A.N. I live...barely. The school still has me busy and my mind has been drawing blanks for follow-up chapters on several stories. That being said I haven't been totally uninspired. So with that being said...here's another bonus chapter of questionable canonicity to this story.

Also, Nahida drops tomorrow. Praise the Radish Archon and may all wanters become havers and may all sages and Akademiya be burnt to the ground.

"I must say little lab rat, you sure look like hell." A voice chuckled. The Herrscher of the Void slowly cracked her eyes open as her consciousness started to return. She found herself in a familiar room with a light shining down on her. It was an operating room. Her body shot up on instinct. Her natural response to being in such rooms, only to be met with a large book to the face.

"Not so fast, lab rat." The voice continued. As the book floated back over the user. "You did quite a number on yourself, so I need to do a check-up and make sure that little egghead of yours isn't fried from all the Honkai Energy you've been using." They warned.

The Herrscher glared at the Doctor, but the woman merely returned a smile. Her serpentine eyes never betrayed an ounce of fear as the two stared down. Sighing the Herrscher relented as she lay back down. "That's a good girl."

With her patient now cooperative, the Doctor began typing away at her computer, causing several machines to pop up around the Herrscher. The Herrscher took some deep breaths as she tried to keep herself calm the machines began scanning her, one by one.

As the last one finished scanning, the Doctor began to assess the data she had collected. It didn't take long before she noticed several problems. She turned to the Herrscher with a frown on her face.

"How many long have you been using all of the cores?" She questioned the Herrscher.

"About six, no maybe eight hours." The Herrscher winced as she answered the Doctor. She felt nauseous, her body felt weak, and her head was killing her.

"Wow, that's an impressive feat, considering not even Kalpas is that idiotic." The Doctor admitted. "Any normal individual would have been dead at best, and at worse probably conscious with their organs all liquified."

"Do you want to dissect me now?" The Herrscher groaned as she looked over at the Doctor. The woman twirled strands of her green hair as she seemed to contemplate Herrscher's words.

"That's a tempting offer, I must say…. but I'll have to decline. I've seen my fair share of Herrschers before, and none were quite as…reasonable as you were." She noted. "To go and dissect you, would be far too risky to me, especially when you have far more uses alive."

"Lucky me."

"Yes, that would be an accurate statement. I'm still bewildered you even lasted so long-running at full power. You're either a total masochist or…" She trailed off before changing the conversation.

"Listen Void, two hours a day no more, three maybe but that's the max, no joking this time. Even if you think your will is as solid as stone, that body of yours is only a little less fragile than any others. Keep pushing yourself and you'll burn out."

"Thanks for the advice. Didn't think you cared." Void responded with sarcasm dripping off every word.

"Hehe…you wound me. A lab rat like you is one in a million, and you have the skills and abilities I require, so of course its in my best interest to aid you." The Doctor chuckled.

"And when I'm no longer of use?" Void questioned. "Or if I refuse to be your tool. What then Mobius?"

"Well…that's for you to decide. As it stands, our goals are more aligned than you realized, so even if you don't agree to work with me, I'll still benefit either way." She mused. "I'm not going to force you; I've seen just how well that worked everyone else, so I'll simply be polite and friendly. You seem to be reasonable enough when left alone, so no sense poking the bear."

"At least you're honest." Void noted as she tried to stand up. It was a bad idea as she found herself fall back on the table, the room spinning around her.

"Troublesome lab rat." Mobius sighed as she looked at the Herrscher. She went into a draw and took out a bracelet. Upon approaching the Herrscher see fastened the bracelet onto one of Void's arms before plugging a cord from a nearby machine into it. The machine started to hum as it came to life. Mobius meanwhile helping Void back in her bed.

"It seems like the effects still haven't worn out," Mobius noted. Treating the Herrscher was always difficult, but she did love the challenge, although it did get annoying at times.

Void suffered from her long term Honkai radiation; her body was practically chalk full of it. Ordinarily you'd try to remove any excess Honkai to ease the pain, except Void was a Herrscher and relied on Honkai to heal. As a result, you get a paradox of her body healing and damaging itself. That would have been enough of headache for the Doctor to deal with but of course there was one other thing she had to worry about.

"Have you experienced any psychosis yet?" Mobius questioned as she did a more personal assessment of the Herrscher. She checked Void's pupils, her heartbeat, and her breathing. Typical medical procedures to ensure the Herrscher was still healthy.

"I'm a Herrscher, psychosis is kind of requirement at this point." Void noted.

"Normal Psychosis, the kind most humans have, is often the result of the body either having medical conditions, trauma, drug misuse, alcohol, and even head injuries. You don't have most of those luxuries." Mobius noted. "Instead, you have to deal with Honkai, arguably much worse. It's sentient, being able to manipulate you in ways some of those others wouldn't and the constant exposure to it might run the risk of pushing you over the edge."

"I told you before. I'm fine. I've handled using lots of gems before as Sirin, I can do it again." Void argued. "My body is far stronger this time. I just need to adjust" She argued.

