Faced with Herta's refusal, Stelle showed her loyalty at that moment:
"I don't care! If you won't let her in, I'm not going in either!"
"Heh, you're quite an interesting little brat, trying to threaten me." There was no anger on Herta's face.
She turned toward the enormous machine in her office and said seriously:
"The Simulated Universe is a device I built with several colleagues from the Genius Society to study the mysteries of Aeons.
"We used programs to simulate Aeons that exist in reality. To attract these virtual Aeons' attention, everyone participating in the experiment also has to wear an Aeon's disguise."
An immense gulf separated Aeons and humans as life-forms, so only an Aeon could quickly attract the attention of other Aeons!
Herta looked at Stelle and asked:
"To let you enter the Simulated Universe, I gave you a disguise as Akivili, the Aeon of Trailblaze. Now you want to add another person, which puts me in a difficult position. Do you think I can just whip up an Aeon skin whenever I like?"
"Why can't you?" Stelle asked, puzzled.
"This may be the Simulated Universe, but it's still a streamlined model built around the real world," Herta said evenly. "The Aeons that appear inside it must correspond to those in reality. The Aeon of Trailblaze you play really did exist once, but has already fallen."
"That's easy, then. Just copy another fallen Aeon." Stelle shrugged. "I don't believe Akivili's the only one who's died in all these years."
"You're not wrong, but your words give me the impression that you lack reverence for Aeons." Herta shook her head. "Aeons are mysterious and powerful, silent and terrifying. Over these thousands of amber eras, they've been the undisputed rulers of this universe."
Then her tone shifted:
"Still, my