Newton looked toward the girl standing beside Dr. Mobius. She had not noticed her earlier, because the girl's figure had been completely blocked by a mountain of meeting documents piled high on the desk, with what seemed to be some strange objects mixed in.
It was only when Mobius mentioned the girl's name a second time that she finally swayed to her feet, muttering a long string of unfamiliar project terminology and data under her breath.
Her black shirt and identification badge marked her as a newly appointed assistant researcher. Though she shared the same healthy hair color as Dr. Mobius, there were heavy dark circles under her eyes, as if she had been working overtime for days on end.
Klein's lab coat was slightly disheveled. If Newton had not known that Mobius' laboratory consisted entirely of women, she might have suspected that Klein had suffered some kind of unfair treatment inside the lab.
Klein looked as though she had received some mysterious curse. Her face was pale, her eyes dull and unfocused, evoking an involuntary sense of pity.
Mobius continued, offering an explanation. "Klein was introduced by Blanca a few days ago. She's also a survivor of the Honkai. A very diligent, hardworking child who loves her work. She's about the same age as you. I imagine you two will have quite a lot in common."
Seeing Klein's condition, Newton's heart trembled.
Wah... I'm still young. I don't want to end up like Klein...
Speaking of newly appointed assistant researchers, in Newton's memory, that was practically the most relaxed position in MOTH.
Unlike MOTH's soldiers, who had to undergo high-intensity training every single day, fighting for their lives.
Unlike full researchers, who had to execute and oversee project processes, preventing all kinds of bugs and errors.
And unlike research supervisors or project managers, who had to meet project targets, shoulder risks, and handle pressure from superiors and sponsors at the same time.
An assistant researcher could be said to be the ultimate coasting employee. Not to mention a newly appointed assistant researcher—so long as you clocked in and out honestly and didn't make mistakes at work, that was already enough.
No one expected a newcomer to accomplish anything extraordinary. If a newcomer really did accomplish something major, it would often just give everyone a headache.
Accumulating extensive laboratory experience and knowledge—that was the true task of an assistant researcher.
What, make assistant researchers do miscellaneous chores? MOTH did not have the leisure to hire highly educated errand runners. A wide variety of robots and automated facilities were more than sufficient to meet the basic daily needs of experimental staff.
From household care and medical assistance to transportation and cleaning, they handled almost everything. There was no need for assistant researchers to perform such tasks.
Take Newton's office, for example. Robots came daily at scheduled times to clean and organize. If you had special requirements, you could even apply to the engineering department for a customized robot. As long as the request was reasonable, they would fulfill it—of course, the requesting laboratory would need to provide a modest amount of funding.
As for working hours, as a formal organization under the United Nations, MOTH's research personnel had an official workweek of thirty-two hours—lower than the legal limits of most countries in the world.
After all, the legal limit was merely a bottom line. MOTH was not some heartless corporation pushing employees to the edge of the law.
This was because MOTH needed to safeguard the creativity of its researchers. Scientific research was not the same as ordinary mental labor. Longer working hours did not effectively increase productivity. On the contrary, they were far more likely to reduce both output and quality.
Only adequate rest could make researchers more imaginative. In fact, many projects were born from flashes of inspiration that occurred during breaks.
That was also why MOTH's research department could always produce wildly imaginative black technologies.
Of course, the specific distribution of working hours depended on each laboratory's internal regulations. There were labs that worked overtime constantly, but not many.
Even then, it usually did not go too far. After all, MOTH had already restricted the personal freedom of its researchers. If it harshly forced them into endless overtime as well, the researchers might stop thinking about how to fight the Honkai—and start thinking about how to fight MOTH instead.
"Hello... Dr. Newton. I'm very glad to meet you." Klein greeted weakly, as if she might suddenly stop breathing and collapse mid-sentence.
Though she had no idea how Klein had deteriorated into this state within just a few days, Dr. Newton still returned the greeting politely. "Hello, Miss Klein."
Only a few days of work and she already looked like an exhausted zombie. This made Newton suddenly worry about her own future working at MOTH. Could there be some creature inside MOTH that secretly drained people's life force without her knowing?
She could only hope that Vill-V would allow her to end her infiltration mission soon. She had already been inside MOTH for three years. It should be about time, right?
After using Klein to subtly draw the distance closer between them—(could seeing Klein in this state really bring anyone closer?)—Mobius finally steered the conversation to the main topic.
"Dr. Newton, may I ask whether you have any large-scale project plans recently? Your report was simply too... outstanding. I, Mobius, am shallow in learning and completely unable to comprehend it."
Even though there was a vast difference between engineering and biology, Mobius was still a once-in-a-generation genius capable of drawing connections across disciplines. Even so, she had failed to analyze the slightest clue from Newton's report.
It was impossible that a researcher would simply recite the names of their works like reading from a menu and then call it a day, was it?
Most researchers capable of producing meaningful achievements could hardly wait to describe their entire psychological journey of creation. After all, those works were the crystallization of their thoughts, wisdom, and dreams—at least within MOTH, that was the case.
Mobius had thought she herself was already perfunctory enough. She had not expected someone even more perfunctory to exist.
Even a university thesis defense would not be so careless.
There was only one possibility—that Dr. Newton had deliberately used a vague and chaotic report to conceal her true purpose, preventing others from knowing what she was planning to do.
Which also meant that Dr. Newton must be plotting something significant behind the scenes.
Moreover, Newton had specifically applied for a private office even when she was still an assistant researcher. That alone was unusual. No one knew what earth-shaking plan she might have been formulating inside that independent office.
It was very likely that she had used that office to conduct deep exchanges with MOTH's upper management.
"If Dr. Newton requires it, I can yield a portion of my biology laboratory's funding. However, before that, I must understand your project to ensure the funds are used for appropriate research."
Though her words sounded courteous and pleasant, Mobius had absolutely no intention of conceding even the slightest fraction of her laboratory's budget. Feigning weakness was merely a way to gather intelligence.
After all, no one would expose their weakness in front of a venomous viper.
But if the one standing before you was a harmless little white rabbit... that would be a different story.
Even if her reputation within MOTH was that of a viper, reputation and actual impression were always two different things. Hadn't many people cursed someone as a shameless flirt with their mouths, while their bodies remained perfectly honest?