Linette's gaze swept over Serie's thinly exposed shoulder.
Serie was hunched in the corner of the bed, her head bowed, her dark hair casting shadows on her pale cheeks, her fingertips unconsciously caressing the unhealed needle marks beneath her sleeve.
It wasn't that Linette hadn't noticed the gloom settled deep in Serie's eyes, as if she carried a heavy burden.
Rather, when a person is confined to experiments and instruments day in and day out, if they can still maintain a naive and relaxed demeanor, that would be the anomaly requiring vigilance.
Serie's startled bird-like appearance, on the contrary, made Linette less suspicious and instead feel a genuine pang of pity.
"Feeling better?" Linette placed the meal tray on the metal surface, the table and tray clinking together.
"Mm..." Serie squeezed out a vague response from her throat.
Her body was indeed still somewhat weak, especially with her stomach aching from emptiness.
But compared to the almost organ-tearing hunger she felt earlier inside the Mad Eater Witch's body, this half-day of an empty stomach felt like a mosquito bite.
"Have breakfast." Linette pulled up a chair and reached out to help Serie off the bed, but the other party moved closer to the bed rail, avoiding her.
The two shadows on the plaster wall suddenly separated.
Serie wasn't so weak yet, and moreover, as she learned that she was indeed an anomaly, her vigilance towards Linette and the others grew, instinctively dodging any physical contact.
Linette's suspended wrist paused, ultimately falling back into the folds of her white coat, but she said nothing.
Serie sat at the table, the meal tray containing two boiled eggs and oatmeal soaked in milk, with pale apple chunks and shredded carrots piled beside them.
Serie poked the wilted salad leaves with the tip of her fork, instantly losing much of her appetite.
Such a standard 'white person's meal'...
It felt even worse than eating rocks...
Of course, that's eating rocks with the Mad Eater Witch's mouth.
If she had to personally gnaw on rocks, she'd probably chip a few teeth.
Serie mechanically forked the salad into her mouth, the shredded carrots tasting slightly bitter.
Outside the glass curtain wall, a constantly looping projection displayed a virtual clear sky, the cobalt blue so intense it seemed about to drip, making her eyes ache, but what truly made the back of her neck tighten was the almost tangible gaze beside her.
Did she really have to be watched while she ate?
"Today... are there other arrangements?" The tip of the fork made a faint scraping sound on the plate.
"Not for now." Linette, sitting on Serie's bed, crossed her legs.
Serie paused. In fact, her unspoken meaning was to ask when the other party would leave.
Could Serie not even enjoy her meals alone?
With a young and beautiful doctor like Linette staring at her while she ate, a thin layer of sweat gradually appeared on the back of Serie's neck.
It couldn't help but give her the illusion—behind a little sow burying her head in her feed, a butcher was sharpening his knife, as if after a few more bites, once the little sow reached the target weight, she would be weighed and priced.
Serie felt immense pressure and continued to probe: "Is Heinuma Doctor busy lately?"
"Yes, he has other new projects on hand." Linette propped her chin, her eyelashes looking like they were gilded in the lamplight: "He won't be back for the next few days."
This brought Serie some joy. Compared to her wariness of Linette, Heinuma was the existence that made her teeth itch with hatred.
That grooved Cold Condensation Experiment almost made Serie unable to last until today.
"You today..." She swallowed a piece of cut apple, her fingertips clumsily peeling a boiled egg, "don't have other arrangements? Like some new project?"
The subtext hung clearly between them—Are you, this Doctor, really so idle that you can watch me eat an entire meal?
Watching me eat first thing in the morning, do I have a good eating posture?
Well, it's not impossible, Oh...
Linette turned her face, interrupting Serie's brief moment of self-admiration:
"I've always believed that undertaking too many projects simultaneously, especially research on humanoid anomalies, only makes researchers numb." She lightly pressed her fingertip to her glasses frame: "Disassembling former kin into cold data specimens is not good for either party."
Serie hadn't expected Linette to say such a thing, and stared blankly at the other's pupils behind the lenses.
The noble cobalt blue was like frozen lake water, seemingly keeping people a thousand miles away, but within it surged a magma-like sincerity, burning Serie's heart.
This cold and beautiful female Doctor before her actually hid such pure passion, and... innocence, deep down.
Not only did she tell her everything, that unreserved honesty even made Serie feel a bit of guilt.
Perhaps Linette's kindness wasn't an act.
She genuinely held great goodwill towards Serie and other living anomalies.
Serie's fingertips caressed the eggshell fragments that still had some egg white on them. Such a characteristic might not be a good thing in the Control Bureau, but for her, Serie, it became a god-given opportunity.
Perhaps... Linette could help her.
Serie lowered her head and began to think.
Linette saw her expression and was slightly startled, then suddenly seemed to realize something.
"That..." Linette's voice was as soft as snow falling on a shoulder.
Serie hastily looked up, only to see Linette's gaze fixed on the mottled egg in her fingers.
Serie's mind was elsewhere, causing egg fragments to stick to her fingertips like fish scales, and the peeled half of the egg was bumpy and uneven.
"Would you like... me to help you?"
Serie reacted, a faint blush spreading across her neck, and nodded.
Linette then sat down by the edge of the bed, her clean, slender fingers taking the egg and gently squeezing it. The shell crumbled between her fingers, peeling off in a rustle, and in a few quick motions, a smooth egg white was revealed and placed steadily onto Serie's porcelain plate.
"...Thank you." Serie stared at Linette's overly nimble fingers, her earlobes reddening from her own tight voice.
Although they weren't much different in age, perhaps due to the significant height difference, or Linette's rock-solid steady aura, and Serie's temperament like a lone young beast, a stark contrast was formed.
This made the atmosphere between Serie and Linette somewhat subtle.
"It's nothing." Linette pulled out a tissue and slowly wiped her fingertips, the snow-white tissue crumpled into a small ball in her palm, "If you need anything, just shout into the monitor. I'm always here."
It was only when the door lock made a faint click that Serie realized she was alone in the single room.
She glanced at the boiled egg in her hand, the surface of the egg white still bearing a few faint finger marks, gleaming like pearls in the morning light.
Linette's words, whether intentional or a happy accident, somehow made Serie feel at ease.
She put the boiled egg into her mouth and slowly chewed.
It's just that among Doctors, there are also differences.
If Hayato had said to her: "I'm always here..."
Serie couldn't help but shiver. What kind of nightmare would that be...
After she had eaten her fill, Serie lazily lay back on the small bed.
She closed her eyes and focused, sensing the situation on the Mad Eater Witch's side.
As expected, Serie's consciousness had withdrawn too hastily earlier, and now the Mad Eater Witch was sprawled on the ground in a twisted, face-down posture.
Serie clearly couldn't multitask yet.
Once her consciousness returned to her own body, the Witch clone would be like a robot suddenly losing power, instantly losing all ability to move, and vice versa; when she poured her consciousness into the Witch's body, her main body would fall into a deep slumber.
Serie bit her lower lip in distress. This dilemma of being unable to manage both simultaneously had no immediate solution.
However, she didn't lose heart, as she hadn't yet claimed the reward for the previously completed task.
Perhaps there was something that could help?
Main Quest: First Step (Completed)
Target: Enable a Witch clone to learn an ability
Reward: Ability Point + 1 (Serie exclusive)
Serie knew what an Ability Point was, but an exclusive Serie version?
Did Serie herself have a skill tree!?