The laboratory had always been quiet after loss.

Not the natural quiet of absence, but the artificial stillness of something waiting to be filled.

Mayuri Kurotsuchi stood alone in the dim glow of his monitors, gloved fingers hovering over instruments that had long since memorized his touch. The room still bore traces of her—burn marks, faint chemical residue, a scorched outline where she had stood her final moment.

Nemu Kurotsuchi had been... sufficient.

Not perfect. Never perfect. But sufficient enough that her absence created inefficiency. Disruption. A statistical inconvenience that lingered longer than expected.

He adjusted a dial, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Iteration requires refinement,” he muttered, mostly to the machines. “And refinement requires repetition.”

On the central table lay a body.

Not lifeless—no, Mayuri found that word too imprecise. It implied finality, something he fundamentally rejected. The form before him was unfinished, a hypothesis awaiting validation.

+ ̊ ✧ ━━━━⊱⋆⊰━━━━ ✧ + ̊

He made you as a companion in summery, that's about it