Free Web NovelPavela was now more skeptical than ever about whether she had actually woken up today.
If she was awake, why had things turned out like this?
Or was the world simply this absurd by nature?
At this moment, she was sitting in a chair.
Before her was a mirror.
Her reflection in the mirror—
Her hair had been tied into two small buns.
One on the left, one on the right.
Like two upright rabbit ears.
They were even tied with deep red ribbons.
The ends of the ribbons hung down, swaying gently against the sides of her face.
Pavela stared at herself in the mirror and fell silent.
She heard a satisfied sigh from behind her.
“Perfect.”
That woman—or rather, Dr. Yana Lovelace.
That was what she said.
Dr. Lovelace stood behind Pavela, hands on her hips, like an artist admiring her newly finished sculpture.
“This is the feeling.”
“Cute to a criminal degree.”
“Little Victoria's aesthetic was indeed correct.”
Pavela took a deep breath.
“Doctor.”
“Hmm?”
“Can I take these off?”
“You cannot.”
Dr. Lovelace's answer was very blunt.
“Why?”
“Because you attacked me just now without saying a word.”
Dr. Lovelace walked in front of Pavela, leaned down, and looked at her with an 'I'm being reasonable' expression.
“That was very impolite.”
“So now, let me play with your hair as compensation.”
“Very fair, right?”
Pavela opened her mouth.
She wanted to argue.
But she found that she really didn't have much to say.
She indeed had rushed in without a single word.
Although her own reasons were sufficient—having been miserably screwed over by that Gatekeeper in the mental space last time—
To an outsider, especially from the perspective of etiquette—
There was indeed a bit of a problem.
Pavela sighed.
“...Fine.”
“Excellent!”
Dr. Lovelace nodded with satisfaction.
Then she pulled out a comb from goodness-knows-where and began to adjust the stray hairs on Pavela's forehead.
“A little to the left—”
“No, that's too much.”
“To the right—”
“Yes, just like that.”
Her movements were very gentle.
Completely unlike the rough force she used when rubbing Pavela's face earlier.
Pavela could feel the teeth of the comb lightly grazing her scalp, bringing a subtle, relaxing sensation.
“Doctor.”
Pavela said.
“Hmm?”
“So you are Victoria's mother?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Lovelace continued combing her hair.
“Let me re-introduce myself.”
“My name is Yana Lovelace, the mother of Victoria von Hohenheim.”
“How about it? Don't you think the surname 'Lovelace' sounds much cooler?”
Pavela looked at Dr. Lovelace's face in the mirror.
She did indeed look very much like Victoria.
Almost as if carved from the same mold.
Only older, with more mature features.
And that smile—
That smile full of curiosity, full of excitement, full of 'I've discovered something interesting.'
It was exactly the same as when Victoria first met her.
“So.”
Pavela said,
“Where is this place?”
“This place?”
Dr. Lovelace put down the comb and pointed a finger at the surrounding pure white space.
“This is your mental space.”
“To be precise, it's a simulated version of your mental space.”
Pavela frowned.
“Simulated version?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Lovelace walked over to Pavela's side and also looked at her in the mirror.
“The essence of a mental space is a soul's reflection in the primordial sea.”
“It directly reflects the most fundamental aspects of that soul.”
“For example, a Wayfarer of Path of the Tower might have a mental space that is a black tower constantly collapsing and rebuilding.”
“A Wayfarer of the Path of the Moon might have a mental space that is a forest shrouded in mist.”
“But those are all appearances after being influenced by Return Power.”
She paused for a moment.
“And this space I've replicated is your original mental space.”
“In other words, the most fundamental state of your soul before being influenced by any Return Power.”
Pavela looked around.
A pure white space.
There was nothing.
It was as clean as a canvas that had just been created.
“So my soul...”
Her voice was a bit dry.
“Is just a blank space like this?”
“What you're saying isn't quite right.”
Dr. Lovelace shook her head.
“This isn't blank.”
“It is pure.”
Her tone became a bit more serious.
“Most people's mental spaces, even before being influenced by Return Power, will have all sorts of things.”
“Fragments of memory, residues of emotion, projections of desire.”
“They form various shapes in the mental space—buildings, landscapes, figures.”
“But yours is different.”
“There is nothing in your mental space.”
“It's like a soul that was just born.”
“Completely devoid of «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» any traces of pollution.”
Pavela blinked.
Could someone like her really be called 'pure'?
Pavela didn't think so.
She was more inclined to believe it was because she didn't belong to this world.
Her soul was 'new' to this world.
That was why it was such a vast expanse of white.
Or perhaps, it was simply that Dr. Lovelace's technology had malfunctioned.
“So how did you do it?”
Pavela asked.
“Replicating my mental space?”
“Ah, that.”
Dr. Lovelace's eyes lit up again.
“That is my field of research.”
“The combination of Return Power and modern technology.”
“The door you just opened is also one of my research results.”
“I call it the ‘Consciousness Projection Device’.”
“It can read a person's mental frequency and then recreate their mental space within a closed environment.”
“Of course, it's a simulated version, not the real thing.”
“But for studying Return Power, it's more than enough.”
Pavela remembered that pure white door.
She remembered the feeling when she pressed her hand against it.
Warm.
Like something alive.
“So.”
She said,
“You pulled me into this space just to study me?”
“Not entirely.”
Dr. Lovelace smiled. freewёbnoνel.com
“Research is only one part of it.”
“More importantly—”
She reached out and gave Pavela's head another rub.
“I wanted to see you.”
“Alone, without anyone bothering us.”
“Where I can do whatever I want with you.”
Pavela's eye twitched.
“Why?”
“Because little Victoria told me a lot about you,”
Dr. Lovelace said.
“She said you were very cute.”
“She said you were very special.”
“She said you were the most interesting person she'd ever met.”
“So I thought—”
“Since you could make that daughter of mine—who is enthusiastic toward everyone—mention you so specially, then I should see you for myself.”
“To see exactly what kind of person could make my actually very picky daughter like them so much.”
Dr. Lovelace's smile became even more pronounced.
“And she was right.”
“You really are very cute.”
“Especially with this hairstyle.”
Pavela decided not to dwell on this topic anymore.
She took a deep breath.
“So, Doctor.”
“You wanted to see me just to confirm how cute I am?”
“Well, there is actually one more reason.”
Dr. Lovelace finally stopped rubbing her head.
She stepped back, hands on her hips, looking at Pavela in the mirror.
Her emerald green eyes appeared exceptionally bright against the pure white background.
“I want to ask you.”
“Do you want to obtain a mecha that belongs only to you, the most advanced one in the world?”
