“This… isn’t my body, isn’t it…”

Once the tears stopped, the two sisters talked about a lot of things. Atropos was mainly interested in her sister’s life after reincarnation. She was trying to be considerate, knowing the Lachesis she knew was no longer the same, but to her surprise the story was unlike anything she imagined.

Eventually, however, she felt the need to address the more pressing matters and the main one was the changes in her body.

Nino was silent, unable to meet her sister’s gaze. Just then the sound of the door opening drew their attention to it. Seeing the one who had just entered, the two suddenly became tense.

“Doctor…”

Normally Nino would be beaming at the sight of her beloved, but for some reason the warm feeling she usually feels wasn’t there. Sam seemed a bit detached and cold, but unlike when he had his emotions suppressed.

‘Ah… he’s angry…’ the Japanese doll suddenly realized, though she was unable to guess the reason, wondering if it was because of her sister or something else.

He arrived at the bed and stood silently for a few moments. His eyes were on the Olympian, paying no mind to the Valkyrie standing between them. Nino silently took a step back and lowered her head. She didn’t know why, but remaining silent felt like the only thing she could do.

“How do you feel?” Sam asked.

“I…” for some reason, Atropos felt a hint of fear being under his gaze.

She subconsciously tried to coat herself in her Force Field and it was then that she understood why she felt uneasy.

“I’m sure you already know but… your body was beyond saving after you took that blow.” Closing his eyes, Sam heaved a sigh.

“But… how?” Hesitantly, the elder sister asked. “Did you transfer my consciousness into an artificial body? Or did you make a copy of it and…”

lightsΝοvεl ƈοm Suddenly, the fear she felt before became more dreadful.

“Well, your first guess is closer to the truth.” Sam answered just as she began to panic. “We replaced every cell in your body with artificial ones. It was a difficult process. Your body kept trying to regenerate itself so it rejected the integration. I had to work overnight to make a new ASC that could adapt to your ability.”

“Cells?” Atropos gave him an incredulous stare and then looked down at herself. “I see…”

Scratching the back of his head, Sam thought back to the conversation he had with Elina.

“The truth is, you’re the fourth one to undergo this procedure. Until recently we weren’t sure whether a person remains the same after the change, but after we learned about the existance of Aether we are now able to prove that the Soul remains even if the vessel is different.”

It is also by that same logic that they were able to prove death. If the vessel is damaged to a certain extent, it would become incapable of containing the Soul. Unfortunately they had no idea on what happens to the Soul after it leaves the vessel, but from what they learned so far it seems that it goes through some kind of purification process before finding its way to the growing body of a newborn somewhere out there in the multiverse.

“A technology that’s capable of perfectly replicating most functions of human cells…” staring at her hand for a moment, the Olympian then looked up at Sam and said bluntly “That’s quite… primitive…”

The last word stabbed Sam right in the guts, causing him to clutch his stomach and catch.

“Doctor!?” Nino rushed to his side.

“I’m guessing you used some sort of nanomachines.” Said Atropos, ignoring his reaction. “It might sound like a good solution at first, but in reality you would just be locking your potential in place. Then again it might be the only choice for those who failed to awaken.”

“Wa… wait…” Sam spoke, practically forcing the words out. “I won’t let you dump on all of my hard work just like that. Do you even know how hard it was to make it?”

Project Asclepius was the accumulation of all his research in the field of nanotechnology. He might not be the first to invent the ASC, but having worked on them independently until the final stages was enough of a reason for him to feel pride in what he achieved.

“Oh please. I’m one of the people who discovered the Tapestry of Fate. Of course I know what it takes, and I’m telling you now, your little invention isn’t that impressive.”

Seeing her shrug while shaking her head, Sam began to feel his anger growing. He had no reason to just stand there and listen to her ridiculing his work, but at the same time he had nothing to shut her down with.

“You must’ve underestimated what a biological, flesh and blood body can achieve.” Atropos went on. “With enough training and the right medicine, one can still surpass the limits of the default human constitution. I have already noticed that this body is incapable of generating a Force Field. If I had to make a guess, it’s most likely incapable of regenerating and healing itself. Am I correct?”

Sam gritted his teeth.

“Not that regeneration could’ve saved you.”

“Well, there is a limit to everything.” She sighed.

