Chapter 11 Core Transfer

Liana POV

"Einstein, can you give me some pointers about improving my fighting abilities?"

I am inside the training simulator while Einstein is on the control panel. The last fight with Otto proves how weak I am. Even with nee-san's help, it still is a struggle. Now though, I don't know where nee-san is or her condition. I would like to search for her and the others but I must improve myself.

"Hmmm, if my observation is correct, every time you use your portal to defend, it takes quite a while for the [exit] portal to materialize. That means you will be vulnerable for around 0.892 seconds this is enough for some attacks to come your way with you having no way to defend" Einstein explained. "We need to improve your portal generation speed."

"Yeah, I do notice that the second portal's generation took a lot more effort and energy. But how can I make it faster? I already try to go faster but it doesn't work."

"Hmmm" Einstein is thinking while I took a rest. "Liana, can you tell me what is your thought process when using the portals to defend?"

"Well first I think roughly the trajectory of the attack, then I materialize a portal right on the attack's flight path. After that, I think about the flight path of the attack through the imaginary space and create the second portal."

"Hmmm, it seems that it is too complicated, how about we simplify it?" Einstein suggested

"How?"

"What if you think of the action less like a set of steps and more as one command, say rather than generating the first portal and then the second portal, you should think of making them both at the same time with a fixed distance between them, I would say it is akin to functions in programming, rather than typing the code over and over again for frequently use codes, we can just create a function and whenever we need it, we can call it," Einstein explained

I don't quite get the programming analogy but I have a rough idea of what she is suggesting.

"Let's try it"

I think about making 2 portals immediately with a fixed distance between them, both of the portals materialized on the front and the back of me. It turns out not hard to do and I was wondering why I haven't thought about this sooner. But it still feels unnatural and forced.

"Yes, I did it, still feels weird though"

"Well done Liana, I am surprised you did it in one try, it's normal to feel weird since you haven't gotten used to it, practice it a couple of times and I am sure it will feel more natural. Since we have a defensive function, maybe we should make more functions to cover offensive strategies." Einstein said.

"I'll leave the thinking to you, I will just follow your instructions."

"Ok, I will go to Tesla to help me develop more." Einstein said as she leave the room.

I was left alone in the room.

Functions, that might help me increase my battle capabilities. I should also learn how to utilize the other cores in a battle scenario. Back in the theater of domination, I can build laser turrets but only with Bronya's help, I never tried summoning one myself. The last time I use the reason core is when I create the HOMU tracker and that takes a lot of brain power that I probably can't afford in the middle of a fight. I just don't have enough usage hours to be proficient in using the reason core. The flame core is easy enough to master and I can utilize it in battle quite efficiently, the Sentience core is a bit iffy since I am not sure how to use it in an offensive and defensive way. Wait... Senti uses it in both offense and defense, maybe I could take my fight with her for the inspiration to use the core, why I didn't think about that before? Also although I can't ask Bronya for tips on using the reason core, I can ask Welt who is Bronya's teacher and have possession of the core far longer than Bronya did.

"I should ask Welt the next time I see him teach me how to utilize the reason core effectively."

_______________________________________________________________________________

I was in my squad's room and chilling with them when Welt comes in and ask me to come with him to his office, so I followed him there and sit in front of his table.

"Liana, I have something to tell you, it is about my core of reason" Welt said

"What about it?"

"The last fight took a toll on my ability to withstand the core of Reason's corruption and my health is starting to deteriorate," Welt said as he coughs in pain.

"Hey, is it why you are coughing in pain?"

"Yeah, so I have a proposal for you, I will give you custody of the core to help me, and in exchange, AE will support you in whatever endeavor you are interested in. I am sure you are searching for your friends that also got thrown into this timeline with you, AE can help you find them." Welt proposes a deal, it is quite lucrative but I don't know the effect of handling two Herrscher cores of the same type.

"I can do that, but before I agree on anything, do you know the effects of having two Herrscher cores of the same type? will they conflict with each other and cause major issues?"

"Sadly I don't know anything about it, all I know is that the Herrscher cores of today don't conflict with PE's cores, but obviously your core of Reason is the very same core that I have. If you haven't time traveled, obviously this situation is impossible, so by that conclusion, we haven't even thought about the situation where a person is carrying two Herrscher cores of the same type, let alone knows the consequences for it." Welt explains

"Hmmm, so what is the likely outcome in your opinion?"

"If we take magnets or electricity as the inspiration, then probably they will repel each other and cannot be incorporated inside a single entity. But if we take water as the inspiration, maybe they will fuse together to create a larger more powerful core of Reason that we don't know its capabilities. The adverse effect of the user is a bit questionable though."

"So basically I could be harmed?"

"Correct, that is why I am suggesting we can experiment on the findings, and if there is any discomfort, I can retrieve it back to me."

"Hmmm.... Alright, I will accept the core, by the way, why do you give it to me and not store it somewhere else?"