"Listen rat. I don't think you're hearing me. So, either you're not paying attention or you're already over the edge." Mobius scolded. "The more Honkai you use, the more it will start clawing at your mind. If you think that body can withstand it, then you grossly underestimate what differentiates you from the PE Herrschers."

"A majority of the PE Herrschers were nothing more than wild animals. They may have acted or pretended to be human, but they were all monster the Honkai made that were single mindedly focused on wiping out humanity. They had overwhelming power but barely any brains to do much with it other than destroy. The reason was that they practically lost their minds due to the overload of their power."

"It's also why they were so 'easy' to deal with. They destroyed themselves with their own power, their single-minded nature made it possible for the people of PE to handle them." Mobius explained. Only one or two Herrschers from that Era proved otherwise.

"That so? I thought it was because of the advance technology and the stupid surgeries you all performed." Void countered.

"Still as ignorant as ever I suppose." Mobius chided. "The whole point of those surgeries was to turn the people into human-honkai beast hybrids. By splicing their DNA, it was possible to increase their threshold for Honkai to even the playing field. That didn't mean they didn't suffer mentally due to it." Mobius noted.

As much as she'd want to ignore it, there was a side of her that deep down resented the side effect. She had rationalized it many times before, Klein had died to the Herrscher's hands, but it still felt wrong. When Mobius's regeneration had kicked in, the instincts within her and forced her to attack Klein and absorb her in order to regenerate. Even if Klein was technically already dead, the knowledge that Mobius had instinctively finished the job had haunted her far more than she'd like to admit, even to herself.

It wasn't something she knew either. She had never been aware of her regeneration and healing worked. She didn't know how she came back and would have likely never learned it, had it not been for the memories starting to trickle back. The others had lied to her about what happened with Klein to her. Even now she knew questioning them would only lead to them, especially Su lying to her. Did they think she couldn't take it? Klein had meant so much to her and knowing the reason she couldn't even attempt to help her assistant was because of her own doing. What hurt more was that it wasn't Su alone, but everyone else. Either they didn't know due to Su lying, or they were convinced by him to lie and even destroyed any possible data that could show her the truth. The one thing they couldn't destroy however was the repressed memories that had remained sleeping within Mobius herself. Memories that she only found existed a few centuries ago.

"You're lucky that your body is practically tailor-made to handle it. The strength and resistance you inherited from both Cecilia and Siegfied, along with the splicing of Sirin's own DNA, has only delayed the effects but not erase them. You may think you can tolerate, and stay on the right side of crazy, but if you hit that breaking point, whatever is still left of that damage psyche of yours will slingshot the other way and fly straight over the edge."

There was a moment of silence as Mobius finished her explanation. Void had several rebuttals to the Doctor but seeing the expression on her face was enough to keep the Herrscher silent. For all her experiences with Mobius it was rare to see her speak so seriously. She always seemed like an individual who always kept control.

"Okay, Doc." Void answered. No other words needed to be said between them.

"Alright then, I'll leave you here to recover while I go and get something to eat. Do you have any preferences?" Mobius responded in a more chipper tone, a far cry from how she was talking before. The unsettled change Void merely requested cup noodles. "Alright, I'll be back," Mobius told her as she left.

The Herrscher relaxed a bit as she was left alone. She held up her arm watching the bracelet that extracted the excess Honkai from her system. With each pulse, she could feel her body stabilizing, the pain slowly fading, the nausea diminishing. Where was this in Bablyon?

It was a strange experience. When she was younger, when the persona of Kiana was still around, she always felt great discomfort when surrounded by doctors. She didn't know why at the time; most would have brushed it off as a childish dislike for them. It was a popular belief after all, no one liked Doctors, no one liked needles or being sick. Now she knew the reasons for those feelings. That true rational behind her instinctual disdain.

"How ironic." She thought as she glanced around Mobius's lab. Despite the tensions between her and the scientist, Void felt a strange sense of security here. Perhaps it was due to her own loneliness and isolation that made her turn towards Mobius, or perhaps it was the woman's brutal and straight forward honest approach. Mobius made it clear what she thought of Void and what her intentions and views of the Herrscher would be.

She had been something many of the others hadn't been, honest. She told the Herrscher things as it was, with little regard for her feelings and tact. She didn't beat around the bush, not like dad, Himeko Sensei or Aunt Teri, nor did she pretend like the damn Bird. Perhaps they all had reasons to hide the truth; maybe it was her for own good, or whatever excuse they'd think.

It didn't matter now. All the damage from those secrets had come back to bite them. Her father, Siegifed, had gone missing, needing to leave her alone to quell the darkness inside her. Her Sensei was dead trying to save her from the darkness. Aunt Teri was, honestly she didn't know at this point, she had yet to work up the courage to face her. Fu…Void neither knew nor cared what happened to the traitor who sold her out to Otto. In the end, whatever rational reason they had for lying to her, came back to bite them. One could say it was karma.

