Arknights: It Can't Possibly Be My Fault... Right? — Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Who is More Dense?

The rest of the walk back was swallowed by a heavy, suffocating silence. Neither Kai nor M3 spoke a single word as they handled the sterile, metallic corridors of the landship. The quiet stretched out, thick with unspoken tension, until they finally came to a halt before the familiar door of Kal’tsit’s office.

Kai raised a knuckle and rapped lightly against the reinforced metal.

“Come in.” The crisp, authoritative voice filtered through the door.

Pushing it open, Kai stepped inside. The office was bathed in the cool, artificial light typical of Rhodes Island, but Kal’tsit wasn’t alone. Another figure occupied the side sofa, quietly nursing a small teacup with both hands. Projekt Red.

“Take a seat,” Kal’tsit instructed, not looking up from the documents spread across her desk.

Kai dragged a chair over, the metal legs scraping softly against the floorboards, and sat directly across from her. Almost immediately, his nose twitched. He took a subtle breath, drawing in the ambient scents of the room. Beneath the usual sterile smell of antiseptic and old paper, there was a distinct, rich aroma lingering in the air.

“Did you just drink coffee?” Kai narrowed his eyes, staring at the feline doctor with deep suspicion.

Kal’tsit’s expression didn’t so much as ripple. She calmly reached for the porcelain teacup resting at her elbow, took a measured sip, and set it down. “No. Red drank it.”

Over on the sofa, a pair of gray wolf ears suddenly twitched. Red paused mid-sip, her crimson eyes blinking in mild confusion. Her? Drink the bitter brown water? She glanced up, looking between the two of them. But upon realizing it was Kal’tsit who had spoken, the lupine operator simply lowered her head, burying her nose back into her teacup without a single word of protest.

“Oh… is that so.” Kai drawled, his gaze flicking from the quiet wolf girl back to the impeccably composed doctor. He didn’t buy it for a second.

“That is entirely irrelevant,” Kal’tsit smoothly pivoted, lacing her fingers together over her desk. “Amiya has already filed a preliminary report regarding the incident in the Abandoned City. The Doctor is currently locked in negotiations with Chief Wei, though given the political climate, it is highly unlikely to yield any favorable results. What are your thoughts on Lungmen’s recent maneuvers?”

Kai reached up, scratching the back of his head. “My thoughts? I’m just grabbing some popcorn and watching the show.”

Kal’tsit’s emerald eyes narrowed by a fraction of an inch, locking onto him with a chilling intensity.

Kai simply offered a helpless shrug, spreading his hands wide.

A long, quiet sigh escaped Kal’tsit’s lips, betraying a rare flicker of exasperation. “Fine. Then let us discuss a different variable,” she said, her tone cooling into absolute professionalism. “Specifically, the Yeti Squadron and their commanding officer, Frostnova.”

On the sofa beside Red, M3 had been staring blankly at the floorboards, lost in her own turbulent thoughts. The moment that name dropped, her head snapped up. Kal’tsit’s sharp gaze caught the sudden movement instantly, but she merely offered M3 a fleeting glance before returning her full attention to Kai.

“Amiya informed me of your intention to recruit them into Rhodes Island. Explain your reasoning.”

Kai rubbed his chin, leaning back in his chair. “Well… you could call it a promise, I guess?” he offered, his voice lacking its usual absolute certainty.

‘A promise…’Kal’tsit turned the word over in her mind. She knew for an absolute fact that the leader of Reunion’s Yeti Squadron could not possibly have crossed paths with Kai prior to this operation. This so-called’promise’ was likely tied to his bizarre, prophetic foresight—an event anchored in a future that hadn’t even occurred yet. It defied all conventional logic, yet it was painfully characteristic of the man sitting across from her.

“Very well. If that is the foundation of your decision, I will not intervene,” Kal’tsit stated, her voice softening just a fraction. “I only ask that you take the feelings of those around you into greater consideration before you act.” As she delivered the warning, her eyes drifted deliberately toward the sofa, resting squarely on M3.

Catching the pointed look, M3 flinched, her silver hair falling forward as she hurriedly ducked her head to hide her expression.

Kai, completely missing the heavy subtext hanging in the room, took the statement at face value. He assumed the doctor was simply scolding him for making reckless, unilateral decisions that could drag the rest of the operators into danger.

“Yeah, I get it. I’ll be careful,” he nodded earnestly.

“Mm.” Kal’tsit stared at him. It was a long, unblinking, deeply judgmental stare that made the back of Kai’s neck prickle with sudden unease.

“…Moving on. Assuming no further complications arise, you intend to continue participating in the ongoing Lungmen operations, correct?” Kal’tsit took another slow sip from her cup. “Under standard Rhodes Island protocol, a senior Operator with your recent deployment record would be mandated to take immediate shore leave.”

‘She stared a hole through my skull just to bring up HR policies?’ Kai thought, mildly bewildered. He pushed the odd interaction aside. “That’s the plan. If the board stays green, I want to stick with Amiya and the vanguard for the rest of the upcoming pushes. Since you’re bringing it up now, consider this my formal heads-up.”

Kal’tsit arched a single, elegant eyebrow. “Every single operation?”

“Uh… most of them,” Kai amended, his bravado deflating slightly under her scrutiny.

“Acceptable. Report to Human Resources later today and officially transfer your status to active field duty. Your internal administrative tasks aboard the landship have already been delegated to other personnel for the past few days.”

