Clockwork Bride

Page 136

It was only at this moment that Hayden remembered to ask a question: "Speaking of which, what kind of person is the person behind Magical Girl Pazuzu?"

"She's a very easy person to get along with."

Ms. Echo said with a smile,

"She usually doesn't log off the internet at all. She only comes out about once a week to take care of her health. But this time, I want you to see how she is, so just wake her up."

……ah?

Before she finished speaking, Ms. Ai had already pressed the wake-up button on the sealed control pod. A short while later, the pod snapped open, and a trembling girl slowly crawled out.

Hayden was stunned the moment he saw her. The child looked so different from Pazuzu in the live stream.

Her skin was snow-white, even somewhat ashen, the unhealthy white of someone who hadn't been exposed to the sun. Her hair? A short mushroom cut, with long bangs that almost completely covered her eyes—though you could still see her eyes were red like a rabbit's. Her entire body, from her height to her build, was short and small, with very little flesh, including her chest; she looked frail and sickly.

Incidentally, because she had been infiltrating the StarNet in a sealed control cabin for a long time, she wasn't wearing any clothes at all; she was completely naked. Upon seeing Hayden standing outside, she was immediately stunned and quickly hid behind Ms. Eiko, trembling like a leaf.

Terrified.

Even Hayden was stunned—the contrast was too great!

For some reason, Angela, who was standing next to her, immediately sharpened her gaze when she saw this little girl!

Alive! Female!

"This is Pania, the person behind [Magical Girl Pazuzu]!"

Ms. Echo, unaware of what the two were thinking, happily said,

"Miss Panya, this Mr. Hayden is here to discuss a business partnership with our boss, and he'd like to see you first!"

148: So cute, bouncing around!

After Panya, the character behind "Magical Girl Pazuzu," was unpacked from the sealed control pod, Ms. Eko first brought her clothes. Ironically, even after leaving the control pod, Panya was still wearing a gray bodysuit with a built-in data interface.

It was clear that even after leaving the control room, she insisted on maintaining a connection to the astral network. Even when facing Hayden and Angela, Pania continued to surf the internet in her mind.

And she doesn't talk much.

After Ms. Echo explained Hayden's identity (they all regarded Angela as Hayden's maid), even though they knew that Hayden was a potential future business partner, Panya still hid behind Ms. Echo, looking extremely nervous.

This is really strange.

Hayden looked at Pania and couldn't help but think this.

Before he came, he thought the person behind "Magical Girl Pazuzu" would be an extremely outgoing, even difficult and ruthless character, but what he saw was a white-haired loli who seemed to have social anxiety. This was truly unexpected.

Actually, Hayden didn't dislike white-haired lolis. Angela's doll design wasn't exactly loli-like, but it was also white-haired. Strangely enough, for some reason, Angela seemed to really like this Miss Panya; as soon as she saw her pop out, she happily went over to talk to her: "What's your name? How old are you?"

How strange.

Moreover, the more Hayden looked at Pania, the stranger she seemed. His insight and perception were already on par with most of the gods, and his ethereal intuition was a gifted talent.

However, at this moment, when Hayden looked at Pania, he felt that her breathing was weak, her will was weak, and even her presence was too weak.

Clearly, the little girl was standing there, hiding behind Ms. Eckel, very close. Yet Hayden's senses perceived an ambiguous, vague feeling about her, as if she had almost no presence, as if she were far away.

This feeling is hard to describe. What exactly is going on?

So, while Angela was about to talk to Pania, Hayden quickly pulled Ms. Eko outside and asked, "Why did you choose such a thin, small, sickly, and socially awkward little girl who doesn't look like Pazuzu at all to play 'Magical Girl Pazuzu'?"

Both modern arcane magic and classical sorcery adhere to the principle of "similarity." The more similar two objects are, the more efficiently magic can occur and be transmitted. If the person behind the character is to wear the virtual skin of a virtual idol and play the role of "Magical Girl Pazuzu," then obviously the actress should be as close to and similar to Pazuzu as possible. Why would they choose this Pania?

Upon hearing Hayden's words, Ms. Echo smiled smugly: "The reason we chose Pania to play [Magical Girl Pazuzu] is, of course, because she is qualified and particularly suitable!"

What?

Hayden turned and looked again at the sickly white-haired girl who was nervously staring at Angela, and couldn't see anything particularly suitable about her.