"Sadly we don't know if there is Otto's spy inside AE and I can't risk the core being in his hand, sure we have audits to make sure everyone is clean, but there are some sympathizers inside the organizations, but that is a minor issue since everyone in the NA generally hated Otto. The radical branch of AE, we don't know what they will be planning if they have the core of reason at their disposal. And the biggest worry is Kevin Kaslana and the World Serpent, they are very ultra-radical that are dead set on completing Project STIGMA, right now, their leader is trapped in the sea of quanta, but it won't be long until he emerges and continues his plan of what basically is genocide. They want to use the Core of Reason to help them achieve their goal, I can't let the core fall on their hands." Welt explains as he materializes the core in his hand. "The safest option is to give it to you since it looks to me as if you hated Otto and will not agree with Project STIGMA, that is why I am giving you the deal."

I don't know whether or not AE can find my friends but it is sure worth a shot, AE is quite a large organization so their resources should be large compared to finding clues on my own. Regarding the side effects of holding two cores of the same type, I am sure there will be side effects but it shouldn't be that bad right?

"Ok, I get what you are saying, so when are you giving me that core?"

"Let's go to the lab to meet with Einstein and Tesla and got you hooked up on the vital monitoring machine in case there are adverse effects on your body." Welt said as he stands up and starts walking towards the door.

Now that I look at him, I find his face to be unhealthy and weary, perhaps the side effects of holding the core are very significant for him that he looks this tired and sick. Looking at him struggling like that reminds me again that Honkai exposure is bad for humans, sometimes when you are surrounded by Honkai-resistant individuals you forget how bad it is for humans. If we look at it from a human's point of view, Honkai is what destroys their lives, a deadly plague that ravages the land, scary monsters that want to kill you, and Herrschers are viewed as Harbingers of Death, Former humans who have lost their humanity and have been corrupted by the Honkai who wish nothing but the extinction of the human race. But if you look at it from Honkai-chan's point of view, Honkai is just an isotope of quantum energy which itself is the manifestation of Honkai-chan, but wait, didn't Sirin say that she communicate with Honkai-chan back on the moon? Don't tell me that she actually encourages Sirin to destroy humanity and that the [Loving Humanity] part of her is a fabricated lie. Damn it, I thought Honkai-chan was innocent and that the killing of many people due to Honkai-affiliated disasters is just the sad reality of Humans growing and quantum energy seeping through the world. But now that I think of it, Herrschers are her Children, yet they want to eradicate humanity, if she loves humans, shouldn't she teach her children not to hate humans? Damn it, she really is an Evil God, and I am dancing on her palm this entire time, she tempts me with cake and sweets to believe what she was saying.

"What are you doing? let's go" Welt called from outside the room

"Wait up I am coming"

Let's leave it at that. For now, I have to be wary of her if I was to meet her in a dream next time, plus question her regarding her lies.

_______________________________________________________________________________

At the Laboratory

"Alright Liana, the monitoring device has been set up, you can take the core of Reason" Einstein voice is heard through the intercom.

I was inside a room filled with medical equipment. There is standard equipment in a hospital like a Heart monitor, breathing apparatus, oxygen saturation meter, and body integrity chart, but it also has some weird equipment such as live data of hormone levels, cholesterol level, blood composition, Honkai exposure meter, Honkai absorption on tissue meter, brain activity charts, and the last is a Honkai neutralizing serum machine that will automatically inject me with the content in case my honkai level is too much. And in the middle of all that, there is me, laying on a slanted chair similar to the chair in the dentist, strapped by all the machinery. A mirror is set up near the bed so that I can see myself with all of these equipment hooked-up I would say I look like I am a terminally ill patient.

At first, when I entered the room, it is scary, a white room filled with equipment and a viewing glass on one side of the room, I know that it is for the safety of Einstein, Tesla, and the rest of the crew monitoring my vitals but this makes me feel like a test subject about to be experimented on, ughh brings back bad memories, Luckily the glass is transparent and not single-sided if they are then that makes me feel that I am treated like a prisoner.

Luckily, the doctors and nurses are nice, they explain to me what they are doing every time they plug in equipment to me, which helps calm my nerves a bit. I also talk to Einstein and Tesla during the test preparation where I learn the front of the glass actually has a super fast air current that flows from the top to the bottom to carry any honkai energy particles that come near the glass to a honkai neutralizing pool where the air will be pump inside the pool to be de-honkaized. Everything other than the glass is made of Thick Soulium, the ducting of the air is also made of Soulium, to make sure that the room is isolated from the outside world and would not leak any honkai energy. Soulium is actually a metallic composite of nano-robots that resist honkai radiation and particles, and are able to repair honkai corruptions on their structure. The glass is separated into three segments, outside, middle, and inside. There is a film of Soulium in front of the outside glass about three nano-robots thick so that it can still be transparent. The film is also present in front of the middle and inside glass making the glass very hard for honkai energy to pass through. Basically, if I were to describe it, it is like inside a level 4 biohazard laboratory where it is negatively pressured and the air is constantly filtered.

"Ok, I will take the core" With my right hand, I reach out to the core that has been placed by Welt in front of me after the doctors and nurses have left and grab it.

