Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

Or, it could be said that people who possess telepathic Originium skills are easily disliked. There are many people like Noah who are believed to be able to read minds. There is always a social barrier between people, whether you want to call it AT stance or heart wall, anyway, it is not something that can be peeped into easily.

Noah cannot read minds, she can only passively perceive emotions, just like smelling the fragrance of flowers in her neighbor's house, which she cannot control.

Even though Noah has been restraining her ability and trying to use it for the right reasons, she has to admit that this ability has brought her a lot of convenience. As a vested interest, she has no reason to complain.

As for what others think, Noah honestly... doesn't have the energy to think about it anymore.

She can only be self-disciplined, as self-disciplined as possible.

Fortunately, the next day, Ms. Saria looked as usual, as if what happened last night had never happened. She did not show any emotional fluctuations when examining Noah's body, like a wall.

It seemed that she would rather be a diligent companion than have her own ideas.

"Your physical condition has been improving. The fusion rate of Originium and somatic cells has been reduced to 30%, which is better than we expected. However, you must exercise more recently. You have to actively cooperate with the doctor's care." Saria's physical examination procedures are similar to those of Rhine Life. After all, she is a person from Rhine Life. However, the report of this set of physical examination procedures will be sent back to Rhodes Island for examination.

After all, it was a joint consultation, and Rhodes Island also had to manage the situation to some extent.

Saria came here just for this matter, and handing it over entirely to Rhine Life is still... a bit too careless.

"Transmitters are really powerful. If this continues, it shouldn't be difficult for us to conquer the oripathy—" Noah sighed involuntarily. Although she knew that transmitters also had their limits, the treatment of transmitters was essentially to physically crush the Originium crystal clusters and then rely on the self-healing ability of cells to gradually replace them. To be on the safe side, the crushing speed was slightly higher than the erosion speed of the Originium.

It’s not that Rhine Life is too conservative, but if it is not conservative, Noah’s body will be the first to collapse.

And even so, there is still a part of the Originium crystal clusters in Noah's body that are transmitters and cannot be easily removed, because these Originium crystal clusters have completed symbiosis with Noah's body cells. In this case, there is not much difference between arbitrarily removing them and killing Noah.

At this time, Rhine Life was also studying how to carry out targeted elimination, but this undoubtedly posed a big problem for the immature transmitter.

However, the symbiosis between somatic cells and Originium is itself a special case. So far, similar situations may have only occurred in Noah and Patriot. Patriot's physique is too strong, and he can ensure his body functions even with an extremely high fusion rate of somatic cells and Originium. But Noah is completely different. Noah's body is completely symbiotic, and even the Originium itself has mutated.

The most crucial thing is the Originium transformation of the spine. Now that the entire spine has almost been replaced by Originium, a second layer of skin has formed on Noah's back, just like the exoskeleton of an insect, which is daunting.

This may also be one of the main reasons why Rhodes Island was unable to perform surgery. While Noah was unconscious, even a scalpel could not cut Noah's body.

But the good news is that as the fusion rate decreases, Noah's body seems to be gradually returning to normal.

"The medical effects of neurotransmitters are indeed unexpected, but my point of view is the same as before. We should not be too superstitious about the effects of neurotransmitters." Saria responded. Obviously, she still had doubts about neurotransmitters.

She admitted that this was a groundbreaking technology, and it was completely understandable that it was certified as singularity technology, but she knew that Rhine Life had other singularity technologies, and she had some understanding of those singularity technologies.

Many of the research Christen is currently promoting are quite radical, such as the research conducted in the Locke Tank, which is also part of the singularity technology.

When Saria was investigating, she only learned that both the Fire Demon Experiment and the Cold Ken Water Tank Experiment were extensions of the singularity technology of [Mind Visualization]. During the time when she was not in Rhine Life, it was completely unknown how much this technology had advanced and how many victims it had caused.

And transmitter technology may also be an extension of some kind of singularity technology.

Saria doesn't know how much singularity technology Rhine Life has preserved and how many new technologies it has developed, so she always remains vigilant.

She is the person who is most familiar with Rhine Life, but also the person who is most unfamiliar with the current Rhine Life.

"I think you may be too skeptical, Miss Saria. No matter what technology it is, there are bound to be risks at the beginning of the design, so experiments are needed. The purpose of the experiment is to test these risks and then correct them. In the end, technology will definitely benefit people and become a ladder for human progress." Noah felt that Ms. Saria might be a little too sensitive. At least so far, she did not feel that the transmitter technology had any bad effects on her.

