Mysteries: Arcana Wars

Backlund is ▇▇▇ meters underground.

Underground City·Hazel Street·Inner City Factory.

Fors put down the heavy documents, walked to the wall, fell back, and slumped in the chair.

Since Gehrman left, Fors has been following Shining Tesla as an assistant. The adventurer did not take Fors with him on the adventure, but asked Fors to stay alone with Tesla and his brother to assist, saying that it was for her safety. But in Fors's opinion, perhaps in addition to the need for safety, this terrible man Gehrman might have sold her to Tesla and his brother as a laborer.

In a sense, Fors's conjecture was indeed correct. In Klein's opinion, handing Fors over to the Tesla siblings was also in the hope that Fors, a sealed dumb cannon, could play a role in Tesla's next actions. In the previous actions, Klein found that although Fors's extraordinary characteristics were sealed, she could still resist the influence of some low-level extraordinary people. This might be because her own high status was still taking effect... Therefore, Klein hoped that Fors could serve as a mascot to provide some protection for the Tesla siblings in their subsequent actions regarding the communicator.

Fors watched as the mechanical arm grabbed all the documents on the table and threw them into the fire. The flames of the incinerator made her eyes red and even a little wet.

In a short period of time, Fors put a lot of effort into these things. Under the command of Shining Tesla, Fors, as a half-baked "engineer assistant", did various jobs in this laboratory, commonly known as miscellaneous work. Some of these things that were about to be destroyed were made by her. Even though she was just an assistant, these leaping flames still made her feel reluctant and heartbroken.

Now all the work has been prepared. According to the plan, all paper materials in the next few days will be burned, and then the occult will be used for counter-divination and counter-prophecy.

“So many years of hard work, are they just going to be burned like this…” Fors murmured as he stared at the fire.

"Why, you're reluctant?" Shining laughed and increased the power, and the flames shot up violently, as if this was not burning secret information, but a grand and crazy bonfire party.

"No, I just..."

Fors said subconsciously.

"I just feel that the efforts that your Tesla family has put into this project for generations have been destroyed in just one fire..." She paused, "Okay, I admit it, I just can't bear to let it go."

"Huh? There's nothing you can't bear to give up, little cutie! Besides, you've only been in this project for a few days, so there's no need to be reluctant to give up anything."

Shining did not take these regrets to heart, she simply attributed them to the girlish thoughts that all young girls have.

"That's what I say, but..."

Fors looked at the flames in a daze.

“I still feel a little dazed.

“During this time, I am very happy to work with you and learn a lot of new things. This is something I have never experienced in my life. It is also a happy and unforgettable experience.

"But when I began to identify with this daily work and agree that this is the lifestyle I have, I had to throw all the documents I had made during this period into this incinerator and say goodbye to my short career as an 'engineer', but the work during this period still lingers in my mind..."

"Oh! I get it, cutie!"

Shining interrupted Fors and pulled down the lever of the incinerator.

“In reality, your life as an engineer is over. But in your mind, you are still an engineer.

"Next, you will become an 'operator' with me and do what an 'operator' should do. But no matter how you say goodbye to the role of 'engineer', even if you burn it all, you are still relying on the logic of 'engineer' to lead an incompatible life.

“For example, before this, we talked about how to operate the signal machine and the receiver. But now, we are going to talk about how to drive the transmitter, but you still use the logic of operating the signal machine and the receiver to think about all the machines in front of you…”

"You are trapped in your past life, in the original stable pattern that was established in stages, and in the logic of the past."

"...Although, I don't really miss this position as an engineer's assistant. I just feel..."

Fors suddenly felt that these topics made her feel uncomfortable.

“These ‘identities’ and ‘lives’ come into my hands like flowing water, and leave me like flowing water. I try to accept them, contain them, and even become them, but they will inevitably leave me…

"It's like I never had this life, like this life never actually belonged to me..."

"I know! I know!"

Shining suddenly burst into laughter. She simply left the operating table, circled around Fors, and even jumped happily.

"Oh my poor little one, you are not stuck in this 'Tesla factory tour' for a few days

"You are trapped in an even more distant past from which you cannot escape!

"So you feel that the thrilling adventures and busy and fulfilling factory life during this period do not belong to you. You cannot accept and adapt to it because you are still using a distant and outdated logical way to think about your completely different life now!"

"…What you said makes some sense…"

Then Fors reacted immediately.

"No, how do you know I'm not an adventurer?!"

"Wow, poor thing, you've got 'I came from the ground', 'I've never been involved in illegal activities before', 'I'm a newcomer to the outlaw world' written all over your face!"

This made Fors feel a little embarrassed and a little disappointed. It turned out that after going through so many things, she still hadn't made any progress. In the eyes of these old hands, she was still a naive rookie.

This...it's only been a few weeks! How can it be that fast?

Fors couldn't help but try to find some comfort in her heart, but Shining refused to let her go and kept talking.

"What did you do on the ground in Backlund?"

"A poet... no, just someone who writes to make a living. Mainly poetry, but actually he'll take any writing job."

In front of the experienced Beyonder, all of Fors's disguise seemed meaningless and even a little childish.

"Oh, then we'll just assume you're a poet!"

"Do not……"

Shining reached out and grabbed Fors's mouth and nose, signaling her to shut up. Then Shining turned around and grabbed a stack of documents and threw them at the high flames in the incinerator.

"That is, you are trapped in your previous 'poet life'. Your life is constantly moving forward and changing unpredictably, but you still use the rigid, old 'poet logic' to think about your present and future life.

"You cannot adapt to various identities such as 'adventurer' and 'engineer' because your thinking is still stuck in the 'poet' logic. These things are beyond your scope and do not conform to your original 'poet' logic. You cannot fully understand them, nor can you truly become them.

"Your life is so turbulent, it's as if God has thrown you completely different problems one after another, but you only use one key to open different locks.

"Let me guess, why is that? Why do you love this key so much that you hold on to it even when life has changed so drastically?

“Think about it, guess…

"Aha! I see! Because you have used this key to open a lock before."

Shining jumped up suddenly and applauded herself vigorously. She was very satisfied that she had solved such an interesting puzzle. So Shining completely ignored Fors' panicked look and announced the results of her autopsy on Fors ruthlessly and loudly.

“So you are so blindly clinging to this key, expecting it to open all the locks in your life.

"Let me see, let me see, what is the result of your blindness and stubbornness... What a pity, obviously, you failed, you found that your key can hardly open the next lock, you are not in line with the 'poet' logic of reality changes and cannot solve all the problems you face, but you still hold on to this key tightly, and let a lot of opportunities slip away from you. In the end, you will only turn these opportunities into painful fillers for your chaotic life.

“Although you have come to a new journey, you still cannot let go of your old role and use outdated logic to understand your new world.

"You're trapped, cutie."