In an instant, blue light started to emit from the core, and my right hand turned purple, I have seen these before back when I tried to dislodge the bomb or should I say the engine of the craft in Arc city back then. I am starting to hear voices in my head, see images of past events, even before I was born, and numerous pieces of information are entering my head. This is different than the time I have my reason core, at that time I don't feel anything. Maybe due to my bloodline and very high resistance to honkai energy, the energy contained in one reason core is not enough to destabilize me, but two did the trick.

"Liana, your honkai absorption is entering the critical level, we will stop the experiment," Tesla said

I saw a mechanical arm moving towards the core, but when it touches the core to grab it from my hand, a wave of pure honkai energy flows from my hand through the machine arm causing it to disintegrate, and the air started to have a pink hue on it due to the immense concentration of honkai energy inside, it is so thick that you can see the walls corrupts and then repaired, and corrupts and repaired, in a cycle. The room is filled with a powerful wind that rages inside the room. All the while I saw the faces of all the crew including Welt, Einstein, and Tesla faces in utter panic, as they scrambled to turn on a second mechanical arm to remove the core from my hand. Yet at that time, I feel at peace, I don't know when I stopped hearing the voices and seeing the images but it seems that I can't hear anything, everything is quiet, even though I see Einstein panic-ly say something through the intercom, but I can't hear anything. Now it is not just my arm that is pink, but it has reached my neck, I would assume that every other body part has now turned pink.

Is this it?

Is this the end?

Tears started to fall from my eyes, the tears are blown with the wind.

No, I don't want to die, I need to find my friends, I need to ask the evil god about her purpose, I need to defeat Otto and Kevin, I need to live with my family, I can't die here and leave them?

I feel very numb, or in other words, I didn't feel anything, not the wind, not the pain, nothing. Yet somehow I feel like the cores in my body are reacting, my cores are glowing brightly in my chest, reason, void, flame, and sentience all glowed. Then I saw a blue line coming from the core in my hand to my chest, the moment the line touches my reason core which is shining bright blue, All my cores glows even brighter, it is as if they are feeding from the energy of the reason core on my hand.

"UAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

My chest hurts like hell, it feels like someone stab 1000 sharp, super-hot knives into it, it stabs and burns my chest. I also feel a burning sensation in my eyes as tears started to fall like a waterfall, it is so painful that I want to rip my eyes off. My vision narrowed and darkened, my brain melting from all the pain I am experiencing, and then, all is dark.

I still feel pain in my chest but it starting to die down. I feel my right hand is empty, the reason core's energy has been sucked with nothing left by my four cores. The senses on my hands and feet are starting to recover as I started to feel the wind blowing inside the room and the tingling feeling of honkai energy around me.

It looks like I am not dead yet huh? If I am dead, I shouldn't be able to feel the wind against my skin, but why is everything dark?

Then out of nowhere, a scene started to play out in front of me.

***

it was at a high school, I saw a girl that looks a lot like me running towards two people in front of her, What appears to be Kevin and what appears to be a girl that has the same look as Mei-senpai. Wait, is these memories? How did Kevin be there with us in high school? Eh come to think of it, the uniforms are different. Although I never directly seen Kevin, Bronya's description of him says that he is a cold calculating man, yet the person in the memories smiled and seemed happily teasing the girl that looked like Mei-senpai.

"Oni-chan, wait for me," The girl that looked like me said to the two in front of her.

"Liana, you took too long to pack up, so we decided to leave you there on your own as punishment" Kevin said to the girl in a teasing tone.

Wait? What? Liana? isn't it my name? isn't the name granted by mom? how can it be here? back when I was in high school with mei-senpai, I was still Kiana. What happens here? isn't it my memories? So many questions like why would Kevin be here? and why my name is Liana here?

"You're so mean oni-chan, how can you leave me like that?" The girl which apparently has my name said to Kevin

"That's why you should be quicker" Kevin replied, as he turned back and continued walking

"Liana, don't be fooled by your brother's action, in truth he is super worried about you, since you both have been recently transferred here, he is afraid that you will not have any friends and kept anxiously talking to me about it. I mean what should I do? The best I can do is listen to his rant about you and just silently nod along. He teases you to hide his attention of you since he will feel embarrassed about it." The girl that is similar to Mei-senpai but wears glasses speak to Liana.

"Mei! why are you telling that to Liana?" Kevin turns back and shouts at Mei

So the girl is also called Mei, maybe this is like my mixed-up memories or something? but I remember Mei-senpai never wearing glasses.

"Hehehe, who would have thought that Oni-chan is a huge tsundere, no worries, I always accept your strengths and weaknesses Oni-chan. hehe~" Liana speaks

"Shut up" Kevin said

Mei started laughing, and the Three of them keep walking, and then the memories ended.

***

What happened? Kevin, me, and Mei-senpai attend high school together, the uniforms are different, Mei-senpai wears glasses, Kevin is not cold, and I called him Oni-chan? what?

Ugh, this is confusing as hell.

A/N:

Sorry, after I got back on Monday, I feel very tired and had no mood in writing, so yeah, I have been procrastinating until today.