"...It's simply because you, Miss Noya, don't understand the true nature of Rhine Life's research—" Saria didn't elaborate, only sighing. "Cooperation with Rhine Life is fraught with danger. They will stop at nothing, even crossing human boundaries, for the sake of a noble goal."

"Isn't science about advancing at all costs?" Noah sighed. "While I agree that scientific research should maintain a bottom line, right now, Rhine Life's technology is saving my life."

"...I hope so." Having witnessed the Balrog incident, Saria didn't argue. After completing the physical examination, she turned and left. "Ms. Noa, your physical examination is complete for today. Tomorrow is the third transmitter test. Please be prepared."

After leaving behind those cold words, Ms. Saria's footsteps gradually faded away, while Noah, who was sitting in a wheelchair, felt a little uneasy.

This uneasiness was groundless. She trusted what Ms. Saria said, and she also felt that the atmosphere of Rhine Life was a bit strange, but as of now, Rhine Life was doing its best to treat her, and the situation that Ms. Saria was worried about did not occur.

Singularity Technology…Transmitter…

Noah suddenly became curious. According to some of the information revealed by Muirseth, Rhine Life had mastered more than one singularity technology, and these singularity technologies had never been made public.

So besides transmitters, what will other singularity technologies look like?

Rhine Life, which has hidden many technologies, what does it plan to do with these technologies?

These doubts were carried over to the neurotransmitter experiment on the second day. Everything had begun to feel familiar to Noah, including the injection of the neurotransmitter and the momentary coldness all over her body. She had begun to get used to it.

Even a little numb——

But this time seemed a little different. Everyone seemed to be operating the experiment with some nervousness, and the source of this nervousness was that there was an extra visitor in today's experiment.

Sitting in the observation room, through the glass, a scrutinizing gaze wandered over her body—

Her appearance silenced everyone in the laboratory. After all, it was a very rare thing for such a person to take the time to watch the experiment itself.

"- Commander, the test is going smoothly." Dorothy was probably the most relaxed one here. After reporting the progress of the test, Dorothy turned her attention back to the instrument.

And there can't be any other woman who is called the General Manager.

Krysten Wright.

The true core of Rhine Life, a luxurious genius, director and co-founder of the Component Department, a Ph.D. in High Energy Physics from Tremont Polytechnic University, and the founder of Rhine Life, he has led Rhine Life's development and progress with his outstanding talents and persistent spirit of seeking knowledge.

She has long curly golden hair with a golden cross-shaped hair accessory on it, and wears a white Rhine Life scientific research uniform. She is the founder of many Rhine Life technologies and is considered a top-level scientific researcher in the whole of Colombia.

Wise, calm, and always full of curiosity and initiative.

If we were to describe all the halo and titles surrounding her, it would take at least several hours. Such a truly divine figure actually came to the site of the transmitter experiment for the first time.

The reason why she came here was definitely not just because of the transmitter. Although the transmitter was a singularity technology, it was not enough to require the general commander to come in person.

The reason she came here...

Muirseth looked at the silent Saria. The two of them were clearly in the same room, yet they hadn't communicated at all, like two strangers. But whether it was Saria or Kristen, they probably felt uneasy inside.

This was the first time these two met after that incident—after the Flame Demon incident, Saria left Rhine Life.

Since then, the governor seemed to have not changed much, but there was only one voice left in Rhine's life.

General - She won't stop for anyone.

Even if that person's name is Saria.

At this time, the two founders of Rhine Life were in the same room, but there was no conversation or even eye contact.

Muirseth wanted to ease the atmosphere, but he felt suffocated by the atmosphere itself.

"How long will it take to develop the transmitter?" The Commander finally spoke. However, she didn't address Saria, but instead asked Dorothy, "The progress of transmitter technology is crucial to Rhine Life's plans for the next decade."

"I don't know, Commander," Dorothy answered bluntly. "I thought this experiment would give me the answer, but perhaps I overestimated my abilities. The more I experiment, the more confused I become. The transmitter is showing more and more properties that even I, the designer, don't know. It's even difficult for me to define what a transmitter is."

"...There's no need to be confused. Errors and accidents are not uncommon in science." Kristen didn't blame Dorothy. "Continue the experiment. The transmitter will change Terra's current situation."

