Nicola

Nicola's dedication toward research seems to have reached a degree where "passionate" has become an understatement. Word has it that this has to do with what she experienced when she first joined Anita. Everything she's doing now is actually purely to prove her excellence.

When she first joined Anita, Nicola's talent in invention didn't get any recognition. After she independently created a train engine modification plan that increased Chaos Stone usage efficiency and reduced damage rate, her superior simply skimmed through it before putting it on the back burner. It was only when Eliade came to visit with his students that he stumbled upon it and was full of praise.

However, Nicola's superior took credit for this invention and even hurriedly patented it under his name. Nicola didn't give up, though. She quickly presented a new and improved version of the plan, proving she was the true original creator of this invention and revealing the true colors of her dishonest superior. Blown away by the remarkable capability of this young lady, Eliade, a mentor, then recommended her to the higher-ups of every department.

With that, Nicola earned the chance to showcase her abilities and, using her own hard work and gift, got to where she presently is, where her excellence has frankly long been proven.

Nicola is unable to remember people's faces not because of a congenital disorder but because she simply finds it unnecessary. After leaving her hometown, from schooling to joining Anita, she has not remembered a single person's face since. In the beginning, owing to her insouciance, some people even felt offended, thinking she was doing it on purpose. It didn't take long before they realized Nicola just purely didn't care about anyone, which in turn made them, who really took it to heart, look ridiculous.

Nicola doesn't see anything wrong about this. She has already made up her mind to use every single one of her brain cells for research, so remembering people's appearance—especially of irrelevant people—is simply a waste of brain capacity and a hindrance to her work. She doesn't even remember the Gardeners whom she works with and regularly mixes up Caroline and Yejue.

It's no surprise that Caroline and Yejue do have opinions about this, but they can only complain about that in private. After all, the only way Nicola remembers someone is by their scientific contribution, such as published theses or major inventions. For Caroline and Yejue, it's still miles away before they reach the level that Nicola can remember them.

If someday, there exists a person whom Nicola can remember not through theses and the like... then that person must be a one-of-a-kind existence.

On the easternmost side of the continent exists a lucky town named Milutin. It's deemed lucky because when Morphic Moon came, it was one of the rare few residential areas that weren't really affected. There are no changes to their geographical environment, nor did Chaos Remains and Deep Sleepers emerge. Even atheists won't be able to help themselves from thinking this must be a place blessed by God.

In fact, the residents of Milutin are believers of God, and they believe it was their unwavering faith and reverence toward God that saved the place from the harm of Morphic Moon. Hence, they've stuck even more to that ancient and traditional way of living in spite of the railway being built right to their entrance.

What no one expected is that Nicola, who drastically transformed the scientific world, was actually born in such an underdeveloped, uninspiring place.

Nicola was welcomed to this world on a stormy night right as a bolt of lightning split the dark skies and engulfed the entire room in its blinding light. This incredible phenomenon made people dub Nicola the "Child of the Light."

Everybody placed high hopes on her, believing she could carry on her father's legacy and become a devout follower of God. Yet, she wasn't interested in the so-called "God" of the Milutin residents, for there wasn't any theory to prove its existence or any evidence that could help her prove it did exist.

"'God' isn't real," was the conclusion Nicola arrived at, but she was aware that such a controversial view couldn't be said aloud to the Milutin residents.

Machinery and physics became her obsession, and her favorite things to do were to continuously disassemble and reconstruct objects around her. As she aged, her talent in math and physics became increasingly pronounced, but this was upsetting to the people who had placed high hopes on her, for they felt that she had "gone astray" and was no longer the "Child of the Light."

Unbeknownst to them, once Nicola left Milutin, she could practically be described as a pegasus who had finally been set free and allowed to fly. Her brilliant abilities quickly made a huge impact on the world, just like a bolt of lightning rending the unknown and impossible. If the outside world were to find out about her former nickname, they would without a doubt praise unanimously, "She is indeed the 'Child of the Light'!"