Osiris did not move his main office out of the Ninth Research Institute.
That bay, gradually returning to life, and the ongoing ecological restoration project remained important anchors for his public identity.
His daily focus remained here, handling the institute's routine affairs and independent research.
However, with his rise in status and the practical needs of the "Cherubim Type II" project, NERV Headquarters assigned him a dedicated laboratory on the Technical Development Department floor.
This laboratory was in a relatively quiet location but offered convenient access, equipped with the necessary permissions and access control systems.
The interior space was moderate, with a layout driven entirely by practicality, featuring the project's essential analytical instruments, dedicated terminal interfaces, and material processing platforms.
Compared to the comprehensive large-scale laboratories owned by core high-level officials like Ritsuko Akagi, the configuration here was clearly more focused on R&D support for specific projects rather than foundational or exploratory frontier research.
This laboratory became a fixed base for Osiris at headquarters.
He would work here several days a week to chair project meetings, analyze experimental data directly linked to headquarters' systems, or perform calculations that required access to the internal network or specific databases.
Cold fluorescent lights reflected off standardized lab benches and flickering screens; outside the window was no longer the natural ocean scenery, replaced instead by the vast and complex metal architecture of the headquarters' interior, along with personnel and equipment moving regularly across bridges and corridors.
The administrative assistant and technical secretary assigned to him by the organization were primarily stationed at headquarters, responsible for resource coordination, process approvals, and inter-departmental paperwork related to the "Cherubim Type I" project.
When Osiris was at the Ninth Research Institute, most contact was maintained through encrypted communication channels.
This arrangement allowed him to effectively advance projects within headquarters while maintaining the appearance of the Ninth Research Institute as his primary center of activity.
Like a regular commuter, he traveled between the tranquility of the coastline and the order deep within headquarters, skillfully utilizing resources from both sides to maintain two seemingly separate yet closely related identities and responsibilities.
However, this promotion came with clear boundary restrictions. He gained "high-level executive authority" and "technical authority status" based on projects, rather than the highest clearance touching NERV's core secrets.
In conventional technical fields, Osiris enjoyed a considerable degree of access freedom.
He could call up most of the EVA's routine performance data, review non-core weapon R&D files, and use standard-level magi system computing resources.
The Technical Development Department's routine laboratories and equipment were open to him, and the resource requests he submitted for the "Cherubim Type I" project were approved in a timely manner.
But beneath this seemingly loose authority, there were insurmountable red lines.
Regarding the underlying architecture and core logic of the magi system, NERV never disclosed relevant information to him; fields involving the "Human Instrumentality Project," "SEELE directives," "Adam-related" matters, and "Deep Analysis of the Spear of Longinus" remained completely closed to him.
The specific purpose of the deepest part of Central Dogma, as well as the existence and operating mechanisms of the Rei Ayanami clone maintenance units—the core secrets forming the cornerstone of NERV's ultimate plan—were never included within his scope of knowledge.
This critical information remained firmly controlled by Gendo Ikari, Kozo Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko Akagi, and a few individuals directly affiliated with SEELE.
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, as the core of the Technical Development Department, maintained a professional and pragmatic attitude toward Osiris.
She recognized Osiris's technical capabilities and provided full technical support on projects like "Cherubim Type I," making their cooperation efficient and smooth.
But when it came to key areas like the core biological structure of the EVAs or the original design of A.T. Field generators, she would timely set boundaries, providing processed alternative data instead of original blueprints under the guise of "technical patent protection" or "project safety regulations."
At technical coordination meetings, these boundaries manifested even more subtly.
When Osiris proposed plans involving deeper technical details, Ritsuko Akagi wouldn't refuse directly; instead, she would provide filtered technical documents or arrange for the core team to collaborate at the interface level.
This approach ensured project progress while preventing core technology leaks.
This set of permissions allowed Osiris to fully utilize his technical expertise within the defined scope while ensuring NERV's core secrets remained under strict protection.
For Osiris, this arrangement perfectly met his expectations—gaining the resources and platform needed to advance his plans without causing unnecessary alarm by getting too close to the core.
Commander Gendo Ikari maintained a stance of tacit consent or even indulgence toward this situation.
He needed to leverage Osiris's extraordinary technical abilities to strengthen NERV's conventional combat power and improve the efficiency and "cleanliness" of fighting Angels, which fully aligned with his needs to maintain the organization's independence and advance the surface "scenario."
However, he would never allow an outsider with a mysterious background and a completely different technical path to pry into or interfere with the ultimate goal he was plotting with SEELE.
Faced with this carefully designed, restricted promotion, Osiris remained exceptionally calm; this situation was entirely within his expectations and calculations.
He never attempted to challenge or test these boundary permissions, nor did he show any undue curiosity about core secrets.
He devoted almost all his public energy to the specific technical challenges facing the "Cherubim Type I" project: leading the team to overcome the structural stability of special warhead materials in the extreme firing environment of the Positron Rifle; optimizing the activity maintenance rate of Catalytic Particles in ultra-high-speed, high-overload flight states; and achieving maximum efficiency output for terminal energy field simulation devices within limited volumes.
The extremely high efficiency and keen insight he displayed in solving complex technical problems ensured the steady progress of the "Cherubim Type II" project, further consolidating his unquestionable authority in NERV's conventional technical field.
Meanwhile, he did not relax his management duties at the Ninth Research Institute; that bay, with its returning vitality and ecological restoration project, continued to serve as an important pivot for his "harmless" background and public welfare image, operating orderly under his remote supervision.
In the eyes of most NERV colleagues, Dr. Osiris was a brilliant top expert focused on technology itself and lacking interest in administrative disputes.
He was content to exercise his talents within the fields delineated by the organization, making him a highly contributing and reassuring project leader.
Only Osiris himself knew that this identity of "senior technical personnel" was the ideal cover and pivot for his current execution phase.
It provided legal and abundant resources, platforms, and social networks to advance overt technical research while effectively numbing potential monitors.
As for the core areas and information explicitly forbidden to him, he had already conducted multiple undetected explorations through his own unique methods—the AI virus deeply lurking in the bottom layer of the magi system, silently collecting data, and his own psionic perception and application that transcended the common sense of this world.
He often sat quietly at his workbench in the headquarters laboratory, his gaze falling on the constantly updating "Cherubim Type I" project progress charts, looking like a fully committed and dutiful chief engineer.
However, deep within his consciousness, perceptions linked to his main body in another dimension were continuously transmitting encrypted analysis results of the "key of Nebuchadnezzar" and meticulous deductions and evaluations for the next step of the plan.
Like a hunter lurking in the shadows, he skillfully utilized every convenience granted by the authorities, patiently weaving his own web, waiting for the prey to step into it.
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I checked the dets on this fic, I'm so angry those god damn raw sites!
The story reached chapter 900(on qidian) and they dare release only 1 chapter a day!
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
Also I thought it was spelled nwcnebuchadnezzar xdd