Chapter 40: Betrayal

The woman was a bit stunned at the unexpected fortune.

"...Light sickness?"

She slowly raised a hand to her forehead, checking whether she felt warm, before looking at her colleague.

"Uh... are we absolutely sure this thing isn’t an item that curses you with bad luck?"

Despite her complaints, she continued examining me with a suspicious expression.

They attempted to test my abilities several more times, trying different methods to activate my predictions.

Unfortunately for them, I remained completely silent, no matter how many times they pressed my hands or asked me to tell their fortunes.

Eventually, they gave up and settled on the conclusion that I could only speak once in a while, making my abilities rather difficult to test consistently.

"Hmm... it seems more like a supernatural object than an actual Supernatural Entity."

The man muttered as he reviewed the test results.

"We probably shouldn’t assign it as a supernatural companion. Should I seal it away with the other items?"

"Perhaps so. We can always reconsider if further testing reveals anything unusual."

Hearing their words, I could barely contain my excitement.

’Finally...’

I had done it! I was going to be classified as a supernatural object and stored alongside the others!

Now, all I needed to do was find an item resistant to mind control, and I could finally put my escape plan into motion!

I almost wanted to celebrate out loud, but I forced myself to remain perfectly still.

Just as I was congratulating myself on successfully avoiding the fate of becoming a Supernatural companion, the door suddenly opened.

Someone dressed in what looked like an ordinary A.E.G.I.S. worker’s uniform stepped into the room.

"Excuse me, Miss Yelena, Sir Ivan? I’m here to report something."

"A Supernatural Space has been discovered near the parking area, approximately one kilometer from here. It’s a relatively low-ranked space, so none of the higher-ranked Response Units are willing to accept the assignment.

"On top of that, all our E-ranked units are currently occupied with an ongoing investigation into a project."

"At the moment, the only available team is Response Unit F-5. However, they haven’t been assigned a Supernatural companion yet, so they’re not authorized to enter the space."

Ivan slowly lowered the document in his hands, while Yelena stared at the employee with an expression that suggested she’d just been handed a particularly troublesome problem.

"Ah, seriously? Again? How come every time a low level danger comes, it’s only response unit F-5 that’s available..."

Yelena groaned, rubbing her forehead.

"I don’t want to give any more F-class entities to that team! Do you have any idea how sought-after the Purple Owl was before they lost it? It might have been ranked F-class, but its tracking abilities were incredibly useful!"

"Miss Yelena, I understand your concerns, but we don’t have much time."

The employee maintained his professional composure, although his tone grew more urgent.

"If we don’t move quickly, the government teams might reach the Supernatural Space before us. You know how persistent they get whenever something related to A.E.G.I.S. turns up in an area."

"No need to lecture me. Those people act like every Supernatural Space they discover belongs to them!"

Yelena rolled her eyes.

"Should I inform the F-5 team that they’ll have to wait?"

"No, no. If we let them wait, the government might get there first."

Yelena waved her hand impatiently before turning toward Ivan.

"Fine. We’ll have to take something from the containment area and assign it to them. Is there anything suitable available?"

Ivan frowned and flipped through the documents on the table.

"We have a few entities that might work, but most of them still need further testing because of how useless they are... plus if we want something we can assign immediately, our options are rather limited."

"Then we’ll just have to make do with what we have. It’s not like we’re sending them on a sightseeing trip!"

...Wait.

Why do I suddenly have a terrible feeling about this?

I watched the two researchers exchange glances, my little doll brain struggling to process what was happening.

They needed a Supernatural companion...

F-5 needed a Supernatural companion...

And I was currently sitting right here, conveniently classified as a paranormal object with the ability to predict the future and the capability of limited speech.

...No.

No, no, no, no!

Don’t even think about it!

Yelena’s gaze suddenly landed on me.

Her eyes lit up.

"Oh! What about this little guy?"

I didn’t even have time to react before the female researcher reached over and grabbed me.

"Here, this should work!"

She picked up the suitcase, placed me inside, and began arranging the documents beside me as though she’d just solved the most troublesome problem of her day.

"Wait a minute..."

Ivan said, glancing worriedly at Yelena and the suitcase.

"Are you seriously planning to assign that doll to F-5? We haven’t even finished testing its capabilities and abilities..."

"It’s fine! We already know it can make predictions, and it can communicate, even if only occasionally. That’s good enough for a temporary substitute."

"But the classification hasn’t been approved yet..."

"Then we’ll deal with the paperwork afterward. If anyone complains, I’ll take responsibility!"

Yelena said this with such confidence that Ivan could only stare at her for a moment and sigh in exhaustion.

She snapped the suitcase shut, leaving me trapped inside with nothing but my own rapidly spiraling thoughts.

’Hey!’

’What about my opinion?!’

’You said you were going to put me in storage!’

I complained like a maniac who was facing betrayal.

These guys basically stabbed me in the back... saying sweet words about putting me in storage before deploying me to battle anyway!

The suitcase was lifted from the table, and I felt the familiar sensation of being carried away.

Yelena continued speaking to the employee as she handed him the suitcase and a sheet of paper.

"Here, take this to Response Unit F-5. Tell them this doll is their temporary Supernatural companion. Its instructions are written on that paper, so make sure they understand how to use it."

"Understood. Should I tell them anything else?"

"Yes. Tell them to finish the assignment as quickly as possible and return the doll afterward. We still need to conduct further tests, and I don’t want them breaking it before we figure out what else it’s capable of!"

Nodding, the employee accepted the suitcase and the document.

’Fuck! No! Why now?! You lazy bum, just go to the containment area and get an entity, don’t drag me into this!’

I screamed desperately inside my own head as the employee carried me toward the door.

And Yelena, the woman responsible for ruining my entire escape plan, was already returning to her paperwork without a single hint of remorse.