"Mr. Kael? Mr. Kael?"
"Huh? Oh! Sorry, Elder Yu. My mind wandered for a moment. This sight really gave me a fright," Kael said, snapping out of his daze.
"Heh! We had trouble getting used to it at first too, but it gets better with time. As long as the boss is here, no matter how dangerous our experiments are, we'll have zero casualties." Elder Yu chuckled and patted Kael on the shoulder.
As long as the boss was here...
"Elder Yu, there's something I'd sincerely like to ask you." Kael fell silent for a moment before finally speaking, as though he had made up his mind.
"Of course. Go ahead. Helping new employees settle into their work as quickly as possible is also part of my job," Elder Yu said gently.
"I've only just joined the Cloudtop Research Institute. Aren't you afraid I'll leak this confidential information? As you know, that's... very dangerous!" Kael hinted.
Elder Yu didn't seem surprised. He merely smiled and said meaningfully, "Dangerous? No, we don't think you're dangerous at all.
"What's dangerous is the human heart, not a dedicated scientist like you."
"But... I'm human too. I have selfish motives of my own," Kael said bluntly.
"Of course. Everyone has selfish motives, myself included. But our impartial AI Core has already assessed yours, and they're well within acceptable limits. Would you like to hear her personal evaluation of you?"
"Uh... her personal evaluation of me?"
"Of course!" Elder Yu opened a holographic projection. Codename's avatar appeared, dressed in office attire and wearing rimless glasses.
Codename glanced at Kael, then opened a folder labeled "Kael."
"Kael, a new member of the Cloudtop Research Institute, specializes in astrophysics and possesses unique insights into wormhole models... Once news of his joining the Cloudtop Research Institute spreads, there