Seraphim is a Bystander

First Examination – Part 2
 
 

"Alright then, let’s start with Sou-kun’s exam."
Dr. Ichijou gently lifted Sou and placed him on the bed attached to the machine. Startled by the sudden lift, Sou let out a surprised, "Guu?!" as Ichijou began sticking various corded patches onto his body one after another.
"Sou-kun’s weight doesn’t match his appearance at all. Normally, even virtual constructs have some mass proportional to their form."

She poked and prodded Sou's small body with fascination, muttering to herself. Then, clapping her hands once, she smiled and said:
"Well, we’ll find out once we run the tests!"
She then briskly walked over to the control panel.

Once she began operating the machine, her demeanor shifted completely. Her light-hearted expression vanished, replaced with a serious, focused look as she tapped rapidly at the terminal. Occasionally, she seemed to type into midair while staring into space, but neither of the parents nor Ayaka-chan reacted—likely some advanced tech that Sera (inhabiting Aoi) didn’t understand yet.
As they silently watched Dr. Ichijou’s mimelike actions for around five minutes, Aoi began to nod off and eventually drifted into a quiet sleep.
"Alright, looks like we’ve finished the first round of Sou-kun’s test. Next up is Aoi-kun—oh, he’s asleep, huh?"

"Sorry, should we wake him?"
"No need~ It won’t affect the results. Let him sleep."
Dr. Ichijou instructed the mother to lay Aoi on the bed. Just like with Sou, she attached the cords and returned to the control panel.

Her serious expression returned—but this time, less than a minute in, her eyes widened in shock. She leaned in toward the console and began typing furiously, gaze fixed both on the screen and some invisible point in space.
Sera's thoughts:
…Wait, can this test actually detect my power too?
If so, that would be a major problem. If people found out Aoi was hosting a literal angel before he even started preschool, it could derail his whole life. Especially since even Aoi himself {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} hasn’t realized Sera's presence yet. No way she could let that get out here.

…Worst-case scenario, I’ll step in directly and rewrite their memories.
Though Sera wasn’t certain the test was detecting her power at all, memory manipulation was always an option if needed. For now, she decided to observe quietly.
Eventually, Dr. Ichijou calmed down again, occasionally stopping to think deeply as she continued typing into the air. About ten minutes passed.
"Alright, thanks for waiting~ That finishes Aoi-kun’s first test!"

"Thank you. So, what were the results?"
"Whoa whoa, no need to rush. I’ll go over everything once Aoi-kun wakes up, okay?"
Seeing the mother’s worried expression, Ichijou smiled kindly.

"It’s part of my policy to explain things directly to the individual concerned."
And so, while Aoi remained asleep, the rest of the exams continued. Each time, Dr. Ichijou would react with surprise, then regain her composure, and proceed to the next. Nothing like a machine exploding or malfunctioning occurred, thankfully, and all the tests concluded without incident.
Returning to the examination room they had started in, Dr. Ichijou asked them to wake Aoi. With a sleepy groan and a rub of his eyes, Aoi woke up alongside Sou. Facing them both, Dr. Ichijou began:

"Alright, time to share your test results!"
Tips: Dr. Ichijou is one of the world’s top geniuses—both as a researcher and as a specialist in virtual constructs and abilities.