So Ms. Echo smiled and explained, "Panya is an enhanced human. Moreover, she is an enhanced human who excels at [imitation] and [role-playing], specializing in performing arts."

噫

This answer was even more unexpected for Hayden.

He knew there were Protoss Coordinators in this world who specialized in artistic skills. Adam's wife, Alicia, was originally a Celestial with specialized artistic skills. Hayden just hadn't expected that there were middle-class families who, in order to give their offspring a chance to rise in social class (or at least avoid falling), would actually have their children's genes modified to be suitable for the performing arts before birth.

...Actually, thinking about it carefully, this isn't surprising at all. People who want to improve their social standing through the entertainment industry have existed since ancient times, haven't they?

"But even by the standards of an ordinary human, her body looks far too weak."

But Hayden still had many things he didn't understand.

Enhanced humans are secondary Coordinators, essentially "degraded gods," created through genetic modification, drug use, bio-arcs, and other means, making them beings beyond ordinary humans. Even if they can't withstand being hit on the head by a warhammer like ordinary gods, they shouldn't be sickly, right?

"This part is rather complicated. It's hard to explain in just a few words."

Ms. Echo frowned, and said with some difficulty,

“Mr. Hayden, please don’t take offense at what I’m saying—the boss told me to bring you here to see the quality of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] before deciding on a specific collaboration project—in other words, I can’t tell you the core secret technology before we’ve decided on a specific collaboration project!”

Tu

This is not true.

But Ms. Aiko suddenly changed the subject: "However, the boss allows you to look around. So if you figure it out yourself, instead of us employees telling you, then it's not our problem..."

puff

It seems that although Aiko has been demoted from Senior Administrative Assistant to Eclipse Skull by Goddess Micket on the surface, she is not without resentment. Although she dares not do anything major, she must really want to get revenge on Goddess Micket.

Hayden gave a thumbs-up to show he understood.

"Thank you. Then I'll take a closer look and try to interact with Miss Panya more."

At this point, Hayden remembered something else: "By the way, this Miss Panya looks so young, how old is she actually?"

Ms. Aiko, unsuspecting, casually replied, "She just turned fifteen three months ago. What's wrong?"

Obtained

Although minors are not uncommon in the entertainment industry, Hayden still couldn't help but rub his temples, somewhat speechless.

This time, he was actually going to have to deal with children, children who were only half his age.

On the bright side, at least this kid doesn't seem like a brat, right?

As Hayden thought this, he and Ms. Echo walked back—and as soon as they entered the room, they saw a truly wondrous sight:

Angela conjured a plate of golden-brown fried chicken legs from who-knows-where, filling the room with the unique aroma of deep-fried meat. If it weren't for the fact that all the other employees of [Qiqimiti Entertainment] were now completely infiltrated into the StarNet space and locked themselves in their sealed control pods, this would clearly have been a brazen food-related terrorist attack.

However, Panya had already been dragged out of the control room, so her nose was left unprotected. Despite her attempts to maintain distance and vigilance towards the strange doll, Angela, the irresistible aroma of fried chicken was unforgiving! Even though she wanted to be like a wary cat, avoiding any suspicious prey, the smell alone was enough to make Panya's mouth water!

"Come on, come on, child, come and eat."

Angela gently swayed the plate of fried chicken legs, constantly tempting the little girl.

But Pania wasn't a truly naive child; she was fifteen, after all, not some immature girl. This sight only made the already nervous girl even more terrified and frightened. Greed aside, physical reactions were separate; no matter how much Angela's fried chicken legs might trigger a primal craving for food, this bizarre scene was simply too frightening. How could she possibly fall for it willingly?

Hayden stood silently at the doorway for several seconds, watching the stalemate unfold, before walking over and slapping Angela on the head: "What the hell are you doing?!"

Angela didn't care that Hayden slapped her; instead, she put on an innocent expression and said, "I just wanted to help you, Master, get along well with this young lady and become good friends. Besides, this young lady looks really too thin."

"Even so, you can't just feed people like that!"

Even so, Miss Panya still managed to devour the plate of fried chicken legs.

————————————————————————————

There's no need to elaborate on how delicious Angela's fried chicken legs are.

The batter coating the fried chicken was incredibly chewy, and when you bit into it, the rich, juicy meat burst out. The oil and juices from the tender chicken, combined with the thin, satisfying batter, created a rich and unparalleled flavor in your mouth!

"...It's so delicious."

