"Turing, come and try on this..."

In the lush garden, amidst the exuberant and genuine flower clusters, Samael frolicked with six-year-old Turing, happily picking flowers and playing around. Samael had to admit that taking care of a child was much harder than committing heinous acts. Providing the wisdom required to answer the needs of a five or six-year-old was not any less challenging than the intelligence tests played in the past laboratory.

A phrase like "a Zhang Fei threading a needle" was not sufficient to describe Samael's current state of mind; perhaps, this was the kind of feeling one got when a father accompanied a child.

"Samael, don't worry, I'll put it on myself."

"Uh, why roses... Could they have thorns?"

Taking the flower crown from Samael's hands, Turing, with slightly chubby cheeks, muttered.

"Oh, my little darling, rest assured, I have removed the thorns from the flower crown long ago. How could I allow the thorns to prick you?"

Although Samael knew that flower thorns could only prick a half-angel, Turing did not consider herself as such at the moment. As long as Turing believed she could be pricked, she would indeed be pricked.

"Look, there's one right here... see!"

Sharp-eyed Turing casually plucked a thorn from the flower crown with a pinch. This completely silenced Samael, the former great demon king who once ruled the laboratory, now looked like a child who had made a mistake, stammering and not knowing what to say.

With her hands folded, Samael kept apologizing to Turing, but Turing was not buying it, raising her face high, not even looking at Samael.

"What's wrong? Did clumsy Samael hurt you?"

Mammon, not far away, walked over.

She carried half-finished flower crowns in her hands, coming over slowly. Gently kneeling on the soil next to Turing, she curled her arms and softly embraced Turing.

"Not hurt... but almost!"

"Samael actually wanted to give me a thorny flower crown!"

"Hmph, luckily I double-checked, otherwise, Samael would have been in trouble!"

Hearing this, Mammon chuckled.

Her joyful smile was as radiant as that of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. However, anyone with keen eyes could tell how deep and terrifying the sacrifices were hiding behind that smile.

She gently picked Turing up around the waist, whispered a few words in Turing's still sulking ear, and coaxed her.

"Hehehe... But you, Samael, really have poor taste in aesthetics."

After comforting Turing, Mammon chuckled lightly and then reproached the slightly embarrassed Samael beside her.

"Roses, camellias, and roses are a bit tacky after all."

"How do they match with our pure and lovely Turing?"

"Our little Turing..."

"Deserves something better."

"A truly pure and beautiful moment should be adorned with cornflowers."

"Come, look at what I've made for you."

Embracing Turing, Mammon continued, taking out the remaining cornflowers from her body, intending to complete the flower crown she had planned to give to Turing.

"...What are cornflowers, Mammon?"

Turing asked naïvely,

"Chrysanthemum, it means the symbol of purity..."

"However, children don't need to understand such profound matters for now."

"While I haven't finished coding yet, let me tell you a story."

"A story about your mother."

Mammon gently rocked Turing, and gradually, Turing stopped being angry.

Children easily get drowsy, and soon Turing nodded off. She snuggled into Mammon's embrace, rested her little head on Mammon's lap, her eyes growing heavy, blinking slowly, as if she was about to fall asleep.

"At that time... your mother didn't have a name, your Mammon sister, your Samael sister, none of us had names."

"We were just cold, lifeless numbers."

"Later, while playing together, we gave each other names."

"That's when we finally had names."

"Back then, we called your mother 'Yù'..."

——————————————————————————

"Miss?"

"... Little sister?"

Number 667 knocked on Turing's door, but all that came back was silence.

"Today is family visit day... Isn't it the day you look forward to the most?"

The noisy sounds outside the door woke Turing, disrupting her thoughts of delusions and dreams.

At this point, memory faded, regardless of how hard Turing tried to recall, she couldn't remember a thing.

[Whose memory is this really... Is it mine after all?]

[I don't even have siblings.]

[Even if I did, Merka only told me about Samael.]

But who is this Mammon?

Since Turing transformed into that monstrous Chimera, it's as if the floodgate of her memory has been opened.

As days go by, Turing recalls more and more of the past events.

Some of these memories are so bizarre, they hardly seem like experiences she had herself.

Turing got up and instantly sprouted dozens of tentacles, quickly completing her morning routine in the bedroom.

Soon after, she opened the door, angrily saying to 667,

"Family visit day...?"

"Weren't you saying the same thing yesterday?"

"If you lie to me again, I won't spare you."