“Oh, sweet. No problem.” Kai nodded eagerly. Field duty was perfect—it meant he could stay off the paperwork treadmill and keep his boots on the ground where the actual plot was happening.

“Is there anything else you require?”

Kai shook his head. “Nope. I mostly just came to clear the air on the Yeti situation and see if Amiya was around. Ch’en and the L.G.D. forces are already en route back to Lungmen. We need to nail down a timeline for our reinforcement deployment. The situation in that city is about to get a lot messier than it looks.”

“You do not need to concern yourself with the logistics,” Kal’tsit replied smoothly. “I have already authorized Blaze to assemble a strike team. The ‘Bad Guy’ is prepped and waiting on the flight deck to transport you directly to the drop zone. You will have the autonomy to judge the optimal insertion timing once you are airborne.”

Hearing that Kal’tsit had already greased the wheels, a wave of relief washed over Kai. He nodded, pushing himself up from the chair. The adrenaline was finally wearing off, leaving a deep, bone-aching exhaustion in its wake. He needed to hit his dorm and crash. He had chugged way too many Sanity Potions out in the ruins, and the jagged, glowing Originium-like patterns tracing across his skin still hadn’t faded. It looked genuinely grotesque. A solid nap was non-negotiable, even if he wasn’t sure how much downtime he actually had left before the alarms started blaring again.

“M3. Remain here.”

As Kai turned for the door, M3 had instinctively risen from the sofa to follow him out, like a shadow tethered to his heels. Kal’tsit’s sudden command froze her in place.

Kai paused, glancing back at Kal’tsit with mild confusion. Why hold M3 back now? But the doctor simply offered him a faint, dismissive shake of her head. A clear signal: This is above your clearance, or none of your business.

Curiosity prickled at the back of his mind. What kind of secret summit did those two need to have? Still, he didn’t have the energy to press the issue. It was probably some private, metaphysical maintenance stuff. After all, up until very recently, the girl standing by the sofa had literally been a crystalline monster living inside Kal’tsit’s spine. He could always just interrogate M3 about it later when they were alone.

‘Wait a second,’Kai mused, a sudden, deeply stupid thought crossing his mind.’If M3 is out here walking around… does Kal’tsit just not have a spine right now? Is she technically an invertebrate? How is she even sitting upright?’

Shaking his head to clear the sleep-deprived nonsense, Kai offered M3 a casual wave. “I’m heading back to my quarters to sleep off the potion hangover and wait for these glow-in-the-dark tattoos to fade. Hit me up on the comms if the world starts ending again, or just come find me in my room.”

With a final nod, Kai stepped out into the corridor, pulling the heavy door shut with a soft, metallic click.

The moment the latch engaged, the atmosphere in the office shifted. Kal’tsit calmly reached into the deep pocket of her lab coat, produced a crinkled packet of instant coffee, and began to unceremoniously brew a fresh cup.

M3 watched this blatant hypocrisy with utter bewilderment.

Stirring the dark liquid, Kal’tsit finally looked up. “Tell me. What happened out there?”

M3 stiffened. Her eyes darted away, suddenly finding the sterile wall plating incredibly fascinating. “Wha—what do you mean, what happened?” she stammered, her voice lacking its usual cold, mechanical edge.

Kal’tsit exhaled a long, slow breath, the steam from her mug curling into the air. “Your eyes, your micro-expressions, your entire physical posture—they have all thoroughly betrayed you. I know the architecture of your mind better than anyone alive. Attempting to hide your internal state from me is a mathematical impossibility.” She took a slow sip. “Speak. Perhaps I can provide some tactical advice. Did you have a falling out with Kai? Was it regarding this… Frostnova?”

“No… no, it wasn’t a falling out,” M3 mumbled, her fingers twisting nervously into the fabric of her skirt. Her shoulders slumped, shedding the last of her defensive posture. “It’s just… I don’t know. I don’t know how to articulate it.”

‘She only refuted the first half of my hypothesis,’ Kal’tsit noted internally.

“Then take your time. Start from the moment you engaged in the Abandoned City,” Kal’tsit instructed, taking another highly satisfied sip of her illicit coffee. Even though her summon had achieved human form and independent consciousness, Kal’tsit remained the absolute authority on her psyche. Everything had been perfectly stable before the strike team departed. Something out in the ruins had acted as a catalyst.

Reluctantly, M3 began to speak. She slowly unpacked the sequence of events, detailing everything from the bitter fighting in the Abandoned City to the quiet, suffocating walk back through the landship’s corridors. She recounted the exact dialogue exchanged between her and Kai, leaving no emotional stone unturned.

As the story unfolded, Kal’tsit’s expression underwent a fascinating evolution. The doctor’s usual mask of detached, clinical seriousness slowly cracked, morphing into a look of deep, deeply complicated strangeness.

By the time M3 reached the agonizingly awkward silence of their return journey, Kal’tsit finally raised a hand, massaging her temples to stave off an impending headache.

“Exactly how long have you been operating under these assumptions?” Kal’tsit interrupted.

“Operating under what assumptions?” M3 blinked, her face a portrait of genuine, helpless bewilderment.

Kal’tsit lowered her hand and stared down into the black, bitter depths of her coffee mug. For a fleeting moment, one of the greatest medical and tactical minds in all of Terra found herself entirely paralyzed by a single, unsolvable question:

Between the two of them, who was actually more hopelessly dense?