Even though Miss Panya seemed to have some social anxiety, she had to admit that the taste was unbeatable. After taking a few bites, she was almost in tears.

Hayden, who was standing nearby, heard her say those words and heard her voice. Only then did he truly realize—yes, this child's voice really was that of the person behind [Magical Girl Pazuzu].

Although professional voice actors use different voices during live streams and recordings, Hayden's senses have been enhanced to a god-like level, so he can definitely distinguish the same person's voice if he listens carefully.

Unbelievable! The virtual suit of [Magical Girl Pazuzu] actually contains this skinny, sickly-looking white-haired loli. However, seeing her now diligently eating, she doesn't seem as sickly as before.

Panya, who had just crawled out of the sealed chamber, was acting very strangely. Her breathing was thin, and not only was her breathing thin, but her entire presence was extremely faint.

It was clearly right in front of me, so real, so vivid, yet it was also as hazy as a mirage.

However, the way she's now eating rice and chicken legs with such gusto makes her seem quite noticeable.

Life depends on eating. The ancients were right.

Thinking of this, Hayden couldn't help but reach for a fried chicken leg to eat, but Angela immediately stopped him: "Master, fried chicken is too greasy for you."

Why?!

"I did think about giving her cake or something, but I feel like she probably prefers meat—but let's not talk about that for now."

Angela leaned closer and said to Hayden with great interest, "Master, this child is very talented!"

Hayden could only ask helplessly, "What talent?"

"This child has a talent that is different from yours but very similar."

Angela answered with a smile.

噫

Upon hearing this, Hayden was no longer sleepy.

A talent that is different from, but very similar to, Hayden's?

What talent?

Is it the talent of a sorcerer? Or the talent of a prophet?

Unfortunately, Angela remained as unremarkable as ever, unable to articulate what she felt clearly. Left with no other option, Hayden turned to the young Pania and said, "As Ms. Eko said, I am a representative from another company here to discuss business cooperation with your company."

After eating two fried chicken legs, Panya seemed more energetic and lively. She nodded obediently, indicating her understanding.

Incidentally, Ms. Echo had already left the room, intending to give Hayden and Panya some space to talk.

"I know it might be a bit strange to ask this first, but I can't help but ask—why would you choose to do this kind of work at only fifteen years old, to be the person behind [Magical Girl Pazuzu]? You should know that this is actually human experimentation with new technology, right?"

Hayden asked that question.

His question, however, made Panya look at Hayden with a strange gaze for a while: "You...you're not here to persuade me...not to work, are you?"

As she said this, she became very alert.

“No,” Hayden shook his head. “I just want to know more about your work.”

Even so, Panya still kept a wary eye on Hayden, as if carefully weighing this strange man. In her opinion, both Hayden and Angela were clearly a bit odd.

After several minutes, she slowly spoke, "The person behind [Pazuzu]... was an opportunity I won through competition."

"The boss's goddess... recruited dozens of people... and selected only one from among them. And I am the winner."

Panya straightened her chest, a hint of pride showing on her face.

"I need to... work even harder... and strive for even greater heights..."

Ah this

Although Pania spoke so slowly it was frustrating, Hayden gradually understood what was going on—this girl was risking her life, willing to be a human guinea pig for the company's new technology, just to climb the corporate ladder!

What Hayden saw as a great danger, Pania saw as an opportunity!

"My strength... seems to have returned? Hmm, that fried chicken leg was amazing..."

Suddenly, Panya seemed to mutter something to herself. Then she reached out and gestured towards the control panel to Hayden.

"The rest...can we look it up in cyberspace, okay?"

That's a good suggestion. Hayden had been wanting to find out more about the Smoke Mirror Company's new chip technology and the magic that mimicked Pazuzu's power. Panya's willingness to demonstrate it to him up close was certainly ideal.

So Hayden immediately connected to the virtual space that resembled an ancient Sumerian temple. Less than a minute later, Panya, who had climbed into the sealed control pod, also logged into her work avatar.

With lion ears, eagle claws, raven wings, and a scorpion tail, and brown skin, the adorable [Magical Girl Pazuzu] quickly appeared from the void, entered the space, and opened her eyes.

"Oh ho ho ho ho!"

Her face was full of a fierce and confident smile. She put her hands on her hips with her paws, straightened her chest, raised her head, and laughed loudly!

"Hayden! The fried chicken legs you just presented were fantastic! Bring two more over tomorrow! Otherwise, no one in heaven or on earth can save you!"

…………ah?