"...Yes, Commander-in-Chief." The promotion of neurotransmitter therapy itself was approved by the Commander-in-Chief, but during the experiment on Noah, Dorothy felt unprecedented... confusion.

The transmitters in Noah's body seemed to be peeling off the Originium crystal clusters according to the program, but these transmitters were not completely under Dorothy's control.

The transmitter seemed to be changing in some way, but this change confused Dorothy. The transmitter itself should not have consciousness, let alone free will. This was not intended for the transmitter to have when it was first designed.

But the transmitter...seems to be evolving on its own.

It might be an exaggeration to describe it as self-evolution, but Dorothy couldn't find a more appropriate term.

The neurotransmitter was undergoing a transformation that Dorothy had not anticipated. Even she, the chief designer of the neurotransmitter, began to be confused by the changes in the neurotransmitter and even felt a little unfamiliar.

Because she was uneasy, she told all of this to the commander-in-chief and reported that there was a problem with the transmitter data. Although it was probably just a simple algorithm bug, she had a bad feeling.

This is why Christen came here, she wanted to observe the situation of the transmitter herself.

As these data changed rapidly on the display screen, Christen clearly captured the changes, patterns, and... Christen frowned. Noah was not anesthetized now. She was conscious, but when the neurotransmitter was injected, she would be in a trance for a while.

This trance is very strange, just like just getting up and the brain is not fully prepared. Although the person has gotten up, the soul seems to still stay in the bed and unwilling to move.

And during this trance, Christen caught some signal.

She stared at the data in silence. She did feel something was wrong - this could not be explained by an algorithm bug. If she had to describe it, it was probably that she felt something, and Noah began to be curious about the outside world.

These transmitters—seem to be gradually coming alive?

The time in trance passed quickly, and Noah soon recovered her original state. She even felt that her mental state was much better than before. After she stood up from the test bench, Christen spoke.

"Have this girl come to my office. I need to talk to her about something."

"This matter needs to be reviewed by Rhodes Island." At this time, Saria, who had been silent until then, spoke for the first time. She looked at Christen and said, "I have the obligation to supervise this experiment, and I must accompany Noah. Is that okay, Christen?"

"...My office is always open to you, Saria." Kristen didn't get angry, but just nodded. "You can come anytime."

"..."

"..."

"..." Muirses was a little numb. The atmosphere in this room was really overwhelming. She wanted to escape. But fortunately, this atmosphere dissipated quickly. As Saria turned and left, Muirses breathed a sigh of relief.

——It’s really good that there was no fight.

Chapter 9: The Battle of Ideas

When Saria and Christen, known as the Rhine Life Commander, appeared in front of Noah together, she had not yet realized the seriousness of the problem, but when she heard that Christen came to see her, she became inexplicably nervous.

There's no way. If you were to meet Einstein now, you would probably have a similar reaction to Noah.

This is a living legend in the scientific research community, the kind that could be on the cover of a textbook.

Noah himself was only guessing what might be in the textbooks, but this was a cover-level boss, so it wasn't surprising to say that he was far behind.

And when this living legend not only appears before you but also invites you to her office, it's hard to refuse.

But - now there was a Ms. Saria next to her who was obviously not very happy.

Ms. Saria was in such a bad mood at the moment that people suspected that she would have a big quarrel with Ms. Christen next to her in the next moment, and she might even resort to violence.

"Can I know why?" Noah decided to ask for the specific reason first, just to be safe, and didn't agree to Kristen right away. "I don't think I'm important enough for the Rhine Life General to personally ask about it."

These words seemed to have a subtle tone, but Noah really thought so. A person whose time was worth every minute and every second suddenly came out and said he wanted to discuss something with him. It really made people wonder if he had some ulterior motive.

"Indeed, if this were just a simple transmitter experiment, I wouldn't have come here, much less wasted my time." Kristen nodded, but then changed the subject. "But Noa Kyrielight, a hybrid of Golden Pegasus, Nightmare, and Unicorn, one of Victoria's Grand Dukes, the Honorary Saint of Kjerag, and a traitor to Casimir—all of this adds up to a completely different story."

After hearing this long introduction, Noah himself didn't expect that his title had become so long.

"So... you just want to see me in person?" Noah pointed at himself in disbelief. "I admit that I am a little special... but..."

"No, if that's all, you'll at most attract my attention, but I won't choose to ask about your health." Kristen shook her head. "I never think that the number of titles you have is a criterion for evaluating people. It's just the outside world's understanding of you."

