Endless Debt

"P...probably."

"For example?"

"For example, the first time she met me, she suddenly rushed over and touched me all over. At that time, I thought that's how humans expressed friendliness." Aimou slowly recounted the past.

Upon hearing this, the gloom on Bologue's face deepened. This wasn't an expression of friendliness but rather Belli's twisted curiosity about Aimou's structure.

"Then, as soon as the teacher left, she dragged me into the lab... I almost got disassembled."

Aimou's voice started trembling, her memories of Belli were even worse than Bologue's.

"Oh..."

Bologue found himself lost for words; it wasn't a prank, it was attempted murder! It seems Belli is even more sinister than what he presumed.

"Alright, I'm coming in."

Aimou suddenly said.

Before Bologue could prepare, he felt warmth enveloping his back, like a heater penetrating his clothing, gently blowing over his body.

Aimou's hands turned ethereal, entering Bologue's body, then she slowly opened her hands until their arms merged together.

It was like overlapping images, stepping forward, Aimou's body turned into an ethereal shadow with golden trails, hands, feet, torso, head... aligning one by one, flesh bathed in radiant golden light.

During the merging, Aimou found her senses continually enhanced, her vision sharpened, her hearing acute, able to sense the flow of blood, and the heartbeat within.

Hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, pleasure...

All of Bologue's sensations were mirrored in Aimou's perception, using Bologue's body as a link, she reached sensations never felt before.

For a moment, Aimou stood frozen, unable to speak, wholly immersed in experiencing the strange sensations.

As their figures completely overlapped, Aimou vanished, while golden threads appeared on Bologue's body, the green pupils adorned with golden halos.

Unlike Aimou gaining new perceptions, Bologue felt a vast ether infusing his body, ceaselessly drawn in by the Constant Motion Core.

They complemented each other, Bologue granting Aimou human perception and body, while Aimou bestowing Bologue with the strength of an Alchemy Puppet, her world.

The indistinct ether flow began to clear in Bologue's eyes, his sensitivity to ether heightened, Bologue even felt as though he mastered Ether Perception momentarily.

The ether calmed, turned silent, and the golden traces on Bologue's body dimmed, the light in his eyes weakening, leaving only golden rings merging within the green pupils.

"What is this?" Bologue asked.

"According to Condensers, this is Ether Concealment, you wouldn't want to be a searchlight, right?" Aimou's voice resonated directly in his mind.

"You can directly adjust ether?"

"Isn't that an Alchemist's specialty?"

Bologue remained silent, ignoring Aimou's presence, contemplating his current form.

After applying Shared Chord Body, there's a constant ether replenishment. Though the Constant Motion Core cannot extract large amounts of ether swiftly, this supply extended Bologue's combat endurance several times.

Apart from that, after empathizing with Aimou, Bologue became extremely sensitive to ether, vaguely mastering Ether Perception, while Aimou could release similar Extreme Techniques.

"Aimou... ever thought of working with me?"

Bologue suddenly asked abruptly.

"Huh? Working?"

"Yes, you've seen 'Night Hunter', right? My job is somewhat similar, going out at night to fight evil."

"Oh, oh, oh!"

Upon hearing her favorite story, Aimou exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait... Why do I feel a bit of a dark thought?" Aimou said suspiciously, her voice questioning Bologue, "Are you thinking of something bad?"

"You can sense my thoughts?"

Bologue indeed imagined dark things earlier, such as smashing enemies' heads under the Shared Chord Body enhancement.

This is fantastic. With support from the Constant Motion Core, he no longer needed to conserve ether.

"I can only feel a vague outline, like joy, anger, sorrow." Aimou said.

Having his thoughts detected made Bologue uncomfortable, even if Aimou could only grasp a vague silhouette, it still gave him a dreadful feeling of having his dark inner thoughts uncovered.

"Can I actively expel you?" Bologue asked.

"Yes, ether is mutually exclusive. If you reject me, I will be kicked out... you won't do that, right?"

Aimou exclaimed loudly, her voice resonating directly in his brain, echoing painfully in Bologue's mind.

Turning around, Aimou had already folded and packed clothes into the suitcase. If he expelled her, chaos would ensue again. Bologue simply assured.

"I won't."

Sitting back at the dining table, it finally returned to the scene of eating birthday cake, yet Bologue felt uneasy, rather than at ease.

This reminded him of horror movies he had watched, where ghosts would attach themselves to human bodies, driving them to fulfill wishes from their past lives.

Now Aimou was like an intangible ghost occupying his body, wanting... to eat a piece of birthday cake.

Too bizarre.

Laughter echoed in his mind, Bologue asked, "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at 'what are you laughing at'." Aimou said.

"Ah?"

"We are empathetic, I feel your joy, and follow suit, what's wrong."

Bologue fell silent, he started doubting his mental state, such strange occurrences, he found amusing? Even affecting Aimou along with him.

Picking up the fork, Aimou became tense, she shared the vision with Bologue, staring intently at the birthday cake on the plate.

Bologue considered Aimou's position indeed peculiar. Now she could be seen as an Alchemy Armament, attached to his Alchemy Matrix, enhancing his sensitivity to ether and providing vast ether support...

If there's a chance, Bologue must find a way to bring Aimou into the Special Operations Group, she's much more useful than the unfortunate Palmer, he even considered applying with Lebius to switch partners.

"Eat quickly! Eat quickly!"

Aimou urged in his mind, she lacked the initiative to control the body, mostly an internal fixture.

Under her eager gaze, Bologue took a bite of cake, the sweet cream and soft cake filled his mouth.

There wasn't Aimou's shrill cheer, nor any lengthy reflections, nothing at all, everything seemed particularly calm.

Bologue chewed and swallowed.

He felt something trickle down his face, reaching to touch, his hand dampened.