A man or a woman?

The pale light of the neon lamps flooded the office, casting diffuse shadows over the carefully stacked piles of files. The walls had a rather peculiar color, as if they bore the marks of time, while the steady ticking of the clock seemed to slow down, weighing down the atmosphere.

Seated at his desk, observing his latest find, he lightly tapped a pen against the varnished wood.

The silence was broken only by the sudden entrance of a little girl, scrutinizing the egg in her hand. Her mind seemed elsewhere, suddenly drawn by the palpable tension hanging in the room.

A decision had to be made, and the weight of it tightened his stomach.

Someone entered the room without bothering to knock. She looked like a child, with red hair and eyes of the same color.

"Here you are, slacker! Where have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

The person sighed.

"I believe I asked you to knock before entering, didn't I?"

She seemed like a calm person, one who never lost her temper. Her voice was always calm and low, yet she always made herself heard.

That was not the case for the red-haired girl.

"Huh? Let me remind you that you're in my house, and this is my office!"

"That may be true, but that doesn't mean you should relax or act as you please."

As if something snapped, a vein appeared on the girl's forehead.

"I'm going to kill you, you jerk."

The person in front of her, as if to deflect the conversation, held out his hand—the one holding the egg.

Her anger immediately vanished, replaced by curiosity about the mysterious object.

"Oh, can I touch it? Tell me, can I see it?"

"At your leisure."

"What is it? A monster egg? Where did you find it?"

"A dungeon collapsed, and I went to investigate. I found this instead. What do you think?"

"Well, it emits no magical energy, and the thing inside is almost human-shaped. I'd like to study it. Will you give it to me?"

"Hmm, no."

"I'm going to kill you! Do you know who you're living with? I house you for free, and this is how you thank me? Lazy slob, lazy!"

The girl was shouting and stomping her foot. A strange thought crossed her companion's mind as he held the egg—like a feeling of déjà vu.

"Don't be like that. It's well known that you're a brilliant researcher, but I'm afraid of the kinds of experiments you might perform on it."

"Come on, I won't dissect it, all right? All right? And I won't conduct any dangerous experiments."

"Well, I'm not convinced. Listen, here's what I'd like: I'd like you to help me hatch this thing and see what it is!"

"If that's all, I promise not to go far with my experiments. I'd also like to see it hatch."

"We have a deal… You mentioned earlier that you were looking for me?"

"Oh, right, there's a meeting, and they're asking for you!"

"I'll pass."

"Are you planning to do nothing for much longer? Honestly, that suited me for a while, but now it's starting to affect me, too."

"You see, Lady Ariane, even by doing nothing, things move forward. After all, time isn't kind enough to wait for anyone; changes are already happening."

Ariane remained calm upon hearing her name mentioned by the person before her, then retorted:

"Not in our favor, however."

"Do you think it's a hybrid that survived the collapse of a dungeon?"

It was a clumsy attempt on his part to change the subject, and Ariane immediately took the bait.

"The question does arise. After all, it would be better to go to my lab. We need to check something."

"Yes, yes, let's go."

The person stood up and followed Ariane as the two headed to her laboratory.

The person who had found the egg in the dungeon was now walking down a corridor. The proper lighting suggested it was a research center.

That was indeed the case.

After a short walk, a door stood before them. It was a magical device set up by Ariane, with the key being a sequence of magical circles activated in intermittent order.

The sequences were, respectively, water, essence conversion to fire, ether phase shift, and finally, air.

There was also a universal method: simply breaking the door down. After all, Ariane's purpose here was not so much to protect her research data as to test anyone who deemed themselves worthy of entering.

It was a basic mechanism.

She placed her finger on the door. A neutral blue circle appeared, blinking, with patterns forming around it. It blinked again, and a second circle was added on top. Patterns appeared on the new circle, and the formation turned red. Then black patterns were added, and the circle lit up with all the previous colors simultaneously.

The door opened.

"I see this little trick never bores you, Lady Ariane."

"I don't criticize your habits, do I?"

It seemed to him that she did, all the time. Yes, that was indeed the case.

In front of her stood a small girl with red hair. She was waiting by the door; Ariane had come to welcome her.

Ariane had gone ahead to prepare her lab and start some tests. Now, she was checking what the matter was.

"Where is the item I entrusted to you?"

"I was about to bring it. Come with me; it's really something interesting, slacker."

Following Ariane, they passed through a room filled with specimens of various races immersed in tubes, each likely containing a special liquid.

The tubes had inscriptions on their bases, indicating the race, subject serial number, and date.

Among them, there was an artificial body—likely a hybridization gone wrong. The body was disintegrating in the tube, though there were plenty of similar models nearby in better condition.

For instance, the model to Ariane's right was an artificial body:

Omicron (0-HH 1984)—it had the appearance of a human woman.

Omicron (0-HH 1978)—it looked like a man in his forties with a short beard, his body well-formed.

And Omicron (0-HHH-6)—it looked like a child.

Among all these models, the person was drawn to a particular tube. The being inside looked human except for its horns, and its turbulent energy suggested experiments on demons, she thought.

She stopped, and Ariane followed suit. She glanced back at the person, visibly annoyed.

[¹] Overflow: A phenomenon that occurs when a dungeon accumulates a certain amount of energy and the infinitely generated monsters are not regularly killed. It's a process that can sometimes take centuries, depending on the type of dungeon.

[²] Collapse: A phenomenon caused by the loss of the dungeon boss, its pillar, and the conversion of the dungeon's core. The formations and systems of the dungeon become obsolete, reverting it into an ordinary structure.

[³] Slacker: A nickname Ariane uses to refer to him due to his inactivity.