Sista’s most “girly” clothes were just those few unisex outfits she bought in the Enchanted Forest; all her other performance costumes were custom-made men’s wear, the same style as her brothers’.
Even now, even while vacationing on a tropical island,
She still wore light blue beach shorts, a short-sleeved T-shirt, and a pure white sun-protective jacket. She looked exactly like a handsome young man—very striking, but probably very few people would see her as a girl. Even her words and actions lacked any feminine qualities.
If not for knowing the truth, Clara would find it hard to believe she was a girl.
“So cute, Miss Clara.”
Clara had just put away her broom when Sista hugged her again. Since there were no filming drones here, her actions were much more open.
The former just twisted her body in protest.
“Oh, come on! Stop saying I’m cute all the time!”
【You stomping your feet and complaining like this is also cute.】
Clara, who was being teased by Nyx, suddenly felt like she’d swallowed a fly.
But Sista asked, “Um, Miss Clara, do you not like being called cute?”
“Whether it’s thanks, apologies, or even compliments, don’t say them too lightly. Say those words too often and they become cheap, their effect greatly diminished.”
Clara, who used to feel shy about Sista’s “cute” remarks, no longer reacted at all. That was proof enough.
However, Sista’s fondness for cute things was, in itself, a rather girlish interest.
…At least, that’s how it felt.
…
Even though, in her own eyes, she could never become cute.
“Yo~ What brings you two here?”
On the second floor of the service center, Fran Lifka was leaning on the balcony with a lollipop in her mouth, waving at them.
“We came to pick up the watermelons for the next event. What are you doing up here?”
“Experimenting with Moon Rabbit cuisine~ I asked the chefs here to help process the Moon Rabbit meat. Wanna try some?”
“… I think I’ll pass.”
Clara had no interest in Moon Rabbits.
When they were on all fours, those fluffy rabbits were still kind of cute. But once they stood upright like people, it was a little unsettling.
Clara just found it a bit gross, not to mention the idea of actually eating one.
“You two come up here first!”
With Fran’s call, Clara and Sista headed upstairs to the restaurant.
The watermelons they needed were already prepared by the staff, placed at Fran’s feet.
These watermelons all came from the Central City’s greenhouses, specially bred and improved—each one weighed over ten kilos, even bigger than a Sigma-series helmet. If you smacked them, they’d let out a buzzing sound, as if they were about to crack open.
“You’re taking them to the beach, right? How are you planning to move them?”
Fran asked, and Clara thought for a moment before answering, “Uh, I’ll hang them on my broom?”
“That broom of yours… It could barely fly me back then. You think it can carry four of these melons?”
Fran clearly remembered the chaos in the Renovation Department, when the Ink-dyed Staff in propulsion mode slowed to a crawl as soon as she got on, nearly getting them both caught by the rampaging Chief.
But Clara recalled the trip just now when she flew here with Sista.
“Now that you mention it, Sista seems lighter than you…”
Sista was created to look like a slender, beautiful boy—her figure, needless to say, was almost flat as a board, maybe even more so than Clara herself.
By contrast, Fran was much more proportioned. But she didn’t seem to like Clara’s comparison; after all, weight is a forbidden topic among women.
Fran’s gaze turned sharp as she glared at Clara, crushing the lollipop in her mouth to bits.
“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it!”
Realizing her slip, Clara instinctively apologized.
But she still got her cheeks pinched, pulled, and twisted by Fran, and could only let out muffled cries.
“So you think I’m heavy, huh! You fickle little loli-uncle!”
Fickle? My face is going to swell!
Clara glanced at Sista, but she just stood by, watching Fran’s violence without intervening.
Sista, why are you just watching!
Clara, eyes brimming with tears from the rough treatment, looked even cuter, so Sista chose to do nothing.
…After letting off some steam, Fran clapped her hands with satisfaction. Even her face looked healthier and rosier as she stood, hands on hips, giving orders:
“All right! Now take the melons down to the tour car. I’ll drive you to the beach!”
Rubbing her squished cheeks, Clara and Sista each picked up the huge watermelons and followed Fran downstairs.
Fran had borrowed the tour car from the staff—since this was an island resort, this was the only ground vehicle at this site.
Once in the car, Fran brought up the Moon Rabbits again as she drove.
“Those creatures didn’t evolve or grow naturally, but calling them lab-born doesn’t seem quite right either. They were produced, though.”
“When you say produced, you mean…”
Fran pointed at Sista’s abdomen, continuing:
“They all have mothers, and umbilical cords. They aren’t just simple clones…”
“Isn’t it rude to say that to an artificial human?”
“I’m just stating the facts, right? And if we’re talking about having no parents, aren’t I the same now? Don’t get so sensitive…”
But didn’t Sista call out for her mother in her dream last night?
Somewhere in her subconscious, she must understand and yearn for that kind of thing.
Clara glanced at Sista’s reaction, then asked, “So, do you know what’s up with those Moon Rabbits?”
Fran was the doctor in charge of mutant modifications; biology was her specialty.
“It’s not like I know for sure, but my guess is that they’re probably some monster’s offspring—created using some sort of power.”
“And you’re still planning to eat them? Plus, there are way too many—over a hundred!”
Offspring, meaning the ‘children’ of a monster? Fran even plans to eat those?
At Clara’s shock, Fran just scoffed.
“Humph, a hundred? If you give the other side enough time, thousands—tens of thousands—even that’s possible. No matter how improved, a Moon Rabbit is still a Moon Rabbit; their crazy reproduction rate doesn’t weaken at all.”
“So, we’re lucky we found them this time?”
“Thank that lunatic. If she hadn’t exposed that herd of Moon Rabbits in the end, we’d be in way more trouble. At least now we know where to start our investigation.”
“But, the rabbits are all dead, and Ps·ycho has vanished. How are we supposed to investigate?”
The intense solar storm outside the station showed no signs of letting up. There was no way Ps·ycho could leave the site, but they couldn’t catch her, either…
“Sigh! Idiot! After all I’ve told you, you still don’t get it?!”
Fran shook her head, stopping the car to turn and face Clara and Sista.
“Have you ever thought that reproduction takes energy, too?”
In simple terms: Where did their food come from?
If you’re raising that many rabbits, what exactly were they eating?
Something must have disappeared from this station.
Hope its not people.