Yet with the Dr. Mobius it had been different. The woman, like Otto, had sought to use the Herrscher for her own plans. She made no attempt to hide her motivations. She wanted Void to help her in various ways, destroying bases and resource for WS and Schiskal, taking down Honkai Beasts and other Herrschers, among other things. She gave Void her instructions, offered her aid when needed, either in support or information, and made her feelings transparent. If Void didn't need nor want to be involved, then she was left.

Even now she made it clear, that Void was a means to end. If she chose to betray the Herrscher…Void didn't have a problem with that. She wasn't pretending, there was no attempt on either side to hide that. Mobius knew if she stepped out of line, Void would end her. Void knew if she no longer had use, then Mobius would get rid of her if needed.

No lies, no tricks….so why did that leave Void more worried as she pondered the Doctor's words from before? The scientist claimed if she kept pushing herself, the Honkai would destroy her mind completely. That shouldn't be possible, she was a Herrscher after all. She controlled the Honkai in her systems.

Except…she didn't serve God now. She had rebelled against the Will of Honkai. So perhaps that's why she was no longer capable of using her power to her fullest. When Sirin served God, she was able to wield multiple gems and her core at once. She was able to use six of them at once to lay siege. She didn't seem to suffer any side effects. Right?

Sirin had obviously been tortured and was lashing out. After all, it was all those scientists' fault. It was their fault she suffered, they suffered. It was their fault everyone around her died. So, when Sirin finally snapped and was granted the power to fight back. It was only normal that she would go and kill all those scientists who wronged her.

It was all in self-defense and maybe a little revenge. There was nothing wrong with that. It was all in self-defense.

Except….

Except it wasn't, wasn't it?

Void thought back hard, trying to find the memories of her past life. When Sirin first acquired her powers there had only been one goal at the time. Kill every scientist, kill everyone who worked in Babylon. That had been it. That had been all she needed to do to avenge everyone. That should have been it.

Yet that was not the end. Those armies were sent after her. She could have run. She could have left the fight and gone into hiding, but she didn't. Why? Because she thought she had all the power in the world thanks to God. It told her to fight and she agreed. Did she listen because she wanted to keep fighting or was it out of duty to show thanks to God for giving her the power to fight back? Perhaps it was both.

And it didn't stop there.

When she finally fled with Bella to the moon. She had gotten away for good. They couldn't chase after her as freely as they could before. It had been safe. If she disappeared forever, perhaps they would have left her alone.

Then she went and met God and asked for more power.

Sirin had acquired 4 gems to aid in her crusade…and the war escalated from there and it only kept going. She managed to defeat Welt and gain the core of Reason. She launched meteors to destroy cities and made the heralds carry out her will. People who had never been a threat to her were caught in the crossfire. People started to suffer just like she did.

Did it matter to Sirin, to her? No, it did not, because Sirin's mind was devolving into nothing more than a wanton for the destruction of humanity. The only reason she even hesitated afterward was because of…. Cecilia. That had been it. Cecilia, the woman that wanted to be a mother to Sirin, had pulled her just as she was reaching the edge. If it hadn't been for her…when K423 work up, she would have been a very different person.

Void groaned as she lay back down. She kept fighting because she wanted to survive, she wanted to live on her terms. For that she wanted power so no one would hurt again, or hurt those she loved because there was always someone stronger. There was always someone or something that threatened to rip what she loved away from her.

She almost laughed at the idea, finding it ironic where her thoughts were leading her. She wanted to be strong enough to fight off all threats to whatever she still valued. In a sense it was still like the Kaslana Oath, to shield those who she cared for who could not shield themselves and smash whatever threatened them to pieces.

"Every Kaslana Bold Must Live By Their Oath. Purge The Vile Honkai And Smash The False Gods. Your Sires Sleep In The Fields As Humanity's Brave Shields. By The Judgement Of Shamash, Kaslana's Die And Never Yield"

"Not their Oath." Void shook her head. "My promise to them." Void thought as she clenched her hand. She didn't owe it to humanity to be a hero. She didn't need to die for them. She'd live unlike those before.

"You seem to be in a better mood." Mobius's voice interrupted. Void looked up to notice the Scientist holding out a cup noodle to her.

"I just had some time to think, that's all." Void answered as she took the noodles. She welcomed the warmth of it in her hands and the tasty aroma in the air.

"Really, about what?" Mobius questioned.

"About what you said." Void answered. "If I keep pushing myself then I'll run dry. A bad idea, seeing as I want to live." Void told her. She was surprised when she heard a laugh escape from Mobius.

"I'll never understand you Herrscher…. but I supposed that's half the fun of it," Mobius explained.

"What's so wrong with wanting to live, didn't you also want the same?"

"I supposed that's a fair assumption, but tell me do you know why you want to live?"

"I want to live for them and for myself." Void told her. She'd live for Cecilia, for Bella, for Sirin, for Siegfied, for Kiana, for Himeko, and most importantly for herself.

"Perhaps there may hope for yet if you can listen to me." Mobius mused as she took a mouthful of her noodles.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Void told her as she took a mouthful of her own.

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