stuffed it into the outer pocket, then closed the backpack and held it in his hand: "Alright, I'm leaving. You two can continue your conversation."

Sandoni and Columbia both looked at him. Fanes had already slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed for the door. As he reached the door, he glanced back at them: "I'm going on vacation. If you need anything, talk to Ajax. If you argue, don't break the desk; it's a new one, and it won't be reimbursed."

When Fanes left, he closed the door behind him. The closing door frame blocked out the lingering sounds of the conversation that hadn't yet fully unfolded in the room behind him. The sound was blocked by the sealed seam and dissipated after a few steps down the corridor.

As Fanes walked down the corridor to the lobby, Yakoda was squatting by the door, tidying up a duffel bag that was wider than her shoulders. Inside were a sun hat and several neatly folded light jackets. Seeing Fanes approach, she patted the watch face on the duffel bag and stood up: "Boss, getting ready to go out and have some fun?"

Fanes switched his backpack to the other shoulder and pulled out his terminal to check the flight booking information: "Indeed. Let's go check out that newly developed resort island. They just finished connecting the basic water, electricity, and communication signal stations last week, so we can take advantage of the few days when there are fewer people to see the results."

Yakoda tightened the opening of her duffel bag and picked it up: "I'm going too. The internet cafe hasn't been busy lately, and the new store is already open. The new system they installed is the same one that Zhidong had, and the test report says it's running stably and doesn't need any additional adjustments. I'll come with you so you won't feel bored staying in the city alone. Besides, I took a look at the map of that island last time, and there are a few sections of the northern coastline that might be suitable for setting up small observation points. If the geological data of that island matches the previous measurement results, we might be able to survey the surrounding small reefs as well."

As Fanes walked through the hall, he nodded to her: "Okay, let's go together then. I booked an extra room."

As Fanes walked to the edge of the training ground, Ajax was standing beside an armored vehicle, clutching a newly issued weapons operation manual. He stopped on a page, tracing the recoil compensation parameter in the annotation column with his finger, and was comparing the number with the list of the next batch of supplies and spare parts he had received the night before.

Fanes stopped beside him, turned the terminal panel in his hand to show him the temporary dispatch permissions being transferred: "Ajax, I'm handing you this task list. The soldiers' daily training, the routine clearing of several Abyss activity areas on the outskirts of Winterfell, and all the dispatch permissions that haven't been scheduled into the normal sequence for the next two weeks are all in this interface."

Ajax looked up from the manual, glanced at the permission entries and corresponding signature fields on the interface, noted down a few key permission scopes, and then closed the manual: "Yes, sir."

Fanes put the panel away: "Keep up the good work, you might become an executive officer someday."

Ajax tucked the manual into his tool belt at the back of his waist: "I'll do it properly, sir."

Fanes turned and walked toward the port.

That afternoon, Fanes and Jakoda boarded the boat bound for the resort island. The boat was small, with three or four deck chairs on the deck and light-colored floors in the cabin.

After putting her luggage bag in the cabin, Yakoda came out and leaned on the railing, watching the silhouette of Winter Harbor shrink as it approached the shore. As the ship passed the breakwater near the shore, the sea opened up, its color changing from dark green to blue-gray. Several flocks of seabirds flew low not far from the ship, their wings leaving thin white streaks as they skimmed the water's surface, quickly disappearing back into stillness.

Fanes found a chair on the deck and sat down, looking up at the pale blue sky peeking through the afternoon clouds. The clouds were moving slowly, their edges changing color slightly in the light, as if being pushed further away by higher air currents.