"Then you..." Noah was completely confused. What was the reason why Christen was looking for him?

"—The reasons are complicated, but I can promise I won't harm you and will even help you recover. I'll offer a price that will tempt you, and all you need to pay is..." Christen paused, not directly answering Noya's real reason. Instead, she extended an olive branch. "I can make you the director of Department 11, providing free medical treatment. All you need to do is work at Rhine Life."

"...Me? Becoming the head of a department at Rhine Life?" Noah was even more confused. "I'm just a history graduate student at best. How could I possibly be the head of a department at Rhine Life?"

The professions don't match! Does Rhine Life need a historian? No, even if I were a historian, there would be a large number of people who are better than me.

The benefits promised inexplicably always come with a heavier price. Noah naturally couldn't just nod his head, but wanted to see the opinion of Saria, who was silent beside him.

"In principle, I can't stop you. I believe Christen has a solution to your problem, and she's a man of her word." Saria looked at Noya and said, "From your perspective, there's no problem with you agreeing to this. But I must remind you that you don't know what kind of organization Rhine Life is, nor do you know what it will bring you. Becoming the head of a department at Rhine Life may not be a good choice for you."

Of course, Saria was against it, but she also said, Kristen, she is a genius who has the ability to solve Noah's problem.

As long as she chose to accept it, most of her problems would be solved, but what did Christen want from her? She was still very concerned about what it was about her that attracted the attention of this genius?

"...Master General, I still want to know what it is that made you look at me with such new eyes?" Noah said, "If I don't know the real reason, I can only choose to refuse with great pain."

Of course, Noah wants to solve these problems herself, but she will never sell out her bottom line. Therefore, she will not join Rhine Life until she knows why.

"..." Christen was a little surprised. If she had personally invited anyone and promised them something, most people would have already happily agreed. After all, her promise was worth a fortune. She also knew Noah's situation. It was no exaggeration to say that she needed Rhine's life support the most right now. But she still resisted the temptation.

"Honestly, I'm also curious why you're so interested in Noah. From what I know about you, you definitely have some special reason." At this time, Saria also asked, "Kristen, what exactly do you want to do?"

"..." Christen looked at Saria, her wary eyes silent for a long moment. Previously, that look must have been filled with trust, but it was she who had trampled on her trust, and it was she who had caused her to stray from her. Christen's feelings for Saria were indeed complicated, but she soon regained her composure and spoke. "If you truly care so much, why don't you return to Rhine Life and witness everything I want to do?"

"...You know I won't agree to that." Saria looked at Christen and shook her head. "Rhine Life and I have parted ways."

"There's a chance our paths may intersect again someday," Christen responded. "Sareya, we founded Rhine Life, but Rhine Life will always move forward. We need your protection, but we also need to move forward at all costs. Humanity needs to move forward, Sareya."

"Advance at all costs will inevitably lead to madness. The faster you go, the harder it is to control. You should understand this, Christen."

The tit-for-tat and incompatible ideas between Saria and Kristen almost led to a quarrel. Fortunately, both of them were people who were more rational than emotional. Before the quarrel was about to develop, they took the initiative to stop.

And only then did Noah have the chance to speak.

"You two, I think there is no so-called answer to this topic. Why don't we call a truce for now?" Noah tried his best to absorb the negativity emitted by the two people during their quarrel and tried to guide the atmosphere between them to become more harmonious.

However, due to the extremely sharp conflict of opinions between the two, what she could do was actually very limited.

It was clearly not the right time for Noya to join, so Christen could only let the matter go for now. Although she failed to successfully recruit Noya, she still expressed that Rhine Life welcomed Noya to join at any time, and then turned and left.

Afterwards, when complaining about this matter with Muirseth, Muirseth and Noah came to a rare common conclusion.

"Being caught between these two... is truly painful," Muirseth sighed. "As soon as these two meet, this will definitely be the outcome..."

"That's what they call a disagreement," Noah grumbled. "But it also seems the Commander-in-Chief and Ms. Saria used to have a good relationship, right?"

"More than that—when they co-founded Rhine Life, their relationship was truly like that of a knight and princess. Saria protected Christen like a knight, allowing her to concentrate on her research. Saria even personally went out to solicit sponsorship. You have to understand, that was Saria. Saria would willingly attend those dinners and dances just to secure a little sponsorship for Christen's project."