As the tension continued to escalate between the two, Nino suddenly stepped between them.

“Please stop, you two!” She said, gently pushing Sam away. “Doctor! Sis just woke up, she still doesn’t understand what’s happening!” She then turned to her sister with a glare. “And sis, Doctor saved your life, you know? Show him some respect.”

Atropos stared at her for a moment, her eyes wide open. She then averted her gaze and pouted her cheeks.

“I didn’t ask to be saved.”

“But I did!”

The loud shout struck Atropos like lightning. Glancing at the Japanese doll, she saw that tears had begun to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“I said I didn’t want things to end that way. I… I wanted us to part like that…”

Seeing the look on her little sister, Atropos felt a suffocating sensation in her chest. She had already noticed that that she didn’t have a beating heart, nor did she have lungs for the air she breathed. It didn’t make sense for her to experience that sensation. It was unbearable and it made her want to apologize right away, however her her pride prevented her from doing so.

“I’m not so naive that I would think he did it out of kindness.” She said, clutching a hand to her chest. “I’m a high ranking officer from an enemy camp. Surely he’s only keeping me alive to exploit me.”

“Well, not exactly.”

Hearing the man’s reply, the Olympian gave him a doubtful look.

“I won’t deny that I plan to extract as much info as I can out of you, however that was never my reason for saving your life.” Raising his hand, he patted Nino on the head. “After what you did to two of my Valkyries I would’ve been more than happy to let you die. But I can’t exactly turn down a request from my beloved fiance.”

Nino’s head shot up the moment she heard the last words, and when she saw the warm smile he directed at her her cheeks flushed red instantly.

The Japanese doll had begged him to save her sister, going as far as to ask for it as the reward he promised her. He had already decided that he would do his best, but seeing the tears she shed strengthened his resolve and made him put all his concerns away.

“Fiance…”

Atropos was stunned. She had heard her mention it before but it seemed that the idea only started to feel real now that she saw her little sister’s expression.

Just like her, both Clotho and Lachesis never had any interest in those around them. They were always focused on their duties and running their domain, and whatever free time they had was spent on research. It didn’t help that didn’t measure up to the Fate Sisters and those who did were always despicable.

On multiple occasions Atropos always knew that pride was what held the three of them back from finding happiness with a man. That conclusion only seemed to get truer as time passed, and now that one of them has finally found someone it could no longer be contested.

Atropos got off the bed and stood face to face with the man in a lab coat. She gazed at him for a second, careful to keep her expression neutral. A chaotic battle was ongoing in her head but eventually it came to an end.

“My apologies. It seems that I’ve said some unnecessary things. Please forgive my rudeness.” Swallowing her pride, the Olympian bowed deeply.

Sam was surprised by the sudden show of sincerity, but compared to him, Nino was rather shocked. She began looking around the room, clinging to his arm as if afraid of something.

“Doctor! This might be really bad!” She said. “Sis apologized! The world could be ending any moment now!”

Atropos straightened her back instantly revealing a face red with embarrassment.

“Lachesis!”

Sam didn’t need an explanation to understand what his Valkyrie meant. The name Atropos meant ‘the unalterable’ or ‘the inflexible’. In Greek mythology it indicated her function as the one who renders her sister’s decisions irreversible, but one could guess what kind of personality traits someone who represents the inevitability of death would have.

It seemed like Sam’s guess was correct as the two sisters kept bantering for a couple of minutes. eventually though the elder sister turned to him once more, her cheeks still flushed.

“About… about your technology…” she appeared to be forcing herself quite a bit but after some struggle she was able to speak her mind. “I… I will admit that I wouldn’t have survived without it so… thank you…”

Seeing her bashful demeanor, Sam couldn’t help but blur a single word.

“Tsundere?”

He expected the word to cause nothing but confusion, but instead the Olympian’s eyes slowly widened as the red color spread all the way to her ears. He saw Nino in the corner of his eye holding both hands to her mouth and staring at him in disbelief. That told him that the meaning behind the word didn’t go over their heads, and not long after he seemed to remember the fact that they were both Japanese.

As the embarrassment continued to take over Atropos making her blush even more, her personality seemed to take a sudden shift as clutched her fists and yelled at him.

“I am not!!!”